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Jul 7, 2022 · In the season finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, fans may get an answer for why Una Chin-Riley disappeared from Trek. She was imprisoned for being a genetically modified Illyrian. Rebecca Romijn first played Una in Star Trek: Discovery, yet her true character development was saved for
- Senior Staff Writer
- Overview
- Early life
- Starfleet career
- Personal interests
- Relationships
- Alternate timelines
- Awards and honors
- Key dates
- Appendices
"I don’t care where you come from. You're the best first officer in the fleet."
– Christopher Pike, 2259 ("Ghosts of Illyria")
Chin-Riley was born on Illyria in the early 23rd century. As a member of the Illyrian species, Chin-Riley was genetically-engineered before birth, as it was part of her family tradition and heritage. (SNW: "Ad Astra per Aspera") Her physical strength was greatly improved, allowing her to carry a grown person with no visible effort, while her immune system would also glow, and as well, could burn out infectious agents from her body without having to rely on antibodies. (SNW: "Ghosts of Illyria", "Ad Astra per Aspera")
Chin-Riley grew up on a Federation colony in the Vaultera Nebula. She had one brother. (SNW: "Ad Astra per Aspera")
When she was five or six years old, encountered Starfleet crew that visited her planet. According to her, "They were all so... different from one another. So many crew members from so many planets. It was beautiful. I thought if all those people from all those worlds can work together, side by side, maybe I could, too. Maybe I could be a part of something bigger than myself." (SNW: "Ad Astra per Aspera") Her dream of joining Starfleet, however, due to the Federation ban on genetic engineering, she had to hide her true nature and history. (SNW: "Ghosts of Illyria")
Later, she fractured her leg after she attempted to stop a fight at school, which had broken out after one boy had accused another of being an Illyrian. In spite of the break being a simple fix with modern medicine, her parents wouldn't take her to a hospital out of fear of being arrested. In spite of her modifications, the leg became infected, and she nearly died, until she was able to be treated by a Illyrian doctor who visited her family in the middle of the night. (SNW: "Ad Astra per Aspera")
Starfleet Academy
Captain Robert April sponsored Chin-Riley's application to Starfleet Academy. (SNW: "Ad Astra per Aspera") She first met Christopher Pike following an inspiring speech he gave at the Academy. (SNW: "Ad Astra per Aspera") She had Pelia for an Instructor for Starship Maintenance 307 and was given a "C" on her final paper, a "C" Pelia felt was sloppy but well deserved. (SNW: "Lost in Translation")
Early postings and assignments
In 2234, Chin-Riley began her Starfleet career. (SNW: "Ad Astra per Aspera") As an ensign, was assigned to the USS Martin Luther King Jr. During her assignment aboard the "King Junior", she was involved in the rescue of La'an Noonien-Singh. (SNW: "Strange New Worlds") While questioning Ensign Zier, Chin-Riley sympathized, saying that she, too, was once an ensign, and understood being nervous. (SNW: "Spock Amok") At some point in her early career, Chin-Riley served aboard the USS Antares, the USS Chatelet, and the USS Aryabhatta, all ships that her future commanding officer Christopher Pike also served on. (DIS: "Brother"; SNW: "Memento Mori", "Ad Astra per Aspera"; display graphic) According to Pike, Chin-Riley had a habit of jumping from department to department, although she claimed that it only happened once. (SNW: "Children of the Comet")
Service aboard the Enterprise
Upon her assignment as science officer to the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain April, she witnessed a triple-mode high-amplitude Delta Scuti star on her first deep-space cruise that took her within a half light year of 99 Pegasi. (ST: "Q&A"; SNW: "Ad Astra per Aspera"; display graphic)
Hobbies
Chin-Riley secretly enjoyed the music of Gilbert and Sullivan. When trapped in a turbolift with Spock on his first day on the Enterprise, she sang "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General", but ordered Spock to forget it. (ST: "Q&A"; SNW: "Ad Astra per Aspera") She also enjoyed spicy food. When she met Pike on Discovery, she ordered a cheeseburger and french fries with habanero sauce. (DIS: "An Obol for Charon") Her comfort food, however, was strawberries. (SNW: "Ghosts of Illyria")
La'an Noonien-Singh
Una and La'an met when Chin-Riley met when she was an Ensign aboard the USS Martin King, Jr.. The two would strike up a friendship that would last for a long time. La'an would affectionally call Una "Chief", and Una would come to act as a mentor for her. (SNW: "Strange New Worlds")
Christopher Pike
Una and Christopher Pike first met when he gave a speech to her Academy class about a test mission he had flown. Following Pike's speech, Chin-Riley approached him and pointed out a flaw he had made during reentry. He found it bold and annoying but recognized that she was correct. Over the years, the two would be assigned to several vessels including the USS Enterprise. When Pike was made captain of the Enterprise he promoted Chin-Riley to First officer. (SNW: "Strange New Worlds", "Ad Astra per Aspera") When Pike learned of Chin-Riley's Illyrian heritage, he told her that he didn't care and that he would deal with fallout with Starfleet. (SNW: "Ghosts of Illyria") Una would keep a photograph of the two of them in her quarters aboard the Enterprise. Upon her return to the ship following her exoneration, a visibly relieved Pike hugged Una before regaining his composure. (SNW: "Ad Astra per Aspera")
In an alternate timeline where Pike was able to avoid his crippling fate, he asked La'an Noonien-Singh about Una. La'an told him that Una wasn't allowed to have contact with anyone. Spock later revealed that in this timeline, Una had been locked up in a Federation prison colony for nearly seven years for her illegal modifications. (SNW: "A Quality ...
Carrington Award
Federation Citation of Honor
Legate's Crest of Valor
Medal of Commendation
Order of Tactics
Proficient Service Medallion
•2234: Begins her Starfleet career
•Between 2234 and 2248:
•Assigned to the USS •Assigned to the USS •Assigned to the USS •Assigned to a classified vessel
•Assigned to the USS Enterprise as science officer under Captain Robert April
•2248: Awarded the Starfleet Medal of Gallantry during the Marcel disaster
•2250: Promoted to first officer under Captain Christopher Pike
Appearances
•TOS: •"The Cage" •"The Menagerie, Part I" (archive footage) •"The Menagerie, Part II" (archive footage) •DIS: •"An Obol for Charon" •"If Memory Serves" (archive footage) •"Such Sweet Sorrow" •"Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2" •ST: •"Q&A" •"Ask Not" •SNW: •"Strange New Worlds" •"Children of the Comet" •"Ghosts of Illyria" •"Memento Mori" •"Spock Amok" •"Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach" •"The Serene Squall" •"The Elysian Kingdom" •"All Those Who Wander" •"A Quality of Mercy" •"The Broken Circle" •"Ad Astra per Aspera" •"Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" •"Among the Lotus Eaters" •"Charades" •"Lost in Translation" •"Those Old Scientists" •"Under the Cloak of War" •"Subspace Rhapsody" •"Hegemony" •LD: "I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee" (image on poster) •VST: "Holiday Party"
Background information
Number One was originally portrayed by Majel Barrett in the Star Trek pilot, "The Cage", but credited as M. Leigh Hudec for her subsequent archival appearance featured in both episodes of "The Menagerie". When her character was reintroduced for Star Trek: Discovery, and its subsequent spin-offs, she was portrayed by Rebecca Romijn. Additionally, Anna Claire Beitel portrayed Una as a child in "Ad Astra per Aspera". In the original version of the series outline Star Trek is... (as reprinted in The Making of Star Trek, pp. 22-30), Number One was initially described as "a glacierlike, efficient female who serves as ship's Executive Officer." (The Making of Star Trek, p. 24) A more detailed description of the character from exactly the same document stated; (The Making of Star Trek, p. 29) In the scripts of "The Cage", Number One was described as "Female, slim and dark in a Nile Valley way, age uncertain, one of those women who will always look the same between the ages of twenty and fifty [....] Almost glacier-like in her imperturbability and precision. From time to time we'll wonder just how much female exists under that icy facade." She was also scripted to be slightly more wary of J.M. Colt than she is in the final version of the episode, such as being initially reluctant about allowing her to join a landing party assigned to rescue the captain. Number One was dropped from the series as NBC executives did not respond well to her character. Reactions to her in the screen test of "The Cage" were also poor (by the women more negatively than the men, according to Gene Roddenberry). Her highly logical, steel-trap mind was given to the character of Spock in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and maintained there onward. Although Majel Barrett-Roddenberry was credited as Majel Barrett in the unaired episode "The Cage", she was credited as "M. Leigh Hudec" – Barrett's birth name – in the televised two-part episode "The Menagerie, Part I" and "The Menagerie, Part II", because the production team was endeavoring to hide from NBC the fact that the actress, not to be signed for either the second pilot or the regular show as had been demanded by the network, had actually returned to Star Trek: The Original Series as the recurring Nurse Christine Chapel by Gene Roddenberry's doing. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, 1997, pp. 223-224; These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One, 1st ed, pp. 25-27) An unintended ironic twist in Star Trek history was that when Roddenberry surreptitiously brought the natural brunette Barrett back on the Original Series, he had her also disguised as a blonde to mislead the NBC network executives, who adamantly did not want her back on the show, whereas the natural blonde Romijn had to have her hair dyed to have her appear as the brunette Number One in Discovery. In "The Cage", Number One was referred to as "lieutenant." Within Starfleet, it was rare for a lieutenant to serve as the first officer of a starship. The likely reason she was originally assigned this rank was that, when Gene Roddenberry first created Star Trek, the rank structure he employed was based on that of the 18th and 19th century Royal Navy, in which a ship's second in command was generally a first lieutenant, rather than the ranks used by the 20th century United States Navy we have come to associate with Starfleet. George Kirk is the only other known instance of a lieutenant serving as a ship's first officer. In Number One's subsequent appearances in Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Short Treks, her rank insignia is indicates she was a lieutenant, although she was identified as a lieutenant commander on a PADD in "Q&A", which takes place before "The Cage". By Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Chin-Riley wore the insignia of lieutenant commander and has been repeatedly identified as such in the show. There was at least one instance, however, where, in an apparent art design error, she is clearly listed as "Lt. Una" on an internal communication in the episode "Subspace Rhapsody". In an interview with TrekCore, the co-writer of "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2" and Star Trek: Discovery third season co-showrunner Michelle Paradise confirmed that Christopher Pike called Number One "Una" in that episode. This is one of several names which had been used for this character in non-canon material. Subtitles on Netflix and the second season Blu-ray release misspelled it as "Noona" (the Netflix subtitles have since been corrected), while the CBSAA captions say that he merely said "and, uh..." while transitioning to a question directed at Admiral Cornwell. Dialogue and PADD graphics in the Star Trek: Short Treks episode "Q&A" definitively confirm that Number One's name is "Una," and that she insists on being addressed as "Number One". According to The Autobiography of Mr. Spock, Una's full name is Una Chin-Riley, a fact later revealed in the Strange New Worlds premiere episode "Strange New Worlds".
Apocrypha
In the Marvel Star Trek: Early Voyages comic book series, this character was named Lieutenant Commander Robbins. Her first name was interrupted by other dialogue, but starts with "Eure-." The novel Vulcan's Glory, by Star Trek: The Original Series writer D.C. Fontana, suggested this character's moniker was not simply a nickname or title – she was an Illyrian who was called "Number One," as the best intellect among her generation. The novels The Children of Kings and Child of Two Worlds explain that Number One does have a given name, but it's difficult to pronounce for non-Illyrians; the former suggests that she liked to be called by this name rather than her own as it enabled her to maintain a professional relationship with her captain. The novel The Enterprise War describes her as having been raised in Illyrian colonies and thus, while not actually being Illyrian herself, having adapted much of that species' emotional self-control. Her actually being Illyrian and raised in an Illyrian colony was confirmed canon in SNW: "Ghosts of Illyria". In the novel Captain to Captain she is referred to as "Una". The novel explained that she had adopted the name Una as far back as her Academy days, due to her real name being all but impossible to pronounce. The name "Una" was also used in the Star Trek: Discovery novel Desperate Hours and was subsequently used in DIS: "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2" and ST: "Q&A". gives her real name as Leigh Hudec (after "M. Leigh Hudec", the name under which Majel Barrett was credited in The Cage). Peter David's New Frontier series of novels had a character named "Morgan Primus" who was an immortal like Flint (from TOS: "Requiem for Methuselah") and was the mother of Robin Lefler. It is hinted that she and Number One are the same person. In the Captain's Table novel Where Sea Meets Sky, Number One was given the last name "Lefler" (an allusion to Robin Lefler). The early days of Number One were chronicled in the IDW Publishing miniseries Star Trek: Crew. In the IDW Publishing comic Star Trek: Romulans - Schism, she is a commodore in command of the USS Yorktown testing the cloaking device stolen from the Romulans during the events of "The Enterprise Incident". No name is mentioned. In the miniseries Star Trek: Leonard McCoy, Frontier Doctor, Number One was promoted to admiral in the 2270s and continued to command the Yorktown. In the first issue of the 2013 comic series Star Trek: New Visions, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy report to a commodore who is not named but is clearly Number One and Spock did say it was pleasant to see her again. In Who's Who in Star Trek, Number One is said to have been descended from colonists on a planet inhabited by telepathic humanoids who are peaceful. She is described as having entered Starfleet after saving the life of Earth's leader when his shuttle crashed on her planet, he having waived all psychological and physical testing on her behalf. She is also described as having suffered severe injuries just prior to the end of Pike's tenure as captain of the Enterprise, forcing her to retire from exploration and become an instructor at Starfleet Academy.
May 22, 2022 · Episode three of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (“Ghosts of Illyria) revealed that Una Chin-Riley (Number One) has been hiding a big secret. She isn’t human, but a genetically enhanced Illyrian....
Jun 12, 2024 · “Una” is about a young woman who goes after her abuser. During this journey, she unravels buried memories and hidden desires. When Una was barely a teenager, she had a sexual relationship with a much older man named Ray. They even ran away from their community to start a new life.
Jul 7, 2022 · Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) is arrested in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' finale, which continues season 1's odd trend of Number One being replaced. Strange New Worlds revealed that Una is an Illyrian and genetic modification is practiced by her people.
- John Orquiola
- Senior Editor-Star Trek
Jan 13, 2023 · Starfleet arrested Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) at the end of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for a different reason than the discovery that she is a genetically-engineered Illyrian.
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Una Chin-Riley, commonly and originally only known as Number One, is a fictional character in the science-fiction franchise Star Trek. She is Christopher Pike 's second-in-command during his captaincy of the starship Enterprise .
