Diana Muldaur returns to Star Trek* to portray the bristly and, dare I say, selfish, Dr. Miranda Jones. We learn, over time, that she has a reason for her cool and off-putting demeanor, but is it enough to justify her childish and self-absorbed tantrums?

“Is There in Truth No Beauty?” has, IMO, some small echoes of Mudd’s Women, questioning the concepts of beauty and ugliness, though in a slightly different way. While Mudd’s Women ponders where true beauty comes from, here we are left to contemplate our perception of the quality of a being based on appearance. Miranda, a beautiful woman, has a good measure of ugliness in her soul. Her needs and insecurities rule her actions, to the point she would risk 400+ lives for her own ego. Ambassador Kollos, on the other hand, a being so hideous he can drive others mad, is nothing but warm, kind, gracious, joyous and helpful.

SPOCK: This is delightful. I know you. All of you. James Kirk, Captain and friend for many years. And Leonard McCoy, also of long acquaintance. And Uhura, whose name means freedom. She walks in beauty, like the night
MCCOY: That's not Spock.
SPOCK: Are you surprised to find that I've read Byron, Doctor?
MCCOY: That's Spock!
KIRK: Am I addressing the Ambassador?
SPOCK: In part. That is, part of us is known to you as Kollos. Ah, Miranda. There you are. O brave new world, that has such creature in it.
MIRANDA: 'Tis new to thee.
SPOCK: My world is next for us. Captain Kirk, I speak for all of us you call Medusans. I am sorry for the trouble I've brought to your ship.
KIRK: We don't hold you to blame for what happened, and thank you now for your help.
SPOCK: And now to the business at hand. With your permission, Captain.
KIRK: Yes. Mister Sulu, release the helm to Mister Spock.
SULU: Aye, sir.
SPOCK: Co-ordination is completed.
KIRK: Then go ahead, Mister Spock.
SPOCK: Warp one in six seconds. Five, four, three, two, one, zero.
(The engines come to life, and the Enterprise glides back through the barrier.)
SPOCK: Position report, please, Mister Chekov.
CHEKOV: Our position? Our position is so close to the point where we entered the void, the difference isn't worth mentioning. Bull's-eye, Mister Spock.
SPOCK: Thank you, Mister Chekov. Manoeuvre completed, Captain.
KIRK: Take over, Mister Sulu. Thank you, Ambassador. Mister Chekov, plot a new course.
CHEKOV: The new headings will be plotted in a minute, sir.
SPOCK: How compact your bodies are. And what a variety of senses you have. This thing you call language though, most remarkable. You depend on it for so very much. But is any one of you really its master? But most of all, the aloneness. You are so alone. You live out your lives in this shell of flesh. Self-contained, separate. How lonely you are. How terribly lonely.
KIRK: Ambassador, you must dissolve the link.
SPOCK: So soon?
KIRK: There must be no delay.
SPOCK: You're a wise Captain.

I like the premise, though as with some other S3 eps, the execution is a bit awkward and heavy handed. The situation is somewhat contrived, her spurned lover, one of the designers of the Enterprise, goes mad, throws them out of the galaxy so the Medusan’s ability to navigate back requires a mind meld…etc. And, I find it hard to empathize with Dr. Jones. If we are to appreciate her transformation, must we not like her, a little bit, first?

* she appeared in S2 ep “Return to Tomorrow as Ann Mulhall/Thalassa

Friday October 18, 1968

Written by: Jean Lisette Aroeste

Story Consultant: Arthur H. Singer

Director: Ralph Senensky

Original Post

I just discovered a nice "tiki-exotica" album released in 1959 by Frank Hunter and His Orchestra called "White Goddess", and in that album is a track called "Strange Echoes" which, to my ear, sounds very reminiscent of the famed Star Trek theme. I wonder if others have noted this eerie similarity. The track can be found over on Youtube for those curious.