Star Trek: Khan Episode 1 “Paradise” Review: Before the Wrath
“Paradise,” the inaugural episode of the audio drama Star Trek: Khan, marks a compelling start to a story that promises to re-examine one of the franchise’s most iconic villains. The series immediately poses a fascinating question: What if the history of Khan Noonien-Singh (Naveen Andrews) as we know it is a misleading account written by the victors?
The story begins as Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) is tasked with escorting historian Dr. Rosalind Lear (Sonya Cassidy) to the desolate world of Ceti Alpha V. This is the planet where Khan and his followers were exiled following the events of the Original Series episode “Space Seed.” Dr. Lear believes the personal logs of historian Marla McGivers (Wrenn Schmidt) – Khan’s wife and a former Starfleet officer – will reveal a more complete truth about the man who would later be consumed by vengeance in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
This framing device serves as the launchpad for the series’ central theme. Dr. Lear suggests McGivers’ logs might not just fill in historical gaps, but could also explore the complex humanity behind the tyrant. The logs may hold the key to understanding why Khan’s darkness ultimately overpowered the brilliant leader he once was.
Dr. Lear is delivered to the barren Ceti Alpha V by Sulu’s ship, and is escorted to the surface by Ensign Tuvok (Tim Russ). Finding McGiver’s logs is easy enough, and soon we are transported back in time to when Khan and his people first arrived on the vibrant, Earth-like Ceti Alpha V.
Khan and his people start setting up a colony within a day of arriving, and we quickly get a thorough sense of Khan’s motivations as he starts work building a new empire. Most of his people are aligned with his goals except for the vocal Hugo, who thinks nothing of what Khan promised since leaving Earth has come to pass. Khan, to his credit, doesn’t stifle this discontent with violence, but instead offers Hugo the simple choice: leave the colony to strike out on his own, never to come back, or stay within the safety of the group and bow to Khan’s leadership.
Hugo chooses to stay, a decision that proves fatal. In the episode’s closing moments, he is murdered by Ivan, an augment fiercely loyal to Khan who viewed Hugo as a lingering threat. This act directly defies Khan’s earlier order to leave Hugo unharmed, which sets up a compelling internal conflict for the episodes to come.
Besides the promise of consequences following this murder, Khan has another issue to deal with: Marla McGivers’ growing disillusionment. She initially joined Khan because she thought it was the opportunity of a lifetime; recording the story of the infamous Khan Noonien-Singh in minute detail was too good to pass up.
After conversing with Ursula (Mercy Malick), and Madot (Zuri Washington) about how female augments weren’t designed to have children – which obviously poses a huge problem for the colony if the two women’s fertility experiments don’t pan out – McGivers succumbs to the suggestion that Khan only brought her along so she can help him breed new augments for his empire, an idea she abhors. After trying and failing to contact the Enterprise, McGivers has no choice but to stay with Khan as they face the growing pains of creating a new colony.
A meteor shower at the end of the episode appears to be a good sign for the new colony, but it’s most likely a bad omen for the ill-fated Ceti Alpha V, which we know suffers a cataclysmic environmental change when a nearby planet is destroyed.
We really enjoyed this first episode of the first-ever Star Trek audio drama. On a technical level, credit to the episode’s sound designers for crafting plenty of appreciated audio queues to help the listener imagine the characters in their environments. We never felt like we couldn’t conjure an image of what was going on. Regarding the episode’s storytelling, we already appreciate how this tale – which comes from the mind of Nicholas Meyer, the director of Star Trek II – aims to present Khan in a different light. Despite his popularity in Star Trek culture, Khan was never the most complex villain, was he? This show aims to change that, and we are already seeing how Khan is a rational, motivated leader to his people as they face exile. We’re looking forward to what’s in store.
Star Trek: Khan Episode 2 “Scheherazade” Review: Unpacking the Humanity of a Tyrant
The second episode of Star Trek: Khan delves into our two main characters and their motivations and desires as they set out to tame Ceti Alpha V.
It has been three weeks since Hugo’s death, and Khan Noonien-Singh (Naveen Andrews) and everyone else believe his passing was an accident. Khan and Marla McGivers (Wrenn Schmidt) haven’t spoken to each other since he found her trying to contact the Enterprise in a failed effort to escape her new home. The augment leader encourages his followers to build a new empire together, one that coexists with the flora and fauna of their new homeworld, instead of setting out to conquer it.
In pursuit of this cause, Khan, his followers, and Marla set out on a hunting and surveying trip. It’s not a boring one, that’s for sure. At the campfire one night, Marla and Khan peel away layers of their respective pasts and personalities, so listeners get a better understanding of who they are and what motivates them.
Marla alludes to Earth history, in which Khan is considered somewhat of a benevolent villain, and, true to this series’ theme of challenging written history, Khan asserts his real story is much more complicated than being reduced to such simple terms. Even given the small amount of evidence this series gives us about Khan’s leadership style and personality, we have to take Khan’s side here; there certainly is more to him than the history books retain, although he isn’t quite ready or able to explain the nuances of his history.
Marla, when asked to tell a story around the fire, relates the tale of Scheherazade, the character from The Arabian Nights who told her murderous husband story after story so she could survive another night. Considering Marla’s position in the augments’ society, one has to wonder how closely her and Scheherazade’s stories parallel. Will Khan’s usefulness for Marla expire if Marla continues to be an outcast among the augments?
That’s not all Marla has to share, though. In a private conversation with Khan, she relates how she never felt comfortable on the Enterprise; she never found someone to connect with, and Khan was the first person who “saw” her and needed her. Khan, for his part, can’t understand how a leader such as James Kirk could captain a ship without knowing his crew and supporting them in the way Marla needed. In that way, then, Marla describes her decision to join Khan as one that gave her a chance at freedom. Importantly, Marla admits Khan has surprised her; he’s not the brutal tyrant history framed him as.
The untamed wild of Ceti Alpha V breaks up these important conversations, as a boar, angry at the group of augments for killing its young earlier in the day, returns for blood. The boar succeeds, killing Joaquin, father of Joachim. Not willing to put his people in undue risk, he opts to have Ivan – who we know is the one who murdered Hugo without Khan’s blessing – lead Marla and the others back home while Khan tries to find a missing member of his group.
“Scheherazade” is an important episode for this series, as it effectively humanizes our two main characters – one of whom, remember, is, according to history, a bloodthirsty tyrant. Khan, especially, is more and more portrayed as a sympathetic, reasonable leader who has his peoples’ best interests at heart. He seems to be a great leader, leading from the front and not the back, and willing to put himself in harm’s way, like he did with the rampaging boar. Notably, Khan claims he wants to be remembered for what he creates, not what he destroys. Our ability to sympathize with him is growing, no small feat for an audio production.
Much of this humanizing is realized through fantastic performances from the series’ main cast. Andrews is a stellar Khan; no one could replicate Ricardo Montalban’s powerful delivery, but Andrews is holding his own with a delivery that’s deliberate, measured, and full of underlying emotion. Schmidt, likewise, brings a sense of humanity to Marla that makes that character’s journey powerful.
Star Trek: Khan Episode 3 “Do Your Worst” Review: The Price of Empire
The gloves are off between Khan and Ceti Alpha V after the planet’s trials and tribulations force the Augments’ leader into a heartbreaking situation.
After sending his group back to camp after a boar kills Joaquin, Khan Noonien-Singh (Naveen Andrews) finds Richter, who is suffering from confusion and delusions from some unknown affliction. Notably, Khan notices Richter unquestioningly follows orders, even if they are nonsensical orders, so those who are familiar with a certain alien in Star Trek II might get a sense of where this is heading.
Khan rushes back to camp with Richter, but the man doesn’t suffer this ailment for very long. The artist, alone with his romantic interest, Sylvana, kills her in a doubt of manic confusion, and leaves Khan a heartbreaking choice. The Augments’ doctor, Ursula, says she could learn what is the root of Richter’s affliction only via autopsy, so, being the leader he is, Khan takes on this burden and mercifully and heartbreakingly kills Richter, the man whom Khan basically considered a son.
This is a powerful scene that highlights how goshdarn great Naveen Andrews is in this role, and a poignant score underlies the raw emotion in which Khan is now embroiled. We were impressed that we could thoroughly picture this emotionally charged scene using just the audio landscape Khan employs. Ceti Alpha V, once thought to be the majestic heart of his new empire, a place where the Augments could coexist with nature, has only been a series of challenges and loss. Three of his followers have died since being exiled, which weighs on Khan greatly.
There is a small consolation: things are cooling off between Khan and Marla McGivers (Wrenn Schmidt). Marla was initially concerned about her place in the colony – and still is, no doubt, especially when it comes to Ivan – but at least she and Khan are able to take a warm comfort in each other, something we see when Khan returns to the camp after the tragic hunting incident.
Losses among their numbers isn’t the only problem facing the colonists. Using a modified scanner, one of the Augments, Paulo, realizes strange signals are coming from the sixth planet in the Ceti Alpha system. We know this to be the precursor to that planet exploding and raining hell on Ceti Alpha V, and we’re curious to see how long it takes for that eventuality to manifest. In this episode, the impending doom of Ceti Alpha V and VI is palpable. In the beginning of the episode, the Excelsior‘s hull is met with what sounds like rain, a constant reminder as Dr. Rosalind Lear (Sonya Cassidy) delves deeper into Khan’s past.
It’s not all bad news for the Augments, though, as Ursula (Mercy Malick) and Madot (Zuri Washington) have successfully implanted an embryo in Madot, which gives a spark of hope for the future of the colony. But it’s a sad situation as we, the listeners, know any children born on Ceti Alpha V will ultimately face the harsh conditions once it turns into a desert.
“Do Your Worst” is another intriguing episode in this fantastic audio drama. The series’ sound design brings listeners right into the trials facing the Augments on Ceti Alpha V, and a standout performance from Naveen Andrews humanizes Khan in an unexpectedly effective way.
You can listen to Star Trek: Khan on all major audio streaming platforms. We’ve also embedded them below.
Star Trek: Khan Episodes 1–3
Episode 1 “Paradise”
Episode 2 “Scheherazade”
Episode 3 “Do Your Worst”
Check out TrekNews.net’s exclusive interview with composers Sam and Marcus Bagala about working on this unique audio series.
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