Jonathan Frakes leaves Star Trek knowing that the franchise is in "good hands"

Jonathan Frakes seems to be leaving the Star Trek franchise, for now, just as Star Trek: Discovery takes its final bow. Frakes has filmed the last of his commitments to the franchise, having done an episode for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, that won't air until 2025. Before that, he got done filming the 9th episode of Discovery's fifth and final season, unaware that the show would be ending.

The production was almost a year ago, and the news of the show's ending didn't come until after he had wrapped up as a director on the show for the season. As one of the biggest advocates for the brand, it's not surprising at all that Frakes would be a tad sentimental about the close of Discovery.

Speaking to CBR recently, Frakes revealed how he felt at the end of the episode, acknowledging that he may not be back for some time;

""It would've been much sadder had I known when I was shooting it that it was going to be the end because it had the end of the episode feeling where everyone gives you a hug and says "I'll see you next season." Now, I don't know when I'll see some of these actors and filmmakers again.

In the big picture of Star Trek , I think the franchise is in great hands. I think there's a lot of excitement about Starfleet Academy and I can't wait to see what happens with Olatunde and Michelle Yeoh's movie, Section 31 , that's coming. The Star Trek Universe is in very good hands and I think Alex Kurtzman has a lot of irons in the fire that are really cooking.""

Frakes will take a break from Star Trek, having confirmed that he won't be part of the first season of Starfleet Academy. He is moving on to a non-Star Trek project next, so he'll be eying a return to season four of Strange New Worlds. It's not expected to be a necessarily long break, but in today's ever-changing climate and the age of Frakes, you can never assume anything is for sure. Frakes has made his name alongside Star Trek, being one of the franchises' best directors for both the television and film side of the series.

With him taking, we'll call it a sabbatical, it's unclear what happens next in his career or Star Trek's overall direction without him involved, but he seems to believe the franchise is in good shape going forward. While we wish someone else other than Alex Kurtzman was running the ship, things could be a lot worse, that's for sure.