We have a few people here who are like that.
Spoilers STAR TREK: SECTION 31 - Grading & Discussion
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
We have a few people here who are like that.
Using the internet does occasionally have the side effect of encountering other people using the internet.
The numbers are in! As expected, S31 made the ratings... but it's a lot worse than I expected.
Movies
1. Back in Action, 1.4 billion minutes
2. You Gotta Believe (Netflix), 331 million
3. The Wild Robot (Peacock), 324 million
4. Despicable Me 2 (Netflix/Peacock), 256 million
5. Moana (Disney+), 252 million
6. Despicable Me (Netflix/Peacock), 192 million
7. Unstoppable (2025) (Prime Video), 178 million
8. Star Trek Section 31 (Paramount+), 170 million
9. Frozen (Disney+), 168 million
10. Dune Part Two (Max/Netflix), 153 million
If the DISCOVERY series finale was the length of S31 (95 vs 85 minutes), it would have received 301 million watch minutes. S31 is just over half that.
In comparison, to exceed the PICARD finale, it would have needed over 613 million watch minutes.
Considering this likely cost $40 to $80 million... a considerable size up from the standard $8 to 10 million per episode, this can only raise questions about the decisions that led here.
Effectively 1.8 million views on something that aimed to bring new people the franchise while accepting there'd be a degree of collateral damage among the existing fanbase.
Movies
1. Back in Action, 1.4 billion minutes
2. You Gotta Believe (Netflix), 331 million
3. The Wild Robot (Peacock), 324 million
4. Despicable Me 2 (Netflix/Peacock), 256 million
5. Moana (Disney+), 252 million
6. Despicable Me (Netflix/Peacock), 192 million
7. Unstoppable (2025) (Prime Video), 178 million
8. Star Trek Section 31 (Paramount+), 170 million
9. Frozen (Disney+), 168 million
10. Dune Part Two (Max/Netflix), 153 million
If the DISCOVERY series finale was the length of S31 (95 vs 85 minutes), it would have received 301 million watch minutes. S31 is just over half that.
In comparison, to exceed the PICARD finale, it would have needed over 613 million watch minutes.
Considering this likely cost $40 to $80 million... a considerable size up from the standard $8 to 10 million per episode, this can only raise questions about the decisions that led here.
Effectively 1.8 million views on something that aimed to bring new people the franchise while accepting there'd be a degree of collateral damage among the existing fanbase.
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The movie failed. It happens. You win some, you lose some. It's hardly a death knell for the franchise.
Yeah, NEM was dull garbage and ENT's finale was a disaster and neither killed Trek. This movie won't, either.
Q
If a failing movie marked the end of the franchise, we never would have made it past Star Trek The Motion Picture.
Per Wikipedia for TMP:
Budget $44 million[3]
Box office $139 million[4]
It more than paid for Planet of the Titans and Phase II.
Budget $44 million[3]
Box office $139 million[4]
It more than paid for Planet of the Titans and Phase II.
Yet somehow the studio wasn't satisfied.
According to that same Wikipedia article, it fell short of studio expectations.
Or at least have them make an episode of Enterprise where we see the crisis of the week unfold from his perspective, in black and white as he escapes the Captain's quarters and wanders around the ship.
Maybe everyone should stop watching it.
Especially given the number of people here who said they wouldn't watch it yet ended up doing so.
Apparently bad Trek is better than no Trek.
Higher than I thought it would be.
Yeah, honestly, I felt the streaming numbers for this would have been even worse.
NEM set the bar low and S31 shimmied right under it with room to spare. 
I mean Nemesis literally had a s-- assault scene and killed off a franchise favorite character, so I'm struggling to understand how S31, whose only detriments are being goofy but didn't do lasting damage (Picard had to write around the Data death thing for 2 seasons before they just straight up resurrected him) is worse than Nemesis.NEM set the bar low and S31 shimmied right under it with room to spare.
I see the Section 31 film as chapter 1 of a bigget story, let's say a trilogy as they usually accomplish it.
So we have chapter 1 Georgiou joining the 24th century Section 31, a bright loud chainsaw of misfits. Section 31 is different, more detached from Starfleet this time, less noticable to general Federation citizenry.
Chapter 2 as set up by the first film - the failure of Turkana IV we'd see why the Federation colony failed and almost put Section 31 in the position as the good guys as the Federation does certainly not always have regular people's best interests at hearts and the colony being abandoned to the shitstorm it will become begins the big rift between the organisations. I don't quite know how Zeph's return and Fuzz' shenanigans will factor in but I'm not a writer. But Georgiou's development we've seen in DSC will shine through as we see her caring about justice and having compassion in her own chaotic way.
Chapter 3 would show us why Section 31 is almost considered a rumour and officially denied in general and known only to a very specific few. I would culminate the story with a showdown against the big B and Garrett is "rescued" from the rogue operatives. I'm not sure what the plot would be that would put them so directly at odds with Starfleet, would have to refresh a bit on 2320s beta canon for inspiration. But the third film would end with the Section 31 we know from DS9. Depending on how old the character is supposed to be I would see about factoring in a young Luther Sloan.
So we have chapter 1 Georgiou joining the 24th century Section 31, a bright loud chainsaw of misfits. Section 31 is different, more detached from Starfleet this time, less noticable to general Federation citizenry.
Chapter 2 as set up by the first film - the failure of Turkana IV we'd see why the Federation colony failed and almost put Section 31 in the position as the good guys as the Federation does certainly not always have regular people's best interests at hearts and the colony being abandoned to the shitstorm it will become begins the big rift between the organisations. I don't quite know how Zeph's return and Fuzz' shenanigans will factor in but I'm not a writer. But Georgiou's development we've seen in DSC will shine through as we see her caring about justice and having compassion in her own chaotic way.
Chapter 3 would show us why Section 31 is almost considered a rumour and officially denied in general and known only to a very specific few. I would culminate the story with a showdown against the big B and Garrett is "rescued" from the rogue operatives. I'm not sure what the plot would be that would put them so directly at odds with Starfleet, would have to refresh a bit on 2320s beta canon for inspiration. But the third film would end with the Section 31 we know from DS9. Depending on how old the character is supposed to be I would see about factoring in a young Luther Sloan.
No offense, but I think you're seeing things that really aren't there.
Not that you shouldn't be able to create some head-canon for yourself; there's nothing wrong with that. But as for your 'Chapter 2:' That throwaway line about Turkana IV was just that, a throwaway line. In the context of the movie it made no sense, because Section 31's job was supposed to be to protect the Federation from external threats, and a failed Earth colony devolving into chaos on one backwater planet is hardly a threat to the Federation. Now if they said something to the effect of, "Have you ever heard of the Cardassians?"...then that would have made more sense.
As for "Chapter 3" you'd have to really reach for a reason why Section 31 is "almost considered a rumor and officially denied in general and known only to a very specific few," when it was clear in the film (and in DSC before it) that pretty much everybody knows about them. The fact is that Kurtzman, Osunsanmi and Yeoh created this vanity project for Michelle that really has little to do with the organization that we know about from DS9. It's almost like Yeoh just wanted to make a movie about her being an over-the-top badass who kicks people around a lot, and the S31 premise was just co-opted for that. There's no sense at all that what we see in this movie is in any way related to what we see in DS9, or that there was any effort at all to try to come up with some explanation as to why it's so different or that it will evolve into what we're used to seeing with it. It was just a generic space action movie that you used to see all the time on the SyFy Channel.
Entirely possible certainly but headcanon is a result of passion, an emotional not rational response. Any story can be expanded or manipulated with the smallest prompt now as to whether it was the initial intention of the creators only they can say but all art is subjective and it can be argued it belongs to the consumer once sent out into the wild.
Sure sometimes it's a coping mechanism too.
