Star Trek: Decrease Decks‘ stellar finale might find yourself as among the best in franchise historical past, because of a game-changing reveal and a load of visitor stars. We have since reported that creator Mike McMahan did some private legwork to get franchise legend Jolene Blalock to seem, however that is not even the half of it. It seems securing Alfre Woodard and others was an equally nerve-racking ordeal, and it makes me much more impressed he pulled it off.
As we anticipate upcoming Trek exhibits to reach on the 2025 TV schedule, Mike McMahan stopped by the Tex-Trek podcast to speak about many issues, together with how he managed to get Aldre Woodard to reprise her position from Star Trek: First Contact as Lily Sloane. Along with his reply, the creator revealed that he truly wrote all the cameo-filled script earlier than understanding if any of the legacy actors might or would commit, which made the method very nerve-racking after the very fact. Here is how he put it:
I used to be so panicked as a result of the episode written was actually complicated. Each single legacy character had a narrative in it. If any person mentioned no or their schedule did not work, it is not like I might simply substitute, you realize, [Alexander Siddig] as Bashir. I must rewrite it. I’d have misplaced ‘Gashir’ as a result of I simply wasn’t going to do it with out them. And the identical factor with Lily Sloan with Alfre Woodard, so I used to be panicked. I keep in mind speaking to Brad Winters on walks, he’d be like, ‘What are you going to do if any person says no?’ And I am like, ‘I actually cannot provide you with fixes for that till it occurs as a result of it is gonna fuck up all the episode.’ He was identical to, ‘That was a silly factor to do,’ and I am like, ‘I do know!’
McMahan defined that whereas getting Garrett Wang to return as Star Trek: Voyager‘s Harry Kim was easy because of the actor himself always asking to seem, others had been extra of a problem. Alexander Siddig, for instance, was in a foreign country filming his position in Apple’s Basis, and Alfre Woodard all the time appears as busy as ever. It wasn’t only a chance somebody could not commit; it was extremely possible that at the very least one individual must say no.
For that cause, Mike McMahan did all he might to make sure he’d get a sure from the legacy actors he scripted for the Star Trek: Decrease Decks finale. He talked extra about all he did to try to rope within the expertise, which he finally succeeded in doing:
So what I did was I wrote private letters to each single legacy [actor] that I hooked up to the script and despatched to their reps. Not solely [did the letters] describe my private love of the character and the best way they carried out them, but in addition what we had been doing to honor them on this episode, the tone of decrease decks generally, and actually, like, How little time we’ll require of their schedule to get them in. I used to be simply doing all the pieces to be respectful. ‘We are able to get this accomplished [quickly], and it may be one thing actually cool and I feel you are gonna find it irresistible.’
The Star Trek: Decrease Decks showrunner added that he additionally used actor Jonathan Frakes, who has lengthy been a cheerleader of the present, as a useful resource and that the actor personally texted Alfre Woodard as nicely. All of it resulted in Lily Sloane returning to the franchise, albeit one from an alternate dimension who found multiversal journey by house.
The immense quantity of behind-the-scenes legwork that went into making the Star Trek: Decrease Decks finale is spectacular, and it makes me miss the present much more now that it is gone. Here is hoping Mike McMahan finds his method again into the franchise in time, as he informed CinemaBlend he has no scarcity of concepts for extra adventures. It could take some work from followers to make it occur, and given the immense quantity of labor he put in to ship an superior finale, I feel we owe it to him.
Star Trek: Decrease Decks is out there to stream with a Paramount+ subscription. Test it out, and put together for a brand new yr of Trek on streaming and hopefully extra bulletins about upcoming exhibits.