One of the biggest new elements added to the second season of Star Trek: Discovery is the introduction of Section 31, the shadowy organization first introduced into the canon in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. A new video released this morning by CBS takes a closer look at Discovery’s take on Section 31.
Inside Section 31
This week’s “Moments of Discovery” video focuses on Section 31 and includes commentary from executive producer Alex Kurtzman and others in charge with creating the look of the organization’s ship, wardrobe, and props.
NOTE: Like all CBS promotional videos this is region locked to the USA.
A closer look at Section 31’s stuff
The new video offered a closer glimpse at some of Section 31’s production design, wardrobe and props.
Concept art for Section 31 ship, showing it in regular and “dark mode”
Workers laying in cables for the 100 screens and 600,000 LED lights on the Section 31 ship set
Prop master Mario Moreira explains that Section 31’s props come “from a darker realm” and use technology that is 20 years more advanced than standard Starfleet tech.
Section 31 props
More Section 31 props
Moreira also noted how the Section 31 phaser (which was first seen in last night’s episode) was machined out of aluminum and when it’s set from stun to kill, the barrel extends out “because it looks cool.”
The fancy Section 31 phasers are shown in this season 2 publicity photo with Michelle Yeoh
Costume designer Gersha Phillips discussed how leather is the base of Section 31 costumes, with Michelle Yeoh noting how much she loves the black looks and “dominatrix” corset for her costume.
Georgiou’s Section 31 costume
A different take on Section 31
Showrunner Alex Kurtzman describes Section 31 in the new video:
Section 31 is an organization that is dedicated to protecting the universe by any means necessary…unlike Starfleet—who has very clear rules and regulations—Section 31 operates in the grey areas. They bend the rules and try not to break them, but ultimately given the threats that are coming in season two, the challenge for Section 31 is to figure out how to protect our freedoms without violating them.
Executive producer Olatunde Osunsanmi adds:
Section 31 is a super-secret organization very similar to the CIA. And they are participating with the Discovery, with Captain Pike and Burnham in the hunt for the Red Angel.
That Section 31 is a known entity in the Discovery era with their own badges and ships and is part of the Starfleet chain of command is something different than seen before, notably in the 24th century when they were shown to be a more covert and rogue operation. This is something that Kurtzman previously addressed at the TCA event in January:
If you know Section 31, you know that by the time Deep Space Nine comes around they’ve gone underground and they are this mysterious organization—but there’s nothing official about it. In the promos [for season 2] that you’ve seen so far, Section 31 has a badge. There’s a ship and all these different things, so the question is: how do they get from here to there? What happened in that window of time between those two pivot points in Section 31’s evolution?
This question about the nature of Section 31 is something we could see explored during the second season and perhaps the decisions they make, which Kurtzman alludes to in the new video, may have an impact regarding their status. It is expected that Section 31 will continue to be part of the show into the third season as Michelle Yeoh—who plays a Section 31 operative—has been confirmed to be returning. Yeoh has also signed on to lead a new Section 31 series currently in development, which is expected to debut after the third season of Discovery if it goes to series.
Michelle Yeoh talking about Section 31, from new video
Star Trek: Discovery is available exclusively in the USA on CBS All Access. It airs in Canada on Space and streams on CraveTV. It is available on Netflix everywhere else.
Keep up with all the Star Trek: Discovery news at TrekMovie.
The new phaser reminds me very much of phasers from Star Treks V and VI – my favourite design
These Section 31 phasers are gorgeous ( or should that be “Georgious”! ).
Badoom-tish!
The phasers in Discovery act very much like the KU phasers or the Star Wars blasters. Again, a weird production choice to change that up.
Michelle Yeoh letting loose with that kick-ass fight scene ( short though it was ) is probably the best hand-to-hand fight I’ve ever seen in TV STAR TREK.
Great to see some of Michelle’s fight skills on display finally.
Yup, I was eagerly waiting for when they were gonna use the extraordinary martial arts talents of Michelle Yeoh.
In production of this episode and season she was acting in Master Z where had a lot of cool fight and just was in good shape and and made workout. In February she injuring ugly his leg but I don’t know what was a reason – non movie with action in her plan in this time. At Oscars she was looking fine with leg.
I think it is quite possible that once the Federation became established that Jonathan Archer forced Section 31 into the open which he could do if he became President. So the only question is what forced them back underground and why history would not have records of them in DS9s day.
I think you’re probably on the right track, Joe.
Even Alex Kurtzman mentioned in an interview that we will ultimately see why Section 31 are forced to retreat into the shadows again.
Funnily enough, in the Kelvin timeline, Section 31 are covert-but-known-of, similar to how they are in the 2250s of DSC.
There are a lot of things in the KU that Discovery decided to pick up themselves. Weird, right? Especially considering they claim they are prime and not Kelvin.
Joe so Jonathan Archer as the Federation president made Section 31 public knowledge after the Federation was founded by United Earth, Vulcan, Andorians, and the Tellarites after the Earth Romulan War in the 22nd Century. Interesting.
It definitely sounds like something he would do.
Agreed.
In the novels, Trip actually destroys Section 31 a few years after the Federation is founded. We later learn that Section 31 is actually run by a sentient AI that periodically allows 31 to be destroyed when it thinks that it is doing more harm than good, and then reforms it when it believes that the Federation needs it again.
Leland and Georgiou have mentioned “Control” a few times, which is what the AI in the novels was usually called. Maybe Discovery will borrow that bit of lore from the novels, and have Section 31 disbanded and then reformed as a more secretive organization.
Interesting stuff. But a sentient AI in that timeframe? Even for Section 31? Hmm, I don’t know if I like that…
And didn’t Trip die or was that just a writer who wasn’t willing to accept that and wrote some strange bring-back-Trip story (like with Dr. Culber)? Don’t get me wrong, Trip was my favorite character on that show, but he died on-screen…
I’m not sure if the novels were written by the same writer, but Trip is alive in the Enterprise novels. To make a long story short, Trip joined Section 31 and they faked his death. They seem to have decided that there was some wiggle room for Trip dying on screen since we just saw a holodeck version of it.
Oh, did he die in These Are The Voyages? I thought that was the episode before that. Ok, well, yeah, then there’s at least room for interpretation…
I still have a hard time believing that Section 31 would be as secret as it’s portrayed in DS9 in about 100 years. If the CIA was abolished tomorrow it’s not like it would just be forgotten especially with officers in the military etc.
Plus there are people who are alive in Discovery’s time that are still alive in more than 100 years later! If it was a group operating as openly as it is in Discovery I just don’t see how it would be completely memory holed.
In time of TNG probably only Spock and Tipol are persons who know about S31 and they have not to tell what they know… And remember – TPTB showed to us better technology in habds of S31 and this strange stuff with manipulating memory… Maybe it is a reason and they will use their technology for erase all knowledge…
In the time of TNG T’Pol would be over 250 years old. Pretty large stretch.. Even for a Vulcan.
Sarek was meant to be around that old when he died in the TNG era.
Sarek would have been around 160, give or take a decade, when he died.
Wasn’t he already over a century old in Journey to Babel?
He was 102 in JtB. And since Generations takes place approximately 80 years after TUC… Just do the math.
Section 31 has the coolest looking ships than anything in Starfleet.
Section 31 has the best toys and Starfleet has old crap. Why did Section 31 become mysterious in DS9?
“20 years ahead” seems like a real stretch. That would put their tech into TMP territory and we know they had wrist communicators by then but not commbadges.
Not really, Area 51 is a testing ground for technology that we won’t see the light of day for 20 years.
They probably had the ability to create comm badges by TMP, but decided to go with wrist communicators instead. The Cardassians still use wrist communicators in the 24th century.
Yes. The entire concept is ridiculous and brings down some of the positive steps the show has taken in S2.
You can really tell that Michelle Yeoh is having a blast. I am so excited for her and how her career is having this second Renaissance in her late 50s. The franchise is very lucky to have her… green-lighting a spinoff with her as the star was a total no-brainer.
I second that.
To be fair though she has been working consistently and successfully in movies for decades. But in recent years she’s tried her hand at doing a number of TV shows – I think she is someone who is – of course – infinitely skilled, but who likes to continually challenge herself.
I’m really excited about what they will do with Empress Georgiou ( though I miss Prime Georgiou too ).
Yeah I said that before too that while I’m sure playing Captain Georgiou was fine its probably not nearly as fun as playing someone like this where she can use her fighting skills more and have a character who is so devious but always playing both sides. Villains are probably always more fun for actors to play.
I still don’t know how I feel about a character like that leading their own show but my guess is they are going to try and soften (as much as they can anyway) on Discovery so by time you see her on her own show people will be use to her and even accepting.
How well they do it still remains to be seen but they are planting the seeds now.
You can see that she really cares about Michael. Michael is the closest family member she has in the prime universe.
Hardly. She is evil. Everything she does is to further her own agenda and cares not for anything else. Period. You can take the character out of the MU but you can’t take the MU out of the character.
Tiger: Only they seem to soften her at the expense of Section 31,by making it more nefarious (in direct contradiction to Kurtzman) and her the saving grace. Either that or she is the one lieing. I don’t see how both can preserve their credibility in the long run. I’d much rather have a softer Section 31 that gels better with 50 years of Trek history than one “fun character” which is really just as much fun as watching a female Kim Jong Un taking the world hostage.
I assume you mean the line about Leland kiling Burnham’s parents? If so, you could be right. BUT to be fair now (and I’m not trying to spin this) we don’t know what she meant by that? Did she mean he literally had them killed for something or was it something more ambiguous that he did something that ended up getting them killed? I can’t remember the line she said directly but it may not mean Leland ordered their deaths or anything but that Section 31 dropped the ball that got them murdered. If so, that changes things a bit.
But yes if it does mean Section 31 literally took out her parents then I agree with you they do look more nefarious UNLESS Bernham’s parents were bad people. Or they could’ve been Section 31 members themselves caught up in a bad op (knowing these writers I would NOT put that past them ;)). So its still up in the up in the air.
Like you, I don’t know how they are going to walk that line but I will say what we saw of them in Enterprise wasn’t that bad. They actually did help Starfleet on that show. The only bad thing they did was allow Phlox to get kidnapped and even that was to help the Klingons, which they wanted to keep on their good side (that worked out well lol). So if they do stuff like that on this show it may not be so bad.
“I assume you mean the line about Leland kiling Burnham’s parents?”
Not just that, I mean the fundamental gambit that Section 31 tried to lobotomize Spock (which is far beyond what they did in Enterprise) which makes Burnham go rogue on Starfleet Intelligence basically (can this be without consequence?). This is really pitting Georgiou’s word and credibility against Leland’s and how this gets resolved will tell us where these writers really stand. Because so far we have no objective reason (other than hearsay) to distrust Leland but Georgiou is as irredeemably dark as it gets. If we the audience are supposed to trust her because “she (pretends to) like Michael”, what does that really say about this show? That we should like mass-murderers if they have empathy for the right people? That genocide can be forgiven? I really don’t wanna go down THAT route, which is why a Section 31 show is such a comically bad idea, in particular as a Star Trek show. With these writers it is a huge train wreck waiting to happen, and it will wreck the entire Star Trek universe and history with it, because they can’t and won’t resist the slippery slope. We can individually choose not to watch – but what’s canon is canon.
Oh right I actually forgot about that lol. Yeah thats a tricky one, I can’t really argue that one. If so it would definitely put Leland in the villain camp, especially after he lied to Spock’s own sister in her face.
The only thing I can say in Leland’s defense is that if he thinks Spock is really a brutal murderer against other Federation citizens then he just doesn’t care about saving someone he sees as a criminal, especially if he thinks the information to save others is more vital. Its a stretch, I know but its still very early. And I said on the other page you would be stupid to completely trust Section 31 in that regard. Its still shocking Sarek was so willing to give Spock over to them but how THEY look at Section 31 is different than how we look at them knowing what we know.
As for Georgiou we’re on the same page. No matter what she will always be a mass murdering dictator. They can soften her image or find some way to justify it but I don’t see how. And that’s why I said I still don’t know if its a good idea for her to lead the show, but there is only a show because of her so we’ll just have to see what they do.
I don’t think Leland killed them on purpose. He seems to have a history of goofing up and covering his mistakes.
No brainer in that it was a foolish idea. She can excel at certain parts. But Georgeau, both prime and mirror, just don’t work for her. For Prime Georgeau she came across as wooden and lifeless and as Evil Georgeau she hams it up WAY too much. Niether part suits her. To be fair, the Space Hitler role was a terrible character to begin with…
Section 31 deserves its own show.
“Yeoh has also signed on to lead a new Section 31 series currently in development, which – if given a series order
– is expected to debut after the third season of Discovery.”
I have to admit I was less than thrilled at the prospect of seeing a Section 31 series. That said, I am willing to give it a chance. Last night, for the first time I was actually interested in what was going on with S31. What is the deal with Leland? He seemed pretty convincing but then Georgiou tells Burnham not to trust him. Who is lying and why? I am skeptical but the S31 story was actually compelling for the first time so… maybe they can make this work. No matter what, it is good to have Michelle Yeoh on board, so we shall see.
Probably best not to think to much about how moving a ships engine rigs for silent running…
I have no wish to be negative for the sake of being negative. I just want, as unlikely as it seems, for the people who decide these days on making more Star Trek to know one thing.
That thing is this: there are some fans, like me, who don’t like the Secrion 31 idea and don’t find it interesting. It’s too dark, dystopian, and is not what Star Trek was about. I know some people disagree and I’m not trying to debate. I just want people to know some fans are not happy about it. I will not be watching the Michelle Yeoh show. And when Section 31 scenes come on Discovery I patiently wait until something more positive comes back in the episode. I can watch anything else, including the news, if I wanted to see morally compromised people doing shady things using technology. Yawn.
Ok
Cool.
I’m reminded of the line everyone loves sausage, no one wants to see it made. TOS was always up on the enlightened third party (re: Organians) to protect the Federation from it’s worst impulses, and as such didn’t really grapple with those who would do the Federation harm. Well, Trek has established Section 31 as the agency that will wade into the muck, when necessary. Why is it necessary? Well, despite Rikers lecture in the early days of TNG that the Federation would gladly march to it’s extinction rather then violate the Prime Directive, self preservation does trump principle, even in the enlightened, positive Trek universe.
That said, I trust that there are going to be checks and balances on Section 31 shown.
“Self preservation does TRUMP principle, even in the enlightened, positive Trek universe.”
I see what you did here! :D This coming from the same people who always deny the basic violent and selfish human nature, and act accordingly (such as regarding open borders) is cynical though. Even hypocritical.
In Star Trek, we were led to believe that through all out war, near extinction and first contact humanity evolved beyond their baser instincts and inherent violence. The idea of Section 31 at the heart of everything all this time calls this a total lie.
Can we please stop using the word trump. It’s lost all meaning.
Sometimes a verb is just a verb….
Phil,
Enterprise Incident
For that matter, The Trouble With Tribbles also has underlying intrigue. The Federation spooks were just never identified, that’s all.
” I can watch anything else, including the news, if I wanted to see morally compromised people doing shady things using technology. Yawn.”
Totally agree! I suppose some of the people who always claim their moral superiority over “people in the news” and a squeaky clean moral vest need to compensate by consuming (or creating) a particularly nasty form of entertainment involving regular attempts at genocide, cannibalism and severed baby heads. Breads and circuses….
It really is a far cry from the sunny ways of TNG, where a woman has a miscarriage in the last 20 minutes of the finale episode for no real reason.
I think the point of Section 31 is to contrast with our heroes. Starfleet doesn’t compromise principles for self preservation. Section 31 does. We get to see how evil Section 31 is to remind us of how good our heroes are.
Gary, Section 31 is very much looking to be season 2’s mirror universe. Its bringing the entire season down. Thus far, every time section 31 has showed up (with the exception of Ash arguing with Pike) it has been very hard to pay attention or take it seriously. Can they please do a mini season where they do not rely on some previous gag from some other Trek show? Is it really THAT hard to come up with something original?
I know for many having Section 31 so tied to this show is seen as a negative but it was actually the first thing that excited me about season 2 when I heard they would be showing up. I just love the idea of them and to see them full on for the first time is pretty fun.
I don’t love that they are so out in the open but I have also said its the only way you can have them in their own show because you have to see them working with Starfleet somehow and not always against them or fans will reject the show. Star Trek can be dark but it can’t work against its own values all the time either.
And its a great way to tie them into the 23rd century and probably smooth over all the gaps between TOS and Discovery. It was clear they were going to go crazy with all the fancy technology and they aren’t wasting anytime on it. I’m looking forward to seeing all their crazy toys.
I’m rooting for the vindication of Leland and exposure of Georgiou’s power grab to save this angle and reconcile it with anything Kurtzman said above (or 50 years of Trek). Then again, I don’t see how that could lead to the spin-off…
That would be surprising. To have the guy set up as the bad guy end up being the good guy. But that sounds too complex for those who mapped the season out.
Sigh. Just once, could these Hollywood screenwriters actually something about intelligence services? Most people who work at CIA are able to disclose who they work for, and everyone knows of the agency’s existence. (We’re not talking Bashir meeting S31 and asking, “who dat”?) And while it has not been perfect, CIA is ultimately subject to congressional appropriations and oversight. This is one reason why I really dislike these Section 31 plotlines.
Section 31 is the CIA in a Star Trek sense of the word.
Perhaps Section 31 is a Budgetary line in the 2250’s but not by the 2370’s of DS9.
How Section 31 is driven underground, and out of Starfleet and why sounds like fertile ground for a debate of Star Trek values.
David Mack did a good job in his share of the Section 31 Relaunch books in terms of showing how an organization like that can draw people in and compromise their values. This includes the misfits like Bashir or Tyler, or Admirals like Jellico or Cornwell.
So far we have 3 31 members: Ash who is trying to internally reconcile two people with strong but different moral centres; Georgiou who was a tyrant in another universe but is recalibrating to a new one; and Leland who may be the true believer in the guidance of control. How each navigates the murk could really prove interesting.
You know what I find interesting? How to make a better world and universe. Anything else is, like looking at cool toys, etc. – I mean, do I have to really explain the difference? What is happening to Star Trek?
Best answer for that: Imagine using the exact story from a TOS episode as a DIS episode.
I can’t.
Star Trek is a combination of powerful storytelling and intriguing characters with remarkable chemistry. TOS had it; TNG and DS9 grew into it; VOY and ENT barely achieved it, if at all.
DIS has good episodic storytelling, and interesting, ever-improving character chemistry. With that said, it isn’t “Star Trek” outside of warp drive, Starfleet, transporters, etc. The story structure is different; it is far more soap opera-esque, tying into a larger storyline which, frankly, hasn’t paid off much at the season two halfway mark.
I agree with GarySeven here.
And I’m not crying over missing TOS-era set designs/aesthetics, or “they changed Spock! The bastards!” I lament how more powerful standalone storytelling, not serialized Trek–which DIS is–is changing Star Trek into something different. Even DS9 dabbled in story arcs which became both tired and contrived.
My opinion. ’nuff said.
Gary, overall it is a reflection of our time which is full of division, cynicism, hypocrisy and violence. Unlike TOS and in contrast to what they constantly proclaim, however Discovery on screen is NOT offering a better future and rising above “the muck”, with stuff like making Section 31 so open and openly evil, or giving this caricature of a female Space Hitler any place in a Star Trek show. And by people’s defense of this as more “realistic”, it seems fans are totally fan with this. Star Trek has been brought down from its pedestal, it is a mere mortal now.
Vulcan Soul,
I agree. It started with JJ Abrams, who admitted he wasn’t intelligent enough to understand the philosophy of Trek. And it continues with Discovery. Star Trek is a shell of what it was. It is now a pretty package (special effects and section 31 toys) for those who think like JJ. And there are many people who are like this, which is why the ratings are good. But open the package, and there is nothing inside.
DIS is actually the opposite of TOS. TOS is now a cheap looking package with so much- philosophy and meaning – inside the box.
Technology changes and improves. And aesthetics change. It seems clear to me that in 50 years, unlike TOS, DIS will be a package that is no longer pretty , because it’s special effects will be laughably primitive – and at the same time it is empty on the inside too- without substance. Essentially it will be worthless then.
I guess it’s like with people – their outer beauty is lost over time, and only their inner substance- IF it was ever there- can remain. TOS is like the old person, wrinkled and ugly outside, and beautiful at the core. DIS will be the old person that is ugly inside and outside, with little of value.
Very much disagree.
This season of Discovery is likely going to be the best examination of General Order One/Prime directive on Trek so far.
Because for once, WE (as in the Federation) are on the other side of the discussion.
The federation is to the Red Angel like a pre-warp society is to a Starfleet crew, and it’s going to be interesting to see where we end up landing.
Discovery is less obvious and actually MORE mature about its story telling and it seems to be slipping under the radar of a lot of people who can’t look past the fireworks.
Georgeau was a tyrant in the other universe and is a tyrant without an empire in this one.
Except the CIA is not unaccountable. Section 31 seems to answer to no one. Now if they had a division of Federation Intelligence… That poses some interest. The Section 31 stuff… Sounds like simplistic comic book kind of stuff.
” And while it has not been perfect, CIA is ultimately subject to congressional appropriations and oversight”
To be fair, this “oversight” is a total travesty given it still led to black prisons, abductions, institutional torture and extrajudicial murders. Citing this real world criminal organization that should be stamped out and stamped out hard is not inspiring my confidence in Section 31, to put it mildly!
What Kurtzman says is once again fundamentally at odds with what is shown on screen (so far). The intended lobotomy of a Starfleet officer and Federation ambassadors son for a threat that has not even clearly materialized yet is not “operating in the grey areas”, “bending the rules” or, “protecting personal freedoms without breaking them”. UNLESS Philippa Georgiou is lieing. Which would save Section 31’s face in this season but further undermine her credibility in the spin-off.
Vulcan Soul the red Angel is a real threat. Michael Burnham saved Spock’s life. Section 31 is the CIA of the Federation. Star Trek is different today. Just like Star Wars.
Professor Spock is right. Star Trek is different today.
“Different” isn’t necessarily a reason why something is ok, however. Different can be great; different can be horrible, or anything in between. Saying something is different does not mean it is necessarily acceptable. Discovery, to me, is different, and unacceptable.
These are coignant points, Gary!
People are thinking too black and white when dividing people into “conservatives” and “progressives”, and the same is true regarding Trek. Everything is relative. Change for change’s sake does not have to be good, and change for the worse is certainly not good. Otoh, bad aspects of previous shows (such as outlawing women as captains in TOS, if it even meant that) should not be clinged on to.
We are being presented with Discovery as the only choice of “different” when really it is more of the same: more action, more gritty & violent, faster, less introspection, less conceptual, more emotion. Anyone opposing this kind of different could be labelled old-fashioned, luddite, backwards. But people forget a different Star Trek could ALSO mean:
– a show that defies the contemporary “premium streaming scifi” dogma by being unabashedly Utopian and optimistic and not resorting to cynical constructs like Section 31
– a show that features hard scifi stories in a way today only independent scifi movies like Gravity or Arrival dare to do
– a show that invites serious scifi literature (opposed to Trek fanfic) writers to submit scripts, and once again has an open script policy
– a show that is not afraid to hire writers from both sides of the aisle to explore allegories from various angles, instead of pandering to partisan reflexes and vilifying anyone thinking different
– a show that dares to have richly explored North-Korean, Russian and Iranian bridge crew members instead of endlessly adhering to the same politically correct mix from a purely domestic point of view. In that way, a show that also reflects the much stronger Asian influence the real future will undoubtedly has. How can a scifi show about United Earth, today, not have a single Chinese crew member? Anyone, don’t tell me how diverse Discovery is. It’s shortsighted and impulsively “in-group”.
“the red Angel is a real threat”
Is it, though?
Section 31 is in itself a grey area. Section 31 shouldn’t exist in Star Trek but it does exist. So they do the things Starfleet can’t do. Starfleet is so dumb because of Section 31
Let’s not forget that S31 only exists because the writers decided so. Nothing is definite. In that way, I have to reassess DS9 in that it opened pandora’s box which the current crop exploits in ways even DS9 would not have dared to.
For the record, while I think DS9 is the best of the spinoffs, I am forced to concede that it was that show that Section 31 sprang from. As good as the show was, they did have some bad ideas and dog episodes. I never like Vic’s night club, either.
It’s not about JJ. Moonves wanted StarTrek to be his NCIS in space five years ago and now they will create it come hell or high water. There have been plenty of other Trek pitches that could hve been cool. Remember when the Band of Brothers writer was hired to develop a new Trek feature?
That said, this video shows they’ve clearly thought about all our responses and the “20 years ahead” line makes sense. Did the US and the USSR hire Nazis after WW2? They certainly did. Does that kill Trek? Only if s31 always wins. Maybe they won’t. We don’t know. Is enough to have them in peril, not winning? Is it even possible for any of these stories to have “investigative journalism” type detail of human truth and credibility?
That’s an interesting line of argument, there’s just one problem. Like many others it equates Star Trek humans and the Federation with contemporary organizations and people (or even 70 years ago). The entire, positive, idealistic interpretation of Star Trek created by GR rested on the idea that three centuries in the future humans have become BETTER and have evolved past their baser instincts. That’s why there was no need for something like Section 31 or hiring “Space Nazis”. Now here comes a new guard of creators who totally don’t understand this point and of course they swiftly bring in concepts like Section 31 to explain this, to their mind, illogically peaceful Federation. But in the process of that, they totally undermine the Utopian core of Trek itself, by making its core deeply pessimistic, cynical and hypocritical. And that is a real shame!
I agree. And I think it will be delicious, perhaps even artisanal, cheese. Only if they cared to represent an Expanse-like causal narrative, could a show like this be the ST we love. This won’t be that.
Maybe it will be.
“and the “20 years ahead” line makes sense.”
Please explain how them having future tech makes sense.
” Did the US and the USSR hire Nazis after WW2? They certainly did. ”
True, but would either side have recruited Adolph Hitler himself for clandestine services? I doubt any government would show such a serious lack of judgement.
Just like introducing the Borg Queen removed all that was unique and interesting about the Borg, using S31 in the way they are on DIS is making them less compelling to my eye. For me, Sloan perfectly personified everything that S31 ought to be. William Sadler’s excellent portrayal made S31 mysterious & murky, but almost charming at the same time. DIS has turned them into cliched characture baddies. Noone seems to credit the audience with picking up on the subtle these days. Less can be more!
The ‘dark mode’ reminds me of the Miranda class.
In that one production shot of weapons on the wall, do I see what look roughly like TNG Dustbuster type phasers?
Geo-locked. “Video not available”.
The show has an audience in other countries. Heaven knows CBS extracted enough from BellMedia and Netflix to ensure that. They could at least make the video freely available worldwide.
BellMedia doesn’t seem to want to get these things up in any kind of consistent way.
Only about 2/3s of these compilations get posted on Space’s website or app. And late if they are.
Section 31- Saviours of the Universe. Is Kurtzman one of those blokes who doesn’t appreciate the difference between quadrant, galaxy, and universe? Or is it that if Section 31 were tasked with merely protecting the galaxy, that wouldn’t be enough “stakes” for AK. Gotta have your stakes.
they frogotten about S31 in ENT too?
With the exception of Michelle Yeoh, whom I ADORE, I have almost zero interest in this show. I don’t know any Trek fan who actively wants this show. Why are we getting this show?
Because someone, mistakenly I think, believes there is a sizable number of fans who would be interested in Section 31. And for some unknown reason the producers are in love with Michelle Yeoh playing Space Hitler.
Star Trek fans love stuff like S31.
Whats the deal with the mechanical girl on the bridge? Her eyes indicated she received some sort of message last episode.
So section 31 now has ships? Does it also have bases? Man, section 31 in DS9 sounded way cooler and even more intimidating.