With the Paramount+ streaming movie Star Trek: Section 31 premiering on January 24th, anticipation for an exciting new addition to the Star Trek universe is high. Academy award-winning actress Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou heads the cast as leader of the Terran Empire from the Mirror Universe. Yeoh is reprising her role as the complicated, battle-ready leader who was introduced in the series Star Trek: Discovery. Section 31 refers to a covert intelligence organization that carries out shadow missions outside the jurisdiction of the United Federation of Planets, that has been in existence since the beginning of Starfleet in the 22nd Century.
According to Inverse, Section 31 will occur in the 24th Century. It will reveal where the intrepid mirror Georgiou ended up after stepping through the Guardian of Forever in Season 3 of Discovery. This standalone movie was originally slated to be produced as a television series, but it’s my bet Yeoh’s newfound Hollywood cache and limited time commitments may have influenced CBS’ decision to develop a movie rather than a series. Section 31 is directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi, who has experience with the material from directing several episodes of Star Trek: Discovery and one of my favorite TV series - Sleepy Hollow.
In the official Section 31 trailer the conflict starts on Georgiou’s impressive spiral-designed space station with the introduction of a threat from an unknown crisis "unlike anything Starfleet has ever seen!" Enter the covert operations of Section 31 to the rescue, seemingly a solid premise of a movie; however, outside of Yeoh’s character from Discovery, there appear to be minimal bases for fans to buy into the story outside of the Starfleet lore of Section 31.
In the Star Trek Charter, Section 31, allows for Starfleet personnel to take drastic measures under certain extraordinary circumstances. Extraordinary circumstances have occurred many, many times in the Star Trek universe when the Prime Directive, which prohibits interference with the natural development of alien worlds and civilizations, has been breached under the guidelines of Section 31. Extraordinary circumstances aside, I hope we don't see any of those black Starfleet badges from Star Trek: Discovery. Nothing says a secret spy organization more than an insignia identifying you as a member of said covert operation that works outside of the boundaries of Starfleet – that NO ONE is supposed to know about! Hmmm…that's probably why James Bond, Jason Bourne, and Ethan Hunt all don’t tote membership insignias identifying each of their super-secret covert operations!
As a potential Star Trek movie franchise, Section 31 lacks some of the benefits of a long-standing history of previous character-driven content in comparison to the rich movie and series icons the likes of Captain Kirk, or Captain Picard. That being said, it’s not to say that sci-fi movies cannot stand on their own, create their lore, and be successful – they certainly can and hopefully, this one will. When it comes to Star Trek movies, Trekkies like me love seeing new interpretations of the franchise with exciting and dynamic characters while staying true to the original text. Section 31, without a framework series to build from, the creators are likely to take creative licensing with the story, plot, and characters that may fall short without the comfort food of familiar characters and story arcs of a proven series. As such, Section 31 may be better suited for an animated series, and here’s why.
Why should Star Trek: Section 31 be an animated series
The first Star Trek animated series that aired in 1973, based on the original adventures of the USS Enterprise was elevated by voiceovers from the original cast, such as William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nicholas, and more. This cohesion of familiar voices and characters all contributed to legitimizing and solidifying the 1973 animated series as part of the Star Trek enduring lore and fantasy.
As an animated series, Section 31 could entice the Star Trek fandom with a continuity of federation lore, plot, and characters by injecting voices of familiar characters. A great example of this was skillfully done in the 3D animated series Star Trek: Prodigy which premiered on Paramount+ on October 28th, 2021. Prodigy boasts the intergalactic adventures of a group of misfit teen aliens who commandeered a lost Protostar class federation starship (USS Protostar) to escape forced labor on a mining asteroid.
Part of Prodigy’s charm is how we see this teen crew learn from each other and learn how to operate and navigate a starship while cruising through the Delta Quadrant – at speeds much faster than warp as propelled by the immense power of its proto-core. Prodigy’s teens learned to navigate a proto core contained through a gravity shell and equalized by a warp drive with the help of a familiar Starfleet member, which was a treat to see.
To my delight, the crew is under the tutelage of hologram Janeway, voiced by Kate Mulgrew who portrayed Captain Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager. There’s an appearance of Admiral Janeway, who was also voiced by Mulgrew, along with a host of other Voyager fan favs there were voiced by the original actors. It’s this kind of commitment to the original text and federation folklore that could be leveraged by Section 31 had it been an animated series. Not to mention the vast expanse of possible plots, new characters, new aliens, and innovative Starfleet tech that could be developed in animation - almost as fast as Prodigy’s vehicle replicator. Another advantage of an animated series is the flexibility from one episode to the next to experiment and take chances with the Star Trek lore and the sci-fi genre itself.
The genre-bending adult animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks which premiered August 6th, 2020, on Paramount+, did just that. This 5-season strong animated series flips the usually serious and dramatic Star Trek plot right on its head with its quirky explicative bleeping one-liners to a fresh take on a starship crew by following a group of inexperienced, yet brilliant, antics of junior officer ensigns in the lower decks of the California Class starship USS Cerritos.
These enigmatic ensigns just want to become junior lieutenants in their chosen fields of expertise and will do just about anything, including breaking Starfleet protocol to rank up or to protect a friend who may have “borrowed” a shuttle. The Cerritos' crew doesn't necessarily have the best reputation in Starfleet, but what they do have are good intentions, a cursing cat species with questionable bedside manners as the ship’s doctor, a rebellious female ensign with mommy issues because her mother is the Captain, a nerdy book-smart ensign who can sooner recite the Starfleet manual on weapons specs of a Klingon Bird-of-Prey class ship rather than order a drink for a girl he likes, and a green-skinned ensign from the warrior/pirate planet Orion where she hides her royal duties has a princess known as the Mistress of the Winter Constellations, a 1st Officer who’s more concerned with his biceps and looking good than training his ensigns to command a ship and more!
Lower Decks, while featuring other guest appearances, even featured William Riker (voiced by Jonathan Frakes) of Star Trek: Next Generation as an excessively happy Captain of the USS Titan, who gleefully commanded his screaming bridge crew while being fired on and heading straight into an anomalous hole in space/time called a Gluonic Disruption. Frakes’ performance was deliciously outrageous and a hysterical example of how the animated genre can expand the boundaries of what is expected of a United Federation of Planets' television series.
Similar to Lower Decks, should Section 31 be portrayed as an animated series that “jumps the shark” and shakes up the Star Trek format? Certainly not, however, as a well-crafted animated series the possibilities are almost endless in this genre when integrating continuity with other Starfleet original actor voiceovers, creating new characters and aliens, and exploring new technologies and new Federation folklore. I look forward to the premiere of Star Trek: Section 31 and how this movie will add and enhance Star Trek lore of an interstellar secret black-ops organization that engages outside the boundaries of Starfleet.