Space Seed

Did You Know?

• "Space Seed" was the first Star Trek episode to go on public sale, released as a single-episode VHS cassette in June 1982 by Paramount Home Video.
• The first adaptation of the episode was a short story by James Blish in the novelization Star Trek 2, published in 1968.
• A LaserDisc of the episode, paired with "The Return of the Archons," was released in 1985.

Plot

The USS Enterprise discovers the SS Botany Bay drifting in space. They find dozens of humans in suspended animation after nearly 200 years. McGivers identifies the group's leader, who is revived and taken to the Enterprise for examination. Kirk has the Botany Bay towed toward Starbase 12.

In sickbay, the leader introduces himself as Khan. Spock discovers that Khan is a 20th-century dictator, a product of selective breeding designed to create perfect humans, who conquered more than a third of Earth during the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s. Khan is placed under guard. McGivers, attracted to him, is sent to brief him; he persuades her to help him regain power.

Khan revives his followers and seizes control of the Enterprise. He traps Kirk in a decompression chamber and threatens to suffocate him unless the crew submits. McGivers frees Kirk, who then works with Spock to vent anesthetic gas throughout the ship, disabling most of Khan's people. Khan escapes to Engineering and tries to destroy the Enterprise, but Kirk subdues him.

Kirk holds a hearing and offers Khan and his followers exile on Ceti Alpha V rather than a penal colony. Khan accepts, quoting Milton's Paradise Lost. McGivers chooses to accompany Khan instead of facing court-martial. Spock remarks that it would be interesting to see what Khan makes of the planet in 100 years.

Production

Carey Wilber based the script on an episode he wrote for Captain Video and His Video Rangers, which featured Ancient Greek humans in suspended animation. For "Space Seed", he replaced mythological powers with abilities enhanced by genetic engineering. Wilber's first proposal, dated August 29, 1966, featured a villain named Harold Erickson, an ordinary criminal exiled into space who sought to seize the Enterprise. Producer Gene L. Coon praised the outline, but producer Bob Justman compared it negatively to Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers and considered it too expensive.

Concerns also arose that an unsolicited script by Philip José Farmer resembled the plot, potentially leading to litigation. Coon and series creator Gene Roddenberry made revisions, including marooning the criminals at the end and changing the villain from a Nordic character to a Sikh. Roddenberry tried to claim primary writing credit, but the Writers Guild of America denied his request. Ricardo Montalbán was the casting director's first choice for Khan and called the role "wonderful."

Although planned as an inexpensive bottle episode, special sets and starship miniature shots caused it to go over budget.

Reception

On its first broadcast, "Space Seed" held second place in the ratings during the first half-hour with 13.12 million viewers, behind Bewitched on ABC. A high-definition remaster with new special effects and enhanced music aired in syndication on November 18, 2006, as the eleventh remastered episode. Contemporary reviews in 1967 described it as "a good piece of science fiction" and "imaginative," with one newspaper noting its commentary on late-1990s scientific know-how. Later reviewers gave it high marks: Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club awarded an 'A' rating, praising the strong characters and the Kirk-Spock friendship. Michelle Erica Green of TrekNation called the episode "legendary" and said Khan served as a perfect foil for the main trio. Mark Pickavance of Den of Geek remarked that it remained an obvious choice of great source material for a film sequel.

Legacy

The events of "Space Seed" are directly continued in the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Ricardo Montalbán reprised the role, worrying that fans would see him only as Mr. Roarke from Fantasy Island, but felt he recaptured the character after rewatching the episode. The film earned $14.3 million on its opening weekend and $78.9 million domestically, becoming the sixth best-selling film of the year. A continuity error in the film—Khan recognizing Pavel Chekov, who did not appear in "Space Seed"—was described in a book as a "gaffe notorious throughout Star Trek fandom"; the novelization explained that Chekov was working the night shift.

The 2013 film Star Trek Into Darkness also referenced both the episode and The Wrath of Khan, with Benedict Cumberbatch portraying Khan; it earned $70.1 million on its opening weekend and $467.3 million internationally. The television series Star Trek: Enterprise made further references to the episode, such as in "Twilight," where survivors of the Xindi attack resettle on Ceti Alpha V. Later references, including in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?", substituted genetic engineering for the selective breeding described in "Space Seed."