For Star Trek: Discovery ‘s penultimate episode, an icon from the franchise stepped behind the camera: Jonathan Frakes , who starred as Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation and reprised the role on Picard . And for him, it was just returning to a set he enjoys, for his eighth episode behind the camera on Discovery . In the episode, members of the crew infiltrate the Breen ship in hopes of getting their hands on a key piece of tech for their mission to find the Progenitors’ power.
But even amidst the action, there’s time for some emotional beats. Below, Frakes takes us inside the episode, looks back on Discovery , and teases a Strange New Worlds Season 3 episode he directed. What excited you about this script as a director? Jonathan Frakes: There’s a lot more action than I’m usually given, and the whole direction, if you will, of the season was that we find more action and more levity, two of my favorite parts of the business.
So I was thrilled. The ending where the ship literally flies in the tailpipe of another ship I thought was really ambitious and great to storyboard and a beautifully executed by JZ [Jason Zimmerman] and all of our friends over at the visual effects department, but also the contrast between—Burnham [ Sonequa Martin-Green ] and Book [ David Ajala ] have a story that they clearly have not found time to sort out about their relationship. They’re in the midst of all this chaos.
And, the B story, the wonderful story with our Kelpian and our Vu.