History Recap / StarTrekS1E14BalanceOfTerror

* AlasPoorVillain: The Romulan Commander was a sympathetic villain who is acknowledged as being NotSoDifferent from Kirk. So his death is a sad moment.

* RealityEnsues:
** The episode opens with the wedding of a never-before-seen character, which is broken up when the Romulans attack. Throughout the episode we keep cutting back to him, until he's killed in the fight, leaving his fiancée distraught, and the whole crew mourning the death of a man whose last day alive started as the happiest of his life, indicating that, even if the audience doesn't see it, those disposable crew members are still people, and their deaths are still mourned.
** The ''Enterprise'' briefly loses phaser capability when a circuit burns out. No matter how well the crew maintains the ship's systems, random breakdowns and malfunctions do occur, and sometimes at a really bad moment.

-->'''Officer:''' At last the screen is clear, Commander.

* NotSoDifferent: "You and I are of a kind. In a different reality... I could have called you friend."

* SaveTheVillain: Kirk attempts to save the crew of the Romulan ship after crippling it, but its commander politely declines and chooses to go down with the ship.

* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: The Romulans are introduced. They go on to be major players throughout the TNG era, with their Vulcan ancestry having ''massive'' ramifications. The Romulans are also given hints at having a very complex characterization, which catapulted them to fan favorite status and was explored in Diane Duane's ''Literature/{{Rihannsu}}'' novels and ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''.

* RealityEnsues: The episode opens with the wedding of a never-before-seen character, which is broken up when the Romulans attack. Throughout the episode we keep cutting back to him, until he's killed in the fight, leaving his fiancée distraught, and the whole crew mourning the death of a man whose last day alive started as the happiest of his life, indicating that, even if the audience doesn't see it, those disposable crew members are still people, and their deaths are still mourned.

!!This episode contains the following tropes:

* MildlyMilitary: Stiles is openly disrespectful and insulting towards Spock, yet receives nothing more than a stern talking-to from Kirk. He's lucky that he wasn't confined to quarters -- or the brig.

The USS Enterprise is on duty near the Romulan Zone border, and things are calm enough that Kirk can preside over a wedding between two crew members. An urgent call from an Outpost interrupts the wedding, and the ship discovers that a series of outposts have been destroyed by a new energy weapon. A lucky interception of a message from an unseen space ship allows Kirk and crew to find out who they are up against: The Romulans. Using a single cloaked ship firing the most lethal weapon ever witnessed. And The ''Enterprise'' is the only one who can stop them...

* DivingSave: During an attack by the Enterprise on the Romulan ship, the Centurion sees that the ceiling is about to fall on his friend the commander. He rushes forward and pushes the commander out of the way, and the ceiling falls on him instead.

* OldSoldier: The Romulan Commander and the Centurion, who have fought "hundreds of campaigns". Probably an exaggeration, but you get the idea.

* PhlebotinumBreakdown: The Enterprise's phaser weapons burn out after just a couple of shots. Later a plasma duct starts leaking, but at least that time the ship had the excuse of already having suffered battle damage.

** The 1957 WWII submarine movie ''Film/TheEnemyBelow'' [-IN SPACE-]! Even the bearing of the unidentified initial contact and the captain's maneuvering orders to the helm are copied nearly verbatim. The Romulan ship is cramped and has lots of piping and conduits in all background scenes. The Enterprise's phasers act like depth charges, and at one point the Enterprise and the Romulan ship both go to SilentRunningMode, fearing to ''talk loudly'' [[SpaceIsNoisy lest the other vessel hear them]].

** The Enterprise and the Romulan warbird are both attempting StealthInSpace until Mr. Spock accidentally activates a control, giving their position away.

* StealthInSpace: The TropeCodifier for ''Trek'', if not all of Science Fiction. And yet, an UnbuiltTrope: it is a plot point that while under cloak the Romulan ship has the same problems with detecting the Enterprise as the Enterprise has detecting the Romulan ship. Both playing the trope realistically (giving the cloaking device the logical disadvantage of a double-blind effect) and providing an excuse for stealth to enter the narrative in the first place.

** The Romulan commander chews out and demotes Decius for violating RadioSilence and sending a message home about their initial success, worried (correctly) that the signal would be detected.and

** The Romulan commander chews out and demotes Decius for sending a message home about their initial success, worried (correctly) that the signal would be detected.

* SpaceRomans: Mark Lenard's Romulan commander is given a hairstyle that many associate with Emperor Nero. The old warrior is called "Centurion". The subcommander is called Decius. And their ruler is called the Praetor. The old Centurion fears that Decius has friends in high places, which was also a way to climb the ladder in the Roman Empire.

* SoMuchForStealth: The Enterprise and the Romulan warbird are both attempting StealthInSpace until Mr. Spock accidentally activates a control, giving their position away.

* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: The Romulans are introduced. They go on to be major players throughout the TNG era, with their Vulcan ancestry having ''massive'' ramifications. The Romulans are also given hints at having a very complex characterization, which catapulted them to fan favorite status and was explored in Diane Duane's ''Literature/{{Rihannsu}} novels and ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''.