*BALANCE OF TERROR*

One of my favorite episodes - in production order, the first true space battle in TOS. Staged and paced very much like a submarine battle, this episode is a template for the best of all the Trek films, "The Wrath of Kahn" - which is essentially the marriage of 2 great episodes - this one and "A Space Seed".

Mark Lenard makes his first appearance in TOS, and wears pointed ears, but he plays the first Romulan seen on screen in this episode.

The Romulan Commander is unnamed in the episode, but is very clearly supposed to represent an older, more experienced Romulan version of Kirk. The tactical battle remains gripping to me some 40 years after seeing it the first time.

We also get McCoy's best line in all of TOS.

quote:
In this galaxy, there's a mathematical probability of three million earth-type planets...and in all the universe, three million million galaxies like this one. And in all of that, and perhaps more, only one of each of us. Don't destroy the one named Kirk.

There are issues (phasers appear to be photon torpedoes - however, from a production standpoint, torpedoes hadn't been introduced yet. This is also the only time we see a weapons battery directed to fire in TOS.

Also a tender moment on the bridge between Kirk and Rand - almost an embrace - a wonderful bit of nonverbal acting on the part of Whitney and Shatner.

Racism is also directly addressed for the first time in TOS.

quote:
Leave any bigotry in your quarters. There's no room for it on the bridge.

This post was edited on 8/1/13 at 7:43 am

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Posted by H-Town Tiger

Member since Nov 2003

59193 posts

Posted on 8/1/13 at 9:14 am to Ace Midnight

Balance of Terror is one of the best 2 or 3 episodes of not just TOS but all of Star Trek series.

So much good stuff: Its a homage to classic submarine movies like Run Silent, Run Deep. Watching Kirk and the unnamed Romulan match wits is great. The tension really builds each waiting for the other to make a mistake. There are also Cold War/WWII over tones with references to the past war and Neutral Zone. Racial elements are also explored with the Romulans looking like Vulcans and Spock making a silly mistake that puts the ship a risk raising suspicions.

I hadn't seem this in s while. When they first put TOS episodes on VHS, this was the only 1 I bought. There's really only 1 other contender for my favorite episode (we'll get to it in a few weeks). Aside from the dated effects, this really hasn't aged a bit. Great, great episode.

This post was edited on 8/1/13 at 9:16 am

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Posted by Kafka

I am the moral conscience of TD

Member since Jul 2007

143095 posts

Posted on 8/4/13 at 11:18 pm to Ace Midnight

While a great episode, the script of "Balance Of Terror" is a total ripoff of The Enemy Below

According to Harlan Ellison, the writer of "BOT" even admitted, proudly, that he had plagiarized TEB

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