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Star Trek: The Original Series 113-114 (Patreon)

Published:
2024-08-27 12:00:03
Edited:
2026-01-08 03:08:16
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

Episodes: The Conscience of the King & Balance of Terror

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Comments

Bruce Woodcock

Talk about a language mix-up. Okay, so, Ju-ju-be is originally the fruit you are talking about, the "Chinese date". However, in the Americas, they are not widely known outside of Chinese communities. So if someone talks about eating Jujubes, they are almost always going to be referring the the candy. The candy was originally pronounced the same way, because it contained real Jujube juice. Later the candy came in a variety of flavors and was no longer based on the Jujube flavor. In some areas people refer to them as Ju-Jubes, so much so that this has become an acceptable way to pronounce the name.

Amos T Fairchild

I can't imagine there is any way his name could be seen as a spoiler. I'm not even sure when they decided what his middle name was. But that's the name. lol.

Roger Davies

Balance Of Terror is definitely one of my favs.

Michael Bauer

AFAIK, the extremely negative depiction of Tiberius comes from early antiquity historians who may have been working from the same source. Apparently, in the 19th century and right up to 1960, there was something of an attempt at rehabilitating the public image of Tiberius. Maybe that‘s where Trek got the idea from. Maybe it‘s just because of Tiberius‘ successful military record… IDK. Wikipedia says that current historians hold a more nuanced view of Tiberius‘s reign, but I’m no historian - so take all this with a grain of salt.

Bruce Woodcock

Kirk's middle name of Tiberius is not a secret reveal, so you're free to look it up: indeed, it was originally "R", possibly for "Roy", as seen on his tombstone in "Where No Man Has Gone Before." The reason for choosing Tiberius is unknown. In canon, it's the first name of his paternal grandfather. Outside of canon, both writers David Gerrold and DC Fontana have claimed to have come up with it spontaneously. However, the source was likely Gene Roddenberry himself, who previously used the name for a character "Willam Tiberius Rice" in his previous TV series, The Lieutenant. Tiberius simply sounds cool; the idea that you wouldn't use it because he was a terrible Emperor wasn't really a consideration. (Were there any GOOD Roman Emperors?)

JBK405

I'm at work so I'm not watching the video yet, but I'm am positively brimming with excitement. I consider "Balance of Terror" to be one of the first truly great episodes of the series. Not the BEST EVER, but really good in and of itself and setting the pace for the later great episodes. I hope you two enjoy it as much as I do.

Mikebdrx

that actor who played the captain on the Romulan ship SURE DOES look familiar. MAYBE he will be BACK to play another part......

Bruce Woodcock

Birdperson is a reference to Hawk from Season 2 of Buck Rogers and not a reference to Romulans.

Michael Bauer

George - re: other species in Trek: They are rarely just pure evil for evil’s sake - but they *are* often representations of certain aspects of the human psyche or represent certain social/political dynamics. So they’re not necessarily nuanced or diverse - though that happens, too. But when they’re not - you can be sure they are supposed to be a reflection on certain aspects of the human condition.

Bruce Woodcock

So a quick overview of the geopolitical situation without big spoilers. Earth is a founding member of the United Federation of Planets, along with 4 other alien civilizations: Vulcans, Andorians, Tellarites, and Alpha Centaurians. As the UFP explores and expands, more alien civilizations are encountered and sometimes join the Federation and sometimes don't. You will meet them over time through various series. Usually these are confined to one planet so they are not major players. There are other interstellar empires in the galaxy, but they are generally monoracial species, not multiracial like the Federation. In the TOS era, the four primary alien antagonists are the Romulans, Klingons, Tholians, and Gorn. In the TNG era, more alien empires will be encountered, such as the Ferengi, Cardassians, and Breen. There are some "evil for evil's sake" aliens, and a major one in particular that we won't mention here, but generally even the bad guys have shades of grey. The galaxy is divided into four quadrants: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. The Federation is primarily in the Alpha quadrant (but not all of it) with some extension into Beta. The Romulans, Klingons, and Gorn are primarily in the Beta Quadrant. The Gamma and Delta quadrants are largely unexplored in the TOS era but you will learn more about them in future series.

WayneC

Suprised they were whispering like they were on a submarine, since "in space, noone can hear you scream". I would like to suggest that you watch the movie "Das Boot", one of the finest submarine movies.

Marshmallow Venom (실리콘 밸리)

This is absolutely one of the gems of TOS and even of all iterations of Star Trek. I used to think that the Romulans being, essentially, Rome was an allusion that our own Romans were seeded from Romulus, hence the exact nomenclature, but I don't believe that any more. Mark Lenard, who played the Romulan captain, becomes a Star Trek legend in a different, and for now, classified, role.

Theadora

I doubt that Shatner got teased for his last name; "shat" as the past tense of "shit" is way too esoteric.

Raven Dark

Leaving these comments as I watch, so I haven't seen the reaction to the episodes yet. Jumped ahead and listened to your thoughts, though, so some of my thoughts might be all over the place. The titles of the episodes are left off here. You have the word "Episodes:" but then nothing. I assume you didn't mean to do that? Titles in case you didn't, and so you don't have to hunt them up: "Conscience Of The King," and "Balance Of Terror." George - the Jujubes Simone was talking about: https://www.amazon.ca/McCormicks-Jujubes-Bulk-Candy-Kilogram/dp/B08R8W6DSH?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1 They come in various shapes and colors. These are just, like, mounds, I guess you'd call them, but I've seen some in the shapes of miniature fruits. You can get them in one color too, like red, yellow, or green. Black ones taste like black licorice (yuck). Variations on jujubes might have a different name, but sometimes be more or less the same thing. There are also sour versions of the candy. Ohhh, there's also a chocolate bar I love called a Big Turk, and that, at least to me, is just a bar of soft chocolate with a filling that's made of the same thing jujubes are made of, and it's red. It's very chewy and sweet, and looks kind of lie taffy. Simone, if you've never had a Big Turk, based on how much you love chocolate-covered jujubes, you'd probably love it, so you should try one. You both should. Simone, your reaction to eggs is hilarious. I've never heard of anyone reacting to them that way. I don't think I've had that many exotic foods in my lifetime, though that feels like one of those things where I'll remember something randomly long after I've walked away from this reaction, and then I'll have to come back and tell you. Cuz I'm one of those people who thinks of this kind of thing and then can't NOT say it.

Crystal

as you get farther into the series, you'll see the Klingons are modeled after the Mongols, then later they picked up a bit of "cold war" Russian bits as well, given the time

Monica Alarcon

I know you still have a while till you finish the original series but I do hope you watch The Animated series before the movies and before TNG. It's short and it is considered canon and there are references to it in Future shows, mainly Lower Decks. It's 22 episodes but they are like 24 minutes each so you can do 3 or 4 each week... Oh and almost all the cast returns to play their characters.

REDR58

Okay this is driving me nuts. Is “floozy” (or floozie) slang in Canada for anyone who sleeps around? Because in the US “floozy” is exclusively used to describe women and in a derogatory way at that. In the US, for men, we’d say “womanizer” or maybe “lothario” but that’s a rather dated term.

TwoBitWriter

George, you are in for such a treat, as there is SO MUCH lore related to the Star Trek universe. You can spend hours browsing entries on Memory Alpha.

REDR58

Speaking of “Hamlet” seek out the 1996 version directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh and Kate Winslet, among other luminaries.

Perry Campbell

Great reaction to my favorite episode balance of terror ❤️❤️❤️❤️George missed it when they fired the weapon on enterprise. Sulu said the weapon was dissipating while they were backing up.

Fuckerage

Romulus and Remus are aloso named as Space Ship In New Alien Romulus

Monica Alarcon

I'm not quite sure if it's cannon but the romulans call themselves the Rihannsu...

Monica Alarcon

Yes we will see the Romulans again in this series... The next Romulans commander will be VERY different from the one in Balance of Terror...

Monica Alarcon

Space Nazis?? In Star Trek? Naaaah come on...

Joe Concepts

No reactions seem to notice a little detail in the briefing room. Kirk asks Spock for the details on the comet and hands Spock a book, as if he will look it up in the book. Then Spock pushes the book away like, "Nah, I already know all about it."

Thomas Yanez

I have never heard the candy pronounced that way. It has always been pronounced "joo joo bees".

Raven Dark

That's interesting about jujubes. I've only ever heard it pronounced the way Simone said it--"Joo Joobs." I'm in Canada, so I don't know if that makes a difference.

Raven Dark

I thought I was going to have a lot more to say following my other comment above once I finished watching the reaction, but all I really have is this: If I saw these episodes before, it was so long ago that I don't remember them. It was interesting, seeing the first introduction to the Romulans here. I enjoyed both of these episodes, and your reactions to them did not disappoint.

Pearl Jam

So, interesting thing about Kirk’s middle name: in episode 3 “Where No Man Has Gone Before” when there was a tombstone for Kirk, his middle initial was R.

Gaius Frakking Baltar

Barbara Anderson (who portrayed the batshit crazy Lenore Karidian) was a stage actress with experience playing Shakespeare, which I think really helped sell her performance. Shatner would reunite with Anderson six years later on an episode of Mission: Impossible. Shat plays a sleazy cocaine dealer, and Anderson plays an undercover government agent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTbY97uX7vA

Alan Pownall

I was indeed repeatedly saying the name of that one species Simone eventually remembered. Early TOS is pretty rough on it's world building but the jist is that Starfleet is the military/exploratory branch of the United Federation of Planets which is made up of multiple species and is probably closer to being the EU on steroids rather than USA when it comes to how federal/unitary its government setup is. The show(s) itself doesn't dwell on civilian life in the UFP, in fact we often get a better understanding of how alien nations work but after watching almost 1000 episodes you can fill in a few blanks.

Kurt Hockenbury

The whole "Tiberius" discussions reminded me, another series you should add to your watch list is "I, Claudius". It is a 1970s BBC drama about the early Roman Emperors. It is filmed more like a stage play, but it is well worth while.

NEIL PICKERING

EGGS AS WELL?!?! simone,agoraphobic in training!!!

Kurt Hockenbury

I figure "Bird of Prey" being a loose translation - like the "F-15 Eagle" or "F-16 Falcon".

Sergio Meira

The most exotic thing I've ever eaten was snake... weird taste, but strangely pleasant.

Sergio Meira

"Balance of Terror" is a very famous TOS episode (it has been imitated/cited a lot in the media since then), not just because it introduces the Romulans, who become quite important in the future of TOS, TNG, and DS9, but also because it introduced the "two enemies who have to fight and end up respecting each other" trope ('we could have been friends'...). Also, the process whereby Kirk finally finds the Romulan ship is very well thought-out. A suspense piece that worked remarkably well then, and still works now. All in all, a great episode.

Dee Aitch

The who? We've never met a "Klingon" and probably talking about them would be a spoiler.

michael denny

Space nazis.........in star trek........lol

JBK405

I'd say the most "exotic" food I ever ate was crocodile. It was okay, but in actual taste wasn't distinct enough from anything else to leave a strong impression. I remember eating it, but not what it FELT like to eat it. George, to answer your question (And to correct a bunch of people who commented already), at THIS TIME in the production of the series Earth is its own government with its own area of territory. The United Federation of Planets, which will be introduced later in this season, had not yet been invented by the writers or introduced. As it stands here, Earth is its own "country" and has various allies and enemies in other species. Signs and patches and production info from this era says that the Enterprise is commanded by the "United Earth Space Probe Agency" (UESPA). In a little while that will change and Earth will have been a member of the Federation all along, but we're not there yet. For this episode, the Romulan Commander mentioned in dialogue that they were probing to see if the Earth defenses were weak and the Romulans should invade their territory. That's why he said he wished they would be destroyed before returning home, since he regretted the war that would come when he returned victorious. People love to say that each alien species is a direct metaphor for an aspect of 1960s society, but it's never as 1:1 as they present it as. In this instance, the threat of the Romulans was loosely based on USA-China relations during the Cold War at the time. Primarily the "Mysterious and Unknown" aspect of Yellow Peril racism. The Romulans are inscrutable and unknowable, and behind their invisible wall they are possibly amassing a giant horde to invade our territory and do Who-Knows-What. Just like paranoid fearmongers were screaming in the '60s about the PRC, since the US government only had formal relations with the ROC and there was very little contact with or knowledge of mainland China. Just like Earth and Romulans have had no contact for 100 years, even though both nations have each had contact with other people. Again, not a direct metaphor, but that's the fear that the episode was tapping into at the time. And in their efforts to subvert all of this paranoia and fear, the episode showed "the enemy" as being very human, and "of a kind" with the captain.

gfixler

Jujubes (joo-joobs, not joob-joobs) were a standard in the glass case at movie theaters, along with Whoppers (malted milk balls), Good & Plenty, Swedish Fish, Runts, Bottle Caps, Hot Tamales, Mike and Ike, Sweet Tarts, Sour Patch Kids, gummy bears/worms, m&m's, Reese's peanut butter cups, Skittles, Lemonheads, Spree, and probably a few others. I always went for Whoppers, Swedish Fish, or Jujubes, though I had a Good & Plenty phase.

gfixler

Yeah, I've only ever heard/said joo-joobs. I loved them, but they really stuck to your teeth. You had to put some pressure into biting into them, and then they wanted to pull your teeth out of your jaw when you tried to open your mouth again. As a kid, I found that fun. As an adult, I actually worry about my teeth being pulled out of my jaw.

Raven Dark

Ohh, I love Whoppers. I haven't had those in forever. My favorite at the theater was gummy bears or wine gums. I've never heard of Swedish Fish. What are they?

Christian Rennie

Gamey taste for snake the last time I had it. Funny thing it was over an open flame and even skinned and head-less it was still squirming on the grill. Weird. What kind was it? Mine was a Rattlesnake. But for me the most "exotic" or delicacy was Shark Fin Soup. It tasted very distinct and I remember eating it but not liking the combination of flavors.

Peter Dillard

My favorite TOS episode. The storyline closely follows a movie about a WW2 submarine-destroyer battle called 'The Enemy Above and Below' that you might want to consider watching.

Peter Dillard

In the Star Trek universe one of the movies shows the first contact between the Vulcans and earth and the prequel series 'Enterprise' explores that relationship in a lot more depth.

Peter Dillard

There is another Romulan appearance in TOS with a VERY interesting twist.

Skyruff Creative

As a writing shortcut, writers of all of Trek use historical and societal ques to introduce new cultures to make it simple and easy to understand the new culture without three hours of monologue. In this case making Romulans = Romans we instantly know all we need to know about them. Usually, they are not al 1 to 1 but use costume and vocal queues. to give us a common understanding.

Skyruff Creative

Evil? Hummm ...... Mirror Mirror on the wall who's the evilest of them all!!!

Paul Peavler

Man, if you want lore, Star Trek is a great place to be. That’s why I’m so surprised George has never seen it (plus how much he loves space). It’s important to remember that just with what we’ve seen on screen there are over 1,000 hours of content across about a dozen TV series and 13 movies and that content covers about 1,000 years of time (though most Trek takes place within about a 250 year window). So you will be introduced to a lot of civilizations, but their characterizations, alliances, and cultures will all evolve over time. Even the species that Simone was thinking of as pure evil evolves to a pretty significant degree over time, especially in the modern shows.

3dbadboy1

Call it egg suspension then.

SpankTheMonk

Repeat Episodic Comment FYI - “I'll tell you what. You show me a reaction for all Roddenberry & Bernan Star Trek TV (and then possibly a Picard Season 3 for a capper), I will quit my current support tier right now and I go full cream cheese tier for you…”. Not Donny

Sergio Meira

Oh, mine was an anaconda. I was in Northern Brazil, and my friends took me to a restaurant that basically had only game meats -- for outsiders, you know. One of them dared me to eat anaconda... and I accepted. (I also once saw, but did not taste, a smaller green snake being roasted on an empty fire. I didn't taste it because of a weird feeling of empathy and pity for it -- it did seem to be squirming...).

Simon Pegged Me

I was thinking the same thing. "The Enemy Below (1957)" is one of my favorite naval combat movies, and this episode mirrors it, with the Enterprise taking on the role of the US destroyer, firing phasers like depth charges, and the Romulan vessel taking on the role of the German U-Boat, torpedoes being their devastating weapons. According to "The Enemy Below"'s trivia page on IMDB, when the similarities between the film and the episode were pointed out to "Balance of Terror" director Vincent McEveety, who had seen the movie years before but had not consciously done anything to refer to or pay homage to it, he said, "Obviously, it's the same story."

TomGas2025

if you liked the Shakespearian Thing in it just wait until you (hopefully) reach Star Trek VI. The Klingon saying "you will enjoy Shakespeare more if you read it in the original klingon" always gets me...

Peter Dillard

Also interesting that the weapons used by the Enterprise were later called 'photon torpedoes' with phasers working completely differently.

Nicholas Bielik

The ending of this episode is brilliant and devastating. What can Kirk say to her? There is really nothing to say, but they are people working in a dangerous job, and sometimes they lose good people. They both know that, but it doesn’t make the loss any easier. As he walks into the hall, we see Kirk go from being an uncertain, vulnerable human being to then transitioning back to being the captain again. The mask is back on, but he’s probably going to carry this and many other losses with him for the rest of his life.

Darin Foat

This is an extremely diverse comment thread. Shakespeare, Tiberius, Jujubes. Something for everyone. :)

Alan Kobb

Balance of Terror is on most Top-5 lists. It tops mine. It was based on a 1957 movie called The Enemy Below, which was a submarine movie. The writer said that he wasn't thinking of that movie, but realized afterward that he basically re-wrote that movie. That movie was also an inspiration for The Hunt for Red October, and you can see lots of similarities. Some amusing things. The Vulcan ear prosthetics took a lot of time and money to make, so they put the Romulan crew in helmets. The writer, Paul Schneider invented the Romulans for this episode, but as you can imagine, they were so well imagined and had such interesting cluture that they became a regular nemisis. Mark Lenard, who played the Romulan commander called it the best TV role he ever played.

Theadora

To build tension.

Opti_Frog

It's so fun to watch these early episodes where they hadn't figured out all the background and history of the galaxy, and they use several different names for what would later be Starfleet. 😊

REDR58

I really like how they use radiation or other protective suits, at least occasionally in this series. Makes it more realistic than TNG in some ways where protective gear is almost never seen.

MacGuffinStuff

Good job Simone, when George asked if there are bad baddies like Nazis, I was like come one Simone, you know who, but good job not spoiling it. Wow that really was a cool episode, and that actor who played the Romulan commander will thankfully be returning many, many times, he was great.

ASMR Art Party (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-09 01:00 Looked through all the notes incase someone else mentioned it, but seems not. There is a theory that the episode The Conscience of the King character Kodos helped influence the creation of the comic character Thanos a few years later. Kodos wanting to kill half of the population to save the other half because of resources on his planet, also the name and perhaps the father daughter difficulty.
2024-08-29 06:41

Young Blood Priest

I’m not sure about this theory because Thanos’ motivations in the comics aren’t the same as in the movies. Where in the movie he believes killing half of all life will save the universe the comic version is only doing it to impress the personification of Death. He thinks she will return his love for her once she sees how many things he’s killed (first version of todays incel?).

SpankTheMonk

Funny you bring up the Phantom Menace mildly racist/stereotyping sounding aliens of the trade federation. They are called “neimoidians” which legend has it is another G Lucas slight against Star Trek.

Alan Kobb

You asked about cultures that are just "evil for evil's sake". As far as I can recall, this has rarely, if ever happened in Trek. We've seen several warlike cultures, but they valued honor, courage or dedication to a cause above all. We've seen a species that wanted to subjigate and kill all other species, but it turns out that in their past they were terribly mistreated by so many other species that they developed a culture of mistrusting all. In any case, in Trek, evil never comes for it's own sake. It has a history that can explain why or it has a controlling influence that can be eliminated, or the culture has some common beliefs that humans can understand and respect, so as to sow trust.

G Lam

I have eaten ant soup and tarantulas. I have to say, I'm a big fan of the tarantulas... The way they were cooled (whole) and seasoned, would make for a good bar snack. The dish looked like this: https://i.imgur.com/bLeNoaX.jpeg Also had frogs and deep fried snake on the same trip.... they were nothing special... they were kind of nothing at all to be honest.

Jonas

Whenever I encounter someone with the middle initial T, I always guess Tiberius, but unfortunately, it's always Thomas. :-/

John Costello

The whites are never the problem if its red then remove it

Michael Kemmet

Re: the wedding march Richard Wagner(pronounced Rik-hard Vag-ner) was as terrible a person as he was a great composer. One of those uncomfortable dichotomies us classical music fans have to deal with. Anyway, the music we generally know as "Here Comes the Bride" is actually named the Bridal Chorus from the opera Lohengrin. We music geeks get a chuckle over the use of the music as a bridal entrance march because it actually comes AFTER the wedding in the opera. It's performed when the now wedded bride(Elsa) and groom(Lohengrin) go to Elsa's bridal chamber after the ceremony. What hurts a touch is that the real bridal procession music(Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral) is a thousand times better than the Bridal Chorus. I've gotten to perform the Lucien Cailliet wind ensemble transcription a couple times and it's an amazing piece of music that will leave you having chills almost the whole seven-ish minutes. (My favorite recording is the 1959 Eastman Wind Ensemble with Frederick Fennell conducting, but there are many other great recordings on YouTube.) The Bridal Chorus became a western wedding tradition mostly because Princess Victoria(Queen Victoria's daughter) chose it as her bridal march for her 1858 wedding to Prince(later Emperor) Fredrick of Prussia.

Justin Fries

George, you're 100% right about the egg. The white stringy thing is called a chalaza (ka-LAY-za). Two chalazae (plural, ka-LAY-zee) keep the yolk suspended in the middle of the egg. They have nothing to do with embryos or fertilization at all. They're pretty much like the rubber bands I used inside a milk carton for my middle school egg drop competition. Bad design, by the way: it went SPLAT.

Ginger

Small correction: Chickens do have an umbilical cord: attached to the yolk sac where it gets much needed nutrition. A few days before hatching, the chick absorbs the small intestine and the remaining yolk sac inside its body. This leaves behind a navel at the entrance. However, the stringy thing (which I also have to remove, I'm with Simone on this one - although it's also a sign that it's a fresh egg, as it dissolves over time) is there to stabilize the yolk inside the egg. Fertilized eggs are definitely being sold in supermarkets: People occasionally breed them at home, but it's relatively rare. You're more likely to get one from a local bio farmer. I used to think the little red spots or lumps are chicken embryos (and the string being the umbilical cord) but actually, they're just parts of the hens small intestine or blood that can get inside the egg.

TGrimace

Yeah. One definitely springs to mind, doesn't it?

Bradley Shafer

I had Horse Flesh at an Uzbekistani restaurant In Kiev Ukraine 14 years ago. It was called that on the menu.

Eric Wilson

The white is what the baby chicken eats and cushions the egg. The chicken would be in the yoke (yellow) also the white is more healthy.

Andreas Schmitt

Claiming he was a terrible person is quite the stretch just because he had a few prejudices about Jewish music. Maybe read up on a topic before making wild claims. The man was totally fine.

Marcus Hicks

There are actually two bridal marches that are in common use today. The Wagner one, and the Mendhelssohn one-from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Angela D. Mitchell

Balance of Terror was fantastic, and it's a TOS episode I'd never seen before! Absolutely loved it. I would agree with George that it felt very much like a classic submarine battle -- a game of tactical cat and mouse in stealth. It was absolutely beautifully written. And Simone, I know who you were thinking of -- great villains.