Star Trek Section 31 Brings Back Aliens From Legendary Original Series Episode

Star Trek became an enduring phenomenon thanks to its ability to examine complex issues through a science fiction lens. So when Alok (Omari Hardwick) tells Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) that he’s offering her “a chance to get back in on the action” in the trailer for the upcoming Paramount+ Star Trek movie Section 31, some Trekkies roll their eyes. We’re here for philosophical inquiry, not laser blasts.

Accentuating those feelings is the appearance of an inhabitant of Cheron, the person with a half-white/half-black face who gleefully asks Georgiou about Alok. The native of Cheron is just one of the deep Trek pulls on display in the trailer, which you can watch below.

In addition to checking in on Yeoh’s character from Discovery and Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl) from the Next Generation standout “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” we also get a look at Sam Richardson as a Chameloid, one of the shapeshifting aliens played by Iman in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and Humberly Gonzalez as a Deltan, like Ilia (Persis Khambatta) in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Yet, the Cheron native is more notable because the planet comes from one of the most famous episodes of The Original Series. Kirk and Enterprise learned of the conflict on Cheron in the season three episode “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield,” written by Oliver Crawford, from a story by Gene L. Coon (under the pen name Lee Cronin), and directed by Jud Taylor. The episode finds refugee Lokai (Lou Antonio) arriving on the Enterprise after stealing a Starfleet shuttle, soon followed by Bele (Frank Gorshin).

Bele represents the ruling race on Cheron, all of whom have black skin on their right side and white skin on the left, while Lokai comes from the subjugated race, with opposite coloration. The struggle between the two represents a larger social battle, one that leads to the destruction of their civilization.

The coloring and strife between the two natives of Cheron stands in for human racism, particularly in the United States. When Kirk (with help from Spock and Scotty) sets the Enterprise on a self-destruct sequence in response to Bele hijacking the ship, they underscore the episode’s belief that animosity between races results in mutual annihilation.

Without question, the episode’s metaphor only goes so far. While Bele is the clear oppressor, Kirk also has little sympathy for Lokai’s revolutionary talk. After Bele releases his control over the Enterprise, Kirk takes time to scold both natives and dismisses Lokai’s call for justice against genocide as myopic bigotry. Spock listens with concern as Lokai rouses the lower deckers with his story, which even draws explicit connections to 20th century atrocities, and later he and Kirk share a drink with Bele.

Like X-Men comics and The Twilight Zone episodes of the same era, “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” sometimes stumbles in attempts to address issues most Americans would rather ignore. Still, there’s no question that the episode addresses the issue of racism head on. Moreover, it does so by dismissing the question of violence. During his conversation in the Kirk’s quarters, Spock tells Bele that only adherence to logic saved Vulcans from their passions. The episode climaxes with Bele and Lokai coming to blows with each other, only for Kirk to beg them both to stop fighting, to no avail.

That classic TOS episode is a marked shift from the whiz-bang action that the Section 31 trailer promises. Perhaps, Section 31‘s explosions and laser blasts are hiding a more nuanced understanding of social justice issues, a moral complexity that couldn’t yet be addressed on network television in “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.” Or maybe it’s just because the studio thinks Trekkies like it when stuff goes boom. Let’s hope it’s the former.

Star Trek: Section 31 is out on Jan. 24.