by Tessa Swehla, Associate Editor 

A new Star Trek film will be released this month—the first since Justin Lin’s Kelvinverse Star Trek: Beyond (2016)—and yet, the excitement of franchise fans is tempered. The reason for this hesitance is referenced in the film’s title: Star Trek: Section 31.

Most fans of the franchise embrace the more optimistic view of the future that the Federation—an alliance of planets, including Earth, that acts together for the common good and promotes exploration and science through Starfleet—embodies. Many fans and scholars have described the Federation as utopian, but, due to the impossibility of imagining the practical logistics of a utopia from a contemporary perspective, it is more accurate to describe it as a post-scarcity society. Many of the ethical conundrums that the crews of the various Star Trek series have faced involve how to apply their Federation ideals—utopian, anti-colonialist, post-scarcity, cooperative, diverse—in practical situations. 

For many fans of the franchise, Section 31, a Federation sanctioned-ish black ops institution, is a betrayal of those values. Ruthless black ops organizations are not new territory for Star Trek but, previous to Section 31’s introduction in Deep Space Nine, those organizations had always belonged to governments opposed to the Federation and its ideals. More specifically, to avatars of fascism: the Romulan Star Empire and the Cardassian Union. The idea that the Federation could know about, and ignore, the activities of a clandestine organization acting with no oversight and who can use any methods necessary to accomplish its goals is definitely a cynical and anti-utopian one. So, why make it the focus of a film? For those fans asking themselves this question, or for Star Trek newbies wondering what the ruckus is about, here is a brief history of Section 31 and some speculation on what the new film might be about. 

Section 31 was introduced in the 1998 Deep Space Nine episode “Inquisition.” A member of Starfleet Internal Affairs, Luther Sloan (William Sadler), arrives at the space station to conduct an investigation of a possible mole feeding information to Federation enemies. He quickly narrows his focus to Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig), the station’s doctor and Starfleet’s #1 twink, accusing him of being a sleeper double agent. Bashir undergoes immense psychological stress as he is interrogated for hours, imprisoned on circumstantial evidence, denied food, and paraded around as a traitor in front of the entire station.

By the end of the episode, however, he realizes that the entire experience has been a simulation. Sloan and his compatriots, who identify themselves as Section 31 and wear matching black leather Starfleet uniforms, had kidnapped Bashir while he slept and put him into a holodeck simulation designed to test his loyalties. After Bashir refuses Sloan’s offer to join Section 31, Bashir is returned to Deep Space Nine, where he and the other bridge crew discover that, officially, the Federation will neither confirm nor deny the existence of Section 31. Sisko, however, has heard of Section 31, an autonomous organization that claims to be sanctioned by the original Starfleet charter: Article 14, Section 31. The clincher comes in the form of a conversation between Bashir and security chief and shapeshifter Odo (René Auberjonois):

“I can't believe the Federation condones this kind of activity.”

“Personally, I find it hard to believe they wouldn't. Every other great power has a unit like Section 31. The Romulans have the Tal Shiar, the Cardassians had the Obsidian Order…” 

“But what does that say about us? When push comes to shove, are we willing to sacrifice our principles in order to survive?”

“I wish I had an answer for you, Doctor.”

Bashir has other run-ins with Sloan and Section 31 in subsequent episodes (“Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges” and “Extreme Measures”), finding them willing to do anything to protect the Federation, including sabotage, interference in foreign governments, biological warfare, assassination, and numerous human (alien? personal?) rights violations. Executive producer Ira Steven Behr claims that Section 31 was created as a way of interrogating the mechanisms by which the Federation retained their power while espousing utopian ideals: “Why is Earth a paradise in the twenty-fourth century? Well, maybe it's because there's someone watching over it and doing the nasty stuff that no one wants to think about. Of course, it's a very complicated issue. Extremely complicated. And those kinds of covert operations usually are wrong!”

This kind of thinking is in line with the darker tone and themes of Deep Space Nine, and, in this context, Section 31 works well both as a foil to Bashir’s already established fascination with Cold War spy fiction and as a general villain in the series. After all, if utopia is something to strive for, bad actors cannot be discounted, and, as Bashir discovers, fighting for a peaceful and ethical society often means constant vigilance against the slippery slope of “ends justify the means” thinking. 

Despite the trepidation of fans, the writers of Trek have been so enamored by the idea of Section 31 that they have included them as antagonists in several other Trek series, including Enterprise (where they are involved in kidnapping the ship’s doctor and forcing him to work on a cure for a Klingon plague), the alternate Kelvinverse film Star Trek Into Darkness (where Section 31 is responsible for awakening fascist dictator and infamous Star Trek villain Khan Noonien Singh [Benedict Cumberbatch] from cryo sleep and giving him access to key resources), Lower Decks (where they fake the death of a Starfleet officer in order to recruit him for a multiversal mission), Picard (where a member of Starfleet intelligence is accused of working for Section 31… and maybe is?), and, most notably, Star Trek: Discovery. It’s in Discovery that Section 31 has its longest, most developed arc and the most ties to the upcoming film. 

Season 2 of Discovery—affectionately nicknamed Discoprise by fans—brings back Section 31 near the end of the second episode, “Point of Light,” when Klingon High Chancellor L’rell (Mary Chieffo) and her Torchbearer Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif) are rescued from a coup on Qo’noS by a mysterious figure in black. The figure reveals themselves to be Phillipa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh), or at least the Mirror Universe version of Phillipa Georgiou, the ex-Terran (the evil, alternate Earth where goatee Spock is from) emperor that Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) saved in Season 1 (if you are new to Discovery or Star Trek in general, I will explain why this is important later). Georgiou tells L’rell that the Federation has a vested interest in keeping her in power on Qo’noS and that Ash and their infant child are liabilities to that goal, implying that if L’rell doesn’t get rid of Ash, then more drastic measures will be taken. All three then fake the death of Ash and the child, using replicated duplicates of their heads to convince the Klingon council of their deaths in possibly one of the metal Star Trek scenes of all time.

Ash, now onboard a cloaked Starfleet ship with Georgiou, wonders aloud what kind of organization possesses the resources and commitment to replicate literal heads for a political statement. Georgiou responds by showing him an all-black Starfleet com badge, explaining that she now works for Section 31. She recruits Ash by pitching Section 31 as an organization where people who don’t fit into the usual Starfleet mold—like an evil emperor from another universe and a Klingon-human cyborg (look, Discovery had a lot going on, complimentary)—can find purpose. She refers to Ash and herself as misfits: “The freaks have more fun.” Ash will later repeat this logic to Michael when he reveals himself to be a member of Section 31 in “Saints of Imperfection,” saying, “People at 31 see it as a place where they make sense.” 

This Suicide Squad-esque revamp of Section 31 makes sense from a character perspective, if not an ethical one. We as an audience like Georgiou, played with delightfully campy precision by an almost universally beloved Yeoh, and we like Ash, who struggles with his hybrid nature post-Klingon war. Both characters love Michael, Ash with hesitant openness and Georgiou with guarded sarcasm. This predisposes us to want Section 31 to not be too bad, even though they are still a black ops organization with too much power and no oversight. Thus, the apparent revamp from CIA critique to morally gray band of weirdos. Although Section 31’s Captain Leland (Alan van Sprang) does reiterate the classic mission statement of the organization to Captain Pike (Anson Mount) in “Saints of Imperfection: “we do what we do so you can do what you do.” 

However, Discovery cleverly complicates this revamp by revealing that the main antagonist of the season is Section 31’s threat assessment AI, Control. Section 31 increasingly relies on Control to determine threats to the Federation, only for Control to begin to manipulate Starfleet into actions that will benefit Control’s desire to become fully sentient. This storyline has a lot to say about the corruptibility of a system that relies so much on secrecy and compartmentalization, as well as LLMs that are taught to interpret data using a biased and often paranoid human lens. As Control tells Leland, “There are seven thousand active ships in Starfleet, all reliant on the chain of command. That chain is unquestioned, unbroken, unseen, every instruction passed down through channels. In time, even those who would not follow my agenda knowingly…will.” Eventually, Michael and what is left of Section 31 (Ash and Georgiou, the only two “misfits” with an ethical compass, I guess) defeat Control, not without terrible consequences.

This brings us to the upcoming film. We know that the film will center around Georgiou and feature Section 31. The question is which version of Section 31? The last we saw Georgiou in Discovery, she was experiencing severe dissociative flashbacks somehow connected with her childhood and rise to Terran emperor in the Mirror Universe. These were supposedly caused by her experiences with extreme time and universal displacement (she’s a long way from the Mirror Universe and her own time), so Michael sends her through the Guardian of Forever arch to a time where the Mirror Universe and the Prime Universe were closer together. We don’t know yet when that time is, although the preview of the new film shows her running a decadent futuristic night club with classic Georgiou flair. We know that she is recruited/blackmailed back into that time’s version of Section 31, so the film must take place during a time when the Federation exists.

Georgiou is a fascinating character, with an arc from a fascist dictator and mass murderer in the Mirror Universe—saved from a coup by Michael, who can’t bear to see her mentor die again, even if this is an alternative universe’s version of her mentor—to a morally flexible anti-hero in the Prime Universe. Much of this growth occurs because of her attachment to Michael, seeing in her a version of her universe’s Michael who she raised as a daughter. Also, there’s sexual tension? Star Trek is horny, ok?! Especially Georgiou, who is one of the few canonically bisexual characters. Georgiou pretends to be superior to Michael and often goads her with barbed comments concerning the Federation’s idealism. Yet, she often risks both her own life and Section 31’s objectives for Michael, slowly beginning to act in ways that are more in alignment with the idealism she derides as a weakness. Their parting in “Terra Firma, Part 2” is genuinely heartbreaking. In many ways, Georgiou is an example of how that drive towards utopia can affect even the most evil of people, if they are prepared to change.

Using Section 31 as a stop on the way towards a redemptive arc for Georgiou could make for a challenging but provocative film for Star Trek. Is Michael the only reason Georgiou has for acting ethically? If they continue to explore these flashbacks to Georgiou’s childhood, it is possible that we will get a complete picture of a complex yet charismatic character, who maybe is finally ready to work on making amends for her past actions. Maybe this confrontation with Section 31 will end with her rejecting their values and forging her own way: unfortunately, this concept seems more achievable with a spin-off series from Discovery, which is what this film was originally supposed to be prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Or, the film could lean more into the misfit angle of Section 31, which would frankly be a disappointing development considering the group’s history and would confirm a lot of fans’ worst fears about the franchise losing its idealistic vision.

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