Section 31′ — This Obscure ‘Next Generation’ Character Will Return

Details on Paramount+’s upcoming Star Trek: Section 31 movie have so far been as top-secret as its namesake Starfleet spy agency. But now we know one of the characters who will encounter Michelle Yeoh‘s Philippa Georgiou – and she’s an important part of Star Trek history. A new feature in Variety goes behind the scenes of the filming of the streaming-original film, which recently wrapped filming, and reveals that previously-announced cast member Kacey Rohl (Hannibal) will be playing Rachel Garrett, a character who captained the USS Enterprise-C in the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise”.

Little else is known about the upcoming film; it was originally planned as a series, but with Yeoh’s busy schedule following her groundbreaking Best Actress Oscar win for Everything Everywhere All At Once, it was compressed into a single standalone film. It will follow Georgiou’s work for the shadowy Starfleet intelligence agency Section 31, following her return to the 23rd century in the third season of Star Trek: Discovery. In addition to Yeoh and Rohl, it will also star Omari Hardwick, Sam Richardson, Sven Ruygrok, Rob Kazinsky, Humberly Gonzalez, James Hiroyuki Liao, Joe Pingue, Miku Martineau, and Augusto Bitter.

Who is Rachel Garrett?

In “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, which aired in 1990 as part of The Next Generation‘s third season, the 24th-century Enterprise-D finds itself confronted with its long-thought-destroyed predecessor, the Enterprise-C, captained by Rachel Garrett (Tricia O’Neil). Somehow, the Enterprise-C being thrown into the future has altered the future; instead of the relatively peaceful galaxy familiar to the show’s viewers, the Federation is embroiled in a desperate war with the Klingon Empire. The crew soon realizes that the Enterprise-C must respond to a Klingon distress call in its own timeline, even though it means the ship will be destroyed by the Romulans; Garrett is soon killed in an ambush by the future Klingons, forcing helmsman Richard Castillo (Christopher McDonald) to take over the ship with Enterprise-D security officer Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby), leading it to its fate in the past. Ultimately, the Enterprise-C‘s sacrifice averts war with the Klingons and restores the Enterprise-D‘s future to its rightful state, while Garrett and her crew are remembered as heroes. However, the Enterprise-C‘s legacy later came back to haunt the Enterprise-D; Yar survived and bore a half-Romulan daughter, Sela, who would become one of the crew’s recurring foes.

“Yesterday’s Enterprise” is considered to be one of The Next Generation‘s finest episodes. Collider’s Liam Gaughan deemed it to be the best episode of season 3, calling it a “fascinating look at a darker version of the setting we know and love” while also serving as a proper sendoff for Tasha Yar, who had been unceremoniously killed off in the show’s first season.

Star Trek: Section 31 is now in post-production, and has not yet set a release date. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.