It looks likeStar Trek: Section 31is already setting up a bigStar Trekdisappointment.Star Trek: Section 31is set to debut on Paramount+ on June 10, 2025, and stars Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh reprising her role asStar Trek: Discovery’s Emperor Philippa Georgiou. Previously pitched as anewStar Trekseriesstarring Yeoh,Star Trek: Section 31has shifted scale to becomeStar Trek’s first streaming movie.TheStar Trek: Section 31trailer hints at Georgiou returning to Starfleet’s clandestine espionage divisionin a different era, while also promising action sequences aplenty, stunning set pieces, and gorgeous costumes.
Star Trek: Section 31is set in the rarely-seen “Lost Era” ofStar Trek’s timeline, betweenStar Trek Generations' scenes in 2293 and the 2364 start ofStar Trek: The Next Generation. The Lost Era features Starfleet’s longest-running uniform, the “Monster Maroon”, which debuted inStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.This red Starfleet uniform was in use from 2278 to 2349, changing only slightly over the years.The latest chronological Monster Maroon variant is seen on Captain Rachel Garrett’s (Tricia O’Neil) USS Enterprise-C crewinStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 3, episode 15, “Yesterday’s Enterprise”.
Section 31 Doesn’t Include Star Trek’s “Lost Era” Starfleet Uniform
Section 31’s Star Trek Disappointment Is Its Lack Of Familiar Starfleet Uniforms
Despite being set in the early 24th century, the trailer forStar Trek: Section 31doesn’t include a single look atStar Trek’s iconic"Monster Maroon" Starfleet uniform. Its absence indicates thatStar Trek: Section 31isn’t going to explore—or update—the aesthetics ofStar Trek’s “Lost Era”,a time period that has seen precious little action throughoutStar Trek’s many new projects. While representing Starfleet,Section 31’s younger Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl) should be wearing Captain Garrett’sTNGMonster Maroon,or its slimmed-down predecessor with a collarless undershirt, but she isn’t.
Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) appeared in an alternate timeline version of the Monster Maroon uniform inStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 1, episode 10, “A Quality of Mercy”. Alternate Pike’s uniform featured elements of both theStrange New Worldsuniforms and the classicuniforms fromStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Star Trek’s Lost Era is a time period ripe for further exploration and development.Star Trek: Section 31is directed byStar Trek: Discovery’s Olatunde Osunsanmi, so aesthetic similarities toDiscoverymake sense.Section 31could have delivered a modern interpretation of Starfleet inStar Trek’s Lost Era, the same way thatStar Trek: Strange New Worldsupdated the look ofStar Trek’s 23rd century. Instead of diving deeper into known elements of theStar Trekuniverse,Star Trek: Section 31looks like it’s trying something new. That doesn’t have to be as disappointing as it might first seem.
Why Star Trek: Section 31 Looks To Be Leaning Away From TNG’s Starfleet Look
Section 31 Agents Don’t Need Starfleet Uniforms
TheStar Trek: Section 31trailer leans away from the Starfleet look that was inStar Trek: The Next Generatiion’s “Yesterday’s Enterprise"and otherTNGflashbacks, becauseStarfleet uniforms don’t make sense for the plot ofStar Trek: Section 31.Section 31 agents are spies, so they’re not going to wear Starfleet uniforms while on undercover missions. Georgiou’s Section 31 team are outside of Federation space fighting an unknown threat, and wearing Starfleet uniforms would give away the team’s allegiances. Even Garrett would look woefully out of place in the Lost Era’s Monster Maroon Starfleet uniform.
Star Trek: Section 31 - Everything You Need To Know
Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh headlines Star Trek: Section 31, and here’s what we know about Paramount+’s first Star Trek streaming movie.
Even without a single instance of Starfleet’s iconic look,Star Trek: Section 31can recover from potential disappointment with expanded early 24th century world building.Section 31will show life outside the Federation, which is another rarely seen part of theStar Trekuniverse that’s worth exploring, especially if the rest of the galaxy is more in line withGeorgiou’s Mirror Universetactics than with Garrett’s Starfleet ideals. If Section 31’s gray morality puts theStar Trek: Section 31team at the center of a classicStar Trekmoral dilemma with a good story, the lack of uniforms won’t even matter.
