Jonathan Frakes Vows Star Trek: Discovery Is 'Back On Track' For Season 5

In terms of its dramatic elements, "Star Trek: Discovery" boldly goes where no other "Star Trek" series has gone before. In fact, some viewers of the series think it goes a bit too far on this front. Especially in the wake of Season 4, some "Star Trek: Discovery" fans have developed a major gripe with what they consider to be forced drama in the series. However, it seems that the show's creative team has taken that criticism to heart, as they'll be trying for something different with the show's upcoming 5th and final season.

In an interview for Star Trek Explorer magazine, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" alum Jonathan Frakes, who has directed numerous episodes of "Star Trek: Discovery," said that the show is shifting away from the darkness and drama of Season 4 in favor of a more rollicking tone for Season 5. "'Discovery' is back on track as an action-adventure show, and I guess they got their marching orders to maintain that," he explained. "Everybody has embraced it, from Michelle Paradise and Alex, down through the cast. There's a new energy and a new mandate."

While "Star Trek: Discovery" Season 5 has yet to begin releasing new episodes, it has already been confirmed that Jonathan Frakes will be directing the season's penultimate episode, which will also serve as the first half of the series finale. According to the interview with the director in Star Trek Explorer, the episode will draw from a certain popular action-adventure movie franchise. "The first half of the season finale of 'Discovery,' by the way, is 'Indiana Jones' this year instead of the heavy emo of season four," Frakes said.

Frakes went on to note that he took inspiration from "Indiana Jones" director Steven Spielberg in terms of mixing drama with levity. "It was a thrill for me to find some levity in some of those scenes," he said. "That's why 'First Contact' was successful, because you build and then add just a little levity to let them steam out, so you can restart. That's why 'Deadpool' is such a fabulous franchise, because it doesn't hurt. Audiences can handle levity. The 'Indiana Jones' reference is a perfect example. Nobody does that better than Spielberg."

Nonetheless, just because Frakes' part of the "Star Trek: Discovery" finale will be more on the uplifting side, that doesn't mean there won't be some more emotional moments to lead into the final episode's second part. "When we did it, we didn't know it was the end," he told Variety. "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."