Spoilers Star Trek: Khan 1x06 - "The Good of All"

[Avro Arrow]

We start the back half of the story on Monday, October 13! Get it from the usual podcast places.

Episode description: Khan struggles to understand the Elboreans and their leader, Delmonda, while his own people's distrust of the newcomers increases in the face of impending catastrophe.

Runtime: 36 mins

 

[Zarm]

Not... particularly bad in any aspect I can point to, but this one just didn't grab me as much as the last few. No one comes off especially great...

Spoiler: General rundown of the characters' lackluster positions

Sulu is not being shown in a great light. Tuvok seems to be on Learman's side even though I'm not. There is no superior intellect (or scanning) being done, apparently, when it comes to new excavations (and why is the seven-month-pregnant woman in the place where sledgehammers are being swung, anyhow? That's just asking for a disaster, even without a cave-in.) Ivan is a psychopath (predicting now that he will be responsible for Marla getting infected), and a murderer... again. And the fact that Khan and Marla don't initially picture him capable of it seems profoundly naive. At least downer Marla-sound-alike-augment-lady is understandable in her grief; but even she contributed to the overall feeling of morass (though, again, for valid reason).

In general, this just reminded me a bit of Generations... our protagonists get no wins, just suffer a series of setbacks, none of which are due to fatal stupidity, necessarily, but some of which were definitely avoidable, and that just leads to a muted enjoyability. I think if it has advanced the plot a bit more- either the development of the shelters, the relationship with the Elboreans, the storyline of Learman... but, aside from a couple of end cliffhanger reveals (one in each time-period), this was largely exposition (especially act one) and wheel-spinning, with an inconclusive crisis thrown in for good measure (the true repercussions of which probably won't be sorted until next week).

In short, nothing about it is bad, really, it just didn't add up to as enjoyable an installment as usual, for me.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Frickin' Ivan.

 

[Zarm]

That was actually his nickname during the wars.

 

[David cgc]

It occurred to me listening to this one that there's a bit of a Kirk/Spock/McCoy thing going on with Khan being pulled in opposite directions by Ivan and Marla. Of course, Spock (or McCoy) didn't go behind Kirk's back "for his own good" nearly as much as Ivan does.

 

[Zarm]

Also, if Marla tries to strike up the Spock-McCoy banter, she's a dead woman. :-) Especially considering how much of it was racially and biologically-based...

 

[Tuskin38]

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[Christopher]

I still think it would've worked better for Ivan to be one of the rival warlords from the Eugenics Wars, rather than one of Khan's followers. It would fit better with how often he disobeys Khan and does his own thing.

Also, the way Khan talks about the Augments' creators being the ones using them as weapons is hard to reconcile with the original idea that it was the eugenic "supermen" themselves whose superior ambition led them to conquest. But I guess that could be Khan dodging the blame for their own choices by pinning it on their creators.

 

[Zarm]

I still think it would've worked better for Ivan to be one of the rival warlords from the Eugenics Wars, rather than one of Khan's followers. It would fit better with how often he disobeys Khan and does his own thing.

Also, the way Khan talks about the Augments' creators being the ones using them as weapons is hard to reconcile with the original idea that it was the eugenic "supermen" themselves whose superior ambition led them to conquest. But I guess that could be Khan dodging the blame for their own choices by pinning it on their creators.

Unfortunately, I feel like it's rather a necessity to fit the narrative that Star Trek is trying to push these days with the ban on eugenics and augmentation being a form of bigotry rather than a wise precaution based on a demonstrable and proven track record. I definitely dislike that revision and the light that it cast Starfleet in. But Star Trek seems to be going all in on it right now, and that requires augments to victims and a downplaying of the 'superior ambition' idea to be racist propaganda rather than accurate history.

So I suspect that it's more a consequence trying to jive with the franchises current direction over and above fidelity to the original source material descriptions. Just because accurately depicting those descriptions would be too unsympathetic and conflict with the messaging going on elsewhere in the franchise.

 

[Miami Vice Admiral]

Yay Evil Khan is getting ever closer.

I think Zarm hit the nail on the head about the change in view of the augments. I like the message that no one is born evil, but the idea that humanity accepts its biological limitations has always fit well with Star Trek, so I’m still anti augment.

 

[NCC-73515]

I took it as the creators initially wanting to use them for their own plans, and them rebelling and taking over.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Not... particularly bad in any aspect I can point to, but this one just didn't grab me as much as the last few.

Sorry, I have to disagree with you... I really enjoyed this one. (I do wonder if some of that is related to the fact that it's a holiday here, so I was listening during a peaceful afternoon, rather than after a stressful day at work...)

Some big reveals and events in this one. I was heartbroken over what happened to Madot, and Ursula's reaction to Khan, while driven by her emotional response, actually makes sense... why would anyone want to bring a child into that world? (And of course, that argument mirrors ones people are making today about our own world.) The reveal about who sent the logs to Lear initially surprised me, but it was something that afterwards I felt shouldn't have surprised me, after last week.

I do agree that Sulu doesn't really come across looking too good here. I get what he's saying about evil, but I don't feel that trying to suppress historical investigation feels very... Star Trek-y. And ordering Tuvok to spy on a Federation citizen because he disagrees with her motives feels to me like he's stepping way out of line. But on the plus side, at least I'm starting to get somewhat more interested in the framing story, whereas up to now, it's just felt kind of... there.

And of course, like all good Star Trek, this episode seemed to offer some reflection back on ourselves. Sulu's treatise on evil, and Delmonda's discussion over dinner with Khan, both seemed to be offering commentary on what is currently going on in the world, and really resonated with me. I even decided to use one of Delmonda's quotes as my current sig.

All in all, I liked this one a lot, and can't wait to see where things go next!

(And for anyone curious, I had the usual Instacart ad at the beginning (someone should tell them it's currently mid-October, and nowhere near any reasonable definition of "summer"), and then two ads in the story itself, right after the dinner scene between Khan and Delmonda. The first was a repeat of the same travel service ad from last week, which is called Axel, and I'm more convinced now it's Wrenn Schmidt narrating--is anyone else getting that one?--but of course I can't afford to travel, so it means nothing to me. And the second one was for a company in my province trying to sell me farm materials, for a farm I definitely do not have. Certainly wasn't worth breaking up the story flow for.)

 

[Christopher]

I do agree that Sulu doesn't really come across looking too good here. I get what he's saying about evil, but I don't feel that trying to suppress historical investigation feels very... Star Trek-y. And ordering Tuvok to spy on a Federation citizen because he disagrees with her motives feels to me like he's stepping way out of line. But on the plus side, at least I'm starting to get somewhat more interested in the framing story, whereas up to now, it's just felt kind of... there.

Yeah, it did seem pretty hardline for Sulu, but then, Sulu remains the least developed of the TOS core cast in canon (now that SNW has fleshed out Uhura and Chapel so much), so I can't really say it's out of character.

Sulu wasn't in "Space Seed" (though he could've been aboard unseen like Chekov apparently was), so I figure his animosity toward Khan comes mainly from the events of TWOK; he probably blames Khan for getting Spock and a number of cadets killed. Some tie-ins (including mine) have portrayed Sulu becoming an Academy instructor in the years prior to TWOK, so it's possible that some of the cadets who died were his students. So he'd have reason for animosity toward Khan and the Augments.

 

[David Mack]

I still think it would've worked better for Ivan to be one of the rival warlords from the Eugenics Wars, rather than one of Khan's followers.

That would have made no sense. If Ivan were one of Khan’s rivals, why would Khan have made room for Ivan aboard his escape vessel? Given Khan’s nature, he seems unlikely to share precious space and resources to bring a potential enemy with him into exile on the Botany Bay.

 

[Tuskin38]

fit the narrative that Star Trek is trying to push these days with the ban on eugenics and augmentation being a form of bigotry rather than a wise precaution based on a demonstrable and proven track record.

You're misunderstanding that, it's the blanket ban on all types augmentations/genetic engineering instead of a selective ban that's bigotry. There are augmentations that can be useful that wouldn't create people like Khan.

Plus DS9 did that before any of the new shows did.

 

[Zarm]

I do agree that Sulu doesn't really come across looking too good here. I get what he's saying about evil, but I don't feel that trying to suppress historical investigation feels very... Star Trek-y. And ordering Tuvok to spy on a Federation citizen because he disagrees with her motives feels to me like he's stepping way out of line. But on the plus side, at least I'm starting to get somewhat more interested in the framing story, whereas up to now, it's just felt kind of... there.

I wouldn't say that he's trying to suppress anything. He isn't denying Learman anything and even got her the system scans (which she went on to treat with bad faith immediately, as per her usual, accusing them of potential falsehood or error; she is hardly an objective investigator, she just wants to support her own pre-existing narrative).

Sulu disagrees with her biased motives- and she has attacked his commanding officer and is trying to prove he's a monster while exonerating a man responsible for murdering many people that Sulu personally knew; he has good cause- and distrusts her, but he still took her and is sticking around as per her nonsensical requests. I would say he is very much in the clear in terms of supporting her investigation, and even justified in distrusting her.

It's only the treating her as a threat and spying on he that seems a step too far; that feels out of line to me.

You're misunderstanding that, it's the blanket ban on all types augmentations/genetic engineering instead of a selective ban that's bigotry. There are augmentations that can be useful that wouldn't create people like Khan.

Plus DS9 did that before any of the new shows did.

I would disagree; I see DS9 as very much demonstrating that, while exceptions are possible they are also exceedingly rare. And that there are both high risk of dangerous side effects, and a trend toward amorality (remember when the Jack Pack tried to betray the Federation to the Dominion because they calculated it was for the greater long-term good), of being 'above' the morals of ordinary men. I see DS9 as very much reinforcing that while exceptions are possible, overall those bans are still there for a very good reason.

And that human beings exceeding their own design parameters will inevitably still lead to a dangerous hubris; that the risk is inherent to any form of augmentation (which is very consistent with Trek philosophy, from Where No Man Has Gone Before to Hide and Q).

 

[Christopher]

That would have made no sense. If Ivan were one of Khan’s rivals, why would Khan have made room for Ivan aboard his escape vessel? Given Khan’s nature, he seems unlikely to share precious space and resources to bring a potential enemy with him into exile on the Botany Bay.

Spock said in "Space Seed" that "I have collected some names and made some counts. By my estimate, there were some eighty or ninety of these young supermen unaccounted for when they were finally defeated." I've always taken that to mean that the rest of humanity rose up against all the "supermen" and overthrew them, which would've given them common ground. The former rivals could have agreed to unite against their common non-Augment enemies, then fled together when they were defeated. The history of warfare is full of former adversaries becoming allies against common foes, but that often only defers their tensions rather than resolving them completely. (And IIRC, the way Greg Cox portrayed it in The Eugenics Wars was that Gary Seven arranged to exile all the surviving Augments aboard the Botany Bay, or at least as many as possible.)

Also, the fact that Spock had to collate the evidence himself to find out that 80-odd Augments had disappeared suggests that they didn't all come from a single group. If all the defeated Augment conquerors around the world had been accounted for except for Khan and his followers, that would have been an obvious thing reported on at the time rather than an obscure fact that Spock had to piece together.

Continuity aside, I just think it would've made the conflict with Ivan stronger if he'd been a former rival turned grudging ally -- if he didn't have the same ingrained loyalty to Khan that all the others have. It would make his constant defiance feel better justified, and heighten the tension by making him ambitious to overthrow Khan rather than just being an unruly follower. And it would better fit the idea from "Space Seed" that all the "supermen" were aggressive, ambitious, and prone to conflict, rather than just being a bunch of obedient followers of one man.