Spoilers Star Trek: Khan 1x04 - "Magical Thinking"

[Avro Arrow]

New episode drops on Monday, September 29! Get it wherever you find your podcasts.

Episode description: Marla McGivers identifies an urgent threat to the colony. Khan grapples with leading his followers through increasingly difficult times, and a startling revelation from Marla.

Runtime: 40 minutes

 

[Christopher]

Here it is:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Hmm... I never thought of the possibility of the Prime Directive applying to Khan's people. I guess that could explain why the scanners and medical equipment the Enterprise left them are so downgraded. But that would be the reason why they didn't detect Richter's Ceti eel in time to save him, and that could give Khan a reason for his resentment of Kirk, perhaps.

Speaking of, it was good to hear Tuvok debunking some of the crazy fan theories about Kirk leaving Khan to die on purpose. I'm still bothered by the part about the records being redacted, though. The trial scene in "Space Seed" literally began with Uhura confirming to Kirk that it was being recorded; Kirk wanted it on the record, no question. So someone else must have classified it.

It was a bit awkward to open Marla's log with "After that day, everything changed" or whatever, as if she hadn't made any log entries in the months since. Maybe it would've been better to do it as Dr. Lear's log summarizing several months' worth of Marla's logs.

 

[NCC-73515]

Best one so far

 

[Turtletrekker]

I get the feeling that the story is about to plunge the knife and twist it hard.

 

[Zarm]

I thought this was a major improvement on the previous episodes.

The usual complaints only really applied to one scene (best summed up with 'So you're just going to do whatever you want?' 'As you do.' 'But I am Khan (the title).' 'And I am Marla.') The bad wordplay was so reminiscent of the DIS season 2 argument between Sarek and Amanda, I assume this was Beyer's writing; it plays the whole 'twist words to try and make a point' game. But it's also really dumb because Marla has served under a Captain in Starfleet. She would understand the idea of Captain/colony leader/person in charge has authority to do as they decide in a way that subordinate officers or colony members don't. She is trying to claim being a part of the colony ('our people's) while also trying to play the completely-out-of-character *and* out-of-logic 'I do want I want, you're not the boss of me (even though you are the boss of the people I am claiming to be a part of)' card.

Let us hope this terrible writing is finally in the rear-view mirror.

That said, I think the characters of Khan and Marla are much better in this episode. The time jump and off screen development of their romance is a little frustrating, as it seems like most of the changes made to the characters in the first three episodes that I and others had issues with were for the purpose of setting up more of a non-toxic.romance between them than was shown in Space Seed, so the idea of not dramatizing that but simply throwing it in offscreen is a bit frustrating. But, the time jump also benefits them, as it allows any changes to more easily seem like the result of natural growth.

Khan acts more within the parameters of the Khan I saw onscreen. The score was good, the writing- barring that one conversation scene- was strong. The action was much clearer in an audio medium. And the series is clearly poised to tackle the issue of Ceti Alpha VI head-on. It seems like the show is finally poised to be firing on all cylinders.

As usual, talking about the negative is easier to fill a lot more page space with than talking about the positive. But I really did find this episode to be quite positive, verging on excellent, and I look forward to next week!

 

[Zarm]

Speaking of, it was good to hear Tuvok debunking some of the crazy fan theories about Kirk leaving Khan to die on purpose. I'm still bothered by the part about the records being redacted, though. The trial scene in "Space Seed" literally began with Uhura confirming to Kirk that it was being recorded; Kirk wanted it on the record, no question. So someone else must have classified it.

The one justification I could see for Kirk is the notion that- considering crimes old and new- Khan would probably be wanted, he and his people... both for a Nuremberg-esque trial and for a trial over trying to seize the Enterprise. In not reporting things, I could see Kirk trying to give their new world a chance to flourish away from Federation suspicion, (reconned) prejudice, and legal complications.

That said, it would hardly hold up when his next crew report has to explain where his ship's historian has gone... :-)

As you say, from the episode, that doesn't seem to be Kirk's intent... and considering Leaman's mysterious source, the questions about Ceti Alpha VI scans from both Space Seed and TWOK, and this redaction, I think we're going to be pointed toward some sort of conspiracy or outside agent working to obscure these things after the fact, rather than Kirk himself.

 

[Saul]

I liked this episode a lot. You really feel it building to something and you have that sense that it's all going to go horribly wrong soon.

Marla getting accepted into the group didn't feel earned and the time jump missed some good stuff between herself and Khan because we return to a place of less tension between them. The drama there was kinda glossed over and moved on quickly from due to that time jump. Pity.

 

[Tosk]

I found the scene where Marla tries to convince Khan to share grief to be quite affecting.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Another great episode. I love how the story keeps dancing around issues related to Khan's mentality. Without saying so directly, Khan is too proud for self-reflection. That comes across in his attitude toward mourning, seeing it as useless, and when he does address the death of the augments, it is a tool to unite the community and confirm its dedication to him.

I love Tuvok's quip about fun: "Not as a rule."

 

[Lord Garth]

Just finished listening to "Magical Thinking".

When Marla says that Khan's followers respected him and didn't fear him, that's consistent with what I saw in "Space Seed". Interesting that Marla waited this long to reveal she had a phaser, which see uses to stop the Ceti Eels. I like the ongoing rivalry between Ursala and Marla.

Khan is ever confident. Both in that he can stop the Queen Bee of the Ceti Eels and that he can have structures built that will endure. The latter of which we know will be successful at least.

When Khan asks Marla about how their child will be raised, she dodges answering the "Federation way" by instead saying "our way", which could be interestingly interpreted in a lot of ways. Unfortunately, since it doesn't look like Khan has a child of his own in TWOK, I'm dreading not only that Marla will die before this is over, but so will their child.

I love that Khan is able to continue to rally everyone behind him. It actually makes me wish that Ceti Alpha VI hadn't exploded.

Speaking of which, Lear just won't give up on the idea she has that Kirk knew Ceti Alpha VI was about to explode. Tuvok points out that she doesn't know Kirk and points out that Lear might be biased. I don't think this story would vilify Kirk. So, I think they'll discover something that they'll conclude there was no way Kirk could've known anything about.

It's been an adjustment, my getting used to Star Trek as an audio medium instead of a visual medium, but this time I was able to follow all the action a lot easier and could picture the sets in my head and imagine the phaser fight against the Ceti Eel.

Weighing everything, I think I'm actually going to go with giving it a 10.

 

[UssGlenn]

Unfortunately, since it doesn't look like Khan has a child of his own in TWOK, I'm dreading not only that Marla will die before this is over, but so will their child.

there is that child from the deleted scenes.

 

[Lord Garth]

there is that child from the deleted scenes.

Yes, but the child Marla's pregnant with here would've been a teenager by TWOK.

 

[Christopher]

When Khan asks Marla about how their child will be raised, she dodges answering the "Federation way" by instead saying "our way", which could be interestingly interpreted in a lot of ways.

It was clear to me that she meant "our way" in the sense of "your way and mine as a couple," or "ours as a community." Throughout this whole thing, she's been trying to convince Khan and the others that she considers herself a member of their community despite their doubts in her, so presumably she was doing the same thing here.

Unfortunately, since it doesn't look like Khan has a child of his own in TWOK, I'm dreading not only that Marla will die before this is over, but so will their child.

Khan said in TWOK that the Ceti eels killed "my beloved wife," so now that he and Marla are married, it could happen anytime now. We're less than two months from the explosion of Ceti Alpha VI at this point, so the odds of the baby making it to term are quite low.

 

[Lord Garth]

It was clear to me that she meant "our way" in the sense of "your way and mine as a couple," or "ours as a community." Throughout this whole thing, she's been trying to convince Khan and the others that she considers herself a member of their community despite their doubts in her, so presumably she was doing the same thing here.

Looking at it that way, I think you're right. I agree.

Khan said in TWOK that the Ceti eels killed "my beloved wife," so now that he and Marla are married, it could happen anytime now. We're less than two months from the explosion of Ceti Alpha VI at this point, so the odds of the baby making it to term are quite low.

I probably shouldn't be doing this, because now that I'll say it, it'll probably be wrong, but I bet Marla makes it to Episode 10. Only because I think they want to keep Wrenn Schmidt for the duration. So, I'm predicting there will be a twist that will lead to some other type of complication that keeps the baby from being born. Maybe the shock from the explosion, she hits herself on something, end of pregnancy.

So, there we are! I've officially made my first Star Trek: Khan prediction! We'll see if I get any of it right, or if I fall flat on my face.

 

[Christopher]

I probably shouldn't be doing this, because now that I'll say it, it'll probably be wrong, but I bet Marla makes it to Episode 10. Only because I think they want to keep Wrenn Schmidt for the duration.

Hmm, I'm gonna say not necessarily. I mean, they list George Takei as a main-cast regular, but I think he's been in at most two episodes so far, maybe only the first one. And I think Tim Russ has only been in three of the four so far. So it's possible that Schmidt won't be in every episode either.

 

[Zarm]

I could buy that, but I still think she will make it to near the end, at least.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

So, there we are! I've officially made my first Star Trek: Khan prediction! We'll see if I get any of it right, or if I fall flat on my face.

And a good time will be had by all (except maybe you)!

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I could buy that, but I still think she will make it to near the end, at least.

Maybe she won't make it, but they'll have some log of hers in the last episode, perhaps.

 

[JD]

We got some nice development for Khan and Marla's relationship in this one, I especially liked their conversation about mourning. There were some interesting information revealed about the Ceti Eels and how they function.
I was a little surprised by the time jump, but if they're trying to cover everything in 10 episodes, I can see wanting to get to the Ceti Alpha VI explosion quicker now that everything has been solidly established.
I'm curious how they're going to address the issues with The Wrath of Khan now that they've brought them up in the modern day storyline.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I probably shouldn't be doing this, because now that I'll say it, it'll probably be wrong, but I bet Marla makes it to Episode 10.

I don't think Marla is going to make it to episode 10, because I'm guessing they will want to depict some of Khan's descent into madness before Reliant arrives, and I'm guessing it's going to be Marla's (and/or the baby's) death that pushes him over the edge. They're going to want some time to deal with the affects of that, and for Khan to nurse his anger and hatred of Kirk.

As @Bad Thoughts mentioned, though, that wouldn't preclude Wrenn Schmidt appearing in the final episodes in log recordings.

We know that Marla is ultimately going to be infected with an eel, so I suspect she will survive the explosion of Ceti Alpha VI. Not sure about the baby. I would probably put Marla's death around the climax of episode 7 or 8?

Spoiler: Crazy alternate possibility

Unless there is some crazy rug-pull and it turns out Marla wasn't really killed after all, Khan just thought she was, and Lear's secret source is Marla herself. I'm not sure that makes much sense (why wouldn't Marla just go public herself, instead of roping Lear into it?), but we never actually saw her dead, and you know how fiction sometimes goes when we don't actually see a body!