Star Trek: Section 31

[MarkB]

Even leaving aside the tone and morality, this just didn't feel like Star Trek at all. The whole thing takes place outside any Trek faction's territorial space, none of the ships that we get a close look at have anything resembling the Star Trek aesthetic, everyone has generic zap guns, and the occasional mentions of Starfleet and the Federation are entirely incidental.

 

[Ryujin]

Even leaving aside the tone and morality, this just didn't feel like Star Trek at all. The whole thing takes place outside any Trek faction's territorial space, none of the ships that we get a close look at have anything resembling the Star Trek aesthetic, everyone has generic zap guns, and the occasional mentions of Starfleet and the Federation are entirely incidental.

I haven't seen it yet, but is sounds very much like how I've come to view the Kelvin Universe movies; generic SciFi action/adventure, with a thin coat of Star Trek paint.

 

[MarkB]

I haven't seen it yet, but is sounds very much like how I've come to view the Kelvin Universe movies; generic SciFi action/adventure, with a thin coat of Star Trek paint.

It really doesn't even come close to being as Star Trek-y as the Kelvinverse movies.

 

[Necropolitan]

The end of the original Suicide Squad comics had Amanda Waller coming to the realization that The Suicide Squad was a terrible idea and going on one last mission to put an end to the (metaphorical) monster she'd created even though it meant giving up everything she'd built.

Then DC ran out of ideas and decided to undo the natural end of Waller's character arc and remove everything that made her interesting because there's money in The Suicide Squad and they're never going to stop the money train.

It's the same with Section 31. It's great for examining what has to be done to maintain The Federation, but the point was that IT WAS WRONG. They had the debate and "Hard Men Making Hard Choices" lost.

But there's money (and interest from the current showrunners) in Section 31 so they just keep bringing it back even though it's antithetical to the principles of the Federation and doesn't even make sense in a lot of shows it appears in.

I haven't seen it yet, but is sounds very much like how I've come to view the Kelvin Universe movies; generic SciFi action/adventure, with a thin coat of Star Trek paint.

Exactly. The original Suicide Squad and Section 31 worked because they were an examination of ideas and current events. The modern versions strip away everything that mattered, slap the aesthetics on action movies, and claim it's been that way all along.

 

[Umbran]

The end of the original Suicide Squad comics had Amanda Waller coming to the realization that The Suicide Squad was a terrible idea and going on one last mission to put an end to the (metaphorical) monster she'd created even though it meant giving up everything she'd built.

So, the state in which Georgiou left Discovery was ripe for this - she gets tossed into this situation which seems just perfect for her, but... she's grown from her days as Empress. Let her recognize that Section 31 is a horrible idea that will ultimately weaken the Federation, and she sets about on a deviously complicated scheme to destroy it.

While she must ultimately fail, she can gut the thing so badly that by the time Bashir encounters it, it is still a weak shadow. That could have been a good story.

It's the same with Section 31. It's great for examining what has to be done to maintain The Federation, but the point was that IT WAS WRONG. They had the debate and "Hard Men Making Hard Choices" lost.

Exactly. Trek is about, "When faced with Hard Choices, you should still Do the Right Thing."

 

[Necropolitan]

Exactly. Trek is about, "When faced with Hard Choices, you should still Do the Right Thing."

Actual line from the last Section 31 episode of Deep Space 9:

"Doctor, you've been a beacon of light to me. You're living proof that ideology is a poor substitute for kindness and decency – and that, at the end of the day, it's our actions and not our beliefs that define who we are, what we are."

Sloan might as well have turned to the camera and said "Always do the right thing, even if it's hard."

It all comes down to a refusal to let stories end.

The original Suicide Squad comics were good because anyone in them could die (it was even believable Amanda Waller could die since there were others who could take over and it looked like she might sacrifice her life in the last comics), the original Section 31 episodes were good because it was never clear if Section 31 was officially sanctioned or a conspiracy.

And both were tied directly into the storylines they were part of and addressed what was going on in the time periods they were written in (directly in Suicide Squad since it's set in the modern day, metaphorically in Star Trek since it's the future).

Keeping the stories going past that required removing that ambiguity (DC isn't going to kill off cash cow characters permanently and Star Trek revealed Section 31 WAS official and basically Federation secret agents), butchering previous characterizations (original Amanda Waller was at worst an antihero, she would never do the vile actions her modern versions do and as I previously mentioned she realized the Suicide Squad had to end and Section 31 being official makes the Federation look like hypocrites), and just having the stories be generic stories as opposed to offering commentary.

It's not fans blindly repeating "The old stuff was better," it's a legitimate case of incredible storytelling being stripped of everything that made it meaningful in favor of generic cash-ins.

Actually this has inspired me, I got the complete original Suicide Squad comics as a birthday present, I'm going to do a review of them.

 

[Morrus]

Even leaving aside the tone and morality, this just didn't feel like Star Trek at all. The whole thing takes place outside any Trek faction's territorial space, none of the ships that we get a close look at have anything resembling the Star Trek aesthetic, everyone has generic zap guns, and the occasional mentions of Starfleet and the Federation are entirely incidental.

Yeah. All the Star Trek “stuff” is missing.

It’s the one problem I had with Skeleton Crew. Aside from the lightsaber and a couple of bring canes you’d never know it was Star Wars. SC was fun at least though.

This had no phasers, warp drives, Starfleet (except by name check)… it could have been any b-movie sci-fi flick. Maybe that’s just me though. Star Trek is Starfleet for me I guess.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I'd love to have been a fly on the wall when the film and concept were greenlighted.

These folks seem to have no idea what Trek fans want. It's like they are going out of their way to damage the IP.

They want to expand their audience, and conventional wisdom tells that people want morally ambiguous (or worse) action flicks they don't have to think about that hard.

 

[Micah Sweet]

It’s not a mystery. No matter how bad STID was as a Star Trek movie it made money. That’s all that matters. Ideals and ideology don’t matter.

At least we’re getting better stuff like LD and SNW. I really hope Starfleet Academy is…better than average.

We got better stuff like Lower Decks. That's tragically over now. Now it's all hanging on SNW.

 

[Zaukrie]

Guess we won't be watching....