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Jonathan Frakes then went on to explain how the present episodes let directors latitude with dialogue that the Star Trek series created by Rick Berman did not let, thus directing for Star Trek on Paramount+ series is much different. Star Trek requires the actors be word-perfect and recite all speech as written, but the current programs are looser and let for experimentation. See Frakes' comment on his experience supervising the crossover between Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Lower Decks below.
That's a fascinating point. That happened on "Those Old Scientists" with Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome visiting. Second City improv specialist Tawny fooled about a bit with the lines. On the scene with Kat Lyn and Bill Wolkoff as my writers, we all sort of locked eyes and I just murmured to them, asking, "What do you think? Should we let them go straight forward? Then they said, "Sure." And that released Anson, and Rebecca, and all of a sudden we performed the scenes as written, but then we played with the scenes, and that was such a delight to have. Given Next Gen's severe policies, as I'm sure you have heard. On our show, it was absolutely rigorous. It was rigorous on every show covering the conversation. It was therefore a quite liberating experience.
Based on an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation he directed, Jonathan Frakes explained his "surprised" response to Star Trek: Discovery basing season 5's narrative. Including season 5 (and the series') penultimate episode, "Lagrange Point," Frakes has directed eight episodes of Star Trek: Discovery. Jonathan has always considered Star Trek: Discovery his "home" Star Trek on Paramount+ show since he joined as a director for season 2; yet, Frakes didn't imagine Discovery season 5 to pull its story from one of his TNG episodes.
Jonathan Frakes revealed in an exclusive interview with Screen Rant why he was "pretty surprised" that Star Trek: Discovery season 5 follows his Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6 episode, "The Chase." Frakes also discussed how directing the current Star Trek series differs from Star Trek during Rick Berman's 1990s era. Please find his quotation below:
I was rather taken aback since I don't recall "The Chase" being that important in Next Gen's body of work. Then Michelle clarified how that would be the beginning and the show's premise's basis... You know, I came upon "The Chase" just by chance. The cards turned out this way. On Next Gen, you get episodes assigned to you by some random voting of straws; on Discovery, and also, much more importantly, on Strange New Worlds, they assign you an episode they thought you would be suitable for. So it was simply chance that "The Chase" turned out to be one I had intended.
The cinematic visual style of the new shows where directors like Jonathan Frakes are encouraged to "shot to thrill," the fact that directors are assigned episodes based on what the producers believe they would excel at, unlike the Rick Berman era's luck of the draw, and that there are simply less Star Trek episodes produced in the streaming era than in Star Trek's syndication and broadcast network era. Star Trek: Discovery launched all of these developments.
Source: Rant Plus for Screen
Fifth season of Star Trek: Discovery is available on Paramount+
Burnham will require assistance from a variety of new and familiar individuals as she searches the universe's greatest treasure in Star Trek: Discovery season 5.
As Star Trek: Discovery enters a new era, the importance of "The Chase" is clear. The way the story was put together satisfied series fans. The creative crew of the show should inspire viewers to see a classic episode from the franchise freshly using their deft handling of it.