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The introduction of the Romulans is huge. Their lore is prolific in this franchise, and the Romulan Bird of Prey in this episode is one of my favorite ships in the entire franchise. The actor portraying the Romulan commander is Mark Lenard. He is the same actor who portrays Sarek in this series, but is a distinct, Romulan character in this episode. It is easy to confuse because both Romulans and Vulcans have pointed ears and other genetic similarities, a topic which is explored in greater detail over time.
@@jeffd.6498 I would guess 'gender fluidity' doesn't exist in the 23rd century.🤪🤪🤪or Kirk's statement would just go on forever about the how's and why's😆😆😆
One of the best things about this series is each one being episodic. Almost always independent stories. Drama, comedy, even social commentary. Balance of Terror is one of my favorites.
The actor playing the Romulan commander in Balance of Terror, Mark Lenard, does later play Spock's father Sarek as you have already seen in some of the Star Trek movies. The Romulan commander was Mark Lenard's first role in Star Trek. Lenard is often credited as being the first ever Romulan to appear in Star Trek; however, by strict order of screen appearance, that honor falls to Lawrence Montaigne as Decius, who appeared seconds before Lenard but was wearing a helmet covering his Romulan ears. Lenard was the first Romulan to be fully seen with Vulcan-type ears. Lenard and Montaigne were at one point considered as a replacement for Spock had Leonard Nimoy not returned for the second season of TOS if contract negotiations had fallen through. Lenard also became the first actor to play a Klingon with forehead ridges (and the first to speak the Klingon language) when he appeared as the Klingon Captain of the IKS Amar in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
I really liked how you noticed the ... ahem "surging and throbbing" comment, that one is a riot. People said that was the writer's way of trolling the censors and it got by!
Star Trek Cruises actually exist. They're like a week long convention on board the ships but the stars who attend mingle with the guests for the most part. Conscience of the King - the first introduction of true Shakespeare into Trek. Balance of Terror - yes, Mark Leonard played Sarek but this role came first. He was also the Klingon Captain in The Motion Picture. This episode is based on the WWII movie: The Enemy Below. A brilliant cat and mouse battle between a warship and a U-Boat.
As a Shakespeare connoisseur, it's one of my favorite episodes. The title is from HAMLET: "The play is the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king." Lenore says the line at the end
LOVE this episode,like all the extras in this episode too,makes the ship look occupied.The marriage scene was-NICE-also,I wonder what their budget was for each episode.
Great episode. There were never any Romulan spies aboard. Spock simply hit the button by accident (even Vulcans make mistakes) and the leak in the weapons control room was the result of the damage to the ship.
"Kirk only thinking about his log." -that's what she said. LOL "That was his favorite sofa, he loved it so much." -that's what they said about JD Vance. It's a good thing Kirk didn't confuse the garbage chute for the laundry chute when he tossed the overloaded phaser. They wouldn't have clean uniforms for the next episode. Does the garbage chute really just exit to space? No issues with hull breaching and atmosphere escaping? Can you imagine how much crap is floating around a starship? No wonder they need navigational deflectors. At least in DS9 the replicators serve as garbage disposals.
Two great episodes. Balance of Terror is top tier Trek for me. Introduces the Romulans and shows Kirk to be the brilliant tactical starship commander that he is.
The director of "Conscience of the King", Gerd Oswald, directed fourteen episodes of The Outer Limits, including very atmospheric episodes like "O.B.I.T." and "The Forms of Things Unknown."
Two great Star Trek episodes! "Conscience of the King": What more can I say? Shakespeare and a murder mystery in Trek go together like chocolate, peanut butter and ice cream! "Balance of Terror": you hit the nail right on the head, a battleship adventure in space! Mark Lenard is the same actor who played Spock's father, Sarek, however, of course the Romulan Commander is a completely different character. There is an interesting explanation as to why Romulans and Vulcans look alike: back when the Vulcans were being persuaded by the philosopher Surak to repress their emotions and seek logic through knowledge, there was a group of rebel insurrectionists who tried to take over their society rather than renounce their passions. These rebels were captured and banished. So, they travelled to the planet Romulus, built their empire and enslaved their neighboring planet of Remus. Hence, becoming the Romulans!
William Shatner had some Shakespearean training in his early years as an actor so The Conscience of the King allowed him to show some of it off in that moody stage atmosphere.
@@WillTalksMovies Well, I'm not going to say that you aren't going crazy.... I mean, going crazy has done wonders for my mental health. But let's just say that you were not imagining things. Also, Mark Leonard also played as "General Urko" in the short lived Planet of the Apes television show. Which, if you're interested in checking out, the channel "Ape Nation" did a retrospective on recently, and includes links to watch the episodes online without a subscription. I own the series on DVD (all of the original movies and the TV series). I remember watching them as a kid in the 70s. Since you enjoy Trek from back then, you might enjoy that, as well. I was big into Sci-Fi when I was a kid. I can list you movies and TV shows that would blow your mind, given the era they came out in.
@@IggyStardust1967 Also don't forget he also played the captain of the Klingon vessel Amar in Star Trek the Motion Picture, making him the first actor to play all three major Star Trek alien species
Weird story about Lt. Riley - he wasn't supposed to be a continuing character - Bruce Hyde came in for the casting call - got the part and then they realized he was the same actor from The Naked Time - so they changed the name of the crewman who's family was killed by Kodos to Kevin Riley. Even more weird - same thing happened with Angela in Balance of Terror.
Kirk would've been in his teens during the massacre, Riley a child. Not much backstory detail provided on the ep, but if I remember the novels claimed he was there for some sort of high school science course program.(Been a long time since I read the books.. could be wrong on the type of courses) Running from the soldiers of Kodos, Kirk and Riley were already experiencing action and adventure long before they met again on the Enterprise. Kirk's cleverness kept them alive. The novels aren't on-screen cannon, but they mesh very well with it and the authors were THAT good.
"What is that helmet?" The prosthetic department wasn't set up for more than 3 or 4 actors in Romulan (or Vulcan for that matter) make-up - they have to bring in more make-up artists - helmet was a cost cutting compromise.
"Conscience of the King": I have always thought that Captain Kirk was trying to protect Lt. Riley by sending him down to Engineering. "Balance of Terror ": Spock was never, ever a spy. Vulcans just shared a genetic history with the Romulans, so Spock looked like them. Its Stiles' prejudice, blatent insolence and bigotry that lead us to that conclusion. Also, good eye, the guy playing The Romulan Commander was the same guy who later played Spock's Father, Sarek. The actor playing both parts was Mark Lenard, a great actor, brought back for Star Trek TOS movies 3 and 4.
Ditto on the reassignment. The line about there being no room for bigotry on the bridge was a big indicator of Trek's social stances. We'll be seeing more of that...
Great reaction yeah I love this episode because it tells backstory. I love backstory about characters when when Captain Kirk was little boy in Iowa, his father captain on starships and back then you didn’t have your family on ship with you so he’d stay in Iowa on the farm with his grandparents and his mother, but she’s a federation scientist. His mother is so she would go off to be. Colony wants to check on them and she took Jim with her cause she’s gonna be gone for a few months so she took him with her this time who is the first time Young Jim Kirk been off planet and wouldn’t you know there’d be a disaster action the first ship to arrive supply ship was captain by his father. I like how it’s captain Kirk is so famous because there’s only 12 ships like that in the fleet. It takes the best of the best to captain them to program himself the enterprise since it’s the flagship of the Federation, the top starship and fleet. He has always favors with all the regular captains of the lesser ships with the freighters and the he’s an important captain buddy. He’s not so big. He still talk to the other captains and it’s even friends of the smaller ships. Technically is not allowed to pick up passengers like that but as Captain, it’s personal, he can do it. Spock knows officially you’re not supposed to and Riley‘s complaining about his job but it’s a very important job to work in engineering during the late night shift with there should be more than one down there that’s exaggerated. I think Captain Kirk did that to use Riley as bait Owen personally I think he’s still getting even with Riley for that stupid song business taking over the ship almost destroying it sure, it’s not his fault but it’s still annoying. by the way the reason I know all this extra stuff is because after the show was over, they put all these scripts and things into book form and it tells you the full story of the episode. That’s how I know the rest of the backstory thanks for the fun until next time.
Seems clear what happened to the groom; Spock got pissed off when Stiles gave him crap in Weapons Control, and then the moment Spock leaves the coolant seal blows...what an amazing coincidence. Spock is should have been charged with manslaughter at least...
If you ever watch 1957 film The Enemy Below (about a battle between a US destroyer and a German U-boat), you will recognise much from Balance of Terror, which essentially used the film as its template.
Conscience Of The King: Great story. Even the entrance to the observation lounge is coffin shaped. And McCoy talking about command being like a noose around Kirk's neck. Riley's loneliness feels very true to life. Sailors can feel a sense of loneliness that others seldom do when at sea. Like you and the rest of the crew are the only people on the planet. Balance Of Terror: The episode is based on two WW2 movies about destroyer versus submarine movies. Barbara Baldavan shows up as different characters later
Ok. I know its a long way off but after you're done with TOS are you going to do The Animated Series? Gene Roddenberry and Dorothy Fontana were actively involved and many people consider it the continuation of the live series 5 year mission.
@@WillTalksMovies okay. When the time comes I'll 'cherry pick' what I consider the best episodes but there are only 22. I can only count 3 so-so episodes. Still it's a long way off.
Quit reaction I didn’t see there was two episodes at this time but well yeah good Eye styles forgets it was the Vulcan who saved the first alien contact after the third world war they made sure we have plenty of food. Clothing peace on earth put us in the federation have shields fix our whorp drive so all things to the Volcans be a little more grateful next time same actor as Spocks dad but not the same character Vulcan and Romulins are cousins thanks for the fun until next time
11:00 that sentence is more than math. It's an expression. It means if the facts fit than the answer is clear. I wish your kids would have listened to your elders growing up. You would understand many of our expressions if you had bothered to listen.
Chill out, Will. There was no spy. It was a reflection of wartime paranoia. Balance of Terror is a classic submarine movie in space. Indeed, the portion where both ships were silent and shut down to hide from each other was paralleled later in The Hunt for Red October, including some of the Romulan commander's thoughts compared to Captain Ramius'. That was why they were whispering - to prevent the energy in the air from being picked up by sensors. A parallel to sonar detection in water. Mark Lenard played Spock's father later, but this was his start on the show. He even played a Klingon once, under heavy makeup and prosthetics. The Conscience of the King is a line from Hamlet, apropos for the earlier story. That episode is heavy on human nature themes, space and starships just providing the setting. Good science fiction being about people more so than technology. Your reaction to this one was quite the REACTION! Very enjoyable - this embodies a lot of what Star Trek was about. And EVERY TIME Uhura sings she enraptures me!
