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Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 59: The Enterprise Incident [VHS]

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The Enterprise Incident in my opinion is one of the top 5 episodes in the original series. I always like it when the Romulans or Klingons appear in the Star Trek Series be it The Next Generation or Deep Space Nine or Voyager. But the original series really gets it right when it came to the Romulans (not only this epiode but in the episode "Balance of Terror"). This episode begins with the Enterprise crossing the Neutral Zone which is like the Iron Curtain during the Cold War between the USA and USSR.

What the Enterprise is doing in Romulan Territory is anyone's guess until the last 20 minutes or so. Several twists in the plot occur and it is suspensful from the beginning to the end.
The Romulan Commander is played by the beautiful Joanne Linville and she gives an unforgettable performance.

Highly recommended to all Star Trek fans!

Seeming tense and erratic, Captain Kirk takes the U.S.S. Enterprise into Romulan space and the ship is immediately surrounded by Romulan warships. Kirk and Spock beam aboard the Romulan flag-ship and confront the Romulan Commander, a woman. Kirk explains that his ship entered Romulan territory because of equipment malfunction. Spock, however, denounces this explanation, saying Kirk ordered them here, due to his reduced mental stability. This, not surprisingly, enrages the Captain. The Romulan Commander orders the U.S.S. Enterprise be taken to the Romulan base. Scotty, placed in command of the starship, refuses. McCoy is beamed aboard the flag-ship to tend Kirk, who has become irrational to the point of violence. When he arrives, Kirk attacks Spock who reacts, without thinking, by using the Vulcan death grip, killing Kirk. McCoy returns to the U.S.S. Enterprise with Kirk's body, while Spock remains on the Romulan ship. Unknown to the Romulan Commander, this has all been a ploy to sneak the officers on board and steal the Romulan cloaking device. After Kirk's body has been removed to his ship, the Romulan Commander begins to try and entice Spock into defecting to the Romulan side. Disguised as a Romulan, Kirk returns to the Romulan ship and steals the vessel's cloaking device and returns with it to the U.S.S. Enterprise. When the Commander discovers the theft, she feels betrayed and in retaliation decides to execute Spock. The Vulcan pretends to confess to her and ultimately stalls until Scotty is able to install the cloaking device on board the U.S.S. Enterprise. Spock is beamed back aboard the starship, but since the Romulan Commander was standing near him, she is also beamed aboard. The Romulan Subcommander, now in charge of the flag-ship, gives chase, ordered by his commander to destroy the Federation ship. Fortunately, the newly-installed cloaking device works and the U.S.S. Enterprise makes good her escape, with the Romulan Commander on board a their prisoner.

The Enterprise is captured by some Romulans in "The Enterprise Incident." Captain Kirk is taken hostage and charged with espionage. The commander of the Romulans particularly likes Spock because he is a Vulcan (a distant relative of the Romulans). This Enterprise incident might turn out to be one of the toughest challenges that Kirk and the crew have encountered so far.

"The Enterprise Incident" has one of the best plots of any of the episodes from Star Trek. Spock gives one of his best performances and you won't believe what Captain Kirk does in order to get back onboard the Romulan ship.

"The Enterprise Incident" is one of the best incidents that has ever happened to the original Star Trek series. I recommend everybody to get "The Enterprise Incident."

This is one of the best episodes of the original series, in terms of storyline, acting and the visual presentation. Captain Kirk is showing signs of stress and he inexplicably orders the Enterprise into the neutral zone between Federation and Romulan space. Almost immediately, several Romulan ships appear from nowhere and surround the Enterprise. The Romulan commander then makes contact and demands the immediate surrender of the Enterprise.
Spock surmises that the Romulans have developed a cloaking device that renders them invisible and notes that they would not be in the situation if captain Kirk had not ordered the Enterprise into the neutral zone. Kirk and Spock beam over to the Romulan command ship and Spock informs the commander that the Enterprise is not on a Federation mission, but entered the neutral zone on the sole basis of Kirk's orders. Spock also says that Kirk has exhibited instability recently and the strain of command has caused him to issue inappropriate orders. Therefore, Kirk alone should be held responsible, the Enterprise crew and Starfleet command are blameless. Kirk responds with anger and attacks Spock. Caught off guard, Spock inadvertently uses the Vulcan death grip to defend himself.
Spock then falls in love with the female Romulan commander and McCoy beams over to the Romulan ship to retrieve Kirk's body. It all turns out to be a ruse, Kirk and Spock are under Federation orders to obtain the cloaking device. There is no Vulcan death grip and while Spock occupies the Romulan commander, Kirk beams over to the Romulan ship, retrieves the cloaking device and beams back to the Enterprise. Spock's espionage is discovered and he is scheduled for execution. He is recovered from the Romulan ship and the Enterprise flees. Scotty manages to install the cloaking device on the Enterprise, and this allows the Enterprise to escape.
William Shatner is excellent as the stressed out Kirk and Joanne Linville is superb as the Romulan commander. Having a female play the role of the commander was a stroke of genius. Considering that this was the late sixties, a female in charge of anything was a revolutionary concept. It was no surprise to me that the episode was written by Dorothy (D. C.) Fontana. One of the best scenes in the original series is when Scotty stomps into sick bay in response to a summons by McCoy only to encounter Kirk transformed into a Romulan. The only weak spot is how quickly the Romulan commander falls for Spock's apparent defection, as they did not even confiscate his communicator. Nevertheless, this episode is easily placed in the top ten when ranking the episodes of the original series.

One of TOS' third-season episodes, "The Enterprise Incident" aired, as I recollect, around the time of the real-world "Pueblo" incident and raised similar questions about loyalty, ethics, and dishonor.

It's a flawed episode, the relationship between Spock and the Romulan Commander played by Joanne Linville made more "human" by physical contact than was originally the intention of the episode's creators.

Still, no episode in classic Trek has produced a guest character who has appeared in more subsequent books than the Romulan Commander. I remember how startled I was when she first appeared: a woman, and commanding a fleet of her own! A woman with passion, ambition, and force.

Over the course of thirty years now, I've alternated between wishing she -- and the script writers -- had been kept more aloof; there are times when I have hated to see her made a fool of. And then, there are times when I admire the character for keeping to her own agenda, even at the risk of her life and honor.

Perhaps this episode's greatest triumph is that it keeps viewers guessing and wishing they knew what happened next.

We've tried in VULCAN'S HEART to give our own ideas about that. We're not the first to try, and I doubt we'll be the last.

D. C. Fontana started out with bad episodes such as Tomorrow Is Yesterday and Friday's Child. This Side of Paradise was only a little better because it was half baked. Then out of nowhere she wrote one of the best episodes, Journey to Babel. That episode was about diplomacy and spying. The Enterprise Incident is also about diplomacy and spying. After this, she went on to write such horrible episodes such as That Which Survives and The Way to Eden. She should have stuck with diplomatic/spy episodes.

It's ironic. In "The Cage," a female second-in-command was too controversial for Starfleet, or at least for NBC, but season 3 gave us a female in command of her own ship. This one was Romulan, making us wonder -- were the Romulans more enlightened than us? And what a commander. Tough. Sexy. Alluring. Powerful. Seductive. And IN CHARGE. With more than a little fondness toward a certain Vulcan we know. Load up the photon torpedoes and beam us up!!!

There were other controversies associated with this show. Originally it was intended as a re-telling of the Pueblo Incident, a tragic episode in the Vietnam era. In the original story, Starfleet orders the Enterprise across the Neutral Zone for no very good reason, and the crew suffers humiliating capture as a result. The revised script changes the ending. Which raises a question -- what was the purpose of the series? To show that an advanced, international version of the American Way would triumph in the galaxy... or to examine the American Way and critique its shortcomings? I think it did both. But re-telling the Pueblo Incident would have perhaps been too sensitive in the 1960s -- though fascinating to see now.

Another controversy was the handling of the love scene between Spock and the Romulan commander (Joanna Linville). Nimoy was adamant that this not be played like a Terran love scene, meaning no touching. In the version that was shot, there was touching... but of the Vulcan variety, with hands touching foreheads, and no kissing. It strikes me today as effective and appropriate.

This was the best show for the original series. I couldn't believe it when Spock 'killed' Kirk. Then his reaction when he saw Kirk was alive was so funny. I'm just surprised Bones controlled himself from teasing Spock for it.

Starts off crazy, but turns into an interesting show.I'm not that fond the Spock in love idea, but the rest of the episode is a winner.