A FAVORITE TOS EPISODE "BALANCE OF TERROR" IS A TOUCHSTONE FOR THE #STARTREKDISCOVERY STORY ARC #STARTREK50 #LLAP50 pic.twitter.com/3UqKS46Tnu
— Bryan Fuller (@BryanFuller) September 9, 2016
"Really when we developed the story it could take place in either Prime [Shatner timeline] or Kelvin [Pine timeline] so the timeline was relatively inconsequential,” “Star Trek Discovery” showrunner Bryan Fuller told me during the Aug. 27 episode of my KERN-FM radio show. Nonetheless, Fuller and the other forces controlling the show opted for the “Prime” universe where we first met Kirk, Picard, Sisco, Janeway, Archer, et al.
But.
In the Kelvin timeline the universe learned what Romulans looked like the day Jim Kirk was born. In the Prime timeline, the universe learned Romulans look just like Vulcans decades later when Kirk was commanding the Enterprise.
The almost-last “Star Trek” episode of 1966, “Balance of Terror” features Mr. Spock explaining that the Earth-Romulan War ended a century earlier. (“Star Trek Discovery” takes place just a decade before “Balance of Terror.”)
It’s likely I’m trying to take Fuller’s tweet too literally.
"You and I are of a kind,” the defeated Romulan commander tells Kirk immediately before destroying his own ship. “In a different reality, I could have called you friend." I seem to recall somebody saying something about “Discovery’s” central character growing as she’s thrown into alien cultures.
Fuller also told us to expect more details in October as production of “Discovery” gets underway. The new series premieres on CBS and begins streaming on CBS All Access in January.
