Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Section 31.
Paramount+’s first streamingStar Trekmovie,Star Trek: Section 31, hinges on an in-joke fromStar Trek: The Original Seriesabout Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the Starship Enterprise.Star Trek: Section 31stars Michelle Yeoh asStar Trek: Discovery’s Emperor Philippa Georgiou, who joins ateam of Section 31 agentsled by Alok Sahar (Omar Hardwick). InSection 31’s second act, a mole sabotages Section 31’s starship, leaving Sahar’s team stranded in a veritable junkyard, where Lieutenant Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl), future USS Enterprise-C Captain, spots a potential replacement ship: a blocky, rusty garbage scow.
Before the Tribbles cause too many troubles inStar Trek: The Original Series’classic episode, “The Trouble With Tribbles”, Kirk’s USS Enterprise crew shares shore leave with a complement of Klingons on space station K-7. When Klingon officer Korax (Michael Pataki) baits Ensign Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) by insulting Captain Kirk,Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott(James Doohan) cautions Chekov to maintain a sense of Starfleet decorum.Undaunted, Korax tells Scotty that the USS Enterprise is “designed like a garbage scow.“The final straw that gets Scotty fighting is Korax declaring that the Enterprise should be “hauled awayasgarbage”.
Section 31 Saves The Federation With A Kirk In-Joke From Star Trek: The Original Series
Garbage Scow To The Rescue!
After Section 31’s Alpha Team loses their starship to sabotage, the vessel that ultimately saves the United Federation of Planets is the garbage scow thatLieutenant Rachel Garrettmanaged to get running. Even if Korax did have to go a bit further to get Scotty to throw the first punch, it’s still funny thatStar Trek: Section 31’s hero ship is the very same thing that Korax compared the USS Enterprise to as an insultinStar Trek: The Original Series. And no wonder—the garbage scow inStar Trek: Section 31is a pretty ugly piece of junk.
In theStar Treklogo that precedesStar Trek: Section 31, the ship that flies by to draw the Starfleet delta isn’t the starship that Section 31 starts out the movie with, but the boxy, rugged garbage scow that saves the day.
In theend,Star Trek: Section 31’s team can’t be too choosy about their choice of transport, since the stakes are high. They have no way to communicate with anyone else, and they’re running out of time before the Quadrant-destroying Godsend falls into the wrong hands.The garbage scow may not have working shields or weapons, and Quasi (Sam Richardson) can’t decipher the controls.But the scowdoeshave a wide-range tractor field to collect trash, and a hull full of garbage that Garrett uses to create a makeshift bomb. It’s not the Enterprise, but the garbage will do.
Why Was Scotty So Offended The Klingons Insulted The Enterprise, Not Captain Kirk
“It Was A Matter Of Pride.”
In “The Trouble With Tribbles”, Montgomery Scott is more offended when the Klingon officer calls the USS Enterprise a garbage scow than when Korax hurls insults at Captain Kirk. Scotty knows full well that theCaptain of the Enterpriseisn’t the “swaggering, overbearing, tin-plated dictator with delusions of godhood” that Korax says he is.Kirk’s reputation isn’t really on the line, but the Starship Enterprise is far closer to Scotty’s heartsince Mr. Scott has put in countless hours repairing and upgrading the Enterprise as its Chief Engineer. Insulting the USS Enterprise is like insulting Scotty himself; it’spersonal.
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After seeing that an actual garbage scow is a pretty sorry piece of machinery inStar Trek: Section 31, it’s even easier to see why Scotty was so offended that the Klingons would dare call his belovedConstitution-class USS Enterprisea garbage scow.The implication that Starfleet’s flagship is only as good as a barely spaceworthy rust bucket is an attack on Scotty’s engineering skillson top of insulting Starfleet design. The garbage scow inStar Trek: Section 31is the in-joke that saves the Federation, but that’s the only thing it has in common with the Enterprise.
