Star Trek Has Its Own X-Files (Too Bad It Can't Be A Show)

Published Jul 30, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT John Orquiola is a New & Classic TV Editor, Senior Writer, and Interviewer with a special focus on Star Trek. John has over 5,000 published articles at SR, and he has interviewed the biggest names in Star Trek on the red carpet and VIP events, among other beloved shows, movies, and franchises. Warning: SPOILERS For Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 2 - "The Griffin Incident"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds revealed that Starfleet has its own version of The X-Files. Directed by Axelle Carolyn and written by Robbie Thompson, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 2, "The Griffin Incident," sends Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck), Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong), and Lt. Commander James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) into a haunted starship, the USS Griffin. The United Federation of Planets covers the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, a vast region of space in Star Trek, and needs several specialized agencies beyond Starfleet, its diplomatic and exploratory armada. For instance, Starfleet Intelligence handles the Federation's spy work, while its more shadowy division, Section 31, tackles black ops that are strictly off the books. Starfleet Security keeps the Federation safe, while Star Trek: Deep Space Nine not only created Section 31, but also introduced the Department of Temporal Investigations, which keeps track of incursions and violations that threaten Star Trek's Prime Timeline. Given the unpredictability of the final frontier, why wouldn't Starfleet have its own agency reminiscent of The X-Files? Star Trek’s X-Files: Division 12 Explained Image credit: Paramount+ Lt. Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) made an offhand remark about "Division 12" in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4's premiere, but "The Griffin Incident" firmly establishes what Division 12 is: a team of "Starfleet analysts" who investigate and catalog "unexplained phenomena." So, like the final frontier's version of The X-Files' Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). After La'an, Spock, and James Kirk survived near-death (and murderous, on the part of La'an) experiences aboard the USS Griffin, a derelict starship lost for a decade that was possessed by a malignant entity, the USS Thorn arrived to tow the Griffin away to Division 12's secret headquarters in an undisclosed section of space. The fact that Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), who has a relatively high security clearance as commander of the Federation's flagship, doesn't know where Division 12 operates from indicates how clandestine they are. Pike told Dr. Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) that he referred six incidents to Division 12, and only four were resolved by scientific explanations. As the tip of Starfleet's spear when it comes to missions exploring the galaxy, the USS Enterprise must be a constant source of work for Division 12. Before "The Griffin Incident," Division 12 may have looked into the cosmic entities in the Jonisian Nebula and Bannon's Nebula, and the disappearance of Captain Marie Batel (Melanie Scrofano), when she became the Beholder, the warden of the Vezda. Star Trek’s X-Files Is A Great Idea At The Wrong Time Image credit: Paramount+ Starfleet having its own X-Files is a very cool idea. Although no members of Division 12 have been introduced thus far in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the concept of investigating the countless "unexplained phenomena" and "uncharted anomalies" in Star Trek is fantastic. Division 12 sounds like it would make a great Star Trek TV show. Unfortunately, it's coming at the wrong time. A Division 12 TV series is rife with possibilities that could dig into the darkest corners of Star Trek. Five years ago, when Paramount+ was aggressively expanding its slate of Star Trek streaming TV shows, Division 12 could have become a series. A Division 12 TV show is rife with possibilities of digging into the darkest corners of Star Trek. Division 12 could have even joined Star Trek: Section 31 as a made-for-Paramount+ streaming movie. It might even have been better than how Section 31 turned out. Today, even if Division 12 was formally pitched, it comes at a time when the future of Star Trek on Paramount+ is uncertain. With every Star Trek TV series launched since 2017 now canceled, the expectation is that Paramount+ is placing Star Trek on hiatus until its parent company, Paramount Skydance, decides on a new direction for the 60-year-old franchise Gene Roddenberry created. However, Section 31 was created by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the late 1990s, and it never left fans' imaginations. 25 years later, Star Trek: Section 31 became a streaming movie starring Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh (after it was originally planned as an ongoing TV series). If Division 12 is further developed in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 (and 5), and fans latch onto it as they did DS9's Section 31, the concept could endure until it does get developed into a TV series or movie. Division 12 is a great idea with unlimited story potential beyond Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. After all, in the vastness of Star Trek's final frontier, the truth is out there. Release Date 2022 - 2027-00-00 Network Paramount+ Showrunner Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman Directors Dan Liu, Amanda Row, Maja Vrvilo, Akiva Goldsman, Dermott Downs, Eduardo Sánchez, Jeffrey W. Byrd, Jonathan Frakes, Jordan Canning, Leslie Hope, Valerie Weiss, Sydney Freeland, Christopher J. Byrne, Rachel Leiterman Writers Onitra Johnson Franchise(s) Star Trek Creator(s) Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet