By 
Title: I, Mudd
Airdate: 11/3/1967
Plot Summary
Harry Mudd is discovered on a planet full of androids that cater to his every whim, including abducting the crew so he can take over the Enterprise. But when the androids turn on him, Kirk and the crew must team up with Mudd to defeat this new threat.
Risk Is Our Business
Kirk is really annoyed at this whole thing. He does have a few tries at the talk a computer into committing suicide, but really needs a lot of help to get the job done.
Logical
Spock can be illogical when he needs to be. He tells the Alices that he loves one and hates the other, sending them into a tailspin. His attempt at a nerve pinch that has no effect at all is hilarious.
He’s Dead Jim
Bones knows something is up with Norman but Spock dismisses it and is a little offended at his assessment.
Helm Sluggish Captain
Sulu is seen at the beginning on the bridge but not on the planet.
Nuclear Wessels
When Norman specifies who should be in the landing party, he mentions “Navigator.” Chekov is the one who beams down, thereby formalizing his status on the ship. Chekov also probably got laid a lot by androids, especially when he finds out that the ladies were programmed by the lecherous Harry Mudd.
Hailing Frequencies Open, Sugar
Uhura is tempted for about 2.3 seconds at having an immortal android body but it’s all for show. At first viewing, this probably made for some tension but with all the time and stories that have passed, there’s no way at this point that anyone would believe Uhura would sell them out for an android body.
My Wee Bairns
Scotty tells the story of how a female gargantuan threw him into the transporter. He also plays a mean air flute.
Canon Maker
I found it odd that some of the galbots at the end were wearing some of the same dresses as Mudd’s women were wearing, however since he programmed so many of these fembots, he probably had a soft spot for those designs.
Canon Breaker
Kirk mentions they left Mudd in prison after that Rigel mining planet incident. The planet had three people on it, six after the episode. However, in The Doomsday Machine, Decker said they had to save Rigel as many millions of people would die. Trek has had a problem with “Rigel” as it seems to be a name used whenever they need a throwaway name that sounds “spacey.”
Man It Feels Bad To Be A Red Shirt
No one dies, though Norman did wear a blue shirt and his brain was fried. Does that count?
Technobabble
Spock says that its obvious this many androids cannot operate independently. I never found that obvious at all. However, these days with phones and cloud computing, if my phone was disconnected from the internet, it would have really limited use. So maybe this is another sign that Trek was much more ahead of its time than even I thought.
There’s a whole lot of advanced tech on this planet, I wonder if what they found there led them to refit the Enterprise? The vertical power model on the table that Scotty was admiring kind of made me think of how the refit had a vertical matter/anti-matter reactor.
Look, I’ll look for anything to create some head-canon.
I Know That Guy:
Roger Carmel makes his last appearance as the only recurring guest star on Trek. Richard Tatro plays Norman, Alyce and Rhae Andrece play various Alices, and Kay Elliot plays android Stella Mudd(s),
What It Means To Be Human – Review
This episode is a nice little comedic relief and really lets the cast shine in various ridiculous situations. Still, the opening shows the stakes. Norman has clearly Data level strength and the Enterprise is taken over pretty quickly by him.
Kirk talking a computer into committing suicide is in full swing here and he ropes in the entire crew to help. I found it odd we only saw Sulu at the beginning and never again, but Chekov handles his part nicely.
I really loved that moment when Kirk says “What is a man? That lofty spirit, that sense of … Enterprise!” and then elbow nudges Mudd. Classic.
Uhura really seems to be enjoying herself, pretending to be a turncoat and giving Chekov a stiff backhand.
Carmel plays Mudd with a lot more likability this time around. The scene where he attempts to explain how he ended up in this situation with Spock and Kirk continually interrupting with the obvious truth to translate his story is hilarious.
Bringing in his ex-wife to harangue him just so he could tell her to shut up? Don’t tell me that there aren’t some husbands even today who can relate. Turning the tables on him and making about 500 of them to constantly harangue him and he can’t tell them to shut up? That might be cruel and unusual punishment. (They also should’ve renamed her the “Karen” series but alas, hindsight is 20/20.)
They all seem to have the blinking necklaces but Norman doesn’t wear one on the Enterprise. Wonder how the rest of the robots were able to function without going through him for that small part of time?
Overall, this is a light, goofy little episode that I don’t think is quite as good as I remember it, but not as bad as I expected, having not seen it in a while. I figured I would be rolling my eyes at it, having loved it as a kid, but it turned out to be pretty enjoyable. I don’t quite like it as much as I used to. Still a good episode and it redeems the Mudd character, not as a character but as an enjoyable foil for Kirk. It’s too bad we didn’t see more of him but at least the execrable Mudd’s Women wasn’t his only outing.
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