Does anyone think Una's true Illyrian/alien appearance will be shown in season 2?

[Christopher]

Also, given the whole genetic manipulation angle, who's to say the species has one distinct look at this point?

Yes, that's pretty much the assumption expressed by the writers behind the scenes -- the Illyrians engineer themselves to fit the different environments they colonize, so they take a variety of appearances. (Which would've been a great explanation for the Klingons, come to think of it.)

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I still think of her as human because that's what she really was supposed to be in the cage.

Who knows? She might actually BE human. Illyria could be a colony of Earth...

 

[drt]

Who knows? She might actually BE human. Illyria could be a colony of Earth...

That was the (perhaps mistaken) assumption I was operating under, probably from dim novelverse memories, but I had forgotten the guys from Enterprise were also supposed to be Illyrians.

 

[RuleofAcuisition17]

Yup. This fandom really does struggle with the concept of the Retcon.

Has Una really not acted human at any point during her tenure on Pike's ship? No. Does this somehow invalidate her being Illyrian in The Cage/The Menagerie? Also no. To all intents and purposes she has been largely modified to a Human environment aside from her She-Hulk Strength and hilariously bizarre exploding "Immune System."

That's all it is to make Una more than another pure human on the bridge, it gives her character a bit of dramatic depth and is "something different" to show on screen than "Hey, Look at the spaceship! It's first officer's got boobs!" which is basically all her original casting boiled down to.

Like what titivated a TV audience in 1966 isn't going to do the same in 2022/23. In '66 it was a grand novelty and Gene's bold vision of a future, which he proceeded to double down on with Nichelle Nichols' casting.

In 2023 it's almost madatory. It's expected from audiences that we will have some sort of decent female character who will have some depth to her. It also provides a nice contrast of an Alien smoothly fitting in with humanity versus Spock who is struggling with his duel identity. Difference is due to her nature it becomes a different set of questions and challenges.

 

[Christopher]

Has Una really not acted human at any point during her tenure on Pike's ship? No. Does this somehow invalidate her being Illyrian in The Cage/The Menagerie? Also no. To all intents and purposes she has been largely modified to a Human environment aside from her She-Hulk Strength and hilariously bizarre exploding "Immune System."

The viewer graphic of Illyrian genetic modifications suggests that the default Illyrian appearance is humanlike, as with many Trek aliens, particularly in TOS. There is no reason to assume that Una's natural appearance is anything other than what we see. Any genetic modifications she made to fool sensors are probably internal.

 

[fireproof78]

Like what titivated a TV audience in 1966 isn't going to do the same in 2022/23. In '66 it was a grand novelty and Gene's bold vision of a future, which he proceeded to double down on with Nichelle Nichols' casting.

That was more due to study demands for diversity. Number One was actually to be axed due to being Gene's girlfriend and the studios didn't like that aspect.

 

[RuleofAcuisition17]

That was more due to study demands for diversity. Number One was actually to be axed due to being Gene's girlfriend and the studios didn't like that aspect.

Test Audiences also utterly hated her, both male and female due to being "annoying" and "too pushy" as well as trying to fit in with the men too much.

The Majel Barrett quote on this is also hilarious:

"[Gene] kept the Vulcan and married the woman, 'cause he didn't think Leonard would have it the other way around."

I also think she didn't really come into her own until she was just allowed to mess around a bit as Luxana Troi.

 

[TRON JA307020]

The viewer graphic of Illyrian genetic modifications suggests that the default Illyrian appearance is humanlike, as with many Trek aliens, particularly in TOS. There is no reason to assume that Una's natural appearance is anything other than what we see. Any genetic modifications she made to fool sensors are probably internal.

Too bad she couldn't use her super strength to get out of that cage.

 

[Christopher]

Too bad she couldn't use her super strength to get out of that cage.

If the Talosian cells were strong enough to hold this guy, they were probably strong enough to hold Una. She's Illyrian, not Kryptonian.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Test Audiences also utterly hated her, both male and female due to being "annoying" and "too pushy" as well as trying to fit in with the men too much.

Did they? Or is that another Star Trek tall tale?

 

[RuleofAcuisition17]

Did they? Or is that another Star Trek tall tale?

Apparently backed up by Barrett and Shatner.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Apparently backed up by Barrett and Shatner.

So a tall tale then.

 

[Greg Cox]

Apparently backed up by Barrett and Shatner.

Except Shatner presumably got this information second-hand since he wasn't even attached to Star Trek at that point. So at best he's reporting something he heard from somebody else.

 

[Noname Given]

Did they? Or is that another Star Trek tall tale?

My mother was someone who saw the original Star Trek pilot ( my parents often went to network test screenings as a date night). She told me that she too didn't like the number one female character; but it wasn't because she felt she was too bossy, she didn't like the idea of normalizing showing women in the military because she didn't want to see her daughter get drafted. So yes she also added a negative comment about the number one character for that reason.

She also told me they both laughed when the Spock character appeared on screen. They thought the actor looked ridiculous and both the eyebrows the ears were just too much.

 

[Mudd]

Yeah, it's pretty much a face-saving kind of tale. After viewing and rejecting "The Cage," the NBC executives sent Solow and Roddenberry a memo that was explicit about their problems with the cast:

In varying degrees, we're not too happy with some of the cast. We support the concept of a woman in a strong leading role, but have serious doubts to Majel Barrett's abilities to 'carry' the show as its costar.

Roddenberry's boss at the time, Herb Solow, remembered that executives at NBC had not been happy with the casting from the outset:

NBC Program Executive Jerry Stanley stared quizzically at NBC Vice President Grant Tinker. Then Jerry grumbled, "Christ, Herb, this is madness. She's his girlfriend. I remember her hanging around Gene's office at MGM when he was doing The Lieutenant there for us."

The simple truth is that NBC resented being put into such an awkward position, but in the end Grant and Jerry didn't want to rock the boat with Gene.

 

[TerryTrek]

I would love it if Una naturally looked like this species from Enterprise or even stranger, and perhaps her true form will be revealed in S2. It's just a very classic TOS concept for the beautiful human woman to actually have this very alien form.

It would be awesome if the Illyrians were actually non-humanoid creatures, and they genetically-modify themselves to pass as humanoid. It would bring up some interesting discussion about how we perceive and value sentient species. Do we only empathize with those that look human?

What if Una's natural form actually looked like this?

Here are some quotes from the SNW writer;

“Una is not human,” Bill Wolkoff tells Inverse. “She just looks human. Illyrians are an alien species. In Una’s case, she’s an Illyrian who passes as a human... She’s forced to hide that part of her identity, a part of herself.”
what’s the deal? Are the Illyrians in Enterprise — the people with bumpy foreheads — the same Illyrians from Strange New Worlds? The short answer is yes. Here’s how Wolkoff says it all works:
“I think that’s consistent with what happened in the episode. There is another scene where Una researched potential Illyrian modifications, and on the viewscreen we caught a glimpse of what some of those look like. I saw one Illyrian with webbed hands and feet, another with spiky eyebrows… I’d certainly believe Illyrians could have bumpy foreheads too! And if Una had researched long enough, she might have found a file on those Illyrians.”

 

[Unimatrix Q]

Think it's very likely (and what i hope) that Una gets pardoned after her trial and stays on the Enterprise as Pike's Number One.

After her service on the 1701, i would have her founding together with some other likeminded Illyrians and Humans the New Human Movement, finally making this concept from TMP canon and retconning it to a group fighting for the rights of genetically engineered people and advancing transhumanism on Earth.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Oy. I could totally do without the New Humans turning up.