1.09: The Balance of Terror. - Science Fiction Fantasy Chronicles: forums

Dave · 13th February 2002, 02:28 PM

The Enterprise engages in a deadly game of cat and mouse with a Romulan spaceship.

This episode marks the first appearence of the Romulans. Although 'Earth' is said to have fought a Romulan War prior to the establishment of the Federation, the Romulans have never been seen before. I have no idea what was wrong with their viewscreens, and I also suspect that 'Enterprise' will retrospectively alter this. Not introducing the Romulans before the end of the series will be too hard for them.

One of the few epiosdes to deal straightforwardly with prejudice -- Spock looks suspiciously like a Romulan, you see! Even Spock himself raises his eyebrows in amazement -- or is that because his father is the Captain of the Romulan ship?

Kirk's monologue at the wedding at the start of the episode is re-used as part fo Miles and Keeiko O'Brien's wedding in 'Data's Day' TNG.

The dramatic sequences are inspired by the submarine warfare movies Run Silent, Run Deep and The Enemy Below. The Enterprise is the surface ship, the cloaked Romulan vessel is the 'invisible' submarine, complete with a 'periscope' like device and cramped quarters. When they all play dead in space, they even whisper -- don't they know that "in space no one can here you scream!"

Every time Kirk orders them to fire phasers, they fire photon torpedoes!

At the beginning of the episode they say it would take Starfleet Command 3 weeks to send word. They must chase the Romulans around along time, because at the end Rand comes in and says they have responded.

I, Brian · 25th January 2005, 09:19 AM

Ah - here it is - the template for future greatness.

It begins with a wedding, then a warning of trouble near the Neutral Zone...

It has Kirk having to pit his wits against the captain of a well-armed enemy vessel...

They use a comet's tail - where the instrument readings won't function properly - to hide their movements...

The Enterprise is badly damaged by sneak attack...

There are plenty of elements in the template here that were later used for Wrath of Khan and Nemesis, and it was great watching them unfold. This is classic Star Trek as I remembered it as a kid, which I always saw as a series about ship-to-ship combat, with a few annoying other episodes thrown in. Maybe it was the first one I ever watched?

What was great was the immediate use of the relationship between Romulans and Vulcans as genetically apparent, with some nice bigotry kicked back on Spock for it.

A great and classic episode overall - go Kirk.

Princess Ivy · 25th January 2005, 02:22 PM

and then completely disregarded in the Enterprise series when they met the romulans by view screen, before kirk did!

I, Brian · 27th January 2005, 08:24 AM

Star Trek and plot continuity never went well together - sounds like just plain poor quality control, though.

The Master™ · 27th January 2005, 09:44 AM

Ah, but there are some changes to the time-line... And reports might have been lost in the various changes to Star Fleet over the centuries...

All the Terra-quads of information from the various Star Fleet vessels, there are bound to be filing problems... And some malicious hacker might wipe out some information at random...

Just a thought...

I, Brian · 27th January 2005, 09:51 AM

Excuses, more like.

The Master™ · 27th January 2005, 09:54 AM

I use those excuses in my everyday life!!!

Princess Ivy · 27th January 2005, 11:12 AM

but those excuses have sounded the death knell on enterprise

The Master™ · 27th January 2005, 11:32 AM

It didn't help with the Borg appearing on earth, either!!!

They should have realised that using a prequel stops you using a lot of popular things from the future..

But I always enjoyed the Andorians... Even though they should have been at least 6' tall!!!

Princess Ivy · 27th January 2005, 11:36 AM

hehe
I've been told by so many enterprise fans (ok, the only two that i know) that that all ties up nicely in the end. meh. buggering up the continutiy is still buggering up the continuity! and anyone with half a brain can see it
(which is probably why they tried it on the trekkies *ducks and runs for cover*)

The Master™ · 27th January 2005, 12:28 PM

As an idea, Enterprise was a good idea... The concept was fine... It was the end product that went pear-shaped...

And it might have been nice if the ship was a Dadelus class ship - with the big bulbous front end... Not all this aerodynamic crap in space!!!

Princess Ivy · 27th January 2005, 12:38 PM

it would have been accepted if they had not tried so hard to 'fit in' with other current serries. i mean the changes in special effects and 'progress' (eg the borg in tng as opposed to voyager were so primitive and in the fantastic effects in the movies as opposed to them running from one side of the bridge to the other in tos) were just accepted and appreciated as changes of the times. Also, i just found the goody two shoes enlightened attitude of the crew terribly sickening!

The Master™ · 27th January 2005, 12:55 PM

The borg were like those from First Contact - because of the borg going back in time...

I've always found Star Trek, on the whole, to be all goody-goody... Except for people like Mr Soota (Brad Dourf) in Voyager, the homocidal maniac...

It is nice to have a few dark characters, out for themselves, or with dirty dark secrets...

Princess Ivy · 27th January 2005, 01:01 PM

Oh come on. kirk was not a goody goody. and lets not even get into the whole sexist question regarding trek. *choughO'hourachough*.

I, Brian · 28th January 2005, 10:06 AM

Possibly the problem is that they saw Enterprise as a marketing enterprise for generating profit, rather than an actual set of sff stories to tie into the existing successes.

I'm pretty aware that marketing realities make it an especial concern, but the sad fact was the products were becoming more and more second-rate, and they simply ended up blowing off their main fanbase.

13th February 2002, 02:28 PM	#1 (permalink)
Dave Wherever I Am, I'm There Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Greater London Posts: 11,422	1.09: The Balance of Terror. The Enterprise engages in a deadly game of cat and mouse with a Romulan spaceship. This episode marks the first appearence of the Romulans. Although 'Earth' is said to have fought a Romulan War prior to the establishment of the Federation, the Romulans have never been seen before. I have no idea what was wrong with their viewscreens, and I also suspect that 'Enterprise' will retrospectively alter this. Not introducing the Romulans before the end of the series will be too hard for them. One of the few epiosdes to deal straightforwardly with prejudice -- Spock looks suspiciously like a Romulan, you see! Even Spock himself raises his eyebrows in amazement -- or is that because his father is the Captain of the Romulan ship? Kirk's monologue at the wedding at the start of the episode is re-used as part fo Miles and Keeiko O'Brien's wedding in 'Data's Day' TNG. The dramatic sequences are inspired by the submarine warfare movies Run Silent, Run Deep and The Enemy Below. The Enterprise is the surface ship, the cloaked Romulan vessel is the 'invisible' submarine, complete with a 'periscope' like device and cramped quarters. When they all play dead in space, they even whisper -- don't they know that "in space no one can here you scream!" Every time Kirk orders them to fire phasers, they fire photon torpedoes! At the beginning of the episode they say it would take Starfleet Command 3 weeks to send word. They must chase the Romulans around along time, because at the end Rand comes in and says they have responded.

25th January 2005, 09:19 AM	#2 (permalink)
I, Brian Admin and Tea-boy Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: UK: SCOTLAND: Posts: 5,354	Balance of Terror Ah - here it is - the template for future greatness. It begins with a wedding, then a warning of trouble near the Neutral Zone... It has Kirk having to pit his wits against the captain of a well-armed enemy vessel... They use a comet's tail - where the instrument readings won't function properly - to hide their movements... The Enterprise is badly damaged by sneak attack... There are plenty of elements in the template here that were later used for Wrath of Khan and Nemesis, and it was great watching them unfold. This is classic Star Trek as I remembered it as a kid, which I always saw as a series about ship-to-ship combat, with a few annoying other episodes thrown in. Maybe it was the first one I ever watched? What was great was the immediate use of the relationship between Romulans and Vulcans as genetically apparent, with some nice bigotry kicked back on Spock for it. A great and classic episode overall - go Kirk.

25th January 2005, 02:22 PM	#3 (permalink)
Princess Ivy Damsel in this dress Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 2,763	Re: Balance of Terror and then completely disregarded in the Enterprise series when they met the romulans by view screen, before kirk did!

27th January 2005, 08:24 AM	#4 (permalink)
I, Brian Admin and Tea-boy Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: UK: SCOTLAND: Posts: 5,354	Re: Balance of Terror Star Trek and plot continuity never went well together - sounds like just plain poor quality control, though.

27th January 2005, 09:44 AM	#5 (permalink)
The Master™ Right hand of Vengence!!! Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 1,753	Re: Balance of Terror Ah, but there are some changes to the time-line... And reports might have been lost in the various changes to Star Fleet over the centuries... All the Terra-quads of information from the various Star Fleet vessels, there are bound to be filing problems... And some malicious hacker might wipe out some information at random... Just a thought...

27th January 2005, 09:51 AM	#6 (permalink)
I, Brian Admin and Tea-boy Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: UK: SCOTLAND: Posts: 5,354	Re: Balance of Terror Excuses, more like.

27th January 2005, 09:54 AM	#7 (permalink)
The Master™ Right hand of Vengence!!! Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 1,753	Re: Balance of Terror I use those excuses in my everyday life!!!

27th January 2005, 11:12 AM	#8 (permalink)
Princess Ivy Damsel in this dress Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 2,763	Re: Balance of Terror but those excuses have sounded the death knell on enterprise

27th January 2005, 11:32 AM	#9 (permalink)
The Master™ Right hand of Vengence!!! Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 1,753	Re: Balance of Terror It didn't help with the Borg appearing on earth, either!!! They should have realised that using a prequel stops you using a lot of popular things from the future.. But I always enjoyed the Andorians... Even though they should have been at least 6' tall!!!

27th January 2005, 11:36 AM	#10 (permalink)
Princess Ivy Damsel in this dress Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 2,763	Re: Balance of Terror hehe I've been told by so many enterprise fans (ok, the only two that i know) that that all ties up nicely in the end. meh. buggering up the continutiy is still buggering up the continuity! and anyone with half a brain can see it (which is probably why they tried it on the trekkies ducks and runs for cover)

27th January 2005, 12:28 PM	#11 (permalink)
The Master™ Right hand of Vengence!!! Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 1,753	Re: Balance of Terror As an idea, Enterprise was a good idea... The concept was fine... It was the end product that went pear-shaped... And it might have been nice if the ship was a Dadelus class ship - with the big bulbous front end... Not all this aerodynamic crap in space!!!

27th January 2005, 12:38 PM	#12 (permalink)
Princess Ivy Damsel in this dress Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 2,763	Re: Balance of Terror it would have been accepted if they had not tried so hard to 'fit in' with other current serries. i mean the changes in special effects and 'progress' (eg the borg in tng as opposed to voyager were so primitive and in the fantastic effects in the movies as opposed to them running from one side of the bridge to the other in tos) were just accepted and appreciated as changes of the times. Also, i just found the goody two shoes enlightened attitude of the crew terribly sickening!

27th January 2005, 12:55 PM	#13 (permalink)
The Master™ Right hand of Vengence!!! Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 1,753	Re: Balance of Terror The borg were like those from First Contact - because of the borg going back in time... I've always found Star Trek, on the whole, to be all goody-goody... Except for people like Mr Soota (Brad Dourf) in Voyager, the homocidal maniac... It is nice to have a few dark characters, out for themselves, or with dirty dark secrets...

27th January 2005, 01:01 PM	#14 (permalink)
Princess Ivy Damsel in this dress Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 2,763	Re: Balance of Terror Oh come on. kirk was not a goody goody. and lets not even get into the whole sexist question regarding trek. choughO'hourachough.

28th January 2005, 10:06 AM	#15 (permalink)
I, Brian Admin and Tea-boy Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: UK: SCOTLAND: Posts: 5,354	Re: Balance of Terror Possibly the problem is that they saw Enterprise as a marketing enterprise for generating profit, rather than an actual set of sff stories to tie into the existing successes. I'm pretty aware that marketing realities make it an especial concern, but the sad fact was the products were becoming more and more second-rate, and they simply ended up blowing off their main fanbase.