Star Trek: 10 Most Shocking Returns
4. Sito Jaxa (Star Trek: Lower Decks)
Star Trek: Lower Decks was inspired in no small part by Lower Decks, the seventh season episode of The Next Generation. At the time of release, it was an unusual episode, in that it focused on a cast of characters who were not the bridge crew. While the conceit would prove to be a great success, it was a gamble at the time.
Shannon Fill had previously appeared as then-Cadet Sito Jaxa in The First Duty, the fifth season episode that focused on an accident at Starfleet Academy, one which she and several other cadets attempted to cover up. While that episode focused primarily on Wesley Crusher and Nick Locarno, Lower Decks saw Ensign Sito attempting to prove herself as an officer aboard the Enterprise.
The announcement of her death at the episode's close was a crushing blow, so it was quite the surprise when Fill reprised the role in a vocal cameo for the show that was inspired by her episode. Old Friends, New Planets features a flashback to Beckett Mariner's Academy days, during which time she was enamoured by Cadet Sito. Wil Wheaton and Robert Duncan McNeill also reprise their roles from The First Duty, but the greatest surprise came from Shannon Fill herself, as she had retired from acting by this point.
Returning to the franchise in an episode celebrating the story that spawned it, Shannon Fill as Cadet Sito Jaxa was a true sit up and point moment in recent Star Trek history.