I, Mudd (TOS - S2E08)

[Hailing Frequencies Open]

Treks and Tangents beams down for “I, Mudd,” where Harry Mudd returns with a throne, a planet full of obedient androids, and somehow still manages to become a prisoner of his own nonsense. Brian and Jaci break down the duplicate Alices, Norman’s very inconvenient Enterprise takeover, Mudd’s questionable leadership skills, and the crew’s grand escape strategy: weaponized improv, fake instruments, imaginary explosions, and enough illogical behavior to make every android on the planet beg for a software update. It’s silly, fast-paced, and very much Star Trek discovering that sometimes the best way to defeat a computer is to act like theater kids with a deadline.

[End Transmission]

Transcript

Intro/Turbolift Tease Recap

SPEAKER_03 0:10

Failing frequencies open and welcome aboard Trecks and Tangents. I'm your co-host Brian.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

And I'm your co-host Jackie. I'm the Star Trek newbie who checks off on tangents.

SPEAKER_03 0:19

And I'm your Star Trek expert who is here to get the tangents back on track. Each episode we watch and talk about a different Star Trek episode.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

And this week we watched Star Trek, the original series, season two, episode eight. I Mud.

SPEAKER_03 0:33

Welcome back, everyone, to another episode. Don't forget to tune in to the end of this episode where we'll reveal our topic for our Star Note bonus episode that we'll post over at our Patreon. Go listen after you finish this episode. But before all that, I Mud, where we get to revisit our favorite character. Probably not my favorite character. He's definitely funny. I think Jackie's favorite character would not be Mud, it would be Yeoman Rand. Yes. But definitely a fun character, definitely a fun character to revisit. And I think the only character that we see a repeat for in the original series, other than the crew of the Enterprise. This is gonna be the only time that we ever really get a character that comes back in the original series to reprise their role. Jackie's thinking back to the episode she's watched at least.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

Well, I mean, they just have to bring back Yeoman Rand, didn't it be good?

SPEAKER_03 1:35

Yeoman Rand comes back in the motion picture, which someday we'll have to get to. But it's also another comedic episode or comedy episode to a degree. It's more comedy than suspense and drama for sure. It's a silly episode. It's it's a fun episode for the most part, but before we get too far down the rabbit hole for iMud, let's quickly jump back and revisit last week's Turbolift tease. That's where we gave Jackie the title of this episode, and Jackie, without having any other information, tried to guess the plot of this episode. So, computer, what was Jackie's guess last week?

SPEAKER_00 2:20

Jackie's guess last week was our favorite Mr. Mud is coming back, and he has already popped onto the Enterprise to do a little wicked magic, but we don't know he is there until one of our security guard finds him and brings him up and says, Kirk, what are we going to do about this?

SPEAKER_03 2:37

So, Jackie, how accurate do you think your prediction was?

SPEAKER_01 2:41

Well, first of all, I caught how you said rabbit hole earlier, and it comes back to what we talk about in the episode.

SPEAKER_03 2:49

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Anyways, I almost got it right. It's just backwards. In what sense? Well, we're not on the enterprise. We're on the planet, and it's not mud, it's a proxy. It's a proxy. I got like a seven.

SPEAKER_03 3:04

Kind of a proxy. I mean, because they're they're acting on behalf of Mud, but they're not acting on behalf of the Mud. They're doing their own thing. Originally it's Beyond Mud. Is it? On behalf.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

I I would say that, yes.

SPEAKER_03 3:17

Is it because I don't think it's Mud's motivation to entrap the Enterprise or more humans? He Mud is being tasked to assist in that by the androids. So I think Mud gives them the plan, but I think the androids are out there enacting it on their own.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

I can see that happening, but we don't know that until the end. So I'm right at the beginning. At the beginning?

SPEAKER_03 3:42

Yeah, it does twist it a little bit for sure.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Win win.

SPEAKER_03 3:47

So, okay. I need like a bell. You want like a yeah, we need like a sound effect. So you want us, you you, you, you name your grade out of ten. I said seven. Seven, you go with seven. Okay, we'll give it that. There's no no standard ranking system for the turbolift tees, but sure, seven out of ten.

Initial Impressions

SPEAKER_03 4:07

But what did you what are your initial impressions? What deeper deeper thought, deeper dive. What do you think about the episode?

SPEAKER_01 4:15

I find it silly, and I feel like we've had this scenario numerous, numerous times.

SPEAKER_03 4:21

And by scenario, what do you mean? Illogical. It's illogical, brain freeze, die. Kirk trying to talk, basically outwit a computer through Illogical. Through logic gate and processing and and confusing them.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

But this time over 200,000, something something 87.

SPEAKER_03 4:43

So yeah, we do see it a couple times. It it's not one of my fun facts, but it's like in the origin because the original series is three seasons. It feels like we return to it a lot, but I think there's only like half a dozen out of that total.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

I've only watched a season and a half, and I swear we've watched all half a dozen.

SPEAKER_03 5:01

I mean, there's been a couple. There's been there's definitely The Changeling. The Changeling, for sure. The one where they got a bust through the wall and they find the computer running everything. Gothos. Gothos. Well, that wasn't a computer. That was It still was illogical. It was. So yeah, if you take out the artificial intelligence and you just turn it into a more broader trope of confused logical processes and ways of thinking with purposeful, illogical actions and thoughts.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

Let me say it better. Robot tries to take over humans, humans beat robot.

SPEAKER_03 5:39

But yes, in the end, the plot idea or the plot trope of confronting pure logic with human imperfection.

SPEAKER_01 5:48

Yes, and that humans are illogical almost to a fault.

SPEAKER_03 5:53

Right. But we can channel that illogic thinking into our advantage. Yes. And then there's the return of Harry Mud. Did you like this episode more or less than Mud's women? Less. Why?

SPEAKER_01 6:09

Because in the first episode, we didn't know like who he was, and it was intriguing because he actually seemed smart and like he had a plan. And this one it was more like he just wanted to off the planet, so anything would do. Okay. He looked distressed.

SPEAKER_03 6:26

He did. Well, because in I'm gonna think say the opposite. I like I Mud more than Mud's women because I enjoyed in this episode his character became a victim or a prisoner of his own mischievousness and his own actions, and that he got trapped on this planet with all of these androids instead of becoming the ultimate ruler. And while he was in a position that he initially found to his advantage, he's now trapped. He can't leave, he can't go anywhere. Versus Mud's women, he was still the same character and he was still carrying on with his criminal mischief and his criminal activities, but he wasn't really the victim. The whole story of Mud's Women revolved around his three ladies. A lot of the plot was devoted to determining and showing to the audience who he was. But I like the idea that as a character, and if we saw more of Mud later, I enjoy the idea that Mud tries to follow through on some scheme, some criminal activity, and then ultimately he himself becomes trapped, finds himself in peril because of his activities, kind of on the same level as the Enterprise crew. That didn't happen in Mud's Women. He just had his plan overthrown and thwarted, but he was never in peril a victim himself. No, I see what you mean. And I like that more for the character of Mud, and that's why I like this episode more. Besides the other things, besides all of our criticism before of Mud's women about the whole sex trafficking.

SPEAKER_01 8:23

Yeah, well, I wasn't going to count that part. You asked me about Mud himself. Well, because you know, I I would have left the ladies out of that.

SPEAKER_03 8:30

Yeah, and so besides all those things, I think, besides the fact that this scheme of Mud was more entertaining to follow, we'll put it that way. I just like the fact that Mud as a character, if he were more recurring, is going to find himself in more and more trouble because every time he tries to do a scheme, he himself becomes in need of rescuing. Like in this episode.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

Like a victim of his own scheme.

SPEAKER_03 8:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

That makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 9:00

And that's why I like this episode more than Mud's Women.

SPEAKER_01 9:03

No, I could see that. A more full-rounded character.

SPEAKER_03 9:06

Correct. And still the same Mud that we saw in Mud's Women.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

Yes, the out loud, garish clothing.

SPEAKER_03 9:13

And the witty dialogue, his interactions with Kirk.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

Yes, because of course he's always an entrepreneur, not a thief.

SPEAKER_03 9:23

Yes. But what I don't like about this episode, and we'll talk about it more as it comes up more and more in this episode, first and foremost, fantastically paced for an episode. Agreed. I there was a point where I had to stop and realize that we've got ten minutes left of the episode, and it felt like it didn't drag on at all. Every scene seemed to serve a purpose in advancing the plot of the episode. However, a lot of the scenes are devoted to the characters on the screen, the crew of the Enterprise, acting foolishly and acting in a way to overstimulate and cause the androids to shut down through their acts of illogic. Fine, but I think at some point it loses its entertainment value and it kind of starts to feel like it drags on, not because what they're doing on screen is bad, but because it's like the fifth or sixth time that we've seen them do something.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

I can agree. I kind of got over the double Alice's like the third time they showed me them.

SPEAKER_03 10:32

That's I think rose-colored glasses 2026 versus 1967. 1967, the ability to show multiple identical people on screen at the same time when CGI was not really a thing. And I think that's just because this is a show that's a product of that time.

SPEAKER_01 10:55

So they didn't have 200,000 brunettes with blue eyes?

SPEAKER_03 10:59

No, they did not. They had twins. They casted twins for these rolls.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

That's really cool.

SPEAKER_03 11:06

But then, like, there's the there's the one shot of Mud on his throne, and it's like a camera shot looking at them, and then you see two Alice's standing on either side of him, and then from off-camera, one side, two more walk-on, then the other side, two more walk-on. That's just split filming. And so that I think again, sure, you go, how many times do we have to see this? But that was pretty impressive for the 60s. That's the only reason though they do it a couple times.

SPEAKER_01 11:37

No, that totally makes sense. I like that uh photography. Just there's always two of the same in every scene that you mentioned earlier. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:48

And it's to drive it home.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

I mean, as a lady, I could have used more Norman or more of the other gentlemen in the background.

SPEAKER_03 11:55

Yeah, there's only one Norman.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:57

Only one Norman. So, no, I think I just think there gets to a point where they were doing things on screen to confuse them that I just kind of go, okay, we know where this is going to lead. Like the first time when Ohura has the scene about outing their plan to escape by saying, I want to become immortal.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

Oh, she tricked me.

SPEAKER_03 12:20

Yeah. I thought that was fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Yeah, I was like, WTF girl.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

But then as time goes on, we have the whole scene where they're dancing and playing music.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

I like that too.

SPEAKER_03 12:30

And then but then we get to and then we get to the point with the whole fake explosion. That was weird. And we've gotten to the point where it's like, this is the third, the fourth, the fifth time that we're seeing them pull out.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

We get it. Androids can't see imagination.

SPEAKER_03 12:45

Yeah, it's like, okay, we've we've this is another episode of Enterprise, the improv theater group, and I go, I'm over it.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

Scotty and and McCoy.

SPEAKER_03 12:58

I don't it's not even that it's not even that they just did that. It's not even that they had that moment. Nothing they did on screen I found to be cheesy. I don't care that they had the fake music and the dancing. I didn't find it corny that they did improv with a fake explosive device. None of it was bad. It's just the fact that we had to watch all of it, and it lost, I think, its charm toward the end. I wish they would have picked one or two, maybe a smaller third scene, and that's all that we saw instead of the multiple scenes that we end up with.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

No, I get it. Like Scotty has his, Spock has his. Like we could have done without I love you, I hate you. Dwing.

SPEAKER_03 13:43

Yeah. So I think it's gonna be one of my minor one of my only complaints for the episode, but I don't know. You want to just get into it?

SPEAKER_01 13:51

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 13:51

Why don't you walk us through the episode?

SPEAKER_01 13:53

All

Treking Through the Episode

SPEAKER_01 13:54

right. So as we begin, we find McCoy and Spock walking in the hallway, and there's a new crew member, our tall blonde-headed friend, and McCoy is the first one to notice something's off. And Spock's like, he's only been here 72 hours, give him a chance. Right. But I find it interesting that McCoy is the one that notices he's off when he's like the most like, welcome to the group.

SPEAKER_03 14:20

Yeah, I can understand why Spock may not do it. I think it'd be more it's more because McCoy also has on his little checklist of duties to do is to get this guy through a physical. And he's missed two appointments. And he's missed two appointments. I think that's really, even though it doesn't come across the screen as well, I think that's what really leads to McCoy's suspicion over just his personality.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

Well, they first have to tell us how bad his personality is because they have to make a jab at Spock first. Correct. And then they go, Oh, he missed two appointments.

SPEAKER_03 14:56

Right. Which partially doesn't make sense. They never explain where Crewman Norman comes from.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

No, just appears.

SPEAKER_03 15:04

He's just on the ship. And we have to assume then, I don't know where he comes from. Does he get beamed on? They have records of him.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

And why is he in blue? Wouldn't they know who he is, like in general? Because they're both or all three of them are wearing blue. I just realize that right now.

SPEAKER_03 15:19

Yeah, they're all in the medical science division of the enterprise. If he was if he had spy snuck his way and infiltrated Starfleet and created fake personnel records and transferred onto the Enterprise normally, as opposed to just beaming aboard as a stowaway. But it doesn't seem like he's a stowaway because they have records of him. And part of those records would include some kind of details to him, but no one seems to know anything about him.

unknown 15:51

Right.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

McCoy's number one complaints because Spock says you can't put labels, and his arguments are well, he doesn't smile, he doesn't conversate, and he doesn't give background information. Of course, not describing you, Spock, you know, it's the ears.

SPEAKER_03 16:08

Right. So why exactly why Spock wouldn't have his concerns raised. He would just go, finally, a human that actually has a work ethic. Exactly. Yeah. And then we get several scenes where attack scenes. Yeah. Fight scenes, full fight scenes, actual stunt work, where Norman infiltrates different parts of auxiliary control, engineering, and he fights all these people and he changes all of these settings and controls, and we get back and forth where the enterprise bridge with Kirk is calling security and having security chase him around. But ultimately, Norman's goal, as they come to find out, is he increases speed to warp seven and changes course.

SPEAKER_01 16:57

Did you notice that Sulu has the fancy gym pretty keyboard now? And he has that little scope thing that uh Spock has.

SPEAKER_03 17:06

Yeah, I don't know that. I mean, the scope is definitely not there in other shoots. So I don't, I'll fully admit, I don't know what the lore is for this the the scanning eyepiece device on Sulu's terminal if it's been put if it detaches and comes back, or if it's just a production problem where production added it for one episode and there's no reason for it there.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

I said Sulu was jealous and wanted his own.

SPEAKER_03 17:31

Okay, yeah. Sulu decided he needed an equipment upgrade.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

But we never see Sulu anymore.

SPEAKER_03 17:37

Not for this episode, no, and not for several episodes to come because he takes eight, nine episodes off to go film a movie, the actor.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

For such a popular character, this dude is not there all the time.

SPEAKER_03 17:51

No, no, it's very weird. He'll be back.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

Okay, so, anyways, that's what I noticed. But as Kirk is leaving, because Scotty has already said he's in my security area, he's the intruder is taking over. Kirk is like, I'm gonna go get him. I don't know why Kirk always has to save the date, also, FYI. Right. And as Kirk is leaving the bridge, our dude, Norman, is walking on, he grabs Kirk, and Kirk's like, You're touching me.

SPEAKER_03 18:18

Yeah, don't touch me. I'm the captain. But yeah, Norman gets from engineering to the bridge in 20 seconds, which is it's impossible, but we'll ignore it.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

And Norman is saying, uh, you guys cannot change course. If you do, you'll blow up your ship, and I have the dead man switch.

SPEAKER_03 18:35

Yeah, you can't you can't undo any of the programming or any of the system adjustments that I've made because the ship will blow up. You can't kill me and blow me up because then your ship will blow up. You basically don't have a choice. We don't want to harm you, because he uses that. He doesn't say I, he says we.

SPEAKER_01 18:53

Yes, we statements.

SPEAKER_03 18:55

And you just have to follow and trust us, and you don't have a choice. You're just gonna follow it's gonna take four days, and we'll end up where we need to be.

SPEAKER_01 19:05

And then who is we? And then that's when we see him flip up his shirt and he unfolds his skin to show a robot.

SPEAKER_03 19:12

Right. And that's where we finally get our opening credits. Very long opening to this episode. If you go back and look, it's over five and a half minutes. Still fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

We have to see Norman fight. We do. So when we come back, this is when Spock and Kirk are both like, Whoa, he's an android, what are we gonna do? And Norman has said just what you said. Their destination is four days away. And when they're like, Well, where are we going? And who sent you? He's like, I am not programmed to respond in that area, and then he closes his eyes after he's crossed his arms and he's turned off.

SPEAKER_03 19:54

Yes, and it's not very apparent, but we get a four-day time jump in the episode. So imagine what that actually is. Norman just crosses his arms, tilts his head back, closes his eyes, and then he stays in that exact position for four days. So imagine the characters of the Enterprise having to do their jobs for four days, and they just have this android hanging out on the ship.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

In the middle of the walkway.

SPEAKER_03 20:24

Which Ohura, they when we finally we get the whole thing about they reach they're reaching their destination. Just before things progress, Ohura is walking across that back of the bridge and looking at her data pad or her tricorder, I forget what equipment it was, and she bumps into Norman, which I thought was great because the whole time my brain is sitting there thinking, what a really inconvenience place to power down and just hang out. And I love that the show addresses it in the moment.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

And she's little enough that it would be funny because Norman like towers over everyone. Yes. I do like though, there's a lot of good one-liners in this episode, I must agree, because Spock's like, Whoa, four days, that's gonna be a long time. And Kirk's like, yes, we're gonna take a little trip. Ha ha. Okay, anyways. And they're on Warp 7. They made a big deal about that speed.

SPEAKER_03 21:19

It's pretty fast for what starships can do at this point in the Star Trek timeline. That's really pushing it.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

Okay. So they now come upon a planet that has not been in like the charted territory yet, and now Norman wakes up.

SPEAKER_03 21:35

And scares everyone.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

Yes, they're like, whoa, what's happening? And everybody gets their like own camera view and Spock's like, oh.

SPEAKER_03 21:43

I thought it was just again another moment that I in this beginning, and I think it carries through most of the episode. Uh great little detail. He wakes up and everyone on the bridge reacts to it. It's very it's very immersive.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

They're not expecting him. To wake up at like, okay, so it's been four days, so it's like four days and thirty minutes, four days and two minutes, and he's like, We're here, yeah, welcome. And then he just lists off Kirk individually, but then he lists officers, but he doesn't say their names, so I don't understand how they got to each particular person. Because aren't there multiple officers that could be science officers? Yes. Let me list off the officers, the people. Kirk, science officer, medical officer, communications officer, and navigator. I know who the navigator is.

SPEAKER_03 22:37

Yeah, we know who the navigator is.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

And I assume who the others are, but are there are they the only officer who could go?

SPEAKER_03 22:44

So technically. They are listing it's best to think of it as listing job titles and not job duties. The science officer is Spock, even though there are other crew members who serve in the science division. Spock is in charge of the science division, so he's the science officer.

SPEAKER_01 23:05

So like science manager. Yes. Okay, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 23:09

So medical officer McCoy, because he's the doctor and he runs the medical people. Even though there are nurses, there's probably another doctor or two.

SPEAKER_04 23:20

I would hope.

SPEAKER_03 23:21

At least have medical training. That's actually a good question. Are there any other doctors on the enterprise? There would have to be other medical personnel. They just don't use the term or the title doctor. Anyway, I'm not going on that tangent.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

Well, I know there's a lady like a long time to go.

SPEAKER_03 23:36

You're thinking the next generation, and you're thinking she has a son, too. Dr. Beverly Crusher, who gets replaced.

SPEAKER_01 23:43

I know these people. I am not just a layman.

SPEAKER_03 23:46

Yeah, they don't really have other doctors. They just have medical support staff. So, like the bridge the the the ship just has one doctor. That's a that's a problem for healthcare in the future. Anyway. That's me in my brain.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

I'm not going on as he's listing all these people, and I'm like, WTF. Yeah, we gotta keep we gotta keep it moving.

SPEAKER_03 24:07

We gotta get back onto it.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

So Kirk's like, anyone that needs to like have a chat, they can just come to the Enterprise. We don't need to go down there. And then Norman's like, Do you want me to blow this up? Because we can just blow it up and get it over with right now, you know, unless you want to go down. And there's also a word though that I hear you humans like that kind of has a lot of weight. Uh-huh. Please.

SPEAKER_03 24:30

Yeah. I again get all shocked. Yeah. Another great moment. It doesn't it stands out as a fun moment, but it doesn't stand out like a sore thumb.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

The clarinet interlude stood out for me. I loved it because it was humorous.

SPEAKER_03 24:43

Yes. I'm also gonna say, I th in thinking about it, where would Norman decide who gets beamed down?

SPEAKER_01 24:52

Mudd has told him who he is to have beamed down because he knows who they are anybody.

SPEAKER_03 24:57

Mud would not know who Chekhov is.

SPEAKER_01 24:59

Yes, because Chekhov's like, who is this dude?

SPEAKER_03 25:02

Yeah, we'll get to that in a minute. That's the only hole in that theory, because yes, that would make sense if Mud gave them a list of these would be the best people to beam down.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

He would think it would be Kyle.

SPEAKER_03 25:12

It might also be uh yeah, it might also be a combination of Mud giving them information, but also making a determination of these are going to be the best officers to have beamed down. To study. And to make as much chaos on the enterprise to make it as weak as possible to take over later. That's my headcanon that I'll go with.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

Alright, so now we're on the planet, and Norman's like, this is like your K-type planets. We have pressure domes to ensure you can live.

SPEAKER_03 25:41

Yes, so not livable on our own like Earth, which is M class, but okay to live as long as we have structures and life support equipment.

SPEAKER_01 25:53

Do we have A through Z types?

SPEAKER_03 25:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

Oh my, okay, that's wild. Okay, so and now the crew is brought in and they see that Harry Mud is sitting on a throne with two lovely ladies standing next to him, one on either side, and one is holding a jug of wine and the other a cup, kind of like all out Princess Leah.

SPEAKER_03 26:16

And perfectly shot too as they enter this little throne room for lack of a better term for it. They don't focus on Mud immediately. We have a prolonged shot of them walking through the door. We see mud in the background, flanked by his two android models drinking his cup, and he's already like drinking out of it before they walk in, so we don't see his face until he lowers the cup. Again, and we instantly recognize who he is.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

So well, because he's wearing his garish uniform of blue blouse, velvet pants, a purple belt, gold caplets, and what other garish designs he has on his shirt.

unknown 26:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:57

It's crazy. But no hat. I miss the hat. Well, he is a ruler now. He doesn't need a hat to be an explorer.

SPEAKER_03 27:04

True.

SPEAKER_01 27:05

And so and every one of the ladies we've met are the exact replicas. They're brunettes with blue eyes, they're wearing silver tights and tool with like silver rope hanging around.

SPEAKER_03 27:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

I put it towards like Ariel when she gets her legs after trading her voice and she's on land, meaning Eric. You know, and the sail and the rope. Yeah. Okay. But Star Trek.

SPEAKER_03 27:32

But Star Trek. But sci-fi up.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

Yeah. And so Kirk's like, you, can we please go back to the Enterprise now? Because we don't want to be here with you. And he Kirk pulls out his communicator to call the Enterprise. He's like, we just need to leave. And one of Mud's girls just like crushes the communicator right there in half.

SPEAKER_03 27:54

Yes. Sideways. Interesting that I don't know, interesting, but just note noteworthy at least. Norman even allowed them to beam down with communicators.

SPEAKER_01 28:06

Maybe he didn't know they had them.

SPEAKER_03 28:07

They would have had to grab them on their way down, because they don't necessarily carry them on the Enterprise, just on their belt. So they have to get them from like the armory. They'd have to get them from an equipment locker as they walked to the transporter room.

SPEAKER_01 28:21

I never knew that. Maybe I'm like Norman.

SPEAKER_03 28:24

And so well Norman would have seen them.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

I don't I'd what I'm saying is I always assume they had him with them all the time, like a walkie-talkie attached to my belt.

SPEAKER_03 28:32

Now there's no need to have it on the Enterprise because they're always surrounded by communication panels. They just go up to the wall, push the button, and talk to who they need to. But secret chitter chatter. No. Chit chit. It's Kirk. Norman would have escorted them from the bridge to the transporter room. He would have seen them pull them out of an equipment locker. And again, it's just interesting that Norman would allow them to grab any equipment whatsoever. Weird tangent. But if he did, we wouldn't get the fun scene of the lady android crushing the communicator for everyone to see.

SPEAKER_01 29:03

Because she's as strong as any male that can be. And Chekhov's like, uh, do we know this dude?

SPEAKER_03 29:09

Right. Which is important if you want to pay attention to the Star Trek timeline, because Chekhov is serving on the Enterprise before we first see him on the bridge because he knows Khan. So we know he was on the bridge or on Khan. It's just it's a good timeline marker. We know Chekhov was serving on the Enterprise during Space Seed because he knew who Khan is. However, he doesn't know who Mud is, so he wouldn't have been on The Enterprise for that. So he came on board somewhere between those two episodes.

SPEAKER_01 29:39

And the actor got a haircut between this one and last episode.

SPEAKER_03 29:43

No, his or a better stylist. It is because it is filmed out of order than what is aired, and so this time his hair is grown long enough he doesn't need the wig.

SPEAKER_01 29:53

It's terrible. And then Kirk goes on to explain just how horrible Mud is to check off. And Mud's like, oh, it's just, I'm just a misunderstood entrepreneur. And then we have a break. And then Kirk again's called Mud a liar and a crook, and he better restore all the control back to enterprise. And Mud just laughs and goes on how beautiful his androids are and compliant. There are 500 of the same model. This one is called Ellis.

SPEAKER_03 30:23

Yeah, and and he goes on to also say, talk about how he was directly involved in their creation. Creation, which implies he was the one who modeled how they looked, how they acted, and so forth. I'm sure most of that is true, but they still have their hidden agenda that we'll learn about here shortly. Breaking down the numbers, he says that there's 500 in the Alice class. It's interesting because they also have all their necklaces that have their number on them. We never see a four-digit number on any of the models, on any of the necklaces.

SPEAKER_01 31:01

No, because he has other models of ladies like the Trudy, the Maisie, and the Annabelle. So there has to be 500 of them.

SPEAKER_03 31:08

Right. So pretending 500 men. Right. So pretending that each model has no more than 500, or even pretending that the models don't get beyond 999 to stay in this in the triple-digit model numbers, how many androids are there on the planet?

SPEAKER_01 31:27

I have that number right here. Let me get down to my number. Spock was able to get from Norman that there are exactly 207,809 androids on the planet.

SPEAKER_03 31:40

So round that to 207,000. And if each model can have a maximum number of units active at a time of 999 to stay compliant with the triple-digit numbering system, that means there's almost 2100 different models. And we only see a few of them.

SPEAKER_01 32:02

Well, the ones that were there when Harry crashed the planet, they're doing their other work. These are just the ones he created.

SPEAKER_03 32:10

Okay, we'll use that as the headcanon. But in any case, I just found that interesting that at no point did they show any model number that was beyond 500 triple digits.

SPEAKER_01 32:22

There was no room on the tag.

SPEAKER_03 32:24

There we go.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

Spock calls that 500 of the same model is illogical. And then Bamud's like, you would love it here. They all think like you. Yeah. Like they all talk exactly like you. And you're just getting caught up on the numbers. But then Kirk asks again, so we left you on the Rigel colonies going to jail. How did you get here?

SPEAKER_03 32:49

And we get a somewhat confuddled explanation from Mud as he tries to explain the set of his circumstances without incriminating himself for any wrongdoing. But long story short, he was able to escape after his imprisonment from the last episode we see him. He was running around, he had stolen patents or blueprints and so forth for technology, and he was selling those blueprints and technology to other alien races without collecting and paying a royalty fee to the patent holders. He was caught on a planet, he had to steal a ship to escape. They shot at him, disabling his ship. He drifted for a while, and then all he says is, I found myself on this planet. So again, he didn't intentionally go to this planet, he didn't go to this planet with any sort of motive or plan in place. This is literally, for lack of a better term, he probably just drifted by this planet while disabled. The android saw him or saw his ship and beamed him down. And that's how he found himself in this predicament.

SPEAKER_01 34:06

So Mud explains that this planet had androids just running amok without any purpose, and he was the one to give them purpose. They were gonna study humans and learn so much from him. And because androids need purpose, you know, so they serve him.

SPEAKER_03 34:23

Right.

SPEAKER_01 34:24

But now he's run out of ideas and he needs, you know, gaggle of humans to give them more things to study so he can return to civilization.

SPEAKER_03 34:32

Right. Specifically because the androids aren't going to quote let him leave unless there are other humans there for them to learn from. They don't want to be left alone again because if they're left alone and don't have any biological masters to serve, they have no purpose. So that's how the Enterprise crew ended up getting tricked to beam down, quote unquote, or hijacked by Norman. I don't think it's gonna work out exactly how Mud is in is picturing, but that's to be seen.

SPEAKER_01 35:04

So Harry ha so Mud has a couple Alice's show the crew where they're going to stay. And as they're walking by, McCoy notices that there's like a dark part in a wall, and he's like, What is this?

SPEAKER_03 35:19

And I don't like this part of the episode.

SPEAKER_01 35:21

I think they overdid it. Thank you. So and Mud explains that this is a shrine he's made to his wife, Stella. And of course, uh he says like he loves her dearly, but every time they'd come in contact, she'd push him farther and farther away out into outer space. And then McCoy again makes a comment like, Great, you're just gonna go to outer space and still bring her along.

SPEAKER_03 35:48

Interesting, because he they he created an android form of her, but only one, right, and only created it for the purpose of existing in this little nook so that he can turn her on, listen to her nag at him for two or three seconds, he can yell at her to shut up, and because she's an android, she has to follow that command, and so it's literally just a ego boost, an emotional punching bag for Mud.

SPEAKER_01 36:20

And she they didn't make her look pretty at all. I love her dress, don't get me wrong, like when we see it at the end, but I think they could have made her more pretty instead of looking like one of the witches from Hocus Pocus.

SPEAKER_03 36:32

Her dress is a it's been modified since it appeared, but it is uh used in the episode The Conscious of the King, that episode that had the Shakespeare's actors.

SPEAKER_01 36:46

Oh, well, I like it now.

SPEAKER_03 36:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:48

It's beautiful. It's peacock, has lots of feathers. I think it's gorgeous, but his wife, I think they should have made her prettier.

SPEAKER_03 36:55

Yeah, and again, it's just it's just overdone.

SPEAKER_01 36:59

It's just not needed as they could have done once and then look done it. That's enough.

SPEAKER_03 37:04

I'm fine with them leaving that whole plot point out of the episode.

SPEAKER_01 37:08

Then it wouldn't be funny at the end.

SPEAKER_03 37:10

Yeah, but in any case, the androids lead the enterprise crew to a quote unquote recreation area that is kind of a central area to all of their quarters. We get a retelling of what we just went over about the fact that these androids were created by people, they call them the makers, they served them, but their solar system, their sun went supernova, and the only people that were saved were androids and makers that existed in remote science outposts. And eventually the androids outlived the makers.

SPEAKER_01 37:46

And Norman was one of those surviving on the outpost.

SPEAKER_03 37:50

Yes. And so that is the only reason these androids continue to exist, but all the makers have died off from old age. It's been so long since.

SPEAKER_01 37:58

Norman also has the number one on his tag. Hint hint. Hint hint.

SPEAKER_03 38:04

And so we get a drawn-out scene process we'll quickly cover to keep things moving forward. All of the Enterprise crew get to experience what life would be like on this planet being served by the androids. Chekhov is immediately falling in love with the female models. Well, they are pretty. In a romantic way. Spock gets to go to a control room where the technology is fantastic. Scotty gets the same treatment. Uhura gets to see how the androids are made and learns that they can take a human brain and implant it in an android so that they live forever and have immortality and unlasting immortal beauty. Basically setting up the whole idea of Kirk thinking to himself, how am I going to convince the crew to fight back and go back to their lives and get back to the Enterprise and escape if they've literally just been shown that they can live out their lives in paradise?

SPEAKER_01 39:04

I do want to back up some because Scotty was supposed to stay on the ship. And when he arrives, that's when Kirk has been told that all of the crew, all four of 400 of them, have been replaced by androids. Right. Because Scotty's like, why am I here?

SPEAKER_03 39:22

Right. Yeah, they're trying to figure out why he was there. You are right. They uh he was the last one to get taken off of the Enterprise. But yes, the entire crew, even though we don't see anyone other than Scotty, right, we're told that all 400-ish crew members of the Enterprise have been forcefully beamed down to the planet and have been replaced with Android counterparts.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

So Kirk calls for a powwow of his crew and he's like, We are birds in a gilded cage. And of course, Chuckov's like, but it's such a beautiful cage. That's a fun line, I think. And Ura's like, it is pleasant, it really is. And Kirk's like, snap, snap, get out of there. We belong on the Enterprise, that's our actual home. And as they're talking, Alice 471 walks in, going, anything you need? And Kirk's like, My ship. And uh Alice's little tag starts to blink and chirp, and she's like, I'm not programmed to, and then Kirk like finishes out her sentence, but she then says, I can still get you anything you want because we want to make sure you're happy. He's like, Well, that's not the problem. We are unhappy. She doesn't understand what unhappy is. And so Spock like takes the lead and explains that when a human's wants and desires are not fulfilled, that's unhappiness. So then again, Alice is like, well, then what's not fulfilled? Kirk's like, we want the enterprise. And then she replies, Enterprise is a mechanical device, you can't want that. Like it's that doesn't mean anything. And then Kirk's like, no, she's a beautiful lady and we love her. And Alice47 then responds to that outburst as illogical, and she is like telling all of the units around her that they're gonna call Enterprise a lady and it's illogical, and she leaves the room.

SPEAKER_03 41:14

And specifically what she does, because it's a clue for later, is she just speaks out loud and asks Norman to coordinate. Yes. Which is gonna be the big clue that tips the hand so that Kirk and Spock can figure out that Norman is kind of the central processing point for all of these androids.

SPEAKER_01 41:36

And then she's also going to study what unhappiness is, because obviously they have to learn more. Right.

SPEAKER_03 41:42

And then we jump to the throne room, and they confront Mud, and this is where we get a little scene where Mud is saying that he's gonna leave, he's done his part, he's delivered new humans to the planet for the androids to serve and study, so he can leave because he's bored. And the androids reveal that no, you can't leave. You're illogical, you're kind of a bad person, Mud. And we can't do that. We can't let you leave. You're gonna stay here. We are going to, as a crew, take the enterprise and we're gonna go out and we're going to take over the humans, we're going to serve the humans, we're going to make them happy and controlled. Exactly. They use the term controlled so they can no longer be destructive in their illogical methods. Basically, put all of humanity in a pretty little gilded cage. And then we get a commercial break, and for those keeping track, we are about to start the probably the last 10 minutes. Yeah. It's it's act four and it wraps up. And again, it it's does may not seem like it based on our explanation of the episode, but it's fantastically paced where it just feels like, oh, wow, we're only 10 minutes away. That's cool. It that you don't ever feel bogged down, except maybe in these last couple scenes.

SPEAKER_01 43:12

But also with this actor, even with the Mud's women, I think this actor helps move the show along because he's so entertaining.

SPEAKER_03 43:19

Yes, and which is why if we had more episodes with Mud in it, I would want him I would want to see him become the victim of his plot and not just the villain. I would rather see him put into the situation rather than drive the situation, so to speak, like he did in the first episode. I would rather him be a victim and need rescuing because then it kind of pushes him a little bit into the background where I think his character is better suited, than in the foreground, like we saw in Mud's Women.

SPEAKER_01 43:52

I can see that. But we needed the first episode to show who he was as a whole. Yeah. All right. So now we have another. Another Pow Powell, and how are the androids going to run Enterprise? And Spock has already asked that very same question because they're gonna tell them the humans anything. Because how can the humans uh know more than them? And Spock said that the androids just have to add cybernetic additions and they'll be able to control everything. But then Scotty also comments how robots and androids cannot think independently, and this is where they all realize that Norman is the one, he's like the head dude, the one that coordinates everything from that weird podium he stands behind. And so we need to figure out how to knock everyone out for lack of a better term, like override them, like confusing Alice earlier. Yes, and so their first logical plan or their first part of their plan is that Harry has to be sleeping, and McCoy he has that trusty syringe with him, and he puts Harry to sleep, and he's sick. McCoy needs to go to the enterprise to get all the medical supplies, but the androids won't let him go because there's a medical lab below him.

SPEAKER_03 45:16

Yeah, it's kind of interesting in the sense because before they get the syringe, they have to tell one of the Alice's that he's sick and McCoy needs access to his medical supplies that he, I guess, brought down with him fine. But in that conversation, Alice is saying that, oh, he's sick. You have to help him, you have to fix him, you have to treat him. He's malfunctioning, you deal with it. And I'm like, you guys are service androids, you fix him. Like, is that what you said when your makers got sick? You just, oh, you got a boo-boo? I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_01 45:54

Who's a band aid?

SPEAKER_03 45:56

No, they wouldn't even give the band-aid, they would look at him and say, Go find a band-aid, go find the first aid kit. We're androids, we don't do that, baby. Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 46:04

They haven't learned how to fix these humans. I they're this Harry Mud was perfect bill of health.

SPEAKER_03 46:10

That's a bold faced lie.

SPEAKER_01 46:14

Well, they do mention he's gained weight.

SPEAKER_03 46:16

Yeah, they do.

SPEAKER_01 46:17

And Uhura, though, jumps up and says, This is a trick. They're tricking you. Don't believe them. This is just a diversion. And then Alice just leaves saying, Uhura, your new body will be ready in just 24 hours. Thank you for telling us this. And then as Alice leaves, Kirk's like, Good job, Uhura. And he like picks her up. Kirk needs to keep his hands off these ladies.

SPEAKER_03 46:40

Yeah, Kirk's gonna become an HR issue. Oh my goodness. Yeah. But again, fantastic scene, I think, for the episode. As a viewer, it was kind of like the way they portrayed it, even as a viewer for a moment, you're like, Whoa.

SPEAKER_01 46:54

And I was like, it wasn't that pretty girl.

SPEAKER_03 46:56

She just sold them out. And then, but I will also say then it was an immediate flip where they give the reveal to the viewer, to the audience, to show that it was all a ploy, to bring them in on the plan. Again, great.

SPEAKER_01 47:11

And then Kirk's also like, we're gonna take these Alice's through Wonderland.

SPEAKER_03 47:16

A little cheesy, but okay, Kirk.

SPEAKER_01 47:18

And then I call Operation Illogical presumes.

SPEAKER_03 47:22

Dun dun du resumes. Dun dun duh.

SPEAKER_01 47:25

So Kirk goes to the throne that the original, I'm guessing, two Alice's are hanging out at. Kirk goes to the throne and he just plops on there, and two Alices come asking, What do you need? They don't even call him my lord or anything. And he's like, Yes, I need your attention. And then he claps, and then the door opens, so there's no like up and down door on this planet. It opens in the middle to the to the diagonal, like a grilled cheese. And McCoy and Scotty are pretending to play instruments, violin and flute, but it's piano music that we're listening to. And Chekhov and Ahura are dancing. Why are they dancing?

SPEAKER_03 48:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 48:07

So Kirk's like, Well, they're celebrating, they're celebrating their captivity, like one at you. And then he's like, Can't you hear the music? And the Alice's do not know what music is. Like their necklaces are like chirping and blinking. And they are just so confused. But the dancing and music does stop. Chekhov is on the floor after O'Hora like slaps him. And then Kirk's like, Why are you on the floor, Chekhov? That's no place for an officer. And then he stands up and he starts jumping. They're all jumping now. Why are they jumping? So the Alice's tags are beeping and chirping, and they become overwhelmed, no longer responding, and McCoy's tricorder reads that they are no longer active. Right. Spock, meanwhile, is in the machine shop, and this is where he was talking about how he loves one Alice but hates the other Alice.

SPEAKER_03 49:02

Right, because he also discovers in this moment that a Vulcan nerve pinch does not take out the androids.

SPEAKER_01 49:08

Yes, because she's like, What's that touch for?

SPEAKER_03 49:10

Yeah. Probably should have known that, Spock, but okay.

SPEAKER_01 49:13

And then the one that he did touch, she's like, Why don't you love me? And Kurt Spock's like, Spock's like, Well, you're identical. And then they're immediately overwhelmed.

SPEAKER_03 49:23

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 49:24

Like they didn't understand.

SPEAKER_03 49:25

So we're now at, I'm just keeping track here. We're now at the third iteration of watching an enterprise crew member or members use illogical actions to overwhelm the androids. I'm just keeping track here.

SPEAKER_01 49:39

So now they're in the room where Norman and his podium is, and they're like all surrounded by other androids. And Kirk is basically telling him he needs to surrender. But Norman says that's illogical. Androids are faster, stronger, you know, no, they're better. So as they begin to override what seems to be groups of androids, it kind of like has to go down a peg to Norman. So we first have a first set of Alice's that become overburdened because I mean Scotty and McCoy are weeping about how much they need the torment of their jobs to be able to be satisfied and happy. And then so, oops, off they go. And then because this is still illogical and contradictory, Norman wants Spock to explain what is happening. And Spock explains random logic as being birds in the meadow and so on and whatnot. And now we have just a sequence of events that happen to definitely scramble more minds, and Norman's in particular. We have Scotty dying because he's too happy, and everyone is cheering about his death. And then we now then we see an explosive being pantomimed between Spock, Kirk, thrown to Harry. McCoy hands him a fuse and they light it, and then they use golf clubs, all imaginary, to send it over the wall as they all yell for. But Norman's like there was no explosion. Exactly. And then the Alice's break down all over as the humans are covering their ears because there's a lot of explosion. And then Norman's like, nothing happened again. Then Kirk reminds Norman that everything Harry has told him is a lie. But if everything is a lie that Harry has told him, that means it's a truth. And then now we are being backwards and forwards in Norman's brain. He cannot compute this lies, what lies, what's not. And then finally he is overridden and confused.

SPEAKER_03 51:51

In a spectacular fashion, is smoke pours out of his ears and the top of his head. Fun little special effect that they use.

SPEAKER_01 52:00

But nobody else got to get smoke.

SPEAKER_03 52:03

No, because I think the others just got overwhelmed and shut down and went into safe mode, and Norman actually physically was injured. Because he is the brain. Because he burned himself out, and he's the central processing unit. So and I think this is the scene where I just kind of throw my hands up and I go, I I I surrender. Enough pantomime, enough play acting. This was the scene that just kind of said, too much, we could have cut it down.

SPEAKER_01 52:30

And Harry Mud also thinks that he and Kirk should become a partnership after this.

SPEAKER_03 52:36

Just like in Mud's Women.

SPEAKER_01 52:38

Well, he's always trying to get up in the world. But then we changed scenes, and then because of course we're no longer doing that, you're staying here, Harry. That's weird. And McCoy is now poking at Spock about how he now has to go back to the world of illogical humans. And Spock's like, I think I could deal with that, you know, my logic in a world of illogical humans. I'll keep you guys sane. That's his place. And as they're starting to leave to go back to the enterprise.

SPEAKER_03 53:07

Right. Because they've revealed to Mud that his quote-unquote punishment is the androids have been reprogrammed and repurposed back into just mostly manufacturing and not to serve and please Harry Mud. And so Mud's parole, quote unquote, is to stay on the planet. And basically, I wouldn't call him an overseer because I don't think they're going to give him that much power.

SPEAKER_01 53:36

They said that the androids will learn what an irritant Harry and humans are.

SPEAKER_03 53:41

Yeah, I think he just has to to work. I let's call him an assistant manager.

SPEAKER_01 53:46

There we go. But he still has his beautiful models. He can still look at them because we see all of them spread out.

SPEAKER_03 53:53

Right. We get several of the new models that we see. And uh yeah, he thinks for a moment that he's getting away pretty easy.

SPEAKER_01 54:00

But don't forget, we still have Stella. They left him with a gift, and they made him his real own android wife to yell at him forever.

SPEAKER_03 54:11

That he can't turn off by telling her to shut up. And we get a reveal that it's not just one, but three. Five hundred. Because the third one that comes in is number five hundred.

SPEAKER_01 54:23

I didn't see that on her neck.

SPEAKER_03 54:24

That's awesome. We just see the three, but yeah, there's five hundred of them. Fine, I think a little overdone. I would have done three. I I think the whole plot line of his wife is overdone. I the only reason that we get to see her in the quote unquote shrine and they introduce her is for this last little gag at the end.

SPEAKER_01 54:42

Well, he has to be punished. He's on parole.

SPEAKER_03 54:45

Right. And they leave him there, they beam up. Thankfully, we don't get a little scene back on the bridge where they try to lament any final lines. It's just the Enterprise leaving orbit, and that's it. Roll credits.

Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_03 55:00

So, Jackie, what are your final thoughts about season two, episode eight, I Mud? What are your final thoughts?

SPEAKER_01 55:08

I mean, I liked it again. I I feel this was another episode that the actors got to have fun with, not just beating the same old thing, even though it is the same storyline.

SPEAKER_03 55:18

Yeah. Again, there's the little, I think, nuance, we now know who the character is. I like the fact that he was a victim and in need of rescue, as opposed to just the villain of the story. I think that adds to the character and how he interacts with the Enterprise. My only two complaints, I think, are going to be, again, the fact that you had so many scenes of pantomining illogical acts to confuse the androids all the way up to the end where you almost have four or five different skits. It's at the end, by the end, it's too much. Improv comedy troupe. They could have taken the best three and used those examples, and I think cut some of the others out in the end. But that's just my thought. And again, the whole plot line with Mud's wife, Stella, and her android, I think was just kind of going for a cheap laugh, and I don't think it was very effective. I would have done without it.

SPEAKER_01 56:22

They could have left her out and kept the others. Maybe it would have been better.

SPEAKER_03 56:26

Yeah. And before we get into our final, final thoughts and we talk about our favorite quotes from the episode, don't forget that we will post our Star Note bonus episode where we'll dive into a deeper topic or two about the episode, and we'll post those bonus Star Note episodes over at our Patreon, patreon.com slash treks and tangents. Free for anyone who follows our Patreon. This episode's Star Note topic is going to be was Harry Mud a villain, a victim, or an accidental revolutionary? I always like Jackie's little squint and expression when I reveal the Star Note topic because this is the first time she hears it.

SPEAKER_02 57:07

You come up with the weirdest ones.

SPEAKER_03 57:09

I know.

SPEAKER_02 57:09

I know like one answer.

SPEAKER_03 57:11

No, I have I have thoughts and we can explore it a different way. And we'll go That's my line. We have thoughts. We have thoughts. We'll talk about a couple different things about mud and the androids because there's a couple topics that we didn't cover in the episode that we'll get into. It'll be fun. I think it'll be a good Star Note episode this time.

SPEAKER_02 57:28

You owe me cookies.

SPEAKER_03 57:30

I owe you cookies. But before I owe you cookies, Jackie, what is gonna be your favorite quote from the episode? I have two. Always two.

SPEAKER_01 57:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 57:39

Okay, but pick one. Give me pick one as your favorite quote and one as your runner-up and give me your runner-up first.

SPEAKER_01 57:47

You may be a wonderful science officer, but believe me, you couldn't sell fake patents to your mother. I failed to understand why I should care to induce my mother to purchase falsified patents. Okay, and that's Mud to Spock as Kirk and Spock are creating an escape plan.

SPEAKER_03 58:04

Okay, and why is this the runner-up? What why is this not your favorite?

SPEAKER_01 58:09

Because my favorite is beautiful, but this is my runner-up because Mud is basically calling out that he is a fabulous salesman like yours truly. And and you know, Spock couldn't get his mom to buy anything, but then Spock doesn't understand why I would want my mom to buy fake patents in the first place. Like they missed the line totally.

SPEAKER_03 58:33

Okay. So now what is your favorite quote?

SPEAKER_01 58:36

It's a beautiful lady and we love her.

SPEAKER_03 58:38

That would be Kirk describing the Enterprise to one of the Alice's to try to get her to beam them back to the Enterprise.

SPEAKER_01 58:45

We always seem to call cars, planes, spaceships, and actual ships like female names. I sent find it interesting. And I really enjoy I liked how like passionate he was because Alice 47 just kept calling Enterprise a thing. And he's like, no, she's a beautiful lady, and we love her. And the entire time I've been watching this show, Enterprise has never been a thing. It has been a beautiful thing that is their home, their heart, their their love.

SPEAKER_03 59:20

Yeah. And that's true. Alice very much rejects that argument in the beginning and ultimately, I think at the end, because yeah, she does say that's not something that can be desired. It's just a mechanical thing. And and Kirk is explaining to her, no, weological humans and humanoids do pers uh personify the ship as a lady that we love. So yeah, it's a good one. My favorite quote is gonna be in the very beginning when they first encounter Mud in the throne room, and there's that dialogue back and forth between Kirk and Mud, where Kirk says, Thief, Mud says, Oh, come on now, swindler and con man, entrepreneur, liar and rogue. Did I leave you with that impression? I like their banter is great. Their banter is great. It's a fantastic example of their banter, and I think it an ex a fantastic example of Mud as a character.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:22

Because he believes he's right the whole time.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:24

He is so poetic when he speaks and he's trying to swindle you, get away with things. So I just like that moment because it was a fantastic back and forth. It didn't feel cheesy at all. It felt very in character for both of them, and not only in character for each of them individually, it felt very in character for their relationship to each other as adversaries.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:50

Oh, completely. And Mud is just slouched in his throne because he know he's very full of himself and knows who he is, where Kirk is very uh, you know, confident in who he is, where they could take this exact same verbiage and any other two enemies, per se, and a completely different feeling would come out of it.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:10

Yeah, I agree. So that's gonna be my favorite quote.

Tribble Tidbits

SPEAKER_03 1:01:13

But I do have some triple tidbits or interesting facts about the episode. And Jackie, why do we call them triple tidbits? Because they are the best.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:22

Triple triple triple.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:23

Because tribles are cute, interesting, a problem, a whole bunch of things wrapped up into one. I will say, since we're on the episode, I think trouble with tribles should have included Harry Mud. I think Mud should have been the reason why the Tribbles ended up on the Enterprise. That would have been fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:45

I mean, maybe the maybe in spirit.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:48

In spirit, in spirit. But in any case, first airing, November 3rd, 1967. Again, I think I've mentioned it a couple times. I mentioned it probably in Mud's Women. Mud, the character, was supposed to come back in season three for another episode. With the Tribbles? Not with the Tribbles, because the Tribbles are in season two. Oh. But they wanted to make him, they said, well, he was good in he was okay in season one. We brought him back in season two, and this episode is better received than Mud's women overall. And so there was plans to say, let's bring him back for season three. Let's do another episode for him in season three, and then potentially the fourth and fifth season that we never got. However, when it came time and season three rolls around, the producers of the show wanted to move away and not do these comedy episodes. They wanted it to be more dramatic, they wanted it to be more tense, they wanted it to be more drama and less comedy. So we're I think we're gonna see less comedy episodes in season three, and because that's the tone they wanted to go with, plans to bring Mud back were abandoned. And again, it was planned to have Mud come back and do an episode early on in the next generation, but Roger Carmel would die in 1986, shortly before TNG aired, so they never got to bring him back, and they never they didn't recast the part for Mud for the next generation.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:20

It would be hard because that actor brought him quite to life.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:23

Exactly. I think it was 1986 he died.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:26

Yes, he told me because we were I said we were two.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:29

We were babies.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:30

And then we do get to see the character come back, but not until Discovery, because Discovery takes place on the timeline before the original series, and I think the actor who comes back does a good job for that. Go look up who plays Mud in Discovery. It's a good it's a good casting choice, I think. It also should be noted that there are unconfirmed talks or rumors or stories that again Mud was a liked character, so there was talk about doing a spin-off series that would focus on Mud. So imagine getting a two or three season television show starring Roger Carmel playing Harry Mud, and Harry Mud getting into all these adventures and problems and things like that. I think that would have been fun. I'd watch that. But it never got past the early stages. Jackie, take a guess how many sets of twins were cast for this episode.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:32

I have to count the the the I have to count the androids. We got Trudy, Maisie, Annabelle, Alice. There's five ladies, and then the dudes in the back. So I'm just gonna say like seven.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:43

So there were four sets of twins, they were all ladies. None of the men are twins. They just made them look alike. Well, all of y'all look alike at times. But they cast four sets of lady twins to play the different Android series. Some of those background twins in those background series that we don't see for very long on screen, they ended up r reusing twins to play different series. This is officially the longest opening to an original series episode, as I mentioned, at coming in at five minutes and thirty-five seconds.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:20

I do not feel like that.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:22

The Maisie and Barbara series of the androids are wearing the costumes from two of the three women from Mud's Women. I knew I recognized them. So the like pinkish dress and then the green dress. The purple dress did not make a reappearance.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:40

Oh no, that one's special.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:41

Which is too bad because it should have been the green dress and the purple dress. Those would have been the two women that would have been fully in compliance with Mud from the original episode. And if he was designing them, I would think it'd be a fun little Easter egg to say he chose the dresses of the two women that followed him without question versus the one. In the pink dress, who rebelled against him? We mentioned earlier it's kind of a big plot hole or at least an unanswered question of how Norman ended up on the Enterprise to begin with. It's also a plot hole because at the end, when they overwhelm all of the androids and they deactivate them, how do they get back up to the ship?

SPEAKER_01 1:06:19

Yeah, because the communicator's broken.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:21

And the ship is full of androids that either would have been broken, or if they weren't broken, they still weren't going to just give up and let them all beam back up. So yeah, it's just kind of an unanswered question. But yeah, those are going to be your triple tidbits for the episode. And

Episode Ranking

SPEAKER_03 1:06:41

this is where we'll share our episode ranking. That's where we each pretend that the episode is a member of our crew for our fictitious star ship in Starfleet, and we'll assign a Starfleet rank to the episode. A higher rank means not only were we more entertained by the episode, but we find the episode to be a more important and valuable member of our crew for our starship. A lower rank, of course, means the opposite. We weren't as entertained, and the episode is a more disposable member of our crew. Our ranking starts at the bottom where we can have an unlimited number of ensigns, lieutenant junior grades, and lieutenants. And then toward the top, the second half of our rankings, we can have seven lieutenant commanders, five commanders, one captain, and one admiral. If none of that makes sense, don't worry, we'll post a full graphical representation of our rankings over on our Patreon, patreon.com slash treks and tangents, where you can check out where all the episodes are ranked up to our podcast publication. The visual will go live Wednesday, the day after this episode. Jackie, for your starship, the USS Luminara, what rank do you assign this episode?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:57

I'm giving it a flat, Lieutenant Commander.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:00

Lieutenant Commander, which is going to be your first of seven lieutenant commanders for the season. Why this rank?

SPEAKER_01 1:08:08

I just think it's a good middle of the road one. And it should not be my Anton, but not be my admiral.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:15

Okay. Just the middle of the road, but I would say just above average rating.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:20

Yes. I liked all the little panthmine stuff.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:23

Okay. I'm gonna go ahead for my starship, the USS Comet. I'm gonna go ahead and give it a rank of commander. This is gonna be my third commander for my starship this season. Again, I think it's very entertaining. I really like the character Mud. I really only have the two kind of complaints, quote unquote. The fact that some of these pantomines of these amateur improv actor troop of the USS Enterprise go through to confuse the androids gets to be too much by the end of it. It just kind of drags it out a little bit. And the fact that I really just don't care about the extra little part about Mud's wife Stella, I think that could have been left out of the episode. It kind of detracts from the overall tone of the episode. But overall, it's highly, highly entertaining, and it's just fun to watch. So I'm gonna give it the rank of commander, and I think the rest of my rankings for this season will continue to be slightly illogical as I look through some of this stuff. Yeah, you already have three out of like seven. Yeah, and I mean like one of the ones one of my commanders is Cat's Paw from last week, and that's not really your Admiral's already filled up.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:33

Yeah, you better be careful. It's not like last year.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:36

My Admiral is already filled up with the Mirror Mirror Universe episode. So yeah, we'll see how it we'll see how it all falls out. I don't really know what my captain's gonna be. I'm trying to think of the rest of the episodes for the season. I don't know what I'm gonna put there.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:49

See, I'm being cautious.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:51

We'll have to see. Again, if none of that makes any sense, reminder you can see a visual representation of our rankings over at our Patreon, patreon.com slash tracks and tangents. As of this recording over at IMDB, Jackie, take a guess. What do you think the episode ranks?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:10

Like a six to a seven.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:11

As of this recording, 7.3. Oh my gosh, these crazy people. For iMud over at IMDB.

Turbolift Tease

SPEAKER_03 1:10:19

We'll be back next week to trek through another episode, but this is where we'll give our turbo lift tees or elevator pitch to the next episode's plot. I'll give Jackie the title of the next episode, and Jackie with no other information will give a brief pitch to that plot. Jackie, next week's episode is entitled Metamorphosis.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:40

The Enterprise comes upon a group of aliens that start off as like an ugly grub thing, but then once they go into a cocoon, we're able to see them change and become these beautiful like water aliens, and then we learn about a new species.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:00

And tune in next week to see how accurate Jackie's prediction is. If you want more show information, you can find and directly support our podcast on Patreon, patreon.com slash treks and tangents. Again, as we just mentioned, we have our graphical representations of our rankings for each episode. Every episode we post a bonus Star Note episode that is about 10 to 15 minutes. You can go through and binge those pretty quick. But we post one where we just kind of go on a deeper dive and don't really follow any kind of script or structure. We just talk about whatever we want for the episode. We have once a month we dive into the animated series where we break down an episode from that. We have all of the test episodes we recorded for the podcast posted there where we worked out some of the glitches and bugs, figuring out how to become a podcast. So go check it out. Greatly appreciate your support. Also, continue to follow and like and subscribe on the episode wherever you consume the podcast. Tell us what did you think about the character Mudd? Since this is going to be the last time that we see him in any kind of regular sense. Jackie does point out to me that we do see him later in the animated series, but this is the last time that we see this actor in Star Trek. So what did you think about Mud? What do you like about him? What do you not like about him? Let us know your thoughts. You can also follow us on x.com at treks underscore tangents. We're on Instagram and Blue Sky at Trex and Tangents. Jackie, where can people find you? And what are you up to?

SPEAKER_01 1:12:37

I'm still hobbling around on Instagram as Jaboom, J I B B O O M. I've been posting my physical therapy journeys. I'm getting pretty good at Cap Cut, so hey, add space, please. Just kidding. But yeah, I have my hip replacement information, service dog, disability advocacy. Not doing lots of fashion lately because we can only wear so much stuff. But hey, we're hanging in there. And I'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:11

And you can watch me stream a variety of video games over at twitch.tv slash piratepoundtown. On YouTube, I post video games and other random content on my main channel, Pirate Poundtown coin collecting and other hobby collecting content can be found on YouTube at Pirate Treasure Hunting. Socially, I'm on Blue Sky, Pirate Poundtown, and on Instagram, I'm just Pineapple Cannibal. Links to all social media mentioned can be found in the episode description. Thank you everyone for tuning in to this week's episode. We hope you had fun like we did. See you all next week.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:42

And enjoy being your illogical self.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:45

End transmission.