How this one Star Trek character got his much-deserved recognition in The Next Generation after a supporting role in TOS

One of the most popular characters in the Star Trek universe is Lieutenant Montgomery Scott, or Scotty, warmly and gritfully portrayed by James Doohan. Initially introduced as the hard-drinking, harder-working chief engineer in the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS), Scotty has been the genius who has saved the ship on numerous occasions.

However, despite his pivotal role in the crew’s life, the original 1960s run never provided him with an actual character-driven limelight. The gravitational attraction of the main three, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, kept Scotty spinning outside the emotional heart of the series. And then Star Trek eventually gave him the recognition he had been deprived of for decades.

The Next Generation (TNG) Season 6 episode titled Relics both honored the legacy of Scotty and used his return to reflect on aging, obsolescence, and finding relevance. It was a late, yet touching homage that guaranteed him a place not only as an engineer, but as one of the most human characters of Starfleet.

The long journey that Scotty had to go through before reaching such recognition was not confined to the indelible character portrayed by Doohan but also to the ever-growing canon of Star Trek. Following TOS, Doohan portrayed the character in the animated series and seven feature films, keeping Scotty alive in the minds of the audience. It was, however, the Relics that gave him narrative depth.

The episode, which aired on October 12, 1992, reintroduced Scotty in the 24th Century, having been rescued by the Enterprise-D crew after surviving 75 years in a transporter buffer in a wrecked Federation ship. It was a clever plot twist that enabled the authors to offer Scotty his most personal episode up to date, one that dealt with legacy and renewal, and enabled both the actor and the character to shine in a manner that the original series never afforded them.

How Scotty got his recognition in Star Trek: The Next Generation

Even though James Doohan as Scotty was invaluable in TOS, he never had a moment to carry the narrative weight of an episode. He was always a subordinate, and his genius was placed in the service of the daring orders of Kirk and the icy logic of Spock.

The seven Star Trek feature films presented him with additional screentime but very little character. It was the Relics that changed the formula. In that episode, Scotty is found alive, in a transporter pattern aboard the wreckage of the USS Jenolen, marooned in a giant Dyson sphere, an awe-inspiring megastructure that engulfs a complete star.

What unfolds is not a rescue operation but an exploration of time and relevance. The reunion of Scotty with Starfleet, which is now one hundred years ahead of him, pushes him to awkward comradeship with Geordi La Forge, the current chief engineer of Enterprise-D.

Their encounters reveal the incongruity between old ingenuity and modern efficiency, as Scotty has trouble adjusting to a future that seems to have outgrown him. However, when the Enterprise is caught in the relentless gravity of the Dyson sphere, it is Scotty’s improvisational genius that bails them out. He does not end his arc with obsolescence, but agency: because he has a shuttlecraft, Scotty can set off on his own journey into the stars, a goodbye that befits a man embodying fearless invention.

There is no overstating the rarity of this episode. Star Trek rarely takes time to commemorate supporting actors of its earlier years, and Relics is one of the rare occasions on which a secondary TOS character was made the focus of the episode. The episode was not just a nostalgic cameo but a dignified nod to Scotty, who returned to grapple with the universal issues of aging, change, and self-worth.

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It was a catharsis to the fans: Scotty had been in the shadow so much, it was time to place him in the light.

Also: How Star Trek: Strange New Worlds connects back to the Metrons in the original show, explained

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