Paris's Twin??

[trilbymonkey]

I was just watching an episode of TNG, (sorry for not knowing the name...) where Wesley is part of a conspiracy at Starfleet academy, and I noticed that the Cadet in command at the time IS Tom Paris, albeit with a different name...

Am I going mad or am I right?

Edit: I can tell you it's Season 5 Episode 19

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I was just watching an episode of TNG, (sorry for not knowing the name...) where Wesley is part of a conspiracy at Starfleet academy, and I noticed that the Cadet in command at the time IS Tom Paris, albeit with a different name...

Am I going mad or am I right?

Edit: I can tell you it's Season 5 Episode 19

You're not going mad. The character in TNG was Nick Locarno.

The main reason they didn't simply use Locarno, the character, on Voyager was that they would have had to pay royalties to whoever wrote that TNG episode (The First Duty) every time an episode featuring him was broadcast. So they invented the character of Tom Paris instead.

 

[Daneel]

^^^^^
Yep. They're supposed to be two different and (presumably) completely unrelated characters. Just ignore the fact that they look exactly alike and have very similar backstories.

 

[Therin of Andor]

The main reason they didn't simply use Locarno, the character, on Voyager was that they would have had to pay royalties to whoever wrote that TNG episode (The First Duty) every time an episode featuring him was broadcast. So they invented the character of Tom Paris instead.

Yep, but they also came to feel that Nick was beyond redemption, so they lessened Tom's baggage a tad.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The main reason they didn't simply use Locarno, the character, on Voyager was that they would have had to pay royalties to whoever wrote that TNG episode (The First Duty) every time an episode featuring him was broadcast. So they invented the character of Tom Paris instead.

Yep, but they also came to feel that Nick was beyond redemption, so they lessened Tom's baggage a tad.

Okay, still trying to work this out...Nick *indirectly* gets *one* comrade killed (I say that because it was the entire Nova Squadron that was at fault), but Tom personally gets THREE killed because of pilot error, and it's *Nick* who's the worse off?

 

[The Wormhole]

^^^^^
Yep. They're supposed to be two different and (presumably) completely unrelated characters. Just ignore the fact that they look exactly alike and have very similar backstories.

Plus, Tom Paris's dad for some reason has a picture of Nick Locarno in his office.

 

[Daneel]

^^^^^^^^
Ah, well that explains it! Nick Locarno is part of Admiral Paris' secret other family! So Tom and Nick are half-brothers. That's why they look so alike!

As for Locarno being beyond redemption, that just sounds like back-pedalling by the writers to help justify why they didn't use him in Voyager and created Paris instead (I guess they figured giving a creative reason would look better than saying "We didn't want to pay for use of the character"). Locarno was young and made a serious mistake, but I think he could have been redeemed. Yes, he spent most of "The First Duty" trying to save his own ass as well as Nova Squadron's, but in the end he decided to shoulder most of the blame and get expelled to save the rest of the team. I think that fact alone shows he was capable of semi-selfless behaviour, and, given time and maturity, he could have grown to develop into a respectable person, just like Tom did.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Okay, still trying to work this out...Nick *indirectly* gets *one* comrade killed (I say that because it was the entire Nova Squadron that was at fault), but Tom personally gets THREE killed because of pilot error, and it's *Nick* who's the worse off?

Because Nick Locarno lies about the incident and even coerces colleagues to cover for him.

There have been interviews with VOY's creators where they have stated that they felt Nick was beyond redemption.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Okay, still trying to work this out...Nick *indirectly* gets *one* comrade killed (I say that because it was the entire Nova Squadron that was at fault), but Tom personally gets THREE killed because of pilot error, and it's *Nick* who's the worse off?

Because Nick Locarno lies about the incident and even coerces colleagues to cover for him.

Didn't Tom do that too, at first? Then he changed his mind and amended his report? Pretty much what Nick ends up doing.

 

[nx1701g]

Okay, still trying to work this out...Nick *indirectly* gets *one* comrade killed (I say that because it was the entire Nova Squadron that was at fault), but Tom personally gets THREE killed because of pilot error, and it's *Nick* who's the worse off?

Because Nick Locarno lies about the incident and even coerces colleagues to cover for him.

Didn't Tom do that too, at first? Then he changed his mind and amended his report? Pretty much what Nick ends up doing.

Paris did it willingly, Locarno only did it because he was caught and lied about it under oath. He also tried to sto Wesley from coming forward about it.