Among the greatest episodes
of the entire Star Trek franchise. I know of no other single episode which captured so much tension and intensity in the face of battle (save perhaps "Doomsday Machine"). the performances are flawless, the drama is top-notch. More is packed into these 51 minutes than in most Hollywood blockbusters. The drama is real, the intensity, everything. Not only is everyone aboard the Enterprise a living, breathing character, but so too is everyone aboard the Romulan vessel, and their own unique amibitions are show-cased just as finely as on the Enterprise.

For me, the single greatest moment in the episode occurs during the tactical briefing, and Stiles and Sulu begin sparring in a battle of wits over which is the correct choice of action. Later, the thoughts of Kirk, McCoy, Spock, and Scott all come in to play, and Kirk finally reaches a decision. The decision is most difficult, because even though there are two very different opinions, neither is right or wrong.

This is among the greatest moments in the entire franchise of Star Trek, and is essential to the collection of any Star Trek fan. I recommend this especially to casual fans, as Star Trek does not get much better than this.

Cold War, Hot Battle
In the 1960s, the phrase "balance of terror" referred to the standoff between the USA, Russia, and China. In classic Trek, there is similarly a standoff with the Romulans. This episode shows Kirk deciding to pre-emptively attack a Romulan ship to avoid galactic war. In this episode and much later in "The Enterprise Episode," pre-emptive strike against the Romulans succeeds. Yet this contradicts the dominant Trek pattern in which starting or extending a military conflict is unwise. (Compare: Arena, Errand of Mercy, A Private Little War, Day of the Dove.) At least McCoy is on board to argue against pre-emptive attack. In later episodes, but not this one, he would be proven right.

The Romulan commander is especially well played as a captain who privately hates war as much as anyone, but does his duty... echoed in some ways years later by the Russian sub commander in "Hunt for Red October." The allusions to ancient Rome are rather obvious (the centurian, the planets Romulus and Remus) and not too plausible. They are consistent with the great interest ST writers often showed in classical civilzation.

If there was ever any question as to what made the Enterprise fly -- that is, what made the original series (despite mediocre initial ratings) among the most beloved shows in TV history -- this episode settles the question. It was the writing, first and foremost. Paul Schneider's script deals simultaneously with racism, love, loss, war, and peace, setting up all the conflicts brilliantly and then resolving them all 1-2-3 in the final scenes.

On a simple level, it's a space battle with the Romulans. The many-layered conflicts aboard ship give the episode its power. This is the first time we see Romulans, and Spock's uncanny resemblance creates a problem. (Even more suspiciously, the Romulan commander is played by Mark Leonard -- Spock's father!!!)

There are a few flaws in this episode, but the drama is so strong that these flaws are easily overlooked. At one point, both sets of crewmembers whisper while the two ships try to hide their respective positions, even though there is no way sound can travel in space. And the production crew had yet to figure out the difference between phasers and photon torpedoes. But in the words of the great Joe E. Brown, nobody's perfect.

Superb Rodenbury
Brilliant piece of Start Trek Classic with script and performance that put modern day drama, sci-fi and movie, to shame. Creator and Producer Gene Roddenberry developed a timeless piece of art here. Much of the cinematography and drama were borrowed from here to produce another top trek creation "The Wrath of Kahn" movie. Performances from Shatner were excellent, and even better from Mark Leonard playing the honourable, brave and philosophical Romulan Captain. The scene near the end with the Romulan Captain's final words of respect to his worthy adversary, Kirk, shown from Kirks eye view through the Enterprise view screen, is profound and delivered with such an "oscarly" standard of insight and inspiration that it could not have been more faithful to truth if it were real. Every time you watch this episode you somehow hope, that this time it could end differently, every bit as much as Kirk and the Romulan Captain do.

To prevent a war, Kirk goes to war
As the Federation expanded out into space, they encountered a race called the Romulans. A vicious war ensued, where no prisoners were taken, so no Federation member has ever seen a Romulan. The peace treaty that ended the war was negotiated via subspace radio and one of the points of the agreement was to set up a neutral zone of space. Any movement by either side into the neutral zone would be considered an act of war. To monitor the neutral zone, the Federation set up a series of listening posts along the Federation side of the neutral zone.
Those outposts are under attack by an unknown ship that possesses a weapon of tremendous power. It easily penetrates the defenses of the Federation outposts, systematically destroying them. The Enterprise is the ship sent to investigate and they become involved in a cat and mouse game with a Romulan ship. Spock is able to penetrate the signals of the Romulan ship and obtains images of the Romulan bridge. It turns out that they look like Vulcans, so some people on the Enterprise suspect that Spock is a spy.
In a strategy meeting, Spock recommends that the Enterprise attack the Romulan ship, noting that they most likely have a Vulcan heritage, which means that they are very warlike. If the ship were to return to base with a report that they were able to destroy at will, then a full scale attack would follow. Kirk decides to attack the Romulan ship and they take shots at each other, with damage but nothing decisive. The Romulan commander proves to be a Shakespearean personality, unhappy with the consequences of his actions, but too steeped in duty to do otherwise. Kirk and the Romulan commander match each other move for move until the Enterprise manages to get off a few phaser shots that fatally damage the Romulan ship. The Romulan commander cannot surrender and destroys his ship.
This episode introduces the Romulans, a species that made far too few appearances in the original series. Having them share a common heritage with the Vulcans was a stroke of genius and Mark Lenard, who played the Romulan commander, should have won an award for his performance. The only problem is when the crew members of both ships talk quietly and make little noise so that the other ship will not hear them. This mimics the actions of submarines, but since sound cannot travel through the vacuum of space, it is thoroughly useless. Also, while the Romulan ship has a cloaking device and could hide from other ships, the Enterprise does not, so they would always be visible.
While this episode is not as original as many of the others in the series, it makes up for it in the quality of the performances. Both Kirk and the Romulan commander know what must be done, are in command, yet freely express their doubts. When the battle comes, neither hesitates and Kirk proves to have the superior tactical skill. The reality of war is also brought home by the only battle death on the Enterprise. At the beginning of the episode, Kirk is about to perform a wedding ceremony, and it is interrupted by the call to war. The episode ends with Kirk comforting the woman who was to have been the bride.

"He's a sorcerer that one!"
Following the order that the original series episodes were initially broadcast on television this was the first encounter with a known enemy of the Federation. Since embarking on their five year exploratory mission the crew of the Enterprise has found the majestic expanse of space to be something less than sensorily austere. It seems that trouble has no difficulty in locating the ship and putting its brave and bold crew 'to the test'. The trouble, of course, has so far always come in the form of alien contact - be it life forms, spores of unknown origin, technology, etc. This episode set aside the theme of exploration and involved the crew in an event they are more intimately acquainted with but which is just as deadly - common warfare.

As the episode opens Captain Kirk is about to perform a wedding ceremony, reminding those gathered of what a special privilege it is for ship's captains. A red alert broadcast over the intercom sends everyone scrambling back to their duty stations. A series of earth outposts constructed along 'The Neutral Zone' has not been heard from save one of them who reports they are under attack. Further communication with Outpost 4 reveals that two of the outposts have been completely destroyed and that they are under attack themselves. The Enterprise, out of range and unable to help the outpost, observes the last phase of the attack on their viewer seeing what is described as a type of plasma weapon. Afterwards the enemy vessel completely disappears from view while still onscreen - a cloaking device opines Spock. Also the markings seen on the vessel undoubtedly confirm it is a Romulan warship, a fact volunteered by the ship's navigator Lt. Stiles. Stiles had lost several ancestors in a war with the Romulans a century before, and that conflict led to the establishment of 'The Neutral Zone' both sides not wanting further contact with the other. During that war no one had seen what a Romulan looked like since there was no facial confrontation so they remain a bit of a mystery. Through the magic of technology Spock is able to pirate a view of the enemy ship's bridge and the Romulans look strikingly similar to Vulcans - a fact that has Lt. Stiles behaving like a bigot as the episode progresses. The two ships play out their cat-and-mouse game with each ship overcoming damage and losses and each ship's captain outguessing the other until the 'point of no return' is passed.

I don't know if the creative staff planned it this way but having the moment of the wedding destroyed and simultaneously putting the crew into a war situation, shatters their romantic illusions of space travel. When Sulu interrupts the wedding with a red alert that has everyone reporting back to their duty stations and to prepare for possible battle it ruins the idyllic moment of the ceremony. Up until this moment of the series the Enterprise had been engaged on an exploration mission, which we have seen presented onscreen as a great adventure, not completely without dangers but still, a sort of romantic illusion to the potential dangers that they may actually be encountering has been the underlying thought process. Now a long silent enemy has come out of dormancy with a vengeance and changed the way they see the universe - a kind of 'wakeup call' in a way.

There are many great moments in 'Balance Of Terror' and most of them have been recounted in the other reviews. The Romulans show themselves to be shrewd and cunning warriors, an enemy that will become a thorn in the side of the Federation for years to come. All of the actors portraying them give credible and exemplary performances. The characterizations of the Enterprise crew are quite exceptional too; never for a moment did the show lag, the fear and apprehension a ship's crew would experience is played out intensely. It's not a wonder this is a fan favorite.

Some final notes: If I had one complaint about this episode it was the use of the 'silent running' technique which is utilized by submarines. Every schoolboy knows that sound doesn't travel in a vacuum - and that's exactly what outer space is, a vacuum. Also, I don't know if anyone else noticed but after just finishing watching this show I couldn't help but observe that every time the Enterprise fires it's lasers a clip of the ship firing photon torpedoes is used. Realizing that this was an episode that was produced fairly early in sequence it is understandable (and forgivable) that such an oversight occurred. Additionally, having the bulk of the Romulans wearing helmets in this episode must have helped out with the budget quite a bit - a clever way to avoid creating multiple pointed-ear applications!