Hello, everybody, and welcome to this week's episode of Trek Politics.

I'm Mary Trump here with my friend and co-host Bob Saska.

And Bob, are we in for it tonight?

Oh, God, yes.

Mary, this is Mudd's Women, written by Stephen Candle,

based on a story by Gene Roddenberry, directed by Harvey Hart. The Enterprise is chasing

a small Class J cargo ship as it careens into an asteroid belt. The captain of the ship is

beamed aboard the Enterprise, and we meet Harcourt Fenton Mud, a notorious Star Trek

Grifter Conman, who appears twice in the original series, once in the

animated series, and again in Star Trek Discovery, played by Rain Wilson. Mudd first introduces

himself as Leo Francis Walsh and puts on a fake Irish brogue. Meantime Mudd's ship is destroyed,

but Scotty manages to beam over three women from the ship.

The women possess a superpower that turns men of the enterprise into grinning, horny perves.

Kirk convenes a hearing in which Mud's true identity and criminal record are revealed.

We also learn that Mud is manipulating the women using a drug that makes them

appear young and attractive. Meantime, the enterprise is running on batteries due to rescuing

mud and desperately needs new lithium crystals for the warp core. Mud proceeds to scam the

enterprise, cutting a side deal with minor Ben childress on rijal 12 mud trades his

women to the miners in exchange for his freedom and uses access to the lithium as leverage to

force kirk to agree to the deal all the while the clock is ticking as the enterprise's batteries are dying,

endangering everyone.

It's a disturbing and problematic Star Trek romp with sexism front and center, Mary.

...