“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (1982) pits Captain Kirk and his crew against a most formidable enemy; a crafty, smarter, stronger and better-looking adversary: Khan Noonien Singh. Khan has charisma to burn, and few actors can go so over-the-top whilst practicing perfectly tuned self-restraint as Ricardo Montalban can.
It’s Shakespearean (in the best way) – plus it has photon torpedoes, unsolvable riddles and brain-eating eels. What’s not to love?
Revenge is a dish best served by a eugenics superman with pecs
Khan has been nursing an intense quest for revenge ever since Kirk banished him to a desert planet (Ceti Alpha V) in the episode “Space Seed” (1967). Khan is a superior human; a cryogenically preserved 1990s superman of towering intellect, insights and strength. He once ruled over about a quarter of the planet Earth.
“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (1982)
Director: Nicholas Meyer
Writers: Gene Roddenberry, Jack B. Sowards, Harve Bennett
Stars: William Shatner, Ricardo Montalban, Leonard Nimoy
But after reawakening and nearly taking over the Enterprise, he is defeated and offered exile, and he accepts. Spock, in an aside worthy of Othello, wonders what the “seed” Kirk has planted will bear.
The “Star Trek” television series is cancelled after three seasons. Thirteen years pass. And the seed bears fruit in the sequel to “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” (1979).
Chekov beams down to what is supposedly Ceti Alpha VI but – surprise! – turns out to be Ceti Alpha V. Khan, simmering with payback motives, seizes on the fluke. After escaping his prison with the aid of the aforesaid brain-eating eels, Khan attacks.
Kirk is hopelessly outclassed. Even the costume department concedes Khan’s superiority, dressing him beautifully open-shirted with industrial toothy jewelry. Meanwhile, Kirk, Bones and Spock are ensconced in federation-mandated maroon blouses with contrasting cream-colored trapunto turtlenecks.
The Kobayashi Maru
Nestled within the combat of unequals is one of the greatest “Star Trek” nuggets: the Kobayashi Maru training exercise. The exercise simulation goes like this: A rudderless civilian ship is adrift in the neutral zone. If a rescue is attempted, an overwhelming Klingon force destroys both the civilians and the rescuer. If a rescue is abandoned, the Klingon force exterminates the civilians. In neither scenario are the Kobayashi’s passengers saved. It’s a no-win.
In the opening scenes of “Star Trek II,” Kirk is reminded of his response as a cadet when confronted with the no-win scenario. After two failed tires, he hacked the computer and altered the rules of the game so as to rescue the civilians.
It’s revealed as a known but not widely known fact; the federation continues to use the simulation for cadets in order to introduce them to the challenges of command. Kirk didn’t advertise his solution or his craftiness. He kept both close to the vest, as a good leader does.
A young Kirk’s Gordian Knot resolution of the simulation reveals the game theory insights of Captain (or Admiral, at the time of “Star Trek II”) James T. Kirk. He understands some rules can be broken circumstances warrant. He is likeable, creative and competent enough to break an implicit but unwritten rule, in part because it is, in fact, unwritten (“Do not hack the simulation computer”). Kirk plays a game (the simulation) within a larger game (the cadet training school) and demonstrates mastery of both.
Kirk cheats after having assessed that he was popular and bright enough, within the context of the secondary game, to avoid being discharged as a cadet. His superiors must have recognized both the ingenuity of cheating – and the political savoir faire to assess when cheating would be overlooked. They also must have instructed him to keep quiet about it. And Kirk was bright enough to heed their advice.