# Did they ever follow up "The Corbomite Maneuver?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [February 4, 2023, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281 "2023-02-04T00:50:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/1 "2023-02-04T00:50:07Z")
Random thought that flashed through my tiny brain: Did they ever follow up on Lt. Bailey and Balok? The episode leaves us with Bailey as an emissary to what appears to be a very powerful race. Was there ever any novel or such that dealt with this? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/2 "2023-02-04T04:10:30Z")
Bailey did such a good job with Balok that the Federation then assigned him to Ceti Alpha V to be the official liaison with Khan’s exiles. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/3 "2023-02-04T16:53:20Z")
Things got weird… [![](https://jeffstafford76.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/howard-van-patten-drinking-in-van.jpg) ](https://jeffstafford76.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/howard-van-patten-drinking-in-van.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/4 "2023-02-04T18:08:34Z")
Some apparently think that was when Earth joined the UFP. It wasn’t. The First Federation and the United Federation of Planets are two separate entities. There are also people who think T’Pol is a younger version of T’Pau. She isn’t. They’re two different Vulcans. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/5 "2023-02-04T18:29:37Z")
There are some serious 70s vibes coming from that picture. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/6 "2023-02-04T18:33:51Z")
Belok not only lost his hair as he got older; he also shrank a lot! 😲 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/7 "2023-02-04T18:47:27Z")
Why would they? The episode is self-contained and _Star Trek_ was about exploring new worlds, not revisiting old ones. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/8 "2023-02-04T18:51:20Z")
That’s what the novels were _for_. It seems like such an easy setting for a crank-it-out novel I’m surprised nobody has done it yet. Besides, all we saw was a glimpse of **1** First Federation ship. What else is there to learn about them? Only **everything**. Or do a streaming series that combines _Star Trek OG_ and elements of _Farscape_. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/9 "2023-02-04T19:12:54Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > There are also people who think T’Pol is a younger version of T’Pau. She isn’t. They’re two different Vulcans. Or one is an 80’s pop band. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/SwrYMWoqg5w/maxresdefault.jpg "T'Pau - Heart And Soul") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwrYMWoqg5w) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/10 "2023-02-04T19:16:34Z")
That question actually came up once during a trivia quiz. I was the only player who could answer it. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/11 "2023-02-04T19:23:48Z")
I THOUGHT they showed up to help in the novel Vendetta but apparently not…maybe its a video game they show up in briefly? ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/12 "2023-02-04T19:30:26Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > That question actually came up once during a trivia quiz. I was the only player who could answer it. Hehehe, I honestly would have only known the 80s band without your post to connect it to ST. 🤡 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/13 "2023-02-04T23:15:45Z")
For being as powerful as they appeared, the First Federation sort of was a big nothing. Might have been helpful with the borg, or the Dominion. Part of me wonders if Balok and the Fesarius was the entirety of the First Federation. Seems like something he would do. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/14 "2023-02-04T23:31:18Z")
The “Corbomite Device” was also used to bluff Romulans in the second season episode “The Deadly Years”. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/15 "2023-02-05T00:20:32Z")
The Wiki Memory Beta is a good source for information about Star Trek novels, comics and games. All the non-canon, non-TV/movie stuff. [It seems](https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/Balok) that there was a [single short story](https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/Ambassador_at_Large) where Balok and Bailey met Janeway and the Voyager. That’s the only reference for Balok they know about. A few other novels feature [Bailey](https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/David_Bailey). ---
**Author:** ![ZamboniAce1000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/f19dbf/32.png) [@ZamboniAce1000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZamboniAce1000)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/16 "2023-02-28T19:06:32Z")
Follow-up missions appear to be the bailiwick of California-class ships such as the Cerritos of “Star Trek: Lower Decks.” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.E](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.e/32/8932_2.png) [@Mr.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.E)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/17 "2023-02-28T19:41:54Z")
The big problem with The Corbomite Manuver is it’s really early in the original series’ run. IIRC, this is the first time anyone says “Federation” in the show, and it’s referring to an alien civilization. They were still trying to figure out what the galaxy looked like, throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what stuck. It aired before Romulans, before Klingons, before a whole lot of stuff that became standard for Star Trek as time went on. The whole episode is just about what James Kirk, and by extension humanity in general, would do when encountering a vastly more powerful opponent. In this case, the answer is “Bluff, then struggle, then find out the opponent is actually pretty friendly for some reason.” but then the most important part is that we’d want to befriend them and exchange our cultures. If there’s anything that carries on from this episode to the rest of Star Trek, it’s that humanity will do what it needs to in order to survive, but our ultimate goal isn’t survival, it’s exploring and learning and making connections with the wider universe. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/18 "2023-02-28T20:02:26Z")
My favorite dialogue from the episode: KIRK: What’s its mass, Mister Spock? SPOCK: Reading goes off my scale, Captain. Must be a mile in diameter. Really Mr. Spock? You can’t measure the mass of something over a mile in diameter? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/19 "2023-02-28T20:07:23Z")
It was made of very dense material… 😏 The best exchange was actually **SPOCK:** I regret not having learned more about this Balok. In some manner he was reminiscent of my father. **SCOTT:** Then may heaven have helped your mother. And the follow-up **SPOCK:** Quite the contrary. She considered herself a very fortunate Earth woman. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281/20 "2023-02-28T20:22:49Z")
They must have really been desperate for an ending to that episode. They probably decided to recycle the material at one in the morning the day they absolutely, positively had to get the film in the can. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-follow-up-the-corbomite-maneuver/979281.md?page=2)