4 Ups & 4 Downs For Star Trek: Section 31

9. DOWN — Dictator Do-Over

Let's not mince words. Her most Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominus of Qo'noS, Regina Andor, Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius is not a "badass" or a "bad bitch". She was, and hence always is, a genocidal dictator. That is never to be treated so brazenly. That is never a person to be redeemed. Georgiou says it herself, "There are no benevolent dictators". There can be no benevolence in return.

The issue is by no means specific to the film. The rehabilitation of Mirror Georgiou began, of course, in Star Trek: Discovery. By the time of the ex-emperor's precipitated departure in Terra Firma, Part 2, her former colleagues aboard the titular ship were raising glasses (to toast in her honour, that is). "She was a pain in the ass. And she meant more to me than I could ever put in words," Michael Burnham noted. Georgiou's victims no longer have the luxury of such moral ambiguity.

Star Trek: Section 31 does delve into the "sins of the past," as the promotional material put it. The problem is that "sins" are destined to be pardoned. Georgiou's are the worst crimes deserving justice under law. There is no courtroom in the Prime universe that could try her, but Georgiou belongs behind bars, not sipping cocktails. If we don't have the moral conviction to recognise that, things aren't "badass," they're just plain bad.