Review

Meet: the Romulan Empire. This episode is quite clearly a 23rd century Cold War allegory in which Earth is the United States and the Romulan Empire is the Soviet Union. You might not think that to be a terribly original premise given how much fiction is out there satirizing the Cold War, but the devil is in the details which are strikingly original and fascinating in their implications. During this episode, Spock reveals that Earth fought an interstellar war with the Romulan Star Empire a hundred years ago during the 22nd century. This conflict ended with some kind of stalemate which resulted in a neutral, demilitarized zone of space created to serve as a buffer between the two nations. Since that time there has been absolutely no contact between them. As the title of the episode implies, such a political situation is a terrifying prospect. Imagine a powerful, reclusive nation sitting just on the other side of your border, ready to strike at any moment!

The Romulan Empire chose this moment to strike. This episode doesn't go into the implications of what Earth's political response will be to this blatant attack on its sovereignty as there wasn't enough time, but given the seeming importance of the events of this episode there are without a doubt more stories to be told about the Romulans. Like the political conflict, the revelation that the Romulan species is genetically related to the Vulcans is intriguing, as are Spock's comments about his people's volatile past. The Romulan Empire can thus be seen as a road not taken by the Vulcans. The Romulans are what the Vulcans might have become like had they not embraced logic and emotional detachment at the core of their philosophy. Given that, it's understandable why Spock would urge so diligently to destroy the intruder as he has a deep understanding of the threat they represent. This level of conviction adds new dimensions to both Spock and his people while cultivating a deeper, more interesting and nuanced antagonist at the same time.

While the episode does an excellent job deepening the Romulans through Spock, the plotting also gives them a great deal of time to shine on their own. The frequent cuts to the bridge of the Romulan vessel were an excellent choice on a number of levels. On the surface we get the delightful opportunity to see a space battle from both sides. But moving beyond that simple pleasure, framing the story in this way allows us to get to know the antagonists personally. We get to see them in their element and in their context. In a certain sense the story treats both sides of the battle as protagonists. In this story the tragedy isn't the traditional, expected suffering of the good guys at the hands of the bad guys, the tragedy is the conflict itself. By cultivating Romulan characters who are deep, sympathetic, and nuanced, their deaths at the end of the story are as tragic as the death of the crewman who was to be wed.

This is the sort of stuff the finest dramas are made of. This is without a doubt the best episode of Star Trek so far.