Tom Paris: The Redeemed Rogue

Was Lieutenant Tom Paris “Star Trek: Voyager’s” answer to Han Solo? At first, the comparison sounds like “Star Trek” heresy. After all, Han Solo was a wisecracking smuggler who flew the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.

Tom Paris? He was a disgraced Starfleet pilot fresh out of a Federation penal colony.

But the more I thought about it, the more the comparison made perfect sense.

When “Star Trek: Voyager” premiered in 1995, it faced the daunting task of following the enormously successful “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. Rather than repeat the formula, the series broke new ground with the franchise's first female captain, a lone starship stranded 70,000 light-years from home, and a crew filled with flawed, unconventional characters.

Among them was Lieutenant Tom Paris—a cocky, charming, and rebellious pilot with a troubled past. The more I thought about it, the more I realized he wasn't all that different from Star Wars' Han Solo. Both relied on swagger to hide their regrets, possessed exceptional piloting skills, and ultimately found redemption through the people who believed in them.

During my recent two-part conversation with actor, director, and producer Robert Duncan McNeill on Episodes 181 and 182 of the Hollywood Obsessed Podcast, we discussed the fascinating origins of Tom Paris. Longtime Trekkies know that McNeill first appeared in the “Star Trek” universe as Cadet Nicholas Locarno in the memorable “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episode, "The First Duty"—a brilliant but arrogant Starfleet cadet whose reckless choices led to tragedy and his expulsion from the Academy.

A few years later, McNeill received a call to audition for another disgraced pilot on a brand-new “Star Trek” series. Although Tom Paris shared striking similarities with Locarno, he was ultimately created as a new character—a decision that would launch one of the franchise's most compelling redemption arcs.

Inspired by my conversation with Robert Duncan McNeill, let's set a course for the Delta Quadrant and revisit the remarkable journey of Tom Paris—a man who overcame his mistakes to become one of "Star Trek: Voyager's" most beloved heroes, and perhaps the franchise's closest answer to Han Solo after all.

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LOCARNO 2.0?

Preparing for my interview with Robert Duncan McNeill gave me the perfect excuse to revisit "The First Duty." Watching it again, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was witnessing Tom Paris before he ever boarded the USS Voyager.

Sure, the names were different—but the personality wasn't.

Both characters are gifted pilots with oversized egos, authority issues, and careers derailed by disastrous mistakes. It's no wonder fans have spent decades insisting they're essentially the same person.

So why didn't Voyager simply bring back Nick Locarno?

The answer wasn't creative—it was financial.

Using Locarno would have required the production to pay royalties to the writers of "The First Duty" every time the character appeared. The solution? Create Tom Paris: virtually the same backstory, the same actor, but with a brand-new name.

In my interview, McNeill laughed about the similarities, and honestly, it's hard not to smile at the whole situation. Sometimes television history is shaped less by storytelling than by contracts.

Fortunately, Locarno eventually got his second chance too.

More than 30 years after his original appearance, McNeill reprised the role in Season 4 of “Star Trek: Lower Decks.” This time, Locarno returns as a bitter former cadet leading the renegade Nova Fleet in an ambitious attempt to unite disillusioned lower-deck officers across the Alpha Quadrant.

Of course, because it's Lower Decks, the high stakes come with plenty of laughs.

One of the funniest moments has Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) insisting that Nick Locarno looks absolutely nothing like Tom Paris, while Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) argues they have exactly the same face. It's a wonderfully self-aware joke that pokes fun at one of the longest-running debates in “Star Trek” fandom—and proves the writers know their audience all too well.

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PARIS FINDS HIS PLACE

When “Star Trek: Voyager” debuted with "Caretaker," Tom Paris wasn't introduced as a hero. He was an ex-con.

Serving an 18-month sentence in New Zealand's Federation penal colony for joining the Maquis, Paris had become cynical, guarded, and convinced he'd squandered every opportunity life had given him.

Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), however, saw something everyone else overlooked.

Having known Tom as the son of her former commanding officer, Admiral Owen Paris (Richard Herd), she believed he deserved another chance. She recruited him to pilot Voyager on its dangerous mission into the Badlands, offering him the opportunity to earn both his freedom and his self-respect through service.

That trust wasn't immediately shared by the rest of the crew.

To many aboard Voyager, Tom was simply a former traitor looking for an early release. His sarcasm, impulsiveness, and reputation made him difficult to know. Yet beneath the swagger was a man weighed down by guilt and disappointment, desperate to prove—to everyone, including himself—that he could become something more than the mistakes he'd made.

Robert Duncan McNeill never felt Tom fully clicked during the show's first season. Beginning in Season 2, he worked closely with the producers to reshape the character, gradually replacing some of Tom's rougher edges with the humor, warmth, and love of 20th-century pop culture that would eventually make him one of Voyager's most endearing personalities.

It was a creative adjustment that transformed a good character into a great one.

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PARIS AND THE CAPTAIN

Every redemption story needs someone willing to believe in the hero before he believes in himself.

For Tom Paris, that person was Kathryn Janeway.

Years of trying—and failing—to live up to Admiral Owen Paris' expectations had left Tom deeply suspicious of authority, often putting him at odds with officers like Tuvok (Tim Russ) and Chakotay (Robert Beltran). Janeway approached him differently. She saw beyond the disciplinary record and recognized a talented officer who simply needed someone to believe in him.

Over seven seasons, their relationship became one of Voyager's richest dynamics—part captain and lieutenant, part mentor and protégé, and, at times, almost a surrogate mother and son.

Janeway never excused Tom's mistakes, but she refused to let them define him. That confidence gave him the courage to reinvent himself, ultimately becoming one of her most trusted officers and one of the crew's most dependable friends.

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HARRY & TOM: VOYAGER'S DEFINITIVE BROMANCE

Every great television series has an unforgettable friendship. For Voyager, it was Tom Paris and Harry Kim.

From the moment fresh-faced Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) ignored everyone's warnings about befriending the ship's resident ex-con, the pair became the emotional heart of the series.

Harry offered friendship without judgment. Tom encouraged Harry to loosen up, take chances, and occasionally stop treating the Starfleet handbook like sacred scripture. Together, they were endlessly entertaining.

Whether they were starring in Tom's wonderfully cheesy “Captain Proton” adventures, shooting pool at Chez Sandrine, exploring Fair Haven, or simply trading sarcastic one-liners, the pair made Voyager feel like more than just a ship stranded in the Delta Quadrant—it felt like home.

Their friendship also produced some of the series' most emotional moments.

In "Favorite Son," Tom tells Harry, "Since I've been on Voyager, I've tried to be more like you... You're my role model. You're reliable, hardworking, extremely punctual. Did I mention polite?" It's funny, heartfelt, and perfectly captures the respect they had for one another.

Their loyalty was repeatedly tested. In "The Chute," Harry refuses to abandon Tom despite a prison implant driving them both toward violence. In the alternate future of "Timeless," an older Harry devotes fifteen years of his life trying to rewrite history and save Tom and the rest of the crew after 'Voyager' is destroyed. Few friendships anywhere in "Star Trek" are as genuine—or as enduring.

Perhaps that's because the chemistry wasn't limited to the screen.

Robert Duncan McNeill and Garrett Wang remain close friends today, co-hosting “The Delta Flyers” podcast, where they revisit every episode of “Star Trek: Voyager,” swap behind-the-scenes stories, and remind fans why their on-screen friendship remains one of the franchise's very best.

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ROMANCING IN THE DELTA QUADRANT

Like many young Starfleet officers, Tom Paris spent Voyager's seven-year journey home looking for love. His early romantic adventures were...let's just say they were hit-or-miss. His unrequited crush on Kes never quite got off the launch pad, but those early misfires hinted at something deeper: Tom wasn't simply looking for a girlfriend—he was searching for a fresh start.

Then came “Threshold.” Ah yes...the episode that has launched countless "What were the writers thinking?" debates among “Star Trek” fans.

It begins innocently enough. Tom accomplishes the impossible by breaking the Warp 10 barrier. Unfortunately, proving you can exist everywhere in the universe simultaneously comes with one tiny side effect: you evolve into a giant salamander.

As if that weren't bizarre enough, Tom kidnaps Captain Janeway, takes her on another Warp 10 flight, and she undergoes the same amphibious transformation. The pair promptly abandon civilization, settle down on a distant planet, and—because apparently the writers had completely abandoned all restraint—produce salamander offspring.

Thankfully, The Doctor (Robert Picardo) arrives, reverses the mutations with an antiproton treatment, and restores everyone to their human selves. Back aboard Voyager, Tom and Janeway silently agree on what may be the most relatable response in television history:

We're never talking about this again.

“Star Trek “has given us mirror universes, Borg Queens, sentient holograms, time travel, and tribbles. Yet somehow...this remains one of the franchise's strangest hours.

Fortunately for Tom—and for Voyager fans everywhere—his real love story was still waiting in the wings. B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) proved to be a considerably better romantic match than a hyper-evolved amphibian.

And honestly, the less said about those salamander babies, the better.

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COMING TO TERMS WITH HIS FATHER

Beneath Tom Paris' confidence lay a wound that shaped much of his life: his complicated relationship with his father, Admiral Owen Paris.

Desperate to earn his father's approval, Tom followed him into Starfleet, but living under the weight of the Paris name proved overwhelming. Early in his career, a piloting mistake claimed the lives of three fellow officers. Rather than immediately tell the truth, Tom tried to conceal what had happened before finally confessing.

The fallout was devastating.

Dishonorably discharged from Starfleet and estranged from his father, Tom drifted toward the Maquis, searching for the purpose and belonging he had lost.

That emotional baggage followed him aboard 'Voyager,' making his gradual reconciliation with Admiral Paris one of the series' most rewarding long-term storylines. By finally confronting his past instead of running from it, Tom discovered something he'd been chasing his entire life: self-forgiveness.

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FINDING TRUE LOVE

Every great redemption story deserves a great love story.

For Tom Paris, that story was B'Elanna Torres.

Their relationship worked because neither of them was perfect. Both carried emotional scars, struggled with anger and self-doubt, and wrestled with difficult relationships with their fathers. Instead of trying to fix one another, they challenged each other to grow.

Their chemistry simmered for several seasons before finally igniting in Season 3's "Blood Fever," when B'Elanna's emotions—intensified by the Vulcan mating drive known as Pon Farr—forced her to confront feelings she had long tried to suppress.

One season later came one of 'Voyager's' most memorable romantic moments.

In "Day of Honor," believing they are about to die while drifting helplessly through space, Tom and B'Elanna finally confess their love. It's a beautifully understated scene that feels completely earned because the audience has watched their relationship evolve over time.

By the final season, they had become true partners.

Following their victory in the interstellar race in "Drive," the couple married, marking another milestone in Tom's remarkable transformation from troubled outcast to devoted husband. Their journey came full circle in the series finale, "Endgame," with the birth of their daughter, Miral, just as 'Voyager' finally returned home to Earth.

After years spent searching for acceptance, Tom discovered exactly where he belonged.

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WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS

So...was Tom Paris “Star Trek’s” Han Solo?

Yes.

And no.

Like the legendary Corellian smuggler, Tom began his journey as a charming rogue with a rebellious streak, a checkered past, and a healthy skepticism of authority.

But that's where the similarities end.

Han Solo's story is about becoming a hero.

Tom Paris' story is about earning redemption.

Over seven seasons, audiences watched him evolve from a dishonorably discharged pilot and former Maquis prisoner into one of Captain Janeway's most trusted officers, Harry Kim's closest friend, B'Elanna Torres' devoted husband, and the proud father of Miral Paris.

By the time 'Voyager 'finally reached the Alpha Quadrant in 2378, Tom had found everything he'd spent a lifetime searching for: purpose, friendship, forgiveness, and family.

That's why, more than thirty years after “Star Trek: Voyager” premiered, fans are still celebrating Tom Paris’ journey, and welcoming Robert Duncan McNeill at conventions around the world.

Tom Paris reminds us that our mistakes don't have to define us.

And that's a story that never goes out of style.

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Some facts featured in this article were sourced from IMDb and Wikipedia.

If this look back at Tom Paris has you feeling nostalgic for “Star Trek: Voyager,” I hope you'll listen to my two-part conversation with actor, director, and producer Robert Duncan McNeill on the Hollywood Obsessed Podcast (Episodes 181 and 182).

Across two episodes, Robert reflects on his remarkable four-decade career—from growing up in Atlanta and studying at Juilliard to his early work on Broadway, “All My Children,“ his starring role in the 1987 fantasy flick “Masters of the Universe” and his brief (but important) role on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” before landing the career-defining role of Tom Paris on ‘Voyager.’ Along the way, he shares candid behind-the-scenes stories about launching both “Star Trek: Voyager” and the UPN network, discusses some of the series' most memorable episodes, and talks about returning to the “Star Trek” universe as Nick Locarno in “Star Trek: Lower Decks.”

We also explore Robert's acclaimed career behind the camera, directing and producing hit series including “Chuck “and “Resident Alien,” as well as the creation of “The Delta Flyers,” the hugely popular rewatch podcast he co-hosts with longtime friend and former co-star Garrett Wang - who has also been a guest on the podcast in - Episodes 47 & 48.

Whether you’re obsessed with everything “Star Trek” like I am or simply enjoy hearing great Hollywood stories from someone who's lived them, I think you'll enjoy these entertaining conversations.

Listen Here:

Episode 181: HERE

Episode 182: HERE