Section 31 moves more away from the original Star Trek mission than any other program or film

The new television film by Olatunde Osunsanmi, “Star Trek: Section 31”, deals with the feats of Empress Philippa Georgiou, a fugitive from a parallel universe and former ruler of the evil terran empire. Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) is a sadistic wicked, mass murderer and vile cannibal that, thanks to some conscientious exam adventures aboard the USS Discovery, showed that he was able to really control himself. That was enough for the stellar fleet to be recruited for section 31, the lower operations arm of the “Star Trek” universe.

Section 31 is, for many Trekkies, the “Star Trek” antithesis. The organization appeared in the sixth season of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and always presented itself as morally doubtful. Why a seemingly utopian future based on pacifism, diplomacy and scientific improvement would require an order of spies and murderers similar to that of the CIA? Yes, the Federation had rivals and enemies, but during most “Star Trek: the original series”, the war should be avoided at all costs. Section 31 described the stellar fleet as an organization willing to break its own rules in times of war. It did not fit with the ideals of the creator of “Star Trek”, Gene Roddenberry.

But anyway we have reached a film in section 31 and the filmmakers, fortunately, adopted an intelligent approach to the controversial material. Instead of connecting the “section 31” directly with the rest of the “Star Trek” fee, or link it to an existing narrative arch of “Star Trek” (such as a war with the Klingon), it is completely separated, what makes only few references to the broader universe of “Star Trek”. This allowed the “section 31” to become an independent science fiction action film, free from the suffocation of the diplomacy of the stellar fleet. It is more like a robbery film, which mostly extraterrestrials and new characters.

So we have a “Star Trek” movie that does not develop between officers of the star fleet, which does not develop in a stellar ship, which does not have any of the spent utopian principles of the franchise, which does not have the rhythm of a “Star Trek” movie. Trek “does not seem like a series of” Star Trek “and presents a simple action plot that” Star Trek “usually does not present.

Wait. Why is this even “Star Trek”?

“Star Trek”, I’ve always felt, it has worked better when avoiding action. The most traditionally filled films of “Star Trek” action, although exciting, seem not to understand the point. “Star Trek” always gives the best when he fights with ethical dilemmas or presents really cerebral science fiction stories. The characters are capable of fighting and the spacecraft are equipped with weapons, but no officer or stellar fleet is thrown into a situation with lit lasers. Action films present violence as an easy solution to difficult problems; Simply kill the bad boy. “Star Trek”, which often refuses to adopt absolute morals, often tries to transcend simple solutions, seeing each enemy as a complex and complete person with their own motivations.

“Section 31” is a complete action film, with casual murders, multiple fighting scenes and last minute leaks. It doesn’t seem very “Star Trek” at all.

But that is just a tonal issue. Devils, Kelvin-Verse’s films had a similar problem. More than anything, “Section 31”, being so disconnected from the “Star Trek” universe in general, does not seem to be “Star Trek”. The characters are broad archetypes and the “Section 31” screenwriter, Craig Sweeny, seems to have created them out of nowhere. There is a camaloid (Sam Richardson), yes, but it could have been any species that changes in a random way of any science fiction story. There is a deltan (Humberly González), but I have seen extraterrestrial sexual goddesses before. Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl) appears in “Section 31”, but it is not seen or behaves as the previous version of the character that Trekkies remember from “Star Trek: The Next Generation”.

This film could have been released as an original action and science fiction adventure, with completely new characters and aliens, and would have worked as well. The approval of “Star Trek” does not improve it or alters the story in the least.

Of course, the main reason why “Section 31” seems completely divorced from “Star Trek” is that it does not take place in a spacecraft. Most “Star Trek” series to date have been programs on workplaces, who follow officers who have the most interesting work in the universe: piloting a spacecraft towards new and strange worlds. There are engineers, scientific officers and command officers who, using their professional insight and interpersonal skills, resolve complex diplomatic issues and discover unusual scientific secrets. They all work together and responded to a chain of command. The military formality of the stellar fleet is the most vital detail of “Star Trek”.

But it has been weird for Trekkies to see what life is like the stellar fleet. How is the existence of an average citizen in the universe of “Star Trek”? How does Roddenberry’s utopia appear in a daily and non -military stage? The “Star Trek” franchise has never really defined that part of its mythology, at least not very well. “Section 31” begins in a space station similar to a hotel where people meet to see performances in nightclubs and drink. They wear extravagant fashions and seem to pay with real money. None of the aliens is too familiar to me. When a new character is presented, a summary similar to that of “Suicide Squad” in its background and characteristics is offered. Here is the cyber-hulk with bad temper (Sven Ruygrok). Here is the change forms. Here is the mysterious type similar to FBI (Omari Hardwick). Here is the microscopic being that pilots a human form (Robert Kazinsky). I would recommend not being killed for him.

However, it seems that the civil world of “Star Trek” is disappointingly generic. The magical utopia of the stellar fleet has not reached the world of “Section 31”, so it could well take place anywhere. This could have been a “Rebel Moon” spin-off, for all the connections it has with “Star Trek”. With some modifications, it could even have been a “Valerian” spin-off or a “Babylon 5” branch. Together, “Section 31” is so far from “Star Trek” as “Star Trek” has been.

“Star Trek: Section 31” is now transmitted in Paramount+.