Nurse Christine Chapel's (Jess Bush) greatest invention in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds can be explained by Star Trek: Discovery's Klingon War. In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' series premiere, Chapel injects Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong), and Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) with a compound that genetically alters them into natives of Kiley 279. Chapel's invention "surgically" turns Starfleet officers into aliens for temporary missions with technology that becomes widespread throughout the United Federation of Planets.
In Star Trek: Discovery season 1, the Klingons use brutal, invasive surgery to transform Voq (Shazad Latif) into Starfleet officer Lieutenant Ash Tyler to infiltrate the USS Discovery. The real Lieutenant Tyler was imprisoned and used as a physical and psychological template. Voq's Klingon body was physically transformed into Tyler's human one, as Voq was broken and reforged through excrutiatingly painful surgical procedures. Redundant Klingon organs were removed, bones shaved down and broken, skin thinned and reformed over a new, human-like frame. Tyler's memories were also grafted onto Voq's, such that Star Trek: Discovery's Voq became Lieutenant Tyler in every conceivable way.
Nurse Chapel’s Strange New Worlds Invention Can Be Explained By Star Trek: Discovery’s Klingon War
As A War Veteran, Chapel Could Have Known About Surgically-Altered Klingon Spies
Nurse Chapel's invention to turn Starfleet officers into aliens can be explained by Star Trek: Discovery's Klingon War. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 8, "Under the Cloak of War", reveals more details about Nurse Chapel's experience as a veteran of the Klingon War with the Federation. Chapel was deployed to J'Gal, where she was Dr. Joseph M'Benga's (Babs Olasunmokun) head nurse in Starfleet's Mobile Combat Surgical Unit. There, Chapel could have been exposed to Klingon sleeper agents like Tyler/Voq, which might have inspired Christine Chapel to start working on a more humane method for Starfleet to have its own undercover agents.
Nurse Chapel would theorize that there's a better way to turn someone into a different alien species.
Starfleet's undercover agents could also be used for humanitarian purposes, such as seamless integration into pre-warp alien populations during first contact missions. Knowing that the Klingon method is brutal and irreversible, Nurse Chapel would theorize that there's a better way to turn someone into a different alien species, and invent it herself. Instead of physically reforming a patient's body, Chapel's method changes the subject's DNA with samples from the target species. Chapel's hypospray-based method is still painful, but far more humane, and results in Starfleet officers being temporarily indistinguishable from aliens until their original DNA reasserts itself.
Chapel Wants To Pursue Archaeological Medicine In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3
Nurse Chapel's Future With The USS Enterprise Is Already Written
In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, Christine Chapel wants to pursue archaeological medicine. Chapel applies to the Fellowship of Archaeological Medicine in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 and continues applying even after being rejected. The Fellowship finally accepts Christine Chapel in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 9, "Subspace Rhapsody". Chapel's solo in the Star Trek musical episode, "I'm Ready", declares Christine's intent to leave the USS Enterprise to study on Vulcan for 3 months with Dr. Roger Korby (Cillian O'Sullivan), who will eventually become Chapel's fiancé, as seen in Star Trek: The Original Series.
Jess Bush remains part of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' cast in season 3 even if Chapel leaves the USS Enterprise to pursue her fellowship.
Chapel's study with the Fellowship of Archaeological Medicine in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 is a switch that makes sense. As an explorer and a scientist, Christine Chapel gathers experience that adds to her body of knowledge, and proves useful when the time is ready for it. In a preview of Strange New Worlds season 3, Chapel explains the leveled-up version of her DNA-altering serum is inspired by the Kerkhovians, who previously turned Spock human. It's not a stretch to think that Chapel's Star Trek: Strange New Worlds serum might have come from Klingon sleeper agents during Star Trek: Discovery's Klingon War.
