BALANCE OF TERROR | S.1.E.14

Star Trek - The Original Series

Original air date: December 15, 1966

SYNOPSIS

The Enterprise must decide on its response when a Romulan ship makes a destructively hostile armed probe of Federation territory.

CANON CONTEXT

Mark Leanard, amazing actor, is the only one who had the honor and distinction of portraying a Romulan, Vulcan and Klingon in the series. Pretty cool.

RECAP

Okay, this was an interesting one. And it wasn’t until the very end of the episode where the words of the Romulan Captain rang a bell to me as having heard it before. It’s echoed in an alternate timeline in Strange New Worlds but that is a discussion for another day.

The Enterprise is receiving a distress signal from outpost four. A bit of history here, centuries ago, back before there were spaceships and the like, Earth and the Romulans clashed in a terrible way. The outcome of that encounter was to create a neutral zone. Near that neutral zone are something like 8 or 9 outposts. Their soul purpose is to make sure the Romulans never cross and to prevent the federation from straying too far as well. Should either side cross that neutral zone it would mean an all out war and that would be bad.

So, when the 2nd and 3rd outpost are all but destroyed and the 4th is blown to bits right in front of him, Kirk is left with little alternative but to engage the enemy, even if they are leading him right into the neutral zone.

It’s a game of cat and mouse to see who will flinch first.

The Enterprise discovers the Romulans have cloaking capabilities that they must let down in order to battle. In the same vein, when they are cloaked they cannot be seen but also cannot see. The chase between both vessels is on. Who will win out?

But the real shocker, which if you are a Star Trek fan you already know, Romulans bear a striking resemblance to Vulvans in the way they look. But just because they look the same doesn’t mean they hold the same views. Indeed, Spock reminds us of just how similar and different they just might be. For starters, they do not surrender and when they battle it is to destroy. Kirk has no choice but to take the lead.

In the end, it is this Romulan commander who must decide how to handle this situation. It doesn’t help that one of his men is challenging his decisions not to attack at every step of the way and his friend is dead. He must remain true to his oath as a Romulan even though it is evident by his demeanor that he has grown tired of the constant fighting and killing. At one point he even wishes this encounter would take his life.

Eventually, the Enterprise wins out by randomly firing phasers straight ahead in the hope that it strikes the Romulan ship. What strikes me about this encounter is the lack of even attempting to communicate until victory is won. Then and only then does Kirk open a channel to inform the Romulan commander that he’ll transport them aboard the Enterprise. It seems the battle, though centuries later, is stil very much a part of the way they deal with each other and the idea of trying to make friends or come to an understanding is nonexistent. Instead, this commander would rather set his ship to self destruct than admit defeat to humans. Though not before informing Kirk of their commonality in battle and how, in a different reality, they might’ve become friends. This theory will be tested in a later series where, spoiler alert, the outcome remains the same.

DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?

[after his ship has been disabled]

Romulan Commander: I regret that we meet in this way. You and I are of a kind. In a different reality, I could have called you friend.