‘Star Trek: Discovery’: Jonathan Frakes Teases a Death in Chapter Two Premiere

It sounds like the crew of the USS Discovery may not all make it out of the chapter two premiere alive.

Or will they? Director Jonathan Frakes dropped a cryptic tease in an interview with Rotten Tomatoes.

In discussing the episode’s twists and surprises, Frakes noted a specific moment, saying, “It was a great death. But is it a death?”

From what Frakes is saying, it sounds like at least one cast member will at least appear to die in “Despite Yourself.” That death may or may not tie into the cliffhanger ending Frakes already teased.

Frakes also discussed his experience directing “Despite Yourself.”

“It was a gift,” he says. “When you’re coming in as a new director as I was on this show — and I was dying to get on the show — I was blessed that episode 10 happened to be after the first half of the season, it happened to be the cliffhanger to all these wonderful stories that had been set up as the show wound itself through the first nine episodes. The train was on the tracks and running really smoothly when I got there, so I benefited by being there at that time and being there with Sean Cochran’s script, which was great, and having the support of [Discovery showrunners] Gretchen [Berg] and Aaron [Harberts], who I’d worked with on Roswell, and Ted Sullivan, who was down there as well as a producer on the show, and he was a big Trek fan.

“There was a lot of positive energy gathered around this episode and people. I mean, without getting too full of myself, they were very curious about what my experience was like as a member of another crew or another family or another Star Trek, so it was fun to share that and it was fun to be part of the new one.”

New Star Trek: Discovery episodes become available to stream Sundays at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS All Access.