Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1, Episode 14 – “Crossroads”Thadiun Okona (Billy Campbell) is back in Star Trek: Prodigy as the charming rogue makes his second canonical appearance since his introduction in the Star Trek: The Next Generation season episode named after him, “The Outrageous Okona.” The teenage crew of the USS Protostar attempts to hide their starship on a frozen world and find a different way to make contact with Starfleet when they bump into Okona. Thadiun ends up on the run with the Protostar kids when they’re chased by Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the USS Dauntless.
Okona may no longer be as outrageous as he was in TNG, but he still has a knack for inadvertently getting into trouble. In Star Trek: Prodigy‘s case, he was hiding in a transport that was commandeered by Dal R’El (Brett Gray), Gwyndala (Ella Purnell), and their friends, who were escaping Janeway’s Starfleet crew and Xindi security personnel. Okona soon found himself on the bridge of the USS Protostar marveling at the starship that can go much faster than the Warp 4 he’s accustomed to. Thadiun is still with the Protostar when its third nacelle was crippled by a photon torpedo from Janeway’s quantum slipstream-powered Dauntless. Dal’s vessel can’t jump to Proto-Warp and now, Okona could be captured by Starfleet for helping alien kids he barely knows in a thrilling cliffhanger.
How Okona Has Changed Since TNG
Thadiun Okona is certainly older in Star Trek: Prodigy; his hair and beard are grey, he’s lost some of his youthful good looks, and he’s even developed a bit of a belly. Most notably, Okona wears an eyepatch over his left eye due to unknown reasons. It’s clear life in the final frontier has taken its toll on Thadiun, and he’s been scraping by since he visited Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s (Patrick Stewart) USS Enterprise-D decades earlier.
Interestingly, Okona looks markedly different in Star Trek: Prodigy than in his cameo in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2 even though the two shows happen in roughly the same time period. Okona popped up as the DJ at the biggest and most exclusive Starfleet party of the year, but he resembled his younger self in TNG, only he already has an eye patch. Perhaps Okona used holographic technology to make himself appear younger for the party. He may even have done so in hopes of romancing a Starfleet higher-up the way he seduced two female crew members on Picard’s Enterprise in TNG.
Why Okona Is Still Popular After TNG
Although he only made one lone appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Thadiun Okona remained popular and well-remembered over the years. “The Outrageous Okona” isn’t regarded as a classic TNG episode, but it’s especially notable for its guest stars. Besides Billy Campbell as Okona, Joe Piscopo appeared as The Comedian Data (Brent Spiner) consults to understand humor on the holodeck. “The Outrageous Okona” also guest stars a young Teri Hatcher as Transporter Chief B.G. Robinson. Okona romanced Hatcher years before she was Lois Lane in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and one of the Desperate Housewives.
Perhaps the reason why Thadiun Okona stands out among the plethora of guest stars in Star Trek: The Next Generation is that he appeared during an early point of the show when it was still finding its way. Okona injected a welcome wit and irreverence into the staid proceedings of the USS Enterprise-D, and his role was to provide humor and sex appeal to the straight-laced show, if only for one episode. In Star Trek: Prodigy, Okona is thrown together with the crew of the USS Protostar, but it’s a fun union of the older rogue with a young group of do-gooders out on their own in the wild and dangerous galaxy.
Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 is streaming on Paramount+.
