 Peter Weller was cast in the role of John Frederick Paxton . Weller had previously appeared in other science fiction productions , including as the main character in the film RoboCop ( 1987 ) . He also played Chuck Taggart in the television series Odyssey 5 , which had been created by Manny Coto . Weller said of the plot of the episode , " The great thing about the whole Star Trek legacy is that they ... metaphorize , they allegorize and they narrate what 's going on the planet today " . He would later go on to gain a role in the movie Star Trek Into Darkness ( 2013 ) . This was the third Star Trek appearance of Harry Groener , who played Nathan Samuels . He had previously portrayed Tam Elbrum in The Next Generation episode " Tin Man " and the Magistrate in the Voyager episode " Sacred Ground " . Eric Pierpoint returned as Harris , whom he had previously played earlier in the season in the episode " Affliction " . Game show host Tom Bergeron made a cameo in the episode as a Coridan Ambassador . He had previously appeared as D 'Marr in the first season episode " Oasis " . 
