I have previously reviewed this episode as part of ShatnerKahn I.\u00a0 But I think it is desirable to provide a standard treatment for all the Star Trek episodes so I will follow the usual procedure here.<\/p>\n
The Enterprise encounters a derelict space ship drifting slowly through space and identifies it as an old Earth vessel from the 1990s.\u00a0 Upon scanning it they find signs of life and board it.\u00a0 They discover the crew to be in suspended animation.\u00a0 Upon rescuing the leader from his sleep they discover that the crew are eugenically produced supermen who were forced to flee Earth after their dictatorships were overthrown.<\/p>\n
Their Leader Khan Noonien Singh, played by the inimitable Ricardo Montalban, dissembles his intentions and seduces crewmember Lt. Marla Mcgivers into assisting him in capturing the Enterprise in order to aid his people in finding and conquering an Earth colony for their new home.\u00a0 The supermen quickly overwhelm the crew and Khan puts Kirk in a vacuum chamber and threatens to suffocate him if one of the crew does not assist him in his plan.\u00a0 We get a view of Kirk gasping like an out of water goldfish which will earn this episode a very healthy Shatner mockery score.\u00a0 But McGivers repents of her mutiny and saves Kirk from the death trap.\u00a0 With the assistance of Mr. Spock Kirk is able to use knockout gas to subdue the mutineers.\u00a0 But Khan escapes to the engine room and is causing an engine overload that would destroy the whole ship when Kirk arrives for their showdown.\u00a0 Khan starts by prying Kirk\u2019s phaser out of his hand and then bending it into a curve with his bare hands.\u00a0 And here Khan makes his famous taunt.\u00a0 He says, \u201cCaptain, I have five times your strength!\u201d in his unique Ricardo Montalban enunciation.\u00a0 Khan proceeds to toss Kirk around the engine room like a rag doll while Kirk attempts some pretty rudimentary martial arts moves.\u00a0 I\u2019m not 100% sure but I believe there was a stunt double for Shatner in some of the acrobatics.\u00a0 But naturally Kirk fights dirty.\u00a0 He grabs a metal rod and starts hammering Khan in the head and back until he passes out.<\/p>\n
In the final scene Kirk convenes a court and dismisses all charges against the supermen if they will agree to exile on a deserted and inhospitable planet.\u00a0 When asked if he accepts the offer Khan asks Kirk if he knows his Milton.\u00a0 Kirk nods in understanding.\u00a0 Then Kirk gives Mcgivers a choice; go into exile with Khan or stand trial for mutiny.\u00a0 She eagerly accepts exile.<\/p>\n
Scotty pleads shameful ignorance as a Scot for not knowing the Milton reference and Kirk explains that in Paradise Lost, Lucifer declares that he would rather reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.\u00a0 The show ends up with Spock and Kirk wondering what they would find if they were able to come back in a hundred years and see what fruit had grown \u201cfrom the seed\u201d they were now sowing.<\/p>\n
This is one of the quintessential Star Trek episodes.\u00a0 Kirk is out macho-ed by Khan. \u00a0Spock gets to act appalled by the humans\u2019 clear admiration for Khan\u2019s obviously authoritarian methods, to which charge Kirk admits and explains humans have a primitive streak that allows them to admire an enemy for his strength.\u00a0 In these days of #metoo Khan would never be allowed to rough up McGivers as he does to dominate her into helping him.\u00a0 Of course, he also plays with her hair quite a bit so he is a romantic too.\u00a0 One of the ludicrous things about the episode is Kirk giving Khan access to the ship technical manuals.\u00a0 These allow Khan to capture the ship.\u00a0 I mean come on!\u00a0 What part of superman is hard to understand?\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t he have just given him a game of free-cell to keep him from getting bored?<\/p>\n
Kirk\u2019s fight with Khan is also classic.\u00a0 His shirt manages not to get shredded but he has several awkward and lame looking judo holds that helps qualify this episode for a decent Shatner mockery score.\u00a0 And above all there is Montalban.\u00a0 He struts and brags and mocks Kirk for being inferior in all ways.\u00a0 It\u2019s quite entertaining.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s give this a 9 for the episode and a 7 for Shatner mockery.\u00a0 9\u00a0 \/\/\u00a0 7.\u00a0 Well done Ricardo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have previously reviewed this episode as part of ShatnerKahn I.\u00a0 But I think it is desirable to provide a standard treatment for all the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[237,4,244,2149,240],"tags":[2150,2369,38,1355,2180,44,309,265,1691,2182,293,2181,154,1692,837],"class_list":["post-10145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","category-sff","category-sff-tv-reviews","category-star-trek","category-tv-reviews","tag-gene-roddenberry","tag-khan-noonien-singh","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-ricardo-montalban","tag-sci-fi","tag-sci-fi-tv-review","tag-science-fiction","tag-sff-tv-show-reviews","tag-space-seed","tag-star-trek","tag-the-wrath-of-khan","tag-tv-review","tag-tv-reviews","tag-william-shatner"],"yoast_head":"\n