Star Trek: Section 31 gave Trekkers a glimpse into the history of a nearly-forgotten Captain of the Starship Enterprise. We all know about Captain Archer, Captain Pike, Captain Kirk, and Captain Picard. But between Kirk and Picard there were two Enterprise Captains. One of them was Captain John Harriman of the Enterprise-B, who we met in Star Trek: Generations. The other got the spotlight in the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise.” This was Rachel Garrett, Captain of the Enterprise-C, played by actress Tricia O’Neil. We meet a younger version of Garrett in Section 31, played by Kacey Rohl. And we learned a good deal more about Star Trek’s first woman in the Captain’s chair of the Enterprise.
The first time Star Trek fans encountered Rachel Garrett, she was presumably in her mid-40s in the third season TNG episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise.” (The actress who portrayed her was 45 at the time of filming.) We learn, via a variety of time travel shenanigans, that Garrett was Captain of the Enterprise-C in the year 2344. This was approximately 20 years before Picard took command of the Enterprise-D. The Enterprise-C was in service for 12 years, although it is unknown if Garrett was in command during that whole time.
Her Enterprise saved the Klingon outpost Narendra III from a Romulan attack in 2344, sacrificing its crew to save the outpost’s inhabitants. Thanks to time travel, Garrett actually died in an alternate year 2367, but history recorded that she died defending the Klingons. This cemented the Federation/Klingon alliance, preventing future conflicts between the two former enemies. There is nothing Klingons value more than honor. And the crew of the Federation flagship sacrificing themselves for Klingons was considered very honorable. In Star Trek: Picard season 3, we know Starfleet erected a statue of Garrett on the planet M’Talas Prime. It stood in front of the Starfleet Recruitment Center in the 25th century.
In Section 31, actress Kacey Rohl plays Lt. Rachel Garrett, a young hotshot Starfleet officer. Rohl is 33, but plays younger, meaning Section 31 could take place anywhere from 15 to 20 years before she battles the Romulans in 2344. In Section 31, she works with the secretive organization on their special black ops missions, in order to represent Starfleet’s interests. She’s there mostly to make sure that they did not break Starfleet’s code of ethics. Rohl plays her as a smart and ambitious officer, and an asset to the team. By the end of the film, Starfleet promotes her to Lt. Commander, on the fast track to becoming Captain one day.
We may not see another Section 31 project anytime soon. But we could see Kacey Rohl return as Rachel Garrett. There were a dozen years when her Enterprise was Starfleet’s pride and joy. There’s plenty of time to tell stories in that era. Maybe it can be a new film or possibly a whole new series set in the decades before Star Trek: The Next Generation. Captain Garrett has the distinction of being the first female Captain of the Enterprise in canon. Certainly, she deserves a Star Trek project of her own. Here’s hoping that Section 31 is but a prelude to that.
