The JRS 'classic Trek' commentary/snark/review thread

[JRS]

As I noted in one of the Star Trek: Discovery threads on here, I've been KonMari-ing my TV series viewing and one of the casualties was indeed STD. It never brought me joy (false dawn of the "An Obol For Charon" A-plot aside) and even the snarking about it was getting to feel like work.

I'm still watching Picard, though even with that the running commentaries that I've been posting started to feel a bit too much like I was doing them for the sake of doing them. I'll probably go back through Picard at the close of Season 2 and pick up doing them again, since a second viewing always helps for spotting stuff to moan about But in the meantime, I figured why not go back to Trek that I've watched a lot of and praise it/poke fun at it/*Spock eyebrow* at it/get under the bonnet of it.

And if I'm gonna do that, then why not start where it all began? Especially with Strange New Worlds coming along soon.

Ladies, gentlemen and other folk...

Star Trek - "The Cage" (first pilot)

Commentary

1) Quick word before I hit 'play'. The version I'm watching is the remastered one CBS put out when they refreshed TOS. So the VFX shots aren't the originals. I do have pretty vivid memories of the original shots, however. And the team that did TOS Remastered were pretty sparing in their reworking of stuff.
2) The Courage fanfare...
3) This is something I miss in modern Trek. An intro with a ship belting across the screen to a memorable piece of music.
4) Love this shot, pushing in on the bridge from outside. Loved it in the original version as well (originally it was done in stop motion, and was a bloody difficult shot to do back in '64...). Does amuse me that you can see the bridge interior doesn't line up with the exterior though - the turbolift is offset to the aft-port side on the bridge set for dramatic/filming purposes, but is on the centreline of the ship on the outside!
5) "Check the circuit." Spock with the opening line of the series.
6) A very different Spock to the later portrayal. A bit louder, rather more emotional.
7) A very different bridge as well. More muted colours.
8) Crew getting a bit panicky about the screen interference.
9) Turns out it's a distress signal. Which Pike knew (might have wanted to let your people know that Chris, save them some worry). A ship crashed.
10) Spock bringing up info at his science station using gestures. Ver' futuristic for '64! Somewhat less futuristic is the guy handing Pike a paper printout from the computer
11) First mention of Class M in Trek, referring to planets capable of supporting life.
12) Pike not minded to go chasing potential ghosts. Bridge crew nonplussed. And a mention of the ship having its own "sick and wounded" to take care of. Clearly the Enterprise is not newly out in space here.
13) Damned silly shape for a corridor
14) And what's going on with that couple that Pike passes? They look like they're on their way to the beach!
15) Pike gone down to his quarters. Pretty spartan place. Later Treks will depict officers quarters having rather more personalisation. And the first use of the flip-open communicator in Trek - quite why he needed to use that when his quarters have a perfectly good comm system tie-in is beyond me
16) Doctor Boyce arrives. Series laying the groundwork here for the later Kirk-McCoy friendship.
17) Another not-so-futuristic touch - the clipboard Pike has his notes on.
18) I love this scene between these two. Jeffrey Hunter playing a Chris Pike who's very over the idea of leading men and women out into space to get hurt (or worse), pining for a quiet life back home on Earth. John Hoyt's Boyce able to provide wise counsel and a decent martini. Shatner's Kirk would later jettison most of the brooding nature of the captain here - it pops up from time to time, notably during "Balance of Terror" in that wonderful scene with him and De Kelley's McCoy as Kirk wrestles with the idea of risking interstellar war with the Romulans. But, in the main, it's relegated to the movies when Kirk is older.
19) Some exposition and backstory here, by the way.
20) And some great lines.
21) Spock cutting in on the comm system - there apparently are survivors from the crash on Talos.
22) Again with the paper printouts on the bridge
23) Pike with his 'action stations' look on his face.
24) Back when warp factors were called time warp factors.
25) And the first warp jump of the Starship Enterprise in Trek. Bit of theatre about it as well, with the Courage theme, the superimposed stars, Pike hovering over navigator José Tyler who glances back and holds fingers up to confirm them getting up to speed...
26) Ah, Laurel Goodwin as Yeoman Colt...
27) Amusing interplay between Pike and Number One
28) Arriving at Talos. Pike still being handed paper printouts
29) Getting a landing party together. And - heavens! - leaving a woman in charge of the ship. Progressive stuff for the mid '60s.
30) Landing party jackets won't be a thing again until the first movie. That guy's backpack with the aerial on it won't ever be a thing again
31) One of the transporter techs losing his glasses between shots
32) Bit of theatre about the beaming down as well. Needs two men on console, the room humming with the sound of the power being used for the systems.
33) A matte painting background, a bunch of fake-looking rocks...yep, it's Star Trek alright
34) Spock with a limp from the previous adventure Pike and Boyce were talking about (you can also see bandages and the like on other crew members, Tyler has his wrist bandaged for example). And then we see him smiling at the singing plants. Not something you could imagine Nimoy's later portrayal of the character doing.
35) The survivor camp.
36) "Captain Christopher Pike, United Space Ship Enterprise." The 'USS' would later change to become 'United Star Ship'.
37) Quick pause. Tyler here telling the survivors that 'the time barrier has been broken', implying that whatever drive system the Enterprise employs is a pretty recent invention (within the 18 years since the Columbia crashed on Talos). Obviously canon later established that humanity gained warp drive in the 2060s, this episode is set in 2254. I and others prefer to think that Tyler here is referring to a step change in warp drive performance - the NX-01 Enterprise was the first warp 5 ship in the 2150s, perhaps NCC-1701 and her sisters were the first to be able to achieve better than warp 7. On the original series scale that would be an increase in top speed from 125 times the speed of light to 343C, so definitely not something to be sneezed at.
38) Hoo boy. Vina, played by Susan Oliver. Praise be to Bill Theiss' costuming, and the 'Theiss Theory of Titillation' - take an essentially non-sexual part of the body (Susan Oliver's legs in this case) and show nearly all of it, combine with a costume that looks like it could fall away but never does
39) Aliens are watching
40) Pike still taken by Vina. Who wouldn't be?
41) Boyce figuring out that something weird is going on - the survivors are too healthy.
42) Pike firmly grabbing hold of the idiot ball here, going off alone with Vina to see the 'secret'.
43) Vina disappears (!). So does the survivor camp (!!). And the Talosians who were watching on-screen earlier stun Pike to cart him off (!!!).
44) Spock figuring out the obvious.
45) Pike waking up in a cell. Getting locked up without communicator or phaser would become a trope of the series.
46) Other creatures in other cells. Costumes that I believe were used in "The Outer Limits"!
47) Here come the Talosians again.
48) Pike claiming that the Enterprise comes from 'the other end of this galaxy'. Chalk it up to early instalment weirdness, given how far that would be.
49) Another trope - aliens having no respect for the intelligence of humans.
50) Badass boast from Pike - "there's a way out of any cage, and I'll find it".
51) Meanwhile on the ship - a briefing.
52) Boyce with a cautionary note regarding the mental power of the Talosians.
53) Spock using remarkably human expressions - 'buzzing around', etc.
54) Number One in charge, so she has to make the call. Again, progressive for the time.
55) Back on the planet, the Talosians about to test Pike with an illusion of Rigel VII (where he was two weeks ago).
56) Except now Vina's with him.
57) Exposition from her.
58) And a brutal fight with the warrior on the fake Rigel VII ends with Pike and Vina back in the cage.
59) A spot more exposition.
60) Pike musing on the puzzle. And you can see the gears turning as he thinks his way through the problem.
61) Another landing party, this time with a Big Gun™ - presumably one of the ship's own laser banks (yes, this was before phasers were a thing). Powered by some kind of microwave beam from the ship in orbit.
62) Boyce pointing out that they have no way of knowing if the weapon even worked on the door, such are the powers the Talosians have. Hell of a fix to be in.
63) Vina with more exposition in answer to Pike's questions. And some very intelligent dialogue.
64) Before the Talosians snatch Vina away to punish her for explaining things to Pike, who gets to stare moodily.
65) Pike still testing the cell walls.
66) The lead Talosian now actually talking to Pike rather than using telepathy.
67) A taste of their punishment.
68) Pike still figuring out the limits of the Talosians and their powers.
69) Nice.
70) Exposition and backstory from the Talosian, while Pike continues to probe.
71) Another illusion, this time of Earth.
72) Something Pike shares with Kirk, a fondness for horses.
73) Title drop. Both titles, in fact - the original, and what the episode became ("The Menagerie", with these events as a flashback).
74) Pike has figured out one limitation of the Talosian powers (can't read through negative emotions). Vina confirming it for him, but explaining the futility of it.
75) Scene shift. Now the illusion is something a bit more alien.
76) And Vina as an Orion slavegirl, green skin an' all
77) Another landing party attempt.
78) But only Number One and Yeoman Colt beam out. Followed by Spock exclaiming "The women!"...more early instalment weirdness
79) Number One and Colt materialise in Pike's cell, interrupting wherever the Orion illusion had gotten up to. Clearly hadn't gotten to the properly sexy part because Vina is upset
80) And she's definitely not happy about having any female competition for Pike.
81) Who has his plan pretty much figured out now - think violent thoughts to prevent the Talosians getting into his mind, and hope that one of them gets close enough when trying to retrieve the lasers that Number One and Colt brought with them.
82) Vina continues with the jealousy. Number One with the arithmetic on Vina's real age (a bit of foreshadowing).
83) The Talosian leader back, with some exposition that basically killed this version of Trek. I'll come back to why later.
84) Pike still trying to block them out, so gets punished. They might find that this has just reinforced his plan, of course.
85) Back on the Enterprise, and a mighty fine plan to escape dies a death when the Talosians produce the illusion that all the ship's systems are dead. Spot more weirdness with Spock referring to hyperdrive, rockets etc.
86) But here's the Talosians' first real slip-up, and now Pike has a hold of the leader.
87) Who resorts to threats about the safety of the ship.
88) Up on the Enterprise, the Talosians running the ship's records. Spock again with the very human speech patterns.
89) Pike has it all figured out.
90) Enterprise's laser did indeed blow through the door at 61). And took the top of the hill off.
91) Pike going with the noble thing - offering to stay on Talos if they'll release the ship and let Number One and Colt go. Number One of course has a better idea - blow them up with an overloading laser.
92) Now that's got the Talosian leader worried.
93) "The customs and history of your race show a unique hatred of captivity...even when it's pleasant and benevolent, you prefer death." Trek as social commentary.
94) A bit more social commentary.
95) And the removal of the Vina illusion. Not a young, healthy woman after all. An older, crippled one.
96) But she's going to get to retain her illusion. And an illusion of Pike to live with.
97) "She has an illusion and you have reality. May you find your way as pleasant." Great line.
98) Pike is back onboard.
99) Boyce collaring Pike as he arrives on the bridge, another bit reminiscent of Kirk-McCoy later.
100) Colt's question adding to 83).
101) Amusing bit though.
102) And the Enterprise flies on to the next adventure.

Thoughts

"The Cage", for me, is a fascinating 'what if?' story with Trek. What if the network had actually decided 'yeah, this is what we want to show'. It never could have been, of course, as I noted at 83). And I'll get to why in a bit.

The episode does a lot of things right. We begin after an off-screen adventure that injured seven and killed three of the Enterprise crew. We're presented a Captain Pike who is brooding over that mission, picking over his choices, wondering if he still wants the life of a starship captain. His doctor and friend urging him to continue because that's the life that he is made for. A mystery to solve, an adventure had and Pike is rejuvenated. It's a great story with some fantastic dialogue that's very well acted, IMO. Tight direction from Robert Butler. A superb score from Alexander Courage. Set design...well, the rocks down on Talos were never going to look very good But the Enterprise sets are excellent, the underground bits we see on Talos look alright, the glimpse of 23rd century Earth is fun. The visual effects...well, the remastered show certainly looks great. The original VFX and glimpses of the ship that The Howard Anderson Company produced must still have been something incredibly special at the time though. Especially the stop-motion shot that goes from the ship exterior flyby through the dome onto the bridge.

The Talosians are powerful without being truly omnipotent. Yes, their powers of illusion are formidable but they have their limits. They can't make you do something, but they can trick you into choosing to do it. They can read your mind, but strong negative emotions act as a block. Physically they are flesh and blood, like a human. They aren't invincible, which helps to make them interesting.

We're introduced to a crew that's been together long enough to develop a good working relationship and loyalty to one another. The aforementioned relationship between Pike and Dr Boyce. Tyler's anger at the kidnap of the captain and advocation of a rescue plan. The respect Pike has for his first officer Number One.

But...here's the problem that I alluded to at 83) and then 100). You have an episode that puts the captain in a situation like this with two female subordinates, and then outright states that both of them have fantasised about a relationship with him! What the hell d'you do in the next episode now that it's been established that the first officer wants to jump the captain's bones? And that his personal yeoman also has the hots for him? That's not a remotely sustainable situation.

Rather famously the network rejected "The Cage" as being 'too cerebral' for the audience of the time. Now, I firmly believe that they were doing the audience a disservice with that but I can't honestly say that it was a bad idea to do a second pilot with a (mostly) new cast. Star Trek gained more than it lost with that decision.

Still though. What if?

Plans

I'm not gonna do these for every episode of TOS. But I'll probably do a few more of my favourite episodes before I move on to ones from later Trek series.

 

[JRS]

Star Trek - 1x01 - "Where No Man Has Gone Before"

Commentary

1) Here we go then for the second pilot - "The Cage" having been rejected as 'too cerebral', the team went away and had Sam Peeples write something with rayguns and fistfights in it While this was the second pilot, it actually aired originally as the third episode AFAIK - which is somewhat unfortunate, given that this episode has different uniforms...and shows the Enterprise before the changes were made to the model for the series proper...and is missing McCoy, and changes were still being made to the sets, and...
2) Anyway. Ship in very outer space. Ominous music, and a captain's log.
3) A distress call (dun dun DUUUUNNNNNN).
4) Kirk and Spock playing 3D chess. Spock still not quite the stoic fellow that he becomes down the line. Early instalment weirdness an' all that.
5) Especially un-stoic with that chess move from Kirk
6) Spock referring to his human ancestry. This was before they established that it was his mother who was human, of course.
7) Kelso calling in from a bridge that now has a bit more colour to it.
8) The object is small enough to bring onboard. So Kirk is going to do just that. Hey, caution is for other people...
9) Scotty at the transporter console. Which, the eagle-eyed may notice, is in fact the helm console from the bridge set being reused here! They later built a bespoke transporter control panel with the sliding switches to operate it.
10) It's an old-style ship recorder, and it's been through the wringer.
11) Red alert.
12) The Courage fanfare
13) Enterprise corridors also picked up some colour since "The Cage".
14) Here's Gary Mitchell.
15) I'm rather fond of the interplay there between Kirk, Spock and Mitchell.
16) Those bridge chairs really don't look comfortable.
17) Love the earphone that Spock has plugged into his console
18) Much like Spock in "The Cage" we see Mitchell able to operate a console function with a gesture. Heady stuff for 1965.
19) Yeoman Smith, the proto-Rand, getting in the way.
20) Sulu head of astrosciences rather than chief helmsman.
21) Doctor Mark Piper the CMO for this episode. And here's Doctor Elizabeth Dehner, played by (the recently late) Sally Kellerman.
22) Mitchell getting off a zinger at Dehner's expense.
23) Exposition from Spock and Kirk.
24) Still a very different Spock from the later portrayal.
25) Dehner beginning a long-standing tradition in Trek of not giving the captain a straight answer
26) Spock with an early 'wham' line - sounds from the record tape as though the captain of the Valiant ordered self-destruct (dun dun DUUUNNNNNNN!!!!).
27) Significant looks from the senior officers.
28) Kirk making the decision to probe on out of the galaxy, because other vessels will head out this way someday and he'll be damned if he lets them do so without knowing what they're going to face. James T. Kirk, galactic hero Of course, leaving the galaxy really isn't ever a thing again after TOS (one episode of TNG aside, appropriately enough the one named after this very episode).
29) A forcefield ahead.
30) Spock back to shouting.
31) Yeoman Smith and Mitchell holding hands
32) Into the barrier we go.
33) First of a Trek staple - bridge consoles exploding into sparks and flame.
34) 'Something' hits Dehner.
35) And Mitchell. Kirk not one to hang around waiting for a relief crewmember at a console, so plunges in and takes the spot himself.
36) Spock taking over.
37) Enterprise yanks herself out of the barrier. Kirk checking over his people.
38) Spock with the report. Main engines and power buggered. Nine dead. This is why you don't screw around with glowing purple forcefields at the edge of the galaxy...
39) Mitchell's eyes have turned silver
40) Enterprise limping back to known space. But on impulse power that's gonna take some time.
41) Spock and Kirk looking at personnel records. Specifically ESP ratings. Just like the crew of the Valiant did. But at least we're using memory cards now and not paper printouts
42) Kirk and Spock expositing at Dehner.
43) Kirk getting the button on the scene.
44) An early look at the sickbay patient monitors.
45) Quick pause. Here we get a fair bit of info about who Kirk is from Mitchell talking about their academy days. Kirk was the guy who applied himself, studied hard, and is now captain of one of the first of the Federation's true starships. Always amused me, that - Kirk was a bookworm who became a galactic tearaway, Picard was a galactic tearaway who became a bookworm.
46) The "little blonde lab technician"...some fans go with this being Carol Marcus. Obviously she hadn't been invented yet, because she was introduced in TWoK. But it's a neat idea.
47) Spinoza getting namechecked. So much for this one being less cerebral
48) Crew of ~430, and 'almost a hundred women on board'. Again, heady stuff for '65.
49) Worrying tone from Mitchell.
50) Back up on the bridge, Spock monitoring Mitchell's reading habits.
51) Concern all around.
52) Dr Piper finding nothing wrong. Firm grasp of the idiot ball.
53) Looking at Dehner here, is it just me wondering what Sally Kellerman would have looked like in the female uniform from the regular series?
54) An apology from Mitchell for his earlier zinger.
55) Using his newfound powers to screw around with the biobed readings.
56) "I just thought of making it happen...and it happened." Eep.
57) Now playing dead to screw with her.
58) Dehner testing his new skills with memory of what he's been reading. Picking a love poem. So much for the walking refrigerator.
59) Which Mitchell is hanging a lampshade on.
60) Modern Trek would have already had these two making out by now.
61) Kelso dropping by to interrupt the moment these two were having.
62) Bit of exposition from Kelso. Mitchell displaying some clairvoyance as well, here about something in impulse engine country being busted.
63) Kelso more than a little freaked. As is Mitchell.
64) Briefing room. Kelso relating to the senior officers just how right Mitchell's clairvoyance was.
65) Dehner going to bat for Mitchell.
66) Spock interrogating her.
67) Exposition
68) Dehner clearly never learned the lessons humanity was supposed to take from the Eugenics Wars.
69) Nice.
70) Sulu with the numbers. An an explanation for the audience at home.
71) Spock picking up the ball.
72) Kirk wrapping the meeting up. Spock hanging around to provide further counsel.
73) Early use of Kirk's first name from Spock
74) Urging Kirk to strand or kill Mitchell
75) This is one of those scenes where the only possible improvement would have been the presence of McCoy.
76) Kirk going with Spock's plan. And hating himself for it.
77) Heading to Delta Vega (the 'real' one, not the one near Vulcan invented for the '09 JJTrek film).
78) Captain's log for exposition.
79) Mitchell still playing telekinetic games. The censors must have loved all this back in '65, sailing very close to blasphemy.
80) Exposition.
81) A demonstration of Mitchell's power.
82) Followed by some early Kirk-fu, and a natty bit of teamwork from Kirk and Spock to take Mitchell down long enough for Dehner to drug him. Too early for the Famous Spock Nerve Pinch™ as it came to be known, that wasn't invented for a few episodes yet.
83) Needed another dose before they beamed down.
84) Cannibalising what they need to repair the ship.
85) Kirk setting up a contingency plan if Mitchell gets free.
86) Mitchell awake.
87) Bit more backstory.
88) And exposition.
89) Followed by throwing himself at the cell forcefield. And his eyes change back to normal.
90) Short-lived.
91) On the plus side, the Enterprise bridge is coming back to life.
92) Spock had a large gun sent down from the ship.
93) A spot of intensity from Spock there. Early instalment weirdness.
94) Kelso's rigged that explosive contingency that Kirk ordered at 85).
95) Captain's log for exposition again.
96) Spot more exposition.
97) Mitchell telekinetically killing Kelso.
98) Dehner with a firm grasp of the idiot ball.
99) Mitchell knocks out Kirk and Spock, and is free. And now Dehner has the silver eyes (!).
100) Piper bringing Kirk and Spock out of unconsciousness.
101) Kirk going 'god' hunting.
102) The two 'gods'. Mitchell creating an oasis.
103) Exposition.
104) Mitchell knows Kirk is closing in.
105) Ah, the fake rocks
106) Mitchell sending Dehner off to intercept Kirk. Which she promptly does.
107) Kirk looking more saddened at her transformation than horrified or surprised. Shatner really is a more than fair actor on his day.
108) An early Kirk 'breaking speech'. Some really good stuff here too, about humanity and compassion and wisdom.
109) An unnecessary combat roll right out of the Geordi LaForge school of unnecessary combat rolls
110) Here comes the 'rayguns and fistfights' stuff that the network wanted from this second pilot.
111) Mitchell conjuring up a headstone for the grave he plans to put Kirk in...a headstone that reads James R. Kirk. Mitchell's mistake or the production team? YMMV.
112) "Morals are for men...not gods." That line slaps.
113) Kirk back to making a speech. Bit more telekinesis from Mitchell trying to shut him up.
114) Too late, however. He got through to Dehner. Zappy zappy time.
115) Which weakens Mitchell long enough for Kirk to engage in a spot of fisticuffs.
116) Wildly obvious stunt double in the longer shot
117) Kirk-fu. And a ripped shirt.
118) A lesson there in not hesitating.
119) But Mitchell not quite back up to full strength, so Kirk has time for more Kirk-fu. Ending in Mitchell getting buried in the grave meant for Kirk.
120) Dehner dying too. A tragic end for both people.
121) The ship leaving Delta Vega. A noticeably beaten-up Kirk delivering the final log entry of the episode.
122) And a final kindness from Kirk, making sure that Mitchell and Dehner's service records note that they gave their lives in the performance of their duties rather than 'they gained god-like powers and went completely tonto'.
123) Touching moment between Spock and Kirk.
124) The adventure continues.

Thoughts

A very different Trek from the first pilot in many ways, and yet in others quite obviously still the same show.

The episode had a lot of heavy lifting to do. We're introduced again to the mission of the Enterprise, introduced to a new captain and crew, then things go sideways and through this we get to see what the crew are made of. And I'm reminded of that quote from James Blish, a very good sci-fi writer (and indeed the guy who novelised the original series episodes).

Who does it hurt? That's who the story is about.

Kirk gets good and hurt here, and not just physically. Seeing one of his best friends lose all semblance of humanity, being forced to try and maroon him, later forced to kill him. Through this we get to see what makes Kirk great - his compassion, his eagerness to try and save people under his command, and the willingness to do what needs to be done when it comes down to it. Essentially, it boils down to us getting to see Kirk's humanity as Mitchell loses his. To a degree this plot makes the episode a franchise original sin - starship captain pits his humanity against a god-like being, comes out on top. But I can forgive it that, since this was quite literally the second pilot episode.

As I noted at the beginning of the commentary, this episode ended up airing third in the first series - the suits thought it was a bit too expository to go first (!). How TV has changed...at least those suits liked it enough to order a full series though. And you can see why they preferred it to "The Cage" - quite apart from the action elements, it benefits from being the second time that they'd made a Star Trek show. Tighter writing and direction, and a plot that's a bit easier to understand. We also see the beginnings of a truly great cast forming - Shatner, Nimoy, Doohan, Takei...and the additions made for the next episodes only strengthen things.

A genuinely great episode of Star Trek then, IMO. The rest of the opening season wouldn't always reach these highs (there's at least two episodes that I could confidently make a case for being some of the worst in all of Trek canon!) but like here when it was good it was really, really good.

 

[JRS]

Star Trek - 1x02 - "The Corbomite Maneuver"

Commentary

1) Before the off - yes, yes, I know this wasn't the second episode aired, or even the first one shown of the regular series after the pilots were produced. I believe the first episode shown was actually "The Man Trap", and this one was as late as the tenth episode. But it was the next one produced after the two pilot episodes, so for the sake of continuity I'm watching it now. Here we go.
2) The Enterprise model now looking as she'll look for the rest of the series. Smaller bridge dome and deflector dish, no spires on the Bussard collectors which are now plexiglass and lit with a rotating effect, new nacelle end-caps, some other changes in the paintjob...
3) Bridge also looking pretty much as it will do for the remainder of the series. Welcome to the series Nichelle Nichols as Uhura - here in a yellow minidress rather than a red one!
4) Navigator Bailey is bored.
5) Well, that should liven things up. Contact with something. Spock taking no chances. Deflectors raised, evasive course ordered.
6) Still coming at them, but slowing. And the Enterprise comes face-to-face with the contact. It's...a cube.
7) Everyone, stare at the screen!
8) Gonna try and go around it.
9) Not happening.
10) Bailey getting a bit hot under the collar about it. Spock with a gentle knock about raising of voices.
11) And the episode teaser ends with the alert being sounded.
12) Courage fanfare makes me happy
13) Captain's log for exposition.
14) Kirk currently in sickbay getting a physical. Which gave the show an excuse to show Shatner with his shirt completely off. Quick pause, because also in this scene we have the first Trek production to feature Dr Leonard H. McCoy, played by DeForest Kelley. Gene had wanted him a bit earlier, but the studio was nervous about audience reaction to seeing someone noted for playing the bad guy in westerns as a good guy. The solution?

A haircut.

Seriously. They gave him a haircut that resembled the one JFK used to have. It softened De's look, made him acceptable to the suits and thus Star Trek as we know it was saved!
15) Love that little glance then double-take De gives at the alert light.
16) Kirk immediately up once he realises there's an issue. Spock briefing him.
17) Amusing button on the scene from McCoy. Also, quick note - almost everyone else in the regular cast (even Shatner and Nimoy) took an episode or two to find the exact way to play their character. Not De Kelley. He is McCoy from this very first scene. The man was an exceptional actor
18) I like how you can see the greener tint to the command gold uniforms in these remasters.
19) Meanwhile on the bridge, Spock chiding Bailey again. And a genuine 'laugh-out-loud' moment from Spock drily dismissing Bailey's attempt at explaining himself. Sulu amused, and has some sage advice for Bailey. Quick pause - this exchange gets expanded upon in James Blish's adaptation of the episode.

"Raising my voice back here, sir, didn't mean I was scared or couldn't do my job. It just means that I happen to have a human thing called an adrenaline gland."

Spock paused, startled by the aggression of this backhanded reference to his alien origin. Then yet more solemn-faced, he nodded again at Bailey. "Sounds most inconvenient," he said. "Have you ever thought of having it removed?"

He left Bailey for the command chair; and the red-faced navigator, aware of a poorly muffled guffaw from Sulu's station beside him, flushed still redder. "Very funny," he sneered.

The choking Sulu recovered himself long enough to say breathlessly, "Kid...you try to cross brains with Spock--and he'll...cut you into pieces too small to find."

"If I were the Captain--"

"He's even rougher. But I'm warning you, brother. It comes as more of a shock because he's such a hell of a leader."

I don't know if that was ever scripted (Blish often worked from shooting scripts or even earlier drafts, since he lived in England and the episodes hadn't aired here yet when he did the adaptations. He also wasn't above the occasional polish where it was needed). If it was, I wish it had made it into the aired episode.
20) Kirk now dressed and on his way up. So the incidental music ramps in some tension.
21) That shot of Sulu looking back over his shoulder will get a reuse in several other episodes (obviously with different VFX on the viewscreen).
22) Sulu retaining some of the astrosciences duties he had in "Where No Man...", delivering the report on the size of the cube. Side note - the dimensions and mass given (107 metre edges, 11,000 metric tons) gives around 9kg per cubic metre. That's not very dense - steel, in comparison, has a density IIRC of 7850-8050 kg/m³ depending on the alloy.
23) Amusing back-and-forth between Kirk and Scotty.
24) And Bailey earns himself a (mild) verbal 'dope slap' from the captain. Starships are indeed not democracies - they're benign dictatorships at best
25) Captain's log for exposition again. It really was a brilliant conceit, that - it meant you could catch people up after an advert break, it helped you reiterate plot points without breaking the flow of an episode...modern Trek should never have tried to do without them.
26) Tired crew in the briefing room.
27) "Flypaper." An incongruously human notion from Spock, yet he's got a damned good point.
28) Kirk swinging into action. And Bailey earning himself a slightly less mild telling off for jumping the gun.
29) Sulu getting the button on this scene. If they'd made TOS later, say around the '80s and '90s when TNG was made, there would have been a lot more of this. As it was, once the writers and showrunners decided to focus on the Power Trio (or even just on Kirk and Spock) most of these little moments got lost. A pity.
30) Escape course plotted. Slowly ramping up the speed.
31) And a radiation alarm.
32) Bailey's somewhat excitable demeanour still in sharp contrast to the rest of the bridge crew. Especially that of Kirk, who is calmness personified.
33) Warp speed. Cube still coming. Radiation headed towards lethal. Kirk finally resorting to phasers (I'm not sure he ever was as ready to shoot as is popularly imagined).
34) Bailey too busy panicking to lock the phasers and needs the order repeating.
35) Big boom. Everyone jolted around.
36) Another log entry to catch the audience up.
37) A rather lovely moment between Kirk and Spock, that. Great dialogue, delivered by a couple of fine actors.
38) Bailey now desperate to show how efficient he can be.
39) Kirk ordering drills. Because this is, after all, a navy albeit a navy IN SPAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCEEE...
40) McCoy with some sotto voce chiding of his captain as they come off the bridge. And once again we see De Kelley has already nailed this character. This is exactly who McCoy is for three seasons, six films and a scene in the TNG series opener.
41) Love the interplay between these two.
42) Getting a hint at some backstory, McCoy referring to Kirk 'eleven years ago' hinting at how long their relationship goes back. The expanded universe novels would go into this - "Crisis On Centaurus" by Brad Ferguson is a good one for it, and I don't remember Ferguson's take being contradicted by anything else worth reading. "The Captain's Oath" by Christopher L. Bennett is another one that looks back on these two before the days on the Enterprise(s).
43) McCoy doing the bartending, like Boyce in "The Cage".
44) This really is great writing.
45) That drill concludes at 94% efficiency. Kirk wants 100%. Spock agrees.
46) Kirk about to possibly say something quite rude to McCoy's barb about the six percent when interrupted by the arrival of his yeoman. Enter Janice Rand, played by Grace Lee Whitney. Her time on the series would be short, but memorable. And enough to keep getting called back for the movies.
47) Rand immediately in no-nonsense mode, as Kirk pulls a series of 'petulant teen' looks
48) And he's distinctly unhappy about being served salad. McCoy's orders.
49) Rand off to tend to other duties, back to the interplay between captain and doctor as they listen to the drill.
50) Which gets interrupted by Sulu ordering battle stations for real (I'm coming back to this moment in the 'thoughts' section). So much for that salad.
51) Back on the bridge. Incoming.
52) Another jolt. Tractor beam.
53) The incoming is a sphere. Or a collection of spheres. And it's big.
54) Establishing character moment for Spock with just one word. "Fascinating."
55) Lots of mixing of distance units here, making my teeth itch
56) Bailey still too distracted to respond to simple orders, Sulu reaching over to operate the screen controls for him.
57) Kirk, addressing the new arrival, refers to "The United Earth Ship Enterprise". We hadn't quite gotten to the point of Starfleet being a Federation organisation this early in the game. Early instalment weirdness, and all that.
58) Speaking of EIW, a message coming in through the navigation equipment.
59) The new arrival is Balok. Who is now, in the tradition of all TOS antagonists, going to wang on about how the Enterprise is obviously from a primitive and savage culture that's not at all like his awesome race
60) Kirk's gonna try a spot of diplomacy...and is cut off by sensor beams from Balok's ship (the Fesarius).
61) And now the Fesarius is shutting down systems on the Enterprise. Spock muchly impressed.
62) Bailey still less than with it.
63) Not that it mattered. The recorder marker that Kirk wanted him to launch has been shot down anyway.
64) Balok still doing his 'you primitive humans will be destroyed' bit.
65) McCoy and Scotty arrive at the bridge. McCoy noting that Balok's wanging on was heard all over the ship. Kirk still pretty calm about it all.
66) And is going to calm his people down over the intercom. Doesn't look like it's working on Bailey.
67) Trying diplomacy again.
68) Denied. So they're going to try and head on out...also denied.
69) Nice.
70) Spock's managed to sneak a visual comm link in. And Balok sure ain't a looker!
71) "All your base are belong to us. You are on the way to destruction. You have no chance to survive make your time. Ha ha ha."
72) I love that line from Spock. "I was curious to see how they appeared." With that sort-of innocent ghost of a smirk that only Vulcans can truly pull off. Kirk ruefully notes that 'of course' Spock was curious. These two have been inside of kicking distance of each other for a while now in-continuity.
73) Aaaaaand Bailey's cracked under the tension. Headed right off the deep end. McCoy escorting him to bed.
74) Anyway. Let's see if diplomacy works this time. Kirk hailing again.
75) No sell. "You now have only seven minutes left."
76) Sulu catching some snark from Scotty about the timer he's running to keep track of Balok's countdown
77) Kirk and Spock conferring. Kirk sure that there's a way out. Spock citing chess, and checkmate.
78) McCoy back up on the bridge. About to start a bit of a fight with his captain and friend.
79) Getting into it with Kirk over Bailey. And gets Kirk to briefly lose his composure. But it's given him an idea...not chess. Poker.
80) A franchise original sin gets an early outing. Kirk bluffing an adversary by lying his *** off
81) Cute moment between Spock and Scotty.
82) Equally cute moment between Kirk and McCoy.
83) Sulu's line there with the one minute call was echoing Balok in at least one version of the script. Hence the "I knew he would" which ended up orphaned.
84) Bailey back on the bridge. And the countdown ends...with no attack.
85) Kirk not quite able to believe that his bluff worked. Nice bit between the power trio.
86) Balok back on. Raise or call...actually, seems closer to checking to me. Scotty still amused by it all. Sulu also smirking at Kirk's order to let Balok sweat a minute.
87) "Request denied." Kirk really needed two chairs on the bridge. One for him, one for his forged steel balls.
88) Balok back on-screen. Some more wanging on about how primitive the Enterprise crew are
89) Rand on the bridge. With hot coffee. No power in the galley, so she used a phaser on it. Initiative like that is why she's the yeoman to the captain and not just some minor flunky working out of Deck Six!
90) Aww, the Fesarius has a 'mini-me'. Going to drag them off to Balok's home planet.
91) "Resistance is useless"
92) The plan - wait for Balok to reduce the tractor beam power, then plot a sheer-away course and haul themselves free.
93) Engaged.
94) You know it's serious. The lights on Balok's ship are pulsing brighter, and the Enterprise coolant temperature gauge is rising.
95) More power. Spock getting about as concerned as he ever does.
96) Extras throwing themselves from bulkhead to bulkhead below decks
97) They're free. But the engines have taken some strain. Balok's ship apparently much worse off.
98) So of course Kirk is going to go help Balok. Because humanity.
99) Some more early instalment weirdness - the away team belts are just tan cloth.
100) 'Balok' is a dummy. Literally.
101) The actual Balok is a very young Clint Howard
102) First appearance in Trek of the drink Tranya. I believe it was grapefruit juice IRL.
103) More franchise original sins. The whole encounter was a test. The Fesarius' crew is just Balok. Lonely alien wants company.
104) Bailey volunteering for that job.
105) Balok now going to show off his ship to Kirk et al., noting that he and our captain are quite alike - both proud of their ships.
106) The adventure continues.


Thoughts

It's a fun one, this. And as I noted at the beginning it sets up some stuff that the series will use going forward.

Aesthetically, the look of everything is about nailed on now. The Enterprise model has been tweaked following the two pilot episodes. The look of the bridge set is pretty much finalised. The uniforms are close to how they'll appear for the rest of TOS (barring some adjustment of collars, and the occasional tweak in who wears which colour). The cast has been rounded out with the introduction of De Kelley as McCoy, Nichelle Nichols as Uhura and Grace Lee Whitney as Rand.

There's still some early instalment weirdness of course. Spock using the occasional very human expression (e.g. his allusion to flypaper in the briefing), the reference to the Enterprise being a United Earth ship. And some EIW for the franchise as a whole - Kirk's Enterprise, at times, operates very differently to starships later seen in the various other series. That moment at 50) being a prime example - a mere lieutenant at the helm can order the ship to battle stations without consulting with the captain below decks, or even the first officer who's right there on the bridge with him. Why? Because ordering battle stations in the galaxy of 2266, even in space that isn't claimed by a hostile power, isn't something that can wait for consensus or seniority. Call the alert first, the ship can always come back to condition green once the senior officer in charge has assessed matters. If that had happened in TNG for example, Sulu would have reported the contact to the senior officer on the bridge (in this case Spock). That officer would then have called the alert, and if the XO and/or captain weren't on the bridge they would have called for them to come up.

The story, back when the episode first aired, probably seemed a little bit more fresh. As it is, this kind of plot gets recycled a tonne over the years. But leaving that aside this episode is genuinely well thought-out IMO and has a very Trekian end to it - yes, Balok put the Enterprise crew through the wringer but that isn't going to stop them from trying to help when they think he's in trouble. Because we're human damnit, and when someone's in danger we help.

Haven't decided which one I'm gonna watch next. Might make it "Balance of Terror" after today's SNW episode, so I can watch submarine warfare IN SPAAAAAAAAAAACCCCEEEE done right

 

[JRS]

Star Trek - 1x09 - Balance of Terror

Commentary


0) A note again about my episode numbering - I'm using production order rather than when they were actually aired.
1) We begin with a ceremony going on. A wedding.
2) Spock calling down with news from their current mission. Earth outposts going silent.
3) Scotty giving away the bride. Cute
4) The bride in question (Angela Martine, played by Barbara Baldavin) is a rarity for TOS - a religious Starfleet officer. Gene wasn't big on religions, organised or otherwise.
5) An alert cutting in. Sulu again as in "The Corbomite Maneuver" the one to call it.
6) The wedding's gonna have to wait. Earth Outpost 4 under attack!
7) Courage fanfare still makes me all warm and fuzzy
8) On the bridge. And the Romulus-Remus planetary system getting namedropped in the log entry.
9) "Scotty..." "I've already talked to my engine room sir. We'll get more speed out of her." Love that moment.
10) Kirk clearly worked up. More than you'd expect, if you didn't know who lives on Romulus...
11) No identification on the attacking vessel. But Stiles at navigation is in no doubt.
12) Map up. The Romulan Star Empire.
13) A pep talk for the crew from Kirk. A briefing from Spock. And backstory.
14) "No human, Romulan or ally has ever seen the other." ENT would screw that one completely up, of course.
15) Backstory continues.
16) Kirk letting everyone know what his command orders are. Avoid war at all costs, even if it means the Enterprise and her crew are destroyed.
17) Stiles getting het up. Family history with the Earth-Romulan war.
18) "Their war, Mr. Stiles. Not yours. Don't forget it." Great line from Kirk.
19) Outpost 2 and 3 should be in sensor range. Instead...just debris and the pulverised remains of the asteroids they were built on.
20) Kirk sending word back home.
21) Early instalment weirdness - there's a phaser control room, manned by a staff that includes the couple who were trying to get married earlier. Odds on both of them living to the end of the episode?
22) Cuteness between the two of them.
23) Outpost 4 is still there.
24) Commander Hansen explaining what's happened so far.
25) The command post at Outpost 4 looking distinctly second hand.
26) The weapon used to do all that damage is composed of high-energy plasma. Formidable.
27) The enemy ship has become visible. Quick pause for some chat about this ship – the Romulan Bird of Prey, or Warbird
28) Firing. Outpost 4 is destroyed. Reaction shots from the bridge crew.
29) Lost the visual position of the intruder. But there's a blip on the motion detector.
30) Another thing that ENT screwed up - here an invisibility screen/cloaking device is "theoretically possible", rather than being seen week-in, week-out.
31) And the blip is wombling away towards their home. Perhaps they don't see our heroes. Evens the odds if true.
32) Kirk ordering parallel course, because he's a tactician. Stiles confused by this, because he's not.
33) And then this Romulan spy thing comes almost out of nowhere. Sulu, to a degree, backing him up though.
34) Uhura manages to nab one of their ship-to-shore transmissions. Who says she only ever got to mutter 'hailing frequencies open'?
35) Spock taking that and running with it, to get a look inside the enemy ship. Master hacker at work. And...dun dun DUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!! They look like Vulcans
36) More reaction shots from the bridge crew. Uhura and Sulu shocked. Kirk nonplussed. Stiles about to have kittens.
37) Act 2 beginning with Stiles still staring accusingly at Spock, and the rest of the crew keeping a watch.
38) A spot more of Stiles' bigotry.
39) Spock working on the tape Uhura made of the transmission as the Romulan ship becomes visible again.
40) Meanwhile on the Romulan bridge. Our enemy captain issuing orders, while keeping a watching brief on what his crew thinks is a 'reflection' but he knows to be the Enterprise. Because it's exactly what he'd do.
41) Trek villains in TOS weren't always (or often) this well-written. But when they were good - this guy, Khan, Koloth from "The Trouble With Tribbles", etc - they were very good.
42) It's a great bit between the Romulan Commander and Centurion here. An anti-war statement stronger than most shows of the time would have been able to get away with. And beautifully acted by both Mark Lenard's Commander and John Warburton as the Centurion.
43) Back on the Enterprise, they're still tracking the Romulan ship via the motion sensors. Later Romulan ships wouldn't have this limitation with the cloaking device of course, which is a shame since it turned it into something a bit magical rather than a tool with certain tactical uses.
44) Headed right for the Neutral Zone. Debris from Outpost 4 has been grabbed though, so a briefing is in order. Note again, though it isn't remarked upon by anyone, that Uhura is left in charge of the bridge. Heady stuff for the '60s.
45) Briefing room. Spock with a touch of the dramatic about his demonstration of what the Romulan weapon did.
46) Expositive back-and-forth.
47) Quick pause. Scotty's line here - "their power is simple impulse" - for years was misinterpreted by fandom to mean that they didn't have warp drive. Which is nonsense. Of course they had warp drive, they couldn't have gotten out of their own space without it, and certainly wouldn't have stayed ahead of the Enterprise longer than a millisecond or six! Rather, their power source is from old school impulse power - as in, a fusion reactor rather than a dilithium-focused matter/antimatter reactor. Enterprise is faster and has more endurance. The Romulan ship has a big ol' weapon and a practical invisibility screen. It's a genuine fight.
48) A less even-tempered briefing than the ones seen in the main during TNG. Stiles having a bit of a rant.
49) Which Kirk brings to an end with a 'sit down, mister' that fair drips with a sense of 'do that again and I might just decide to end your God damned career, kid'
50) Spock taking it in his stride though and agreeing with some of Stiles' assessments. Scotty and Sulu pretty damned surprised.
51) And now De Kelley as McCoy gets going.
52) "War is never imperative, Mr. Spock". And then punctuates it all with "Do you want a galactic war on your conscience?"...Chills.
53) Uhura still running the show upstairs. 21 minutes to the Neutral Zone.
54) But we have a change in the field. A comet, with a tail. And the Romulan ship is headed right for it. A way to beat the invisibility screen perhaps.
55) Battlestations.
56) Act 3. Bearing down on the comet.
57) "Phasers set for proximity blast." Early instalment weirdness strikes again - the writers having not yet invented photon torpedoes when this episode was made.
58) Well, it's a plan. And just how many plans survive the battlefield?
59) On the Romulan bridge as they enter the comet tail.
60) The reflection has disappeared. Romulan Commander knows what's up and orders a hasty course change.
61) Kirk now realising his opponent isn't a complete rube, and also orders evasive.
62) "He did exactly what I would have done. I won't underestimate him again." Ladies, gentlemen and non-binary folk I give you James T. ******* Kirk.
63) Laying down a pattern of phaser fire. We're really into submarine warfare IN SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCEEEE now
64) Romulan ship taking a bit of a buffeting. And then the Centurion takes one for the Commander by shoving him out of the way of a falling structural beam, taking the hit himself. This to show the audience that our enemy here is not without honour.
65) The actors really tried there to make it look like that piece of debris weighed a bunch, God bless 'em
66) "Divert all power to weapons." Oh dear Kirk, you done made him mad.
67) On the Enterprise, a control circuit burnout. Right underneath Spock's console. Not going to make him look any less guilty in Stiles' eyes.
68) Romulan ship decloaking. Time to panic, and get right out of dodge.
69) Nice.
70) Romulan has fired a plasma torpedo. Enterprise running but it's bearing down on them. And no phasers to shoot it down with thanks to the burnout.
71) Rand pops up on the bridge because [reasons].
72) The torpedo is dissipating as it closes. Kirk sneaking a hug with Rand under the guise of protecting her
73) The hit. Everyone tossed around. But minimal damage. And now Kirk potentially has a new tactic in his arsenal - "Limited range."
74) Our bride-to-be getting picked up off the floor of the phaser control room by the groom-to-be.
75) Spock's gotten the phasers working again at half past useful. Some admiring snark from Kirk about his opposite number on the Romulan ship.
76) There's that shot looking forward on the bridge, with Sulu glancing over his right shoulder, that will be repeated a bunch.
77) Back to shadowing the Romulan.
78) Commander tending to the injured Centurion. And being told that the reflection - Enterprise - is back.
79) "Its commander is not one to repeat a mistake." Why oh why oh why can current Trek writers not give us adversaries like this?!
80) Some back-and-forth on the Enterprise bridge as they near the Neutral Zone. McCoy making valid counter-arguments.
81) Gonna try and get the Romulan while they're on this side of the border.
82) Romulan evasive.
83) Enterprise firing.
84) And Kirk gives the order to enter the Neutral Zone. Still firing.
85) The Romulan Centurion succumbs to his wounds. The Commander now figuring out new tactics...and a lightbulb moment. Doesn't bode well for the Enterprise.
86) Sets his jaw, and orders the crew to jettison debris and the Centurion's body.
87) Spock notes motion sensor reporting the Romulan has stopped. Sulu's board has seen the debris come out.
88) But it's not enough to indicate the ship has been destroyed. Nice try Romulans. But no motion, which means they don't have a location of the enemy ship.
89) Going to silent running.
90) The Romulans waiting.
90) Time skip. More than 9 hours stationary.
91) Kirk in his quarters, Rand popping by to offer him food or coffee. McCoy arriving to offer counsel.
92) I love this scene so much. Well-written, and beautifully acted by Shatner and Kelley.
93) Back on the bridge. Spock finishes his repair, and in an uncharacteristic move screws up and hits a switch that he shouldn't ought to have. More fuel on the fire for Stiles.
94) Romulans moving in. Enterprise going back to full alert. And firing again.
95) "He's a sorcerer, that one". The Romulan Commander giving credit where it's due.
96) But he's got a few more tricks left just yet.
97) Gonna throw a nuke overboard.
98) Enterprise spots wreckage again. And the nuke! EVERYBODY PANIIIIIIIIIIICCCC!!!!
99) *Bang*
100) Romulan Commander looks at the prone Enterprise...and orders a course home.
101) Casualties fairly light on the Enterprise, considering.
102) Only forward phaser room left working. And Tomlinson - the groom-to-be - is working it alone right now. But Stiles has experience there and is ordered downstairs. All of which gives TOS another opportunity to put Uhura in one of the front seats.
103) Kirk plotting.
104) Romulan Commander still thinking up reasons not to attack.
105) Unfortunately for the Romulans, the junior officer Decius has finally goaded him into it.
106) Spock checking on things in the phaser control room. And is given short shrift from Stiles, so he leaves.
107) And then a coolant seal blows (!).
108) Romulan ship decloaks (!!).
109) Phasers aren't working (!!!).
110) Spock, in the corridor, hears the call from the bridge and plunges back to phaser control.
111) That's a lot of purple smoke.
112) Presumably Vulcans are less susceptible to said purple smoke, as Spock stabs at the phaser operating panels.
113) Boom. Everything turns to worms on the Romulan bridge.
114) The Romulan ship is dead in space. Kirk hailing his counterpart.
115) More great dialogue.
116) "I regret that we meet in this way. You and I are of a kind. In a different reality...I could have called you friend." The feels.
117) And so the Romulan Commander self-destructs his own ship. A second Romulan War is averted.
118) Sickbay. Stiles lived, Spock dragged him out of the phaser room in time.
119) But they lost Tomlinson
120) Rand arrives with the message from Starfleet Command - they'll back up whatever Kirk decides to do. Earns a look from Kirk towards his confidants that's basically a sardonic shrug.
121) Angela, our erstwhile bride, in the chapel. Kirk offers what little comfort he can. "It never makes any sense. We both have to know that there was a reason..."
122) She'll live. She won't be happy about it for a while, but she'll live.
123) And so will Kirk, as he strides along an Enterprise corridor and broods. He prevented an interstellar war, at the cost of the life of one of his crew. Is he happy about that? No, not so much. In fact it burns like the heat of a thousand suns. Will he live with it? Yes, because that's what you do when you're in command.
124) The adventure continues.


Thoughts

Man, do I ever love this episode...I love virtually everything about it. The way it's written, the way it's shot, the way it's acted. Yeah, it's dated in places. Yeah, early instalment weirdness abounds. Yeah, it's essentially "The Enemy Below" but in space.

And it's so bloody good.

The regular cast are all at the top of their game. The Trinity™ in particular but also Scotty, Sulu and Uhura have real moments to shine. And then there's the guest cast. Mark Lenard is exceptionally good as a Romulan counterpart to Kirk - a thoughtful, pragmatic sort quite unlike some of the treacherous schemers who would come later on in Trek canon (looking at you, Tomalak!). John Warburton's Centurion is great as his advisor and friend. Lawrence Montaigne as a young hothead with connections is good too, and did well enough that he was brought back later in TOS to play the Vulcan Stonn in "Amok Time". And back on the Enterprise you have Paul Comi's Stiles who is very well realised especially for a one-shot character. Same goes for Barbara Baldavin's Angela, though Baldavin would return for another two episodes (and shot scenes for another appearance that were cut). Then there's the writing. Even as someone with a deeply unhealthy love for TOS I can fully accept - indeed, hang lampshades on - the fact that the writing was a bit crap at times. But it was very un-crap here. The story has huge emotional weight and consequences, and the dialogue is genuinely brilliant with some seriously great character moments peppered throughout. Also, you have an antagonist ship here that isn't some kind of huge, overpowered monster. It has advantages and weaknesses that make sense. Enterprise is faster. The Romulan ship can become invisible. Enterprise has more endurance. The Romulan ship has a more powerful weapon. Enterprise can only fire proximity shots. The Romulan weapon has limited range. All of it balances the combat out and means that you can genuinely believe either ship might win without a deus ex machina moment or similar.

The remastering on this episode is another of those neat bits of work with TOS-R that enhances the whole deal a bunch without it all looking weirdly out-of-place. Really, this one and "The Doomsday Machine" in season 2 are the uber-examples for the work done with the remastering. Doesn't change the story, doesn't distract you by being incredibly '60s-'60s-'60s-suddenly mid '00s-'60s-mid '00s-'60s. It just enhances an already great show.

I said in my thoughts for "Where No Man..." that:

The rest of the opening season wouldn't always reach these highs (there's at least two episodes that I could confidently make a case for being some of the worst in all of Trek canon!) but like here when it was good it was really, really good.

This is one of the really, really good ones. And anyone who's watched the S1 finale of "Strange New Worlds" should come back and watch it to see how it's done properly