Before she started filming for Disney+ The Acolytewhich led to her being the first female director to direct TV episodes in both the star Wars And Star Trek franchises, Hanelle M. Culpepper has contributed to the latter and directed episodes of both Picard And discoveryBoth series, which can be streamed with a Paramount+ subscription, played a major role in the Star Trek to get back into the small screen space. Culpepper spoke about the big difference between working on Picard And discovery while she was speaking to CinemaBlend, but I was especially impressed by how she screamed out the Trill during the conversation.
Hanelle M. Culpepper directed three episodes each in Picard And discoverybut it was the Patrick Stewart-directed series where she made the biggest impression. That’s because she directed the first three episodes of the series, and thus played a major role in establishing the look and tone of the series that would continue throughout its three seasons. She explained to me:
Well, Picard stands out in that when you come to a show as a pilot director and you’re really involved in the prep, it’s just very different than when you come to a show where everything is already set. And even though you’re bringing so much of yourself to your episode, the main cast has been chosen, the main sets have been built, and maybe there are some changes that need to be made. That doesn’t make it any less exciting to work in that universe.
Star Trek: Picard Premiere in 2020, 18 years after audiences thought they had seen the last Next generation Crew in Star Trek: Nemesis. However, this series is not just a revival of the Star Trek Show, which ran from 1987 to 1994, Picard Instead, Jean Luc-Picard has included a group of new characters, as well as Traveler‘s Seven of Nine, for a darker, more adult story. Viewers would see the Next Generation gang together again in Season 3 (minus Wesley Crusher, who made a cameo in the Season 2 finale and recently appeared in Wonder), But Picard should definitely feel like its own thing rather than a direct sequel, and Culpepper helped make that happen.
What Star Trek: DiscoveryHanelle M. Culpepper directed season one’s “Vaulting Ambition,” season two’s “The Red Angel,” and season three’s “Forget Me Not.” In this final episode, she had the opportunity to call upon the Trill, the alien species introduced in this story. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. She said:
I was thrilled to be able to work on Star Trek: Discovery and I love the episodes I did. I remember the third episode I did… if you look at the original episode that was about (Trill and their symbiotes), you look at how they did that in the TV series and then how they incorporated that for this species that worships this being that lives inside humans as a host. So you can do things like that, take from the canon and add to it or put it in a new space. That was in an episode I did. I wasn’t the pilot director of that, of course. But in Picard, everything you see has a little bit of my footprint on it.
Although a Trill doctor named Naáshala Kunamadéstifee in Picardsecond episode, discovery marked the return of this humanoid species to prominence in the Star Trek Franchise since Deep Space Ninein which Jadzia Dax played the main role in the first six seasons, followed by Ezri Dax in the last season. After the discovery The crew traveled to the 32nd century, they met Adira Tai, the first human to encounter a Trill symbiote, and her (then) deceased boyfriend was a Trill named Gray Tal. discovery has taken time in several other episodes to expand on Trill culture, and Culpepper was grateful to have her contribute to that aspect of the series.
Picard And discovery are both over, but there are several upcoming Star Trek On Paramount+ you can look forward to the following TV shows: Strange new worlds Season 3, the final season of Lower decks And Starfleet Academyas well as the § 31 Film. Browse the 2024 TV schedule to see what non-Trek Shows are currently airing or will premiere soon.
