Harcourt Fenton Mudd (Roger C. Carmel) made hisStar Trekdebut onStar Trek: The Original Series, and went on to appear in two other series. A con man extraordinaire, Harry Mudd spent much of his time traveling the galaxy participating in various, usually illegal schemes, while trying to avoid the many people he had wronged. Before his first encounter with the USS Enterprise in 2266, Mudd was already wanted by the United Federation of Planets for a lengthy list of crimes, including smuggling and attempted murder.
In his second encounter with Harry Mudd,Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner)described him as a"thief,“a"swindler and a conman,“and a"liar and rogue,“while Mudd insisted he was merely an"entrepreneur.“Mudd made such an impression onStar Trek: The Original Seriesthat he returned in an episode ofStar Trek: The Animated Series,as well as two episodes ofStar Trek: Discoveryand one ofStar Trek: Short Treks. Rainn Wilson brought Mudd to life for modernStar Trekaudiences, andDiscoverygave the character a darker undercurrent than he had onTOS.
Harry Mudd Appeared In Star Trek: The Original Series 2 Times
Mudd Appears In TOS Season 1, Episode 3, “Mudd’s Women” & Season 2, Episode 12, “I, Mudd”
In his first canonical appearance in theStar Trekfranchise, Harry Mudd was rescued by the USS Enterprise after he attempted to outrun the Constitution-class starship. Mudd arrived on the Enterprise with three stunningly beautiful women who distracted the male crewmen on the ship.Before long, Captain Kirk discovered Mudd’s criminal historyand learned that he had been giving the women the Venus drug to make them appear more beautiful. In the end, Kirk made a deal with miners on a nearby planet for the lithium crystals the Enterprise needed, and the three women found husbands among the miners.
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“Mudd’s Women” ended with the Starship Enterprise taking Mudd into custody, buthe later escaped his prison, stole a spaceship, and ended up on a planet inhabited by androids.In Harry’sStar Trekseason 2 comeback, “I, Mudd,” an android hacked the Starship Enterprise and brought it to Mudd’s planet, where the con man informed Kirk that the androids had requested humans to study. When the androids refused to take Mudd away from the planet with them, he worked with Kirk and the other crew members to confuse the androids until they shut down. Kirk ultimately left Mudd on the planet, with hundreds of android copies of his wife, Stella (Kay Elliot).
Harry Mudd Returned In Star Trek: The Animated Series
Mudd Appears In The Animated Series Season 1, Episode 10, “Mudd’s Passion”
Mudd returned inStar Trek: The Animated Series,having stolen another spaceship and escaped the android planet. Mudd found a love potion crystal that he attempted to sell on various planets, until he was again caught by Captain Kirk and his crew. While he was in the brig on the Enterprise,Mudd gave his love potion drug to Nurse Christine Chapel(Majel Barrett), who used it on Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Although Spock did fall in love with Chapel, the effects were only temporary. Mudd was eventually sentenced to rehabilitation therapy, although its effectiveness was uncertain.
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Mudd was undoubtedly a memorable character onStar Trek: The Original SeriesandStar Trek: The Animated Series.Still, all three of his appearances on these shows had problematic elements that would not work on television today. From Ruth, Eve, and Magda in “Mudd’s Women” to Stella in “I, Mudd” to Nurse Chapel in “Mudd’s Passion,“none of the women in these stories are treated particularly well.This is not a problem with Mudd as a character, so much as it is a product of the 1960s, and Mudd’s return inStar Trek: Discoveryproves the character can still work inmodernStar Trek.
Star Trek: Discovery Brought Back Harry Mudd
In an inspired bit of casting,Rainn Wilson took on the role of Harry Mudd, who encounters the crew of the USS Discovery.Star Trek: Discoveryfilled in more of Mudd’s backstory with Stella (Katherine Barrell),revealing that he stole her dowry and fled to Klingon space. At some point, Mudd was captured by the Klingons and spent time in a Klingon prison alongside Lt. Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif) and Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs). When Lorca and Tyler escaped, they left Mudd behind, partly because he had been passing information about his fellow prisoners to the Klingons.
Within theStar Trektimeline, Harry Mudd’s most recent appearances inStar Trek: DiscoveryandShort Trekstake place before the events ofStar Trek: The Original Series.
Later, Mudd managed to escape, and he tracked down Captain Lorca with plans to steal the USS Discovery to pay off his debts to the Klingons. Equipped with a time displacement device,Mudd trapped Discovery’s crew in a time loopas he tried to successfully kill Lorca and steal the ship. Lt. Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) helped thwart Mudd, but he later escaped again, and created android copies of himself to fool bounty hunters.
Rainn Wilson’s Harry Mudd was a crueler, more ruthless version of the character.
Rainn Wilson’s final appearance as Harry Mudd was in theStar Trek: Short Treksepisode, “The Escape Artist.” Rainn Wilson directed himself as Harry Mudd inShort Treksfrom a script written by Mike McMahan, who went on to createStar Trek: Lower Decks.Fitting withStar Trek: Discovery’sdarker tone, Rainn Wilson’s Harry Mudd was a crueler, more ruthless version of the character first seen onStar Trek: The Original Series.
