Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series) The First Duty (1992) User Reviews

...... until now

[snoozejonc · 9/10 · 5 October 2021]

Enterprise visits Starfleet Academy and Wesley Crusher.

This is a very strong episode with a good moral tale at the centre and some strong character moments.

The plot is quite straightforward and relatively simple to see where it's going. There is a nice theme of conflict between duty to your friends and doing what is ethically right. There is quite a bit of obvious exposition in the dialogue, but what makes it work well is how the characters are written and the performances.

Wesley Crusher is depicted as a human with flaws. This makes him a far more interesting character than in previous episodes and Will Wheaton gives one of his best performances on the show.

Nicholas Locarno (aka Tom Paris) looks like he's going to be quite one dimensional at first, but that doesn't happen and his arc has a pretty satisfying conclusion. Robert Duncan McNeill does a great audition for his role in Voyager.

As ever Captain Picard is the voice of reason and puts his philosophical stamp on events. If anybody could break you in half with a look of disappointment it's Patrick Stewart in this episode.

It's an 8.5/10 for me but I round upwards.

You Can't Handle The Truth!

[spasek · 8/10 · 21 August 2021]

Probably my favorite scene in the series involving Wesley is Picard chewing him out in his ready room, knowing full well what Wesley and his team did and daring Wesley to lie to his face about it.

I love how PIcard never tries to sympathize or patronize him as young man that he often admired because of his abilities. Iinstead, Picard treated him like a man; like a cadet who'd lost his way.

In many ways, it demonstrates that, at heart, Wesley is still a kid; still filled with immaturity, and that ultimately, in letting himself down, he also let down and went against everything Picard and Starfleet stand for because he never had the guts to speak up--both before the maneuver as well as after.

Wesley probably felt he was all but untouchable. Due to his stints aboard the Enterprise, serving on the flagship of the Federation, he likely believed that he was well on his way as well as being above his fellow cadets. Finally, Wesley is brought down to Earth from cold, hard reality.

This is a good character episode about the immaturity and impatience of youth; those who believe they can fly before they can run or even walk. And I can see why Robert Duncan McNeill was brought back to be a part of Voyager, as I thought he easily overshadowed Wil Wheaton in the acting department.

No clear solution

[johnk73 · 9/10 · 24 January 2010]

I love episodes like this where there is no obviously correct solution. (Some of the original series were like this, where Kirk will violate the prime directive for the "good" of a society that was doing alright as it was.)

And conflicting loyalties. Do we follow the rules or try to cause the least harm?

Picard and Wesley are usually presented in the series as being without fault. To see them weaker created an episode I was thinking about days later.

** Warning: Minor spoilers below

Right after Wesley's predicament is laid out, a conversation with the Academy elder (the gardener) reveals that Picard had done something that was worthy of expulsion. The elder had protected Picard to some extent; the writers leave ambiguity as to whether it was defense (if he was a gardener then, it couldn't have been much) or a full cover up.

This small scene sets the focus for the episode, and (for me) sets up Picard to be a hypocrite later as he gives Wesley a sermon about duty to truth. (Others take the focus to be the statement "made sure you listened to yourself", which is just as valid, but less interesting.) Was Picard's "doing what was right" protecting his fellows?

Wesley's character too is impinged as we learn he has done something banned by the Academy, something unnecessary and risky that has in the past caused others to lose their lives.

The Corrupter" (and what I remember of "Miller's Crossing") are films I loved with a similar theme. Cops in a completely corrupt environment. If they take out the bad guy another will rise. Do they try to make an incremental improvement though they will become corrupt themselves?

Starfleet Academy.

[russem31 · 27 April 2006]

ST:TNG:119 - "The First Duty" (Stardate: 45703.9) - this is the 19th episode of the 5th season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

We are introduced to Star Fleet Academy in this episode, when Picard on the Enterprise is en route there to deliver this year's commencement address. However, on the way, the crew learns that Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton, in his second guest starring appearance after "The Game") and his squadron were involved in an accident where a cadet was killed.

Trivia note: Robert Duncan McNeill plays Cadet First Class Nicholas Locarno (he will soon be a regular on Star Trek: Voyager). Also, we finally see Boothby (played by late veteran actor Ray Walston), after he was mentioned a few times (first in "Final Mission") - he will also reprise his role in two episodes of Star Trek: Voyager with the aforementioned Robert Duncan McNeill.

And, Picard tells Boothby he was part of the graduating "Class of '27" to jog his memory, as well as recalling to Wesley his first time on the bridge of the Enterprise (how he sat in Picard's chair and knew all the controls already).

The Secret Origin of Thomas Eugene Paris

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 10 June 2015]

This is another Episode that bothered me, but not because it was a bad episode.

It is because, for the first time in Next Generation, Wesley Crusher is shown to be simply Human, and is put into a spot where he has to decide, "Do I keep my mouth shut and support my Leader Tom Paris... Er, I mean 'Nick Locarno'... and Picard will never trust me again in this lifetime, or do I tell the TRUTH right from the start?" I think this episode, despite my personal discomfort watching it, hits at the core of what Star Trek is all about. Our FIRST DUTY is to The Truth, however painful it might be to tell it, regardless of our feelings toward our crew mates and class mates, we MUST tell the Truth. That does not mean that there are not some times to withhold truth, that's called basic "tact" - But there are times to tell it right away. This idea even rises out of our TV sets and DVD players or SmartPhones, whatever we are using to watch this series, into our real lives. I think many of us might have had something similar happen to us. That is what makes this an episode to not pan or pass on.

I can accept Ensign/Cadet Crusher being ambivalent about this, he had developed a pattern of successes on The Enterprise that was leading toward an opportunity for command, which at this point in the series, was what the character wanted.

And we finally get to meet "Boothby" for the first time, portrayed by the great Ray Walston of "South Pacific", "Kiss Me Stupid", and "My Favorite Martian". And it is Boothby who states it: "Nick Locarno is leader, mentor, best friend and even surrogate father to those kids - He would do anything for them and they would do anything to support him, even if it requires jumping off a cliff".

This type of Cadet/Leader is even mirrored in the Deep Space Nine episode "Valiant" where a personality much like Locarno had been put in charge of a Defiant-Class Starship. "Captain" Tim Watters might have been the same to his "Red Squad" cadets as Locarno was to his "Nova Squadron" - But that DS9 episode shows the worst case scenario. Here, Picard is able to intervene before it gets to that point.

Locarno's "Nova Squadron" was not as large as Watter's Red Squad, so we get to see more of each member as they have to decide if they are going to tell the Truth or not. And they all would have lied to save their skins, had not Picard confronted Crusher.

And Picard knew how to Fine-Tune Crusher to get him to comply, by dangling Crusher's own values over a precipice. We know that what Picard thinks is what concerns Wesley the most, and therein lies the answer.

Look for Shannon Fill to reprise Ensign Sito Jaxa in the Season 7 episode "Lower Decks" along with Jeri Taylor's son Alex Engberg as "Taurik" - Who may be Vorick's identical twin brother from Voyager. I only started understanding recently why they can't use these names - Tom Paris was supposed to be Locarno and Vorick was supposed to be Taurik - But they would have had to pay Jeri Taylor or Ronald D Moore for every episode those characters appear in. It's an unfortunate truth about TV shows and why characters get their names changed occasionally.

Lies and dishonour

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 10 July 2015]

As the Enterprise heads back to Earth so Picard can give a speech a Star Fleet Academy they receive news that Wesley Crusher has been involved in a serious accident. He got away with a few repairable injuries but another cadet lost his life. As the inquiry gets underway the cadets explain how they were flying in a five ship formation when the dead cadet's shuttle came out of position causing a collision that the others were lucky to survive. To help get to the bottom of what happened Picard runs a parallel investigation aboard the enterprise and it isn't long before it becomes clear that there are flaws in the cadets' evidence. Finding the truth won't be easy though; the group is tight knit and led by Nicholas Locarno, a cadet who is highly respected by the others in the squadron. Ultimately there is no cast iron proof but all the evidence suggests that the cadets have been lying to cover up the fact they were attempting manoeuvre that is so dangerous it has been banned for a century.

This is a very interesting episode; in the past Star Fleet officers have been portrayed as noble pursuers of the truth; there may have been the occasional bad egg but no major character would get involved would lie to protect their own position. Here though it soon becomes clear that Wesley is involved in one of the worst lies possible; he seems willing to let a dead friend take the blame for the accident to protect the rest of the group. Wil Wheaton has certainly matured in the role as he portrays this conflicted character. This episode is notable for introducing Robert Duncan McNeill to the Star Trek universe; here he plays Locarno, a character not that dissimilar to the character Tom Paris he plays in 'Star Trek: Voyager'. We also get to meet Boothby, the Academy gardener and old friend of Picard for the first time. As the story progresses it nicely portrays the conflict between loyalty to one's group and one duty to tell the truth no matter what the personal costs… and this leads to the episodes one real flaw; the costs seem surprisingly mild given that the squadron lied to an inquiry about an event so serious that it left one of them dead. Overall though I thought this was a quality episode with some interesting ideas.

The truth

[thevacinstaller · 8/10 · 9 April 2021]

I'm giving Wesley Crusher a break here. You need to take into consideration that he is a teenager (insane with hormones) who was being pressured by Not Tom Paris and the expectations placed on him being a God Child. Teenagers pull some insanely stupid moves from time to time and I take that into consideration.

I appreciated the writers having the stones to have a cadet actually die in this attempted stunt. It raises the stakes and severity of the violation presented throughout this episode. Whether you feel Wesley should be expelled from starfleet and thrown in jail is a matter that warranty discussion and that's a sign this is a good episode worthy of interpretation and thought.

I thought this was great. Watching Wesley pulled in so many directions and put to the flame was great to build tension throughout this episode. I appreciated the writers making Wesley a flawed human who is capable of making a terrible judgement call when put under the right amount of stress.

We even get an angry dad Picard speech and a hilarious scene of Beverly crusher doing the classic "not my boy" scene and actually believing this had to be a computer malfunction ---- it's such a Mom thing to do and it cracked me up.

I get the fact that a cadet died in this stunt ---- but ---- the cadet did have free will and made the choice to attempt this maneuver with the same external pressure that Wesley succumbed to. What are you going to do? Throw them all in jail for being reckless glory hungry teenagers? You certainly need to spank them for this but they will all live with the knowledge that they are complicit in the death of their friend and that is something you have to live with every day.

I'm sure I could have a 45 minute podcast discussion debating this..... so, that means this is an excellent episode.

REVIEW 2022

[iamirwar · 10/10 · 19 September 2022]

Earth... that little blue dot. We're visiting with Wesley at Starfleet Academy. Okay, lets not give up on it yet.

Apparently, Wesley's squadron was practicing on the academy flight range near Saturn. Close formation, collision, emergency transport, one of the cadets didn't make it. One of Wesley's friends... Of course, there will have to be an investigation.

There are bound to be regrets, self-recrimination, pointed fingers. Something doesn't add up.

We finally get to meet Boothby who is a good egg, a man you can respect. A man who knows things.

A very good story and a great idea. We, the viewer get an insight into life within the academy.

We get front row seats at the inquiry. One or two of the cadets seem to be hedging. A close examination of how peer pressure can influence ones perceptions, especially when you are encouraged to develop a team mentality.

Follow the leader and obey orders

Lets be clear. You don't want to be guilty of any kind of stella tom-foolery when you have Picard, La Forge and Data analysing the evidence. It would be like Columbo turning up at the murder scene. You might as well fess-all.

This is possibly one of the best TNG stories. Was this a deliberate attempt to smudge Wesley Crusher's squeaky clean image? "It is far braver thing you do, than you have ever done..."

This Episodes Clue: Tom Paris.

An unhappy reunion

[Mr-Fusion · 7/10 · 31 March 2017]

It's been years since I'd originally seen 'First Duty', and I guess the reason I'd always written this off (to some extent) is because I didn't like Nova Squadron; especially Nick Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill), although they do go to some lengths to soften him in the end.

But the rest of the team are just background players. This is all about Wesley; his guilt, self-doubt and ultimately his reconciliation with the truth during a hearing over a flight accident. I do like that this has him painted in an unsavory light and there's an effort here to show him struggling against expectation and peer pressure. His implied father/son relationship with the Captain is truly put to the test here (resulting in one of the great - and wrathful - Picard speeches).

There's a ray of hope in the end, but with serious restrictions.

Yeah, I'd say this episode has grown on me.

7/10

A really good episode

[fphoenixxx · 9/10 · 24 May 2019]

Nick is shown not as a bad person, but in the right light, as someone who believes in his own values every moment, worthy enough to be a team leader.

The ep showed Wesley as a weak child who couldn't deal with the pressure of lying, or just bearing it for a few more seconds. This was atypical of his previous Mary Sue behavior and realistic that he was very influenced by Picard's sure opinion.

There are no right or wrong things to do in this episode, it was a moral dilemma. And it was shown beautifully.

It was an absolute disappointment when Wesley disrupted the closing of the case and came out with the truth, but the climax where nobody glorifies him for coming out, and that it is seen as a bad thing by his peers, and he has to pay for it, makes up for it. The finishing dialogue of Picard was pretty realistic and good, delivered as is.

Wesley is a lying little weasel...

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 24 November 2014]

Picard is surprised to learn that Wesley has gotten himself into trouble at Starfleet Academy...big trouble. He and a group of cadets were involved in an accident where one of their team's members was killed and one of the dominant members of the group, Nick (Robert Duncan McNeill) pressures Wesley and the rest to lie to the board of inquiry. Why? What are they hiding? Wesley isn't forthcoming about why...so it's up to Picard to figure out what REALLY happened.

This episode makes Wesley look pretty bad. While he ultimately does do the right thing, he is a lying weasel during much of the show and you really don't like or respect him in this one. Because of this, the show is a bit of a letdown. However, it is interesting and worth seeing.

By the way, Robert Duncan McNeill later was a regular on "Star Trek: Voyager". Also veteran character actors Ed Lautner and Ray Walston also appear in this episode.

Wesley in a jackpot

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 20 October 2018]

The Enterprise is back on earth and Jean-Luc Picard is the commencement speaker at StarFleet Academy. But the Enterprise's own Wesley Crusher is in a jackpot at the Academy. His flying squad is the subject of an investigation involving the death of one of its members.

The dead cadet is the son of a StarFleet officer Ed Lauter much like Wil Wheaton is the son of a man who was killed on active duty. But there is a wall of silence like in our police forces today and in this case it is enforced by the leader of Wheaton's squadron Robert Duncan McNeill.

No doubt McNeill's performance here led to his being cast as Tom Paris in the Star Trek Voyager. Paris is something of a bad boy though nowhere as reckless as his character here.

Ray Walston appears as groundskeeper Boothby sort of a father confessor to the cadets. He has an important scene with Patrick Stewart who values his opinion and his counsel. Imagine his character decades earlier as Lionel Barrymore's in Navy Blue And Gold and you have some idea of Walston's relationship to the cadets.

The key scene is Stewart and Wheaton who reminds him of his duty and how he's letting all on the Enterprise down who invested hopes and dreams in him.

Do you doubt Wesley Crusher does the right thing?

Wesley Crusher, the Weakest Link

[frankelee · 7/10 · 31 March 2021]

A strong episode that takes us back to Earth to hang out with Wesley Crusher as he struggles with the ethical dilemmas of being a snitch.

I'm pretty happy with this episode overall, though to be honest, yes the cadets did wrong, but not that wrong. Over-punishment leading to dishonesty is really the fault of the authority as much as it is the underling. And maybe this shapes my impression a bit here, but why are these cadets flying space fighters? When does Star Trek ever have fighter jets in space that zoom around like the Blue Angels? It seems wildly irresponsible.

Missed by so much

[jazz-14 · 5/10 · 8 June 2013]

This had the potential to be a great episode. They squandered the opportunity in favor of a "feel good" resolution in a fashion that has become well known in Star Trek fan circles. The set up is good, the dialogue and the mystery are plausible. I liked it, maybe loved it, up til maybe 3/4 through. But then... they pulled their punch. They set up some truly wrenching decisions for Wesley and his friends, but never deliver any real price for making the hard choices.

Finally, Wesley is in an adult world where he is not just the helpful boy wonder. He's adrift, with no clear guidance on what to do. In fact, some of that past has put him here. He's so accustomed to being an overachiever that it bites him badly here, and he needs guidance. Consequences for his actions, negative ones, are at hand and right in front of him. And then ... they aren't. He suffers some personal anguish and embarrassment, maybe, but no more. He comes down a few pegs in the eyes of his mother and Picard. Then everyone goes back to work. In short, the writers forgot the story was set in a serious legal and military situation and decided to save a beloved character instead. They treated negligence, insubordination, and manslaughter like schoolboy infractions. He killed a fellow student, so he had to repeat some courses and everyone would know. Boo Hoo.

This wasn't (merely) cheating - a man was DEAD due to willful disobedience. If THAT isn't a near capital honors violation, what would be? Wesley had violated a known standing order, knowingly put himself and others at risk of their lives, got someone killed as a result, then lied about it repeatedly. His punishment is to spend another year at one of the finest schools in the Federation? He should have been facing jail time. Expulsion should have been the least of his worries. Pathetic.

Another dilemma-less dilemma

[skiop · 21 March 2016]

The Enterprise goes back to Earth when Wesley Crusher is involved in some accident that resulted in the death of a classmate. We learn that the reason is that Wesley's squadron, headed by the charismatic Locarno, did a banned maneuver and must lie about it to save their skins.

Eventually, Picard figures it out and convinces Wesley to betray the rest of the squadron, which results in Locarno's expulsion and the rest of the squadron having to repeat the year.

The solution here was so easy. As Locarno said, all Wesley had to do was lie and it would just be their word against Picard's. Sure, Wesley would have felt guilt, but it would have subsided and it wouldn't have meant ruining Locarno's career (not to mention the incident being on the permanent records of the rest of the squadron). The rest of the squadron was able to avoid expulsion merely because Locarno pleaded for it, making him loyal, unlike the perfidious Wesley.

If there wasn't a reason to dislike the goody-two-shoes Wesley in the previous episodes, there certainly is now.

"I just made sure that you listened to yourself."

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 6 March 2024]

Following the inquiry, Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) tells Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) that he should have been expelled from Starfleet Academy along with his Nova Squadron leader, Nicholas Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill). I tend to agree with that. He was saved of that embarrassment by Locarno accepting blame for the accident that killed a fellow squad member, but the way it came about after the fact probably should have resulted in all four remaining members of Locarno's team to be dismissed from the Academy as well. Harsh, yes, but you have to go with Captain Picard's assessment that lying by omission is still lying. This episode turned on Picard's stern conversation with Wesley after it became clear from a Navcon satellite image that the squadron never achieved a diamond slot formation during their training exercise, due to Locarno's desire to wow the commencement class at the Academy by executing a successful Kolvoord Starburst maneuver. I'm not so sure that that would have been as admired by Admiral Brand and the Academy as much as Locarno would have desired, since the exercise had been banned for a hundred years due to a similar catastrophe that killed all five cadets in training. Obviously, Locarno hadn't even considered that line of reasoning.

Two guest stars made this a more appreciated episode for this viewer. I've always liked seeing Ed Lauter, and even though his role here was a small one, his compassion for Wesley following the death of his son in the story was noteworthy. And then there was Roy Walston as the Starfleet groundskeeper Boothby, a sounding board for Captain Picard in his effort to understand how the training accident happened which he conducted behind the scenes. Wouldn't it have been cool if Next Generation came up with a story in which Walston reprised an old role as everyone's favorite Martian?

Visiting Wesley

[Samuel-Shovel · 6/10 · 8 May 2020]

In "The First Duty" the Enterprise heads to Earth where Picard will be giving the commencement address at Star Fleet Academy's graduation ceremony. Things get derailed however when Wesley Crusher is involved in an accident and cover-up involving a group of cliquey students.

A bit of a slower episode where nothing really ever gets higher than a low simmer but it's not a bad episode. We finally see a flawed version of the wunderkind in Wes. It feels a bit incongruous with the goody two shoes nature of Wes but it's nice to see him portrayed as an actual person that can make mistakes. He is a naive teenager after all and falls under the spell of an older and wiser classmate.

The scenes with Picard and Wes are the highlights here. Stewart's speech is an all-time classic... The rest of this episode, I can take it or leave it.

He Just Gets to Walk Away!!!!

[Hitchcoc · 5/10 · 3 September 2014]

It must be good to have friends in high places. Something has gone dreadfully wrong and young cadet has paid with his life. Picard is on his way to deliver the commencement address at the Starfleet Academy. Wesley Crusher was part of an intergalactic Blue Angels kind of synchronized flight crew. He is led by the man who would later be Ensign Paris on "Voyager." That character is a bit of a loose cannon as well, but the arrogance of the leader as he lies at the inquest shows the worst part of peer pressure. Wesley falls for the guy's line but is filled with guilt. The reason for the death is that this pilot was in over his head; he shouldn't have been asked to do what he did. It takes everything Picard can do to get his Wunderkind to finally fess up for his actions. When he finally does, it's after a string of lies and coverups by him and his colleagues. Apparently, the sentence is to force him to repeat a year at the Academy. The whole group should have been expelled, considering the severity of the result of their actions. Totally out of character, Locarno takes the entire responsibility on himself and tries to exonerate the rest. This may have worked initially, but once they tried to cover things up, that should have been it. The rules for entrance into this Academy are probably as stringent as it is possible and they have betrayed everyone. It just fizzles so badly at the end. I suppose they thought they might need Wesley's character at some future time.

The Hypocrisy of Picard.

[Ray3100 · 3/10 · 18 June 2018]

This episode always bothered me because Picard makes a deal about an officer's first duty is to the truth. But back in season 4, in The Wounded, he ignores the truth about the Cardasians preparing to go to war and instead let's another Starfleet officer see his career go down in flames. He made a big speech about he didn't back up Captain Maxwell's claims because he wanted to avoid a war. So apparently an officer's duty to the truth only applies when you can punish some cadets at the academy. At other times, it's fluid.

Ha! Wesley is truly awful.

[mymangodfrey · 5/10 · 3 April 2023]

This has to be the ultimate Wesley Crusher episode.

He unnecessarily rats out his friends like the lamest, preachiest hall monitor, but the show's writers seem to share Picard's impression that he summoned the courage to do the right thing under pressure and at great cost. Instead of surviving with a reprimand, one of his best friends has his life destroyed for something that Wesley was complicit in.

Wesley lacks stoicism. He's unwilling to be haunted by unpleasant thoughts about himself, or to deal with painful contradictions. He's the antithesis of a character like Horatio Hornblower, who accepts solitary duty even though it causes him pain.

When I was a kid, I never understood why Wesley was universally loathed, but now that I'm revisiting this great series as an adult, I keep thinking that Wes is the last person in the world you would ever want on your team, or whom you would entrust with an important secret.

(Wil Wheaton the actor strikes me in a similar way, oddly enough: a terminally online, terminally memorizing virtue signaler who's treated as if he's genre royalty even though nobody ever particularly liked his characters or his performances. His opinions are always conventional, always blowing with the prevailing winds, but he presents his freezing cold takes as if he's speaking truth to power. It's a character defect that a lot of the TNG cast members have, to be honest. Social media is a curse, I guess.)

About this episode's big moral dilemma, I would just say: the right thing to do in a crisis is never to throw all of your close friends under the bus because you selfishly want to impress an older mentor with your decency.

A Senior Trekker writes......................

[celineduchain · 5/10 · 11 February 2022]

The Fifth Season of TNG contains some remarkably strong episodes while continuing to push the boundaries of what could be achieved within an episodic television format. It is notable for the tragic loss of its creator, Gene Roddenberry, who died on 24th October 1991 at the age of 70. His influence upon the positive depiction of humanity and diversity in Science Fiction endures to this day. Senior Trekker continues to score all episodes with a 5.

The First Duty is one of the best Star Trek episodes ever made. A thrilling drama unfolds as a group of cadets, under the spell of a charismatic leader, seek to cover up the cause of death of one of their classmates. For once, the courtroom-type hearings are put to excellent use as the realisation of the consequences of their actions gradually cause the cadets' deception to unravel.

Will Wheaton gives an excellent performance as the most conflicted of the conspirators, while Sir Patrick, of course, projects all the gravitas of his rank and experience (even if his authority in the investigation is somewhat unclear) but the stand-out performance has to be that of Robert Duncan McNeill.

So intense was his depiction of Squadron Leader Locano, that it earned him a part in the main cast of Star Trek Voyager three years later. However, a decision was taken that his character in the First Duty was morally irrecoverable and the misguided but rather less corrupt Lt Tom Paris was born. Veteran actor Ray Walson also returned to reprise the part of Boothby in Voyager while Shannon Fill as Ensign Sito met a fittingly heroic end in the final season of TNG.