Original air date: February 16, 1967
Captain’s Log, Stardate 3141.9
SYNOPSIS
While on patrol in deep space, Captain Kirk and his crew find and revive a genetically engineered world conqueror and his compatriots from Earth's 20th century.
CANON CONTEXT
Ricardo Montalbán, need I say more? Wrath of Khan is something else I can say here. So much can be taken into context for who Khan was and what he will ultimately become because of the decisions made on this episode. There is no one to blame here but Kirk.
RECAP
This is the one. Not the one I’ve been looking forward to seeing. That’s, of course, The Trouble With Tribbles episode. We’re not there yet. But, if you were to ask a TOS fan to name the most notable or important episodes (top three) in their estimation, you’d be hard pressed not to find someone who would include Space Seed among their answers. But let’s pretend for a moment we have never seen this episode OR Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan (the movie). Hard to do, but let’s try.
While patrolling the galaxy the Enterprise encounters a really old space ship. One of the first of its kind from the 21st century, in fact. What’s even more fascinating is that there are very faint heartbeat signatures on board. As is the Enterprise way, they must investigate.
They beam on to find fairly rudimentary technology that Scotty is fascinated by (as the chief engineer he would be) and the historian (necessary to answer some 21st century questions if needed) is excited about when they discover dozens of humans on board, asleep. It seems they were cryogenically frozen but for some two centuries!
Enter the leader of this mysterious ship known as the SS Botany Bay. The first to be woken up. In truth, they had to wake him or he might’ve died. There are over seventy people alive (asleep) on this ship, but their leader, Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán) is the one to be weary of.
He is brought on board the Enterprise for observations. What they observe is that he’s quite a specimen. Believed to be a part of a crude eugenics war that was started in the 1990’s (keep in mind this show was written in 1967, almost three decades before the 90’s) and resulted in a bunch of “Napoleon-complex” men that were created. These leader type men went on to rule until they wanted to conquer and eventually were taken out. A lot of the history here is fuzzy. But what’s important to note is what was left out of the history books: That 80 - 90 of these supermen that were created were unaccounted for when they were believed to have been overthrown.
The one the Enterprise just happened upon and managed to wake up is Khan Noonian Singh. He happens to be one of the most notable. In fact, Bones, Kirk, and Scotty all seem to have a certain level of respect and admiration for who he was and what he managed to do. This surprises Mr. Spock to hear them speak of a tyrant in this way.
Now, a word on the costumes. I try to ignore them as much as I can but the ones that Khan manages to wear throughout the episode are amazing to me. In starfleet attire, then tailor made clothing that manages to show just the right amount of glistening chest. This show, man, it’s wild! Okay, moving on…
We come to the historian. From the moment McGivers set eyes on Khan we all knew she was in love. That actress does a great job of undressing him with her eyes. And not surprisingly either as she appears in many other television shows with him. I think she portrayed his wife in The Love Boat? Anyway, in this episode you can see just how hard she manages to fight the magnetism he uses against her. One might say it was manipulation and verbal abuse to literally get her to kneel to his will.
Eventually, she agrees to do whatever he wants because she’s been manipulated. More on this later.
Khan’s master plan is to take over the ship after he’s spent some time reading over all the manuals that the Enterprise readily has on hand for anyone who wants to, to read. This boggles my mind. Why on earth would you let a perfect stranger learn how to take over your ship? Why would this kind of information even be so readily available? Probably one of the dumbest moments I’ve seen on this show so far and we’re way past the rabbit episode!
Okay, so now that Khan understands how to easily take control of the ship he beams onto his old ship, wakes up his crew, brings them all aboard the Enterprise, and easily manages to incapacitate the entire bridge. It’s truly a work of genius that even Mr. Spock finds fascinating.
All of the bridge crew are then taken to a room to give them an opportunity to join Khan in his mission to inhabit a planet and take it over. Of course, no one is willing to comply. To try and force them to bend to his will he orders Uhura to operate the viewing screen to show them something. But this strong, independent, black woman will not comply and so she gets smacked across the face!
I swear I was waiting for the moment when she snapped back. But she was stopped by McGivers. Eventually the view screen comes on to see that Kirk is in some sort of pressure room with it dropping. When it drops to zero he will be dead. McGivers, not willing to be a party to this asks to leave. I knew why, though. She disables the viewing screen before everyone can see if Kirk is dead or not. Then she knocks out the person guarding that chamber and frees the captain! Hooray! As if there were any doubt?
He is joined by Mr. Spock who is sent by Khan to be the next one to die the way he assumes Kirk as been. The two men, now free, set off some stun gas into all the rooms, including the one with his crew. Khan and Scotty manage to escape the room just before it can knock them out.
There’s the obligatory fight scene in the engine room between Khan and Kirk where Khan is defeated.
Now comes the time when Kirk must decide what fate should come of Khan and his crew. Here is where, again, I just don’t understand the ignorance of Kirk and of man. He knows full well what Khan is capable of and yet this is what he decides:
Khan and his crew of seventy-something people (all supermen/superwomen by the way) are to be taken to a planet where they can breath and “barely” survive. And left there. That’s it. Are you for real? This clearly very resourceful man with a group of seventy? They deserve whatever fate meets them for doing this. I understand the captain felt it would be a waste to send him to prison but at least in prison he wouldn’t be free to like, I don’t know, come back with a vengence?
And as for the good historian McGivers? Khan says, and I quote “I’ll take her.”
I agree with Mr. Spock about the captains decision when he says “It would be interesting, Captain, to return to that world in 100 years and learn what crop had sprung from the seed you planted today.”
DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?
Captain James T. Kirk: This Khan is not what I expected of a twentieth century man.
Mr. Spock: I note he's making considerable use of our technical library.
Captain James T. Kirk: Common courtesy, Mr. Spock. He'll spend the rest of his days in our time. It's only decent to help him catch up. Would you estimate him to be a product of selective breeding?
Mr. Spock: There is that possibility, Captain. His age would be correct. In 1993, a group of these young supermen did seize power simultaneously in over 40 nations.
Captain James T. Kirk: Well, they were hardly supermen. They were aggressive, arrogant. They began to battle among themselves.
Mr. Spock: Because the scientists overlooked one fact: superior ability breeds superior ambition.
Captain James T. Kirk: Interesting, if true. They created a group of Alexanders, Napoleons.
Mr. Spock: I have collected some names and made some counts. By my estimate, there were some 80 or 90 of these young supermen unaccounted for when they were finally defeated.
Captain James T. Kirk: That fact isn't in the history texts.
Mr. Spock: Would you reveal to war-weary populations that some 80 Napoleans might still be alive?