Section 31
Section 31 - Bernd's Review
Synopsis
In the Mirror Universe of the early 23rd century: Young Philippa Georgiou returns to her family after having been selected to compete for the throne of the Terran Empire for two years. Only she and a boy named San are left. Now she has to prove her loyalty by killing her family with poison, which she does. San, who failed this final test, is condemned to become her servant. -- Stardate 1292.4 (in the early 24th century of our universe): Former Emperor Georgiou runs a night club on a station called Baraam at Hupyria V, outside the Federation. A team of six Section 31 operatives is sent to Baraam: a man named Alok Sahar, Lieutenant Rachel Garrrett, the mechanically augmented Zeph, the Chameloid Quasi, the Deltan Melle and Fuzz, a microscopic organism that controls a cybernetic Vulcan body. Their goal is to apprehend Dada Noe, who is going to sell an unknown kind of bioweapon. But Georgiou becomes aware of them and thereby foils their plan. She suggests to do it her way instead. Using a phase pod, Georgiou steals the box with the weapon from Noe. But then a masked person, also out of phase, appears and takes away the weapon. As the team chases him through the station, Melle gets killed by him. Georgiou tries to secure the device but gets stuck in a wall. The masked person beams away with it, but not before opening the box and showing Georgiou what is inside. It was her who ordered the construction of the so-called Godsend that could kill billions when she was still in power. San committed suicide after delivering the device to her. In a Section 31 safehouse, Sahar interrogates Georgiou and learns the truth about the weapon. The team concludes that Noe must be from the Mirror Universe. But before the man can tell them anything more, the Section 31 ship they are holding him captive on explodes. The team is now stuck on the planet, and they know one of them must be a mole. With the only two ways to escape being an old subspace antenna and an abandoned garbage scow, they split up for the repairs. While working on the antenna, Zeph suddenly disappears and a signal gets transmitted. The team eventually finds Zeph has been murdered, with a hair and a blood sample pointing to Garrett being the perpetrator. But the video evidence shows that Zeph killed himself. Georgiou concludes that Fuzz set his body on autopilot, infiltrated Zeph's suit and controlled it to make him activate the antenna and then kill himself. Fuzz escapes through the tunnels on the planet, but Georgiou catches up with him and stabs him with a knife. Before he gets beamed away, he reveals to her that San is alive and is seeking revenge. San's plan is to contact the Terran Empire through a passageway that connects the universes, so they can use the device to destroy the Federation. Using the garbage scow, the remaining team members follow San's ship to the anomaly. Although the Terran ship is armed, they manage to disable its shields by taking it into tow, so Sahar and Georgiou can beam over. A fight ensues, in the course of which Fuzz escapes from his body and takes a shuttle to ram the garbage scow with Garrett and Quasi. Using a doll that Garrett found in the cargo bay, they can destroy Fuzz's ship when its power source reacts with the hull. Georgiou eventually kills San but mourns the loss. She sets the weapon to detonate and thereby collapse the passageway. Quasi beams Sahar and her out just before the explosion. Some time later, Georgiou is still running her business, but also has an offer to work for Section 31 again.
Commentary
I never made a secret of my dislike of Discovery's pathetic Mirror Universe excursion in season 1, of Michelle Yeoh's absurd role as "Emperor"-turned-operative Georgiou and of the uncalled-for reboot of Section 31 in season 2. I hate how in-universe stories as well as real-life commentaries (by actors and production people, but also by some reviewers) celebrate the nefarious character of Georgiou and pretend that she enriches the Star Trek Universe. Like countless other fans, I was opposed to Alex Kurtzman's idea of building a new series around her that he announced as long as six years ago. I would go as far as calling it a cognitive bias that he apparently believes Georgiou is a fan favorite and he would do everyone a favor by bringing her back. The development of the series dragged on for years, which probably has to do with Yeoh's lacking availability, rather than with the overwhelmingly negative fan feedback (that fell on deaf ears). Eventually, the whole thing was reworked to a TV movie. But enough already for the rant about how and why "Section 31" came to pass and on to the review.
The most obvious observation about "Section 31" is that it doesn't look and sound like Star Trek. There are occasional references in the form of familiar alien species, of the star chart chart shown in the beginning or of the tricorder sound. I discount the story of Georgiou for the above reasons, so we have only Rachel Garrett to connect this movie to traditional canon and establish this all takes place some time in the early 24th century. Other than that, "Section 31" is pretty generic on the visual side - not even generic Star Trek that could be set in any era, but a generic sci-fi movie. This is a squandered opportunity, considering that the production values are high. I remember "Section 31" was announced to viewers as something they can enjoy without knowing anything about Star Trek. This objective has been accomplished at the expense of it looking like a run-of-the-mill Netflix action flick that I would barely remember a month later.
We may argue that it shouldn't look like Star Trek because it is all about misfits operating outside Federation space. So let us look beneath the surface. Does it feel like Star Trek? Does "Section 31" deliver the core messages of the franchise? Does it explore strange new worlds? Or the human nature? Does it involve moral dilemmas? Or challenge our beliefs? I find none of that in the movie, except perhaps in throwaway statements by Garrett. The eponymous organization our team works for is not bound by laws, much less is Georgiou. This ought to have been addressed and called into question in the Star Trek I know, but it simply doesn't happen. The appearance of someone apparently still more ruthless and more dangerous conveniently removes the need to care about ethics. What's more, Starfleet officer Garrett is initially framed as an annoying person that takes away the "fun" of killing people from Section 31. Her depiction changes for the better in the course of the movie, but rather in a way that she adapts to the team than the other way round. At least, no one innocent that we know of has been killed in the end.
As for the characters, the movie was obviously custom-tailored for Georgiou. She has crossed over to a new universe or era for the third time now, and has successfully adapted to the new circumstances each time. I don't buy into that at all, especially considering that the "special skills" she would need as a cruel dictator, as a secret agent and as a businesswoman couldn't be more different. Also, with every time she arrives in a new era or universe, she earns a bit more salvation in the eyes of the people who write the character and of some fans. Georgiou is the ultimate Mary Sue of the franchise, which is one of several reasons I dislike her. But she is played by Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, which is the reason why some still like her.
I don't care for the adventures of 24th century Georgiou, but I see some merit in the back story about young Philippa, who mercilessly kills her family and enslaves her boy-friend. This is about the only thing in the whole movie that doesn't leave me cold. But even though Georgiou is depressed after San has died for real, this neither diminishes her guilt, nor does it make her a better person in any other way - also considering that the grief lasts for only about a minute. The narrative still pushes the redemption of Georgiou instead of showing her as what she is: a mass murderer. You don't clink glasses with such a person, even if you lampshade it with the words "You're a terrifying, soulless murderer, who we can never truly trust." And one who killed her own family on top of all, which is turned into a joke with the question whether Georgiou may have poisoned their glasses. That's unbecoming of Star Trek, even though I understand the desire to have a conciliatory and light-hearted final scene.
The only one among the other characters that I genuinely like is Alok Sahar. He comes across as a reasonable guy that viewers can relate to. At least initially. The writers apparently thought he could have become too boring, and so they made up a back story of him being one of Khan's Augments (without namedropping Khan, which amazed me). Anyway, with him having a violent past, he is supposed to become some sort of soulmate to Georgiou, up to a moment when they hold hands as the bomb is about to go off. I think this all is contrived. It is also pure "tell, don't show" and doesn't convince me.
Quasi is a rather nice guy, but it is a disappointment that he is a Chameloid essentially only for a red herring, so everyone would believe for a moment that he is the mole because he could morph into anyone. He also mentions something about "glioclusters" that I would have expected to have further significance but that is never referred to again. Everyone else in the gang is annoying to varying degrees, especially Zeph and Fuzz who are more like caricatures than characters that would be acceptable in a Trek show. Melle gets killed before she can say anything more bothersome than a few flippant remarks. Lieutenant Garrett becomes more likable as already mentioned, with the downside of her sucking up to Georgiou. I can't tell how Georgiou gets the idea of her loving the chaos, which merely serves to explain why Garrett would later sift through the trash in the cargo bay.
"Section 31" is full of irksome (and totally unprofessional) bickering among team members. There are also many lame jokes, such as Zeph's remark "God send or God's end?", which would have been funny as a one-liner (I thought exactly the same), but was extended to a dialogue that ruins the punchline. Another one of these cringe moments is when Fuzz begins to enumerate the names of his 190000 hatchlings, who are all named for infectious diseases. When Mrs. Fuzz appears in the end in a Vulcan body, the movie is fortunately over.
The fight out of phase on the station is sort of cool, as Georgiou and the masked man switch on and off their devices to get a tactical advantage. Some other action scenes are unwatchable, such as the ride on the platforms through the tunnel, which I could have skipped because I couldn't see anyway who was jumping in which direction and was fighting with whom. Still other scenes in "Section 31" are like slapstick, and this applies to space sequences just as well as to live action. I can't even tell what is deliberately made to look funny and what is unintentional. I may be mistaken, but I think the sequence in which the garbage scow drags the warship along is the latter.
But what about the plot of "Section 31"? It is a straightforward caper story with three important turning points. The first is when the masked man shows up to steal the weapon. The second comes when everyone knows there has to be a mole. Finally, the mole is exposed and reveals that Philippa's friend-turned-nemesis San is still alive. We are given some nifty cues, such as when the masked thief opens the box for Georgiou to see her weapon and when Fuzz behaves strangely because he is on autopilot as Georgiou finds out later. I think this all works nicely, with all of the above caveats. At least, it could work well if it were not for the implausible MacGuffin and for a number of other plot holes and problems. Overall, it would have been both more fun and could have made some sense, had the threat been orders of magnitude smaller. But screenwriters will never learn that.
The most fundamental and most annoying issue I have with the credibility of the whole movie lies in the objective of the mission and in the character design (real world) or team selection (in-universe). Section 31 sends a bunch of "undercover operatives" that couldn't possibly be more conspicuous, the fighting machine Zeph and the laughing Vulcan Fuzz being most obviously unfit for the job. It is no surprise that Georgiou notices that there is something going on with these bizarre people. I initially thought that getting her attention was part of the plan because, as shown in the Mission Impossible-like briefing, they were explicitly told to make contact with the former Emperor and enlist her help. However, then Garrett reveals that they would have knocked her out, and would have taken care of Noe all by themselves! Not only would they have disobeyed their orders but it also destroys their credibility as a team of professionals, in addition to their childish bickering. Well, it is still possible that Garrett was lying and their actual plan was to give Georgiou the small triumph of being smarter than them.
I guess that the character designs and other creative decisions, some plot holes and some dead ends would have made more sense, had the series not been condensed to a movie. It doesn't look like much consideration went into the rewrite, in which too many things are off. And no, I'm still not saying I would have wanted to see that series.
Overall, Kurtzman merely fulfilled his self-imposed duty to bring back Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh - if not in a series, then at least in a streaming movie. Few people liked the announcements and trailers. From what I could read in terms of spoiler-free reviews, almost no one seems to like the finished product, despite the efforts to distribute it to as many review websites as possible that the people at Paramount deem compliant (which excludes EAS, but I would have declined anyway had I been asked). I think I even rate "Section 31" a bit higher than the access media do, perhaps because they still had (lowered) expectations, whereas I essentially just wanted to get over with it. "Section 31" is not the worst Star Trek ever. It is pointless and soulless and generic - but at least entertaining as a caper story and a murder mystery. It is another one of those Kurtzman experiments that failed, but not quite as utterly as some parts of Discovery that were a real pain to watch.
Annotations
- Nitpicking:
- The treaty border on the star map shown in the briefing consists of straight lines in 90° angles. These put starbases on the map outside the region where Starfleet is allowed to operate!
- The demilitarized zone between Cardassia and the Federation, as depicted on the map, was established in the treaty of 2370. But the present year is more like 2330, as evidenced by the age of Rachel Garrett.
- I don't think it is a good idea to hit a face full of metallic implants. Georgiou and Sahar would realistically have hurt their own hands.
- I was hoping that for once the cliché of abandoned ships being fully operational and fueled up was not true. But no - Sahar still has the part that everyone thought had been scavenged. Also, the so recovered garbage scow is just as fast as San's ship because space and time is irrelevant in new Trek.
- The way that the "Godsend" works is inconsistent, or it is just badly explained. So it is a bioweapon that could kill billions. Some time later, we learn that it would wipe out a whole quadrant and kill quadrillions by triggering a chain reaction that incinerates everything and travels between planets. At warp, quite obviously. But how? Then again, when the device explodes in the passageway, it has no effect at all besides the explosive force. But why?
- Also, if the "Godsend" can only be activated by Georgiou, how did San want to use it without her?
- How likely is it that the doll dropped from the cargo bay would hit Fuzz's shuttle in the vastness of space?
- What's with the countless ships around Baraam? All belonging to guests? But then why do the station and all the vessels simultaneously go to warp in the end?
- Remarkable dialogues:
- "How long have you known about me?" - "Ever since you took over from the previous owner, who we still haven't found. Well, all of." (Georgiou and Sahar)
- "Mm. I dislike you less." - "If I wanted someone to like me, I'd get a dog." (Georgiou and Garrett)
- Remarkable quotes:
- "Fate who makes the sword does the forging in advance." (Aeschylus)
- "Starfleet - where fun goes to die." (Georgiou)
- "I forbid you to die." (Georgiou, to San)
- Remarkable appearance: Jamie Lee Curtis as "Control"
Rating: 2
