Summary
- Robert Duncan McNeill reminisces about his enjoyable experience playing Nicholas Locarno on Star Trek: The Next Generation, forming a real bond with the cast.
- Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 portrays Nova Squadron, including Locarno, in a new light, showcasing their friendship and the events leading up to their ill-fated mistake.
- The inclusion of McNeill, Wil Wheaton, and Shannon Fill in Lower Decks season 4 provides a sense of authenticity and nostalgia for fans, including the return of Joshua Albert and a brief appearance by Jean Hajar.
Star Trek: Voyager star Robert Duncan McNeill looks back fondly on his guest-starring role in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Before McNeill's 7-season run as Lt. Tom Paris on Voyager, he played Nicholas Locarno in the TNG season 5 episode, "The First Duty." Robbie made a surprise return as Locarno in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4; the disgraced ex-Starfleet Cadet was now a villain who threatened the United Federation of Planets until he was stopped by Lt. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and the USS Cerritos.
Appearing on The Shuttlepod Show, Robert Duncan McNeill told hosts Connor Trinneer, Erica LaRose, and Mark Cartier about the great time he had playing Nick Locarno on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Locarno was the leader of an elite corps of cadets called Nova Squadron, and McNeill says the camaraderie seen on screen was real when the cameras were off. Check out his quote and watch The Shuttlepod Show video below:
I got the role [of Nicholas Locarno] and I had a blast. It really surprised me… Wil Wheaton and I hit it off. We stayed in touch after that. He was great. The whole gang of the cadets… Usually, when you break for lunch, everybody goes to their trailer and takes their suit off, and gets comfortable, and disappears. Not on that episode. Shannon Fill… Wil Wheaton, myself, they broke us for lunch and we were like, “Let’s go to the commissary together!” We hung out. Yeah, it was really great. It was a really fun shoot. I had a blast.
