star trek episode balance of terror

Balance of Terror (episode)

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The Enterprise battles a Romulan ship suspected of destroying outposts near the Neutral Zone.

• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 2 Log entries
• 3 Memorable quotes
• 4.1 Production timeline
• 4.2 Story and script
• 4.3 Production
• 4.5 Costumes
• 4.6 Continuity
• 4.7 Preview
• 4.8 Reception
• 4.9 Apocrypha
• 4.10 Remastered information
• 4.11 Video and DVD releases
• 5.1 Starring
• 5.2 Also starring
• 5.3 Co-starring
• 5.4 Featuring
• 5.5 Uncredited co-stars
• 5.7 Stand-ins
• 5.8 References
• 5.9 Unreferenced material
• 5.10 External links

Summary [ ]

A wedding aboard the Enterprise

Captain James T. Kirk is officiating at a wedding between two crew members, Angela Martine and Robert Tomlinson , in the Enterprise 's chapel , with the ceremony being broadcast on video screens all over the ship.

The bride and groom are in their regular Starfleet uniforms , with Angela wearing a white flower crown. Montgomery Scott is also present to give Angela away, acting as father of the bride . Suddenly, a red alert klaxon interrupts the ceremony, followed by a request for Captain Kirk to report to the bridge . Kirk learns that Earth Outpost 4 is under attack as everyone runs to battle stations .

Act One [ ]

The USS Enterprise investigates in the vicinity of the Romulan Neutral Zone , where an unknown assailant is methodically destroying each of the Earth outposts bordering the Zone. Spock explains to the crew that the Neutral Zone was established after the Earth-Romulan War over a century ago . Neither race has had contact with the other since that time, and neither side knows what the other looks like. Kirk then tells the crew that while self-defense is permitted, they are forbidden by Starfleet Command 's orders to violate the Neutral Zone. The Enterprise and its crew are to be considered expendable.

Lieutenant Stiles assumes the attacking vessel is Romulan, but Kirk points out that after a century, no one would know what a Romulan ship looks like. Stiles shares his knowledge of Romulan ship markings, as a number of his relatives died in the Earth-Romulan war. " Their war, Mr. Stiles, " says Kirk. " Not yours. "

Earth Outposts 2 and 3 are found to be destroyed, and the Enterprise briefly contacts Outpost 4. The sole survivor of Outpost 4, Commander Hansen , describes a powerful blast of energy from a ship they couldn't track and the destruction of Outpost 8. He then reports that the ship has reappeared. A view relayed from the outpost's sensors shows the ship firing, and then the viewing screen goes blank.

Spock's sensors detect a moving object, but nothing is visible on the screen. He suggests that the Romulans have some sort of invisibility shield. Since the Romulan ship seems to be in no hurry, Kirk theorizes that it may not be aware of the Enterprise . Spock then reports that the ship is heading back towards the Neutral Zone.

Despite objections from Stiles, Kirk orders a parallel course instead of an intercept course. By matching the unknown ship's course and speed, he hopes to make the Enterprise seem like an echo . Under no circumstances is the Enterprise to enter the Romulan Neutral Zone without a direct order from Kirk. Stiles points out that there could be Romulan spies on board the Enterprise , and Sulu recommends maintaining a security alert .

Uhura picks up a communication signal, through which Spock is able obtain a view of the Romulan ship's interior, providing the Federation their first visuals of the Romulans. Stiles notices the Romulan captain's physical resemblance to Spock.

Act Two [ ]

As Uhura attempts to interpret the Romulan signals, Stiles sarcastically suggests giving the job to Spock. Kirk orders him to keep his bigotry to himself.

" Stay with him, helm. "

Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Romulan ship, the Romulan commander has noticed the Enterprise following them. He confers with one of his officers ( the centurion ) on the ethics of their mission. He then rebukes and demotes another officer, Decius , for dispatching a subspace message in violation of orders for radio silence . The centurion warns the commander that Decius has powerful friends. The commander quietly expresses distaste for the mission but assures the centurion of his devotion to his duty.

During a Romulan attack, Rand and Kirk brace for the impact of a plasma torpedo

In the Enterprise briefing room, the officers discuss their chances against the Romulan ship. Spock demonstrates the effect of the Romulan weapon on Outpost 4's protective shields, and Scott reports that the Romulan ship's power is "simple impulse". Stiles urges an attack, arguing from history that running would guarantee war. Spock agrees, pointing out that Vulcan had begun to colonize space before giving up its warlike ways, and that if the Romulans are indeed descended from ancient Vulcans, they are more dangerous than Kirk might realize. After a moment, Kirk gives the order to attack. The Enterprise heads into battle at red alert.

Act Three [ ]

Kirk orders the Enterprise crew to attack the Romulans

Following the Romulan ship's path towards a comet 's tail, Kirk orders the Enterprise to jump forward and attack the Romulan ship when its trail becomes visible. The Romulan commander hopes to double back to intercept the Enterprise , but, on learning that his target is no longer following, orders an evasive maneuver. Each commander, having failed in his plans, reflects on the other's intelligence.

A barrage of phaser fire damages the Romulan ship. The centurion pushes the Romulan commander out of the way of falling debris but is fatally injured himself. Meanwhile, the phaser circuits on the Enterprise burn out as the Romulan ship fires its primary weapon. Kirk orders full astern and as the Enterprise backs up, they find that the weapon has a range limit which causes the shot to partially dissipate, resulting in reduced impact.

Determined to prevent the Romulan ship from reentering the Neutral Zone, Kirk orders another barrage of phaser fire. Unable to stop the Romulan ship, and aware of the consequences, Kirk orders the Enterprise into the Neutral Zone. Displaying restrained emotion as his friend dies, the Romulan commander orders all debris and, sadly, the body of his friend into the escape chute as a decoy. The Enterprise picks up the debris on the sensors but in doing so, loses track of the Romulan ship.

Act Four [ ]

McCoy counsels Kirk

It has come down to a waiting game and both ships have powered down in the Neutral Zone to prevent detection. After the Enterprise has been powered down for 9 hours and 47 minutes, Kirk tries to rest in his quarters , when Yeoman Rand walks in and asks the captain if he would like something to eat from the galley . Kirk shakes his head and tells Rand to get him coffee and have it on the bridge, as he will be heading up there soon. Just then, Dr. McCoy arrives as Rand leaves. Kirk confesses that he wishes he were on a cruise somewhere with no responsibility. He admits to McCoy that when his crew looks to him to make the next move, he wonders, " What if I'm wrong? " McCoy struggles at first to come up with an answer to this and Kirk does not expect him to provide one. However, McCoy puts his hand on Kirk's shoulder and gently says, " 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. And in all of that, and perhaps more, only one of each of us. Don't destroy the one named Kirk. "

Later on the bridge, Spock, while making repairs, accidentally activates a panel, and the Romulan ship detects the Enterprise and moves in to attack. Kirk anticipates this and manages to fire on the Romulan ship. Furious, the Romulan commander orders more debris into the disposal tubes, including a nuclear warhead .

Spock picks up the "metal-cased object" on his sensors and the Enterprise fires upon it. The massive explosion causes damage to the Enterprise but despite now having the upper hand, the Romulan commander decides to head for home.

Scott reports that while phasers are operational, only Tomlinson, the groom from the wedding, is manning the station. Stiles quotes his experience with phasers and Kirk sends him down to assist. In an attempt to lure the Romulan ship back, the Enterprise plays dead.

Despite his reservations, and the crippled status of his ship, the Romulan commander is reminded by Decius that it is the commander's duty to crush the enemy. The commander then reluctantly gives the order to attack.

Meanwhile, Spock checks on the phaser crew and Stiles coldly remarks that they " will handle things without your help, Vulcan ." After Spock leaves however, a phaser coolant leak erupts. As the Romulan ship moves in to attack, Kirk gives the order to fire phasers. But both Tomlinson and Stiles have been overcome by the coolant fumes. Realizing the danger, Spock runs back and manages to fire the phasers in time, severely damaging the Romulan ship.

After his defeat, the Commander of the Romulan flagship bestows his respect to the victor.

Visual contact between ships is somehow established as Kirk watches a severely wounded Romulan commander stagger to his feet. The Romulan commander turns and looks upon Kirk's face. Despite Kirk's offer to beam aboard any survivors, the Romulan commander informs him that it is not the Romulan way. He then says, with admiration, " 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, " and as the last part of his duty, he sets the Romulan ship to self-destruct . Kirk watches regretfully as the ship is destroyed.

Kirk goes to sickbay and discovers that not only did Spock fire the phasers, but he also rescued Stiles. Stiles is humbled and amazed that Spock saved his life after everything he had said to him. Unfortunately, Spock was unable to save Robert Tomlinson. Prior to Kirk leaving sickbay, Yeoman Rand enters and informs him that Starfleet has responded with an endorsement of his decision to enter the Neutral Zone based on the circumstances.

Kirk is then forced to console Tomlinson's grief-stricken fiancée , Angela Martine, while she stands alone in the chapel. " It never makes any sense. We both have to know that there was a reason, " Kirk says softly to Martine. She tearfully assures the captain that she will be fine and leaves. Kirk watches Angela go and then leaves the chapel too, striding purposefully down the ship's corridor.

Log entries [ ]

• Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2266

Memorable quotes [ ]

Stiles, Kirk, and Scott

" Since the days of the first wooden vessels, all ship masters have had one happy privilege: that of uniting two people in the bonds of matrimony. "

" I had no idea that history was your specialty. " " Family history. "

" Their war, Mr. Stiles. Not yours. "

" Happy wedding day, almost. " " You won't get off my hook this easily. I'm going to marry you, Mister. Battle or phaser weapons notwithstanding. "

On board the Romulan vessel

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

" That Earth outpost sent word to an Earth vessel, now it follows. " " Which neither retreats nor grows near, which turns as we turn. Commander, it is our judgment that we run from a reflection. " " Perhaps so, but my judgment prevails. "

" He has friends. And friends of his kind mean power. And power is danger. " " Danger and I are old companions. "

" Not too soon for me to see the stars of home. "

" War is never imperative, Mr. Spock. " " It is for them , Doctor. Vulcan, like Earth, had its aggressive, colonizing period; savage, even by Earth standards. And if the Romulans retained this martial philosophy, then weakness is something we dare not show. "

" I wish I were on a long sea voyage somewhere. Not too much deck tennis, no frantic dancing. And no responsibility. "

While Kirk rests in his quarters, Rand enters to check up on him

" 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. "

" He's a sorcerer, that one! He reads the thoughts in my brain! "

" You and I are of a kind. In a different reality, I could have called you friend. "

Angela Martine in the ship's chapel

" We are creatures of duty, Captain. I have lived my life by it. Just one more duty to perform. "

" It never makes any sense. We both have to know that there was a reason. "

Background information [ ]

Production timeline [ ].

• Theatrical premiere of "The Enemy Below": 25 December 1957
• Theatrical premiere of "Run Silent, Run Deep": 27 March 1958
• Story outline by Paul Schneider : 14 April 1966
• Revised Story outline: 26 April 1966 , 29 April 1966
• First draft teleplay: 20 May 1966
• Second draft teleplay: 3 June 1966
• Revised teleplay by John D.F. Black : 21 June 1966
• Second revised teleplay by Black: 2 July 1966
• Final draft teleplay by Gene Roddenberry : 14 July 1966
• Revised final draft teleplay: 18 July 1966
• Additional revisions: 19 July 1966 , 20 July 1966 , 21 July 1966 , 22 July 1966 , 25 July 1966
• Day 1 – 20 July 1966 , Wednesday – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Bridge
• Day 2 – 21 July 1966 , Thursday – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Bridge
• Day 3 – 22 July 1966 , Friday – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Bridge
• Day 4 – 25 July 1966 , Monday – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Bridge , Chapel (redress of Transporter room ), Phaser control room (redress of Engineering )
• Day 5 – 26 July 1966 , Tuesday – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Kirk's quarters , Briefing room , Sickbay , Corridors
• Day 6 – 27 July 1966 , Wednesday – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. McCoy's office , Romulan bridge
• Day 7 – 28 July 1966 , Thursday (Half Day) – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Romulan bridge
• Original airdate: 15 December 1966
• Rerun date: 3 August 1967
• First UK airdate (on BBC1 ): 25 October 1969
• First UK airdate (on ITV ): 6 December 1981
• Remastered airdate: 16 September 2006

Story and script [ ]

• The plot of this episode is based on the 1957 film The Enemy Below , with the Enterprise taking the part of the American destroyer and the Bird-of-Prey with its cloaking device taking the part of the submarine. ( The Star Trek Compendium 4th ed., p. 40) Director Vincent McEveety had seen the film but only noticed the similarity later, when this was pointed out to him. He commented, " Obviously, it's the same story. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 34)
• Star Trek: The Original Series 365 (p. 063) suggests that Schneider may have also been inspired by another submarine film, Run Silent, Run Deep . The authors note that the film contains a similar plot thread of an officer longing for vengeance, as well as the tactic of releasing wreckage and bodies from a damaged vessel in order to mislead the opposing ship. The Star Trek Compendium (5th edition, p. 40) also mentions this film as the inspiration along with The Enemy Below .
• The "Revised Final Draft" of the script was disseminated on 18 July 1966. ( Cover )
• A portion (scene 46) with the doomed Commander Hansen was filmed but cut from the final episode. [1] In it, Hansen informed Kirk that the Romulan vessel is of "starship design" and that the Romulans had probably stolen Earth designs via espionage and traitors. This is the basis for Stiles' remarks in scene 52 about a vessel "remarkably similar to ours" and having Romulan spies aboard the Enterprise , which was aired and before he even knew what Romulans looked like. [2]
• A shot filmed for scene 171 but cut from the finished episode shows Kirk saluting the Romulan commander, which the latter acknowledges with a courteous nod, before destroying his ship. [3]

Production [ ]

• The music featured during the opening scenes of the wedding ceremony is the 19th century English tune " Long, Long Ago ."
• Although phasers are used throughout the episode, the visual effect seen is that which later was used for photon torpedo launches, probably because the term "photon torpedo" was not invented until later in the season, in " Arena ". Kirk orders the phasers to be "set for proximity blast "; each phaser blast acts like a Navy depth charge.
• This is the only time in the series that the Below decks Phaser weapons room is seen.
• The Making of Star Trek and The Star Trek Compendium (4th ed., p. 40) state that the ship's chapel was a redress of the transporter room. Inside Star Trek: The Real Story (pp. 170-171), states that it is, instead, a redress of the briefing room.
• The trailer includes footage of the Enterprise firing its phasers from " The Corbomite Maneuver " instead of the "blast-like" phaser effect seen in the actual episode.
• Regular first season extra Ron Veto gets his only close-up in TOS, when he replaces Stiles at the navigation console.
• Two of the actors playing Romulans in this episode later played Vulcan characters, namely Mark Lenard ( Sarek ) and Lawrence Montaigne ( Stonn ).

Costumes [ ]

• The Romulan helmets shown aboard the Romulan bridge were designed to cover the ears of the actors. This saved the additional cost of creating prosthetic ear-points for each of the supporting actors. They were reused in " Amok Time " (on Vulcans) and " The Enterprise Incident " for the same reason. ( Star Trek: The Original Series 365 , p. 173)
• The rarely seen command work utility jumpsuit is worn by several crew members in this episode.

Continuity [ ]

• This episode saw the introduction of the Romulan Star Empire in Star Trek . Paul Schneider is credited with creating the Romulans. Schneider remarked, " It was a matter of developing a good Romanesque set of admirable antagonists that were worthy of Kirk. I came up with the concept of the Romulans which was an extension of the Roman civilization to the point of space travel, and it turned out quite well. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 34) Schneider's next contribution was " The Squire of Gothos ".
• Associate producer / story editor John D.F. Black said about Schneider, " He was the father of the Romulans. Not Gene, not me, not anyone else – but Paul Schneider. And when he came up with the Romulan characters, they were so wonderful – I mean, they were full. I liked that script a lot. " ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One , p. 217)
• "Balance of Terror" introduces cloaking devices to the Star Trek universe. While this episode suggests that they are a new development in interstellar history, ENT : " Broken Bow " and DIS : " The Vulcan Hello " establish that Starfleet has encountered Suliban and Klingon cloaks in the past ( 2151 and 2256 , respectively).
• This is the only time in which the ship's weaponry is fired through a chain of commands (Kirk, to Stiles, to phaser room), although " The Corbomite Maneuver " comes close with Bailey 's phaser drills.
• When Kirk requests communication with the Romulan flagship , Uhura opens a hailing frequency from the navigation console , which seems unusual. However, when she left the communications station , Uhura had shut down most of the light indicators, which could indicate a transfer of functionality to the navigator's position. This is not the first time the navigation console has been used to open communications. In " The Cage " and " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", when Captain Christopher Pike and Captain Kirk, respectively, want to "address intercraft," the system is opened from the navigation console. This apparently is also true in the alternate reality , because in Star Trek , Pavel Chekov is able to address the crew of the USS Enterprise from his position at navigation.
• As an homage, Captain Picard 's wedding remarks in TNG : " Data's Day " are almost the same as those Kirk uses. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion , 3rd ed., p.152)
• An alternate timeline version of the events of this episode is shown in SNW : " A Quality of Mercy ", in which Christopher Pike remains captain of the Enterprise , while Kirk is present as captain of the USS Farragut .
• This episode contains the first mention of Romulus ' neighboring planet Remus , which later appears prominently in Star Trek Nemesis .

Preview [ ]

• The preview contains a Captain's Log recorded solely for the preview: " Captain's log, stardate 1710.0. The starship Enterprise is under heavy attack by an enemy vessel. "

Reception [ ]

• McEveety recalled, " [Kirk and the Romulan commander] were very heroic characters pitted one against the other, and it dealt with the length to which people would go for their honor. It was a morality fantasy play, but terribly gripping. I thought that Mark Lenard's performance was brilliant, as was Bill Shatner's. It was a two-people show that I felt was real strong. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 34)
• Mark Lenard said, " The Romulan Commander was one of the best roles I ever had on TV. " Comparing the part with that of Sarek , Lenard elaborated, " In many ways, I did enjoy that role [Sarek], but I think the more demanding role and the better acting role was the Romulan Commander" . ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One , p. 217)
• Gene Roddenberry picked this as one of his ten favorite episodes for the franchise's 25th anniversary. ( TV Guide [ page number? • edit ] , August 31, 1991)
• According to the original showrunner of Star Trek: Discovery , Bryan Fuller , the events of "Balance of Terror" were to provide a "touchstone" for the series. [4] However, since Fuller left the series during its development, it is unclear what exactly this was supposed to entail. The Romulans have not been seen or mentioned on Discovery thus far, though Romulus was mentioned in " Context Is for Kings ".
• In 2017 , Ted Sullivan described the Discovery episode " Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum " as "'Balance of Terror' good". [5]

Apocrypha [ ]

• In the James Blish adaptation of this story, presumably based on an earlier draft of the script, Stiles dies. In addition, Robert Tomlinson and Angela Martine actually marry, in a second ceremony late in the story. When the Enterprise fires on the Romulan ship for the final time, the latter explodes immediately, with the conversation between Kirk and the Romulan commander being omitted.
• In the William Shatner novel The Return , where Kirk is resurrected by a Borg /Romulan alliance to kill Captain Jean-Luc Picard , the Romulan alliance is arranged by the granddaughter of the Romulan commander of this mission, convinced that Starfleet are brutal murderers and seeking revenge for her grandfather's death at Kirk's hands.
• The story of the events on Romulus leading up to this episode are told in the comic book " Alien Spotlight: Romulans ".
• A different background to this episode is told in the novella The First Peer and the novel Summon the Thunder , where Vrax is the Praetor who authorized the Neutral Zone incursion.
• In the novel Headlong Flight , an experiment in dimensional displacement results in the USS Enterprise -E of the "prime" universe – over a decade after Star Trek Nemesis – encountering both an alternate version of the USS Enterprise -D – from a year after the Battle of Wolf 359 , in a timeline which ended with the death of Picard/ Locutus of Borg – and a trio of Romulan ships from this era, in a timeline where the Romulan ship depicted here apparently destroyed Kirk's Enterprise in the final showdown.

Remastered information [ ]

• "Balance of Terror" was the first episode of the remastered version of The Original Series to air, though in some markets it was preceded by " Miri ". It premiered in syndication on the weekend 16 September 2006 and most notably featured new effects shots of the comet, Romulan plasma torpedo , and Bird-of-Prey, as well as of the Enterprise and Bird-of-Prey "adrift".

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• US CED VideoDisc release: 1 March 1983
• US LaserDisc release: July 1985
• Original US Betamax/VHS release: 28 February 1985
• Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 5 , catalog number VHR 2250, release date unknown
• Japan LaserDisc release: 10 November 1992
• US VHS release: 15 April 1994
• UK re-release (three-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 1.3, 8 July 1996
• As part of the US VHS collection Star Trek - The Greatest Battles : 3 April 1997
• As part of the UK VHS collection Star Trek - Greatest Battles : 16 November 1998
• Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 4, 19 October 1999
• As part of the TOS Season 1 DVD collection
• As part of the Star Trek: Fan Collective - Captain's Log DVD collection
• As part of the TOS Season 1 HD DVD collection
• As part of The Best of Star Trek: The Original Series DVD collection
• As part of the TOS Season 1 Blu-ray collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• William Shatner as Capt. Kirk

Also starring [ ]

• Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock
• Mark Lenard as a Romulan Commander

Co-starring [ ]

• Paul Comi as Stiles
• Lawrence Montaigne as Decius

Featuring [ ]

• DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy
• Grace Lee Whitney as Yeoman Rand
• George Takei as Sulu
• James Doohan as Scott
• Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
• Stephen Mines as Tomlinson
• Barbara Baldavin as Angela
• Garry Walberg as Hansen
• John Warburton as The Centurion

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• John Arndt as Fields
• William Blackburn as Hadley
• Robert Chadwick as a Romulan scope operator
• Frank da Vinci as Brent
• Walt Davis as Romulan crewman 1
• Vince Deadrick as Romulan crewman 2
• Jeannie Malone as a yeoman
• Sean Morgan as Brenner
• Eddie Paskey as Leslie
• Ron Veto as Harrison
• Command crewman
• Command crew woman 1
• Command crew woman 2
• Command lieutenant
• Medical technician
• Operations crewman
• Sciences lieutenant
• Wedding attendee 1
• Wedding attendee 2
• Wedding attendee 3
• Vince Deadrick ( double )
• Allen Jaffe (stunt)

Stand-ins [ ]

• William Blackburn as the stand-in for DeForest Kelley
• Frank da Vinci as the stand-in for Leonard Nimoy
• Jeannie Malone as the stand-in for Grace Lee Whitney
• Eddie Paskey as the stand-in for William Shatner

References [ ]

2156 ; 2160 ; ability ; Achilles' heel ; act of war ; adversary ; " all decks alert "; " all hands "; amen ; analysis ; answer ; area ; assignment ; assumption ; asteroid ; atomic weapon ; battle stations ; battle status ; bearing ; best man ; bigotry ; bird-of-prey ; blip ; body ; bonds of matrimony ; book ; " Bones "; brain ; briefing room ; campaign ; candelabra ; carelessness ; cast ; centurion ; century ; chance ; commander ; channel ; chapel ; cloaking system (aka cloak , invisibility screen ); code ; coffee ; command base ; Command base nearest to Neutral Zone ; comet ; comet tail ; command order ; composition ; comrade ; condition red ; conduit ; conscience ; contact ; control circuit ; couch ; Cryptography ; customer ; cycle ; damage report ; dancing ; danger ; death ; debris ; deck ; decode ; deflector shield ; disposal tube ; distance ; dust ; duty ; Earth ; Earth Outpost Station ; Earth-Romulan War ; emergency call ; emergency warp ; enemy ; error ; escape maneuver one ; estimate ( estimating ); evasive maneuvers (aka evasive action ); family history ; face-to-face ; feeling ; flagship ; friend ; fuel ; fuel reserve ; " full astern "; Galaxy Quadrant YX-12-114 ; galley ; green ; hardness ; hailing frequency ; heading (aka course ); " Here Comes the Bride " (aka " Bridal Chorus "); history ; homeland ; hour ; Human ; Icarus IV ; idea ; identification ; impact ; implosion ; impulse ; interception course ; intruder ; iron ; junior officer ; lab ; lateral power ; lectern ; light ; magnitude ; mass ; master ; match ; maximum warp ; memory ; metal ; meter ; mile ; minute ; Milky Way Galaxy ; million ; mission ; mistake ; mister ; motion sensor ; navigator ; Neutral Zone Incursion ; no quarter ; nuclear warhead ; obedience ; object ; " of course "; opinion ; order ; " out of reach "; outpost station ; Outpost 1 ; Outpost 2 ; Outpost 3 ; Outpost 4 ; Outpost 5 ; Outpost 6 ; Outpost 7 ; Outpost 8 ; overload ; parallel course ; patrol ; phaser control room (aka phaser room , phaser control ); phaser coolant ; phaser coolant seal ; phaser crew ; phaser weapon ; philosophy ; plasma ; plasma torpedo ; plastaform ; playing dead ; power consumption ; praetor ; Praetor's flagship ; probability ; proof ; protective shield ; proximity fuse ; question ; radiation burn ; range ; rank ; rank reduction ; reality ; Remus ; retreat ; risk ; rodinium ; Romii ; Romulan Star Empire ; Romulans ; Romulan Bird-of-Prey ; Romulan Neutral Zone ; Romulan praetor ; Romulus system ; Romulus ; rule of silence ; salute ; savage ; science ; sea ; second ; Sector Z-6 ; security alert ; sensor ( sensing device ); sensor probe ; sensor range ; services ; session ; shipmaster ; sighting ; signal for war ; sneak attack ; sorcerer ; space recorder ; Space Service ; space vessel ; specialist ; speaker ; spy ; " stand by "; standby alert ; standby crew ; starboard ; star sector ; Stiles (Captain); Stiles (Commander); Stiles (Commander); Stiles family ; subject ; subspace radio ; superior officer ; surrender ; survivor ; Table of Comets ; tactic ; tactical report ; tape ; telepathy ; television camera device ; tennis ; theory ; thing ; thought ; transfer coil ; Treaty of 2160 ; trick ; velocity ; victory ; viewing screen ; Visual communication ; Vulcans ; Vulcan (planet) ; Vulcan history ; weapons control ; weapons crew ; wedding day ; wooden vessel

Unreferenced material [ ]

bird ; bull ; chest pain ; creature ; hawk ; a medicine ; seat-harness ; terrier

External links [ ]

• "Balance of Terror" at StarTrek.com
• " Balance of Terror " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " Balance of Terror " at Wikipedia
• " Balance of Terror " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• " Balance of Terror " at the Internet Movie Database
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Star Trek: The Original Series

Balance of Terror

Cast & crew.

Mark Lenard

Romulan Commander

Lawrence Montaigne

John Warburton

The Centurion

Grace Lee Whitney

Yeoman Janice Rand

Information

© 2006 CBS Corp.

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“Balance of Terror”: Star Trek, History, and National Security

“Balance of Terror,” first broadcast on December 15th, 1966—and now celebrating its 50th anniversary—has long been seen as a classic episode of the original Star Trek . It involves a series of space battles between the Enterprise and a Romulan Bird-of-Prey around the Neutral Zone, the restricted region of space separating the Federation and the Romulan Empire. The Neutral Zone evokes the Korean Demilitarized Zone, the Iron Curtain, and the 17th parallel separating North and South Vietnam, which was a war zone when the episode aired.

Both Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and the Romulan Commander (Mark Lenard) know that their clash could ignite a devastating full-scale war, paralleling the threat of nuclear war at the time between the United States and the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, on the bridge, Lieutenant Stiles (Paul Comi) questions the loyalty of Spock (Leonard Nimoy) because he looks like a Romulan.

It has been little noticed that the title of the episode, “Balance of Terror,” is an exact quote from then-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara’s description of the Cold War, with its potential for Mutually Assured Destruction . Star Trek has sometimes been criticized as a near-utopia where greed and discrimination have mostly been overcome, but “Balance of Terror” has a militaristic edge, and reveals that bigotry on the bridge is almost as much of a threat as the Romulans.

President John F. Kennedy’s handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 is a key event to start with in understanding the historical context of this episode. From Star Trek’ s beginning it seemed that the character of Captain Kirk was inspired in part by President Kennedy (Gross, p.34), and JFK’s “ New Frontier ” was a template for Star Trek ’s “Final Frontier.”  Star Trek was progressive Cold War liberalism projected into the future. And arguably Kennedy’s most important achievement was avoiding nuclear war after the Soviet Union installed scores of nuclear missiles in Cuba. As Kennedy said in a televised address to the nation on October 22nd, 1962 :

This Government, as promised, has maintained the closest surveillance of the Soviet military buildup on the island of Cuba. Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites [are] now in preparation….The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere.

Kennedy went on to call the missiles a “clear and present danger” to the United States, adding that “The 1930s taught us a clear lesson: aggressive conduct, if allowed to go unchecked and unchallenged, ultimately leads to war….It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response.”

A nuclear holocaust threatened the world. The US blockaded Cuba, and demanded that the missiles be removed. Kennedy did not mention that the US had nuclear missiles in Turkey at the time, about as close to the USSR as Cuba’s were to the United States. Nevertheless, the secret Soviet installation of nuclear missiles in Cuba—after Soviet assurances to the contrary—was a destabilizing move that plunged the world into crisis. Behind the scenes, most of the US military recommended to Kennedy a massive bombing of Cuba, followed by an invasion. But, as Michael Dobbs writes in his book on the Cuban Missile Crisis, “the Soviet nuclear arsenal on Cuba far exceeded the worst nightmares of anyone in Washington” (p.58). JFK resisted the military’s plans, fearing that an invasion might ignite a nuclear war. And many nuclear weapons in Cuba were, in fact, already operational. In other words, if the US had invaded Cuba this likely would have escalated into a full-scale nuclear war with the Soviet Union, with thousands of nuclear weapons deployed by each side against the other, and hundreds of millions dead.

As Kennedy’s Defense Secretary Robert McNamara later wrote of the crisis: “I walked out of the president’s Oval Office, and…I thought I might never live to see another Saturday night” (Dobbs, p.311). McNamara added in an interview with the Saturday Evening Post , published in December of 1962, that the whole world was in a “balance of terror.”

The crisis was finally resolved because Kennedy offered to secretly remove US missiles in Turkey after the Soviets removed theirs from Cuba. Why was Kennedy effective at resolving the crisis? In part because he had recently read Barbara Tuchman’s bestselling book about World War I, The Guns of August . The thesis of The Guns of August is that miscalculation and misunderstanding can lead to a devastating world war that kills millions. Kennedy was so impressed with the book that he had his aides read it, and ordered copies of The Guns of August distributed to every US military base in the world (Dobbs, p.226). This book is possibly why we are all alive today—a compelling example of a historian changing the course of history.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a shock to the United States, and one that for some evoked the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. “Balance of Terror” was broadcast a week after the 25th anniversary of that attack, and there was a lot of media attention given to this anniversary. “Balance of Terror” similarly begins with a surprise attack on the Federation surveillance outposts that line the Neutral Zone. As Kirk is about to perform a wedding ceremony in the ship’s chapel, Ensign Sulu (George Takei) interrupts with a ship-wide announcement: “Alert! Captain to the Bridge. All decks alert.”

On the bridge, Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) reports to Kirk that Outpost four is under attack. Kirk then asks Spock to show all decks a chart showing the Neutral Zone and the Earth outposts—three of which have already been destroyed—as well as the position of the Enterprise as it moves in at maximum warp. Kirk announces to the ship that “In our next action, we can risk neither miscalculation nor error,” and then turns the briefing over to Spock, who says:

Referring to the map on your screens you will note beyond the moving position of our vessel, a line of Earth outpost stations. Constructed on asteroids, they monitor the Neutral Zone established by treaty after the Earth-Romulan conflict a century ago. As you may recall from your histories, this conflict was fought…with primitive atomic weapons. Earth believes the Romulans to be warlike, cruel, treacherous. And only the Romulans know what they think of Earth.

Even the name “Romulans” evokes the Russians during the Cold War. But the name also, of course, references the Roman Empire, especially since the names of two of their key planets, Romulus (their capital) and Remus, come from the mythological founding brothers of Rome. Although the situation is different from the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kirk, like Kennedy, is a rational leader who seeks to prevent a larger war. But Lt. Stiles, at the helm next to Sulu, recommends immediate attack:

STILES: We know Outpost four has been attacked, sir, so if we intercept the Romulans now— KIRK: After a whole century, what will a Romulan ship look like, Mister Stiles? I doubt they’ll radio and identify themselves. STILES: You’ll know, sir. They’re painted like a giant bird-of-prey. KIRK: I had no idea that history was your specialty. STILES: Family history. There was a Captain Stiles was in the space service then. Two Commanders and several junior officers. All lost in that war, sir. KIRK: Their war, Mister Stiles. Not yours. Don’t forget it.

We then hear from Outpost Four, where Commander Hanson is the sole survivor of the Romulan attack. And he reports that after the attack “the whole vessel disappeared.” Suddenly, the Bird-of-Prey reappears and destroys the remains of Outpost Four, killing Hanson before vanishing again with its cloaking device.

The elegant Romulan ship was created by Chinese-American designer Wah Ming Chang, who also designed the tricorder, the first-generation laser pistol, and the communicator, which was the inspiration for the flip phone of the 1990s. Chang also designed the appearances of many alien species seen in Star Trek , including the Talosians, the Salt Vampire, Blalock, the Gorn, and even the Tribbles. For the Bird-of-Prey emblem, he drew upon the symbol of the predatory eagle, used by the Roman Empire, Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Nazis.

The Romulan cloaking device anticipates the “stealth technology” of Air Force bombers and fighters of a few decades later, but it also reaches back to the “silent running” mode of submarines starting in World War II. One of the movies that influenced Paul Schneider, the author of the “Balance of Terror” teleplay, was Run Silent, Run Deep , a 1958 submarine film starring Clark Gable that was directed by Robert Wise (who later directed Star Trek: The Motion Picture) . In Run Silent, Run Deep , Gable plays a submarine captain who seems almost Ahab-like in his obsessive quest for a Japanese ship that he eventually destroys.

This is similar to Kirk’s relentless pursuit of the Romulan Bird-of-Prey in “Balance of Terror.” But unlike in many military movies, which feature leaders who seem to command almost solo, from Gable, to Robert Mitchum in The Enemy Below (1957), to Gene Hackman in the 1995 sub movie Crimson Tide , Kirk has a more group-oriented mode of command in “Balance of Terror.”

Like Kennedy with his Executive Committee, or ExCom, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kirk consults extensively with his crew around a briefing table to analyze the situation and get recommendations. This is a model of rational, knowledge-based decision making, as opposed to a gut-based, shoot-first and figure-it-out later approach. Seated around a table, Spock holds a fragment of metal retrieved from the wreckage of Outpost Four:

SPOCK: This is the hardest substance known to our science. [He crushes it with his hand] SPOCK: Lab theorizes an enveloping energy plasma forcing an implosion. KIRK: Comments? SPOCK: Obviously, their weaponry is superior to ours, and they have a practical invisibility screen. MCCOY: You’re discussing tactics. Do you realise what this really comes down to? Millions and millions of lives hanging on what this vessel does. SPOCK: Or on what this vessel fails to do, Doctor.

Going around the table Kirk learns from Engineer Scotty (James Doohan) that the Enterprise has superior engines and is faster than the Bird-of-Prey. Stiles again recommends immediate attack, but Sulu replies, “Attack without a visible target? How do we aim our phasers?”

But Stiles insists, echoing the words of Kennedy and other Cold Warriors: “These are Romulans! You run away from them and you guarantee war …. You know that, Mister Science Officer. You’re the expert on these people, but you’ve always left out that one point. Why? I’m very interested in why.”

Stiles has questioned Spock’s loyalty since earlier when the Enterprise intercepted a Romulan message, revealing that Romulans look just like Vulcans. Kirk asks Uhura to decode the remainder of the message, and Stiles makes a snide remark:

STILES: Give it to Spock. KIRK: I didn’t quite get that, Mister Stiles. STILES: Nothing, sir. KIRK: Repeat it. STILES: I was suggesting that Mister Spock could probably translate it for you, sir. KIRK: I assume you’re complimenting Mister Spock on his ability to decode. STILES: I’m not sure, sir. KIRK: Well, here’s one thing you can be sure of, Mister. Leave any bigotry in your quarters. There’s no room for it on the Bridge. Do I make myself clear?

This stand by Kirk against bigotry parallels the improved Civil Rights records of some liberals during the 1960s. Presidents Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, pressured by the Civil Rights movement and popular opinion, supported civil rights in part because it was the right thing to do, but also because America’s entrenched and government-supported racism was accurately perceived by these presidents as damaging to America’s image during the Cold War (Reeves, p. 480-510). Pictures and news films, for instance, of people being attacked by police, dogs, and fire hoses during peaceful civil rights protests in the 1960s shocked most Americans and much of the world.

Over the years, some have understandably criticized the “tokenism” of Star Trek , but in 1966 the diversity found on the bridge, with Spock, Sulu, and Lieutenant Uhura was at the time progressive. To put it in perspective, this 50-year old episode has more diversity than the main cast of Friends from the 1990s, or Game of Thrones today. And yet Kirk acknowledges that even with the progress that’s been made in the 23rd century that bigotry, like that shown by Stiles, is not unknown, and in fact may not be eliminated—only kept off the bridge. This is disturbing, but it’s perhaps realistic that even in Star Trek’s future more work needs to be done to overcome prejudice.

And ironically, at least from our perspective, back on the bridge Sulu agrees with Stiles that added security steps should be taken in case there are Romulan spies on board the Enterprise. The irony is that after Pearl Harbor more than one-hundred thousand Japanese Americans were forcibly removed to concentration camps for years because of racist war hysteria, a grievous trampling on the US Constitution. And George Takei, as a young boy, was, with his family, among those imprisoned in the camps. This tragic mistake, which was even approved by the Supreme Court in 1944, is one that the US is still coming to terms with, and something that Takei has personally helped raise awareness about. The bottom line, however, is that “Balance of Terror” is critiquing this kind of racial suspicion of people during wartime.

Back in the briefing room, Spock shocks everyone by agreeing with Stiles that they must respond immediately to the Romulan aggression, no matter what the cost. Spock recommends this based on his own Vulcan history, saying, “If the Romulans are an offshoot of my Vulcan blood, and I think this is likely, then attack becomes even more imperative.”

“War is never imperative!” Bones interrupts, raising the tension between them in a way that became a hallmark of the series. “It is for them, Doctor,” Spock explains. “Vulcan, like Earth, had its aggressive, colonizing period. Savage, even by Earth standards. And if the Romulans retain this martial philosophy, then weakness is something we dare not show.”

This existential concern about showing “weakness” was a backbone of the Cold War, and a main driver for the Vietnam War, which at the time of this episode was nearing its peak. The core idea held by almost everyone in the US national security establishment, including Secretary McNamara—who, as mentioned, inadvertently gave this episode its title—was that Vietnam was like a domino piece, stacked up in a row next to all the other domino pieces of the various countries of Asia—so that if one fell to Communism, they would all fall.

Thirty years after this episode was broadcast, McNamara published his memoirs, and even wept on national TV, for his crucial involvement in what he concluded, as his title said, In Retrospect , was a war that was a colossal mistake, based on a misunderstanding of Vietnam, in part because of the fatally-flawed “domino theory.”

Even in 1966, Star Trek’ s references to the Cold War were seen by many. For instance, TV Guide highlighted this episode in that week’s issue with a special “Close-Up,” stating in its short review that “the warlike Romulans have sent a powerful flagship to probe earth’s defenses. Kirk knows that retreat will only invite further devastation. His alternative: counterattack” (Cushman, p. 233)

Vietnam was the first television war, and news programs like the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, which brought the war into millions of American households, aired right before Star Trek ’s 7:30 start time in major markets. As Marc Cushman writes, in 1966, “The troops of North Vietnam continued to pour across the DMZ into the South, carrying out their military strikes, testing American defenses, and then retreating to the safety of home. The actions of the Romulans in ‘Balance of Terror’ were clearly designed to mimic the tactics of the Viet Cong of this era” (Cushman, p.234).

This episode of Star Trek , in other words, can be seen as a cultural part of the Cold War. It might even be seen—with its fetishized phasers—as providing support for the military-industrial complex that President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned the nation about in his farewell address in 1961.

That’s part of it. But “Balance of Terror” is more complicated than that. As the cat-and-mouse battles between the Enterprise and the Bird-of-Prey unfold, with both vessels being heavily damaged—and the Enterprise almost destroyed by a Romulan nuclear weapon—we see that the Romulan commander is not a stereotyped and vicious enemy, but instead a sympathetic character.

We see the unnamed Romulan commander on his bridge, which, in homage to the submarine movies from which this episode borrows, looks like the bridge of a futuristic submarine, with viewing controls hanging from the center of the ceiling like a periscope. Like Kirk, the Romulan commander knows that the decisions he makes could mean death for millions if a larger war is triggered. The moody lighting, including strange pink hues for the Romulan commander, and shadowy key lighting for Kirk, shows the weight of their decisions literally playing across their faces (McDonough). The Romulan commander says to his second-in-command and friend, with whom he’s served for many years:

No need to tell you what happens when we reach home with proof of the Earthmen’s weakness. And we will have proof. The Earth commander will follow. He must. When he attacks, we will destroy him. Our gift to the homeland, another war….Obedience. Duty. Death and more death….I find myself wishing for destruction before we can return.

Meanwhile on the Enterprise, in a moment of down time in his quarters, Kirk confesses his doubts to Bones. Kirk knows that Bones has been the strongest critic of the pursuit of the Bird-of-Prey, and so Kirk is dropping his Captain’s mask and making himself vulnerable—which reveals the depth of their friendship.

KIRK: I look around that Bridge, and I see the men waiting for me to make the next move. And Bones, what if I’m wrong? MCCOY: Captain, I— KIRK: No, I don’t really expect an answer. MCCOY: But I’ve got one. Something I seldom say to a customer, Jim. In this galaxy, there’s a mathematical probability of three million Earth-type planets. And in all of the universe, three million million galaxies like this. And in all of that, and perhaps more, only one of each of us. Don’t destroy the one named Kirk.

The sympathetic portrayal of both sides locked in this death struggle is almost as much of a critique of the Cold War as it is a reinforcement of it. And Bones, sounding almost like Carl Sagan , infuses this part of the episode with a cosmic and yet empathetic perspective on this cold war in space.

But the costs of war are nonetheless made clear. An all-out war is avoided, just barely, but with the loss of many lives. And as the Romulan commander says to Kirk at the end, “You and I are of a kind. In a different reality, I could have called you friend.”

But conflicts of this kind don’t have easy solutions, as we still know today. Since the dawn of the nuclear age, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has published a Doomsday Clock . In 1966, it was set at five minutes to midnight. And today, fifty years later, with much fluctuation of the minute hand in the intervening decades, the clock stands at three minutes to midnight. It is bittersweet to say that this episode is still relevant, because it means that we are all still living in a balance of terror.

Works Cited

Stewart Alsop, “McNamara Thinks About the Unthinkable,” Saturday Evening Post , December 1, 1962, p. 18.

March Cushman with Susan Osborn, These Are The Voyages: TOS Season One , Expanded and Revised Edition, Jacobs/Brown Press, 2013.

Michael Dobbs, One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War , Knopf, 2007.

Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, The Fifty Year Mission: The First 25 Years , St. Martin’s Press, 2016.

Megan McDonough, Star Trek’s “Balance of Terror”: Shedding Light on a Big Decision , unpublished review.

Robert McNamara with Brian VanDeMark, In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam , Crown, 1995.

Richard Reeves, President Kennedy: Profile of Power , Simon and Schuster, 1993.

Gail Blasser Riley, Wah Ming Chang: Artists and Master of Special Effects , Enslow Publishers, 1995.

Barbara W. Tuchman, The Guns of August , Macmillan, 1962.

What do you think? Leave a comment .

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52 Comments

For all the obvious parallels to the Japanese, there is a stronger parallel to China. At the time this episode aired, communist China was a completely closed book to the West. This was still 6 years before Nixon went to China and established relations. That’s also why Romulans and Klingons get their stuff from the same place: like the Russians supplying China, the Klingons sell ships to the Romulans.

If anyone want to stream the episode, it is available for free on archive: https://archive.org/details/Star.Trek.TOS.1×14

I hear this episode is a major inspiration to the upcoming Star Trek Discovery series. Hear hear!

I remember when I had watched this episode for the first time, and liked it a lot, I told a friend about it. It turned out she was appalled, especially by the line “In a different reality, I could have called you friend” (which I had found very touching). She considered it trite, clichéd, and war-glorifying, part of a highly questionable soldier ethics.

This is a fine example of what science fiction should be. Meaningful episode with great references.

Brilliant, Ben. Great reading. It’s episodes like this that I use to illustrate to people how great ST:TOS was — the bold and intelligent scripts, the depth of subtlety to the stories. Season One stories particularly borrowed from Shakespeare, recent history, and even headlines, to provide topical entertainment in the guise of outer space adventure.

I think the episode owes much to Dick Powell’s 1957 film THE ENEMY BELOW (from the great Denys Rayner’s novel) with Robert Mitchum and Curt Jürgens, particularly the two captains gaining respect for each other, and one’s disenchantment with his own military organization. Duty, loyalty, frustration with loss and destruction,… many of the elements of the TOS episode are there in the WW II film. (I’ll admit I have to see RUN SILENT… again, been a long time.) The end of ENEMY BELOW always gets me choked up. Despite their adversarial conflict, the American captain helps his “enemy” to rescue the latter’s dying friend from the sinking U-boat.

Note that this episode, was well as others, is available for streaming on Netflix and other services. And of course, on home video Blu-ray disc.

Thanks, everyone, for your comments. As David writes, The Enemy Below was yet another influence on this episode. And, as he also says, The Enemy Below is a good World War II sub movie that’s worth seeking out. For me, “Balance of Terror” is in my top ten in terms of episodes of the original Star Trek—I’m just not sure what the other nine are right now….

I love Balance of Terror, here’s my slightly arbitrary Best of Original Trek list:

1. Amok Time 2. City on the Edge of Forever 3. Balance of Terror (yay!) 4. The Trouble with Tribbles 5. The Doomsday Machine 6. Friday’s Child 7. Where No Man Has Gone Before 8. Journey t Babel 9. The Naked Time 10. Requiem for Methusalah

Sike—that’s a great list. Mine list is similar, although it changes each time I try to make one lol! Anyway, my top three are the same as yours: 1. Amok Time 2. City on the Edge of Forever 3. Balance of Terror 4. The Doomsday Machine 5. The Enterprise Incident 6. The Tholian Web 7. Mirror, Mirror 8. The Menagerie 9. What Are Little Girls Made Of? 10. Arena

and I’m still leave a lot of favorites out.

My Top Original Star Trek Top 10:

1. City on the Edge of Forever 2. Amok Time 3. The Menagerie (two-parts) 4. Balance of Terror 5. Errand of Mercy 6. The Devil in the Dark 7. This Side of Paradise 8. The Corbomite Maneuver 9. Mirror Mirror 10. Journey to Babel.

I am a big fan of ST:TNG, ST:DSN and ST:Voyager as well, but at 62 years old now, my fond recollections of growing up with the original series remain supreme for me.

Stupendous review of “Balance of Terror,” which is one of the show’s finest episodes. The way suspense is built in the completely is a model of its kind. You brilliantly incorporate Cold War posturings, racial prejudice and the real threat of nuclear obliteration, which of course was as you note part of the BoT screenplay. I was amazed to learn that McNamara’s quote parallels the episode’s title. Just remarkable how this episode mirrored the politics of the time, the Bay of Pigs and other aspects of the Kennedy administration. Magisterial piece here!

As entertaining as the original Star Trek series is… there is no doubt that The Next Generation series is the golden age of Star Trek.

skag: I love TNG as well, but even though they are both Trek for me it’s almost like comparing apples and oranges. For instance, the music which is so dramatic, memorable, and over-the-top on TOS becomes in TNG an often-bland wallpaper background. Picard and Kirk are obviously a study in contrasts in terms of age, looks, nationality, approach, etc. But both are equally great captains imho. There are more “good” episodes of TNG, but that’s largely because it lasted 7 years instead of the 3 that TOS got, etc. But then again I also love the best of DS9 and Voyager just as much.

In any case, there are definitely several episodes of TNG that might be worthy of the kind of in-depth exploration that I attempted here. Maybe you or someone else will be the one to write an article of your favorite TNG episodes?

I watched TNG as I moved from my teens to my twenties. The first two series were really bad I thought, embarrassing at times. But after the Season 3/4 cliff-hanger, it became brilliant. Some episodes were duffers alright, but the dynamic between all the characters, especially Data’s ongoing quest to be human, was great to watch. Again, it was one of those series where the characters transcended the environment they habited.

I especially liked Worf when he would pull the “if I was not in Star Fleet I would kill you routine”. He did it all the time, he threatened every other male on the show at some point, hiding behind Star Fleet rules.

And as the show went on it subverted itself, mixed things up and became a classic bit of telly.

Even so, I got bored by it when they visited yet another planet where the entire population lived in a village with a little fountain in the middle, and no one had cars.

Doubt! DOUBT!

If you follow comic book terminology, you could possibly call TNG the Silver Age, but not the Golden Age: you should save that for the original flowering.

Balance of Terror is my favorite episode because there is a real humanity to it. I love the wedding opening because it is a glimpse of every day life on a star ship and it connects us in the present to the future. I love the not-fully-explained conflict on the Romulan ship which conveys that everyone has their own story, even if we don’t see it. And the commander’s last line gets me every time…

Balance of Terror is on many points a gripping episode if you ignore: A) the films its based on and B) the highly problematic ideological underpinnings.

The film doesn’t just transfer submarine war movie elements to a Sci-Fi story regardless if they fit or don’t. And they don’t fit at all, neither the firing of the phaser like depth charges nor the plasma weapon which is some kind of torpedo, but for no clear reason the Enterprise can’t simply step out of its course. And certainly not the whispering on the silent ships. The major problem is the episode essentially remakes situations and stories especially from The Enemy Below and lifts character constellations directly. The Romulan commander, his centurion and the careless nationalist fanatic are clearly a copy from this film.

What’s arguably worse is that the Enemy Below was essentially a film to reintegrate post war Western Germany into the western defence system and to encourage their building of an army. The idea was to show the Wehrmacht as honourable fighters while the evil ones were the SS and other Nazi organisations. So the soldiers which stood on both sides can join together now to fight a new enemy, the Soviets. However this manouvre sweeps the Wehrmacht war crimes under the rug by emphasizing soldier’s duty which was exactly the defense of all Nazis and German soldiers regardless of any crimes they did commit. So the episode’s positive and complex drawing of the Romulan commander has a rather dubious underpinning.

Michel: You make some great points here about both The Enemy Below as well as this episode. One thing to consider, however, is that a TV show has a lot of limitations in terms of what they can show and the shorthand they sometimes need to employ. For instance, as you know, on one level it might be silly that the Romulans aren’t speaking Romulan—although we could potentially say that the Universal Translator is working really well! But, on the other hand, the “foreigners speaking English” thing is used on so, so many programs, many of which are excellent. To give just one example, everyone in the BBC program “I, Claudius” from the 1970s speaks with a British accent rather than Latin with subtitles. Anyway, in terms of your bigger point of the problematic morals involved, I think you illuminate some important issues. I still think for a TV program from 1966 it’s thought-provoking, as well as dramatic, and has also stood the test of time pretty well.

My favorite episode from the original series: first seen when I was 8 or 9 years old, lo these many years ago. It’s stood the test of time.

Some of the genius of the episode is the way the struggle is presented as a contest between two very smart commanders who gain deep respect for the other, supported by good and bad advice from their crew. Arguably what dooms the Romulan is the loss of wise counsel from the Centurion: you could write an alternate story in which Spock’s loss leads to a fatal mistake by Kirk.

Great piece! You might want to take a look at Glen Cook’s novel, “Passage at Arms” which is also a submarine vs. destroyer in space story.

I think Balance of Terror was really on to a fundamental rule of good writing: if you want your fictional battles to be exciting, make them asymmetrical.

After reading this article, I watched this episode again after many years, and was glued to the edge of my chair even though I knew what was going to happen. Thank you for this.

The episode was almost directly lifted from The Enemy Below; watch the back to back and you can almost make a drinking game out of the similarities.

The Romulans were a stand-in for communist China. Like the Romulan Empire, it was fairly isolated at the time. (A bit like North Korea today.) China only opened up after Nixon normalized relations in 1972, thus inspiring an old Vulcan saying. Also, a lot of that distrust of Spock may reflect back to WWII more than the Cold War, since this episode was also a deliberate remake of a couple of WWII submarine movies.

But the Romulans were always much more interesting adversaries, though also more difficult to work into a script. That’s probably why the TNG writers worked so hard to make the Klingons deeper and more interesting.

Balance of Terror was the first episode of the original series I saw, on VHS in the early 90s. A good starter. And really overall an excellent work of television.

I always found Diane Duanes Romulans much more intresting than how they were portrayed in STNG.

Just rewatched this last week, the new SFX were very CGI but just as enjoyable as the old. I think that Star Trek was pretty incredible for touching on social issues and being very entertaining. Thank you for writing About the original episodes, I look forward to writing from you.

I love this episode. I have grown up knowing what romulans “look” like but I wonder what it would have been like to be sitting in front of the TV in 1966 and be surprized by how the romulans looked like Spock… must have been very cool

Romulan Wars!

Not sure if this is going to be of interest to anyone, but I’ve been reading the Star Trek novels describing the Romulan War, and they do a really nice job of explaining why the humans and their allies never actually see the Romulans. Basically, some higher ups in Starfleet and on Vulcan DO know that the Romulans are a Vulcan splinter race, but the information is confidential so as to avoid creating a schism between Vulcan and the other worlds that will eventually form the Federation. Also, the Romulans wear helmets when engaging in close combat (where they always win, meaning the humans don’t get a chance to examine their bodies) or simply nuke the enemy from orbit.

An excellent write-up for an excellent, memorable and enduring episode!

This cogent article connects the dots between art, history and geopolitics in the mid-20th century. Ben Hufbauer’s analysis is not only thoughtful and perceptive but an important wakeup call for all Americans. I hope teachers and college professors will assign this elegantly constructed essay in their classes. It is a model of excellent writing — economy with depth, an accessible and reader-friendly narrative with flare, and a thesis that boldly goes where few others have gone before!

The Romulans were always my favourite of the Trek ‘villains’ Some of the episodes featuring them in The Next Generation were absolutely superb.

It is basically a remake of the 1957 Movie “The Enemy Below.”

In the original series, Romulans were ancient Romans and Klingons were Soviet Russians. Romulans had a senate and a praetor, and duty and honor, while the Klingons were a totalitarian society where every level spied on the level above and below it.

This is probably the best episode to date; indeed one of the best episodes in the entire series.

It manages to make its social commentary without being overly preachy.

“Balance of Terror” is one of the best episodes of Star Trek, movies included. It is certainly in the running for best episode, period. Not only does it make science fiction accessible to new viewers, by way of nostalgia, it provides an excellent point of reference to real life experiences of the audience (WWII vets) etc just like this article details.

One of the things that I like about this episode is the things we don’t see. The Romulan Commander, for instance, is tired of war. He wants to go home, etc.

TV has produced some wonderful characters and scenarios over the years. It’s time to think of these characters in the same way we think of Dracula say: we can make him for our own time.

I have always felt that BoT is really one of the best, if not the best, episode of the original run. The only thing that really bugs me is the rather convenient coolant leak in the phaser room. I don’t recall if the prior nuclear blast that damaged the ship had anything to do with the leak, because it feels rather conveniently staged for Spock to jump in and save the day.

This is one I like more every time I see it.

This is extremely well written with a very clear thesis. Great read! It makes me want to jump into the Star Trek television series.

This has always been my favorite classic Star Trek episode, with the possible exception of Galileo Seven. My father introduced me to these shows before I was ten years old, and rewatching them at twenty-one I see them with more sophistication each time. I think the fiftieth anniversary of some of these episodes is a wonderful time to look back over them, to see how far Roddenberry was able to look into the future. With the recent casting of a new actor to play Lenard’s old character of Sarek, I may be coming back to this episode soon–going back into it armed with the research and knowledge from this essay will make the experience all the more enjoyable.

As a kid, I always enjoyed the episodes with the Klingons on and the The Romulans because it was so clearly using them as models in the cold war days with fire of the Russion/Klingons and and the cool, steely-eyed Chinese /Romulans. I need to go back and watch those episodes., Thanks for the flashback/

I remember watching that episode when it aired. It made me think then, and it resonates now. Thank you for this well-considered, well-researched essay.

Van Gogh was a crazy guy, but damn he could paint magic on a canvas

In case anyone is interested, here is a video version with more illustrations….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmlqXW1ea-o&feature=youtu.be

Many television programs such as Star Trek, Charmed and True Blood have many symbolic meanings in them. We watch these television programs that have been created in the under the veil of fiction but instead of writing fiction the writers and directors are trying to decipher the world around them and what has happened, what is happening and what they perceive will happen in the world around them. In my opinion there are three main reasons that the veil of fiction has been added to these stories: 1) To get people to watch the television show in the first place, 2) So they do not offend any who may have witnessed or been involved in a similar thing and 3) So that they can add an interesting plot line around the hard cold facts.

Notice how the arts and hacks who made this show, made sure that everything otherworldly, even fearful was true to what I call Kirbyism w as meant to denote an italic or Roman echoed response, no less than calling the enemies after Romulus, which is the essence of dehumanizing, as the m of Romans or Romumen, is detached and given an almost Richard Liu Lllll, and om not really kidding that much. Even Spock is from Vulcan, a shoot off of Roman, abd how that connection was made ill never know, but alas have become so thoughtfully and decent as they skip to the orders of some federation, also a Roman word, but whose counting. Still even as a kid, I always resented this, as saw it before, how ingratful it was that the people of Vespucci had no correlation on this new Ulysses ship, but have said my connection of Ulysses and Kirk before,still…it was what bothered me so to see this crappy little show and its constance admonishment of all the nuns held sacred, and how flippant they were about how good they all were. Two years ago did a cartoon called The earth rise about an Italian red shirted cog left to die on a planet caldera Vega 5 by a ship called the Anglicize, and its bloated cast and mixed raced crew and Jewish cyclical computer man were all turning into distorted stereotypes to die to a run in with this once red shirted captain now seeking revenge, and out to save from its utopia a fellow yeoman amend Darla Fontana. I have recently gotten it published, but not from who asked for it to begin with , but a compilation who liked my adroitness at drawing wally wood space ships, and too, had to make sure that sadly, but did it as they were nice enough to let a lot get through the others wouldn’t, the imagery of a fallen uss enterprize was enshrouded a tad. But the stoary was the same, in how as a boy i stunningly rooted for Khan, as captain Kirk, like smug Ulysses and his Trojan horse was something my Roman heart couldn’t abide. The joke of yesteryear was that within ten years, the Trekkie’s were supplanted and overshadowed by a roman loving adherent of the ancients in George Lucas, and suddenly federations were supplanted by that most Roman of ideas, the empire vs the republic.

Would it not also be interesting and practical to consider this piece in the context of current military conflicts in Syria?

The author concludes with “It is bittersweet to say that this episode is still relevant, because it means that we are all still living in a balance of terror.” I think a nod to current events contextualizing the time in which the piece is/was written would provide valuable context.

An enjoyable essay to read. I’ve written on nuclear strategy and this essay provides an interesting perceptive on that topic.

Great bit of writing, loved reading the parallels between Star Trek and The Cold War.

I really enjoyed this piece and how informative it was. It is great how you have taken the historical context into account and added a new layer of meaning present-day viewers might miss.

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• The Inventory

See Just How Close Strange New Worlds Recreated Star Trek 's Greatest Episode

The original series masterpiece "balance of terror" was the basis for strange new worlds ' excellent season finale..

We’re all big fans of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds here at io9, whether we’re obsessed die-hards or just dipping our toes back into the venerable franchise. And we were all delighted to learn, one way or another, that last week’s SNW finale was a retelling of the Original Series ’ “Balance of Terror,” arguably the greatest episode of any Star Trek series ever, just with Pike (Anson Mount) sitting in the Enterprise ’s captain’s chair instead of Kirk . Now someone has set the two episodes side-by-side in a video that reveals just how well Strange   New Worlds honored its source material.

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You don’t have to have watched SNW ’s season one finale, “A Quality of Mercy,” or the Original Series ’ “Balance of Terror” to appreciate this video from miksmart5 , but if you’ve seen either or both, I’d call this a must-watch. For those who’ve missed out, here’s why the two series are telling the same story. Pike, who gets horrifically maimed by an accident and replaced by Kirk before TOS begins, sees a chance to avoid his fate. But then a future Pike visits the current Pike, and shows him the disastrous consequences of what would happen if Pike still commands the Enterprise when the events of “Balance of Terror” take place. And yes, that is Captain Kirk—played by Paul Wesley, and serving upon the Farragut —who still manages to be present at the conflict.

Short version of the results: while Kirk attacked a lone Romulan ship and avoided a war, Pike’s attempt to avoid hostilities gets many people killed, including Spock (Ethan Peck), meaning the Vulcan isn’t around to save the universe the many, many times he does during the events of the Original Series and various movies. Basically, things get very, very bad if Pike tries to avoid his fate, and so he ends up embracing it, no matter the cost to himself, because he knows it’s for the greater good.

As the guy who has only returned to Star Trek for Strange New Worlds ’ classic feel and episodic storytelling, I’m still delighted by this homage. While I had the sense while watching it that the show was doing something extremely fan service-y, the finale worked just fine for me on its own. In fact, I didn’t know “Balance of Terror” existed until I read io9 Fearless Leader and aforementioned obsessive Trek fan James Whitbrook’s recap, at which point I watched the classic episode immediately, and retroactively enjoyed “A Quality of Mercy” even more.

Alas, Strange New Worlds ’ second season won’t appear on the Paramount+ streaming app until next year. But I can’t wait to see what the show does next.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misidentified Captain Kirk’s ship. io9 regrets the error.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power .

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The best 'Star Trek' episode of all time, according to fans—and see if your favorite ranks in the top 25

Posted: April 15, 2024 | Last updated: April 25, 2024

Best 'Star Trek' episodes

It's hard to think of a more everlasting and impactful science fiction property than "Star Trek." In 1966, what is now known as "Star Trek: The Original Series" premiered on NBC, the brainchild of creator, writer, and executive producer Gene Roddenberry. What made "Star Trek" unique for its time was its devotion to an optimistic vision of society, one where human civilization has moved past war and poverty, boldly going "where no man has gone before."

This utopian future was reflected by a diverse cast, with the crew of the USS Enterprise including a woman of African descent (Nyota Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols) and an Asian man (Hikaru Sulu, played by George Takei). Starting in Season Two, "Star Trek" added a Russian character (Pavel Chekov, played by Walter Koenig) during a real-life period of tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The cast was headlined by William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as First Officer Spock, and DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard McCoy.

Unlike the campier and fantastical sci-fi fare of the 1960s— like "Lost in Space" —"Star Trek" tackled issues not limited to racism, sexism, and nationalism, with episodic stories that served as allegories for present-day issues. One of the most commonly cited groundbreaking moments in "Star Trek" was a kiss between the characters of Kirk and Uhura in Season Three, one of the earliest on-screen interracial kisses .

While the original "Star Trek" was marred with low ratings on NBC, fan mail campaigns kept the show alive until its eventual cancellation in 1969. However, the series found new life in syndication in the 1970s, and the property has since grown into a multimedia franchise that includes 11 television shows and 13 theatrical movies.

To honor the original 79 episodes, Stacker gathered IMDb data for all episodes of the original "Star Trek" series and ranked the top 25 by user rating as of June 2023, with ties broken by the number of votes received. Read on to see if your favorite "Star Trek" episodes made the cut.

#25. Day of the Dove (1968)

- IMDb user rating: 7.7 - Season 3, Episode 7 - Director: Marvin J. Chomsky

The seventh episode of the third season of "Star Trek" once again pitted the Enterprise crew against the brutal Klingons. A being of pure energy creates confusion between the two factions, inserting false memories and creating conflict—in one instance, Chekov becomes aggressive towards the Klingons for killing a brother of his that never existed in the first place. The Klingon character of Kang, who originated from this episode, would return in the "Deep Space Nine" and "Voyager" shows decades later.

#24. A Piece of the Action (1968)

- IMDb user rating: 7.7 - Season 2, Episode 17 - Director: James Komack

Sometimes, "Star Trek" likes to incorporate time travel to create period-piece episodes, but in the case of Season Two, Episode 17, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy land on a planet that emulates 1920s Chicago gangster culture. With Tommy guns, fedoras, and pulpy 1920s dialogue, this fun episode goes through many of the classic gangster tropes. It's a memorable episode, particularly to writer-director Quentin Tarantino, who in the late 2010s wanted to direct a rated-R "Star Trek" movie inspired by the episode .

#23. Where No Man Has Gone Before (1966)

- IMDb user rating: 7.7 - Season 1, Episode 3 - Director: James Goldstone

The second pilot of "Star Trek" is titled after the famous mantra of the franchise, though "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was aired as the third episode of the first season. This episode was meant to introduce viewers to the general concepts of "Star Trek," with a standard mission gone awry—as a result, helmsman Gary Mitchell gains psychic and telekinetic powers, proclaiming himself to be god-like. "Above all else, a god needs compassion," Kirk says in one iconic scene when describing Mitchell's violent actions. As pivotal as the episode is, it lacks mainstay characters like McCoy and Uhura .

#22. This Side of Paradise (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 7.8 - Season 1, Episode 24 - Director: Ralph Senensky

Spock is often paired with short-term romantic interests in "Star Trek," and Episode 24 of the first season features one in the character Kalomi. Spock reunites with this botanist from his past on an away mission—he, Kirk, and McCoy beam down to a colony to find that all of its inhabitants are affected by spores that invoke an overly positive and lethargic attitude. For the half-human, half-Vulcan character Spock, it was another opportune time for him to explore his emotions as he found himself under the same influence.

#21. The Naked Time (1966)

- IMDb user rating: 7.8 - Season 1, Episode 4 - Director: Marc Daniels

The fourth episode of the show as a whole let the cast members let loose and act out of character. "The Naked Time" starts with Spock and a lieutenant observing frozen corpses in an abandoned research facility—after which they inadvertently bring some sort of sickness to the Enterprise that makes everyone affected act irrationally. Spock sheds tears and has an intimate moment with Nurse Chapel, but in a sillier (and iconic) scene, a shirtless Sulu runs amok with a sword .

#20. Tomorrow Is Yesterday (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 7.9 - Season 1, Episode 19 - Director: Michael O'Herlihy

The 19th episode of "Star Trek" Season One is a time-travel story, with the Enterprise finding itself above 1960s Earth. A U.S. Air Force pilot named John Christopher flies up to identify the ship, only to be beamed up by the crew. What ensues is a race to scrub all evidence of the Enterprise's visit to the 1960s while containing Christopher, all while trying to return home. In terms of "Star Trek" lore, the Enterprise's method of returning to the future is used again in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" and referenced in "Star Trek: Picard."

#19. Arena (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 7.9 - Season 1, Episode 18 - Director: Joseph Pevney

Episode 18 of "Star Trek" showcases some of Kirk's physical combat abilities as he is forced to fight a member of the reptile species known as the Gorn. The fight scene between Kirk and the Gorn captain was shot at the Vasquez Rocks , a location used so frequently by the franchise that it is nicknamed the "Star Trek Rocks." Modern audiences have mocked and parodied the fight scene , but its iconic status has never been disputed.

#18. The Tholian Web (1968)

- IMDb user rating: 8.0 - Season 3, Episode 9 - Directors: Herb Wallerstein, Ralph Senensky

Season Three, Episode 9 of "Star Trek" begins with the Enterprise searching for its sister ship, the Defiant. Unfortunately, the Defiant's crew had perished somehow, and the Enterprise crew find themselves up against interdimensional beings known as the Tholians. As they create an energy web around the entire Enterprise, Kirk is believed lost and the crew members begin to fall to the same madness that led to the Defiant crew's demise. The plotlines of the Defiant and the Tholian Web are followed up in the prequel show "Enterprise," in the 2005 two-part episode "In a Mirror, Darkly."

#17. The Ultimate Computer (1968)

- IMDb user rating: 8.0 - Season 2, Episode 24 - Director: John Meredyth Lucas

In a premise that still rings true today due to the prevalence of artificial intelligence, Season Two, Episode 24 features a computer named M-5, designed and built to handle all ship functions. Unsurprisingly, M-5 begins to turn malevolent, effectively trying to replace Kirk as the captain and attacking other Federation starships. "Computers make excellent and efficient servants, but I have no wish to serve under them," Spock tells Kirk at one point.

#16. A Taste of Armageddon (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 8.0 - Season 1, Episode 23 - Director: Joseph Pevney

Episode 23 of Season One features a rather unique sci-fi concept—a planet that fights war through virtual means. Kirk lands on a planet that is in conflict with another planet, and the long war between the two is fought in a simulation; when someone "dies" in the simulation, they are killed in real life. Unfortunately for Kirk, the Enterprise is destroyed in the simulation, but Kirk naturally refuses to destroy his ship and crew. Despite the dire premise, the resolution of the episode has fans believing it to be an overall optimistic story .

#15. The Corbomite Maneuver (1966)

- IMDb user rating: 8.0 - Season 1, Episode 10 - Director: Joseph Sargent

The 10th overall episode of "Star Trek" was the first to be shot after the pilot episode, and it features a memorable encounter with an alien named Balok (featured in the closing credits of the show). Balok claims that he is all-powerful and will destroy the Enterprise, giving the crew 10 minutes, but Kirk calls Balok's bluff. Summing up the lesson of the episode, Kirk remarks: "You know the greatest danger facing us is ourselves, an irrational fear of the unknown. But there's no such thing as the unknown—only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood."

#14. All Our Yesterdays (1969)

- IMDb user rating: 8.1 - Season 3, Episode 23 - Director: Marvin J. Chomsky

Season Three, Episode 23 of "Star Trek" features some recurring tropes of the show, such as time travel and Spock having a brush with romance. The main trio of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy each end up in two distant time periods of a planet. Spock and McCoy encounter a woman named Zarabeth, whom McCoy is suspicious of and Spock falls in love with rather quickly. While most time-travel episodes center around Earth, using this narrative device to explore the past of an alien planet was thought to be unique by fans.

#13. Errand of Mercy (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 8.1 - Season 1, Episode 26 - Director: John Newland

Episode 26 of Season One utilizes the Klingons as the main foes, with "Errand of Mercy" depicting the beginning of a war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Kirk and Spock visit a neutral planet near the Klingon Border called Organia and attempt to convince its people to resist Klingon forces in this Cold War allegory episode . While the peaceful Organians appear to be primitive at first, they soon surprise Kirk and Spock as well as the Klingons. The main antagonist, the Klingon named Kor, returns in "Deep Space Nine."

#12. The Menagerie: Part II (1966)

- IMDb user rating: 8.1 - Season 1, Episode 12 - Directors: Robert Butler, Marc Daniels

Spock is under court martial in Season One, Episode 12, in this conclusion to the previous episode. This second part features the psychic Talosian aliens more heavily, as well as the character of Number One, who is portrayed by Roddenberry's second wife, Majel Barrett. With the previous episode establishing Captain Pike's tragic injuries, this second half provides a happier ending for the former captain of the Enterprise.

#11. The Menagerie: Part I (1966)

- IMDb user rating: 8.2 - Season 1, Episode 11 - Directors: Marc Daniels, Robert Butler

Season One, Episode 11 revisited events from the unaired pilot episode of "Star Trek," titled "The Cage." That pilot had featured Captain Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) instead of Kirk, but "The Menagerie" clarifies that Pike was the captain of the Enterprise before Kirk. At this point in time, Pike has been horrifically injured, bound to a chair, and only able to communicate through beeps. Pike and Spock once again end up on the planet Talos IV for some unfinished business, and the episode utilizes footage from "The Cage" extensively as flashbacks for budgetary reasons.

#10. The Devil in the Dark (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 8.3 - Season 1, Episode 25 - Director: Joseph Pevney

"Star Trek" is arguably its most memorable when it teaches viewers about compassion and pacifism, and Episode 25 of the first season very much demonstrates this. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy begin to assist a mining colony dealing with a creature responsible for killing workers. Upon encountering the creature, the main characters begin to understand its nature better, and instead spare it and cure it, facilitating a symbiotic relationship between the creature and the miners.

William Shatner considers the episode one of his favorites, but behind the scenes, Shatner's father passed away during production , necessitating the temporary use of a body double while he attended his father's funeral.

#9. The Enterprise Incident (1968)

- IMDb user rating: 8.4 - Season 3, Episode 2 - Director: John Meredyth Lucas

The writers of "Star Trek" loved to use sudden irrational behavior by the characters as plot devices, and Episode 2 of the third season features Captain Kirk going off the rails. The Enterprise is on a secret mission to steal a Romulan cloaking device, and they encounter a female Romulan commander who eventually takes an interest in Spock. Kirk acts erratically through the episode and is even declared unfit to captain, leading to a dramatic episode overall.

#8. Journey to Babel (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 8.5 - Season 2, Episode 10 - Director: Joseph Pevney

Some significant characters in "Star Trek" lore make their first appearance in Episode 10 of Season Two, as Spock's parents Sarek and Amanda (the latter being human) feature heavily. Sarek, an ambassador, is wrongly accused of murdering a foreign dignitary, and it's up to Spock to clear his name. While Sarek and Amanda made more appearances in future "Star Trek" media, this episode is their only appearance in the original series.

#7. Amok Time (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 8.6 - Season 2, Episode 1 - Director: Joseph Pevney

The season premiere of "Star Trek" Season Two introduced concepts that would permeate larger popular culture. Spock's bizarre behavior leads the characters to learn about pon farr, a physiological phenomenon related to Vulcan mating. Viewers meet Spock's betrothed, a Vulcan named T'Pring, and the iconic Vulcan salute is used for the first time in this episode. The events culminate in a fight between Kirk and Spock, with the scene and its incidental music parodied in movies like "The Cable Guy" and shows including "Futurama."

#6. The Doomsday Machine (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 8.7 - Season 2, Episode 6 - Director: Marc Daniels

Catastrophic destruction is the main threat of Season Two, Episode 6, aptly titled "The Doomsday Machine." The Enterprise finds that one of its sister ships, the Constellation, has been heavily damaged by a machine capable of destroying planets. Matt Decker, one of the ship's survivors, goes on a mad campaign against the machine, jeopardizing the Enterprise in the process. While Decker doesn't make it by the end of the episode, his son Willard Deckard is a main character in 1979's "Star Trek: The Motion Picture."

#5. Space Seed (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 8.7 - Season 1, Episode 22 - Director: Marc Daniels

Episode 22 of the first season introduced perhaps the most recognizable villain in all "Star Trek" media: Khan Noonien Singh, portrayed by Ricardo Montalbán. A genetically engineered man from the past, Khan attempts to lead his people in overthrowing the Enterprise. While Khan was thwarted and exiled, he would later return in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," widely thought to be the greatest "Star Trek" movie in the franchise .

#4. The Trouble with Tribbles (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 8.8 - Season 2, Episode 15 - Director: Joseph Pevney

"Star Trek" isn't just political allegory and technobabble—there has to be levity sometimes as well. Enter the tribbles, cute little fuzzy creatures that create a problem for the Enterprise, as a tribble found in a space station begins multiplying rapidly. Meanwhile, conflict arises between Enterprise crew members and Klingons, culminating in a brawl in the space station. For the 30th anniversary of "Star Trek," an episode of "Deep Space Nine" titled "Trials and Tribble-ations" revisited the events of this episode, digitally inserting the "Deep Space Nine" cast into the events of the original episode.

#3. Balance of Terror (1966)

- IMDb user rating: 8.8 - Season 1, Episode 14 - Director: Vincent McEveety

Episode 14 of the first season of "Star Trek" is essential viewing, as it introduces the antagonistic Romulan race, a staple of the "Star Trek" universe. The centerpiece of this action-packed episode is a cat-and-mouse game between the Enterprise and a Romulan vessel with cloaking capabilities, leading to exciting and tense encounters. It's an episode full of high emotion that explores the effect and ramifications of war, with Kirk and the Romulan commander speculating that in another life, perhaps they could have been friends.

#2. Mirror, Mirror (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 9.0 - Season 2, Episode 4 - Director: Marc Daniels

Episode 4 of Season Two of "Star Trek" had the first look into another dimension within the lore, often referred to as the Mirror Universe. In this reality, the Federation is instead the Terran Empire, which is aggressive and militaristic in nature. The USS Enterprise is instead the ISS Enterprise, torture in the Agony Booth is the main form of discipline, and Mirror Spock famously fashions a goatee . The Mirror Universe has become a mainstay in most "Star Trek" shows, and the use of a beard to signify an evil doppelganger is an often used and parodied trope .

#1. The City on the Edge of Forever (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 9.2 - Season 1, Episode 28 - Director: Joseph Pevney

In quite possibly the most famous episode in the entire "Star Trek" franchise, Captain Kirk faces an unimaginable moral dilemma. A chase for an unwell McCoy leads to history being changed, and the Enterprise crew members find themselves in Depression-era New York City to repair the damage. Kirk falls in love with a social worker named Edith Keeler, but to his dismay, he discovers that for the timeline to be restored, Edith must be allowed to die. The tragic ending, Shatner's performance, high regard from both the cast and crew of "Star Trek," and multiple awards solidified "City" as the most celebrated "Trek" episode of all time .

Data reporting by Luke Hicks. Copy editing by Tim Bruns. Photo selection by Clarese Moller.

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Star Trek (TV Series)

Balance of terror (1966), deforest kelley: dr. mccoy, photos .

Quotes 

McCoy : In this galaxy, there's a mathematical probability of three million Earth-type planets. And in all of the universe, three million million galaxies like this. And in all of that... and perhaps more, only one of each of us.

[pause] 

McCoy : Don't destroy the one named Kirk.

Stiles : These are Romulans! You run away from them and you guarantee war. They'll be back - not just one ship, but with everything they've got. You know that, Mr. Science Officer. You're the expert on these people, but you've always left out that one point. Why? I'm very interested in why.

Captain James T. Kirk : Sit down, mister.

[Stiles does so, there is an awkward silence] 

Mr. Spock : I agree. Attack.

Captain James T. Kirk : Are you suggesting we fight... to prevent a fight?

Dr. McCoy : Based on what? Memories of a war over a century ago? On theories about a people we've never even met face to face?

Stiles : We know what they look like...

Mr. Spock : Yes, indeed we do, Mr. Stiles. And if the Romulans are an offshoot of my Vulcan blood - and I think this likely - then attack becomes even more imperative.

Dr. McCoy : War is never imperative, Mr. Spock.

Mr. Spock : It is for them, Doctor. Vulcan, like Earth, had its aggressive, colonizing period - savage, even by Earth standards - and if the Romulans retain this martial philosophy, then weakness is something we dare not show.

Stiles : We enter the Neutral Zone in one minute, Captain.

Dr. McCoy : Do we violate the treaty, Captain?

Mr. Spock : They did, Doctor.

Dr. McCoy : Once inside, they can claim we did. A set-up. They want war, we furnish the provocation.

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Star Trek The Original Series S01E14 Balance Of Terror [1966]

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Mirror universe spock’s fate in star trek: discovery explained.

Star Trek: Discovery filled in some of the gaps in Mirror Universe history and revealed the fate of Spock after Star Trek: TOS" "Mirror, Mirror."

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 5 - "Mirrors"

• Mirror Universe Spock's death led to a revolution in the Terran Empire, but ultimately couldn't prevent its downfall.
• The ISS Enterprise became a symbol of hope in the Mirror Universe, with rebels seeking freedom in the Prime Universe.
• Dr. Cho, a refugee from the Mirror Universe, rose to become a Branch Admiral in Starfleet, shaping her own future.

Star Trek: Discovery confirmed the fate of Mirror Universe Spock (Leonard Nimoy) after the events of the classic Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "Mirror, Mirror." Since its first appearance on TOS, several Star Trek series have visited the Mirror Universe, a parallel universe populated by evil versions of Star Trek's heroes. In the Mirror Universe, the xenophobic Terran Empire serves as the antithesis to the United Federation of Planets, and torture and murder are commonplace. Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the USS Discovery are already familiar with the Mirror Universe, as they spent some time there in Discovery season 1.

In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5 , "Mirrors," Captain Burnham and Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) follow couriers Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis) into interdimensional space in search of the next clue leading to the Progenitors' treasure. Once there, they find the damaged ISS Enterprise, which holds clues about the fate of Mirror Universe Spock and his crew. In Star Trek: The Original Series season 2, episode 4, "Mirror, Mirror," Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) encourages Mirror Spock to initiate change, telling him: "In every revolution, there's one man with a vision." Written by Johanna Lee and Carlos Cisco, and directed by Jen McGowan, Star Trek: Discovery's "Mirrors" offers more insight into what became of that revolution.

What Happened To Mirror Universe Captain Kirk In Star Trek?

What happened to mirror universe spock revealed by star trek: discovery, spock died fighting for change..

After the events of Star Trek: The Original Series' "Mirror, Mirror," Captain Kirk left Mirror Universe Spock with a lot to think about. The goateed Vulcan apparently took Kirk's words to heart and began enacting a series of reforms to change the way things were done in the Terran Empire. Although he was attempting to prevent the collapse of the Empire, Star Trek: Discovery revealed that Spock was killed while working on his reforms. In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, Burnham and Book explore the ISS Enterprise and discover a plaque detailing some events from the Mirror Universe.

“The light of hope shines through even the darkest of nights" became a "rallying cry" for those who opposed the violence of the Terran Empire.

Reading from the plaque, Book says that the "Terran High Chancellor was killed for trying to make reforms." Although Michael does not know that Spock was the Terran High Chancellor, the audience knows this information in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Mirror Universe episodes. Spock helped turn the Terran Empire into a more peaceful galactic power, and while his reforms were popular with many, some clearly opposed them. Nevertheless, Spock's dedication to logic made him less villainous than his Mirror Universe counterparts, and his words: “The light of hope shines through even the darkest of nights" became a "rallying cry" for those who opposed the violence of the Terran Empire.

Star Trek: DS9 Reveals What Happened To Mirror Universe After Spock’s Death

Spock initiated change, but couldn't prevent the fall of the terran empire..

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 23, "Crossover," Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) and Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) find themselves in the Mirror Universe. Major Kira's Mirror Universe counterpart, Intendant Kira, runs the equivalent of Deep Space Nine (Terok Nor) as a mining station populated by Terran slaves. The Intendant reveals that Captain Kirk's visit to the Mirror Universe had a "profound influence" on Mirror Universe Spock, which led Spock to reform the Terran Empire. Unfortunately, these reforms rendered the Empire unable to defend itself when the Klingon/Cardassian Alliance decided to attack.

After conquering the Terran Empire, the Alliance proved to be just as brutal and eventually became ruled by Regent Worf (Michael Dorn).

Having been under Terran occupation for years, Bajor petitioned for entry into the Klingon/Cardassian Alliance and went on to become a major player in the Alliance. Much like Kirk's visit to the Mirror Universe affected Spock, Major Kira and Dr. Bashir's visit inspired a rebellion among the Terran slaves, which became a thorn in the side of the Alliance. Although Spock had initially been trying to prevent the fall of the Terran Empire, the Empire fell away, but some people held on to the ideals Spock had tried to spread.

Star Trek 10’s Best Mirror Universe Variants

Star trek: discovery reveals what happened to mirror universe spock’s iss enterprise, the iss enterprise became a symbol of hope and freedom..

The plaque Captain Burnham and Cleveland Booker find on the Mirror Universe's ISS Enterprise also reveals some events after Mirror Spock's death. After Spock was killed, those who believed in his reforms sought help from a "Kelpian slave turned rebel leader," aka, the Mirror Universe version of Saru (Doug Jones). Saru told these people about Star Tre k's Prime Universe, describing it as "a near perfect mirror that casts our darkness into light." While Saru stayed behind to help more people in the Mirror Universe, several rebels stole the ISS Enterprise and traveled to the Prime Universe to begin new lives.

Dr. Cho was also one of the six scientists who helped hide clues to the Progenitors' technology.

Upon returning to the USS Discovery, Michael finds proof in Federation databases that many of the refugees on the ISS Enterprise successfully made new lives for themselves in the Prime Universe . One refugee, named the Enterprise's Science Officer, Dr. Cho, joined Starfleet and eventually became a Branch Admiral. Dr. Cho was also one of the six scientists who helped hide clues to the Progenitors' technology, which remains at the center of Star Trek: Discovery season 5's quest. Michael remarks that Cho may have chosen to leave her clue on the Enterprise as a reminder that almost anyone can shape their own future, even when facing impossible odds.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery stream Thursdays on Paramount+.

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Published Apr 24, 2024

Stuck in a Loop: The Best of Star Trek's Time-Jumping Episodes

From The Next Generation to Discovery, going around and around is sometimes very revealing.

StarTrek.com

In the Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 episode, " Face the Strange ," Captain Burnham and Commander Rayner find themselves both stuck in a loop, but also, jumping all around the timeline of the titular starship. From the point before the U.S.S. Discovery was launched, to pivotal moments in Season 4, Season 3, Season 2 and even very early in Season 1, Rayner notes at one point that, "We’ve gone back in time to when you went forward to the future. That’s a little confusing."

Throughout all of Star Trek 's history, time travel has been just as propulsive to the narratives as space travel. But, within the various time travel stories of Trek , there is a special kind of time-skipping episode — the time loop story. Discovery has recently shaken-up this formula with "Face the Strange," but many elements of this episode pay homage to a proud Star Trek tradition. Here’s the history of the best time loop, and time-jumping episodes across the entire Final Frontier.

" Cause and Effect ," Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 5, Episode 18)

"Cause and Effect"

Perhaps one of the greatest science fiction episodes of all time, The Next Generation set the gold-standard for how to do time loop episodes.

When the Enterprise collides with another starship in the first scene, this episode poses one question right off the bat: What happens after you blow up the ship — and everyone on it — before the credits roll? The answer is mostly connected to whether or not we can even remember when we're stuck in a loop. Without actually spoiling this classic episode, let's just say thank the stars for Dr. Crusher and Data.

The brilliance of "Cause and Effect" cannot be overstated, but the 21st Century legacy of this episode is utterly appropriate. When Geordi reveals how the time loop works, Riker says, "You mean we could have come into this room, sat at this table and had this conversation a dozen times already?" This scene has become a popular meme format across various social media platforms, satirizing the time loop of some aspects of the internet experience.

" Parallels ," Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 7, Episode 11)

"Parallels"

Arguably, when Worf starts slipping between realities in "Parallels," the story is more focused on other dimensions, rather than a true time loop. But, each time he pops into a new reality, Worf does tend to reply to his own personal log, which is what began the episode.

Obviously, in each new timeline, Worf's personal log is different, and because he checks it so often in the episode, this gives "Parallels" the feeling of a time loop story, even though Worf is technically moving both forward in time, and also, side-to-side.

On top of all of this, "Parallels" feels time-loopy because so many ideas and plot points from previous seasons of The Next Generation are revisited here. From references to " The Best of Both Worlds ," to the return of Wesley Crusher, "Parallels" brings all the good things of TNG back around again for another look, from a different point of view.

" All Good Things... ," Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 7, Episode 25)

"All Good Things..."

Speaking of the best of The Next Generation , the immortal series finale is, from a certain point of view, one big time loop. As Jean-Luc Picard shifts between past, present, and future, the biggest mystery of "All Good Things…" is what caused the anomaly in the Devron system? Eventually, we learn that the ending and the beginning of this story are inextricably connected, a paradox that creates a kind of loop that must be broken.

Twenty-nine years later, in the Star Trek: Picard episode, " Imposters ," Captain Liam Shaw references this moment, and notes that Picard and Riker have a "real chicken and egg thing going on." It doesn’t get any more time-loopy than that!

" Visionary ," Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Season 3, Episode 17)

"Visionary"

When O'Brien starts seeing another version of himself appearing randomly throughout the station, Dr. Bashir briefly floats the idea that he's just having really boring hallucinations. But, as the episode goes on, it becomes clear that O'Brien is actually seeing brief moments in the future, and then, catching up to those moments in the present.

"Visionary" messes with what we expect from a time loop episode, because in all instances of future occurrences, there are literally two O'Briens present, and, when the past O'Brien catches up to the future moment, the duplication effect happens again, creating a kind of visual loop for the audience. The funny thing is, in several instances, the future doesn't play out exactly the way past O'Brien saw the first time, making this one of the wobblier time loops in all of Star Trek .

" Relativity ," Star Trek: Voyager (Season 5, Episode 24)

"Relativity"

In a move very similar to Discovery 's "Face the Strange," this unforgettable episode of Voyager briefly takes us back to a point before the series even begins, showing us Janeway's first moments on Voyager before the ship left the Utopia Planitia Shipyards on Mars. (In "Face the Strange," Burnham and Rayner see Discovery in a drydock on Earth well before the events of Season 1.)

But, Voyager 's jaunt into its own prehistory is just the beginning of a very specific type of time jumping episode. Here, Seven of Nine isn't exactly repeating a loop, but, making several attempts at different times, to prevent a bomb from destroying Voyager . As Tuvok aptly puts it when encountering one version of Seven from the future, "Like many time paradoxes, it's improbable, but not necessarily illogical." Because this episode features multiple versions of Seven, and leaps to various eras of Voyager , it pairs very nicely with Burnham and Rayner's similar jumps in "Face the Strange." Especially the moment where Seven meets herself.

" Shattered ," Star Trek: Voyager (Season 7, Episode 11)

"Shattered"

Does Voyager have the best timey-wimey episodes in all of the Trek franchise? It's hard to say, but if there's another Trek episode that feels like an older sibling of Discovery 's "Face the Strange," it's almost certainly "Shattered," a fan-favorite episode from Voyager 's final season. Here, the captain and the first officer — Janeway and Chakotay — find themselves on a version of the ship that has been split into different time periods.

"Shattered" is one of Star Trek 's greatest retrospective episodes, touching on moments across all of Voyager 's story, and teaming past versions of characters with ones closer to the present. It's a touching story, and, structurally, it's wonderfully homaged in Discovery .

" Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad ," Star Trek: Discovery (Season 1, Episode 7)

"Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad"

One of Discovery 's stand-out moments from Season 1 fully set the stage for "Face the Strange" in Season 5. In "Magic to Make The Sanest Man Go Mad," Harry Mudd sets the ship on a true time loop, in which only Stamets can truly remember what is going on. Like in "Face the Strange," Stamets has a perception that exists outside of time, thanks to taking on the Tardigrade DNA in "Choose Your Pain."

This detail comes in handy in "Face the Strange," where Burnham and Stamets again have to re-team to get Discovery out of a time loop caused by nefarious enemies using time travel technology as a weapon. In Season 1, Burnham and Stamets barely knew each other, much like Burnham and Rayner's relationship in Season 5. But, if there's one thing a time loop or time-jumping episode can do, it’s make people who are just colleagues into best friends for life.

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Ryan Britt is the author of the nonfiction books Phasers on Stun! How the Making and Remaking of Star Trek Changed the World (2022), The Spice Must Flow: The Journey of Dune from Cult Novels to Visionary Sci-Fi Movies (2023), and the essay collection Luke Skywalker Can’t Read (2015). He is a longtime contributor to Star Trek.com and his writing regularly appears with Inverse, Den of Geek!, Esquire and elsewhere. He lives in Portland, Maine with his family.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.