Talk about taking chances! Mike McMahan, the series creator of Star Trek: Lower Decks, took a big one when he wrote the series finale, "The New Next Generation." He knew who he wanted on the show and wrote the parts without knowing whether or not the actors he had in mind were available or even if they would commit to doing the show.
McMahan appeared on Tex-Trek podcast [via CinemaBlend] and shared just how stressful things were after he'd written the script. The creator said "I was so panicked because the episode written was really complex. Every single legacy character had a story in it." McMahan went on to say that "If somebody said no or their schedule didn't work, it's not like I could just replace, you know, [Alexander Siddig] as Bashir. I would have to rewrite it. I would have lost ‘Gashir’ because I just wasn't going to do it without them. And the same thing with Lily Sloan with Alfre Woodard, so I was panicked."
McMahan wrote personal letters to each of the actors when he attached the scripts and sent it to their representatives. He wanted them to know why he had written the script the way he had and how it would honor their characters. "Not only [did the letters] describe my personal love of the character and the way they performed them, but also what we were doing to honor them in this episode, the tone of lower decks in general, and honestly, like, How little time we're going to require of their schedule to get them in. I was just doing everything to be respectful," he added.
The series creator did have one more ace up his sleeve. He called upon Jonathan Frakes for help. Frakes has long been a fan of the show and sent a text to Alfre Woodard, which helped bring Lily Sloane back.
McMahan had a vision in mind when he wrote the final script. He was determined Lower Decks was going to go out with a bang, and even though he took a big risk, it paid off in big ways. The buzz about the finale is still ongoing, and fans were thrilled to get to hear some of their favorite legacy actors that they haven't heard from in a while.
Fans still aren't convinced that this is the end of Lower Decks, and with the type of motivation McMahan has, they may very well have a good reason for that!