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2. Villainy versus culture shock
The biggest divergence is that “Space Seed” turns its sleeper into an outright antagonist, while “The Neutral Zone” refuses to go there. Khan attempts to take the Enterprise by force, using his genetically engineered supermen and his hold over Marla McGivers to mount a full‑scale coup, turning the episode into a suspenseful struggle for control of the ship.
By contrast, Offenhouse is disruptive rather than dangerous, blustering onto Picard’s bridge in the middle of the Romulan standoff but never becoming a true threat. TNG uses him and the other revived humans for social commentary and light comedy, satirizing 20th‑century obsessions with wealth, status, and fame, instead of building toward a mutiny.