Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 Finale Tom Paris Joke Explained

Contains minor spoilers for "Star Trek: Lower Decks" Season 4, Episode 10 — "Old Friends, New Planets"

With more shows running concurrently than ever, "Star Trek" can boldly go where it's never gone before. That includes the world of animation with "Star Trek: Lower Decks," which takes a decidedly more comedic approach to the universe. Throughout its four seasons, "Lower Decks" has had no qualms about poking fun at "Star Trek" lore, and the Season 4 finale, titled "Old Friends, New Planets," had a major inside joke only the most dedicated fans would've noticed. 

The scene involves Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) going back and forth on whether Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill) looks like Tom Paris (McNeill) from "Star Trek: Voyager." This is a meta-reference to the fact McNeill has played both characters throughout various "Star Trek" properties. His very first "Star Trek" role was Locarno back in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in the episode, "The First Duty." However, he'd get a different role a few years later in "Star Trek: Voyager" as Tom Paris, a part he'd play for 172 episodes.

The ensigns discuss how the two characters look alike due to them being played by the same person, so it makes sense they'd look the same. It's a fun reference "Lower Decks" can get away with while rewarding vigilant fans of the franchise who know when the same actor has appeared across Star Trek in different roles. 

It's the "Star Trek: Lower Decks" joke that's been 30 years in the making. While Locarno was a one-off role on "The Next Generation," the producers of "Voyager" were impressed with what Robert Duncan McNeill did and based the character of Tom Paris around that role. The "Voyager" producers even wanted him to bring that same edginess Locarno had to Tom Paris but give him a way to redemption in a way, as McNeill explained in a blog post, "Locarno seemed like a nice guy, but deep down he was a bad guy. Tom Paris is an opposite premise in a way. Deep down he's a good guy. He's just made some mistakes."

McNeill was able to put his mark on Tom in another way, namely by having him speak in a different manner than most everyone else, as he continued, "Star Trek, in a way, is like Shakespeare. We say what we mean. One of the things that makes Tom Paris unique is that he uses plain English when everyone else is talking technobabble. He cuts to the chase. He's a red-blooded, all-American kind of guy. I like that." McNeill remains part of the Star Trek family, reprising both Tom and Locarno in "Star Trek: Lower Decks," voicing the former in the Season 2 episode, "We'll Always Have Tom Paris."

McNeill is in some esteemed company as an actor who has portrayed multiple Star Trek characters. Even he has some catching up to do to the likes of Suzie Plakson, who played four different Star Trek roles. "Star Trek: Lower Decks" needs to do a meta-joke on Plakson to turn this into a running gag.