‘Star Trek: Discovery’: Behind-the-Scenes Look at Updated Talosians

The most recent Star Trek: Discovery episode brought back the classic aliens called Talosians with an updated look. Now fans can get a behind-the-scenes peek at how Discovery brought the aliens back to life.

Star Trek: Discovery makeup and prosthetics artist James MacKinnon shared a look on his Instagram page.

“I have to pinch myself every week after watching Star Trek: Discovery,” MacKinnon writes. “It’s so cool to be part of a show that celebrates what I do for a living. Each week we on top of our regulars we also see new aliens, and incredible reimagined works of the iconic Star Trek makeups that I grew up admiring; makeups that make me the artist I am today! PLUS the work it takes to make all prosthetics at Glenn Hetrick’s Alchemy FX Studios, Neville Page’s designs… and all the craftspeople it takes each week to get the pieces to us up in Toronto. My set team…deserve a huge congratulations! Well done team!!”

Take a look below:

The Talosians are natives of Talos IV, the planet from the original Star Trek pilot, “The Cage.” In the episode, set three years before Discovery‘s second season, the Enterprise investigates a distress call from the planet, which turns out to be a trap. The Talosians, the last survivors of a once-advanced race, take Capt. Pike prisoner.

The Talosians destroyed themselves and their planet in a nuclear war. The survivors used their enhanced mental abilities to create illusions indistinguishable from reality. They became addicted to their own illusions, but also grew bored with their own imaginations. To rectify that problem, they began luring and capturing other species to use as the basis for new illusions to watch.

The Talosians offered to create a paradise-like illusion for Pike to live out his life in. The captain of the Enterprise refused. The Talosians were convinced to release Pike, and the Enterprise departed on good terms.

Later, in the episode “The Menagerie” – set about a decade after Discovery‘s second season – Spock worked with the Talosians to return Pike to Talos IV. An accident had crippled Pike’s body. Returning him to Talos IV allowed him to live out the rest of his life in the Talosian’s mental paradise. Bringing the Talosians into Discovery adds some connective tissue between those two stories.

What do you think of the Talosians’ look in Star Trek: Discovery? Let us know in the comments!

New Star Trek: Discovery episodes become available to stream Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS All Access.

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