Spoilers follow for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Episode 9.

The penultimate episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’s first season was a big one for many reasons, including that it was directed by Captain William Riker himself, Jonathan Frakes. Ahead of next week’s finale, we were able to talk to Frakes about the big reunion between Caleb (Sandro Rosta) and his mom Anisha (Tatiana Maslany), how he directs such a storied franchise, how he deals with fan community hate, and more.

Frakes is no stranger to the director’s chair, and he has numerous credits in the wider Star Trek universe, but that didn’t make stepping on the set of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy any less impressive.

“It was literally the biggest Star Trek set ever,” Frakes said. “And so that was a pretty daunting and funny way to shoot. It was also peppered with enormous movie stars, which we’d never had before, and some wonderful new actors who had barely been on screen. By the time I got to them in Episode 9, I benefited from all the many thousands of hours they had spent working together, finding themselves, finding their rhythms, and finding their music. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was already a well-oiled machine.”

Beyond that, however, Frakes had what he calls a “secret weapon” for this episode, and that was the Tatiana Maslany. Having first appeared in the pilot episode, her return was a huge moment for the new series as we got to witness the long-awaited reunion of mother and son after 16 years.

We talked to Frakes about how he decided to shoot that scene, which features extreme close-ups of the pair, who are both masked and yet come to realize who one another are. Part of the inspiration to go with those close-ups came from the guidance of series co-showrunner Alex Kurtzman.

“As you probably remember from the pilot, [Kurtzman] shot in these wonderfully tight emotional close-ups, and I think he encouraged all of us to do the same,” Frakes said. “I embraced it because it was great for my episode.

“On [Star Trek:] Discovery, we were encouraged to be cinematic in a different way, and to sort of shoot to thrill in many ways, but on this show, the intimacy was so important. And also, [Kurtzman] had gotten some lenses that were both anamorphic and spherical, and that defines the look of the show. I also had my favorite DP, Maya Bankovic, with me, so we were all in sync on how the show should look, and our episode lent itself right into that.”

Not surprisingly, the planning stage of shooting a Star Trek episode is hugely important to Frakes. Take for example the big confrontation between Caleb and his friends after Caleb has found his mother. This episode takes place at the end of the cadets’ first year at Starfleet Academy, and Caleb must now confront the impossible choice of either staying with his mom or leaving her again to follow his friends. We all know Caleb doesn’t really feel this way, but he tears into his friends as a way to cope with the fact that he is leaning towards family.

“The end of that scene was great,” Frakes said. “I blocked it purposely so it would look like he was working his way down the line. So I got them into the right position for his takedown, if you will, and then I was able to shoot over him to them, all the way. As we moved down the line, the camera would dolly over the actors and watch him go at them, and then the exact reverse camera would dolly over him and unload on them. When we get to Sam, he tries to unload on her, and there’s that wonderful beat of, ’What the fuck is she going to do?’ and she throws herself on Caleb and calls, “Bullshit.” It’s the writing. It’s always in the writing.”

Another important piece of the puzzle Frakes had to work with was The Volume, which has famously been used to film The Mandalorian and much more. For those unfamiliar, The Volume is basically a group of very high-definition LED video walls that bring sets to life in new ways and help transport cast and crew into the worlds of the stories they are trying to tell.

“Working on The Volume is a whole different animal,” Frakes said. “It’s an incredible filmmaking tool and has changed the making of TV and movies. But in terms of capturing multiple camera angles, which is essential for television, it is challenging.

“Not to get too much into the inside baseball of it, but the A camera, which is the first camera, determines the movement of the 30,000 LED lights that are on the wall. If you put a B camera next to it at a different size, that camera will not have the background in focus in the proper way. So you have to find another part of the forest, if you will, to put another camera.

“With all that being said, I think The Volume has made everything better. We spent years in front of a green screen and had to explain to people, ‘Well, there’s a horrible Romulan ship that’s invading you right there. There’s a mad Bolian yelling at you.’ And they’re little tape marks on a green screen. With The Volume, they’re actually in the room with you. So it changed the game.”

Frakes has been making Star Trek of one kind or another for a very long time, so he has some experience when it comes to dealing with fandoms. He calls himself an “eternal optimist,” but is nonetheless surprised by how much hate Starfleet Academy has received in some quarters.

“I was prepared because when Next Gen came out almost 40 years ago, we were trolled,” he laughs. “Nobody wanted us. And this was pre-internet. But it’s still dimensionally more painful [today]… and the trolls are hiding, and the trolls are hating. … It’s the first rule of the Constitution. I guess they’re entitled to their opinion, but it surprises me how aggressively ‘anti’ they are with each new iteration of the show. And it continues to surprise me, and I try not to let it upset me.”

The finale of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’s first season will premiere on Paramount+ on March 12, 2026. For more, check out our breakdown of the Star Trek timeline and the Starfleet Academy producers on the return of Cirroc Lofton as Jake Sisko.