Must There Be A Section 31?

[M.A.C.O.]

A clandestine branch of Starfleet, authorized to undertake extreme measures. With no regards for Federation law and presumably no accountability?

Or, an excuse to include a harder edge Starfleet organization. That has all the best toys, breaks all the rules, living life in the fast lane on a roller coaster ride without guardrails?


The recent Section 31 movie got me thinking. With how the DSC, S31 and STID all depict Section 31 as the super spy/black ops branch of Starfleet. Complete with secret star bases (DSC), a fleet of ships (DSC), R&D facilities on Earth (STID), Uber ships that outclass the hero’s (DSC and STID), banned and confiscated technology.

Outside of the “badass”, anti-hero vibe Paramount+ and Kelvin-Trek apply to Section 31.
Is such an organization (to the degree we see them in the aforementioned series) even necessary?

Dare to compare how Starfleet provisioned out missions that you would think would be more suited to Section 31.

TOS: The Enterprise Incident - Where Kirk and Spock sneak aboard a Romulan vessel to steal a cloaking device.

TWOK/TSFS - USS Reliant and later USS Enterprise being in charge of the Genesis project. And how a weapon like that could be perverted to killing entire planets. Data classified at the Captain and above ranks of Starfleet.

TNG:
Face of the Enemy - Troi (reluctantly) and the Enterprise involved in a mission by Starfleet and Ambassador Spock to help Romulan ex-patriots flee the planet.

Chain of Command - Picard, Worf and Dr. Crusher given orders from Starfleet to undergo training for a secret mission in Cardassian space.

VOY:
The Omega Directive - Classified to the Captain’s rank and above. Janeway says that all Captains are trained on how to deal with Omega particles and neutralize them.

I’m drawing a blank on DS9 examples, but I’m sure there are some.These are just off the top of my head.

I ask the question, does a Section 31 need to exist?

StarFleet brass has no trouble enlisting their captains to undertake missions outside the scope of diplomat and explorers all the time. The only time Section 31’s methods were “necessary” (if you can call it that) is when they made Odo patient zero for the morphogenic virus.

With the scheme Sisko pulled on the Romulan’s in the episode “In The Pale Moonlight”. I’m not to bothered by Sloan’s actions in “Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges”. Where they frame a Romulan ally as a traitor to her own species to face trial and execution. Hell, look at how involved Kirk/Spock, Picard/Worf, Sisko/Worf were involved with the internal politics and stability of the Klingon empire. I just don’t see how this secret squirrel branch of Starfleet is secretly “holding it all together”.

 

[fireproof78]

Is such an organization (to the degree we see them in the aforementioned series) even necessary?

No.


That's why it's interesting. It thinks it's somehow helping but is a detriment.

But, because humans often feel the need to "do something" in the service to managing a problem they set up organizations to manage the fear and uncertainty.

 

[Commander Richard]

They could have done a whole show about an operative who thinks all this is necessary. Then, it would be shown that these actions aren't, except on very rare occasions. There really is a better way, except when there isn't. There's your thought-provoking Trek right there. You still have your badassery, but it's placed in a larger context that still remains true to the spirit of Trek.

It would have been fun to see Georgiou or someone like her secretly infiltrate a starfleet vessel to carry out some dirty work only to be upstaged by a better way.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Is such an organization (to the degree we see them in the aforementioned series) even necessary?

No.


Like you say, sometimes it's necessary to break the rules and do something immoral or something worse will happen, maybe catastrophic. Sometimes there's no third choice. But Starfleet's already there to deal with it, and we've seen them do that. Even the most virtuous of captains, Picard, went on a black ops mission.

Section 31 is basically taking the Federation's sins and putting them onto a secret autonomous organisation that does all the bad things so everyone else can believe that their hands are clean. So that everyone else can carry on making speeches about how moral the Federation is without being aware of the hypocrisy. That doesn't sit well with me at all.

Worse, when a group's entire job is to take extreme measures and they're allowed to operate without oversight, then they're going to end up doing some horrific things. You need a Benjamin Sisko to make the hard decisions, not a Sloan, because Sisko has to live with it. He's not jaded, he's got a conscience, and he has people like Bashir to keep him in check. And Bashir ultimately had to kidnap and kill Sloan to prevent a genocide.

I think Section 31 is an interesting twist, but they need to be written by someone who understands that they're a dangerous rogue organisation whose existence betrays the ideals that they're trying to defend, not a critical part of Starfleet Intelligence that everyone should just be okay with. For Star Trek to work, the Starfleet heroes have to be the ones shouldering the moral dilemmas and when they make the moral choice it has to be because it was a choice, not because another organisation did the bad things off-screen to allow them the privilege of having a good option.

 

[valkyrie013]

Quite frankly, practically every country in the world has some type of secret black ops unit, even the uber rich have them. Thinking the Federation DOESN'T have one is a bit naive. Sure there is Starfleet Inteligence, but having a group that doesn't link back to the Federation or Starfleet for doing necessary missions is a necesity. Now the way its depected since Enterprise is some sort of Oh its an open secret.. not plausible deniability.

A S31 show or movie could be really good, but the latest one is like somekind of D tier suicide squad. Id want something like the Old Mission Impossible movies, Con Artists, Tech people etc. Not the Dirty Dozen.

 

[Timofnine]

This movie does not represent Section 31 in its true form or even represent this organisation with an accurate historical or behavioural representation, being almost a parody or p*Ss take of the section 31 concept/trope. Therefore, there *must not* be a Section 31 show, I have always said this, but regardless… . Section 31 does not exist, and as much as this show wants this clandestine group of law enforcing misfits to exist, they do not, therefore a show or movie should not have been made about them. People would otherwise just want to jump onto the band wagon and say that they are Sections 31 as an excuse for their behaviours. What differentiates section 31 from gangsters and otherwise associated tyrants according to this movies representation? But, remember… there is no such thing as Section 31. This show would otherwise show that anyone can get up to no good for their own ends and betterment of their shared agendas and claim to be Section 31 in order to escape accountability or repercussions, regardless of the moralities of their agendas and purposes… consolidating and representing why this ‘flick’ was so bad; though primarily because this movie represent something that does not exist… Star Trek should instead focus on things that *do* exist, such as the concepts of humanity, discovery and exploration for the betterment of ourselves and others… attributes which more reflect the values of Starfleet and the Federation. I can elaborate and expand, if any other Star Wars fans would like to challenge me, even though I have never seen their show… challenge accepted!

 

[BillJ]

Never been a fan of Section 31. Star Trek was supposed to be about a humanity that grew up a little bit and should largely be beyond the need of clandestine shenanigans, especially when you can literally take pictures of people from across the quadrant.

I don't need Star Trek to be the underbelly of humanity, I get that in pretty much every other show out there.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Quite frankly, practically every country in the world has some type of secret black ops unit, even the uber rich have them. Thinking the Federation DOESN'T have one is a bit naive. Sure there is Starfleet Inteligence, but having a group that doesn't link back to the Federation or Starfleet for doing necessary missions is a necesity. Now the way its depected since Enterprise is some sort of Oh its an open secret.. not plausible deniability.

A S31 show or movie could be really good, but the latest one is like somekind of D tier suicide squad. Id want something like the Old Mission Impossible movies, Con Artists, Tech people etc. Not the Dirty Dozen.

It's been an open secret in Starfleet ever since it was introduced in DS9.

 

[fireproof78]

Neither confirm nor deny.

 

[M.A.C.O.]

I have to look up DS9 clandestine missions that could be assigned to Section 31, but were given to Starfleet instead. If anyone can think of some, please list them.


I do want to add the murder-conspiracy and Sabre-rattling plot from the Undiscovered Country. Where Starfleet Admiral Cartwright, Colonel West, Lt. Valeris and those two ensigns who wore the magnet boots, were involved with the assassination of Ambassador Gorkon. Along with the attempted assassination of the Federation President.

This plot was hatched by extremists in Starfleet’s top brass, along with Romulan ambassador Nanclus and Klingon general Chang.

This whole scheme was right up Section 31’s alley. However, Starfleet didn’t need their arm twisted to set out to trigger a war with the Klingon’s or frame Kirk and the Enterprise crew as patsies.

Add then-Captain Pressman’s experiments with the phasing-cloak from the Pegasus. StarFleet brass knew, covered it up and promoted Pressman to admiral. Later sending him to retrieve the device.


I’m not against a “small-circle” (tighter the control) group like Section 31 existing. As seen in DS9 and ENT. But mate, what are these jokers even doing? Vanilla Starfleet performs enough crooked and incitement to war actions against other governments in the universe. That having a black-ops branch is redundant.

 

[fireproof78]

I’m not against a “small-circle” (tighter the control) group like Section 31 existing. As seen in DS9 and ENT. But mate, what are these jokers even doing? Vanilla Starfleet performs enough crooked and incitement to war actions against other governments in the universe. That having a black-ops branch is redundant.

Fear does not adhere to logic.

 

[Nerys Myk]

It's a dumb concept.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I really liked Discovery season 2's implicit "Pike and friends are the public face of Starfleet, but we're the ones who really keep things safe" attitude at the time. I liked that the high and mighty Federation were really no better than the various aliens they laud their moral superiority over. It resonated because those moral speeches get so bloody tiresome, and that they were made knowing these shadowy bastards were offing people in secret? Deliciously deviant.

But now the real world has plummeted into dark chaos, it's stopped being so much fun.

 

[fireproof78]

After thinking on this, I'll amend my original hard no.

I think in Star Trek there is a place for the darker aspect of humanity. The Original Series never shied away from how dark human nature can be. It had a whole episode about the two halves needing each other.

Now, maybe not in a Section 31 as an organization needs to exist but is existence makes sense in universe. The Galaxy is full of dangers and it's naive to think someone on Earth might grow fearful and try to organize to protect by any means necessary.

More than that, what Star Trek offers is a place to debate amongst fans about that darker side. We can share maybe the wish that we didn't have that dark side yet acknowledge it's presence in stories.

Otherwise, we just have the inevitable bad admiral trope and our heroes are always right.

And I don't want that. Sometimes, it's ok to talk what's wrong.

 

[The Wormhole]

Face of the Enemy - Troi (reluctantly) and the Enterprise involved in a mission by Starfleet and Ambassador Spock to help Romulan ex-patriots flee the planet.

Starfleet had nothing to do with that, besides sending the Enterprise to pick up the guy who defected to the Romulans who wanted to return. Deanna was kidnapped by Romulan dissidents who surgically altered her and had her pose as a Tal Shiar officer, while the defector passed Spock's message on to Picard, which led to the Enterprise's role in events.

 

[Lord Garth]

Do they need S31? I'd say yes, but it's not something I'll think about again until I hit "Inquisition" in my DS9 Re-Watch, which is a long way off.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Does a hero/heroic organization need a mirror (a corresponding nemesis) to look into for self-reflection and contrast? Yes.

Trek, unlike a straight police procedural, say, has the ability to give every character an evil twin (mirror universe) and the chance to explore the what ifs of their own lives (time travel), so piling on a dark secretive organization with questionable/no morals (beyond the odd bad apple in the bunch) feels like a bit much.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

That makes sense, though personally I always consider the Federation to be the heroic organisation that everyone belongs to, with the Romulans and Cardassians as its nemeses. If the Federation relies on Starfleet's evil twin to survive, then they're no longer a heroic organisation and are as morally compromised as their mirror.

 

[fireproof78]

That makes sense, though personally I always consider the Federation to be the heroic organisation that everyone belongs to, with the Romulans and Cardassians as its nemeses. If the Federation relies on Starfleet's evil twin to survive, then they're no longer a heroic organisation and are as morally compromised as their mirror.

Not necessarily.
The whole point of a dark mirror is to recognize how in the name of good and we can go in to excess. Humanity has that at our core, the ability to be dark as well as light:

OTHER KIRK: Help me.
KIRK: How can he die? Can I survive without him?
MCCOY: I don't know, Jim.
KIRK: Don't be afraid. Here's my hand. Hold on. You don't have to be afraid. I won't let go. Hold on. You won't be afraid if you use your mind and think! Think! You can do it. That's it!
MCCOY: Jim, he is back! Jim, you can use that brandy now. In fact, I'll join you.
KIRK: I have to take him back inside myself. I can't survive without him. I don't want him back. He's like an animal, a thoughtless, brutal animal, and yet it's me. Me.
MCCOY: Jim, you're no different than anyone else. We all have our darker side. We need it! It's half of what we are. It's not really ugly, it's human.
KIRK: Human.
MCCOY: Yes, human. A lot of what he is makes you the man you are. God forbid I should have to agree with Spock, but he was right. Without the negative side, you wouldn't be the Captain. You couldn't be, and you know it. Your strength of command lies mostly in him.

Would we rather the evil admirals just be a product of being promoted in Starfleet for no other good reason?

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

The Enemy Within was all about the chaos that happens when Kirk's inner Section 31 was released to go be a hard man making hard decisions about drinking and assaulting his crew. Sure Kirk needed that inner darkness to be an effective leader, just like the Federation needs folks like Raffi, who digs into dark conspiracies no one else wants to look for, and people like Worf, who always recommend raising shields and arming weapons, but they're part of a whole.

We've seen the Federation's darker side in folks like Cartwright, Marcus, Satie, Layton and Pressman, who reached a position where they could stop contributing to the group's effectiveness and start being a liability. The good side of the Federation recognised this and stopped them. The trouble with Section 31 is that you've apparently got the good side of the Federation enabling the bad side to go wild. It's Evil Captain Kirk going loose across the ship while Good Kirk is saying "Well, I certainly can't confirm or deny his existence or actions". That means there are really only Bad Kirks.