YMMV / Star Trek S1 E14 "Balance of Terror"

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Spock "accidentally" pushing a button causing the Enterprise to broadcast a signal... When Spock realizes the Romulans are probably an offshoot of Vulcans, he becomes as much a proponent of attacking the ship as Stiles, if not more so. When they're having difficulty finding the Romulans, does he accidentally push the button, or does he do it deliberately to ensure the battle continues? Note that this occurs immediately after Kirk was in his quarters having second thoughts, and Spock quite possibly sensed this.
• Canon Fodder: The Romulan War, and in particular Stiles' ancestor's role in it, as mentioned but not elaborated on. The fourth season of Star Trek: Enterprise shows the build-up to the war, and had it been renewed for a fifth the war itself would have been depicted.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • When Lt. Stiles expresses his deep hatred of the Romulans, Kirk responds "Leave any bigotry in your quarters; there's no room for it on the bridge." In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Kirk gives a log entry in his quarters, confessing to his own hatred of the Klingons due to his son David Marcus' murder, which is presented to the Klingon courts as damning evidence for orchestrating the assassination of Chancellor Gorkon.
  • About those possible Romulan spies in the Federation....
  • For all the tragedy that occurs in this episode, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds reveals that had Pike still been in charge, the Romulans would have taken his diplomatic attempts as an act of weakness, leading to a long and bloody war. Not only that, but Spock would have been critically injured and possibly killed, eliminating the best chance for peace between the Romulans and the Federation.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Spock's surprised reaction to his first sight of the Romulans could now come off just as much as a reaction to the commander looking like his father. (The Autobiography of James T. Kirk actually makes this joke.)
  • Not to mention Subcommander Decius being the guy who steals Spock's girl.
• Magnificent Bastard: The Romulan Commander is Captain James T. Kirk's equal and opposite within the Romulan fleet. An honorable sailor, he was tasked by the Praetor to attack Federation outposts on the Neutral Zone and is in command of an experimental ship armed with a cloaking device and a powerful plasma weapon. Despite being disgusted by the Praetor's reckless schemes, the Commander enacts this mission, and when the Enterprise chases after the Romulan ship, Kirk and the Commander engage in a deadly game of cat and mouse, with the Commander countering several of Kirk's attempts to catch him. The Commander also manages to trick Kirk into firing on a nuclear weapon, damaging the Enterprise. When the Enterprise defeats the Romulan ship, the Commander shows respect and kinship to Kirk, but chooses death over surrender by destroying the ship.
• Sci Fi Ghetto: Harlan Ellison kicked off one of his famous feuds when the writer of this episode, Paul Schneider, bragged about doing a Recycled In SPACE version of The Enemy Below. Ellison felt that making derivative sci-fi was a betrayal of the genre which ignored its full potential.
• Strawman Has a Point: It was for the wrong reasons, but Stiles' suggestion that the coded Romulan message be given to Spock wasn't unreasonable. The Romulans are clearly an offshoot of the Vulcan people, so Spock really could have some valuable insight into the Romulan language that might aid in decoding the Romulan transmission.

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