Star Trek: Lower Decks S4 Episode 9 - Who Is Nicholas Locarno & Who Plays Him?

Since debuting on Paramount+ in 2020, the animated hit "Star Trek: Lower Decks" has arguably become one of the franchise's better offerings. It's also become an absolute haven for Star Trek fans who get their kicks via callbacks to series and events past. And "Lower Decks" has dropped more than a few doozies on viewers throughout its run — including reviving an infamous character from the annals of "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

That character is disgraced former Starfleet cadet Nicholas "Nick" Locarno. The roguish Locarno was ultimately expelled from Starfleet Academy during the Season 5 episode "The First Duty" after performing a banned aerial maneuver that cost the life of a fellow classmate. Nick is never seen again until he turns up to make trouble in the "Lower Decks" episode "The Inner Fight." And, in a savvily winking bit of casting, the role is played by Robert Duncan McNeill in both episodes.

McNeill's name should be more than familiar to Star Trek fans, as he portrayed Lt. Tom Paris in all seven seasons of "Star Trek: Voyager" and reprised the role for a "Lower Decks" Season 2 cameo. While Paris remains McNeill's signature Star Trek role, Locarno was his first. Given Nick's appearance in "Lower Decks," it's a role McNeill will likely play a few more times.  

Robert Duncan McNeill made a bit of a name for himself before booking his Star Trek roles, appearing in episodes of "The Twilight Zone," "Quantum Leap," and "L.A. Law," and starring in the 1985 cult hit "Masters of the Universe." While he continued to land acting gigs over the years, McNeill has largely focused his efforts on work behind the camera since his "Voyager" journey ended.

And in the ensuing years, McNeill has become one of the preeminent helmsmen on the small screen. Fittingly, the former actor's directing career began on the set of "Star Trek: Voyager," with McNeill pulling double duty as actor and director on four episodes between Seasons 3 and 7. He'd go on to helm just as many episodes of another underrated Trek series: "Star Trek: Enterprise."

Outside of his work in the Star Trek universe, McNeill has directed episodes of some of the biggest shows to hit the airwaves. Among his most notable credits, you'll find McNeill helmed episodes of "Dawson's Creek," "Dead Like Me," "White Collar," "Supernatural," "Blue Bloods," "Suits," and "Resident Alien." Most recently, he called the shots on the small screen adaptation of "True Lies." And during its five-season run on NBC, McNeill pretty much became the de facto director of the cult hit spy dramedy "Chuck," directing 21 of its 91 episodes.