Star Trek: Voyager wasted TV’s greatest villain in his lone appearance

Mark Sheppard, arguably television’s greatest villain, played one on Star Trek: Voyager.

Star Trek: Voyager is a show that I think has great value and is my personal favorite series of the Star Trek franchise. That doesn’t mean there aren’t episodes or ideas that aren’t worth criticizing, however. One of the biggest mistakes that Voyager made is not utilizing the talents of the great Mark Sheppard beyond his singular appearance.

Sheppard played Leucon, the father of Icheb in the season six episode, “Child’s Play”. The episode would see Icheb become the first of the Borg children introduced in “Collective” to be returned to their home. His father, Leucon, was played by Sheppard, who masterfully played his role with a certain duality that is hard to pull off.

Leucon was happy to see his son, at first. Yet, as time went on it was revealed why. Icheb’s parents genetically modified Icheb to produce a pathogen that would destroy the Borg, which is ultimately what broke Icheb and the other assimilated children free from the Borg hive-mind in the first place. This pathogen was intended to cripple the Borg and protect Luecon’s people, the Brunali.

Seeing a man so desperate to save his people that he’d sacrifice his son is truly Star Trek. To only give a character like Leucon and an actor like Sheppard one episode is utter negligence.

Star Trek wasted Mark Sheppard by having him in just one episode

Sheppard is most known to fans for his roles in Supernatural as the demon Crowley. He’s also had major roles in Doctor Who, the Battlestar Galactica remake, and the show 24. He’s also played the villain in shows like Warehouse 13, Burn Notice, and other shows.

To say Sheppard is the best actor to play a villain right now may not be a stretch. There are other contenders for the role but Sheppard has a sincerity and a charm about him that makes him likable. Much like Marc Alaimo, who played Gul Dukat in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

A good villain, as Alaimo has shown, needs to be both charming and deep. His vision and his causes need to be understandable if not relatable. Dukat truly believed he was going to be heralded a savior of the Bajorans. Foolish, yes, but understandable. He thought himself a savior.

So when we find out later in the series that Dukat would give up everything to save his daughter, who is half-Bajoran and therefore shunned by Cardassia, Dukat sides with her. It makes him likable. He’s still Space Hitler, sure, but he loves his daughter and he’ll do anything to protect her. That makes him likable.

Then when he goes full Space-Nazi in the last part of the series, it makes his descent into true evil (if he wasn’t already there), even more, impressive to watch. We’ve been on a roller coaster with this character, someone we thought was trying to be redeemed. He never was, he just had one positive trait, his love for family, and the rest was just the lyrics to “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch”.

To be able to take a man who tried to make a space genocidal monster into someone fans could like takes real acting talent. Sheppard has that talent.

We saw it in Supernatural where he was mostly a villain until he wasn’t, and then he was again. Yet, his motives were never betrayed by his waffling. He wanted power and to survive. Those two ideas allowed Crowley to exist as whatever the writers needed him to be, as they never betrayed the core concept of the character. Much like DS9 did with Dukat’s need to be a savior. As long as he was able to help someone, he was within the lines of who he was.

So to not bring Sheppard into Voyager on a more regular basis was an utter crime. The series never had its Dukat, the closest being Seska, but she was never the character Dukat was. Sheppard could’ve done more with his role as Icheb’s father, and it’s a shame we didn’t get to see it.