This would never have happened in Gene Roddenberry's day.

I’m kind of looking forward to the new Star Trek flick, Section 31. But possibly not as much as this guy, who’s done a whole thing about the moral/logical contradiction of 31 even existing the Federation:

What is Section 31? Simply, it’s an off-the-books spy organization that may or may not have gone rogue in its mission to safeguard the existence of the Federation, while also keeping its activities totally secret from the Federation. Whether or not Starfleet higher-ups are unaware of Section 31, or simply look the other way, is a matter of some mystery and also evolution over time. According to Section 31 operatives, however, without their secret assassinations, illegal scientific research, and other black-books operations, the Federation would have fallen centuries ago. (Although we’re exclusively told this by Section 31 agents, a fertile facet of potential internal propaganda for Trek writers to exploit, should they choose.)

It’s a semi-long sort of fascinating essay playing with the same idea that Iain M Banks’ Culture novels investigated through the agency of Special Circumstances. I never felt as though Banks had any trouble squaring the circle of defending liberalism with the tools of tyrants, but I don’t doubt that Star Trek’s original creator would have had nothing to do with it.

Roddenberry reportedly made quite the pest of himself during Next Gen, nitpicking every deviation from the canon, and the devo’s don’t get more perverse than 31.

But if a story, or storyworld is going to have longevity over half a century, it’s going to have evolve. Even Bond did that.

I’ll be curious to see how much time the writers have spent thinking through the question of Federation morality when Section 31 drops. To judge by the trailer, not a lot.

But mostly I’m looking forward to Michele Yeoh kicking ass.