We’ve waited nine long years for a follow-up to Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond. S.J. Clarkson’s sequel faltered and failed. Noah Hawley’s reboot never got out of space dock. Even Quentin Tarantino’s unexpected foray got sucked into a pre-production black hole. So, in the absence of a big-screen voyage to please the Trekkie faithful, the franchise has since set phasers to streaming, ushering in a vibrant new era of TV Trek under the auspices of Alex Kurtzman. It’s from that side of the aisle that Paramount+ draws its first Trek TV movie, with this long-gestating spin-off from Star Trek: Discovery.

Smartly seizing upon Discovery’s most interesting character — the sociopathic former Emperor of Star Trek’s dystopian Mirror Universe, played by a now Oscar-wielding Michelle Yeoh — Section 31 weaves a surprisingly accessible (for Star Trek) story that’s part heist caper, part spaceespionage romp, drawing...