Star Trek: TNG Had A Forgotten Stealth Wrath of Khan Reunion 6 Years Later

Six years after Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek: The Next Generation had a mini reunion of two actors that has mostly been forgotten. TNG picks up around a century after Star Trek: The Original Series and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his crew aboard the USS Enterprise-D. Despite the gap in the Star Trek timeline, a few actors reprised their roles from TOS, including DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard McCoy, Leonard Nimoy as Ambassador Spock, and James Doohan as Scotty. A few other actors who had appeared in TOS or its subsequent films appeared in TNG playing entirely new roles.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1, episode 22, “Symbiosis,” the Enterprise rescues four survivors from a freighter before its destroyed. Soon after arriving on the USS Enterprise-D, the newcomers from two different planets become involved in a dispute over the medicine their ship was carrying. Two of the survivors, the Ornarans, appear to be very sick and in desperate need of the medicine, but the other two, the Brekkians, insist that the Ornarans have not paid for it. As “Symbiosis” progresses, Captain Picard begins to suspect that the Brekkians may not be telling the whole story.

Related

Star Trek: The Next Generation Cast & Character Guide

Star Trek: The Next Generation has one of the most beloved cast of characters in all of science fiction. Here are the major characters of the classic.

Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan Actors Appeared In TNG

Merritt Butrick & Judson Scott return to Star Trek.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan actors Merritt Butrick and Judson Scott appear on opposite sides of the conflict in Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s “Symbiosis,” just as they did in the hit film. Butrick appears as T’Jon in “Symbiosis,” the more outspoken of the two Ornarans, while Scott plays Sobi, the utterly indifferent male Brekkian. In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Merritt Butrick played David Marcus, the scientist son of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Dr. Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch). Butrick would play the character again in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, in which David is killed by the Klingon Kruge (Christopher Lloyd) while on the doomed Genesis planet. Scott played Joachim in Wrath of Khan, the chief lieutenant of Ricardo Montalbán’s villainous Khan Noonien-Singh.

While the message of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s “Symbiosis” may be a bit on the nose, Merritt Butrick’s performance as Onararn T’Jon helps the episode work. His impassioned pleas for help convey all the desperation of a man suffering from addiction who truly believes he will die without the drug. Judson Scott’s Sobi is much less sympathetic than Butrick’s character and doesn’t make quite as much of an impression. The male Brekkian remains unmoved by the Onarans’ plight, showing no remorse after Captain Picard uncovers the Brekkians’ deceit.

What Happened To Kirk’s Son Actor Merritt Butrick?

Butrick was a tragic victim of the 1980s AIDS epidemic.

Tragically, TNG’s “Symbiosis” was one of Merritt Butrick’s final performances before his death in 1989 at the age of only 29. Butrick had begun his career just eight years before in 1981, when he appeared in two episodes of Hill Street Blues. After that, he played a significant supporting character in the teen sitcom Square Pegs, during which time he was cast to play Admiral James T. Kirk’s son, David Marcus, in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Butrick went on to have steady work in film, television, and theater throughout the 1980s before passing away from complications due to AIDS. By all accounts, Butrick was a talented up-and-coming young actor, whose career would likely have only continued to grow. Butrick’s portrayals of David Marcus in Wrath of Khan and T’Jon in Star Trek: The Next Generation ensured he will always be remembered as an important member of the Star Trek family.

Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan are available to stream on Paramount+.