10 Star Trek Undercover Operations That Went Wrong
2. Warnings From History Ignored
When historian John Gill fails to respond to Starfleet in Patterns of Force, Kirk is sent to make contact. As the Enterprise approaches Ekos, they're greeted with a nuclear warhead that should be beyond their capability. So, you guessed it, Kirk and Spock head down to the planet in disguise to investigate.
What they find is a fascist nightmare, a near-perfect replica of the Nazi regime...everything from open xenophobia to the uniforms and iconography. Only on Ekos, the Führer is none other than John Gill.
A classic spy escapade ensues, complete with subterfuge, capture, interrogation, escape, and a high-stakes infiltration of the Chancellery. They even knock out officers and steal their uniforms, a trope we'd usually appreciate, but given the Nazi design, it's a little nauseating this time around.
Credit where credit is due, Kirk had McCoy inject them with a tracker before they left, so he gets this episode's gold star. But we're immediately removing it for taking the obviously alien Spock with him to pose as a local. And wouldn't you know it, the reveal of Spock's ears is what blows their cover.
When they finally catch up with Gill, he reveals that he somehow thought it was a good idea to use the Nazi regime as a template to unite the fractured planet. Just...what? Seriously. We can't even...
Suffice to say, the moral of the story is that Starfleet's non-interference policy is there for a reason. And that no matter what, using fascism as any kind of template is a terrible, terrible idea.