10 Biggest Missed Opportunities in Star Trek: Section 31

Section 31 started life as a series, although the pandemic and, deserved as it was, Michelle Yeoh's Oscar win put paid to that idea. Every piece of P.R. about the film asserts that it was Yeoh herself who pushed for the project to go ahead, even as a film. 

Section 31 then faced a large hurdle: how to tell the story of a dictator attempting to find reformation, while working within the confines of a group of devils defending the angels. A series would struggle to do such lofty goals justice. The film, in our opinion, didn't try.

In various marketing pieces for the film, Georgiou was described as 'badass'. Kacey Rohl's Lieutenant Commander Garrett refers to her as a 'Bad Bitch' at the film's close. This is, to be clear, the only explicitly Starfleet character doing something other than arresting a genocidal despot. 

This is but one example of the surface-level depiction of Georgiou's journey, or lack thereof, that the film presents. It has no depth, no true exploration. San, this reminder of her commitment to evil, reappears to connect both universes. He is presented now as a villain because, despite being introduced as 'too good to sacrifice his family' he is seemingly fine with murder on a galactic scale. Therefore, Georgiou is the hero - because she doesn't want that now.

Section 31 missed a lot of chances to deal with the darker underside of Star Trek due to a myriad of reasons. Its runtime was a hurdle, as was its apparent hesitation to call Georgiou exactly what she was. 

They took the potential to try and tell the redemption story of one of the most evil characters ever introduced in the franchise and settled for quips about being a 'Bad Bitch'.

In the end, it suffers from the same problem that another Star Trek tyrant faced over forty years ago. For all of its experience, it could only think in two dimensions.