Section 31: I hope it still happens.

[Noname Given]

I think S31 is the backup for Picard. If Sir Patrick decides 3 seasons is enough then they will replace Picard with S31. I would rather see Picard continue so I hope this doesn't happen.

Stewart (had a vocal typo - corrected), specifically signed for three seasons of Star Trek: Picard. They're filming seasons 2 and 3 back to back both because Patrick Stewart is currently 81 years old; and also because he probably just wants to get it done. He originally told them no, But they were able to sell him on the idea that they could do something different, and they have.

But yeah I don't think Patrick Stewart is someone who's just going to keep it going until he drops dead. He'll do the three seasons that he contracted for, and he'll move on.

 

[Tim Thomason]

Stuart specifically signed for three seasons of Star Trek: Picard.

Oh no. Stuart Baird is coming back?

 

[Isaac Lawrence]

Well what do you know? It looks like the Sectibon 31 series isn't dead after all, COVID-19 just threw a big wrench in the works, but Kurtzman and Co. want it to happen:
https://trekmovie.com/2021/07/19/alex-kurtzman-very-optimistic-about-star-trek-section-31-series/

Yay.

When a lot of people were poo-pooing a Section 31 show, I was like, "No, I want the Star Trek show where everyone is dressed in black, and with the cool Asian lady who does martial arts. Give me that show."

Also, I guess it's maybe because I have no frame of reference on how Section 31 was done on Deep Space Nine because I've never seen that episode, or I don't remember it, one or the other. I liked Sisko, but I didn't like anyone else on Deep Space Nine, so I was a very infrequent viewer of the show. I thought he was good, but not good enough to make me want to watch all of it.

Anyway, whatever they do in a Section 31 show with Michelle Yeoh, I'm sure it will be very different than what they did in Deep Space Nine. Or maybe it'll be exactly like what they did in Deep Space Nine, and maybe what they did in Deep Space Nine I may actually like if ever bothered to watch the episode(s).

I know with Michelle Yeoh's character, I immediately liked Captain Philippa Georgiou the second she and Michael appeared on screen. She immediately jumped up with Sisko and Janeway as my favorite captains, and she was only captain for two episodes.

Michelle Yeoh as "Her Most Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominus of Qo'noS, Regina Andor, Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius"... since the whole Mirror Universe thing was never something that I liked in Star Trek to begin with, nothing changed in that instance either. When they brought her back in season two as "absolute candor" (my description) Georgiou though, I liked her.

Some things they did I thought were a bit over the top, but on the whole I thought she was great. Like that scene in "Such Sweet Sorrow" in season two where she said, "So pick a nova and fire an antimatter missile into it's core." And Saru was like, "That's going to kill everyone for dozens of light years." And Georgiou was, "Yeah?" And Michael said, "We're not doing that." And then Georgiou said, "I thought there were no bad ideas?" And everyone around the table was like, "No, that it is a bad one." And season three I liked pretty much everything they did with her. Well, aside from the Mirror Universe stuff again, but that served a greater purpose, and the end justified the means for me, so I was fine with it.

That only thing that gives me pause in all of this is that it seems as though they're going to send her back in time. It's like, "Oh, Jesus, people, just do Section 31 in the 32nd century. How hard is this? And think of all of the cool tech you can do... " And that way you can still have your Michael and Georgiou moments as well. Because of course I feel that Georgiou is the best character that works off of Michael. Other characters are fine, but Georgiou and Michael work really good together, I think. They opened the show together (albeit a different version of Georgiou), so keep it going.

Let's see what they do though. And at the end of season two they said that Section 31 would have a different focus, so let's see what they do.

Hopefully they keep everyone in black, and with black badges and the whole nine. Like Jay Z said, "All-black everything." And have them continue to have more advanced tech than everyone around them. Because they're Section 31 and that's what's they do, they just got it like that. And if they want to put Georgiou back in the 23rd century with Ash Tyler, fine, I'll live with it because it's Michelle Yeoh. 32nd century would have been perfect, by 23rd century will do, and I won't let perfect be the enemy of good or whatever.

A Section 31 show too I feel could be a Star Trek version of Mission: Impossible.

Whatever it ultimately is, I just hope it's something different with Star Trek. And it's hard to imagine it won't be... for good or bad.

EDIT:
I'll of course proclaim it as insanely great anyway, so it's not going to really matter.

 

[Paul755]

I’ll believe a S31 show is happening when it actually starts filming. Like the 4th Kelvin-verse movie.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I'm really curious what they had/have planned for this. A S31 show doesn't appeal much, but I'm all for something different. And Mission: Impossible Trek in the 23rd century with Georgiou and Ash Tyler doesn't sound bad.

 

[fireproof78]

I'm hoping for a little bit closer to Men in Black with a little bit of Agents of Shield and Mission: Impossible. Just playing out on the edges of the Federation, without really acknowledging whats going on.

 

[Visitor1982]

Section31 is still dead. I don't think it will ever get off the ground. Don't care much for it either.

 

[dupersuper]

I'm all for a Michelle Yeoh show, but I'm so sick of Section 31, and them being public in Discovery never made any sense.

 

[fireproof78]

Section 31 would at least be different. Hope it happens.

 

[StalwartUK]

I'm all for a Michelle Yeoh show, but I'm so sick of Section 31, and them being public in Discovery never made any sense.

They've been overexposed. S31 as an idea worked best in DS9 (and ENT for the most part) but Star Trek Into Darkness kicked off the trend of making them far flashier with their own uniforms, starships and elaborate secret bases.

Since many of the creatives from those movies also work with Discovery etc. no surprise that they used Section 31 again whenever they needed more (Human) bad guys.

 

[The Wormhole]

They've been overexposed. S31 as an idea worked best in DS9 (and ENT for the most part) but Star Trek Into Darkness kicked off the trend of making them far flashier with their own uniforms, starships and elaborate secret bases.

They always had their own uniforms.

 

[fireproof78]

Section 31 is something that if it didn't exist it would be made to exist. Shadow organizations are the type that always pop up, and multiple Trek novels have played with the concept even without the Section 31 moniker.

Section 31 in DSC worked just fine as a department that got too big for its own good. It's a classic hubris story that would ultimately lead to its destruction, disavowment and reorganization. It is not incompatible with DS9 other than the strange idea that persists in genre fiction that things don't change.

 

[dupersuper]

Section 31 is something that if it didn't exist it would be made to exist.

They're like the really depressing Superman that way...?

 

[fireproof78]

They're like the really depressing Superman that way...?

More like a exploration of perspectives on dealing with fear and uncertainty and threats.

 

[dupersuper]

More like a exploration of perspectives on dealing with fear and uncertainty and threats.

woo

 

[fireproof78]

woo

No need to watch it. But people like exploring various facets of human kind. Humans are multilayered like that.

 

[StarMan]

I'm all for a Michelle Yeoh show, but I'm so sick of Section 31, and them being public in Discovery never made any sense.

I noticed in my recent Disco re-watch they spoke of Section 31 needing a major overhaul after the close call with Control. I took it as the genesis of the much more clandestine / above top secret Section 31 we see in the 24th Century.

Given how widely they were known in the 23rd Century - with Admiral Cornwell (and others) aware of their inclusion in the Federation Charter - it would have been a long term undertaking spanning decades to shift them into the realm of "don't acknowledge, but don't deny" - but not impossible.

 

[fireproof78]

I noticed in my recent Disco re-watch they spoke of Section 31 needing a major overhaul after the close call with Control. I took it as the genesis of the much more clandestine / above top secret Section 31 we see in the 24th Century.

Given how widely they were known in the 23rd Century - with Admiral Cornwell (and others) aware of their inclusion in the Federation Charter - it would have been a long term undertaking spanning decades to shift them into the realm of "don't acknowledge, but don't deny" - but not impossible.

I don't even see the "decades part being fully required. You have an investigation and dismantle it. Then some Admiral (probably Cartwright) decides he can utilize the assets more in a clandestine way and repurposes them.

 

[Isaac Lawrence]

More like a exploration of perspectives on dealing with fear and uncertainty and threats.

Yeah, with a Section 31 show they can do all kinds of things like that.

Case in point, and speaking of Discovery, Michael Burnham's parents were scientists and were working for Section 31 when they were killed. And it's how we got the Red Angel suit too.

So a Star Trek show, where everyone is dressed in black, cool Asian lady doing martial arts, and dealing with dangerous and forbidden technology... why is that show not on Paramount+ right now?

Oh, it was bumped for a planet-of-the-week show, I guess.

No, and I kid. A planet-of-the-week show is fine. And I'm going to watch it. And a Section 31 show will (hopefully) eventually get here.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

Section31 is stiltake is thal dead. I don't think it will ever get off the ground. Don't care much for it either.

According to the latest interview with kurtzman (Producers Guild of America round table July 12th) S31 is still very much a thing and scripts are written. Covid just delayed filming.


My take is that Georgiou is going to be sent to the Mirror Universe of the 24th Century and Georgiou will set up Section 31 to help a fledgling Federation-type organisation. I think the Section 31 of the MU will be the polar opposite of it's prime universe counterpart and Georgiou will be going around protecting people and standing up for the underdog, a trait which we got glimpses of Season 3.