Warning – the following features major spoilers for Star Trek: Section 31 so make sure you have seen the new sci-fi movie before reading on...
After 90 minutes of twists, turns, and shocking character deaths, Star Trek: Section 31 still has one more surprise in store with the final scene… A wild, last-second cameo that you definitely won’t see coming.
To give a little bit of set-up here, after the main mission of the movie is complete, the remains of the team gather at Philippa Georgiou's (Michelle Yeoh) space-nightclub, Baraam. They're all laughs and fun as everyone talks about their new status quo. For example, Lieutenant Garrett (Kacey Rohl) is now Lieutenant Commander Garrett, continuing the slow rise to her destiny as captain of the Enterprise-C. She explains that if the Section 31 unit is going to be a "permanent detail" then it needs oversight, because she’s Starfleet all the way, but Garrett's also loosened things up a bit thanks to her part in the black ops unit.
To celebrate their new partnership, Georgiou, Garrett, Quasi (Sam Richardson), and Alok (Omari Hardwick) all share a drink. Enter the wife of Fuzz (played by Sven Ruygrok), who is joining the team to find her now-turned-evil husband. At this point Alok lets them know that Control, a.k.a. Section 31’s threat assessment system, has a new job for them.
Who plays Control?
But who is Control? It's Jamie Lee Curtis, with what looks like mechanical implants on her forehead.
"My better judgment has been screaming at me for two days now," Control says. "It keeps saying that you lot are going to cost me my job… I told my judgment to shut up. And take a nap. Because we have work to do. Has anybody been to Turkana IV?"
That’s followed by some of the worst ADR you’ve ever heard as Richardson riffs on his character thinking Curtis said "your mama four". And then it turns out that the nightclub is able to go to warp. But we digress, mainly because this is a wild bunch of info to drop at the end of the movie, for multiple reasons.
Has Jamie Lee Curtis been in Star Trek before?
Firstly, let's talk about Curtis showing up here because no, she has never been in Star Trek before. While she has appeared in franchise fare like the Halloween movies, Borderlands, and Haunted Mansion, she’s never appeared in Star Trek, Star Wars, or a Marvel movie (or a DC one, for that matter).
So on that level alone, it’s wild to see her in an unannounced cameo in this long-in-development Star Trek movie. Perhaps we’re drawing too many conclusions here, but it seems entirely possible that Yeoh, who is also an executive producer on the movie and long been its most fervent champion, called on her Everything Everywhere All At Once co-star to pop in for the brief cameo.
Who Is Control? What to know about the Star Trek: Discovery baddie and its possible connection to The Borg
Then there's the fact that Curtis is playing Control at all. Not to get too deep into Star Trek lore here, but the AI was first introduced on Star Trek: Discovery as an assistant program for Starfleet’s black ops unit, tasked with assessing potential threats. But like most AIs, in order to reduce all threats to zero it decided to destroy all sentient life in the universe. Classic!
It was only through a complicated series of circumstances that the crew of the Discovery were able to stop the program, traveling 930 years into the future to save the past from its reign of destruction. As a consequence of these actions, all remnants of Control were said to have been destroyed in the "present" of the Section 31 movie. Clearly they were not. Not only is Control still around, but it’s there to help the new Section 31 unit in the benevolent form of Jamie Lee Curtis.
Also of note are those metal implants on Curtis' forehead… Previously fans had speculated about the connection between Control and villains The Borg. And while the Star Trek brass were open about them not initially planning on creating a connection there (i.e. Control being the origin of The Borg) it seems likely that Curtis' Control Borg-like implants is a way of playing on those fan expectations.
Turkana IV has a deep connection to a classic Star Trek: The Next Generation character
And then there's "your mama four" – sorry, Turkana IV. Again not to get too in the weeds here, but Section 31 takes place in what’s known as 'The Lost Era' between The Original Series and The Next Generation. This places it around 2320 or 2330, which means right before the extremely dangerous colony of Turkana IV started to suffer a governmental breakdown.
One of the people who escaped from the planet? Tasha Yar, a character who eventually makes her way to the Enterprise on Next Generation. While she wasn’t born until 2337, it’s possible that this final scene could be teasing either some interaction with the Yar family in a sequel movie/series and/or revealing just how Turkana IV fell. Or perhaps it’s just a way of getting Richardson to riff in the sound booth.
Regardless, if there is a sequel series, it’ll be interesting to see if Curtis makes more than a cameo – and if her Control does indeed turn out to be the stepping stone to the Borg. Either way, welcome to Star Trek, Jamie Lee Curtis. Live long and prosper.
Star Trek: Section 31 is now available to watch on Paramount Plus. See if it's worth your time with our Star Trek: Section 31 review.
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