I, Mudd

The USS Enterprise is hijacked by Norman, an android posing as a Starfleet lieutenant. Norman seals off engineering and redirects the ship to an unknown planet, warning that any attempt to undo his tampering will destroy the ship.

When the crew arrives at the planet, Captain Kirk discovers that Harry Mudd, an outlaw whom Kirk has encountered previously, is the "ruler" of the androids who populate the planet. Mudd, or "Mudd the First", as he calls himself, informs Kirk that he and the Enterprise crew can expect to spend the rest of their lives there.

Mudd then recounts his recent adventures. Having broken out of prison and stolen a spaceship that was damaged during his escape, Mudd crashed on this planet and was taken in by the androids. He says they are very accommodating, but refuse to let him go unless other humans are provided for them to serve and study. The Enterprise crew is to serve that purpose.

McCoy notices a darkened glass panel, which Mudd says is a "shrine" to his wife Stella. The shrine contains an android which nags Mudd as his wife did, but stops instantly when ordered to "shut up". Mudd points out the similarity between Kirk's present position and hers.

In response to Kirk's questions, the androids tell Kirk they were built by a people from the Andromeda Galaxy, who were destroyed by a supernova, leaving the robots to fend for themselves. First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) discovers there are over 200,000 of these androids, and concludes that there must be some central control mechanism.

The crew are brought down, replaced by an android crew. They find much to like about the androids' world. Scotty is fascinated by the engineering knowledge they have to share, Ensign Chekov (Walter Koenig) finds the idea of living on a planet full of compliant female androids not too bad, and Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) is tempted by the offer of immortality in an android body. Kirk will have none of this, however, and reminds them of their duty.

Mudd plans to depart aboard Enterprise after a final farewell to the Stella android. However, the androids refuse his orders to beam him aboard. They have a different plan: they will leave the planet themselves and offer their services to humanity, with the eventual goal of bringing the greedy and aggressive human race under their control.

As the Enterprise crew discuss their predicament, Spock notes that all of the androids belong to various named series, except for the one named Norman. Kirk relates that one android called on Norman to "coordinate" the analysis of an "illogical" statement. Spock concludes that Norman is the central locus of a composite android mind, and Kirk suggests that "wild, irrational illogic aimed right at Norman" could be a potent weapon against that mind.

The crew then attempt to confuse the androids by means of contradictory statements and a series of bizarre theatrics. For the finale, Mudd and Kirk pose the liar paradox to Norman: Kirk claims everything Mudd says is a lie and Mudd "Now listen to this carefully, Norman. I am ... lying." Unable to resolve the contradiction, Norman burns out, causing the other androids to shut down as well.

The androids are reprogrammed to return to their original tasks. Mudd is informed that he has been paroled to the android population, and that a special android has been programmed to see to his needs. Mudd is grateful until he discovers that this android is the Stella android, and there are now at least 500 copies of her – none of whom respond to his command to "shut up".

The producers liked the resulting script so much that Gerrold was later tasked with re-writing the script for "I, Mudd",[4] but Gerrold admitted that only one idea of his made it into the final episode, and thus was not awarded any writing credit on the final script.[5]

In 2014, Charlie Jane Anders at io9 ranked "I, Mudd" as the 79th best episode of Star Trek in a list of the top 100 Star Trek episodes.[6]

In 2016, Syfy noted this episode for actress Nichelle Nichols presentation of Uhura, as having her fifth best scene in Star Trek.[7]

A sample from this episode of Dr. McCoy saying "It's worked so far, but we're not out yet" was incorporated into the 1988 hit song What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy) by Information Society.

• Other encounters with Harcourt Fenton Mudd:
  • "Choose Your Pain" — first encounter (chronologically), a Star Trek: Discovery episode
  • "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" — the second encounter in Star Trek: Discovery
  • "The Escape Artist" — a Short Treks episode
  • "Mudd's Women" — first encounter in the original series
  • "Mudd's Passion" — another encounter, in the animated Star Trek series
• The Humanoids — A novel by Jack Williamson

Wikiquote has quotations related to: "I, Mudd"

• "I, Mudd" at StarTrek.com
• "I, Mudd" at IMDb
• "I, Mudd" at TV.com

• "I, Mudd" at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• "I, Mudd" Side-by-side comparisons at TrekMovie.com