2. “The Enterprise Incident”
Like “The Trouble With Tribbles,” this episode features one of the major antagonists of the original Star Trek—the Romulans! Although this episode is not, perhaps, as frequently referenced as “Balance of Terror,” which introduced the Romulans, I think “The Enterprise Incident” is actually a better place to start.
Rather than a game of tactical cat-and-mouse, “The Enterprise Incident” has an espionage plot that gives Mr. Spock a chance to shine as he endeavors to seduce a Romulan Commander in the most Vulcan way possible. Meanwhile, Captain Kirk must infiltrate the Romulan ship and steal its cloaking device.
What this episode has over “Balance of Terror” is that it actually develops Romulan society. Yes, we get some of that in the introductory episode, but relatively little. In “The Enterprise Incident,” we have prolonged discussions between Spock and the Commander that paint a picture of how Romulans work and how they relate to Vulcans.
The reason to watch this episode after “The Trouble With Tribbles” is that it shows a style of Star Trek episode that focuses more on action and adventure. Even if it isn’t quite as action-heavy as an episode like “Arena,” it also has a somewhat higher level of verisimilitude than that episode, which is famous for having the “guy in a rubber lizard suit.”
Again, we have to remember that these are episodes to introduce people to the original series. A big part of that, in my mind, is to ease people into the style of show that TOS is. We don’t want to lie about what TOS is like, but we do want to curate it so that new fans aren’t turned off to the show for something that seems overly hokey.