10 Best Entry Points For Star Trek Newcomers
8. Balance Of Terror
The Original Series is a masterpiece of its time. Many of the episodes have been parodied across various media, so many of their stories are familiar to those who may know they were watching Star Trek. Balance Of Terror is one of the most parodied, owing to its infinitely quotable dialogue, and prescient themes. It's essentially a SciFi version of an earlier film - The Enemy Below from 1957 - though director Vincent McEveety claimed not have seen that film, fully acknowledging they're the same story.
What makes this episode such a great starting point is that it has everything that Star Trek would come to be famous for. Faced with an enemy who looks like one of their own, the Enterprise is tasked with tracking a ship they can't see. Paranoia runs rampant on this elevated ship of the future - enough for the heroic Captain James T. Kirk to remind one of his crew that bigotry has no place on the bridge of a starship.
Just a reminder, this episode aired in 1966.
Mark Lenard is compelling as the Romulan Commander, so much so that he would be invited back to play Spock's father, Sarek, in subsequent stories. The message - duty before dishonour - has become even more timely than it was when it aired. This, combined with the writing, the acting, and the score, make Balance Of Terror a strong entry point to the franchise.