TOS - 1.08 - Balance Of Terror

“Balance Of Terror” is something of a landmark episode since it introduces the Romulans who were created by screenwriter Paul Schneider as the antagonists for this episode, but who would go on to be one of the major recurring alien species within the Star Trek universe. Spock explains, through an inelegant but effective briefing to the crew, that there was a war between Earth and the Romulan Star Empire one hundred years previously. A peace treaty had established a Neutral Zone between the two sides, entry into which by either side would constitute an act of war. Earth had established seven outposts on asteroids to monitor the Neutral Zone, and the Enterprise is now alerted as these are starting to be destroyed by an unknown vessel. This political background seems quite abstract now, but it would have been familiar to contemporary American viewers since there are clear parallels with what had been taking place in  in 1966 when a Demilitarised Zone had been established between North and South Vietnam but this was not stopping incursions by North Vietnamese troops into the South

The episode is itself is essentially a remake of the 1957 movie “The Enemy Below” which concerned an American destroyer hunting for a German U-boat during World War II and is here reinterpreted as the Enterprise playing a game of cat and mouse with a Romulan vessel with its “invisibility screen”. The interior of the Romulan vessel is small and reminiscent of a submarine, and it is battered by phaser fire from the Enterprise as it if were an underwater detonation of a depth charge.

A key element at the start of the episode is that no human or Romulan has ever seen each other. This of course leads to the revelation that the Romulans look remarkably like Vulcans – a plot twist that has been rendered ineffective by subsequent familiarity with the Star Empire but which must have been surprising at the time. But this is also used to drive a subplot relating to Mr Stiles, the latest disobedient Enterprise navigator. Stiles has already been shown to hate the Romulans since he has an ancestor who was a starship captain who died during the war, and he now becomes highly prejudiced towards Spock. However, Stiles is ultimately humbled when Spock ends up saving his life.

Amongst the excitement and tension of Star Trek’s first real ship-to-ship battles, “Balance of Terror” still finds time for human interest. In addition to the prejudices of Styles, we see the pressures on Kirk as he needs to make decisions that could affect more than just crew, especially given his dilemma as to whether or not to enter the Neutral Zone. It is down to McCoy to give some reassurances as he gives a lovely speech about the importance of individuality and Kirk in particular. We also see the real price of conflict, with the episode opening with the interruption of the wedding of crew members Robert Tomlinson and Angela Martine . It is not exactly surprising when Tomlinson is subsequently killed, but the closing scene in the chapel in which Kirk comforts Martine is a poignant bookend to the opening celebrations, and the first time that we have seen grief in response to a death in the series.

After so many episodes focused virtually entirely on the Enterprise and its crew, it is jarring at first when “Balance of Terror” suddenly jumps to show us the Romulan perspective on the conflict. The script provides a surprisingly nuanced and respectful portrayal of the alien antagonists, who aren’t hateful Black Hatted villains and there are hints in the dialogue of a complex, political society. This is all anchored by Mark Lenard, who gives a lovely performance as the un-named Romulan commander who is portrayed pretty much as Kirk’s equal and who is having his own doubts since he is tired of death and war. It’s easy to see why Lenard was brought back when they needed to cast a later pointy-eared role of importance.

Enjoyable as the episode is on its own terms, it does lead to a number of loose ends. What prompted the apparently unprovoked Romulan attack on the Earth outputs? What are the consequences going to be of this act of war? Clearly, a modern series with its serialised storytelling would doubtless address these, but I’m not expecting anything to be followed up given the more episodic nature of the Original Series…

Planetary Gazetteer

Romulus and Remus: The twin homeworlds of the Romulan Star Empire [Spock refers to “Romulus and Remus” in dialogue – and this clearly makes sense given the Roman influence – but the star chart seen in the episode shows two planets that are labelled as “Romulus and Romii”. I see that later writings about the Star Trek universe disagree as to whether Romii is another planet or just another name for Remus].

Starship Spotting

Consistent with the reference in “The Corbomite Maneuver”, we see that the Enterprise’s phasers are fired by crews under the direction of the bridge. We see the full firing chain of command here, with Kirk instructing Stiles who then communicates with the phaser room.

The Romulan vessel in the episode is referred to as the flagship of the Star Empire. It is equipped with an immensely powerful plasma weapon capable of destroying cast rodinium, the hardest substance known to Earth science, and also a cloaking device which renders it invisible (handy in terms of reducing the number of model shots needed in the episode). Somewhat bizarrely, the vessel appears to have only impulse engines which means that it is not capable of faster than light travel and so would have rather a long journey home. The vessel is not yet explicitly referred to as a “Bird of Prey”, although it is easy to see where this designation comes from given that this is the marking on its underside.

General Observations

• Two Stardates are given in log entries during the episode – 1709.2 and 1709.6.
• The Romulan Star Empire seems heavily influenced by the Ancient Roman empire of Earth – most obviously with the names of its homeworlds, but also through using titles such as Praetor and Centurion. This all seems a little odd given that the whole point is that there has been no contact between humans and Romulans. This is no explanation at this stage as to why they look like Vulcans – Spock speculates that they are an offshoot of his race from a time when the Vulcans had an aggressive colonisation phase in their history. Romulan society seems to be based very much on duty in a manner that is reminiscent of the system of honour that will later become familiar with the Klingons.
• With the exception of the Commander and the Centurion, all of the Romulans where helmets that very handily cover their ears and eyebrows, thus saving the need for additional make up time and expense.
• Tomlinson and Martine seem to be getting married in their uniforms, which seems a little odd. Toimlinson is killed by a phaser coolant leak – he is the only human casualty in the episode.
• There are again hints of a romance between Kirk and Rand – they hold each other when it appears as if the Enterprise might be destroyed, and there is later very much a moment between them in Kirk’s quarters until they are interrupted by McCoy.
• There is an element of plot that seems to come out of nowhere when Stiles and Sulu believe that they might be Romulan spies on board the Enterprise. This is actually following up a scene that was shot but not filmed when Commander Hansen of Earth Output 4 informs Kirk that the Romulan vessel is of "starship design" and that the Romulans had probably stolen Earth designs via espionage and traitors.
• Commander Hansen wears a sandy coloured tunic and another emblem (an odd shape with spikes on one side and a black background) which seems to be one specific to Earth Outpost personnel.