Review of Space Seed

[Storm Raven]

I remember one of the problems in Wrath of Khan was that they were supposed to have been marooned on Ceti Alpha V, but when Chekov and Captain showed up, they thought they were on Ceti Alpha VI. But Ceti Alpha VI supposedly blew up, and shifted the orbit of Ceti Alpha V. But then, how did they make the mistake? Can't you use your sensors and count the planets, and figure out that the sixth one from the sun is supposed to be Ceti Alpha VI? I mean, Ceti Alpha V is still the fifth planet from the sun, even though it's orbit has been shifted. How lousy are the Starfleet navigators?

 

[Aesthetic Monk]

I saw Walter Koenig at a convention years ago and he tells a great story. Here's one of them.

Q: Did you know that it wasn't Chekov in the original Space Seed?
A: That's a very good question. Yes, very early on, in reading the script actually, I realized that my character wasn't on at the time of Space Seed and therefore there is no way Chekov could know about Khan or Khan about Chekov. I knew that I should say something for the story. If I did, though, it would mean a lot of my lines would be cut and I would have less screen time. So, I thought about if I should tell them or not. <pause> Well, you know my answer!

What's even funnier is that Khan makes a big deal out of recognizing Chekov in STII.

What is harder to ignore is the rampant sexism blatantly displayed. The female historian falls for Khan in about 32 nanoseconds, and falls at his feet when he commands. At a formal dinner, the two crew waiting the table are both women. Despite the ideal of equality, the reality on the screen seems almost prehistoric.

Yeah, it's pretty awful. The underlying message is that she could be a competent researcher and a good officer, but what she *really* wanted was a strong man to command her. Lovely, that.

 

[Particle_Man]

What is harder to ignore is the rampant sexism blatantly displayed. The female historian falls for Khan in about 32 nanoseconds, and falls at his feet when he commands. At a formal dinner, the two crew waiting the table are both women. Despite the ideal of equality, the reality on the screen seems almost prehistoric.

Hey, in Star Trek (Original Series) sexual equality ain't even an ideal. There is one episode where a woman switches her body with Kirk's so she can be a captain, because, by Starfleet Law, women *cannot* become captains of star ships! And then, she in Kirk's body turns out to be a complete screwup as captain anyhow, which does nothing to changes Starfleet's mind about their policy, I would imagine.

 

[Technomancer]

I saw Walter Koenig at a convention years ago and he tells a great story. Here's one of them.

Q: Did you know that it wasn't Chekov in the original Space Seed?
A: That's a very good question. Yes, very early on, in reading the script actually, I realized that my character wasn't on at the time of Space Seed and therefore there is no way Chekov could know about Khan or Khan about Chekov. I knew that I should say something for the story. If I did, though, it would mean a lot of my lines would be cut and I would have less screen time. So, I thought about if I should tell them or not. <pause> Well, you know my answer!

Very funny!

Have a good one! Take care!

edg

It's not entirely a goof. It can be explained a way. Since we don't know exactly when Chekov was first assigned to the Enterprise, it's possible he was there and just wasn't part of the main cast/bridge crew. If Khan and Co. took over the ship, the whole crew would probably know about it. Chekov's absence on screen does not mean he wasn't on the Enterprise at that time.

 

[evildmguy]

It's not entirely a goof. It can be explained a way. Since we don't know exactly when Chekov was first assigned to the Enterprise, it's possible he was there and just wasn't part of the main cast/bridge crew. If Khan and Co. took over the ship, the whole crew would probably know about it. Chekov's absence on screen does not mean he wasn't on the Enterprise at that time.

If you prefer . . .

Have a good one! Take care!

edg

 

[glass]

by Starfleet Law, women *cannot* become captains of star ships!

I haven't seen all that many of TOS episodes, so I can't be sure, but I was under the impression that this was a myth.


glass.

 

[Particle_Man]

I haven't seen all that many of TOS episodes, so I can't be sure, but I was under the impression that this was a myth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnabout_Intruder_(TOS_episode)

Last episode of TOS. To be fair, the description says that *she thinks* that she didn't get the captain's chair due to her gender, but we don't exactly hear Kirk say "That's nuts! We have lots of female Starship Captains!" or otherwise seriously contradict her claim.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I saw Walter Koenig at a convention years ago and he tells a great story. Here's one of them.

I read someone quoting another Koenig story somewhere, where he claimed that Khan met Chekov on the Enterprise when they were using adjacent urinals...

-Hyp.

 

[Maniac]

Problems with STII:TWOK

I remember one of the problems in Wrath of Khan was that they were supposed to have been marooned on Ceti Alpha V, but when Chekov and Captain showed up, they thought they were on Ceti Alpha VI. But Ceti Alpha VI supposedly blew up, and shifted the orbit of Ceti Alpha V. But then, how did they make the mistake? Can't you use your sensors and count the planets, and figure out that the sixth one from the sun is supposed to be Ceti Alpha VI? I mean, Ceti Alpha V is still the fifth planet from the sun, even though it's orbit has been shifted. How lousy are the Starfleet navigators?

Don't even get started with all the problems with STII and I do think its the best of the ST films.

A small selection.

1. Starfleet does not know the change in the Ceti Alpha star system despite their sensors and star charts.
2. In episodes of TOS they routinely pick out human life forms on the sensors yet in TWOK they cannot detect Khan and crew. I mean if Genesis will wipe out all preexisting life they should have some better sensors than they apparently were using.
3. In addition to creating life, Genesis apparently creates a sun too! (light in the underground cave - where did that come from!

M.

 

[Starman]

3. In addition to creating life, Genesis apparently creates a sun too! (light in the underground cave - where did that come from!

M.

No one ever says it is a sun. I always took it as an artificial source.