Star Trek: Discovery Director Jonathan Frakes Teases Season 3 Details

Before his memorable return as William Riker on the captain's chair in Picard, Jonathan Frakes remained a creative force on the directors on Star Trek: Discovery. The former first officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D directed six episodes of the CBS All Access series including three in the upcoming third season. He spoke with Comic Book to tease what's to come with Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and company. "Discovery has primarily to do with Sonequa's character, as you'll see," Frakes said. "At the end of season two, we flash-forwarded I think 930 years." In season two, the Discovery defeated a sentient AI threatening all biological life. Tied to the secrets it seeks, the ship entered a temporal vortex in a last-ditch effort. Leaving Starfleet and the galaxy the way they knew it, those like Spock (Ethan Peck) and Lt. Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif) stayed behind. Spock remained to serve under Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). Despite his ties to Burnham, Tyler remained promoted to his new position at Starfleet's secretive Section 31.

Jonathan Frakes as William Riker in Star Trek, courtesy of CBS Interactive, Inc.

"Michael Burnham has found a new core, not to mention a new partner in crime," Frakes said. "So again, there's a big tonal shift on that show, less driven by the pain and guilt of her past and more about the magical reunification of the Discovery crew and wherever she went off to." Despite the brief reunion with her mother Dr. Gabreille Burnham (Sonja Sohn), Michael took up her mantle. "God knows where she went as the Red Angel," Frakes continued. "So those two things coming back together is very much the theme, and how grateful everyone is and what's next. It's got a lot of action-adventure and not so much pain." Through seven seasons and four films of The Next Generation and numerous guest appearances on other Star Trek series, Frakes appeared for two episodes and directed two others on Picard. He appeared with other TNG cast members Marina Sirtis and Brent Spiner. There's no word if Frakes will appear on Discovery, but the safe bet is he won't. Season three premieres later in 2020.