# I'm now watching TOS "Space Seed" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 5, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727 "2016-10-05T19:28:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/1 "2016-10-05T19:28:06Z")
Forgetting for a moment they should never have attached a date to the Eugenics Wars, I somehow or other find this episode nowhere near as compelling as I once did, seeing as how I know how everything is going to turn out in another few years. \*“Doctor McCoy is frankly amazed at his [Khan’s] physical and recuperative power.” \*I’d be amazed too if I found someone who hadn’t had a whiz or a dump in 200 years. What, bodily functions cease entirely during suspended animation? Or was Khan just wearing a pair of maximum absorbency Depends? How many historians are there in this world who are hot females brimming with hormones, and how come I’ve never met one? :dubious: 😕 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/2 "2016-10-05T20:17:56Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > What, bodily functions cease entirely during suspended animation? Or was Khan just wearing a pair of maximum absorbency Depends? I believe it has something to do with “Fine Corinthian leather”. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/3 "2016-10-05T21:10:23Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > How many historians are there in this world who are hot females brimming with hormones, and how come I’ve never met one? :dubious: 😕 About as many as Hot female psychiatrists (Helen Noel) Hot female lawyers (Ariel Shaw) Hot female yeoman who have an alternative universe “arrangement” with their captains (Marlena Moreau) Hot female ex-girlfriends who became batcrap crazy (Janice Lester) And, of course, hot female social workers (Edith Keeler) ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/4 "2016-10-05T22:52:32Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > What, bodily functions cease entirely during suspended animation? Isn’t that pretty much the definition of “suspended animation?” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/5 "2016-10-05T22:56:39Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > Isn’t that pretty much the definition of “suspended animation?” The key word in my question was “entirely.” Over 200 years, \*\*something \*\*has to, uhm, “trickle down.” Otherwise, what you’ve got is a corpse. (Note that their hearts were still beating, albeit slowly.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/6 "2016-10-05T22:57:46Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > About as many as > > Hot female psychiatrists (Helen Noel) > Hot female lawyers (Ariel Shaw) > Hot female yeoman who have an alternative universe “arrangement” with their captains (Marlena Moreau) > Hot female ex-girlfriends who became batcrap crazy (Janice Lester) > And, of course, hot female social workers (Edith Keeler) It’s all in the soft focus. :o ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/7 "2016-10-05T23:05:08Z")
I especially loved the “painfully obvious stunt doubles” fight scene in the Engine Room, though I was a little disappointed that Kirk didn’t get his tunic torn in this one. ☹ I wonder how many Engine Room fights/confrontations/stand offs there were in the course of the series? 😕 “Court Martial”; “Space Seed”; “The Enemy Within” counts, I should think; “Day of the Dove”… ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/8 "2016-10-06T01:25:24Z")
When I saw it as a kid, I thought Kirk had pulled out a dampening rod from the reactor to beat the hell out of Khan. I wondered if one of the Enterprise reactors would go critical, but I figured Scotty would repair it. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/9 "2016-10-06T02:10:28Z")
“Rich” Corinthian leather. (From New Jersey) Great performance by Mr. Montalban though. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/10 "2016-10-06T02:25:06Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > \*“Doctor McCoy is frankly amazed at his [Khan’s] physical and recuperative power.” \*I’d be amazed too if I found someone who hadn’t had a whiz or a dump in 200 years. What, bodily functions cease entirely during suspended animation? Or was Khan just wearing a pair of maximum absorbency Depends? Hey, they ARE specially bred supermen… > [@](#): > > How many historians are there in this world who are hot females brimming with hormones, and how come I’ve never met one? :dubious: 😕 [Recent thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=804182) touching on the Marla/Khan attraction (and as usual veering off into several other issues with the episode and the show, but coming back to the subject every so often). TL/DR on that subject: She had a thing for the old times when Men Were Men. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/11 "2016-10-06T02:25:52Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I was a little disappointed that Kirk didn’t get his tunic torn in this one. With a torn shirt, he would have killed Khan Noonian Sighn, and we would not have had the film that brought Star Trek back, need I name it, The Wrath of Khan. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/12 "2016-10-06T02:29:26Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Hey, they ARE specially bred supermen… > [Recent thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=804182) touching on the Marla/Khan attraction (and as usual veering off into several other issues with the episode and the show, but coming back to the subject every so often). TL/DR on that subject: She had a thing for the old times when Men Were Men. She was obviously a wimp, to be killed by an [ant lion.](http://herbalbless.blogspot.com/2012/03/antlion-alternative-treatment-for.html) ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/13 "2016-10-06T14:25:18Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > When I saw it as a kid, I thought Kirk had pulled out a dampening rod from the reactor to beat the hell out of Khan. I wondered if one of the Enterprise reactors would go critical, but I figured Scotty would repair it. One does kind of wonder what that rod was for. It’s obviously not attached to anything, since Kirk pulls it out so easily. It’s almost as though it were there just so Kirk could produce a handy weapon out of nowhere. 🙂 I recall another Engine Room Fight (don’t remember which episode) where somebody grabs a great big wrench, which is just sitting there by itself on a little table in the corner, like it was on display or something. I’m starting to think that Scotty sprinkles these convenient heavy objects around Engineering at strategic locations, just in case someone needs one while engaged in desperate hand-to-hand combat. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/14 "2016-10-06T17:09:25Z")
I figured the rod was the futuristicky equivalent of a [belaying pin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belaying_pin), which historically has been useful as an improvised weapon. [Earlier discussion](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-401418.html), in which the phrase “belaying pin” gets tossed about quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/15 "2016-10-06T17:12:10Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I figured the rod was the futuristicky equivalent of a [belaying pin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belaying_pin), which historically has been useful as an improvised weapon. > > [Earlier discussion](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-401418.html), in which the phrase “belaying pin” gets tossed about quite a bit. So, in other episodes, when Kirk countermands his previous orders with the command “belay that!”, he really wants you to beat it with a heavy rod?😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/16 "2016-10-06T17:14:02Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > So, in other episodes, when Kirk countermands his previous orders with the command “belay that!”, he really wants you to beat it with a heavy rod?😃 It’s James Kirk. Everything is ultimately about the heavy rod. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/17 "2016-10-06T17:27:42Z")
No, you’re thinking of the Captains Log. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/18 "2016-10-06T17:34:41Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > About as many as > > Hot female psychiatrists (Helen Noel) > Hot female lawyers (Ariel Shaw) > Hot female yeoman who have an alternative universe “arrangement” with their captains (Marlena Moreau) > Hot female ex-girlfriends who became batcrap crazy (Janice Lester) > And, of course, hot female social workers (Edith Keeler) On the other hand, hot female androids seem to be a dime a dozen. > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I figured the rod was the futuristicky equivalent of a [belaying pin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belaying_pin), which historically has been useful as an improvised weapon. The thing about belaying pins is that they often have a rope tied around them. And the other end of that rope is usually attached to something important. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/19 "2016-10-06T17:58:27Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > The thing about belaying pins is that they often have a rope tied around them. And the other end of that rope is usually attached to something important. They were probably only used when they had to pull one of the warp drive engines out to replace the clutch. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727/20 "2016-10-06T19:16:27Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > The thing about belaying pins is that they often have a rope tied around them. And the other end of that rope is usually attached to something important. Please refrain from using such naval technical jargon. :dubious: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-now-watching-tos-space-seed/767727.md?page=2)