Episode Title: I, Mudd
Air Date: 11/3/1967
Written by Stephen
Kandel and David Gerrold
Directed by Marc
Daniels
Cast: William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk Leonard Nimoy as Commander Spock DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA “Bones” James Doohan as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty” George Takei as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura Eddie Paskey as Lieutenant Leslie Mike Howden as Lieutenant Rowe Roger Holloway as Lieutenant Lemli Frank Da Vinci as Lieutenant Brent Michael Zaslow as Ensign Jordan Walter Koenig as Ensign Pavel Chekov Jeannie Malone as unnamed Yeoman Bob Orrison as unnamed crewman Roger C. Carmel as Harry Mudd Richard Tatro as Norman Bill Blackburn as unnamed Android Alyce Andrece as Alice #1 through 250 Rhae Andrece as Alice #251 through 500 Ted LeGarde as Herman Series Tom LeGarde as Herman Series Colleen Thornton as Barbara Series Maureen Thornton as Barbara Series Starr Wilson as Maisie Series Tamara Wilson as Maisie Series Kay Elliot as Stella Mudd android Bobby Bass as unnamed Android Marlys Burdette as unnamed Android
Ships: USS
Enterprise NCC-1701
Planets: Mudd
My Spoiler filled
summary and review: The Enterprise
has a new crew member, a lieutenant named Norman. McCoy instantly is suspicious of him. When Spock asks why McCoy explains that
Norman is a human displaying typical Vulcan traits. Spock concludes that McCoy is just being a
bigot but it turns out McCoy’s bigotry is correct. So I suppose the moral of the story so far is
we should all bit more bigoted.
 |
| Norman reveled |
Captain Kirk is about to leave the
bridge to join the hunt but Norman arrives first and stops him. Noman proclaims that he has altered course of
the ship and has sabotaged it so that that if they try to retake control the
Enterprise will be destroyed. Norman has
a designation in mind for the ship and they will be going there. Interesting enough that is not the strangest
thing he does he revels to Kirk and Spock that is he is an artificial lifeform,
an android. This isn’t the first time they encountered and android so they are not weirded out by it just impressed
with the level of sophistication in his design.
Norman decides to go into hibernate mode while the Enterprise goes to
the planet he has selected.
They arrive at their destination
and Norman wakes up to announce the plans for an away team consisting of the
Captain, First Officer, Chief Medical Officer, Communications Officer, and
Navigator. Why those officers is never
really explained. I am going to comment
in the additional thoughts section about the absence of Sulu. Kirk refuses but Norman threatens to blow up
their ship if there is no compliance, and he also says “please.”
 |
| Mudd the First |
The away team transports down to the
planet and when they get there Kirk comes face to face with the world’s ruler,
a man he never thought to see again: Harry Mudd. The last time Kirk saw him he had him arrested for trying catfish dilithium miners with drugged up women. Not to mention operating a ship without a
license, identity theft, and trying to blackmail a starship with its destruction.
Turns out the man hasn’t changed a bit. After escaping from his captivity with Starfleet he continued with his criminal career on a number of different planets going so far as to earn a death sentence on one. While on the run he landed here, an uncharted world that he would name Mudd. The planet was populated by these highly advanced and ancient androids whose makers came from the Andromeda Galaxy and had died out centuries ago.
 |
| Mudd happy being Mudd |
These androids were lost and
without purpose so Mudd gave them a purpose by installing himself as their ruler. He names the planet after himself and crowns
himself Emperor as “Mudd the First.” This
goes to show you that Mudd has no idea how dynastical names work as he should
be referring to himself as “Harcourt the First of House Mudd.” Despite his limited imagination Mudd manages
to fill the androids of planet Mudd with a new purpose. They followed his instructions to create a
few new series of androids that could operate as “fully functional” human
females. He had one special android
made in the image of his abandoned wife Stella who, in Mudd’s view, used to nag
him too much. So the Stella android nags
him until he tells her to “shut up” and she shuts off. He shows this off to Kirk and his crew.
 |
| Mudd's favorite thing to do! |
However
Mudd has started to become bored with his life as a ruler of planet Mudd. He is running out of things to have his
androids to do. So to make everyone on
planet Mudd happy the petty Emperor ordered his androids to go out and capture
a Federation Starship. It was only luck
of the draw that he got his old rival.
The androids will force everyone from the Enterprise down to the surface.
The main force of androids would remain to watch them as Mudd would take
400 androids and steal the Enterprise
using her to run around the galaxy. When
Scotty is brought down by force Kirk is informed that this part of Mudd’s plan
has been completed.
 |
| No match for Mr. Spock |
Kirk is now facing two problems the
first is his ship is under the control of androids but even worse is the gilded
cage that they have been put in is so nice that several of his officers are
enjoying their stay and those who are not but are tempted. Kirk does get a minor victory when he
confuses one of the Alice androids by referring to the Enterprise as his desire, and when she responds that the ship is a
device not a desire he counters by calling the ship a beautiful lady. Alice calls out to Norman and retreats. Kirk
and Spock note while there are many of each series there is only one
Norman.
 |
| "There is only one of me!" |
Harry Mudd prepares to leave but
ends up getting the shock of his life when his androids inform him that he
isn’t going anywhere. The androids while
they were obeying Mudd were also studying him.
They came to the conclusion that humans, although intelligent creatures,
were far too reckless and dangerous to be allowed to go about the universe
unchecked. Therefore Mudd will remain
on planet Mudd with the crew of the Enterprise
while the androids leave to conquer the Federation.
 |
| Well at least the scenery is nice! |
When asked how they attended to do
that Norman simply explained that they would rule humanity by serving
them. They would take care of every need
human beings had making humanity ultimately dependent on them. People will be happy and under control. It is a good plan but the androids don’t
realize they are up against James T. Kirk, the Bane of all Artificial
Intelligence. Kirk quickly realizes that
the androids expect them to make an escape attempt so he has McCoy drug Mudd
and tell the androids that he is sick and they need to get back to the Enterprise to help him. Lt. Uhura appears to betray her crewmates
when she rats on Kirk’s plan to the androids.
This is however part of the
Captain's plan to lure the androids into a false state of security.
Kirk then launches a very well-choreographed performance with his senior crew and Harry Mudd. In which they all ran around and acted so illogical that it caused the androids to go into a state of shock and shut down. Once reactivated the androids of planet Mudd knew they were beat and surrendered. As the crew of the Enterprise was getting ready to depart, Mudd was informed that he had to remain. Considering the eye candy of his designed androids he concluded that it wasn’t a bad sentence. Until he found out about the personal android assigned to him. The Stella android reprogrammed so that when he tells her to “shut up” her nagging doesn't stop but is instead joined by another Stella android. There is up to 500 of them to Mudd’s horror. Uhura gives Mudd a cute little wave as they walk off in victory.
Additional thoughts:
As long as humanity could conceive of the concept of artificial intelligence
and immediate fear arouse. What would
happen when the AI has surpassed us both in intellect and independence suddenly
determines that we are no longer worth listening to? Even worse suddenly decides we are a
threat.
 |
| Androids don't like it when we get crazy. |
In the 1984 classic The Terminator the AI Skynet concludes that in its own self-interest humanity needs to be exterminated. In The Matrix series the world wide AI reduces humanity to livestock. In earlier episodes we saw Landru and Vaal had a type of paternalistic relationship with their humanoid population. So it was rather refreshing to discover a race of androids bent on humanity’s domination with a strategy of “beat them with kindness.” The plan is to conqueror humanity by tending to all their basic needs for them. The 2004 movie I, Robot had the same idea. (Giving the similar name of the movie and episode and giving the similar motivations of the AIs I thought that the original book by Isaak Azimov probably had the same plot so the name of the episode would be an allusion to that. However it turns out the 2004 film took a number of different concepts from a number Azimov's works and put them into one movie. The "I, Robot" title came from the story of an alleged robot murderer and the benevolent robot dictator came from the story came from "The Evitable Conflict.")
The
only problem for this plan is time and place.
I think if the androids of planet Mudd landed on Earth in 1967 or 2020
that would be a successful strategy.
However in the time period of the Federation in the 23rd
century humanity has solved all their social ills and Earth is a paradise. Every member of the crew on the Enterprise is there because they want to
be the explorers of the universe. McCoy
and Scotty tell the androids that humans need pain and suffering in their life
to truly be happy. That might be true
for their self-chosen exposure to certain types pain but for myself who is
living in a world-wide pandemic I say bring on the androids.
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| "Too much Happiness" |
Where Sulu disappear to? He was on the bridge but he wasn’t one of
those invited down by Norman. However
why wasn’t he with Mr. Scott when the lovely lady androids grabbed the rest of
the crew? I would have thought by then we would see him.
I know he is about to go on some leave time but apparently Mr. Takei’s
real-life schedule must have called him away.
Chekov had a really good time on
planet Mudd. Being entertained by the
lovely Alice androids programmed by the despicable Mr. Mudd, gave him a better
time than being in Leningrad. So
sometime between now and 23rd century St. Petersburg becomes
Leningrad again and is such a nice place that it is comparable to a threesome with a
beautiful set of twins. No, wonder the
young Ensign is always such a happy fellow.
 |
| A lucky Mr. Chekov |
So what is the current state of the
planet Mudd? What happens to all the
great androids we ran into? Will they
ever leave that place and participate with the wider Milky Way? I don’t ever recall seeing them again. That would be an interesting world to
revisit.
FINAL GRADE 4 of 5
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