Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Will Be More Optimistic, According to Jonathan Frakes

Star Trek fans can expect a return to traditional Star Trek optimism in Star Trek: Discovery's third season according to Jonathan Frakes. The former Star Trek: The Next Generation star is a regular director on the CBS All Access series.

During a panel at Fan Expo Canada, a fan asked Frakes about the somewhat darker tone of modern Star Trek compared to the older shows and Gene Roddenberry's original vision, born out of the culture of the 1960s. Frakes says Discovery will be embracing that old school optimism as it jumps into the future for its third season.

"I can tell you this much about season three of Discovery: It is in fact much more optimistic," Frakes said. "They've gotten themselves out of the Mirror Universe... After Gene died, some of the writers decided that Deep Space Nine should maybe take a different tone, which, I think, it did to certain degrees of success. The optimism that Gene infused in all of his shows and in all of us may not be as obvious as it once was, but it's certainly the driving force of his vision and the franchise and [Alex] Kurtzman and all the people who run our shows are very conscious that that canon is important to all of you and all of us. JJ [Abram]'s movies, I thought, were very uplifting and wonderfully told stories. There needs to be conflict to make drama. So I'm here to share that Discovery certainly is taking a more optimistic, traditional Star Trek approach in next season."

The new season of Star Trek: Discovery adds Michelle Paradise as co-showrunner alongside co-creator Alex Kurtzman. "Michelle joined us midway through season two and energized the room with her ferocious knowledge of Trek," Kurtzman when the new season was announced. "Her grasp of character and story detail, her drive and her focus have already become essential in ensuring the Trek legacy, and her fresh perspective always keeps us looking forward. I'm proud to say Michelle and I are officially running Star Trek: Discovery together."

The new season follows up on Discovery's jump 930 years into the future at the end of season two's battle with Control. According to Paradise, that's a one way trip for the ship and its crew. "Correct, we're there and we're living there," she said.

Are you excited about the third season of Star Trek: Discovery? Let us know in the comments. Star Trek: Discovery is now filming its third season in Toronto. It is expected to return to CBS All Access with new episodes in 2020.