| Harry Mudd | |
| Series: | TAS |
| Episode: | 1x10 |
| Original Airdate: | 1973-11-10 |
| Production Number: | 10 |
| Year: | 2269 |
| Stardate: | 4978.5 |
| Written by: | Stephen Kandel |
| Directed by: | Hal Sutherland |
Harry Mudd is back, this time swindling miners with a love potion.
Summary
Captain's Log: Stardate 4978.5. We are approaching the Arcadian star system on a mission to locate an old friend. The USS Enterprise has received orders to arrest a Federation outlaw, on the planet Motherlode, Harry Mudd. He is accused of offering the miners a magical love potion that will make them irresistible to someone of the opposite sex.
Upon the USS Enterprise's arrival, Kirk tells Harry he's wanted for fraud, illegal drug manufacturing and swindling. For proof Mudd demonstrates the potion on a woman who Spock discovers to actually be a reptilian illusion. Angered by this the miners begin to attack Mudd, but he is once again rescued by the Enterprise crew, apprehended and incarcerated.
Aboard the ship, Spock requests a medical report from Chapel. Harry sees she's enamored of him but he is, "A trifle lacking in the warmer emotions." He then proceeds to convince Nurse Chapel to try the potion on Spock. When Chapel thinks that the potion doesn't actually work, she becomes bitter and seeks out Mudd. Without warning, the potion begins to take an effect on Spock. He wasn’t immune to it, it just took a little longer, and as he hands over his report with her summary appended he says, "Ahh. Nurse Chapel's sweet summary. Dear, lovely, Christine." During a fight between Mudd and Chapel, love crystals are broken near an air vent and permeate throughout the ship. It begins to affect the entire crew. Mudd captures Chapel and escapes to a rocky planet in a stolen shuttlecraft. The love-stricken Spock becomes so enamored with his beloved Nurse Chapel that he will do anything to rescue her. He wants to lead a landing party. He tells Kirk, "Captain, I insist upon going. Christine, I can't stand the thought of any danger to her. The woman I love." Kirk exclaims, "Love, Spock?" Spock replies, "Yes, Captain. I want to protect her. Hold her in my arms." Spock seems to be utterly unstoppable.
Captain's Log: Supplemental. Harry Mudd has escaped from the Enterprise taking Head Nurse Chapel with him, apparently as a hostage. Meanwhile Mr. Spock is acting very strange.
Spock says, "Come on, hurry. If he's harmed on hair on her pretty head." Kirk accompanies Spock but they are attacked on the planet by rock creatures. Spock asks Chapel, "Darling. Are you all right?" Chapel questions, "Darling? How wonderful." Unable to transport to the vessel because of the potion's affect on the crew, Kirk asks Spock, "Can't you take your hands off her?" Spock replies, "That's my affair. Jim. No Captain. We're both reacting to the drug. The love potion."
On the ship McCoy is flirting with a crew woman and says, "Did I ever tell you about the time I saved Captain Kirk's life? Or Spock's? And my dear friend Scotty? And that pretty little Lieutenant Uhura. I've saved just about everybody on this here ship. If the Enterprise had a heart, I'd save her too. Oh, let's talk about your heart, my dear."
When Kirk thinks he can distract the creatures Spock tells him, "That is an extremely stupid idea. Ah, I'm sorry. The drug. I simply doubt that we can appeal to their better nature, if they have one." Kirk, though, uses the crystals to make the creatures become docile and loving. Eventually the potion wears off and the crew beams everyone back to the ship, but then the potions after effects cause hatred and animosity among the crew.
Mudd is placed in the brig, where he confesses to other con jobs. When Mr. Spock then asks Nurse Chapel if he can help her to record Harry Mudd's confession she adamantly repulses him. Spock comments, "A few moments of love paid for with several hours of hatred. You're potion is scarcely a bargain, Harry." Spock then assures Harcourt Fenton Mudd he will get rehabilitation therapy for his crimes. Harry laughingly answers, "I just hate to leave you all, all my loved ones."
Background Information
- This episode was the first of three, mutually exclusive sequels to the TOS episodes Mudd's Women and I, Mudd. The second was J.A. Lawrence's novella "The Business, as Usual, During Altercations", published in Mudd's Angels in 1978. The third was Jerry Oltion's 1997 novel Mudd in Your Eye.
- An adaptation of "Mudd's Passion" can be found in Star Trek Log Three by Alan Dean Foster.
- Along with Mark Lenard (Sarek) and Stanley Adams (Cyrano Jones), Roger C. Carmel (Harry Mudd) is one of only three actors, besides the regulars, to play the same character on both this series and Star Trek: The Original Series.
- In one of the pulled back shots of the bridge, Uhura was briefly seen at the communication station before the close-up revealed M'Ress at the post.
Memorable Quotes
Links and References
- William Shatner as Kirk
- Leonard Nimoy as Spock
- DeForest Kelley as McCoy
- James Doohan as
- George Takei as Sulu
- Majel Barrett as
Guest Stars
- Roger C. Carmel as Harcourt Fenton Mudd
- Nichelle Nichols as Female Ursinoid miner
- Majel Barrett as Lora
- James Doohan as
- Human miner
- Male Ursinoid miner
References
Acadian system; class M; credit; dilithium; Federation; Federation shuttlecraft; Ilyra VI; Kyle; love potion; Motherlode; Omega Cygni system; Ophuicus VI; Rigellian hypnoid; Rock creatures; scotch; Sirius IX; Starfleet Space Academy; Ursinoid
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