We’ll Always Have Tom Paris

Stardate not given: It’s hard to tell what Rutherford finds more unnerving – the fact that Lt. Shaxs is walking among the living once more with no explanation, or the fact that no one else seems alarmed by this. He is determined to ask Shaxs how he returned from the dead…if he can find a tactful way to bring it up in casual conversation. Boimler is excited to hear of an impending visit by Tom Paris, former helmsman of U.S.S. Voyager, primarily because it will allow him to complete his set of signed collectible plates of the Voyager crew. But even reaching the bridge in time to meet Paris turns out to be a monumental chore as Boimler finds that he hasn’t been granted access to all decks of the Cerritos since his return from the Titan. Tendi is assigned to go to Qualor II to retrieve a family heirloom Dr. T’Ana placed in storage there, and decides to bring Mariner with her. When the two can’t resist opening the box to see what the heirloom is, they accidentally break the contents, leading them on a side quest to set everything right…during which everything, naturally, goes as wrong as possible.

written by M. Willis
directed by Bob Suarez
music by Chris Westlake

Cast: Tawny Newsome (Ensign Beckett Mariner), Jack Quaid (Ensign Brad Boimler), Noel Wells (Ensign D’Vana Tendi), Eugene Cordero (Ensign Rutherford), Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman), Jerry O’Connell (Commander Ransom), Fred Tatasciore (Lt. Shaxs), Gillian Vigman (Dr. T’Ana), Robert Duncan McNeill (Lt. Tom Paris), Eric Bauza (Tellarite Bartender), Marcus Henderson (Jet Manhaver), Tom Kenny (Cody / D’Onni / Orion), Lauren Lapkus (Jennifer), Paul Scheer (Billups / Addix / Caitian Storage Unit Employee)

Notes: Qualor II was visited by the crew of the Enterprise-D in Unification I and Unification II (1991); it was kind of a seedy place then too. It’s also now home to franchised locations of Vic Fontaine’s club and Quark’s Bar, perhaps spoofing similar signts in Star Trek: Picard‘s relatively recent Stardust City Rag episode. Another seedy place we’ve seen before is the dom-jot den at the Bonestell Recreation Facility, a pivotal place in the life of the young Jean-Luc Picard (Tapestry, 1993). This is the first time Robert Duncan McNeill has reprised his role since the end of Star Trek: Voyager in 2001; in the intervening years he has become an in-demand director of such shows as Star Trek: Enterprise, Dead Like Me, Desperate Housewives, Chuck, Supernatural, The Orville, The Gifted, and Resident Alien. The meta references in this episode are almost too many to count, from the existence of collectible plates of the Voyager crew to Boimler humming Jerry Goldsmith‘s Star Trek: Voyager theme tune as he walks toward a turbolift.