10 Best Star Trek Characters Only In One Episode

"The Bonding" is classic TNG at it's best. It's a poignant story of loss and grief mixed with the kind of crazy plot which only Star Trek can deliver. When young Jeremy's mother is killed by an ancient mine, he has to process her death while an alien being who feels responsible attempts to take her place.

Both well written and superbly acted, Jeremy is a character who shines. The child actor who portrays him, Gabriel Damon (also known for playing Hob, the kid drug dealer in Robocop 2) delivers a top notch performance. His grief, anger and confusion all feel incredibly genuine as the episode unfolds.

To be fair, TNG has a lot of these orphan kids show up but Jeremy stands out among the bunch. He's got this real chip on his shoulder that makes him endearing and the fact that all he has left is the crew of the Enterprise is played well. It's those connections he shares with the crew that allow them to shine. Wesley Crusher in particular gets to have some great character development.

This is a character who in that single episode was built up so strongly that he could have returned as a regular and it would have worked. Had they chosen to keep following his journey, he could have become a better Wesley than Wesley and through his presence would have made Wesley a better character.

He was the perfect solution to the problem of Wesley's lack of age appropriate friends. A problem which made him hard to identify with. However with Jeremy around he could have taken a big brother role which would have grown the character in all of the right ways. When Wesley left in the next season Jeremy would have been there to step in and bring a different energy. And when Alexander arrived Jeremy could become the big brother, which would have improved Alexander's character too.

Jeremy Aster is not only a memorable character but a missed golden opportunity for TNG.