'Star Trek' broke many barriers for its day. It was a science-fiction series that wasn't soaked in horror, a show that was intelligently and dramatically written, a vehicle for allegory and social progressiveness, and a beautiful opportunity to reimplement, rewrite and generally rip off ('pay homage to') any good movie or story that could be shifted into the Trek universe. 'Balance of Terror' (BOT) is a brilliant example of that last principle, being a grand reworking of the 1957 film 'The Enemy Below', albeit one with a different ending.
BOT doesn't just reimplement that classic war movie, though, for it also introduces the first enemy empire that was the Romulans, Mark Lenard as the opposing commander, who would later return as Spock's dad Sark, and Kirk's vulnerability and doubts. James T Kirk becomes just that bit more nuanced in 'Balance Of Terror', and we see for one of the first times just how good a commander he is. (For an earlier example of Kirk's gutsiness, see the excellent 'The Corbomite Maneuver'!) Really, though, BOT is a classical example of a series repurposing a pre-existing story and making it its own. It was a fairly common practice of the time, but often not done well. For example, 'Maverick', despite it's many great episodes, had numerous examples of repurposed stories where Bart or Brett were shoehorned in the most ungainly and unsatisfying ways. 'Star Trek' never committed that error, although it did later feature some similar character humour to that classic Western.
What's good about BOT? Firstly, it realises that spaceships would function much more like submarines than battleships. Secondly, there is a large amount of character work on both sides of the starship/submarine duel. Thirdly, it does not demonise the Romulans , and presents a complex political situation in their political sphere. Fourthly, it produces some truly dramatic tension and a great speech from McCoy. Finally, it's technically brilliant, with some great practical effects and the introduction of a new starship. The McCoy speech is one of the great steps towards his becoming a regular in the second season.
The only disadvantage of BOT is that it was made before the introduction of Gene Coon as the second executive producer, so it lacks the humour that would really cause 'Star Trek' to pop out from the other shows in its genre, but which wouldn't fit for this kind of story anyway. Overall, it's one of the classic episodes, and one of the very best. Romulans, Mark Lenard, the only wedding in the original series, and a great McCoy speech. Go forth and watch.
O.
Note: All references should be considered in terms of production order, not air order, except for the episode number '1x14'.
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