On Section 31...

On Section 31...

I have never been wild about the whole concept of Section 31, since it was first established in DS9's season 6 episode "Inquisition" in which the clandestine organization abducts Dr. Bashir and then tries to recruit him.  The organization was portrayed as rogue, operation outside the purview and even official knowledge of Starfleet and the Federation.  This is in contrast to the Cardassian Obsidian Order or Romulan Tal Shiar both of which are well known and operate with the tacit approval of their respective governments.  Although the concept of Section 31 is an intriguing one in the context of DS9s many shades of grey, I personally find it unnecessary and completely antithetical to Gene Roddenberry's original vision of Star Trek.  In season 7's "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" Section 31 pops up again to meddle in Romulan Tal Shiar affairs, and then at season (and series) end it's revealed that Section 31 created a virus to commit genocide against the Founders, and then worked to prevent Bashir and O'Brien from finding a cure (the cure that was ultimately instrumental in ending the war BTW).

In Star Trek Enterprise season 4 an early version of the organization is established as having existed since the formation of Starfleet, with Malcolm Reed being one of it's early members.  This pops up in a couple of episodes, the "Affliction" and "Divergence" two-parter with the Klingon augment virus and the penultimate two-parter "Demons" and "Terra Prime" in which a xenophobic faction attempt to disrupt the pre-Federation Coalition.  These episodes were ok, proto-Section 31 was just there, but not being a major pain in the ass like in the DS9 episodes.  This would be the last time the organization was depicted as just a morally questionable undercover operation with no oversight.  

Then there's Discovery.  And the way they totally turned Section 31 into a joke.  Seriously?  Black badges?  Admirals reporting information directly to Section 31?  Section 31 having a base that Starfleet captains and Admirals know about?  Control, the threat assessment AI that everyone knows about?  What happened to Section 31 being a clandestine organization working in the shadows, under the radar??  Now everybody knows about it.  And it becomes something of a joke as a result.  Whatever it was or could have been as a clandestine, black ops, off the books organization is ruined by poor creative choices.  Par for the course for Discovery?

Section 31 is mentioned in other new trek series as well.  Star Trek Picard season 3 references section 31 as having carried out "Project Proteus" during the Dominion war, experimenting on and torturing captured Founders (P.O.W.s), ultimately leading to Vadic and her cohort of altered "super changelings".  Worf also refers to Daystrom Station as containing "Section 31's table scraps".  At least these references are a little bit more in line with the organizations portrayal in DS9.  Lower Decks also showed Section 31, having Brad Boimler's transporter duplicate William fake his own death and join the organization, something that would come to prominence in season 5.

As an aside, Star Trek Into Darkness depicts Section 31 in the Kelvin Timeline, led by a corrupt Starfleet Admiral, Alexander Marcus with his giant super secret ridiculous dreadnought ship, the USS Vengeance.  As I am absolutely not a fan of Into Darkness, I can safely say that I do not care about how Section 31 is depicted in the movie.
  
And that brings me to Section 31, the streaming movie.  I'm already NOT a huge fan of the Emperor Georgiou character or the section 31 concept as a whole.  Or Star Trek Discovery.  The movie feels totally unnecessary, also more like a modern action spy thriller flick than anything remotely Star Trek.  Section 31 in the movie is depicted as a black ops strike team of very conspicuous action heroes (an undercover operation team with a laughing Vulcan and a guy in a mech suit...please) more akin to Mission: Impossible or Guardians of the Galaxy than anything Trek.  The credits saying "Based on Star Trek Created by Gene Roddenberry" is an extremely long stretch.  Looking at Section 31 as depicted in DS9 and Enterprise versus the organization seen in Discovery and the Section 31 movie, I see nothing in common.

In hindsight, despite my dislike of the whole concept of Section 31, the original concept of a morally gray, shadow organization operating without Federation supervision or oversight, believing that their actions, regardless of implication are for the ultimate good of the Federation is much more insidious and a more believable threat to not only other powers but to the Federation itself than the action heroes, Guardians of the Galaxy knock-offs that new trek made them into.