YMMV / Star Trek Deep Space Nine S 06 E 18 Inquisition

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Sisko's comments regarding Section 31 and that Starfleet would neither confirm nor deny its existence seem rather cagey. Also, he tells Bashir that if they try to recruit him again to say *yes*. As the senior officer in a very strategic station, Sisko likely is well aware of Section 31 and just encouraged Bashir to join it! He may have even suggested Bashir in the first place.
• Canon Fodder: Section 31 and its stated 200 year history opened up plenty of opportunities for novels and spinoffs to feature 'classified' examples of its involvement in the earlier franchises.
• Ho Yay: The illusionary Weyoun gets awfully close and personal with Bashir, and practically coos about their supposed first interaction back at the Dominion camp, where he offered Bashir scones.
• Like You Would Really Do It: A calculated aversion. Weyoun is a popular villain and therefore has plenty of Plot Armor. The episode could have shown his holographic simulation being killed during the boarding assault without losing his character. That would be a major tip-off to audiences that he's not real, however, since they would doubt that the show would kill him off so casually. (Yes, the clone backups have been well-established, but killing the version the audience has gotten to know would deprive other Weyouns of his personal knowledge of and relationships with the main cast.) Instead, the episode gives his hologram a rather improbable escape to preserve the twist.
• Unintentional Period Piece: The idea that an organization like Section 31 could stay secret for any length of time only made sense in a pre-WikiLeaks world.
• Vindicated by History: Despite how Section 31 was hated by trekkies at first, the appeal of this trope is so strong, even Star Trek: Enterprise's writers, who were not exactly fans of Deep Space Nine, couldn't resist using this rogue agency for their stories. The reboot writers neither, for that matter. Star Trek: Discovery got in on the fun as well in their second season, with a spinoff about the organization in the works.

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