Balance of Terror by: Paul Schneider and directed by: Vincent McEveety

 

“Balance of Terror” is written by Paul Schneider and is directed by Vincent McEveety.  It was filmed under production code 9, was the 14^th episode of Star Trek Season 1, and was broadcast on December 15, 1966.

 

It is always important when engaging with any piece of media to pay attention to the time period in which it was made as that will always inform how it is presented and the context in which it was made.  “Balance of Terror” is perhaps the perfect episode of Star Trek because of this: Paul Schneider provides a tense, one hour thriller set on the Enterprise exploring the worldbuilding of Star Trek’s universe.  A century before the show the human race had begun their expansion into the galaxy, coming across the Romulan empire and through subsequent wars, peace only came with the establishment of a Neutral Zone and a line of human Federation outposts guarding one side.  At the beginning of “Balance of Terror” there hasn’t been any contact with the Romulan empire, humans have forgotten what they look like and the Enterprise has been called in when the outposts start going dark.  A Romulan ship has breached the Neutral Zone, destroying several of the outposts in an attempt to bait the Enterprise into breaking the treaty to begin a war.  The Cold War becoming hot was always a possibility and Star Trek was put into production only three years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, and a decade after Joseph McCarthy’s New Red Scare.

 

“Balance of Terror” includes a cold open with two crew members attempting to be married before the Enterprise comes under fire and the tension of the episode begins.  While it isn’t a long scene and these two characters are single episode characters, it does go a long way to show a sense of normalcy for the ship in a story where the danger comes not from exploration, but from an unprovoked source.  Reflecting the Cold War scenario, the conflict between the Enterprise and the Romulan Bird of Prey is a battle of the minds.  The first act of the episode doesn’t give us a view of the Romulans, just the destruction of one of the outposts and the death of a survivor to make the viewer completely on the side of the Romulans.  There are hints that a spy on the Enterprise may have given them information about their weapons, and when it is revealed that the Romulans as a species are clearly related to the Vulcans, it is Spock who is believed to be the informant.  A lesser script would have an actual informant, but Schneider errs on the side of being unfounded paranoia, we have already spent nearly half a season with Spock and know that he would not put the crew in danger.  There is this underlying bigotry from Stiles, one of the navigators of the episode who lost family in the previous conflict, and the way the episode is directed at points makes the viewer question, if only for a moment, if there isn’t a point that Stiles is making.  There is a moment where the Enterprise powers down and circuits have broken that Spock is fixing and the tension as he accidentally turns on the power, revealing their position to the Romulans, briefly, but enough for them to attack.  The second half of the episode is dominated by two performances, William Shatner as Kirk and Mark Lenard as the Romulan Commander.  The exploration of the Romulans as warlike intentionally juxtapose the peaceful Federation and the Commander and Kirk, while not sharing the screen for the majority of the episode, create this intense relationship as one attempts to outthink the other.  Lenard’s final monologue in particular casts this reflective mirror to who Kirk is as a person, he’s the one making the decisions without the approval of those above him as a signal sent had not been replied to until the very end of the episode.

 

Overall, “Balance of Terror” is the second example of what Star Trek can really do when it is at its best, providing a harrowing thriller whose one casualty may just be there to have a death that punctuates the fact that people get hurt.  It’s an episode of suspicion and barely making it out without a scratch and holding up a mirror to Star Trek’s lead to show that Kirk can go to some very dark and interesting places.  10/10.