I think the original point was the producers felt he was irredeemable - not that any fan did.
Tom Paris vs Nicholas Locarno
- Thread starter Jeffe525
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I think the original point was the producers felt he was irredeemable - not that any fan did.
So they put a convict in his place with practically the same exact backstory???
Sorry, I'd sooner believe the royalties was the producers' biggest concern.
Tell that to Chakotay, Neelix, Tuvok and Harry Kim.
How long did that storyline last? A few episodes? Apart from a couple of Season 1 episodes and an episode called Thirty Days in, I think, Season 5 Paris was Good Guy Tom all the time. There was the arc in Season 2 but that was a ruse to catch the spy.
Locarno was redeemable in another show. Not in Star Trek Voyager. Deep Space Nine probably would have redeemed him but I don't see Voyager doing the same. The closest they got to doing that was with Suder the murderer but he was dispensed with almost immediately afterwards so the writers didn't have to deal with him.
I don't think Paris was ever a 'bad' guy. If Non Sequitur was any indication and if left to his own devices he would have lived a life of dissolution... perhaps eventually descending into the category of 'bad' after time but when Janeway caught up with him he was basically...angry. After that he out of prison, doing what he liked to do and was away from being the 'Admiral's son' he had no more need to be 'angry. He could be what he really was. A good guy. However he was still basically a self centered guy obsessed with his own interests but he gradually moved away from this to someone who accepted responsibility and by Season 7 was able to make his own needs secondary to those of others.
We really didn't seen enough of Nick Larcarno to know how he would react in other situations. Maybe if First Duty had been a two parter or if he had been a recurring character like Ensign Ro we might be able to make a better judgement. We saw that he said he wanted to protect the team but did he really mean that...or was he simply manipulating them to protect himself?
We really didn't seen enough of Nick Larcarno to know how he would react in other situations. Maybe if First Duty had been a two parter or if he had been a recurring character like Ensign Ro we might be able to make a better judgement. We saw that he said he wanted to protect the team but did he really mean that...or was he simply manipulating them to protect himself?
Paris was one of the few characters to receive development, possibly due to McNeil's dedication to the character and the craft, in a similar matter to Picardo.
Also, Locarno is a question mark. Redemption can be a long road road, if the writers want to take that challenge on. I mean, even Eddington had a redemption (of sorts) in DS9, so it definitely could have been done for the character.
Unless Starfleet is vindictive.
But, I'm confident that the reason Locarno didn't come back is due to royalties rather than "damaged goods."
I pretty much just head canon them into the same person. It's basically the same deal even if Locarno only did the right thing as his last option, I could totally see Paris chastising people into a cover up if he thought it was for the good of the team. It only seems more sinister since we're getting it from the perspective of Wesley instead of Locarno.
It's a shame they couldn't just use the same character officially.
It's a shame they couldn't just use the same character officially.
Thank you! Unredeemable my ass.
I don't know what I was thinking.
Locarno is a young kid. He and his pals agree to try a risky manoeuvre to impress. It goes wrong and someone dies in an accident. He encourages the team to lie about it but once spineless Wesley tells all, Locarno steps up and takes responsibility for everyone (which he doesn't have to do).
Paris is a grown man. He is involved in an accident that kills three people. He falsifies reports to cover it up but eventually comes forward.
Almost identical. Except that...
1 - Locarno was a kid.
2 - Locarno took full responsibility to save his pals.
I'd say Locarno is more redeemable quite honestly.
Paris is a grown man. He is involved in an accident that kills three people. He falsifies reports to cover it up but eventually comes forward.
Almost identical. Except that...
1 - Locarno was a kid.
2 - Locarno took full responsibility to save his pals.
I'd say Locarno is more redeemable quite honestly.
Actually, it's kind of interesting, given the variety of stunts and attempts to recreate different film scenes that college and high school students attempt (at least in the USA).
Locarno is basically a ROTC leader who made a dumb mistake that got someone killed. Rather than owning it, he tried to cover it up. I'm sure I can find a number of real world parallels and stories that are very similar.
Paris actually joined a terrorist organization and left Starfleet to do so. I mean, there was how similar characters in DS9 who went down that path and never came back.
So, both are redeemable, in my opinion.
Let's say they decided to keep RDM playing the part of Larcarno. Would the character have been allowed back into the Academy? Would he have skipped Starfleet and gone right to the Maquis...where he would have been caught and put in prison?
Would they have had an Admiral Larcarno who was once Janeway's commanding officer? Would Nick still have been given the rank of LT. and put in charge of flying Voyager?
And would everything else have gone the same...friendship with Harry, relationship with B'Elanna etc?
Would they have had an Admiral Larcarno who was once Janeway's commanding officer? Would Nick still have been given the rank of LT. and put in charge of flying Voyager?
And would everything else have gone the same...friendship with Harry, relationship with B'Elanna etc?
Yeah, I think so. Like I've said, the Paris/Lacarno backstory is virtually identical. And like others here have mentioned, that thread pretty much played itself out within the first few episodes anyway. After that, they are pretty much the same person. I don't think the writers would've reacted any different with McNeill's character.
Wasn't Locarno in his early twenties? ( as most people in their fourth year of university/college are) How much older was Paris? From what I can tell the incident that cost him his commission happened shorty after he graduated. So he was in his early twenties as well, a year or two older than Locarno was when he was expelled. A "kid" as well.
Well, unless Chakotay was one of his instructors at the Academy, there would not be that history between the two characters. Not that it matter much, but it is a detail of difference.
Also, I think McNeil might have played it up a little bit different as he would have had the history and the relationships from that episode to draw upon.
Again, minor differences, but they can inform the character in a way that may not have not been explored.
Though this is VOY so who knows?
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Locarno was a cadet not yet graduated when the group accident resulted in tragedy. Paris had graduated and was serving on board the USS Exeter when his screw up resulted in three deaths.
Just enough difference in age and experience for it to be noteworthy as far as I'm concerned. Plus Locarno and pals simply chose to omit the truth whereas Paris actively "falsified reports."
In a discussion about who is redeemable, I'd say those facts go in Locarno's favour.
Interesting point about Ro Laren. I tend to think of her as being on a redemption arc from the beginning so that endears her to me whereas Locarno was presented in a negative light in his one episode. Ro had multiple episodes to be developed but in the end she betrayed Starfleet. Even that didn't make me think of her as irredeemable because she joined The Maquis to help them and not for selfish reasons. Locarno did what he did because of his vanity, ambition and selfishness.
I got the impression...and this is purely my impression.. that Paris did what he did because he was mostly afraid of the opinion of his father.
I can understand this in a way. My husband was a military brat and his father had that hard commanding personality that didn't deal with mistakes or differences of opinions very well. I know his brothers made mistakes and hid them from him simply because they didn't want to have to deal with the drama. Don't get me wrong...people should own up to their mistakes but at the same time I understand why some people in some situations would want to bury them.
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