{"id":4092,"date":"2013-09-09T05:01:13","date_gmt":"2013-09-09T05:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/122-Space-Seed"},"modified":"2013-09-09T05:01:13","modified_gmt":"2013-09-09T05:01:13","slug":"122-space-seed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relivethemajesty.com\/index.php\/2013\/09\/09\/122-space-seed\/","title":{"rendered":"1.22 — \u201cSpace Seed\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

1.22 — \u201cSpace Seed\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plot:<\/strong> In deep space, the crew of the Enterprise<\/em> beams aboard a mysterious derelict spacecraft of Earth origin, dating from the late 20th century. They discover a crew alive in suspended animation for 200 years. Its leader, defrosted, is Khan, a genetically-altered superman and refuge from the Eugenics Wars that overtook Earth in the 1990s (erroneously labelled as “the grunge rock movement” in modern history books). How will Khan react to life in the 23rd century? Has hibernation blunted the edge of his urge to rule?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Analysis:<\/strong> OMG famous episode. Khan Noonien Singh. The Eugenics Wars! I was in college in the 1990s while Khan ruled 25% of the planet, so I must have missed it. Looking backward, I would think Khan would be just as famous a historical figure as Lief Ericsson, if not Alexander and Napoleon. They don\u2019t quite get around to explaining how he and his people slipped off-planet without anyone noticing. Presumably this was a big cover-up? Did he fake his death \u00e0 la Kodos the Executioner?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I don\u2019t remember Wrath of Khan<\/em> making a big deal about Khan being a perfect physical specimen, five times stronger than Kirk, but maybe I’m forgetting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A big subject here is the dynamics of cult leaders and the power of big personalities. What do you think about Khan\u2019s claim, \u201cImprove a mechanical device and you may double productivity. But improve man and you gain a thousand fold?\u201d Eugenics aside, this view of human exceptionalism seems consistent with the outrageous salaries paid to superstar CEOs–worth 1,000 times more than ordinary workers?–and the cult of personality that grows around people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Khan is not the kind of character you see all the time on television. Lt. McGivers doesn\u2019t come off very well, especially due to time compression in the story, but the effect of cult leaders on those who follow them is obviously a real thing. Khan is great, but I want to know more about the genetically altered super_women_.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Did I see Khan use the Vulcan neck pinch? I saw that and thought, oh shit. They’ve had it now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eugenics fortunately has died off as a big topic, with Hitler far in the rearview mirror and theories of racial superiority being long discredited. I notice they make sure to emphasize their supermen are from all races, i.e., not just Aryans. Ricardo Montalban (who was Mexican) passes fairly well as Indian, I guess–they made a lot more effort at this in “Space Seed” than Wrath of Khan<\/em>. I find it interesting they cast a real ethnically Indian actor to be this week’s helmsman on the bridge (oddly named “Spinelli”)–probably no coincidence there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I love McCoy’s line, \u201cI signed aboard this ship to practice medicine, not to have my atoms scattered back and forth across space by this gadget.\u201d Shatner plays Kirk with a swagger that differs from earlier episodes–I don\u2019t know whether this choice was made to contrast him with Khan, or whether it may have been a product of studio notes. I don\u2019t like it, but it\u2019s not enough to overturn this action-packed episode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Part of the success comes from art direction. Five costume changes for Khan, some of them extraordinary–the gold net number? I also like the wild artwork in Lt. McGivers\u2019 quarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kirk and the crew come off as extraordinary. The bridge crew blacks out rather than surrender when Khan cuts out their life support. No one betrays the ship as first Kirk and then Spock are led off to be killed, with a promise that they all will follow. And McCoy doesn\u2019t flinch under the threat of Khan’s scalpel, delivering the best lines of the episode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Something should be said about the efficiency of the story-telling. I looked at the clock at the moment when Khan, victorious, assumes control of the ship, and realized there were only 10 minutes left in the episode. They pack a lot in. But, what you remember about “Space Seed” is Khan, Khan, Khan. I love the wordless scene where he regains consciousness in sickbay. Apart from this, there’s also something cool about looking back at World War 3 and disaster in Earth’s presumed near future from the perspective of an even further distant peaceful future.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For ambition, humor, irresistible scenes, and Ricardo Montalban, I rate it 5 out of 5 frozen supermen.<\/p>\n\n\n

http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Space_Seed<\/a>