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Balance of Terror

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This review applies to Season 1, Episode 14, " Balance of Terror", ASIN B000IAXVGW Star Trek

Any fan of The Original (Star Trek) Series (herein referred to as "TOS") will enjoy this episode, but let me address you youngins out there that may have enjoyed The Next Generation or any of the later series, but who never saw (or did not like what they saw of) TOS. TOS could certainly be quite uneven from episode to episode, but this is the episode to watch to understand what made TOS great when it did work.

This is ostensibly an episode about a space battle, but it really is a character story. Primarily about the two captains: our man James T. Kirk and the never-named Romulan captain. It's a gripping cat and mouse play pitting two men against each other; Men with greatness and ability, but also with flaws and doubts. Men who are opposite sides of the same coin.... men who might be good friends were the circumstances different. It's a story both of strategy and of character.

This episode introduces for the first time many devices that have become mainstay of the Star Trek Universe. This is the very first time we meet the Romulans, and are introduced to their martial, duty-driven culture. This is the first time we hear of the neutral zone, and the Earth-Romulan "conflict" that necessitated its creation. And this is the first time that we, and the Federation, find out about the cloaking device than can hide entire star ships. (Also be sure to check out another great episode: "The Enterprise Incident" ASIN:B000HKYN7O, where Kirk steals said cloaking device).

I may take some criticism for this, but one of the merits of this episode is the acting of Mr. William Shatner. We are all familiar with his campy, over-the-top style, but in this episode Captain Kirk is a real person and we can see inside his thoughts and feelings. As an example, right before the first cut-away (preceding the credits) look at Shatner's face as he walks away from the communicator. This is fore-shadowing... we see only a glimpse, but it is a glimpse of duty and foreboding for the lives of the crew under his care.

Sure the special effects will still disappoint if not taken in the context of time in which this was produced, and some of the plot devices are contrived, but in the format and time limitation of this episode it excels in being what it sets out to be: an entertaining and gripping story or conflict between two great men and two great machines of war.

Captain Kirk says, "It is the ship masters privilege of uniting couples", and red alert sounds. Outpost 4 is under attack by an unidentifiable enemy. The implied and suspected enemy is the Romulans. No human has seen a Romulan. The enterprise approaches the neutral zone. Outpost 4 is one of many outputs built on asteroids to monitor the neutral zone. Captain Kirk warns his officers that the federation can not afford to have a war with the Romulans. Stiles wants revenge for the death of his ancestors lost in the original Romulan war. Battle stations, commander Hansen describes an unknown plasma weapon making deflector shields ineffective and disintegrates space vessels. The station headquarters was a mile deep and the asteroid composition was iron. The Romulan ship appears, discharges their plasma charge, and destroys output post 4. The Romulans are unaware of the enterprise having departed back to the neutral zone. Stiles believes there is a Romulan spy onboard the enterprise because the coincidence of events seem improbable. Stiles is biased towards Spock. Romulans and Vulcans share a common history. The Romulans seek to prove the humans are weak. Kirk must prevent the Romulans from returning to the empire to prevent a war, death and more death, "millions upon millions of lives", "can we engage them?" The Romulan cloaking device uses enormous amounts of power and makes tracking the enterprise challenging. Stiles wants to attack, but Kirk was to watch his opponent. Stile wants to know "why Spock left out certain historical facts about the Romulans". Spock admits to the Vulcan and Romulan shared ancestry. Spock seems embarrassed by his history of warlike ancestry. "Do you want a Galactic war on your conscience?" Kirk initiates a plan to attack the Romulans. Using the frozen ions from comet magnitude 7, he hopes to discover the Romulan ship and destroy it, "a big gamble". The Romulan commander realizes the tactic and order full evasions orders. Stiles thinks that a Romulan spy has reveal the commanders tactic and eyes Spock suspiciously. Kirk orders blanket phaser fire which damages the Romulan ship and kills a centurion. The Romulans shoot their plasma weapon, but the enterprise retreats and escapes because the weapon has a limited range. The Romulans return on course to the neutral zone, "once inside they can claim we violated the neutral zone", says Kirk. Captain Kirk needs permission to enter the neutral zone, but proceeds without it. The Romulan captain tells his officers, that Kirk wants them to waste their energy and it "will take all his experience to get home". "We have lost them". "Don't destroy the one named Kirk". Spock accidently touches a control which gives the Romulans their position. Kirk responds with fire phaser bursts. "We are beaten". The Romulan ejects debrie into space and his centurion friend. "Glorious" "Now we go home" "They are at your mercy". This is the fatal mistake for the Romulans. Uhura takes navigation, stiles to weaponry. A phaser bank overloads and releases toxic gas, stiles passes out, Spock enters, fires the phrasers, and rescues Stiles. The Romulan commander appears on screen and tells Kirk, "In a different reality I could have called you friend" and presses the self-destruction button while saying, "One more duty to perform". Spock tells Stiles, "I saved a trained navigator", smugly. Thompson dies and a bride becomes a widow.