"I'm curious to see the final cut of the episode," he says of the installment. "The show ended up eight minutes short, which is about a day's work. Actually it was more than a day's work, since I ended up shooting two extra days."

McNeill says although the episode needed additional material to fill it out, it contained one of the most challenging physical stunt sequences ever seen on television TREK.

"There is one particular stunt that happens in the show that is bigger than anything that I remember doing on VOYAGER in terms of a physical stunt," he recalls. "It was a very complex, challenging stunt sequence to shoot on a stage, because I had to create the idea that the crew members are climbing rock walls that are hundreds of feet high."

To achieve this illusion, the director says he employed every square inch of the stage that could be photographed as well as some innovative cinematography that he hopes sells the sequence.

"We built the set from the stage floor to the permanent beams in the roof and used every inch of the set to film the sequence," he explains. "It was a big set, 50 feet high and 100 feet wide, but still not big enough to tell the whole story. I had to make it look like it was miles and miles down into the earth... To maintain the illusion that they were travelling miles and miles, I could never shoot the whole set. We'd move the actors over ten or fifteen feet to the side and change the camera angle, and it would look like they were coming down another hundred feet below where they just had been. When the stunt sequence was finished, everyone who saw it, just looked at it and said wow, it plays beautifully."

McNeill, who also directed season one's "Cold Front," says the atmosphere on the ENTERPRISE set this season was much more relaxed.

"It seemed to be a combination of the cast and crew trying to distance themselves from VOYAGER, and to establish the tone and style of the show [last year]," he says. "There was a lot more tension and higher expectations - but this year, it was really nice. Everyone's settled in the groove. I felt the environment was a lot more relaxed and comfortable in many ways."

He's even lined up to direct an episode of season three in August, but says details on the rumored "change in direction" aren't flying his way just yet.

"It seems like on every STAR TREK series, somewhere around that third or fourth year, they try to add more spice and more sex... And I did hear rumors about the Borg returning. Ever since the Borg were introduced, they've been real popular. I'll be curious to see exactly what happens when I go back in August."

You can read more about "The Breach" and its 'Doctor Phlox'-centric plot, as well as Robert's directing experiences on tonight's competing episode of the WB's DAWSON'S CREEK and the new Showtime series by former VOYAGER writer/producer Bryan Fuller, DEAD LIKE ME, (and a whole lot more) in the full interview available at RobertDuncanMcNeill.net. Thanks to 'Deb Stone' for the interview!