Star Trek's Jonathan Frakes Directed First Part of Discovery Series Finale Without Knowing It
Jonathan Frakes directed Star Trek: Discovery Season 5's finale without knowing it was the series finale.
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 will be the final season of Star Trek: Discovery. Jonathan Frakes has revealed that he directed the first part of Star Trek: Discovery's fifth season finale without realizing it would be the first part of the series finale. Frakes has been involved with Star Trek: Discovery since the series brought the Star Trek franchise back to fans in 2017, directing episodes in each season of the Paramount+ streaming series. He returned to direct the penultimate episode of Star Trek: Discovery Season 5. However, it seems that the cast and crew of Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 didn't know it'd be the second-to-last episode of the series until after filming on the season had wrapped. Even the final episode of Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 needed some updates.
"I directed the first half of the finale of Season 5, which turned out to be the real finale," Frakes told Variety in an interview conducted before the actors' striker that looks back on his long history directing Star Trek episodes. "So that was a very emotional end as well. When we did it, we didn't know it was the end. And then [Discovery executive producer and director] Olatunde Osunsanmi had to go back up and do two or three days of new stuff to actually make the finale the finale." It sounds like some extra work was needed to make the Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 finale feel appropriate as a series finale.
Frakes also reflected on his time working on Star Trek: Discovery more generally, starting with the Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 episode "Despite Yourself." He says, "That was my new home, Discovery. And that first episode, getting to know Sonequa — she's very special, on a lot of levels. She's not only a fantastic actor, but she is a great leader and very spiritual. She was very welcoming. I was very glad to be part of that company in the beginning of the series. To a person, they said, 'So what's this going to be like? What are the conventions like?' They were all being welcomed into the family in a way. Every new show has a different reaction from fans, but we're all a big family. I mean, it sounds a little Pollyanna, but it's really true."
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Cast and Synopsis
Paramount+ released a clip from Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 at San Diego Comic-Con during the Star Trek universe panel and a first look trailer before that. According to the official synopsis, "The fifth and final season will find Captain Burnham and the crew of the USS Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well … dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it."
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 stars Sonequa Martin-Green (Captain Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Saru), Anthony Rapp (Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), David Ajala (Cleveland "Book" Booker), Blu del Barrio (Adira), and Callum Keith Rennie (Rayner). The season also guest stars Elias Toufexis (L'ak) and Eve Harlow (Moll) in recurring roles. David Cronenberg also returns in Star Trek: Discovery's fifth and final season, as seen in the clip from Comic-Con. Oded Fehr is also expected to return as Fleet Admiral Charles Vance.
CBS Studios produces Star Trek: Discovery in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. Alex Kurtzman, Michelle Paradise, Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth are executive producers. Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise are the series' co-showrunners.
Star Trek: Discovery's first four seasons are streaming now on Paramount+ in the U.S., the U.K., Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 and Season 3 are also available on the Pluto TV Star Trek channel in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. Star Trek: Discovery airs on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada. Fans can look forward to Star Trek: Discovery Season 5's premiere in early 2024.