IN MY TOP TEN: Balance of Terror

What it’s mainly about

A waste of brainpower

The Romulan commander and crewman strategize about defeating the Enterprise.

A game of hide-and-seek, or cat-and-mouse, between the Enterprise and the Bird of Prey, the Romulan flagship. Which commander will out-guess the other? The suspense is great, but so are the glimpses we get into the type of societies that each starship represents.

Why it’s awesome

Our first sighting of the Romulans is so intriguing: they are warlike yet strictly hierarchical, and they bear an uncanny resemblance to… Vulcans. The question arises, as in so much suspense narrative, of who one can trust, and on what basis… One crewman believes Spock to be disloyal on the basis of an accident, and because his distant ancestry is shared with the Romulans. But life does evolve, civilizations can change, and Spock’s devotion… well, you’ll have to watch the episode.

IN MY TOP TEN: The Enterprise Incident

What it’s mainly about

This is a spy caper with a focus on psychology: wherever there is espionage, there’s a question of who and what to trust. Does the foxy Romulan commander truly know what she thinks she knows about Spock as a Vulcan? Can she be right about some things and wrong about others? How can Spock cope with the fact that Romulans, sharing a distant ancestry with Vulcans, have an advantage in dealing with them as adversaries?

As for Kirk, what is the line between audacious leadership and reckless daring? Has he crossed that line, and how would his crew be sure about it, one way or another?

Why it’s awesome

In the first place, The Enterprise Incident is a showcase of excellent acting. Shatner and Nimoy do their thing, utterly convincing us at every moment; but Joanne Linville is both slinky and formidable as the commander of a Romulan starship.

A note on fashion: Instead of dressing in weird and wonderful ways, or sporting a strange hairdo, Linville’s outfits are the sort you’d want any good excuse to wear, even in the 21st century. Then there are the sets: Star Trek never looked better.

Third, the action really moves along, a riveting mix of mystery (what’s going on?) and suspense (given what we do know, what will happen when the truth is found out?).

Finally, the Key Three of Star Trek, McCoy, Spock and Kirk, are all present and important in this episode. It’s a stellar start to the Third Season (appearing as the second episode), and a great number in the whole Star Trek oeuvre, as well.