Sailor meets forgotten ‘Next Generation’ character in ‘Lower Decks’ finale

Briefly about this week Star Trek: Lower Decks The finale reveals the mastermind behind the mysterious attacks that have plagued the galaxy all season, and it’s a character no one saw coming. Robert Duncan McNeil returns to Star Trek voice Nick Locarno.

Picking up where the previous episode left off, the new clip explores the aftermath of the shocking revelation. Everyone is everywhere Lower DecksIn the fourth season, a mysterious vessel attacks and kidnaps starships, sending the crew members to an alien world. In last week’s penultimate episode, “Inner Struggle,” the mastermind of the attacks kidnapped Beckett Mariner (Tony Newsome) and revealed himself to be her former friend—once. Star Trek: The Next Generation character Nick Locarno. The group of Starfleet cadets that Locarno belonged to – like Mariner, as a so-called “junior member” – was New Squadron, but as Locarno tells the horrified Mariner, he has now assembled a New Fleet from stolen starships. The years have seemingly been difficult for Locarno, but he keeps his past close to his heart: the New Fleet insignia on his jacket is a stylized image of the Colward Starburst, the prohibited maneuver that ended his Starfleet career.

Who is Nick Locarno?

Introduced in season five Next generation In the episode “First Duty”, which is also notable for Starfleet Academy’s first on-screen appearance, Locarno was the leader of Nova Squadron, a group of ambitious Starfleet cadets that also included former Enterprise crew member Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton). After a Nova Squadron cadet was apparently killed in a routine training accident, Wesley eventually confessed that it was the result of an attempted Colward Starburst, an extremely dangerous and illegal maneuver; Locarno insisted that they do it, and forced them all to lie about it afterwards. Locarno was subsequently expelled from Starfleet; it was considered for inclusion in Star Trek: Voyager, but the series ended up adding Tom Paris instead, a character with a backstory similar to Locarno’s, also played by McNeil. McNeil previously reprized the role of Paris in Lower Decks‘ second season.

Another member of Nova Squadron, Bajoran Seeto Jaxa, has important connections to Lower Decks. She was featured in the seventh season. Next generation episode “Lower Decks” which was the first Star Trek an episode dedicated to the life of ordinary Starfleet soldiers; this episode served as the inspiration and namesake for the animated series. Moreover, in “The Inner Fight” it was revealed that she was Mariner’s friend; her death during a Starfleet spy mission became the root of Mariner’s compulsive rebellious behavior.

Watch on Paramount+

Star Trek: Lower DecksThe finale airs this Thursday on Paramount+. Stay tuned to Collider for more coverage and watch a clip from the finale below.

Star Trek: Lower Decks