Summary
- Frakes directs his final Discovery episode, "Lagrange Point," delivering a strong and fitting farewell to Discovery as a director.
- "Project Daedalus" showcases Frakes' command of building suspense, atmosphere and dramatic sequences.
- Frakes excels in action-packed stories like "Despite Yourself," bringing modern blockbuster influences to the action movie elements.
Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 9, "Lagrange Point" is the final episode to be directed by Jonathan Frakes, so how does it rank alongside his other directorial efforts? Jonathan Frakes is a prolific director, having directed 31 entries in the canon of Star Trek movies and TV shows, with more to come. Between 1990 and 1995, Jonathan Frakes directed 14 episodes of televised Star Trek, before moving into the movies, directing both Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection. 22 years later, Frakes returned to TV Trek to direct Discovery season 1, episode 10, "Despite Yourself".
Since then, Jonathan Frakes has racked up an impressive 15 more credits, directing episodes of all the live-action Star Trek shows of the modern era. Over half of these 15 credits are taken up by Star Trek: Discovery, as Frakes has directed at least one episode for each of its five seasons. Discovery season 5, episode 9, "Lagrange Point", written by Sean Cochran and Ari Friedman, is Jonathan Frakes' final entry in the series, raising the question of how it ranks alongside the previous seven episodes.
8 Star Trek: Discovery, Season 4, Episode 6, "Stormy Weather"
Zora gains emotions as the Discovery explores the DMA.
In Star Trek: Discovery season 4, episode 6, "Stormy Weather", the USS Discovery becomes trapped inside a tear in subspace. While trying to figure a way out, something begins eating away at the Discovery's shields, while Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) is forced to confront a malevolent hallucination of his father. "Stormy Weather" should be a claustrophobic chamber piece for the Star Trek: Discovery cast, but it feels too ponderous and meandering. There's simply too much going on in the episode that detracts from what could have been an eerie Star Trek story about understanding the unknown.
Zora's emotional crisis echoes how Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) was paralyzed by fear in Star Trek Generations.
The emotional crisis of Zora (Annabelle Wallis), Book's trauma, and Gray Tal (Ian Alexander) coming to terms with their new synthetic body, the strong Star Trek story at the core is completely drowned out. It's fair to say that Jonathan Frakes excels as a director in action-packed stories like Star Trek: First Contact, but Star Trek: Discovery season 4, episode 6, "Stormy Weather" isn't that sort of story. The failings are down to an overstuffed script, however, as Frakes builds an unsettling and tense atmosphere as the Discovery crew begin to doubt whether they'll make it out alive.
7 Star Trek: Discovery, Season 3, Episode 8, "The Sanctuary"
The USS Discovery fights to save Book's planet from the Emerald Chain.
Jonathan Frakes directed three episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 3, and "The Sanctuary" is the weakest entry. It marks the USS Discovery's first visit to Book's home planet, and the results are quite disappointing. While there are some wonderful VFX flourishes like the sea locusts, it's hard to escape the fact that Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Book are walking around a local forest. Worse still, Book's adoptive brother Kyheem (Ache Hernandez), appears to be living in a contemporary 21st century apartment, which breaks any immersion.
Kwejian therefore, never feels like a living, breathing planet, which is a larger production issue, meaning that it shouldn't solely sit on Jonathan Frakes' shoulders as director. As ever, Jonathan Frakes directs the starship scenes with aplomb, particularly the tense confrontation between Captain Saru (Doug Jones) and Osyraa (Janet Kidder). However, there's a real struggle on the part of the script to make the audience truly care about Book's planet and his selfish brother in Star Trek: Discovery season 3, episode 8, "Sanctuary".
6 Star Trek: Discovery, Season 3, Episode 12, "There is a Tide..."
Jonathan Frakes directed part one of Star Trek: Discovery's season 3 finale.
With a starship under siege and a battle for the very future of the Federation at its core, Star Trek: Discovery season 3, episode 12, "There is a Tide..." is very much in Jonathan Frakes' wheelhouse as a director. One of many Star Trek episodes named after Shakespeare quotes, "There is a Tide..." sees Osyraa take control of the USS Discovery and head for Federation Headquarters. The penultimate episode of Discovery season 3 has a daring jailbreak, and climaxes with Commander Burnham ejecting Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) into the vacuum of space to protect the spore drive.
"There is a Tide..." takes its name from Brutus' speech to Cassius in Julius Caesar, later recited by Admiral Jean-Luc Picard in the Star Trek: Picard finale.
Star Trek: Discovery season 3, episode 12, "There is a Tide..." is the sort of Star Trek action movie that Jonathan Frakes can direct in his sleep by this point. However, that's both a blessing and a curse, as there's nothing particularly new on display in the episode. Of the two episodes that formed Star Trek: Discovery's season 3 finale, "There is a Tide..." is the stronger one, but there are better examples of Jonathan Frakes' directorial work elsewhere in the series.
5 Star Trek: Discovery, Season 3, Episode 3, "People of Earth"
The USS Discovery pays a visit to 32nd century Earth.
Jonathan Frakes is such a safe pair of hands as a Star Trek director that he's given the episode that introduces 32nd century Earth. In Star Trek: Discovery season 3, episode 3, "People of Earth", Burnham and the crew continue their investigation into the fate of the Federation by visiting Earth. The crew doesn't get a heroes' welcome and are instead forced to mediate a dispute between Earth and the Titan colony. It's an exciting episode that has some great spectacle, such as Burnham and Book's unauthorized mission to capture one of the Raiders, Wen (Christopher Heyerdahl).
"People of Earth" introduces Blu del Barrio as Adira Tal, a human being who is a Trill host. Jonathan Frakes' Commander William T. Riker was a human Trill host in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "The Host".
As well as the space action, Jonathan Frakes handles the quieter moments in "People of Earth" beautifully. Star Trek: Discovery isn't really known for its dynamic location work, but Frakes and his DOP Crescenzo Notarile shoot the final scene on Earth with an appropriately nostalgic tint. The final scene where the Discovery crew discuss standing on the same ground 930 years apart is a poetic moment that is directed evocatively by Frakes.
4 Star Trek: Discovery, Season 2, Episode 2, "New Eden"
New Eden felt like a classic TNG throwback.
In Star Trek: Discovery, season 2, episode 2, "New Eden", Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and the crew discover a multi-faith colony established by refugees from Earth's World War 3. However, centuries after their ancestors fled a nuclear holocaust, the colonists are put in the path of another one thanks to a radiation shower. "New Eden" is a classic Star Trek episode that tackles religion and morality, while forcing Pike and Burnham to consider the role of Starfleet's Prime Directive.
"New Eden" was shot on location in Balls Falls Conservation Area Historic Village, Ontario.
Jonathan Frakes is no stranger to the themes and tropes at the core of Star Trek: Discovery season 2, episode 2, "New Eden". For example, the evocative shots of the stained-glass windows are a masterful way to communicate the progress of the colony. However, Frakes is also keen to inject levity into the episode, working out a moment of comedy with Mary Wiseman that lightens the mood of "New Eden". The scene where Tilly runs out of sickbay in the wrong direction at a crucial point in the story was something devised by Jonathan Frakes as director.
3 Star Trek: Discovery, Season 5, Episode 9, "Lagrange Point"
Jonathan Frakes went out on a high with Discovery's Breen heist.
Jonathan Frakes' final director credit on Star Trek: Discovery was a thrilling ride as Captain Burnham's away team infiltrated the Breen Dreadnought. There's tremendous tension in the scenes where the disguised crew have to impersonate Breen soldiers, desperate to fit in or die. The episode is a fitting farewell from Discovery to Jonathan Frakes as Commander Rayner references Commander Riker. Jonathan Frakes also suggested that actor Callum Keith Rennie do "a little Picard maneuver" when Rayner assumes the USS Discovery's center seat in the episode's climax.
The Progenitors were first introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, episode 20, "The Chase", which was also directed by Jonathan Frakes.
The climactic scene where Rayner orders the USS Discovery to fire everything they've got while crashing into the Breen shuttle bay is a great movie-style moment for small-screen Star Trek. "Lagrange Point" is a strong example of what Jonathan Frakes does best as a Star Trek director, demonstrating his command of building dramatic tension and directing his actors to respond believably to huge VFX sequences that they cannot see. The end result is a thrilling Star Trek adventure that neatly sets up the Star Trek: Discovery finale.
2 Star Trek: Discovery, Season 2, Episode 9, "Project Daedalus"
First Contact and Wrath of Khan vibes made "Project Daedalus" an instant classic.
"Project Daedalus" is the strongest of Jonathan Frakes' two episodes from Star Trek: Discovery season 2. The episode has everything that audiences could possibly want from a dramatic hour of television. There are chilling revelations about Section 31 and their role in framing Spock (Ethan Peck) for murder, a rogue Artificial Intelligence waging war on humanity, and the heroic sacrifice of a crew member. The scenes where Burnham, Airiam, and Nahn explore the empty Section 31 base and discover the murdered crew members is chilling, and reminds viewers of Frakes' similarly atmospheric work on Star Trek: First Contact.
Jonathan Frakes was originally hired to direct Star Trek: Discovery season 2, episode 10, "The Red Angel", but behind the scenes drama meant that he was assigned the previous episode instead.
The tragic fate of Airiam in Discovery is handled sensitively by Frakes, who makes the decision to shoot her final scene with Burnham through slightly obscured airlock windows, drawing a comparison with the death of Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy) in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Star Trek: Discovery season 2, episode 10, "Project Daedalus" is one of the standout episodes of the show, let alone the season, and much of this is down to Frakes' atmospheric direction. It was such a pivotal episode that foreknowledge of Airiam's death became a key aspect of Discovery season 5, episode 4, "Face the Strange".
1 Star Trek: Discovery, Season 1, Episode 10, "Despite Yourself"
TNG's Jonathan Frakes finally gets to visit the Mirror Universe.
Star Trek: Discovery, season 1, episode 10, "Despite Yourself" was Jonathan Frakes' first episode of a Trek show for two decades, and he brings a great deal of experience and new influences to bear. In particular, the fight scene between Captains Burnham and Connor inside the turbolift was a thrilling display of how Frakes brought modern movie and TV techniques to the fledgling Star Trek show. It was effectively Star Trek's version of the lift scene from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and so Frakes decided to film it with five cameras positioned around the turbolift set.
Paul Stamets actor Anthony Rapp reflected in Star Trek Magazine issue 192 that "For [Jonathan Frakes] to come back, and be part of our version of Star Trek was meaningful."
Frakes also had a camera operator step inside the turbolift, which added to the cramped, tense feel of the fight scene between Burnham and Connor. Outside the impressive action scenes, actress Mary Chieffo was full of praise for Jonathan Frakes for how he pushed her and Shazad Latif to go further in the scene between Ly'Rell and Ash/Voq, to wring as much emotion as possible out of their confrontation. "Despite Yourself" was a bravura return to the Star Trek franchise for Jonathan Frakes, and it's no surprise that the Star Trek: Discovery team kept asking him back afterward.
