Welcome back boys and girls to Day 2 of
Star Trek Favorites. Let's talk about characters. This next episode
created a film around him. From his presence to his arrogance, this
man was a conqueror among men. A being so charismatic that lesser
men would die in his name and cause. A benevolent dictator but one
of great strength, intelligence and vicious tendencies. I speak of
one Khan Noonien Singh. This is Space Seed.
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| And...scene! That's a wrap, folks! |
KHAAAAAAAANNNNN!!!!! Okay, with that
out of the way, we remain in Season 1 when the intrepid crew of the
Enterprise find a battered, 20th century spaceship left
adrift in space, its crew of dozens of men and women kept in some
form of stasis. The landing party triggered an automatic release
mechanism that one of the occupants is freed from his pod. Weak,
confused and in general discombobulated this large, built man
attempts a feeble attack on the landing party when they explain they
are here to help.
Brought to Sickbay on the Enterprise,
Kirk speaks with the weary Khan (Ricardo Montalban of Mystery
Street, My Man and I, Desert Warrior, Dr. Kildare, Escape from the
Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Fantasy
Island and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) and tells him it
has been more than 300 years since he was last on Earth and of the
existing body of government. Tired, Khan retreats back to sleep
allowing him time to heal and regain his strength.
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| Yes, my hair is magnificently coiffed. |
The ship's Historian, Lt. Marla
McGivers (Madlyn Rhue of Operation Petticoat, A Majority of
One, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Days of Our Lives and Murder,
She Wrote), fascinated with men of the past, primarily
conquerors is more than willing (A bit too willing) to
assist Khan into being brought up to speed on Earth's current
accomplishments and is fascinated with Khan's own timeline. With a
bit of digging on Spock and Kirk's part, they discover the crippled
vessel, the S.S. Botany Bay was a ship carrying men and women of the
dreaded 1990s Eugenics Wars (Remember those dark days? Lots of
Pearl Jam played while dispatching your enemies.) , these
humans that were genetically engineered to be perfect specimens of
the like with the problem of arrogance, cruelty and even homicidal.
With this information in hand, Kirk is convinced this is a dangerous
man and needs to be handled with a delicate touch.
His information came too late as Khan
charms McGivers into heading back to the Botany Bay, reviving his men
and preparing to commandeer the Enterprise as a new platform to
conqueror the known galaxy. Can Kirk and crew fend off this power
hungry mad man? Will they all be put to the sword for undermining
their would-be matriarch? Can anything be done to thwart his will?
Some points of interest on the episode
now. Star Trek writer Carey Wilber used the 18th century
British custom of shipping criminals and undesirables as his main
concept for seed ships that jettisoned these men and women into deep
space. I guess for the universe to decide what to do with them.
Might have been more humane to shoot them directly into the sun.
With this being the first mention of the Eugenics Wars, this plot
device or "macguffin" was used numerous times in the latter
Star Trek series and one can hardly blame them for wanting to touch
base more stories of these enhanced men and women. This episode is
the prime source material for not only Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan
where Ricardo Montalban apprised his role as Khan but also the
reboot J.J. Abrahams film Star Trek Into Darkness where Benedict
Cumberbatch had played the same character.
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| See anything you like, Scotty? DON'T YOU LOOK AWAY!!! |
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