1.24 : Space Seed.

[Dave]

The one with Khan.

The Enterprise finds a "sleeper ship" from the late twentieth century. The crew, who were found in a state of suspended animation, are revived and include Khan Noonian Singh, the most dynamic and dangerous of the specially bred super-human's of the 1990's. One of the most magnetic characters to appear in Trek.

This episode claims that a group of genetically engineered humans rose to power and took over forty nations. I need to get off ASciFi more, because I completely missed that happening. If the 'Eugenics War' was so widereaching and worldwide, wouldn't it be called the 'Third World War', and the other one which ('Encounter at Farpoint' TNG, ST:VII 'First Contact', 'Enterprise' series premise) occurred in the mid-Twentyfirst century be called the 'Fourth World War'?

When Kirk breaks the glass on Khan's sleeper compartment, his arm brushes against his phaser and it slips off his velcro belt, and falls to the floor. If you watch DeForest Kelley's eyes, they glance back and forth between Khan and the floor, as he wonders if the 'take' is going to be used or not.

 

[Extollager]

This one's never been a favorite of mine. As Dave implies above, there's the potential for an interesting back story here, and a little comes through, but probably budgetary constraints precluded (e.g.) footage that the Enterprise officers could have watched showing Khan on Earth, or some such stuff. The relationship between Khan and McGivers needs to be interesting, but it's perfunctory; she submits to his magnetism in the space of about 30 seconds (till the climax of the pisode). There seems to be little "chemistry" as played out by the two performers, although this aspect of the show isn't outright bad, as it might have been had this been, say, a third-season offering. Another instance in which budgetary constraints may have precluded something interesting is with regard to the "savage" planet on which Kirk decides to maroon Khan and his people. It might have been interesting to get some glimpses of it; and it might have been effective if it had really looked pretty dreadful (shades of Harry Harrison's Deathworld!) and, say, Spock had said, "Captain -- you realize that you are condemning Khan and his people to almost certain death," etc. It might have been cool if we'd seen that the Enterprise was able to use a tractor beam to guide Khan's ship -- no longer able to fly -- to the planet's surface where it could be cannibalized for parts, etc. Someone who remembers the second Star Trek movie better than I do might have more to say on this. As it is, I am pretty sure I've seen that, but it doesn't seem to have made much of an impression.

 

[Vladd67]

I can't remember the exact details, but in the film isn't it said that the planet Khan and his people were left on was not a savage planet until a natural disaster changed it's orbit?

 

[Dave]

Yes, I didn't think they deliberately left them behind on a "savage" planet. The second film explains a change in the orbit caused this. Kirk was actually doing Khan a favour since they had all been sentenced to death on Earth.

I agree about the McGivens-Khan relationship. I think she had studied him at college/school and become in awe of him, but really, that shows a character flaw that you would think would have been spotted and prevented her from becoming a Starfleet officer.

For all the faults, I would put this higher up in the best episode lists. Khan has to be one of the best villains, and if it hadn't been such a good story then there would have been no second film, and possibly no more Star Trek ever!

 

[Extollager]

In the original series teleplay, Kirk rather autocratically drops all charges against Khan and his lot and tells Khan they're going to be left on this "savage" world. That word is certainly used. As the show ends Kirk and Spock talk about how it would be interesting to come back, if they could, in a hundred years (or something like that) and see what's been made of it.

 

[Dave]

Fair enough. It's clearly an analogy with Earth penal colonies like Van Diemen's Land, don't you think?

 

[BAYLOR]

I can't remember the exact details, but in the film isn't it said that the planet Khan and his people were left on was not a savage planet until a natural disaster changed it's orbit?

The planet next to Seti Alpha blew up causing a serious shift in the plants orbit which destroyed the environment.

 

[BAYLOR]

As much as I like this episode , the one problem I have is how could Kirk and Spock have been unaware that they had found Khan noon Sing. In the sickbay where Kirk asked him is name and he gave it as Kahn, you's think that a little bell would have gone off in Kirks head.

 

[Dave]

I don't think Kirk was top of the class in History at school. He probably flunked it. Why else do need a Ship's Historian on the crew?

 

[BAYLOR]

I don't think Kirk was top of the class in History at school. He probably flunked it. Why else do need a Ship's Historian on the crew?

I just find it unlikely that Kirk would have no knowledge of a major historical bad guy like Khan Sing.

 

[Dave]

Not really arguing with you here anymore, however the back story was (originally) that Khan is only one of a group of genetically engineered superhumans, bred to be free of the usual human mental and physical limitations, who were removed from power after the Eugenics Wars of the 1990's. I was thinking very hard about a "major historical bad guy" from the last few hundred years that I wouldn't recognise or have heard of before. It is much easier to believe if you think less of the "major" and more "one of a group" i.e. most everyone would recognise Adolf Hitler, but would they recognise Benito Mussolini or Hirohito. However, since the invention of photography it is less easy to believe people are unfamiliar with images of world leaders, and that would surely only increase in the future.

 

[Extollager]

I don't understand why Scotty says that, as a "good Scotsman," he's ashamed not to be up on his Milton.

Milton was a Londoner, and I don't remember if he was ever north of the border.