We have reviewed it.
We got the man who wrotea defense of Sub Rosato review it.
This article will not add anything tohis assessment of its quality(or absolute lack thereof).
Were not here to relitigate The concept of Section 31 good or bad?
WhatSection 31is actually about is What if we didThe Dirty DozenbutStar Trek?
Its a great premise, which is why it has been reused many times ever since.
We love seeing a bunch of bad people forced to do good things.
And right now, TV and film are both particularly in love with that as a premise.
But does the format work whenStar Trektries to do it?
The darker Batman is more interesting than Superman.
Han Solo is more interesting than Luke.
Everyone in your DnD party wants to play the Rogue, nobody wants to play the Templar.
So if morally shady characters are more interesting, borderline actually evil characters must be evenmoreinteresting, right?
What are the monstrous qualities your society condemns but ultimately needs?
Who will you persecute until you have a use for them?
Oh, and Rachel Garrett, because you have to include something for the fans.
The appeal is clearStar Trek, but without the stodgy Starfleet regulations.
A wackier, zanier, more anarchic take on the Alpha Quadrant.
Rebels Without a Cause
The first problem is a big one.
ButStar Treks Federation is a utopia.
It is not an insurmountable challenge, though.
But the Federations utopian future is less clear.
That vagueness makes specific and meaningful criticism difficult, but not impossible.
In it, we meet four individuals who have been illegally genetically enhanced.
These are not Khanian supermen.
They are, frankly, massively autistic-coded.
They are not shunned from society because they breach the Federations unimpeachable ideals around equality.
Nor are they shunned because of a predilection for violence or deception.
Their sin is far worse: Theyre awkward.
They dont fit in.
They are socially difficult.
You know, like Picard and his most upstanding officers did in Chain of Command.
Hell, in I, Borg hes willing tounleasha weapon of mass destruction on a genocidal scale.
And thats not eventouchingthe shit Sisko gets up to in In the Pale Moonlight.
Which brings us back to Morally bad characters are more interesting than morally good characters.
To which the test isisStar Trek: Section 31more interesting than any otherStar Trekyou care to name?
Star Trek: Section 31 is streaming now on Paramount+.
