The start of DS9 was enough, frankly. The Federation was interested in adding to its ranks a culture that was in the middle of a civil war. Sisko was brought in to keep the peace. I think doing something like that still felt mostly like Trek even if it was a case where I felt like Picard was failing to live up to his own sense of duty.
Adding in space CIA was gilding the lily I think. I think DS9 could explore the limits of what the federation and Star Trek's politics were capable of without having to reduce the entire mission of the organization into a pack of lies.
One of the things that made TNG great was episodes like Chain of Command (the Romulan torture episode) and The Wounded (where Picard stops a fellow starfleet officer from attacking a disguised Cardassian war base in order to prevent an all-out war that the Federation was not prepared to fight without grave costs). Stuff like Section 31 kinda shits all over the concept of those episodes and for no real benefit other than to cast aspersions on the founding myths of Starfleet.
There are certainly sci-fi concepts where Section 31 could work, but I don't think Star Trek -- or even DS9 in particular -- was the place for it. I don't always love DS9 for the way it approached Trek, but episodes like For the Uniform and In the Pale Moonlight showed the limitations of Starfleet doctrine without even needing to rely on the existence of Section 31. They're better episodes anyway, because they're more character-driven. Section 31 as a complication in the Starfleet/Federation narrative (that ethical superiority will win out) is less compelling than the twists that were stuff like Q, The Maquis, and especially the god. damn. Borg.
Adding in space CIA was gilding the lily I think. I think DS9 could explore the limits of what the federation and Star Trek's politics were capable of without having to reduce the entire mission of the organization into a pack of lies.
One of the things that made TNG great was episodes like Chain of Command (the Romulan torture episode) and The Wounded (where Picard stops a fellow starfleet officer from attacking a disguised Cardassian war base in order to prevent an all-out war that the Federation was not prepared to fight without grave costs). Stuff like Section 31 kinda shits all over the concept of those episodes and for no real benefit other than to cast aspersions on the founding myths of Starfleet.
There are certainly sci-fi concepts where Section 31 could work, but I don't think Star Trek -- or even DS9 in particular -- was the place for it. I don't always love DS9 for the way it approached Trek, but episodes like For the Uniform and In the Pale Moonlight showed the limitations of Starfleet doctrine without even needing to rely on the existence of Section 31. They're better episodes anyway, because they're more character-driven. Section 31 as a complication in the Starfleet/Federation narrative (that ethical superiority will win out) is less compelling than the twists that were stuff like Q, The Maquis, and especially the god. damn. Borg.
