Mine is that Discovery should have been a series taking place in the Picard era.
The Wrath of Khan ruined Khan’s character.
Khan was introduced in the episode Space Seed, where his crew of genetically-enhanced tyrants are discovered hibernating on a ship, having been kicked off Earth centuries before. It’s a wonderful episode about opposing moral perspectives, and we get the positive and negative views on both.
You could say it’s about slave/herd morality versus master/strength morality, or you could say it’s about compassionate humanism vs tyrannical domination. Both these perspectives are given their space in the episode.
Khan talks about how they were actually persecuted for their reproductive schemes, how that’s an infringement on their freedom. That makes him somewhat sympathetic, but at the same time he accepts nobody’s rules except his own.
The most interesting part is how the crew of the Enterprise are actually enamoured with the strength, charisma, and freedom of the tyrants. The final scene (after they defeat Khan) show the crew almost lamenting how they can’t do the kind of tyranny that Khan does. They want it, they kind of respect it, but they acknowledge the importance of equality and rule of law, so they almost-grudgingly agree that they did the right thing by defeating him.
When they defeat Khan they exile his crew once again to a harsh planet.
Ultimately the episode demonstrates why fascism will always be alluring to men and women, and also why it’s important to make sure that it doesn’t take over.
Then we get The Wrath of Khan. Khan is no longer charismatic. There’s no philosophical discussion. Just a revenge story. And this is somehow the version of Khan we remember!
You could argue that Khan’s vengeful turn is what happens when the spirit of freedom is crushed and ostracized. That would make a good arc, and a good psychological study. But none of that is discussed. He’s just a bitter, resentful loser who will stop at nothing to hurt Kirk. Khan as a character is ruined, and the story isn’t even ten percent as good as the episode where he was introduced.
Edit: I had the name of the episode wrong.
This is such an interesting take, because I have such a different one!
I maintain that, in his anger, in his vengeance, he was right. Being exiled to Ceti Alpha 5, when no one knew that Ceti Alpha 6 had exploded years ago and destroyed the habitability of Ceti Alpha 5 (oh my God, no one thought to check on the marooned Khan and his people in fifteen years?) means that he was a victim. And there was no justice.
I still thought of Khan and his people as charismatic and strong and intelligent- but victimized by Kirk, they were correct to seek revenge. What was done to them was not justice. It was cruel and unusual punishment. I also found it a testament to their strength that they survived for 14-and-a-half years on that hellhole.
Loved your comments. Love the different perspective!
I’m not necessarily saying he was wrong (although his mission is a race to the bottom). And yeah, the victimization could explain his deterioration from a great man to a warped vengeance-seeking psycho. But as a character there was nothing interesting going on there. He’s just a generic Bad Guy, for the plot.
But I like your points. It’s nice to see some Khan appreciation!
Mine is that Ahsoka has become a bit overrated over the past decade. Yes, we grew up with the clone wars, we saw her grow into a fantastic character, and yes she deserves the attention she’s getting. But everything she’s in now seems to be just to get adult fans nostalgic for their childhood. I’m worried that I’m going to stop caring the next time Disney makes a new property about her. It’s hard seeing my childhood die in front of me while I watch.
Moral of story: stop making sequels. I want another season of Andor!
Edit: I might be illiterate
This is the best comment in the whole post. No apology necessary.
Confirmed, Star Wars and Star Trek are in the same universe!
Yes, but one was in a galaxy far far away
You’re not wrong though
🙊🫣
Wasn’t she a grown up in the comics long before Disney sunk their teeth in?
I wouldn’t know. But it’s not like that would change the fact that whenever she gets trotted out it feels like they are just doing it for the Nostalgia
I feel the same way about any IP remake these days.
Enterprise is better than people give it credit for.
If the theme song were magically, retroactively changed to Archer’s Theme, the show would automatically be considered twice as good with no other changes.
I’m convinced I’m the only person on the planet that thought it was a banger.
IIIITTTSSS BEEEN A LOOOOOOOONNNG ROOOAAAADDD
GETTING FROM THERE TO HERE
You are. You totally are…
My mother used to sing along. Would you like her number?
Is she hot?
Hot as fuck. She looks like me with a wig. /s
I’ll roll the dice
A lot of banger songs don’t belong in a Star Trek intro.
You take that back
ngl I actually thought the official intro was some kind of fan edit.
should have gone 7 seasons, too.
The cast and special effects were great. If the writers trusted the premise that this was going to be a straight origin story without temporal cold war bullshit, the series would have been a lot better.
The Romulans as the big bad for the series was there the whole time.
The TCW was a network mandate. So was dumping the TCW.
I just started the last season of it yesterday.
Congrats, That last season is the best season of television.
Not the best season of Trek, the best season of any show.
Errr… I still think Babylon 5 Season 4 is the best of television, but you have to have invested in 1-3 first.
