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Why Section 31?

A funny thing about the haters of DISCO and Kurtzman is that the complaint that it messes with canon is something that has bugged him from the beginning. He's been trying to fix it ever since and apparently feels he has to shove it a 1000 years in the future.

Which is a real kick in the pants to those who already liked DISCO and loved its take on TOS' era.
It would have been nice to just keep exploring that era as they started it, and allow things to unfold as they step towards Kirk's era. Aware of events but less concerned with that visual particulars.

Maybe SNW will get closer to that but I doubt it.
 
It seems like Section 31 is an idea that has proven pretty popular with a lot of fans and the current show-runners alike. What's the appeal?

I can't stand the idea. How many shows have this super secret clandestine organizations working behind the scenes? The whole concept has become cliche.
 
Which was really really lame, especially with how they did it. Season 2's ending was a complete mess, I had no idea what was going on tbh.

Why it was a mess is no mystery, though:

1) A need to address the complaints that this wasn't yer granddad's Trek: every show has had to backpedal in that respect, ultimately becoming "canonically compatible".
2) A need to kill a sudden extra hour, when a single-parter turned into a two-parter in mid-production.
3) A need to tie up loose ends that weren't the doing of the current set of writers; weren't necessarily even understood by the current set of writers; and certainly had been the bane of the current set of writers ever since the writers (well, the showrunners) were changed early in S2, and were apparently told to alter many basic premises.

Nothing good could have followed from all that, but at least we got two more hours of Trek to talk about.

The reset button thing wasn't all bad IMHO: Spock browbeating his bosses on what to do and what not to was fun, even if many of his recommendations were idiotic, and Number One dodging and weaving was a fun part of the collage scene, too. But really... The heroes were flying Starfleet's greatest secret weapon, operating S31's greatest secret weapon from aboard her, and fighting an enemy nobody outside the hero circles even knew about - so making all this remain secret shouldn't have required any extra effort. And the Sarek family not discussing family matters is another matter hardly warranting of an all-new doctrinal decision, and indeed would have been one of the most classic Trek features to begin with!

Timo Saloniemi
 
I know I’m in the vast minority here. But I think a full on “year of hell” type reset would have been better than Spock just telling everyone “let’s just pretend none of this ever happened”.
 
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I sometimes wonder if it would've been better if they'd just left their appearence to just Inquisition and never have brought them up again. Just leave them as something nasty lurking in the shadows. Watching. Waiting.

Now, it's kinda weird where they're both operating out in the open and are even legitimately named Section 31. I thought they didn't have a name and Section 31 was considered just as good as name as any. They could equally be called Project Kitten with as much merit.

I also think they've permeated fan belief and popularity a bit much. Who stopped the stomach worms? Section 31. Who cured the Klingon virus? Section 31. Who moved my car keys? Section 31.
 
I sometimes wonder if it would've been better if they'd just left their appearence to just Inquisition and never have brought them up again.
That was never going to happen. You can tell in Inquisition they were clearly setting up a return engagement with Section 31. I will agree that since DS9 ended the rest of the franchise has gotten a bit out of hand turning Section 31 into the Star Trek universe's boogeyman with them being connected to every shady Federation/Starfleet affair that ever happened.
 
I haven't yet seen the episode of Deep Space Nine with Section 31 one in it, so I only know it from rough description and passing references in Enterprise. So far, it doesn't sound like something I'd like, but I'll hold off judgement until I get that far in DS9. What season is it in?
 
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