Exclusive: Gates McFadden On Why She’s Sad To Not Be In Star Trek: Picard’ Season 2

The new series Star Trek: Picard has brought in a few of Sir Patrick Stewart’s Star Trek: The Next Generation co-stars in season one, including Brent Spiner, Marina Sirtis and Jonathan Frakes. Season two is currently in production, and there are more TNG stars on the way, including Whoopi Goldberg and John de Lancie. However, earlier in the year Michael Dorn told TrekMovie he didn’t expect to appear in season two, and we recently learned that LeVar Burton won’t either. And now TrekMovie has confirmed with Gates McFadden that she is also not going to be part of season two, and she has some thoughts on that.

Next week Gates McFadden launches her brand new InvestiGates podcast featuring intimate conversations with her friends from Star Trek. TrekMovie had a chance to talk to Gates about the new audio endeavor, her involvement with the upcoming History Channel Trek docuseries, and her time with TNG. The full interview will be available to listen to on Friday on our weekly podcast All Access Star Trek, which also includes a brief discussion about the possibility of McFadden appearing in Star Trek: Picard.

In our last interview with the actress in June 2020, she told us there was a “good chance” she would reprise her role as Dr. Beverly Crusher in season two of Picard, revealing she had already been speaking to the show’s producers. However, speaking to TrekMovie this week, McFadden confirmed season two is not going to happen, saying:

I’m not in the second season. I’m sad that I’m not. Things have changed a lot on different levels. So I have no idea at this point. I’m disappointed because it would have been so much fun to just work with those people. But we’ll see. I have no idea. I wish I could tell you.

McFadden didn’t express the same optimism as LeVar Burton recently did when saying that even though he won’t be in season two of Picard, he still expects to show up on the series, presumably in season three. And that could be sooner than we think as we recently learned Picard is shooting seasons two and three back to back, at least according to John de Lancie.

Gates McFadden and Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: Nemesis

Throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation there was a romantic subtext between Beverly Crusher and Jean-Luc Picard. The series finale even showed a possible future where the two had been married (and divorced). Speaking to TrekMovie, McFadden talked about how she liked playing this aspect of Crusher:

I think that there was a chemistry between us. I can’t speak for Patrick, but I really loved playing scenes with his character. In the first season when we did the episode “The Naked Now,” that was the audition scene that I did for Star Trek. So she’s free and she’s coming on to him and he’s coming on to her. I loved that that was underneath. There was something so wonderful about these two people who were usually very serious.

As for where she sees Beverly and Jean-Luc’s relationship at the end of the 24th century, McFadden told TrekMovie’s podcasters she is open to ideas, saying:

It could be any number of things. I think by then people are living so much longer. And I know that when there’s people in your past that you loved, you kind of always loved them. And yet you’re not going to be with them, but there’s history, there’s background. Or the same can be true in reverse, people you couldn’t stand and maybe things have changed.

I think a lot about time and ponder on it. And what is time? Is it just this construct that we’ve put on something we don’t understand? And people in  the Next Gen century, they lived a lot longer. And they could choose to change their appearances in ways that we can’t yet do. I don’t know, I think there’s a lot of possibilities. I wouldn’t want to limit something in a sort of soap opera way. But I think there’s a tremendous amount of possibilities that could happen. But that’s me. And I’m not not a writer on the show.

Picard and Crusher in an alternative future in “All Good Things”

More from Gates on Friday with All Access Star Trek podcast

Check back on Friday for the full interview with Gates McFadden on TrekMovie’s All Access Star Trek podcast where we learn a lot more about her new podcast and The Center Seat docuseries. She also offers some frank views on her time on Star Trek: The Next Generation and the TNG movies too.

UPDATE: Podcast available to listen to now

You can subscribe to the TrekMovie Podcast Network at Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyPocket Casts, and Stitcher.

InvestiGates arrives May 12

Gates McFadden’s new podcast InvestiGates will be available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, Amazon Music and more starting May 12th. You can check out a preview clip from the episode featuring LeVar Burton below.


Keep up with all the Star Trek: Picard news and analysis at TrekMovie.com.

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Patience, Ms. McFadden. Even if you died offscreen somewhere, Q can blink you back into existance in an alternate universe somewhere, just to annoy (the s**t outta) JLP with an ill timed case of ED.

Bev & Jean Luc were meant to be together before their first TNG scenes were filmed. I do not understand any of this of why she is not part of Picard yet. They have been my space parents for almost 35 years, & they need to be represented.

Absolutely agree with with everything you say! Beverly Crusher should be in Picard, feel certain their characters would always have kept in touch. 🖖

He seems to have kept in touch with his doctor from the Stargazer.

The fact that they didn’t get them together during the shows or movies is both a blessing and a curse. A lot of interesting stories could have been mined from it, but I think getting Riker & Troi together was enough, so getting Picard and Crusher together might have felt redundant, character-wise.

I am fine with the idea that they went their separate ways once Picard was promoted. Not everyone stays close with their friends for their entire lives.

Not everyone stays close with their friends? More like not many do actually.
People naturally just drift apart over time as their lives change and also personalities change. Not to mention a fair few people also drift apart through betrayals and falling outs that do irreparable damage, and that can happen to even previously close friends.

TNG had this internal world view that people are all happy with each other, that everybody got on and nobody had fallings out or whatnot, but let’s all face a bit of hard reality here, in the real world, people don’t normally stay in touch like this for decades.

But I hope Bev and Pic are not enemies of course, and I highly doubt that would happen. But I think its quite possible for the characters to not actively be in touch with each other at this point.
To be honest I had a vibe that the characters were saying goodbye in Nemesis. Looking back I do think it would have been interesting to see a movie more focused on Beverly and Picard. It would have been very brave in the sense that Gates McFadden was never really known as a strong actor in the ensemble, but who knows, she might have given the performance of a lifetime and surprised everyone.

Agreed – I really wish they had done a lot more with their relationship on the show and in the films. It could have made for some nice chemistry onscreen and storytelling, and dispelled the notion of ‘the captain’s only Lady is his ship.’

Because the writers have no balls, that’s why Crusher hasn’t returned. They don’t have a clue how to handle it. They thought the stunt they pulled with Picard was brave and clever while all it did was alienate quite a lot of the viewers. The relationship between JL and Beverly has been at the top of everyone’s mind since they announced a Picard show. Actually, maybe it’s better if she doesn’t show. They’ll bring her in and then just have her eye ripped out.

Exactly! Beverly should’ve been on top of the list to appear in Picard before anyone else including Q. It’s odd we won’t see her next season and she was the ONLY one who wasn’t even mentioned in season one.

It’s entirely possible that among that group of milktoast characters Crusher was arguably the most bland. Honestly she was the one I figured would be one of the last to bring back. Although I figured we would see Worf by season 2 so what do I know?

We’ll agree to disagree. I always loved Beverly and in my current rewatch of TNG right now, still love her (although I would say Pulaski finally grew on me more). I adore those characters, you don’t, it’s all opinions at the end of the day. But they are fiercely popular for a reason in the fanbase.

And McFadden said it herself (which oddly most people seem to be missing even though it was highlighted in the article itself) they already were talking about bringing her back in season 2. She stated herself it was a good chance it was happening. It just sounded like the story they originally had changed and she no longer fit into it. So that’s life. Hopefully she will appear in another season, but it will just depend on the direction they go in I guess.

You know, when I did my rewatch that just finished a few months ago I liked Pulaski a lot better than when I saw it the first time, too. The first time she came across as little more than a McCoy clone. But upon repeat viewing even with some repeat characteristics she became one of the more interesting characters. I found myself wishing she stayed.

Or perhaps the writers have something bigger planned for her than a season two cameo.

“a lot of the viewers” and “everyone’s mind” is projection.

Maybe it alienated you, and it was at the top of your mind, and that’s fine, but …one cannot know what *every* Picard viewer wants or knows or even their relationship to the series (maybe they only saw the movies and never watched TNG!) without conducting an extensive viewer survey / focus groups.

Not to say you are wrong in your desires, and of course I speak only for myself, but I’m kind of glad Beverly isn’t in the show.

To my mind and after dozens of series rewatches, McFadden and Stewart had no real onscreen chemistry. Just because the script says so, watching their physicality and interactions… it’s like watching someone play with action figures and say “NOW KISS.”

In retrospect Gates McFadden was maybe not the right actress to play this particular role. She comes across as…well… a choreographer who can stand and pose well, but never once convinced me she was a toughened-by-experience chief medical officer and lifetime Starfleet officer.

Like, if you know ANYONE who works in medicine and/or is ex-military or police or EMT, they carry themselves differently, they show stress differently, they are exhausted after 12-hour shifts or long surgeries, they have very dark senses of humour, they play hard and work hard. They don’t have everything under control. They will eat or drink too much, maybe neglect their spouse, maybe have a weird relationship with their kid.

When I think of a career doctor who essentially runs a hospital, and ‘space navy’ officer, who is also a single mom, I think of someone a bit tougher. Like, if I was casting back in 1987, I might have gotten someone who was more of a theatre career equivalent to Patrick Stewart, like a Sharon Gless or a Helen Mirren, someone who could go toe to toe with him in scenes and believably play tough / exhausted / on the edge and portray an ambiguous relationship with him.

You know who carries themselves like that in Picard? Raffi does.

Fun fact: When McFadden was booted from the show after S1, Whoopi Goldberg campaigned to be the new doctor. I think THAT would have been great casting, because she has range, experience and subtlety. (Who knows why that was shot down, but they created the character of Guinan for her, so it’s not all negative.)

Also: Picard is a 21st century TV show on a premium streaming service. They’ve poured money into acquiring great talent. The style of filming is much more contemporary, and so is the style of acting. TNG often looked and felt – certainly in the first few seasons – like a contemporary 80s nighttime drama (the hotel in space) with a very, compared to today, “TV” style of acting (a little flat, a little constrained, a little unrealistic, with zinger lines delivered right into ad breaks).

When I think of sticking some of the older TNG actors into that scenario, unless you push them, you’re not going to get that kind of edgy / nuanced performance. I don’t know that McFadden could deliver it, but I’d be willing to be surprised.

You know that “edgy/nuanced” acting that you are so hyping here is way overrated in my opinion. You can never go wrong with the classically trained actors. Yes, they might tend to be more theatrical in their approach, but if I wanted realism, I’d watch it out of a window. Can we please start to get rid of this notion that “realism=always better and more smart”.

If it takes you out of the show, it’s not good. Style doesn’t have anything to do with it, overall, except in the case where there is a style mismatch between actors. Then, it looks like two actors doing two different scenes.

Like, yeah, I can agree that SMG’s whisper-reactions are a little over-the-top, too, but in the often operatic flow of that production, they don’t stand out as facepalmingly cringey (any more than Shatner’s style, tbh).

There is a large amount of leeway for style in any production – what would Buffy have been without hyper-aware, snarky 90s Joss dialogue, or The West Wing (aka Star Trek for political nerds) without very clever Aaron Sorkin dialogue.

But what I’m getting at is, was Gates McFadden the best actress to pair with an RSC heavyweight, specifically, with the kind of style she has, and also, with what I perceive to be a lack of even pretend chemistry between the actors?

Like, the cast of The West Wing all “fit” together in terms of level of acting competence and more or less in style of delivery, and so did the cast of Buffy. I would say DS9 also had a high level of experience (tons of NY / Broadway veterans, Avery Brooks is an MFA grad and now theatre professor at Rutgers, etc) whose levels were all pretty equal and who had wide range.

The test is: Regardless of style, do I believe these two characters have some sort of lingering decades-long forbidden attraction in a weird “dead best friend love triangle” way? I don’t.

I don’t see it when Picard looks at Beverly. I don’t see his heart skip a beat a little when he looks at her, or have a thought to himself when she leaves the Ready Room. You don’t get even a hint of the sense he wishes things were more than they were when they have dinner together.

I don’t see any of that from Beverly towards Picard. There are rarely even those sort of “I’m angry at you because I care about you / expect better from you” love-hate fireworks. There is a weird cold, stiff, formal distance between them. I don’t even really believe they were exes in the alternate future of ‘All Good Things’.

You hear it in dialogue when they write episodes (rarely) about it, like the late entrant to the game ‘Attached’ from S7. But saying things is very different from showing things. If you can’t show it, then actions belie the words.

I will say that maybe McFadden’s characters were underwritten and underdirected. And also, the nature of an old-school syndicated show (which might be shown out of order, except for two-parters) means no real effort to do character arcs over the course of a season.

That’s maybe why any romance between Picard and Crusher seemed forced. We never actually saw any of it, we were just told it existed and expected to just believe it.

For a while, I took “not a reunion show” at face value, and would have been perfectly fine had none of the other cast been offered roles.

This is really disappointing. I mean out of ALL the TNG characters to bring back, Beverly seems like the most obvious choice given how long her and Picard has known each other and clearly has feelings for each other. They got freaking married in the AGT timeline. And I love Crusher so I really want to see her back.

And I thought maybe the chances would be bigger now that we know this will be a time travel season of some sort and of course many have theorized it would be around the time he was in charge of the Stargazer which is when they first met. Now of course it doesn’t mean it will and may not have anything to do with it, but I like the idea of seeing Picard’s past on the Stargazer.

But the way she talks, it does sound like they were planning to go one direction in the story for the season and maybe changed gears. Fingers crossed for season 3 I hope!

I might be in the minority, but I’m okay with this. I’m one that has enjoyed how Picard has been intentionally different, and hasn’t leaned too heavily on nostalgia and returning characters. It’s made for a better story, and, I think, respects the characters. I’d be disappointed that Crusher, Worf, etc were just able to drop whatever cool things they’re doing to pop in with Picard. I’m okay if we don’t see everyone. I imagine they’re busy saving their part of the galaxy

I’m ok with that too but they already are bringing in others. I rather see Beverly than Hugh or Maddox. But not end of the world either. Having Q bac is worth it alone.

And there will be other seasons.

I like it that they’re doing something different, plus I never thought Gates McFadden was all that great of an actress. The best actor on TNG besides Stewart was Spiner, and they brought him back. The best after those two was Whoopi Goldberg, and I hear that Guinan’s coming back. I don’t feel any need to see Crusher or LaForge or Yar again.

I disagree strongly with this. In her short scene in THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, she made a much better Cathy Ryan than either Bridget Moynahan (who was insipid, like the entire film) and Keira Knightly (who should have worked, but didn’t), and somewhat better than Abbie Cornish. I would really have liked her to return to the Ryanverse, although Anne Archer was perfectly cast across Harrison Ford.

I’ve read that she had a longer scene later in RED OCTOBER that was cut.

I’m with you on Ms McFadden’s ability as an actress. If I’m being honest, as much as I love TNG, the Troi and Crusher characters didn’t exactly get great stories to work with. Say what you want about Star Trek: Picard, I think that was Troi’s finest hour, and Sirtis’ best performance as Troi.

Quite a comment from just one line. I’m not ready to say she would have been good from that but I am a bit curious to see. Honestly Crusher is the only part I think I have ever seen her play. It was a terrible lifeless character but I don’t know how much of that was McFadden’s doing or GR’s.

I think that was originally the intent. With only the appearance of Riker and Troi it was just a short bit for fans to go “it’s Riker and Troi!!!” Riker was easy since Frakes is directing a number of episodes. And Troi has never shied away from a chance to play that part again. So they were the easiest actors to get back. However the fan reaction to their appearance and the rest of the show I think, like Star Trek Discovery, the producers have shifted their stance on the “reunion show” aspect of Picard. I think they are bringing back more characters than they originally had hoped or planned to.

It would be a crime of galactic proportions if she weren’t a part of a short arc in Season 3 or 4 (if it ends up existing).

I surely hope so!!
I’m very disappointed and Gates discloses the bad news as a stone-cold-fact with no wiggle room for an appearance, unlike Geordi La Forge(Lavar Burton) from appearing in Picard S3. Yet the Nu Trek Producers for ‘Picard’ (Patrick Stewart included) are going out of there way to severely limit any TNG characters from re-appearing or killing them off! I hope they don’t kill off Beverly Crusher off screen and mention it in Picard S2! That would be cruel.
Crusher makes an appearance in the Picard prequel book ‘Last Best Hope’….

Her time will hopefully come but it’s weird he hasn’t even mentioned her

I find it sad to see all of these supporting actors maneuvering and talking up their hopes of a job.

Buzz, my old friend! You’re still alive??!! If memory serves, last time we talked, you were starting a new job (in the car industry?). How did that go?

Why is it sad? They’re all actors. These are acting jobs. It’s a very common thing in this industry.

Every actor A. wants to work and B. does this all the time. Even A-list stars talk about how they want to get a certain role or be part of so and so franchise. Many actors publicly lobbies to be in a certain show or movie, including Star Trek obviously. You had A-list actors like Rosario Dawson and James McAvoy said they would like to be part of the Picard show when it was announced. Dawson has been saying she wants a role on Star Trek for over a decade now. So why is it any different from the actors who has been part of the franchise for decades and that fans also like to see again? How many decades now has William Shatner been saying he likes to play Kirk again?

Actors don’t get jobs like regular people. They don’t just send in resumes. A lot of it is auditioning and networking with the right people to even be considered for a job, especially if you’re not an A-lister. And even those still have to put in the work to be considered when they are going against other A-list actors for a particular movie or show and there is only few starring roles.

She’s not A-list, but I’m sure Roxann Dawson would love to reprise her role of Balana Torres on Picard as well.

And who knows, maybe she will one day. If not Picard, there are still the animated shows too, especially Prodigy.

My gut feeling is nearly all of them will all show up again in SOME form. With all the shows they have going and probably many more in the future, everything is pretty open.

Speak of the devil. I saw this right after posting my response.

https://screenrant.com/tom-welling-robert-pattinson-superman-batman-reaction/

Again, this is done ALL the time. Actors want to work, especially in roles that made them famous in the first place and will lobby for them whenever they can.

And in McFadden case, as the article stated she said last year she was already talking with producers about coming back in season 2 and it was a good chance it was going to happen. It sounds like they decided to go a different direction and she was expressing her disappointment over it.

I think this is purposeful misdirection. I think Beverly died, and Q is going to bring her back to life as a gift.

…since Picard is now a synthetic (sadly, imo), that wouldn’t even surprise me.

It seems like there definitely could have been a role for her in Season 2. She could have been a litmus test of whether this “new” Picard is the “real” Picard. She could look at Picard and stare into his soul, and let the audience see her “diagnosis.”

On the other hand, I would much rather see Guinan or Q perform this function. The series regular who seemed to have an even more intimate relationship with Picard than Crusher was probably Guinan. And Q of course is an all-seeing and all-knowing god, so he’s just a natural. It would be fun to watch Guinan and Q debate whether this is the real Picard. Q of course will ultimately be the Judge. I imagine that Picard of Season 2 will have a real identity crisis on his hands, and he well need some old friends (or foes?) to guide him through.

If there’s a point to it, sure, but is Picard it’s own thing or Season 8 of TNG? Dr Crusher is not an interesting character, which is on the showrunners not McFaddon. It would be justice to retroactively correct that now with a juicy part. But I can’t say the character merits it. Hugh of Borg was an interesting character. If we must find out what happened to Picard’s exes, the empathic character who imprinted on him would be interesting to revisit

Well, maybe Gates McFadden isn’t in the show but the character of Beverly might be, with a younger actress in the role. If those rumors about this season involving time travel is correct, and if they do indeed visit Picards era in the Stargazer, then they might have another actress in the role of Crusher, with a younger Picard too. I think this might be possible.

I am sad that she is sad. And if I find out that Mr. Goldsman is anti-Crusher, then I will feel bad and mad.

Goldsman is not anti-Crusher. What a silly statement.

Season 3 is set in alternate universes and with time jumps so there is no reason an alternate version of her couldn’t appear.

They’ve made too many compromises already; too many retreats. Not again. 

They do have Books in the 21st Century?

Whether or not Gates is misdirecting, what is best for Picard and Beverly? How many of us actually spend time maintaining and broadening relationships that have gone in other directions? Surely we think about them from time to time, perhaps even a catch up. But actually go on adventures? Hmmm…

crusher has been short changed since the series ended and the TNG movies were released.

I suspect Gates McFadden has just told that she will be in Season 3

I am positive she’ll be back, yes.

If they were to reintroduce the Picard-Crusher love story idea, it would make far more sense for her to appear in the third season anyway.

Pretty sure she will find her way on the show eventually. Just as Burton and Dorn will as well. These producers just can’t resist bringing back old characters. And honestly, we can’t blame them. At least on this site people seem to love it when the old characters come back. The new ones? Eh… Not so much. So let’s sprinkle in some Riker, Troi… Some Q and some Guinan. Keep them showing up. It helps distract from the show not being very good.

Exactly, well put, ML. The new characters are one-dimensional and bland as heck, imo. There’s a reason ‘Nepenthe’ is for many the favorite of S1. I’ll be tuning in for S2, but pretty much only for any trace of nostalgia, to be honest.

To be fair though, old characters will always bring in a nostalgia factors new characters have to build up to. I know you and others views on the new characters aren’t all positive and that’s valid. But the reality is this is not a new thing either.

I remember when TNG came on, a lot of people didn’t love the characters at the time and thought they were nothing close to how people viewed the TOS characters, because once again, the TOS characters were around for 20 years, so it took time. What’s funny is by the time DS9 came around, the TNG characters had become beloved themselves in the fanbase and it took awhile for people to accept THOSE characters as well. I’m not sure if they are considered as beloved as the TOS/TNG characters became but they are certainly loved overall. And in many ways the most developed characters out of all the shows, but that’s because DS9 is the most developed show out of them all IMO.

But yes, it takes time. All the things said about the new characters today has been said about previous past characters as well. My guess in ten years people will be saying how great characters from Discovery, Picard and the others will be. Not from everyone since even now there are still people not in love with the TNG and other characters, but my guess is most IF the shows just improve in general.

Thanks but I find the TNG characters to be pretty one dimensional. If I recall it was GR’s edict that the humans be as bland as possible to make the aliens stand out a little more. IMHO that was a mistake. As it turns out, a few of the new characters in Picard are actually more interesting than anyone from TNG. So myself, I’d like less of the TNG crew and a lot more new people.

All the TNG characters grew somewhat over the seasons. And Picard changed the most, and became more crazy and angry as the show went forward and then the movies,

Um, you can’t appear in Season 2. You were replaced by Dr. Pulaski. But Season 3…

Diana Muldaur is apparently still working. Bring her back.

She described how she hated working on TNG compared to her good TOS experience, because of something like “you don’t act with people anymore, you act with equipment”. I have to expect she’d hate working in a modern-day sci-fi production even more! With green screens and temporary SFX replacement tennis balls you have to act towards.

Now that Paramount is willing to do fun spinoffs of all kinds, I’d like to see more innovative ideas explored, rather than just continuing to bring back old favorites.

Or if you want to bring back more old favorites, do it in a more creative way. You know what I’d love to see? A kids animated series set on the Ent-D, “The Adventures of Spot.”

I’m not joking. A series of 5min animated shorts for 4-6y lords about what Data’s cat was up to during the missions we saw on screen. Saving a group of pet hamsters during “Disaster”, his life as an Iguana in “Genesis,” battling Ensign Gates’ pet dog (possessed by a spirit of an Ux-Mal) during the events of “Power Play”– maybe find out what Spot was like in the alternate Yesterday’s Enterprise pocket universe!

These kinds of things don’t need to be canon, just fun ways of doing something new, and bringing a younger audience into Trek.

Good thinking dan
Involve children by asking what is it they imagine what it would be like onboard a star cruiser nah too uninformed

But the thing is it seems that there is a large contingent of fans out there that WANT to bring back old favorites. The episodes that harken back to old Trek stuff seems to resonate with viewers far more than the original people and ideas. So the odds of getting new stuff from this production company are slim. They can read the tea leaves just as well as anyone else it seems.

Get her in!

I am indeed sad that Gates Mcfadden will not be reprising her role as Dr Crusher in season 2 of Picard.

I feel that the character of Dr Crusher was woefully under used in the TV series and the subsequent films and there could have been some fantastic stories, ie they could have used Gates Mcfadden’s real life pregnancy as part of a Picard/Crusher story line etc, but the writing was just not there for the character. Gates Mcfadden has even said herself that she pushed back to the writers and questioned the way her character was written. The result of her questioning was that she was fired after the 1st season!

Patrick Stewart, went to the same writers about his character, as he felt that all Picard’s relationships were all in the past and wanted the character to have fun and got the episode ‘Captains Holiday’ written for him!…the difference being in my opinion, comes down to respect, a man asks for an aspect of what he feels a character needs and gets a whole episode written, a woman asks for more aspects of her character to be shown…. and gets fired.

I’ve read that in the comments that an actress such as Helen Mirren would have been a better choice to go toe to toe with Patrick Stewart, we’ll I disagree because it’s all in the writing and if that’s not up to standard, then you could have Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep or indeed Gates Mcfadden, but they can only work with what they have, even Helen & Meryl would have questioned the lack or characterisation.

Dr Crusher is the ONLY character not to be even named checked, which is really strange, but I hope that she is at least mentioned in the upcoming series 2 or 3. It would be just nice to know what she has been up too.

According to the novels (I know, noncononical 🙄), Jean-Luc and Beverly have a son, Wesley’s half brother, named Rene Jacques Robert Francois Picard, who is married to Natasha Riker-Troi.

Sorry, but that sounds like the worst kind of fan fiction.

Wesley must be resurrected as …. Beverly’s and Picard’s love child . She masked wesley’s dna to protect him and his false fathers memory
To make up for tngs poor treatment of the character after all his father was barely mentioned what 3 episodes he was there,? Picard needs a real son of future importance…no son for kirk spoc even scotty’s son died..the movie version of Kirk’s son failed and fell short

This is what’s needed
I have many other idess

Sounds like something they can do if there is ever a TNG reboot…

I think dr. crusher was a last minute addition
They needed a deforest kelly but wanted mire female parts which was smart but not addressed with the Gene roddenberry standard of making complete sense . Will must be the live child if the actor doesn’t want to play the part then find another look alike to do it
Or find Kirk’s lost son an already established captain perhaps involved in a cosmic war with a Sheliac or one of genes silicon aliens from the 60’s
Make it SO!

the fact that the writers aren’t even addressing this is an insult to the the history of the characters. if anyone was the closest to picard it would have been crusher. i understand they want to separate it from tng but they were almost like family.