STAR TREK: SECTION 31 Recap: Part 3 – The Passageway

Avery Kaplan

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Georgiou taunts Quasi at the Baraam in Star Trek: Section 31.

In Star Trek: Section 31 Part 3, “The Passageway,” Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) must race against the clock to stop San (James Hiroyuki Liao) from activating a terrible weapon of her own making. Section 31 was directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi, with a screenplay written by Craig Sweeny from a story by Bo Yeon Kim and Erika Lippoldt.

RELATED: Read our recap of Star Trek: Section 31 Part 2, “The Godsend”

Back on the planet, the remaining members of Alpha Team conclude the plan is to activate the Godsend as the Terran Empire arrives through the wormhole, leaving the Federation ripe for invasion. Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl) asks Georgiou how they stop it. Georgiou says they can’t; they’re trapped there. With the antenna destroyed, they have no way of sending a warning. Garrett won’t accept it. But Georgiou insists. She says the past always catches up. But Quasi (Sam Richardson) says that doesn’t mean it always wins.

Alok (Omar Hardwick) reveals they have the missing part that will make the scow fly. He was the one who removed the coil as a safeguard against the mole. Back on the scow, the team manages to get the ship up and running. They set a course for the location of the soon-to-be-open wormhole, where San’s ship will be waiting. The scow takes off.

Garrett aboard the scow.
Photo Credit: Gibson/Paramount+

The scow flies through space in the middle of a tractor field. This pulls in people’s trash from space. Once the trash has been collected, it is dumped into a nebula to disintegrate in the radiation. Georgiou heads to engineering. If the tractor beam is their only weapon, she will redirect all power there. Garrett concedes this is a good plan.

Star Trek: Section 31, “The Passageway”

Fuzz in his Vulcan conveyance in Star Trek: Section 31.
Photo Credit: Thijs/Paramount+

The scow drops out of warp, and the tractor field activates. It approaches San’s ship, which is located near where the passageway will soon open. Aboard San’s ship, Fuzz (Sven Ruygrok) says that when this is over, he wants a big space for his hatchlings to enjoy. San says all he wants is revenge upon Georgiou.

San’s ship detects the arrival of the scow. Fuzz suggests using the torpedoes, and San obliges. But Alok orders Quasi to stay the course, putting everything into the shields. The scow survives the blast. Alok asks if they have enough juice to drag San’s ship with the tractor beam yet. Quasi confirms this but says they can’t take another direct hit. The scow dodges the next incoming torpedo and latches onto San’s ship, dragging it. San concludes Georgiou is attempting to stop him from reaching the Terran Empire.

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Aboard the scow, Georgiou says the plan can work. The radiation from the ion storms will wear down their shields. However, Quasi notes that radiation will affect them as well. San’s ship loses the ability to use torpedoes. Meanwhile, Fuzz panics. But an alert aboard the scow informs them that radiation levels are critical. Garrett reports that the scow’s shields are down.

Georgiou insists that Garrett loves chaos. She says this is why Starfleet put her here. Garrett comes around, saying, “Chaos is my friend with benefits.” San’s shields are down as well. Alok and Georgiou are beamed aboard San’s ship. They find it seemingly empty, with the Godsend left unguarded. But then San appears, weapon in hand. Fuzz pops up behind Alok and stabs him in the back. Georgiou shoots Fuzz.

Shuttle and Scow

Georgiou holding a phaser aboard San's ship.
Photo Credit: Thijs/Paramount+

San calls Georgiou’s name, holding her at gunpoint. Georgiou drops her weapon but then uses martial arts to knock San’s weapon aside. They begin to battle. The Godsend is knocked to the floor, where its detonation sequence activates. Meanwhile, Fuzz says his microscopic race ruled before the Federation and will continue to hold power after it’s gone. He asks Alok if he knows what survives very large explosions and answers, “Very small things.”

Fuzz says he needs to cut San’s ship loose. He says he hopes Alok’s friends die in the process. The tiny ship leaves the Vulcan conveyance. A shuttle launches from San’s ship and then heads towards the scow. Aboard the scow, Garrett and Quasi ascertain that it carries one tiny life form. Garrett orders Quasi to target the shuttle, but they have no weapons, only garbage. The shuttle collides with the scow.

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Aboard San’s ship, Georgiou and San battle despite flashbacks to the tenderness in their past. On the scow, Garrett instructs Quasi not to lose the shuttle. Quasi says they don’t have any weapons, but Garrett says they have a payload bay full of trash and repeats her command. On San’s ship, San tells Georgiou he was weak. But when the Empire arrives, they’ll reign over the Prime universe with “righteous mercy.” 

Georgiou tells him that there are no benevolent dictators. She says San taught her that. Another flashback to a tender moment. Furthermore, Georgiou says they can come back from this and begin again. But a flashback to Georgiou scarring him with the sword spurs San back into battle. Meanwhile, Alok wrestles with Fuzz’s suit.

Friends Forever

In the scow’s trash payload bay, Garrett sings to herself about loving chaos. Quasi uses comms to ask what she’s doing down there. Garrett says she intends to live long enough to be captain, so he has to trust her. She comes upon a talking doll (Melanie Minichino). Identifying the doll’s origin, Garrett says they don’t let Droom tech into the Federation because of the volatile nature of the material they use as a power source. Quasi wonders if Garrett is going to blow them up.

On San’s ship, both Georgiou and San, as well as Fuzz and Alok, continue battling. In the scow’s payload bay, Garrett tells herself science is just controlled chaos as she pours a chemical on the doll’s battery and flees from the resulting smoking reaction. Meanwhile, Fuzz instructs his suit to attack Alok with renewed vigor. Georgiou reacts to San’s punch by hugging him. This triggers another tender flashback, but he shakes it off and continues his attack. 

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On the scow, Garrett tells Quasi to get in front of the shuttle as there is about to be a large explosion in the shuttle bay. Quasi explains that the console is in a language he doesn’t know. While he can decipher some of it, he can’t decipher all of it.

Quasi pilots the scow in Star Trek: Section 31.
Photo Credit: Gibson/Paramount+

Quasi must choose between two buttons, one of which will open the bay doors. The other will trigger the scow’s self-destruct. Garrett reassures him and tells him he just needs to make a decision. In the payload bay, the smoldering doll giggles. Quasi chooses a button. The payload bay empties into space. “We can be friends forever,” the doll says as it is ejected into space alongside the rest of the trash.

Terran Empire Incoming

On San’s ship, the battles continue. The Godsend rolls into Alok’s grasp, but Fuzz punches him, and he drops it. Alok picks up a blade and approaches Fuzz. He stabs him in the head, finally incapacitating the body suit. Before it collapses, the suit informs Alok that it is on autopilot. On his shuttle, Fuzz is frustrated. Meanwhile, the doll giggles and says they’re all going to die as it drifts in space. Fuzz spots the doll just before it explodes, engulfing his shuttle in the explosion.

Aboard the scow, Quasi and Garrett celebrate their victory. Meanwhile, on San’s ship, Georgiou and San’s fight is momentarily interrupted by an explosion. San has Georgiou at the end of a sword. She has another tender flashback. But then she kicks the sword, causing it to slice his neck. As Georgiou cradles San, she says it isn’t what she wants. After another flashback, Georgiou says she’s sorry. San says Georgiou was right, and he always needed her to show him who he was. He dies in her arms.

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A computer alert states that the ion storm collision is imminent. The passageway to the Mirror universe begins opening. Georgiou picks up the Godsend. Her biosignature is confirmed. Detonation is one minute away. She locks the target on the passageway. Alok approaches. Georgiou asks if he could go back, would he kill the warlord, even at the cost of his life? Alok says yes. Georgiou says she is glad she knew him.

Georgiou and Alok holding hands aboard San's ship in "The Passageway."
Photo Credit: Thijs/Paramount+

Thirty seconds to detonation, and the passageway is opening. Aboard the scow, Quasi says San’s ship has activated its impulse engines. Garrett says to transport them back immediately. But the ion storm prevents him from locking onto them. 

Krakaboom!

Alok and Georgiou hold hands as the detonation reaches 10 seconds. Quasi continues to attempt to lock on. The countdown reaches zero. Quasi and Garrett shield their eyes from the resulting explosion. A few moments later, Garrett regains consciousness and finds Alok and Georgiou standing over her. Alok says Quasi got them out. Garrett hugs Georgiou in celebration of their victory. Which Georgiou doesn’t appreciate. The passageway to the Mirror universe collapses. 

A performance by the Torch Singer at the Baraam.
Photo Credit: Thijs/Paramount+

Three weeks later, at the Baraam. Georgiou once again presides over her nightclub, where the Torch Singer (Emily Mei) is performing. Alok approaches Georgiou and asks about her debrief. Georgiou says they made her an offer, which she is currently sitting on. Alok shrugs about his debrief. But Georgiou isn’t fooled. “Alok” is revealed to be Quasi in disguise. 

RELATED: Read our Star Trek: Section 31 recaps

The real Alok approaches and tells Georgiou to leave Quasi alone. Georgiou orders a round of drinks for her friends from Virgil (Augusto Bitter). Garrett approaches and reveals she’s been promoted to Lieutenant Commander. She says if this unit is to be permanent, they’ll need oversight. Georgiou playfully threatens to murder all of them at the drop of a hat, which they take quite well.

Section 31's Alpha Team victorious: Garrett, Alok, Georgiou and Quasi.
Photo Credit: Thijs/Paramount+

Virgil arrives with the drinks. Then, what appears to be Fuzz arrives. But it isn’t Fuzz; it’s his wife, Wisp, in an identical conveyance. She wants revenge upon Fuzz for his betrayal. Alok says Control (Jamie Lee Curtis) has a job for them. Control’s hologram appears and says, against her better judgment, that the team has work to do. She asks if any of them have ever been to Turkana IV. The Baraam jumps to warp.

The special event movie Star Trek: Section 31 is currently available for streaming on Paramount+.

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Avery Kaplan