Balance of Terror

[MikeH92467]

Oh, the anti-Vulcan prejudice was there for a perfectly good reason. I just really thought it was clumsy and unnecessarily obvious - and it really seemed forced and unnatural, too. In a lesser episode, it might not have bothered me as much, but just about everything else about the episode is just so good that this flaw really stands out. It's not enough to spoil it for me. obviously.

In his novelization James Blish made it clear that Romulan bodies had been discovered which resembled Vulcans. That would make the connection pretty obvious. Of course, it would take the edge of the reveal of the Romulan bridge.

However, it took repeated viewings for me to catch on. The first time around I was so caught up in the story, that it didn't really dawn on me that Stiles had no real reason to believe that Spock might be a spy.

 

[Anwar]

Also, I know it's human nature and all but it did strike me as a little odd how Stiles was SO strung up over relatives he'd never known getting killed in some war about 100 years ago. He acted more like a guy who lost his brothers or his parents in a conflict only a decade or so past.

That fits with the "Enemy Below" story since a WWII Naval Officer easily could have lost close relatives in WWI, but not with the 100 years past Romulan War.

 

[Forbin]

Also, I know it's human nature and all but it did strike me as a little odd how Stiles was SO strung up over relatives he'd never known getting killed in some war about 100 years ago. He acted more like a guy who lost his brothers or his parents in a conflict only a decade or so past.

Ever conversed with Muad Dib on this board? He's a confederate reenactor, and he sometimes acts like the war's still on.

 

[JustKate]

^ I've heard the comparison with the Civil War before, and I have met people like that. What can I say except that I find them a bit unrealistic too! Honestly, it seems a bit nutso, and I find it difficult to imagine that Stiles could have made it through the academy while being such a nut.

It was just overdone. Stiles was bad enough, but even some of the others started looking at Spock funny. With the best will in the world, I just can't see it as anything other than contrived and clumsy.

But the rest of it is great.

 

[MANT!]

The Cold War ended around 20 years ago, there are still a lot of folks TODAY that look upon the Russian Federation as the enemy...and quite a few are in the US military!

 

[scotpens]

Oh, the anti-Vulcan prejudice was there for a perfectly good reason. I just really thought it was clumsy and unnecessarily obvious - and it really seemed forced and unnatural, too.

But it provided Kirk with one of his best lines:
“Leave any bigotry in your quarters. There’s no room for it on the bridge.”

 

[Anwar]

The Cold War ended around 20 years ago, there are still a lot of folks TODAY that look upon the Russian Federation as the enemy...and quite a few are in the US military!

Yes, because it was only 20 years ago and those people would have direct relatives involved in the Cold War (if they themselves were not involved, they'd definitely have been alive then as kids or teenagers).

But 100 years ago? With relatives they'd never known?

 

[JustKate]

^ Exactly. Plus, with the Civil War, the South was invaded (at least that's how they thought/think about it, and I can understand why), and it lost - and the region suffered for decades after that - and what I'm saying is, the situation in the South even today is really not particularly similar to Stiles' situation. Stiles just sounds like a bigot and a bit of a nut, and I didn't find his motivations even slightly credible.

But that is a great line, Scot!

On the plus side, GR very seldom allowed his humans to be anything but squeaky clean, so this might have been kind of interesting. But instead it was...well, kind of crude and poorly done.

But again...the rest of the episode is great. So I still love it. I just let that Stiles stuff float past.

 

[Timo]

But 100 years ago? With relatives they'd never known?

The fun thing here is, the Romulans would certainly have living relatives from that time. Heck, for all we know, the old battles the Centurion and the Commander talked about were part of that century-old war against the Earthlings!

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Maurice]

It should be added that in the script the racism was in part fueled by Hanson's saying that Romulan ship was based on stolen Federation designs and implied espionage. Thus, when they finally see a Romulan, and it looks like Spock...

This was edited out of the finished episode (but it informs the design of the Romulan ship).

 

[Timo]

...the situation in the South even today is really not particularly similar to Stiles' situation.

How do we know Stiles isn't from the South?

That is, perhaps his family lost the war to the Romulans, even if the Federation at large triumphed or at least reached a draw. Romulan invasion, and perhaps Romulan duplicity in that invasion specifically, might have cost Stiles and his fellow "Southerners" territories and cultural icons and lifestyle perks in at least as great a degree as the Civil War cost to the states on the Confederation side. Kirk, Sulu, Uhura and especially Spock might be from the "well-off" half of the Federation in comparison. And perhaps Stiles has a valid grievance with that half not doing enough in the old war to protect the assets of the other half - so he hates Spock from three sides (got off easy in the war, didn't help in the fight, and actually represents the enemy)!

Generations of Stileses may have departed to blacker starscapes, but the original Vulcans who stood back during the fighting and then came with their carpet bags and all to tell the Stileses their lands are being ceded to the Romulans might still well be alive, keeping that half of the bitterness fresh.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[JustKate]

Oh, Timo...

I admire your...your inventiveness.

And maybe Stiles's grandmother's cousin's stepson feel in love with a Vulcan but the day before the wedding she ran off with Spock's mother's great-aunt's sister, and because of his overmastering grief, Stiles's grandmother's cousin's stepson went for a walk one dark night, tripped over a root, bonked his head, lost his memory, and before he regained it, he gave away the family fortune in exchange for some "magic" beans. Which he bought from a Vulcan.

There.