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Rating:  -
Mudd's Women-This episode, in which we meet Mudd and his three sirens, has never really worked for me. For one thing, it moves like molasses. The 'inquest' scene, for example, in which the women seduce the crew, in addition to being ineffective is at least twice as long as it need have been. Other evidence of low production values at this point in the show include the cheesy music and use of the (grossly) soft lens in the scenes with Mudd's Women. Other problems include the hopeless moralizing and cornball twist at the close of the episode. While it's true that later shows could be too cold, it's also true that first season episodes were often smarmily warm and cloyingly sincere.
The episode is not without it's pluses. It does explore some of the contradictions surrounding perceptions of beauty and the objectification of women, and I suppose makes a statement about drug use. They also did a nice job making the women look ugly (although in my opinion--probably by design--they weren't too eautiful to begin with). (2 stars)
The Enemy Within-With this episode, in which a transporter malfunction creates two wildly different Kirk's, the show begins to hit its stride. Like many first season shows, this one is sharply focused on dynamics of human personality and interaction. We are shown subtle aspects of both the two Kirks, and the thought process of the rest of the crew as the relate to the new Kirk's. Such attention to internal details, for better or worse, really fell off in the 2nd and 3rd seasons as the show become more extroverted. As others have noted, Shatner turns in a nice performance here, although that absurd make-up they put on the male crew members for the early shows is kind of distracting in the close-ups. One other nice thing about this episode is that its central theme, concerning our dual nature, is not presented in an overly simplisitic way; by this I mean that even each of the two sides of Kirk are somewhat nuanced, and the description of how the two parts need to be together not overly cliché. Nevertheless, the show like many early ones, is way too talky. While the show was beginning to hit it's stride, it wasn't there yet; this episode does drag, and feels somewhat clunky despite a fair amount of action (3 stars)
Rating:  -
Mudd's Women...Kirk beams up Harry Mudd & 3 ultra-sexy women who no man can seem to resist. But are they really that beautiful? Watch & find out.
The Enemy Within...Kirk is duplicated in a transporter accident. See Shatner portray Kirk's "evil side" with absolute brilliance.
Rating:  -
REVIEWED ITEM: Star Trek® Original Series DVD Volume 2: Mudd's Women© / The Enemy Within©
MUDD'S WOMEN© PRELIMINARY BRIEFS:
Moral / Ethical / Philosophical Point Driven Into The Ground: The Difference Between Inner & Outer Beauty; How Useful Is Beauty?
Notable Historical Milestone: The first appearance of Classic Star Trek®'s only recurring non-crew guest character
Notable Goof/Gaffe: During Mudd's interrogation scene, Mudd wears a gaudy earring on his left lobe. But when the scene cuts to his criminal profile on the viewscreen, there's a photo of him-and the earring is now hanging from his right lobe! (The classic phrase "Left is right, and right is wrong" kinda falls into play here, though in a different context...)
Expendable Crewmember (`Red Shirt') Casualty List: 0 Dead, 0 Injured/ Incapacitated (A true Classic Star Trek® rarity!)
REVIEW & COMMENTARY:
Harry Mudd™'s outfit is a faded technicolor dealy reminiscent of those classic pirate and swordfighting swashbucklers of yore. I especially enjoyed his somewhat flamboyant yet slightly underhanded delivery of dialogue. Throw in a semi-falsetto Lucky-Charms®-Leprechaun-style accent, and you've got one of those rare guest characters who's able to outdo Captain Kirk in the over-the-top acting department!
As usual, the ship is in dire straits after rescuing the titular rogue and his trio of apparently-supine ladies draped in enough chiffon to keep New York Fabrics in the black for a decade! Then there's those occasional between-scene transition shots of the lovelies, where the camera manages to film all the right... um... well, you'll hafta see for yourself I guess. If you're a guy you'll likely enjoy these precious moments!
Then there's my fave thing about this particular eppie: Mudd's Venus drug that keeps his women beautiful! I never thought I'd see the day when drug addiction would have the opposite effect on a woman's looks!
THE ENEMY WITHIN® PRELIMINARY BRIEFS:
Moral / Ethical / Philosophical Point Driven Into The Ground: The Duality Of Man / The Qualities and Drawbacks of Both Light And Dark Halves of One's Personality
Notable Historical Milestone: The first `transporter malfunction' eppie; the first `Double the Kirk, Double the Ham!' eppie
Notable Goof/Gaffe: During the opening teaser, after both Kirks beam up, their uniform tops lack the Enterprise™ `delta shield' logos on the left breast. The logos mysteriously reappear, however, immediately following the opening credits sequence!
Expendable Crewmember (`Red Shirt') Casualty List: 0 Dead, 2 Injured/Incapacitated (one of the casualties injured twice)
REVIEW & COMMENTARY:
William Shatner has claimed on many occasions, and in an allegedly joking manner, that his fave original Star Trek® eppies are the ones where Kirk has been split into two Kirks, effectively giving him "twice the screen time". Although he claims to be `just kidding' about the whole thing, those legendary rumors about him hogging the show's spotlight has led many a Trekkie to believe that, in this instance he's actually being more honest about himself than he's willing to admit!
Speakin' of the good captain, The Enemy Within© showcases a few of those enjoyably hammy moments that only Shatner's legendary method-acting can provide, especially with the `bad' Kirk! You'll see shades of his `I Am Kirok!' performance in the scene where he realizes he's not the only Captain on board. And his "I Want To Live!" line, delivered in a way-too-tortured manner, merely adds to the cheesy fun! Also notable in this show is Nimoy revealing his Bostonian origins with his distinctive pronunciation of "can't" and "command"!
Mmmm.... ham and cheese...
`Late
Rating: -
Volume 2 of the Star Trek original series DVD collection contains two episodes that are fairly well known among fans of the show. Both epsiodes are quite watchable and prove to be rather landmark episodes.
The first episode here is "MUDD'S WOMEN". The episode is famous because it has the debut of the Space Rogue Harcourt Fenton Mudd (or just simply Harry Mudd). The Enterprise is pursuing an unknown ship into an asteroid belt in order to save it's crew before it is destroyed. Four crew members are beamed aboard space pirate Harry Mudd (played by character actor Roger C. Carmel) and 3 beautiful sultry women. During the pursuit the Enterprise burned out their lithium crystals which power the ship. Kirk orders the crew to set their course for Rigel XII a lithium mine. Mudd finds out there are 3 lonely miners on the planet and decides to scheme his way out of the charges Kirk has placed on him by bribing the miners with the 3 women. A frustrated Kirk will stop at nothing, to make sure Mudd does not weasel his way out of the charges and to get some lithium crystals in order to save the ship and his crew from destruction. "MUDD'S WOMEN" is a decent standard episode but is not one of the series better plots. It is basically a classic because of Harry Mudd's debut on the show (he would later return in season 2's "I, MUDD")
The second episode here proves Shatner can really act well. "THE ENEMY WITHIN" finds the Enterprise's transporter acting up after Technician Fisher(played by Edward Madden) is beamed aboard from the planet Alpha 177 with a strange magnetic ore on his clothing. When Kirk is beamed aboard he is split into two different personalities: a kind gentle Kirk and a violent mad Kirk. As the violent Kirk creeps around the ships causing a few problems the other Kirk realizes he is losing his sense of judgement and is beginning to weaken and Spock later reveals that the two Kirks will have to reunite as one or they will eventually die.
"THE ENEMY WITHIN" is truly one of Season 1 Star Trek's better episodes as Shatner plays both the violent and gentle Kirk very realistically.
Overall Volume 2 is a must for Original Star Trek tv fans. MUDD'S WOMEN is a standard episode but it marks the comical crook's debut which is rather interesting. THE ENEMY WITHIN is a classic though and is worth it for this DVD! Highly recommended!
Rating: -
First of all, for some reason Paramount have replaced the opening titles score with a different version of the theme. It spoils the original feel of the series. If this is the same for the other OST DVDs then I will not be buying any more of them.
The picture quality is generally excellent, the only noticeable problems being the age of the original prints. Nevertheless the transfer is excellent and the sound is excellent.
What can I say about the episodes on the DVD? "Mudd's Women" is a very light, simplistic story which does little for the series. Its watchable but is not particularly good.
"The Enemy Within", on the other hand, is an excellent variation on the Jekyll and Hyde story as a transporter problem splits Kirk in two, unleashing a savage double on the ship. Until the problem of re-combining Kirk is solved a landing party is stranded on a planet as its extremely cold night closes in. A very good episode.
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