SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Star Trek: Discovery, premiering next Sunday, September 24 at 8:30pm ET on CBS and the CBS All Access streaming platform.
Speaking to fans at a panel for the Continuing Voyage convention tour at its stop in Chicago, veteran Star Trek actor Jonathan Frakes let slip a major spoiler for Star Trek: Discovery a week ahead of the series’ TV debut.
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Frakes, who played Commander Will Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation for seven seasons, its four follow-up films, and an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, reportedly let slip that Star Trek: Discovery will do a Mirror Universe episode. The Trek-themed band Five Year Mission initially reported the news, which was later confirmed by the reputable site Trek Movie, which spoke with members of the band and members of the audience at the panel.
Frakes, a veteran film and television director, will lend his behind-the-camera talents to an episode of Star Trek: Discovery its first season; however, it’s unclear if the Mirror Universe episode is the one Frakes is helming. The actor and director teased the pilot episode as “amazing.”
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Star Trek: Discovery would mark the fourth Trek series to cross-over or include characters from the Mirror Universe. The world was introduced on Star Trek: The Original Series (“Mirror, Mirror,” “The Tholian Web”), and would later make waves on Deep Space Nine (“Crossover,” “Through the Looking Glass,” “Shattered Mirror,” “Resurrection,” “The Emperor’s New Cloak”), and Enterprise (“In A Mirror, Darkly Parts I & II”).
While the Mirror Universe didn’t factor at all into the plot of Star Trek: The Next Generation over the course of its fifteen years on screen, it’s the subject of a recent comic book miniseries Star Trek: The Next Generation: Mirror Broken by Scott Tipton, David Tipton and J.K. Woodward.
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In the United States, Star Trek: Discovery debuts Sunday, September 24 on CBS, before moving to the CBS All Access streaming service for follow-up weekly installments. In Canada, the series debuts on CTV and Space at 8:30 pm ET, with its second episode set to air immediately after on Space — subsequent episodes will air Sundays through November 5. Internationally, the series will stream on Netflix.
(via Trek Movie)