Summary
Star Trek: The Next Generationoften underutilized Dr. Beverly Crusher, despite being the Chief Medical Officer on the USS Enterprise-D.Dr. Crusher was an intelligent and compassionate doctor, who served as CMO while also caring for her teenage son, Wesley Crusher(Wil Wheaton). Dr. Crusher served under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), who was her close, personal friend and potential love interest. ThroughoutTNG, Picard and Crusher appear to display feelings for one another, but they never truly explore a romantic relationship.
When given solid material, the versatile Gates McFadden proved she had the acting skills to do more, but Dr. Beverly Crusher was often sidelined in favor of otherStar Trek: The Next Generationcharacters.Not only was Dr. Crusher unceremoniously replaced inTNGseason 2, but she also got less development than many ofTNG’smale characters.WhileStar Trek: The Next Generationwas progressive in many ways, it sometimes failed its female characters. Although Beverly didn’t fare quite as poorly as Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) in this regard, there were several times throughoutTNGwhen Dr. Crusher deserved better.
10 Best Dr. Crusher TNG & Star Trek Picard Episodes
Gates McFadden has had many great moments during her time as Dr. Beverly Crusher, and here are 10 of her best episodes from TNG and Picard.
5Dr. Crusher Was Unceremoniously Replaced In Star Trek: TNG Season 2
Gates McFadden was fired after TNG season 1.
Despite being a popular character withStar Trek: The Next Generationfans,Dr. Beverly Crusher was replaced inTNGseason 2 by Dr. Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur).With a harsher bedside manner than Crusher, Pulaski was meant to channel the personality of Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) fromStar Trek: The Original Series. However, this dynamic didn’t work as well onTNG,and Pulaski proved less popular among fans than Crusher was.
In-universe, Dr. Beverly Crusher’s departure was explained with a line of dialogue about how she had become Head of Starfleet Medical, but the real reason had to do with behind-the-scenes conflicts.Star Trek: The Next Generationseason 2 showrunnerMaurice Hurley disliked Gates McFaddenand the character of Dr. Crusher, so he had her fired after season 1.It felt odd and unfair for Dr. Crusher to be replaced with so little fanfare,especially considering her son Wesley remained on the Enterprise.
Dr. Crusher returned inStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 3 and remained for the rest of the series, thanks largely to support from fans and a plea from Patrick Stewart himself.
4Beverly Crusher Was One-Dimensional As A Caregiver & Mother
One of Dr. Beverly Crusher’s most important attributes was her profound empathy and conviction regarding right and wrong.Crusher was one of the few USS Enterprise-D officers who would openly challenge Captain Picard when she felt it necessary,and she sometimes violated the Prime Directive in the name of compassion. While this was certainly a strength of Dr. Crusher’s, she rarely got to be anything else. While characters like Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) and Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) got to be many different things, Beverly was pigeonholed as the compassionate doctor and matronly mother.
Although Dr. Crusher and her son Wesley always appeared to have a positive mother/son relationship,Beverly was too often reduced to playing the role of a nagging, sitcom-style mother.Wesley would go to the male crew members on the Enterprise for advice, whichGates McFadden has said she found insulting.While it makes sense that Wesley would seek out a father figure for certain problems, he seems like the type of son who would have trusted his mom’s advice, too.
3Dr. Crusher Never Got To Have A True Romance With Captain Picard
AlthoughStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 1 teased a romantic connection between Dr. Beverly Crusher and Captain Jean-Luc Picard, the two were never allowed to officially become a couple on screen. This was largely due toStar Trekcreator Gene Roddenberry, who didn’t want to shake up the status quo ofTNG’screw so drastically.Picard’s friendship with Beverly’s deceased first husband, Lt. Commander Jack R. Crusher (Doug Wert), also complicated matters,but Beverly and Jean-Luc clearly cared about each other from the start.
Jean-Luc Picard And Beverly Crusher’s Star Trek Romance Explained
Although they never officially got together on screen, Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher share a love story that has endured for decades.
ThroughoutStar Trek: The Next Generation,Captain Picard remained closed off from most of his crew members, rarely revealing his true feelings. Although Beverly Crusher was more open in her relationships, she held back from admitting her feelings for Picard.Neither Beverly nor Jean-Luc fully express their feelings for one another untilTNGseason 7, episode 8, “Attached,“but it’s only because they can hear one another’s thoughts. TheStar Trek: The Next Generationmoviesignored Beverly and Jean-Luc’s history, instead pairing Captain Picard with other love interests.
Star Trek: Picardseason 3 revealed that Beverly and Jean-Luc did go on a romantic vacation sometime afterStar Trek: Nemesis,which later resulted in the birth of Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers). Beverly kept Jack from Jean-Luc, however, fearing for her son’s safety in the face of Picard’s many enemies.
2Star Trek: TNG’s “Chain of Command” Fails Dr. Crusher
Crusher could have been an action hero, as well as a doctor, scientist, and mother.
InStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 6, episode 10, “Chain of Command, Part I”, Dr. Crusher joins Captain Picard and Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) on a covert mission to destroy Cardassian biological weapons.While this sets up a fun, more action-oriented story for Dr. Crusher, “Chain of Command” ultimately fails the Enterprise doctor.While training for the mission, Beverly struggles to keep up, even though she should have gone through all the same physical training as the men around her.
Although Crusher is on this particular mission to identify and destroy any biotoxins, she is forced to use her “feminine charms” to convince a Ferengi to provide her team with transportation.Crusher later gets covered by rubble while crawling through a cave, prompting Worf to go back and rescue her.“Chain of Command” had the opportunity to add more layers to Beverly Crusher by showing her competence as a Starfleet officer. Instead, the episode reduces Crusher to a pretty face and a damsel in distress.
Star Trek: Picardseason 3 finally gave viewers a more three-dimensional version of Dr. Crusher, showing that she can be a compassionate doctor, a brilliant scientist, a great mother, and fire a weapons system with frightening accuracy.
Beverly’s romance with Ronin in TNG season 7, episode 14, “Sub Rosa” is out of character.
Last, but not least,Star Trek: The Next Generation’sinfamous ghost romanceepisode, “Sub Rosa,” is not a great look for Dr. Beverly Crusher.When Beverly attends her grandmother’s funeral on Caldos IV, she encounters a “ghost” named Ronin (Duncan Regehr),who her grandmother had been involved with romantically. Ronin claims to now be in love with Beverly, and he manipulates her mind so that she develops feelings for him, too.
Dr. Crusher so believes herself to be in love with Ronin, that she leaves her position on the Enterprise to live on Caldos IV with him. When Captain Picard beams down to question Ronin, Ronin attacks him, which helps snap Beverly out of her infatuation with the ghostly being.Ronin then reveals himself to be an anaphasic alien who has fed on the women of Beverly’s family for generations.Dr. Crusher eventually thwarts Ronin, but the whole story is simply bizarre, and it’s unfortunate that it remains one of Crusher’s most memorable episodes ofStar Trek: The Next Generation.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Cast
Star Trek: The Next Generation follows Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew aboard the USS Enterprise NCC-1701D as they embark on interstellar explorations, seeking out new worlds and civilizations.
