Please no spoilers! So that I can provide my best and most honest reaction, please do not mention the names of any future characters, events, or episode titles (this goes for future series as well). Please do not say which upcoming episodes are good or bad, otherwise I will have trouble forming my own opinion! Thank you, and enjoy!

Shatner's acting in the episode may have been his finest hour on television.

This episode is top tier Trek. It really isn’t afraid to give the audience a few things to think about. It’s easily in my top 5 TOS episodes.

This is my absolute favorite episode from the Original Series. Favorite line: "In a different reality, I could have called you friend."

McCoy's speech to Kirk was telling Kirk he was unique ("3 million, million galaxies", "and in all of that only one of each of us". Every person in all the universe is unique and therefore precious, so "don't destroy the one named Kirk." Basically, telling Kirk to not be hard on himself. If you'd been having a tough day, McCoy would have said, "don't destroy the one named BunnyTails."

Actress Barbara Baldavin who played Angela the bride just passed away on March 31, 2024 at the age of 85.

The helmsman steers the ship after the navigator plots the course. Love the necklace.

This is a quintessential episode in the history of The Original Series. Great acting from the cast, and from Mark Lenard as the Romulan Commander.

Bigotry and Paranoia was a huge part of the politics of that era . Star Trek always has a message underneath it and this one had a huge one hidden under one of the best episodes that Star Trek ever had !!!!!!! Great action you get to learn how good a Captain Kirk was when the battle is at hand !!!! Plus a giant Smoke ring never was a better weapon !!!!!

Kirk walking out of the chapel and down the hall like a boss is one of my favorite Trek closing scenes.

The romulan commander is one of the most fascinating characters from Star Trek and actor Mark Leonard played him brilliantly.

I had actually met Mark Lenard at a Star Trek Convention in Montgomery, Alabama and he was just as down to earth any personable as could be

This is a fantastic episode. I always enjoyed watching this one growing up. It’s essentially a remake of the film, “Enemy Below” which was a World War Two submarine film with very similar themes. The characterizations in this episode are terrific and set the tone for much of the series.

This is my favorite episode of any trek. It really highlights Shatner's acting. I love the scene where Styles is glaring at Spock and Kirk walks to the front of the helm and raps on the control panel. No words. No speech.

Glad to see she especially noted Uhura taking over as navigator. Fifty plus years after B of T, we learn Uhura, like all starfleet cadets are highly trained for a number of ships functions - in her case not just linguistics.

Run Siulent, Run Deep was a popular submarine WWII suspense thriller movie in the fifties. This episode borrows heavily from that film. It was one of a few classic submarine adventures. The Germans made a terrific submarine film in the eighties called Das Boot - The Boat, which has a very sad ending.

What makes this episode great is the fully developed characterization of the Romulans and in particular their commander. In lots of sci fi or even regular shows and movies, the villain is often just a 2-dimensional character presented as simply evil. Here we see an enemy commander who is weary of war, skeptical of his leader's ambitions, trapped nevertheless the politics of his world, confiding in an old friend and sparring with an ambitious junior officer. And yes, showing mutual respect to his adversary. And it highlights the folly of war with the line "In another reality, I could have called you friend". On the "good guy" side, it shows the humanity of Kirk and the stresses of dealing with life and death consequences. No to mention the subtext of bigotry and the emotional loss of a crew member. And again, I first saw all this at the age of 9 or 10 in 1975 on re-runs where it left a lasting and important impression. That is why the show is so treasured by so many of my generation.

This episode shows that it wasn't all happy flowers exploring space in peace and harmony. Sometimes the aliens don't want to play nice.

This is easily one of the best episodes of TOS. Seeing the Enterprise in combat, the perspective of the enemy, the theme of morality vs duty in regards to war, dealing with prejudices... Looking back, it's so interesting how certain aspects introduced here impacted later stories. You'll see how eventually.

This is one of the better episodes of the entire series. The emphasis was on the writing and the acting, not so much the action. I'm so glad you're enjoying these as much as you are. Mark Lenard, who played the Romulan Commander also was a Klingon in the first ST movie, but is best known for playing Spock's father in multiple ST series and movies.

Oh yeah this is a fantastic episode that displays Kirk’s tactical prowess

This is possibly my favorite episode of Trek ever. It’s such brilliant storytelling.

Mark Lenard, the Romulan commander, one if a handful of actors to play multiple roles in TREK, one role happens to be very iconic.

This episode now has a bunch of reactions to it, but I noticed one little detail people overlook. It's easy for anyone to overlook. When that comet comes up, Kirk hands Spock a book as if he wants him to look up the details of that comet in it. Then Spock just pushes it away and starts talking, because he already knows all about it.

You'll need to be a little careful on spoilers here...not being specific, an element of this episode resurfaces later... This is considered one of the original series all-time great episodes! Mark Lenard played the Romulan Commander and is one of the series' best guest performances. Great to see you finally react to this one!

This is among the greatest, and arguably the greatest, of all the episodes Star Trek has ever done. An absolutely timeless morality play -- terrific. Every single performance in this is flawless. Shatner at his very best.

I'm happy to see a younger person watching, appreciating, and understanding the meaning of each episode.

6:53 "I don't know too much about Romulans ..." None of us trekkies knew anything about Romulans when this episode first aired in 1966. When the Romulan Commander appears for the first time, we were all genuinely shocked. It was truly a WTF moment!!!

This episode has a very similar storyline to The Enemy Below (1957)- The Romulan ship is like a submarine (slow moving, cramped interior, and with a powerful weapon, but one which it has to be near the surface to use) and the Romulan commander uses the same kind of tricks to escape the Enterprise as a U-boat captain would to elude an allied destroyer.

According to Memory Alpha: The helmsman (or helm officer) was the Starfleet crewperson who operated the helm console on 22nd and 23rd century Federation starships. The helmsman of those vessels worked in concert with the navigator, who plotted the ship's course. On the USS Enterprise, the helmsman controlled both the speed and attitude of the ship, as well as the ship's weapon and shield systems.

I loved Legend of the Galactic Heroes! It’s a slow drama with strategic space battles intermixed. I loved the conflicting perspectives of the two sides and the mutual admiration of the two commanders. It’s very similar to Kirk and the Romulan commander. Good parallel!

Romulans are the distant ancestors of Vulcans. They were opponents of peace/logic and preferred the militant approach to interstellar relations. They left Vulcan in ancient times and eventually formed the Romulan Star Empire. The show creators viewed the Romulans as a futuristic Roman society that strived for war and conquest.

Very important episode that establishes a lot of Star Trek lore. Thanks for the reaction :)

17:07 In fact there is an episode in the Animated series where she had the Captain's chair (Kirk, Bones, Scotty, Spock, Sulu where all on a planet's surface; she was next highest-ranking officer left on the bridge). It was early 70s and the only reason the writers "got away with it" (Woman of color in charge) was because the Network Execs weren't paying attention to an animated "kid's" show. And the writers knew it!

Ah, Legend of the Galactic Heroes! The distribution model for this anime was pretty unusual...it was a *subscription* anime series. You actually subscribed to get the episodes through the mail in Japan! It was directed by the famous anime director Noboru Ishiguro, who also directed Super Dimension Fortress Macross as well as many other classic anime. He also worked on Space Battleship Yamato, which I think you might also enjoy if you're unfamiliar with it. What a delight to find out you love Galactic Heroes - you have good taste Bunnytails!

Sulu is the helmsman, on Kirk's left. As on oceangoing ships of today going back to the sailing sjips, the helmsman actually maneuvers the ship per the Captain's instructions. Sulu also has control of the weapons, though we as pons control does sometimes switch over to the other side of the console. On thst other side is the Navigator, who sets the course and feeds it to the helmsman's instruments. The large panel between the two positions is also part of the Navigator's controls since the Navigator has to plot a course in three dimensions, not just keft or right, but up or down as well. The Navigator is a rotating post for a while until Chekov joins the ship - Chekov was actually added as a nod to the hippy crowd with his Beatles-esque hair, and also because the Soviet Union had denounced the show for not having any Russians. So Chekov is played way over the top with his Wussian accent and his national pride that frequently clashes with actual history. When Chekov joins, the weapon control seems to transfer to his panels. Chekov also fills in at the science station if Spock is unavailsble. The other visible stations are Spock's science station to Kirk's right, Uhura's station behind him, and the Engineering station to Kirk's left, sometimes manned by Scotty, but usually by a generic redshirt. Unseen are 3 or 4 additional stations to each side for Environmental services (ship's air, sanitation, etc) and support stations for the Science and Engineering posts. These are essentially never seen as they are not part of the set, though occasionally you see crew come into frame from where those might be, usually to relieve Chekov if he moves to the science station, or to replace someone who is hurt. Also never seen, but per the blueprints, there is a bathroom located to the left of the viewscreen, and an emergency access hatch located on the floor (deck) just in front of the helm/nav console to allow access to and exit from the bridge in the eventvthe lifts aren't working. There are also removable panels on either side of the turbolift alcove leading to a corridor behind all the bridge stations to let people go behind them to perform repairs when needed.

After this, the Romulans stopped storing ENGINE BLOCKS on the top shelf on the bridge.

This is ANOTHER one of the best. I can NEVER watch that final scene with Lt. Martine WITHOUT crying. If you haven't encountered it yet, the Romulan Commander becomes Spock's daddy.

One thing I appreciate about TOS, Kirk is shown to make errors especially in the beginning but he learns fast and never repeats mistakes

The guy playing the Romulan captain also played Spock’s father in other episodes and movies

this is such a good episode. Bigotry subplot notwithstanding, just watching Kirk and the Romulan commander try to predict the other's moves is so much fun.

There's a lot of great things to say about this episode, but I would say its biggest strength is allowing you to see things from the enemy's point of view and even empathize with their leader. That doesn't happen a lot in storytelling at all, at least not as well as what you see here.

This episode was modeled after the old World War II movies of a Navy destroyer tracking a submarine, including the analogy of phasers being used in a way that depth charges would have been and the submarine jettisoning materials to try to convince its pursuers that it had been sunk.

This episode was based upon a '50's WWII movie called THE ENEMY BELOW starring Robert Mitchum and Kurt Jurgens! Highly recommended!

6:21 - The idea of Romulan spies aboard Enterprise is a hold over from an early draft of the script. In that script, the Romulan ship resembled the Enterprise’ saucer with engines attached, implying that the Romulans had established a spy network inside Starfleet. If you keep this in mind then Stiles animosity toward Spock makes more sense.

This is why i signed up with you is to watch you go through all of star trek.

Awesome reaction. It's a pleasure to tag along on your Star Trek journey.

This episode reminds me of two excellent WWII submarine movies, "The Enemy Below" and "Run Silent, Run Deep." The part in the episode with the debris was a real trick WWII submarines would do to try to fool surface ships into thinking their depth charges had destroyed the submarine.

The phrase "balance of terror" was commonly used to describe the Cold War. The Soviet Union had enough hydrogen bombs to destroy us, and we had enough to destroy them. The theory was that we had to keep building more bombs to keep up with them and maintain the balance of terror.

I really love the design of the Romulan ship in this episode. I remember the plastic model set of this one when I was a kid in the 1970s. I had already completed the Enterprise and a Klingon battle cruiser as well as the plastic models of a communicator, phaser and tricorder. The design of the Romulans in this episode is based upon the Roman Empire. Where its world-building goes throughout the entire franchise is complex and unfolds in bits and pieces along the way. A truly fascinating species.

Thanks for watching. Best Romulan episode ever made. Not going to back down on that! :-)

A great episode to show the military side of Starfleet. Yet, one of my favorite aspects of Star Trek comes out: The everyday life of the crew(s). Always great to see. By the way, I am changing the world by calling the "original series" the "5 year mission". Let's make it happen.

I was about to do something else, I'm doing this now. 😊

Fun Fact: Director Vincent McEveety had seen the 1957 film "The Enemy Below" but only noticed the similarities between its plot and this episode later. He admitted "Obviously, it's the same story."

Hands down my favorite Classic Trek episode. Mark Lenard was amazing in this. I know he is forever known for portraying Spock’s father but here is awesome as Romulan Commander. Favorite part is his description of how worn out he is from countless campaigns and wars. Love these reactions you’re doing. 💙

This one is pretty bad ass. This one introduces you to the Romulan Empire.

Balance of Terror was based on a movie starring Robert Mitchum called 'The Enemy Below', a 1957 American DeLuxe Color war film in CinemaScope about a battle between an American destroyer escort and a German U-boat during World War II. Produced and directed by Dick Powell, the movie stars Robert Mitchum and Curt Jürgens as the American and German commanding officers.

I love the mood lighting that highlights Kirk's eyes and everything else is in shadow. It's one of the only things I'll give JJ Abrams credit for picking up on when he did his reboot.

This may not be my absolute favorite episode of TOS, but it very possibly is the most perfect. With its cinematic lighting and editing it plays more like a mini-feature film than a typical episode of ‘60s television. You might want to check out THE ENEMY BELOW, a 1957 World War II epic featuring a duel of wits between the captain of an American destroyer and the commander of a German submarine, which very heavily influenced this episode.

In Trek canon, the Romulans split off from the Vulcans centuries ago when the Vulcans abandoned warlike aggression and embraced logic (the teachings of Surak) and founded their Empire per those old values.

This episode is, by some people's reckoning, the best ST TOS ever produced. Definitely a firm fan favourite.

This episode of Star Trek the original series, actually reflects a submarine warfare campaign, similar to those fought during the second world war and makes you feel that Starfleet is a modern version of the American Naval Forces.

The helm, usually Sulu's position, is the person who is actually "flying" the ship. They use course information provided by the navigator, but when it comes time to maneuver the ship, whether with maneuvering thrusters when in "tight quarters" such as the shipyard, maneuvering within a planetary system using impulse drive, or interstellar travel using warp drive, the helm enters the commands and sometimes is shown using manual controls such as a "flight-stick" controller. A helmsperson should be adept at making quick decisions about evasive maneuvers when given the order by the captain or commander. Generally, the helmsperson is skilled at piloting a variety of different vehicles and may occasionally need to pilot vehicles from alien civilizations, so a basic understanding of the control lay-out used in both ally and enemy ships is a big asset.

Well done as usual. Thank you do much for sticking with this!

I think there's alot of Balance of Terror in Star Trek 2, especially the battle in the Mutara Nebula. It's Run Silent, Run Deep in space.

Aw, yiss! First of the really really good episodes... Hikaru Sulu is the main helmsman, and basically he does the steering. He kinda shares a few other duties with the second chair, which is where they keep the guns and a bunch of other stuff as needed. I think there's an espresso machine in there somewhere but it doesn't appear in any 'official' paperwork. Steering a starship is a tad tricky since they're going many times the speed of light, which, in turn, means they can only see out the windows thanks to special Space Glass. On the plus side, since gravity also operates at the speed of light, they don't have to worry about going into a gravity well when they're at warp speed, except for the times when they do have to worry about it. In Star Trek terms, impulse speed is like the pedalling around on a bicycle, whereas warp is still being on a bicycle but one where you've accidently got your hair caught in the undercarriage of a fighter jet. This is often unimportant, later series get a little more uptight. The ship is often going in more or less a straight line so Sulu is frequently just sat there making sure they don't fall out of cruise control, so he gets a bit of chatter from time to time. We know that the Enterprise doesn't have that thing where it makes a beeping noise when it's going backwards because in [SPOILER] we see it [SPOILERING] Everybody is going to point out that Takei and Shatner didn't get on very well. This is true, but what is untrue is that they were often found between takes slapping each other on the backside. The plot of this episode is fairly heavily based on the movie The Enemy Below. Not especially relevant, although that's a pretty good movie. The Romulans are the first big bad guy, and my preferred ones, the most famous enemy of Captain James R until it is T Kirk are seen later, the dreaded [SPOILONS]. There is a kick-ass Romulan story coming up which features, shock horror a [SPOILER]. I remain convinced that the Romuloids uniforms were the direct inspiration for British Rail's second class carriage upholstery for several decades. This is the first episode (I think) where they mention photon torpedoes, a weapons system much beloved. The slightly amusing thing is that, since photons are the elementary particles that make up light, whenever they fire one they're kinda saying they're throwing a really, REALLY bright flashlight at the bad guys. "In this galaxy, there's a mathematical probability of three million earth-type planets… and in all the universe, three million million galaxies like this one. And in all of that, and perhaps more, only one of each of us. Don't destroy the one named Kirk." "I hear you, Bones." "Or the one named McCoy." "I get it." "Sulu, Chapel, Scott..." "I understand, Doctor, each of us is unique and valuable." "And when I say only one of each of us, I don't mean transporter clones." "No, no, of course not." "Or android duplicates, doppelgangers created by lovecraftian deities, shape-shifters, chameleon creatures, telepathy induced illusions or the undeniable fact that a multiverse of possible universes exist, all but guaranteeing each of us has an infinite number of identical versions of ourselves kept distant by the width of a single quantum brane." "Do you keep a list, or was that improvised?" "I'm just saying, Jim, if there's a choice between living and dying, it doesn't make much of a difference in the face of the infinite cosmos." "Doc..." "I've been drinking, Jim, don't fret the little stuff."

Yeah buddy! This is how I will spend my last 1/2 hour writing reports today. Love your work BT.

This is the space equivalent of a WW2 destroyer hunting a submarine.

Great reaction to one of the best episodes of the Original Series! The helmsman's and navigator's jobs, both at the forward helm, sometimes seemed to overlap, and they did a bit. But, in the easiest terms, the helmsman steered the ship and the navigator was the person looking at the map/GPS and plotting the route. Usually the helmsman was also the one who fired the weapons, though that could be done from either seat or from a weapons officer station that was sometimes seen. And bridge officers were cross-trained on different stations, though they tended to be posted at their area of expertise. Thus Uhura, who was a good helm officer, stayed at the all important communications and damage control post as that was her area of expertise. Also in this episode Stiles is helmsman while Sulu is the navigator though Sulu is often at the helmsman's position. Since both jobs were very similar it didn't matter what position each sat in as they were both technically at the helm. This was also our first introduction to the wonderful Mark Lenard, a Star Trek stalwart who first appeared as the Romulan Commander but who was most often seen in multiple shows, series (Original Series and Next Generation), and movies as Sarek, father of Spock. To complete the trifecta he had a brief appearance as a Klingon Captain in the first Star Trek movie. His portrayal of the Romulan captain was a brilliantly done one. We could see he was involved and interested in the battle of tactical and strategic genius with Kirk, but that he was otherwise weary of the war and not happy about his 'duty' to potentially start a war to appease the bloodthirsty fools who sat in councils discussing politics and who knew nothing of actual war. His old friend the Centurion was his sounding board and his trusted advisor, and the loss of him just made him more tired of it all, but he still stuck to his duty. This aptly reflected the stresses and concerns of the Cold War era during which it was filmed. Not just the reflection of tensions between the two superpowers with the Neutral Zone in some ways being a reflection of Demilitarized zones in previous wars and the Berlin Wall that was a physical divider between the areas of control of the Federation/NATO and the Romulans/Soviets. It also included the biases of the people of the time, many of whom were suspicious of anyone who had an Eastern European name or accent, even if they had been in the West for generations. I know a man my father worked with when I was a little kid (early 70s) had undergone a name change along with the rest of his family when they immigrated to the U.S. around 1950 because they were, if I remember correctly, Jews of Russian-Lithuanian descent who had fled to escape the predations of the Germans during WWII, but with the anti-Soviet feeling at the start of the Cold war the family patriarch insisted that they all undergo name changes to more American names. The Romulan/Vulcan similarities were designed to emulate those feelings where Stiles, who previously had no problems with Spock, suddenly became very suspicious of him simply because he looked like a Romulan. So enjoying your watching of these original series episodes!

This episode is a good copy of the old WW2 movie, "The Enemy Below." starring Robert Mitchum as the Destroyer captain and Curt Jurgens as the German submarine captain. It was dramatic episodes like this that make you want to see more of Star Trek.

One of my favorite episodes of any Star Trek! 💜 A crowning example of what’s best about the series!

Fifty years of watching this show, and this is still the moment, for me, we truly get to see what Trek could be. Easily in my top five Trek episodes; original series of course, but in my all time top ten of ToS / TNG / DS9, kerk

This is one of the best Star Trek episodes. Not just in TOS, but all Trek.

One of the best episodes of the original series.

3:07 Kirk is prohibited from messing with people within his crew. Which is pretty much how most militaries are supposed to work. But alien babes are fair game! 😉

Great reaction! We cannot forget that this series took place during the Vietnam war. The death of Tomlinson, the weariness and sadness of the Romulan commander, and the "...in another reality I could have called you friend" statement highlight the tragedy of war. It would have been impossible for any television show of that time to make an explicit anti-Vietnam war statement, but Roddenberry was able to criticize war in an oblique way in Star Trek. A few years later M*A*S*H took it to another level, using the Korean War as an example of the brutality, calamity, and absurdity of war--amazingly through the vehicle of a comedy.

There I was watching you review one of the greatest TREK episodes ever...you finish and bust out LEGEND OF THE GALACTIC HEROES, my very favorite anime of ALL TIME?!?!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? You're a JEWEL of KZfaq. I bow to you.

This is my favorite episode of TOS! Great reaction and glad you’re enjoying Star Trek. I hope you watch all of the other series in future! I’d do anything to experience them for the first time again.

This episode is a homage to those WWII submarine films of old. PS. Although post WWII, the 1981 German produced _'Das Boot'_ is an excellent U-boat film. I have to edit my reply to add the PPS. I'll be sure to check out that 80's anime you suggested- _Legend of the Galactic Heroes_thanks for the sharing. 😃

This episode was very much based on the WWII movie "The Enemy Below" with Robert Mitchum, a captain of an American destroyer, vs a German U-Boat submerged beneath them. Great WWII movie well worth watching!!

The Romulans were patterned after the society of Ancient Rome. Their home planet are Romulus and Remus, the names the the legendary founders of the city of Rome. They are a militaristic society. Their military has Centurions. Their government has a Senate.

This episode introduced the first look of the cloaking device. You are going to be shocked to see what a Romulan looks like. Romulans are like cousins to the Vulcans.

Bunny, if you saw my comment on your last ST video, I'd like to add that your commentary is SUPERB. You are thoughtful, insightful, and provide a very neat perspective on this show! Also, and I just realized this...I don't think I've EVER heard you swear on any of these, which is so refreshing (trying to find KZfaqrs who DON'T swear every 5 minutes is....tricky at best). "Balance of Terror" is one of my favorite ST: TOS episodes. It's actually based off of a non-ST movie called "The Enemy Below", and if you haven't seen it, I strongly recommend checking it out. Thank you for, and please keep, taking us "Where no Bunny has gone before"! 🖖

This is one of my all time favorite episodes !!!! Weĺl written, and well acted..😊

Bones is the kind of friend one wants to have for all their lives.

The helmsman of a ship is the pilot and steers the ship (typically Sulu). Next to the helmsman is the operations office, who monitors the primary ship systems and acts as the ship’s navigator (usually Chekhov). Love your reaction videos.

@bunnytailsREACTS In the final scene with Angela and Kirk, after she leaves the chapel you see a bit of sadness as Kirk turns toward the altar, and then he reestablishes his grim face Captain-like demeanor as he goes back out into the corridor. Very underappreciated subtle acting by Shatner here in the unspoken form that gets little mention.

have to say: re-visiting the original series is making me appreciate it all the more...it was great to watch this show as a kid...

The helmsman of a starship is responsible for directional control as well as engine settings for warp, sub-light and maneuvering. He/she also has access to navigational and tactical sensors along with shield and weapons' controls. Many of the stations do this, as redundnancy is built in. For example, the navigator is responsible for plotting and updating courses, of course. yet he/she can also handle the tactical systems, as you saw Stiles doing and will see others do later on.

8:07 Romulans are descended from Vulcans. When Surak began spreading the philosophy of logic on Vulcan, some folks said “Heck no” and left. They went out into space and founded their own militaristic empire that in some ways mirrors Ancient Rome. So they are as strong and long lived as Vulcans but don’t suppress their emotions.

My favorite episode of the Original Series.

6:41 One of my favorite moments in TOS Star Trek ---with the music playing like it is while at the same time the camera zooms in on Spock's face as this absolutely startling, astonishing, shocking discovery is made. Iconic.

One of the very best episodes of any Star Trek series. They did a take for take version of it on Strange New Worlds. I have been a Star Trek fan for a very long time. I really enjoy watching you discover it and your reactions to it. Keep up the great work. Live long and prosper.

Mark Lenard was a very talented actor, who featured in many American tv shows, during the 60's and 70's. Here he plays the Romulan Commander, but he went on to play Sarek, the Vulcan father of Spock, in the original Star Trek tv show, Star Trek TNG and in the Star Trek movies.

This is directly inspired by a WW2 submarine versus destroyer situation. Such as the old film, 'The Enemy Below'. Anti-submarine warfare. Hence the phasers shooting with a preset explosion distance like depth charges. A bit of an odd shoehorn but it gets the point across. The Wrath Of Khan movie's ship battle in the nebula was probably inspired by a more modern sub vs sub battle too. All of them involving difficulty in finding and fixing the enemy with some best-guess estimates of the other side's tactics and where to shoot.

Woah, I wasn't expecting to see a LoGH shoutout in this. Great show, and a really good fit for Trek fans I agree.

this episode is an interpretation of the WWII movie "The Enemy Below" about a clash between a US Navy destroyer and a german U-boat in the Atlantic. some of the dialogue is almost word for word from the movie.

The final interaction between Kirk and the Romulan commander was memorable enough to have been spoofed at least a couple of times.

Sulu does the driving Chekhov reads the map.

I watched a bit of LoGH in college when I let myself get sucked into anime. Their strategic and tactical space battles are very reminiscent of the ones in Trek, this episode in particular. As someone pointed out, the format of these stories are actually based on submarine battles, where vessels tend to fight comparatively blind, and much of the dramatic tension is built in the same way.