Summary
- Starfleet officers sometimes undergo surgical alterations to pass as aliens on undercover missions in Star Trek.
- Characters like Captain Kirk, Deanna Troi, and Christopher Pike have transformed into Romulans and Kileans for important missions.
- An expert understanding of alien cultures and surgical disguises are crucial in maintaining secrecy and completing successful missions in the Star Trek universe.
Sometimes, the best way to complete a Starfleet mission in Star Trek is by taking on an alien alter ego to blend in with the population and avoid arousing suspicion. In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 9, "Lagrange Point", written by Sean Cochran & Ari Friedman, and directed by Jonathan Frakes, Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) leads an undercover mission to a Breen dreadnought. The Breen keep their true faces hidden behind helmets, so it's relatively easy for Burnham's team to disguise themselves as Breen, hoping to recover the Progenitors' technology that was taken by the Breen before the USS Discovery crew could obtain it.
If just dressing up in the enemy's clothes and signature helmets won't do, the advanced medical technology in Star Trek's future means that Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig), or any of Star Trek's talented medical personnel can perform the surgical procedures that make Starfleet officers resemble an alien species. It's an equally common procedure for said Starfleet officers to return to their original appearances when the mission is over, with no scarring and almost no complications. More often than not, Star Trek's undercover missions rely on advanced surgical alterations to pass Starfleet officers off as aliens.
6 Star Trek: The Original Series Season 3, Episode 4 - "The Enterprise Incident"
Captain James T. Kirk Becomes a Romulan
Star Trek's first instance of a Starfleet officer going under the knife to complete an undercover mission as an alien is in Star Trek: The Original Series season 3, episode 4, "The Enterprise Incident", when Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) is surgically altered by Dr. Leonard McCoy to appear Romulan. Kirk's cosmetic surgery is just one part of an elaborate scheme to complete the Federation mission to steal a cloaking device from a Romulan battle cruiser. As a Romulan, Kirk is able to sneak aboard the Romulan ship and get close to the cloaking device, while Spock gets close to the Romulan commander (Joanne Linville) as a distraction tactic.
After Star Trek: The Original Series season 1, episode 15, "Balance of Terror" introduces the Romulan penchant for espionage and the relationship to Vulcans, "The Enterprise Incident" affirms the concepts. Further ideas about Romulans established in "The Enterprise Incident" would persist and evolve in Star Trek: The Next Generation and later Star Trek series, such as the similarity between Romulan and Klingon starship design, and the strained relationship between Vulcans and Romulans.
5 Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6, Episode 14 - "Face of the Enemy"
Romulans Defectors Transform Counselor Deanna Troi
Echoing Kirk's transformation into a Romulan in Star Trek: The Original Series, Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) finds herself transformed into a Romulan in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, episode 14, "Face of the Enemy". Instead of a voluntary Starfleet mission, however, Troi is captured by a Romulan operative, Subcommander N'Vek (Scott MacDonald) and made into a Romulan herself. N'Vek dispenses information slowly, on an as-needed basis, forcing Troi to keep up appearances while having very little to go on.
Joanne Linville's Romulan commander from Star Trek: The Original Series season 3, episode 4, "The Enterprise Incident" was initially approached to appear in "Face of the Enemy", but Linville was unavailable to reprise her role in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Eventually, N'Vek reveals that Troi is an essential part of the mission to help several high-ranking Romulan officials defect from the Empire, as their stasis chambers will be delivered to Federation space. Troi's empathic skills make Deanna an ideal candidate to handle the potential confrontation between the Federation and Romulans, while also aiding Deanna herself in navigating the mission before N'Vek reveals the plan. Ultimately, it's part of Ambassador Spock's Vulcan and Romulan reunification plan, but secrecy is essential in order to avoid the Romulan Tal Shi'ar sabotaging Spock's dream at such early stages.
4 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 5, Episode 1 - "Apocalypse Rising"
DS9's Team Infiltrates Klingon Military Headquarters
In order to expose the Changeling that replaced the Klingon Chancellor Gowron (Robert O'Reilly), Starfleet orders a select team to infiltrate the Klingon military headquarters on Ty'Gokor in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5, episode 1, "Apocalypse Rising". Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn) is a clear pick for the commando unit, while Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney), and Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois) must undergo surgical alterations to become Klingons. Together, the team from DS9 discover the true Changeling is General Martok (J.G. Hertzler), not Gowron.
While Odo might seem like an odd pick for a surgical process, Odo is the first Changeling to break the rule of never harming other Changelings, so Odo is punished by the Founders with transformation into a solid at the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 4. Because Odo could never quite get the hang of the finer details of humanoid forms, Klingon cranial ridges may have been outside the realm of Odo's shape-shifting expertise, so a surgical alteration on a solid Odo may have actually benefited the mission in the end.
3 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1, Episode 1 - "Strange New Worlds"
The USS Enterprise Away Team's Rescue Mission on Kiley 279
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds opens with a mission to rescue Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) from a botched first contact mission on Kiley 279. The Kileans are post-industrial, but haven't yet developed warp drive, so the Prime Directive still applies, and Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong), and Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) all become surgically altered into Kileans to save Number One.
For most of Star Trek's history, the exact medical procedures were glossed over, with no time spent on describing how exactly these alien alterations were performed. Instead of simply showing up in their next scenes with new alien features, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds finally shows off Nurse Christine Chapel's (Jess Bush) DNA-resequencing process that temporarily turns Starfleet officers into aliens. It's visibly painful, and Spock's treatment starts to wear off before the mission's up, but it sure beats how the Klingons created sleeper agents on Star Trek: Discovery.
2 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 4 - "Among the Lotus Eaters"
Captain Pike Returns To Rigel VII
Captain Christopher Pike returns to Rigel VII disguised as a native of the Kalar people for a reconnaissance mission in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 4, "Among the Lotus Eaters". Five years earlier, Pike's landing party didn't bother blending in with the Kalar population, and found themselves ambushed on a routine survey mission. While most of the Starfleet officers were extracted, observation proves that cultural contamination still occurred after the earlier mission, so it's up to Pike, Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh, and Dr. Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olasunmokun) to determine what exactly happened on Rigel VII, and do what they can to mitigate the damage.
Unfortunately, there's no way to win on Rigel VII. The planet's radiation is responsible for the widespread memory loss among the Kalar, who have come up with tricks to remember what they need to know for their own continued survival. While trying to pass themselves off as Kalar, Pike, La'an, and M'Benga fall victim to the memory-erasing radiation, and believe themselves to be natives of Rigel VII.
1 Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 9 - "Lagrange Point"
It's Not Easy Being Breen
After the Breen capture the Progenitors' technology that Captain Michael Burnham and the USS Discovery crew have been seeking in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 9, "Lagrange Point", getting the treasure back isn't quite as easy as just transporting the artifact back to the Discovery. To tag the Progenitors' treasure for easy transport, Burnham, Cleveland Booker (David Ajala), Ensign Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio), and Lt. Commander Gen Rhys (Patrick Kwok-Choon) take advantage of the fact that the Breen hide behind their helmets to infiltrate the Breen dreadnought in a great Star Trek heist mission.
Burnham's expertise as a xenoanthropologist shines throughout Star Trek: Discovery season 5, where knowledge of alien cultures helps Michael get closer to the Progenitors' technology by solving clues, and it's no different on the Breen vessel. Burnham has studied as much of Breen culture as she can get her hands on, no doubt aided by Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie), who lived under Breen rule on his homeworld of Kellerun. Knowledge of Breen feast days, customs, and the Breen's strict hierarchical structure is instrumental in passing off as a Breen ... at least until Moll (Eve Harlow) figures them out, and the jig is up.
Regardless of whatever the reason for a change may be, new alien identities for Starfleet officers often spell the difference between success and failure. Starfleet officers disguise themselves as more familiar aliens to pull off undercover missions, when secrecy is key, and also don the guises of brand-new alien species to maintain Starfleet's Prime Directive prior to first contact missions. Sometimes the aliens themselves are to blame for transforming the species of Star Trek characters. In any case, the medical technology and easily available disguises make for some amazing Star Trek missions where Starfleet officers become aliens.
