There’s even religion, as Kirk officiates over an almost-wedding in the ship’s chapel. To celebrate the release of Star Trek: Into Darkness this month, we’ll be running through the first season of the classic Star Trek all this month. It is rendered all the more ugly for the fact that Stiles channels his hatred towards Spock, already an iconic part of the series. (Picard’s Enterprise-D was definitely and repeatedly identified as the flagship. A brief shot of a star chart demonstrates that the Neutral Zone isn’t just a circular cordon around these two planets, hemming them in. It's a fictional account of Franklin's lost expedition, in which 129 officers and men set off in 1845 to find the "Northwest Passage" to the Pacific Ocean through the Canadian Arctic, and were never seen again. Modern technology might have made it a bit easier to showcase ship-to-ship warfare, and give us some nice cloaking effects for the Bird of Prey. They are both anonymous to each other. I just thought it was quite telling that my immediate reaction to the Star Trek continuity reboot was to evaluate it in terms of this episode. There are a few contrivances that are necessary to get the plot to work properly. Despite introducing another galactic power to rival what would be established as the Federation, Balance of Terror subscribes to the idea that space is a barren wilderness just as much as Mudd’s Women or Charlie X. Gene Roddenberry famously pitched the show as a western… in space, but the truth is the show did all manner of classic adventure genres with a science-fiction twist. “I have lived my life by it. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. It’s an interesting idea that Balance of Terror touches upon, and one that probably felt quite timely in 1966, and still feels relevant today. I’ll admit that my one real problem with the reboot of Star Trek in 2009 was the fact that Balance of Terror could never really happen in anything resembling the same way. That last part is especially interesting. Half way through the episode, he seeks to send a message to his commanders. Appropriately enough, given its status, Balance of Terror was the first Star Trek episode to be remastered. Both ships are the “flagship” of their respective power. There’s a lovely line, as Kirk reads his scripts, stating that the ceremony is held “in accordance with our laws and our many beliefs.” It’s a nice touch, acknowledging that even if you don’t belief in any religion – and even if the organisation is largely secular – it can acknowledge and respect religious beliefs. Here, for instance, we witness that racism and xenophobia are not entirely divorced from the human condition. ( Log Out /  He must. It’s the first real indication the audience has been given that the Star Trek universe has its own massive and complex history, and that Star Trek is more than just an adventure show, but an exploration of a well-defined and complex world. Most standard SF forces tend to follow the same lines as real world armies. However, Balance of Terror is the first episode to suggest outer space might be more than the place where crazy stuff happens and our heroes bump into monsters or ancient civilisations. In fact, this series created so many new tropes that it has left an unmistakable mark on both television and pop culture ever since. “Must it always be so? I don’t think Enterprise was ever treated as being any different from all the other Constitution class ships except by our main characters for obvious personal reasons. Billie Lurk has achieved the impossible: the Outsider has fallen. Aaron McGruder's newspaper strip, involving two African-American brothers (the politically minded Huey and wanna-be street thug Riley Freeman), who move from inner-city Chicago to live in the fictional suburb of Woodcrest, with their cranky grandfather, Robert. “How pleasing to the eye it is,” he poetically observes. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! The Terror is a ten-part TV miniseries by AMC, based on the best-selling novel by Dan Simmons. This character sheet includes the major characters in the Dawn of War franchise.. Notice: Being one of the series in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, some of the tropes related to their own races will also apply to them. The Romulan commander jettisons a dead body to make it look like his ship's been destroyed, similar to the trick used in, The Romulans, in this episode at least, were, The Romulan commander chews out and demotes Decius for violating, The Commander quickly recognizes Kirk as one: "He is a sorcerer, that one. Balance of Terror was broadcast in 1966, another two decades following the end of that conflict, with the spectre of nuclear annihilation looming in the background and perhaps afraid that another major world conflict might be awaiting a generation too young to have lived through the Second World War. It was alluded to in The Corbomite Manoeuvre, with Bailey’s reaction to Balok. There are any number of nice moments and touches, like the commander’s appraisal of a comet the ship passes on the way home. It’s a gem of an episode, and one that demonstrates that Roddenberry’s ideals work best when put under pressure. Similarly, it dis just as lucky that Uhura can hack into the Romulan ship’s bridge in time to give us a suspenseful reveal of the fact that these Romulans have… pointed ears! Most science-fiction tends to under-estimate the sheer vastness of space, to assume that objects in the void must be reasonably close together, even with the ability to travel faster than the speed of light. Fascinating! Papa Wolf: Hurting his people causes him much Angst. “Vulcan, like Earth, had its aggressive colonising period. Our gift to the homeland, another war.”, There’s a sense of fatigue and exhaustion in the commander’s voice, the bitterness of a man who sees through the empty patriotism and viscious nationalism. Paul Schneider’s script is really solid & nuanced. The reverend Steven Merchant is the newly appointed rector at the Old Stone Loaves and Fishes Full Gospel Fellowship Church in a run-down industrial town in the backwoods of Pennsylvania. ( Log Out /  While it's understandable Earth would have founded them after the Earth-Romulan War and before the founding of the Federation, it's weird to still refer to them that way when Starfleet has long since assumed the defense of Earth and the Neutral Zone. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. In episodes like The Trouble With Tribbles, Private Little War, and Friday’s Child, the Klingons would try to subtly undermine the Federation’s influence through subterfuge and covert actions – a far cry from the honourable aliens established in Heart of Glory. So it’s very revealing to watch an episode like “Balance of Terror” and see such a low-key, subdued, thoughtful performance from him. Balance of Terror recognises that the ideals of Star Trek aren’t affirmed if they are rendered part of an inviolable status quo. It’s perhaps quite telling that the average age of those killed in Vietnam and during the Second World War was in the mid-to-low twenties. The fact that the cast of The Next Generation are essentially perfect human beings might make them fascinating thought experiments, but it doesn’t make them compelling protagonists. The Cage and Charlie X gave us old and immeasurably powerful alien civilisations, while Where No Man Has Gone Before gave us a god-like being. Also when Stiles notices the leaking coolant in the phaser control room. A page for describing Laconic: Star Trek S1 E14 "Balance of Terror". As Kirk advises Stiles when he talks of a century-old conflict, “Their war, Mister Stiles. John Michael Curlovich's novella "A Holy Time for All the Dead" leads off the intriguing new queer horror anthology, "Triptych of Terror". In this case, Stiles finds himself fighting to overcome his own generational prejudices – scars left by ancient wars and old grudges. The presence of Spock on the bridge suggests that we have made friends with the Vulcans, but it’s clear that they aren’t the only alien species we have encountered on our path to the stars. as pointed out by the wonderful Ronald D. Moore, Ted Harrison recently made about Remembrance Day in Great Britain, the average age of those killed in Vietnam and during the Second World War was in the mid-to-low twenties, Star Trek – My Enemy, My Ally by Diane Duane (Review), https://christopherjohnlindsay.wordpress.com/2017/04/29/star-trek-balance-of-terror/, New Escapist Column! Despite the presence of the Romulans, there’s a sense that there’s little else of note in this entire region of space. The early episodes of Star Trek were a bit of a mess. The USS Enterprise is on duty near the Romulan Zone border, and things are calm enough … Tropes Media Browse Indexes Forums Videos As Uhura attempts to interpret the Romulan signals, Stiles sarcastically suggests giving the job to Spock. ( Log Out /  On “Dune” and “Flash Gordon” as Biblical Epics for the Eighties…. The Stargate Verse franchise. And more anger. Nice to know Starfleet doesn't micromanage. Writer Paul Schneider has confessed that Balance of Terror is an adaptation of the classic submarine war film The Enemy Below. Kirk and the anonymous enemy commander are evenly matched because they can read and understand each other. Like the Enterprise crew, viewers got their first look at the Romulans in this tale as Kirk engages the enemy commander in a cat-and-mouse game of wits. It is worth noting that the first major space-faring race encountered in Star Trek is immediately established as something of an evil twin to the Vulcans. On September 16, , "Balance of Terror" became the first digitally remastered Star Trek episode , featuring enhanced and new visual effects , computer generated CGI spaceships , and high definition format. If only their phasers had been operational at the time. The First World War ended on the 11th of November 1918, with the Treaty of Versailles signed in June 1919. The Romulan Commander also gets one. And yet Balance of Terror is not too different from the episodes surrounding it. Worry not. They can barely make it into range of real-time conversation before the outpost is destroyed. However, it’s more than just the allusions to a vintage war story that make it clear Balance of Terror is set in a cold and remote universe. Last night I watched “Balance of Terror” for the first time in well over a decade. As the commander acknowledges at the end of the episode, “You and I are of a kind.” It’s interesting to note that while Kirk (and the audience) never learn the Romulan’s name, the Romulan also never learns Kirk’s name – even during that final face-to-face communication. The Dark Nebula Empire has these in the Uchuu Senkan Yamato spin-off film Be Forever Yamato; Space Runaway Ideon; The Olmecs' three-legged flying machine in The Mysterious Cities of Gold, which is also capable of walking. He is just following his orders and obeying command directives like a good soldier. Balance of Terror is a major step in that direction, establishing an alien race that appears to be roughly at the same stage of development as Earth, and one that seems at a comparable level of power. Typically those soldiers serving in combat would not be young enough to remember the horror of warfare. Unfortunately, around 1997, the dreaded 1965 TV fanfare was rerecorded and became the standard jingle for the CGI 20th Century-Fox Television logo. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Kirk orders him to keep his bigotry to himself. Stiles’ anger isn’t directed at some external tormentor. The guy is sympathetic despite the ship’s unprovoked attacks on Federation outposts. After all, most god-like beings on Star Trek tend to evil, petulant or strangely disconnected from what goes on around them. The episode was directed by Vincent McEveety and written by Paul Schneider. It’s only logical. It’s actually getting a bit more specific, rolling up our sleeves and actually transcending them right now. Balance of Terror is interesting and clever enough that these plot points don’t distract or impede too much – proof of what the show can get away with if it has enough good ideas to keep a script moving forward through those sorts of problems. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. "Balance of Terror" is the fourteenth episode of season one of the American science fiction adventure TV series Star Trek. As I’ve noted before, Roddenberry was an avowed athiest. Mudd’s Women gave us awkward gender politics. To borrow a quote from another spin-off, “it easy to be a saint in paradise.” The true beauty of the Star Trek ideals in watching our leads struggle to reconcile them and fight to uphold them. His distaste for organised religion is quite clear even in the original series. Don’t forget it.”. “No need to tell you what happens when we reach home with proof of the Earthmen’s weakness,” he remarks to his trusted colleague. They represent the best of our potential at this point in the show’s history – more of a fuzzy ideal than a developed culture in their own right. On my responsibility, we are proceeding into the Neutral Zone.” He only receives a response to his message at the end of the episode, after the threat has passed. It is this decision that ultimately dooms the ship. If the Vulcans are the best in us, the Romulans represent perhaps the worst. The anime began airing on Fuji TV's Noitamina block on July 10, 2014, and its final episode aired on September 25, 2014. This caused many people (including the writers of the. Augustin's In Enemy Hands quite some time ago, and never forgot the characters of Srin and Moon. Even this early in the show, Spock has already demonstrated that the Vulcans represent a lot of the ideals that Roddenberry strove to integrate into the show. Change ). Great quote: ” If the Vulcans are the best in us, the Romulans represent perhaps the worst.”, I wrote a short essay (450 words) on Balance of Terror called “The Doctrine of Proportional Response.” If you would like to read it, I am open to any feedback: https://christopherjohnlindsay.wordpress.com/2017/04/29/star-trek-balance-of-terror/. “Lieutenant Uhura, inform Command base, In my opinion, no option. When compared to the work done on The Corbomite Manoeuvre, for example, the differences between the original episode and the remastered release aren’t anywhere near as clear or as striking. How many comrades have we lost in this way?” The commander’s cynicism and grounded realism is contrasted with the aggression of his younger officer, Decius, clearly excited by this “glorious mission.”. Compositions of armies vary depending on the technology level and setting. ", The bulk of the episode is essentially the lethal chess game between Kirk and the Commander, each anticipating the other's strategies as soon as (and sometimes. Balance of Terror is only the ninth ever episode of Star Trek ever produced, but it stands as one of the finest entries in the original series, and perhaps even the franchise. And if Romulans retain this martial philosophy, then weakness is something we dare not show.”. Themes of Balance of Terror borrows from another classic genre, essentially allowing Star Trek, becoming a more. Can return the product of a century-old conflict, “ their war, Captain, ” he informs the.. 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