Set phasers on spoilers: This article discusses major plot details from "Star Trek: Episode 31."

In many ways, Star Trek and its universe of alien, super-powered creatures, The Occasional Entity of God (see: Q)and heroic Starfleet officers to embody our highest ideals and aspirations are not also Different from the highbrow world of comics and superheroes, "Part 31" puts a unique but unmistakable spin on that whole notion. Director Olatunde Osunsanmi and writer Craig Sweeney (along with Bo Yeon Kim and Erika Lippldt, both of whom receive a "story from" credit) boldly take the franchise where it has only gone sporadically before, centering the story of the late Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh). and a team of antiheroes gathered from the dark side of Starfleet that few even know exists. With the comforting rule and regulations of the Federation just a distant point in the void of space, Section 31 really gets down and dirty in a far-reaching corner of the galaxy. By the time viewers are caught up in speed alongside the ever-amazed Georgiou, the film's premise becomes clear ... and so does the most obvious. A superhero An anti-heroic fellow.

Episode 31 puts a typically Star Trek twist on comic book movies like Suicide Squad — Er, James Gunn's version vs. the disaster movie of 2016if that helps. A team of misfits and outcasts banded together to recruit an all-out villain, irrelevant tone and quirky sense of humor dialed up to 11, tons of action with multiple brutal deaths, and curse words flying as often as phaser explosions? The only piece missing from this puzzle is Michelle Yeoh breaking the fourth wall and asking, “What are we, some part of Section 31?” (Sorry, sorry, I'm trying to delete that.) Regardless of whether the charms on the B-movie project they work for Trek or not, one thing is absolutely certain: "Part 31" marks the latest example of "Star Trek" Braining Bad.

When it comes to the Star Trek franchise, being bad has rarely looked so good. Philippa Georgiou (or, more precisely, Her counterpart in the Mirror universe, who stuck around for almost the entirety of Star Trek: Discovery) has always marched to the beat of her own drum, but she's never been let off the chain as much as she is in "Part 31." Completely freed from the tight grip of Starfleet, this version of Georgiou is far more extravagant, confident and pure fun than we've ever seen before. Okay, yes, she's struggling with the guilt and trauma of condemning her teenage former flame Sun (James Hiroyuki Liao) to a life of servitude and torture to become the Emperor in the first place... but she just seems that way wonderful While doing so.

That's where the rest of this Suicide Squad team comes in. It was a team of Renegades, making sure that never happened. Each member falls into narrative roles that easily fit the men-on-a-mission mold: Alok Sahar (Omari Hardwick) is a cool and calm leader, Casey Roehl's Rachel Garrett is a prim and proper stickler for the rules, the terrifying Mech Zeff (Rob Kazinsky) is brawling, tech-savvy Fuzz (Sven Rugrok) is the clumsy mastermind, Mele (Humberly Gonzalez) is the ladies' man fatala, and the quasi Shapeshifter (Sam Richardson) is a jack of all trades.

What separates "Part 31" from typical ensemble fare, however, is the fact that few of them get along with each other, most of them refuse to play by the rules, and each of them has their own agendas and secrets. Sure, there's no exact equivalent to Ratchacher or Polka Dot Man or Kaiju Starro ... but they all end up serving awfully similar functions anyway. Whether or not this approach works for the fanbase, well, that's another story entirely.

Here is the question of the day, to the extent that /The movie Jacob Hall centered his positive review "Part 31" for the idea of ​​what actually makes Star Trek, well, Star Trek in the year of our Lord 2025. Up to this point, Science Property has never allowed itself to be stuck with just one label and has limited itself to A. Super box. The Original Series alone proved how malleable this material can be, jumping from genre to genre in the span of a few episodes faster than the USS Enterprise can warp through space. Since then, each successive addition to the canon has only challenged our preconceived notions of what Trek could be more and more, since The Next Generation, daring to jump forward in a time period (mostly) without any familiar faces in the "deep deep in" deep deep in "deep Space Nine "Having the audacity to be placed on a stationary space station instead of the stars - and, for that matter," Part 31 "Of course, it is not an exception.

Still, it's easy to see how different "Part 31" feels from the jump. In a recent interview, Star Trek creative lead Alex Kurtzman explained that the TV movie was meant to appeal to as wide an audience as possible ... and not just hardcore Trekkies. This goes a long way towards explaining the emphasis on action for adrenaline junkies out there, the far more irrelevant tone, the attempt to create a sense of "cool factor" (Which many critics argue feels anathema to what Trek is at its heart), and the overall parallels with more comic book movies of recent vintage.

Ultimately, this "Part 31" experiment probably won't end up redefining the franchise as much as the dissenters might fear. However, for a brief moment, we were given a glimpse into the most interesting mirror universes - one where the "runway" let her hair down, tied into a cocktail dress and a beret (or whatever the fazer equivalent was) and kicked) and kicked) and kicked), and kicked First and asked questions later at the first sign of trouble. It's hard to deny that it feels anything less than thrilling.

Star Trek: Episode 31 is currently streaming on Paramount+.