Scifi Diner Rewind 360 – Star Trek: Into Darkness (Where Perhaps They Should Have Left Khan)

Tonight’s Menu: On this rewind, our discussion of Star Trek: Into Darkness discussed how, if the movie didn’t try to be Khan, it might actually be a great movie. We also discuss its commentary on terrorism, genetic engineering, friendship, the Klingons, and more.

Scifi Diner Rewind 360 – Star Trek: Into Darkness (Where Perhaps They Should Have Left Khan)

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Star Trek: Into Darkness

In 2259, Captain James T. Kirk is removed from command of the starship USS Enterprise for violating the Prime Directive after exposing the ship to the primitive inhabitants of the planet Nibiru in order to save them, and Spock, from a cataclysmic volcanic eruption. Admiral Christopher Pike is reinstated as commanding officer with Kirk demoted to the rank of Commander and first officer. Commander Spock is transferred to another ship. Shortly after, the Section 31 installation in London is bombed by renegade Starfleet operative John Harrison. Harrison attacks Starfleet Headquarters in a jumpship during an emergency meeting about the situation, killing Pike and other senior officers. Kirk disables the jumpship, but Harrison transports to Kronos, homeworld of the hostile Klingons.

Admiral Alexander Marcus reinstates Kirk and Spock to Enterprise with orders to kill Harrison using a new long range stealth photon torpedo. Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott objects to allowing untested torpedoes on board the ship without knowing their specifications; when he is overruled, he resigns. Kirk assigns Pavel Chekov to replace Scotty. En route to Kronos, Enterprise‘s warp capabilities become disabled. Kirk leads a team with Spock and Uhura onto the planet in a small landing craft, where they are ambushed by Klingon patrols who order them to land. Uhura leaves the landing craft to talk to the Klingons. They decide to kill Uhura, but Harrison suddenly appears and kills all the Klingons. After the battle, Harrison demands that Kirk tell him the number of torpedoes on board the Enterprise, surrendering when Spock tells him.

Dr. Leonard McCoy and Marcus’s daughter, Dr. Carol Marcus, open a torpedo at Harrison’s behest, revealing a man in cryogenic stasis. Upon further investigation, all the other experimental torpedoes are revealed to similarly contain cryogenically frozen humans.