WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks, season 4, episodes 9 & 10.
Star Trek: Lower Decks has brought back both characters played by Star Trek: Voyager actor Robert Duncan McNeill in seasons 2 and 4 respectively. First appearing in Star Trek: The Next Generation as disgraced Starfleet Academy Cadet Nick Locarno, McNeill made enough of an impression that he was considered for a regular appearance in Voyager. However, it was deemed that Nick Locarno was irredeemable following his cover-up of the Nova Squadron disaster and his attempts to besmirch the memory of tragic Cadet Joshua Albert during his TNG episode.
Therefore, a new character was created, Tom Paris, an ex-Starfleet officer who had joined the Maquis before being arrested and sentenced to a New Zealand penal colony. Paris was offered a second chance when Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) recruited him to assist her in piloting the USS Voyager through the treacherous Badlands in pursuit of a missing Maquis ship. Lt. Tom Paris became an integral part of the Star Trek: Voyager cast, and so his return in modern Star Trek was inevitable. What nobody could have predicted, however, was that his previous character, Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Nick Locarno would also come back.
RELATED: Every Voyager Character Who Has Returned In Star Trek (& How)
Lt. Tom Paris Returned In Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2
In Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2, episode 3, “We’ll Always Have Tom Paris”, the Voyager helmsman paid a visit to the USS Cerritos. Lower Decks confirmed that the crew of the USS Voyager had become living legends since they returned to the Alpha Quadrant. Ensign Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid) was such a big fan of Paris that he went to extraordinary lengths to meet Tom after he was locked out of the Cerritos’ systems. Mistaking Boimler for a Kazon, Paris beat up the hero-worshiping Lower Decker, but did buy him a drink to apologize.
It’s also highly likely that Lt. Tom Paris will return in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, as Admiral Janeway commands the brand-new USS Voyager-A on a mission to rescue Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran). Given the complicated nature of the Voyager-A’s flight into an alternate timeline, Janeway is going to need a top class pilot. The Hageman Brothers have confirmed more Star Trek: Voyager callbacks and character returns when Prodigy season 2 lands on Netflix in early 2024, and so the return of Tom Paris feels like a forgone conclusion.
Nick Locarno Is Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4’s Big Bad
The cliffhanger ending to Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, episode 9, “The Inner Fight” revealed that Nick Locarno designed the mystery ship that has been attacking everyone from the Romulans to the Bynars. A new clip from Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ season 4 finale reveals that the former leader of Nova Squadron has built up his very own Nova Fleet from the attacked ships. What Nick plans to do with this fleet remains to be seen, but it’s intriguing that he’s managed to assemble a rogue’s gallery of non-Federation species and, presumably, ex-Starfleet officers.
Star Trek: Voyager‘s Tom Paris was created because Nick Locarno was deemed to be beyond redemption after his actions in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ season 4 finale looks set to reveal that Locarno did indeed embrace his dark side after being expelled from Starfleet Academy. Now that both of Robert Duncan McNeill’s Star Trek characters have made comebacks, it’s tempting to ponder what a face-off between Locarno and Paris may look like. More interesting still, the prospect of Nick Locarno and Tom Paris sharing the screen together could present some uncomfortable questions about Nick Locarno’s paternity for Tom’s father, Admiral Owen Paris (Richard Herd).
Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ season 4 finale streams Thursday November 2nd on Paramount+.
