Space Seed
- Episode aired Feb 16, 1967
- TV-PG
- 50m
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 Twentieth Century.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 Twentieth Century.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 Twentieth Century.
- Spinelli
- (as Blaisdell Makee)
- Ingenieur Fields
- (uncredited)
- Guard
- (uncredited)
- Lieutenant Hadley
- (uncredited)
- Augment
- (uncredited)
- Otto
- (uncredited)
- Lt. Brent
- (uncredited)
- Female Guard
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaGene Roddenberry questioned Carey Wilber's notion of wasting a high-tech spaceship and expensive resources on criminals - just like Kirk and Spock came up with the same question in the story itself - and came up with the concept of "a bunch of Napoleons" self-exiling in space.
- GoofsMarla, when examining a hibernating Khan prior to his revival, speculates that he is "probably a Sikh". There is nothing about Khan's appearance that would suggest that he was a Sikh. Being clean-shaven and bareheaded, he lacked the prerequisite beard and turban. Sikh is not an ethnicity but a cultural subset of India.
- Quotes
Dr. McCoy: [lying in sickbay, Khan surprises McCoy and holds a knife to his throat, then pauses] Well, either choke me or cut my throat. Make up your mind.
Khan Noonien Singh: English... I thought I dreamed hearing it. Where am I?
Dr. McCoy: You're in...
[Khan tightens his grip. McCoy continues in a lower voice]
Dr. McCoy: You're in bed, holding a knife at your doctor's throat.
Khan Noonien Singh: Answer my question.
Dr. McCoy: It would be most effective if you would cut the carotid artery, just under the left ear.
Khan Noonien Singh: [impressed, releases McCoy] I like a brave man.
Dr. McCoy: [takes the knife from Khan] I was simply trying to avoid an argument.
- Alternate versionsSpecial Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song. In the new version, Khan's ship from the 20th century, Botany Bay, is much more aged and weathered than in the original version.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Leonard Nimoy: Star Trek Memories (1984)
- SoundtracksTheme From Star Trek
Written by and credited to Alexander Courage
The actor Montalban simply dominates every scene he's in as the superior man, Khan. McCoy describes Khan's magnetic presence as 'almost electric.' Well, there's no 'almost' about it. Through a combination of charisma and sheer intensity, Montalban shows what's possible as far as overwhelming everything & everyone in sight, to the point that all things & people must cater to his will. Bred for this lofty ambition, he's more like a force of nature, unable to behave in any other way. Kirk, usually the more macho figure in a scene, comes away as a distant 2nd best when Khan's in the room or - as Khan would put it - 'obviously inferior.' As probably the most memorable single figure to grace the starship with his presence during the original series, Khan imparted to this episode a unique frisson and style; there's something special about this particular one, especially with the passage of 40 years. It's definitely a classic at this point and even legendary.
When I saw this as a kid on a small tube, I also picked the fight scene between Kirk and Khan as my favorite for the series. Kirk put on some nice moves to avoid getting bashed by Khan's far superior strength. When I got a big screen TV and played the DVD of this episode, the stuntmen became all too apparent. Oh, well, another illusion shattered. Unlike almost all other episodes where we have to guess on what happens later after Kirk and crew made their impact known, we actually find out what happens with the seed Kirk plants here (as Spock puts it). Only the answer doesn't take place a century later, as Spock hints at; no, only about 15 years later we find out how Khan and his people are doing in the sequel to this story - "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." That was when, I think, Kirk really began to regret opening that chamber where Khan was harmlessly snoozing away.
- Bogmeister
- Jul 15, 2006
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