The third season of Star Trek: Discovery is supposed to be coming soon. While we wait, director Jonathan Frakes continues to drop clues on what we can expect.

Frakes talks Disco season 3

The second season of Discovery ended with Michael Burnham and the U.S.S. Discovery—separately—jumping forward in time 930 years. TrekMovie recently reported on Jonathan Frakes discussing how Burnham and the Discovery crew will be reunited in the third episode of season 3, which is one of three he directed. Speaking to ComicBook.com, Frakes offered more on where the new season is headed:

Michael Burnham has found a new core, not to mention a new partner in crime. 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. God knows where she went as the Red Angel. 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.

The “new partner in crime” Frakes is referring to is a new character named Book, played by David Ajala. Preview images and videos show Sonequa Martin-Green’s Burnham along with Book, likely from the first couple of episodes of the season. The new season of Discovery takes the series beyond any other point in time in Star Trek canon, giving the creative team more freedom of movement when it comes to defining the far future. Frakes has previously talked about the creative challenge ahead, saying, “Finding a future that’s futuristic but is practical to shoot has been fascinating. You can’t get caught up in the technology. It is about maintaining a basic core of why we’re there, which is to tell emotionally compelling stories.”

Playing Riker in Picard finale was like a flashback for Frakes

Jonathan Frakes’ second appearance as Will Riker in Star Trek: Picard saw him as the acting captain of the U.S.S. Zheng He, leading a task force to save the day in the season finale. Frakes gave ComicBook some details:

That was a really different experience because I was alone. I was ‘self-directing.’ I was in a captain’s chair. I had a spacesuit on. I had my beard trimmed, my Riker hair put back on, my bald spots covered up. It felt very familiar, and it was like a flashback. Because of how well ‘Nepenthe’ went, I was less nervous and, I got to say, thrilled to have been asked back, to be perfectly frank.

Even though Star Trek: Picard is shot in Southern California, Frakes’ scenes on the U.S.S. Zheng He were shot in Toronto, on a redress of the U.S.S. Discovery bridge set. The scenes were shot while Frakes was directing an episode for the third season of Star Trek: Discovery.

The season one finale of Star Trek: Picard released a month ago featured a promo for Star Trek: Discovery season three, promising it will be “coming soon.” Production on it wrapped up in February and post-production is being done remotely, although earlier this month composer Jeff Russo told TrekMovie that recording the music with an orchestra will not be possible during the lockdown in California.

The first two seasons of Star Trek: Discovery and the first season of Star Trek: Picard are available to stream now on CBS All Access. If you haven’t yet subscribed, CBS has extended the free month promotion to May 10. To sign up: CLICK HERE to try CBS All Access FREE for 1 month. Use code ALL to redeem.



Keep up with all the Star Trek: Discovery news at TrekMovie.