History YMMV / StarTrekS1E14BalanceOfTerror

* MagnificentBastard: The Romulan Commander is [[WorthyOpponent Captain James T. Kirk's equal and opposite]] within the Romulan fleet. [[OfficerAndAGentleman 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 [[EvenEvilHasStandards 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 [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled chooses death over surrender]] by destroying the ship.

* MagnificentBastard: The Romulan Commander is [[WorthyOpponent Captain James T. Kirk's equal and opposite]] within the Romulan fleet. [[OfficerAndAGentleman An honorable soldier]], 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 [[EvenEvilHasStandards 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 [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled chooses death over surrender]] by destroying the ship.

* HarsherInHindsight: When Lt. Stiles [[FantasticRacism 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 ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'', Kirk gives a log entry in his quarters, confessing to his own hatred of the Klingons due to [[Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock his son David Marcus' murder]], [[EngineeredPublicConfession which is presented to the Klingon courts as damning evidence for orchestrating the assassination of Chancellor Gorkon]].

** For all the tragedy that occurs in this episode, ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'' reveals that [[spoiler: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.]]

* SciFiGhetto: Creator/HarlanEllison kicked off one of his famous feuds when the writer of this episode, Paul Schneider, bragged about doing a RecycledInSPACE version of ''Film/TheEnemyBelow''. Ellison felt that making derivative sci-fi was a betrayal of the genre which ignored its full potential.

* WildMassGuessing: Thanks to Scotty's line that the Romulan ship's "power is simple impulse", it was, for years, assumed that the Bird of Prey had no warp capability. This assumption even made it into the ''TableTopGame/StarFleetBattles'' gaming universe. However, it can be easily observed that without warp capability, it is implausible that the Romulans could fight an interstellar war with Earth 100 years ago. Scotty's line was {{Jossed}} to clarify that the Bird of Prey did have faster than light capability but used impulse fusion power which resulted in slower travel than warp power. This was further extrapolated to explain that the ship could not fight at warp speeds and had to come out of warp for combat.[[note]]It is assumed that Zefram Cochrane's original faster than light drive was fusion impulse and the ''Star Trek'' novel ''Federation'' by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens even confirms that his "superimpellor" drive was decades before the discovery of the vital warp-drive element dilithium.[[/note]]

* CanonFodder: The Romulan War, and in particular Stiles' ancestor's role in it, as mentioned but not elaborated on.
* HarsherInHindsight: [[FantasticRacism 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 ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'', Kirk gives a log entry in his quarters, confessing to his own hatred of the Klingons due to [[Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock his son David Marcus' murder]], [[EngineeredPublicConfession which is presented to the Klingon courts as damning evidence for orchestrating the assassination of Chancellor Gorkon]].

* HilariousInHindsight: 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.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: 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 causing the Enterprise to broadcast a signal, or does he do it deliberately to ensure the battle continues?

** About those [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E11DatasDay possible Romulan spies in the Federation]]....

* SciFiGhetto: Creator/HarlanEllison kicked off one of his famous feuds when the writer of this episode, Paul Schneider, bragged about doing a RecycledInSPACE version of ''Film/TheEnemyBelow''. Ellison felt that making derivative sci-fi was a betrayal of the genre which ignored its full potential.

* MagnificentBastard: The Romulan Commander is [[WorthyOpponent Captain James T. Kirk's equal and opposite]] within the Romulan fleet. [[OfficerAndAGentleman An honorable soldier]], 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 [[EvenEvilHasStandards 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 [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled chooses death over surrender]] by destroying the ship.

* MagnificentBastard: The Romulan Commander is [[WorthyOpponent Captain James T. Kirk's equal and opposite]] within the Romulan fleet. [[OfficerAndAGentleman An honorable soldier]], 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 [[EvenEvilHasStandards 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 [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled chooses death over surrender]] by destroying the ship.

* HilariousInHindsight: 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.