The USS Discovery, stranded far in the future, is boarded by a refugee named Craft .
Co-written by Picard co-creator Michael Chabon and directed by longtime Discovery producer Olatunde Osunsanmi, the canonical status of “Calypso” has been a mystery ever since.
One of the first things Jonathan Frakes reveals about this pivotal Discovery episode is that it required more than one person to play Zora.
Wallis wasn’t on set with the cast of Discovery, but Frakes wasn’t feeding Zora’s lines to the actors from off-camera either.
Zora is arguably the biggest character of the episode, even though she doesn’t have a “face.” Gray realizes how overwhelmed Zora is by running the ship and plays a game with the AI to calm her down.
“It represents a metaphor for what Book is going through, and also the condition that the ship is in by the end of the episode.
Despite the stormy weather for the starship Discovery, Frakes feels the series itself has “only gotten better” as it’s gone along, and he would know.
The entire crew is beamed into the pattern buffers, causing them to be hidden, which, of course, would explain the events of “Calypso,” outright.
“It’s a very high concept,” Frakes says.
He also returned as Captain Riker in Lower Decks Season 2 and says showrunner Mike McMahan “has captured a whole new taste for Star Trek.” Frakes hints he’s always happy to return to Lower Decks, should the need arise.
Replacing Chabon as showrunner is Terry Matalas, perhaps best known for running the SyFy version of 12 Monkeys, as well as having writing credits on two episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise.
“ Terry McMahan in that he has such incredible experience, and love — specific love — for the Next Gen,” he says reassuringly.
Due to health measures, Frakes didn’t get a chance to direct any episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1, but says he’s on deck to start directing in Season 2.