[ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS]
Ed Speleers was a late-announced series regular for the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard, and a bit of a mystery, without even a character name or much of a description ahead of the premiere. In the first episode, we learned he is playing Beverly Crusher’s son, and in the latest episode, it was revealed his father was none other than Jean-Luc-Picard. After that episode, the actor did a sort of media blitz, offering more insight into who we now know of as Jack Crusher.
Jack is complicated
Speaking to Esquire, Speleers talked about the development of the character, including how Jack was described to him by showrunner Terry Matalas:
He wanted this guy to be incredibly complicated, and that gave me a chance to maybe look at myself in a way I hadn’t before. I was able to dig deeper in a way I never had. This is a multifaceted guy who is trying to work out his place in the world, in his universe, but he’s battling with very real things. Dynamics. Family Dynamics. Things I’ve experienced, things you’ve experienced.
Speaking to The Companion, the actor talked about some of the classic characters that were part of defining Jack:
Yeah, the space cowboy, Han Solo bit was definitely mentioned to me, and I was like, “Terry, you can’t keep doing this!” [Laughs.] “You mentioned Kirk, you mentioned Han Solo, you can’t put these on me, these are huge pressure points! There’s enough pressure already.” But I relished the fact that I was trying to take on someone really complex. I mean, no one’s black and white, essentially, everyone’s living in the grey somewhere, and Jack’s living on the wrong side of the tracks. Some of that is true, because of the way he’s trying to help his mum [Beverly Crusher] out, and the life they’re living in order to help others.
But he’s also very anti-Starfleet. Now, whether that’s an active decision because of what his father represents, or something that’s required to complete his tasks, is up to interpretation. He has to step away from it and be quite pugnacious towards it. But even though he’s living almost in this world of criminality, I suppose, he has justification for why he’s doing these things. There’s a Robin Hood quality to him, really; he’s screwing people over to make sure that people who really need help are getting those benefits. He’s trying to do some good in a reckless, ruthless world. And I think that’s commendable; I don’t see anything wrong with that.
The actor also talked about how he prepped for the role with a mix of Star Trek research and finding a new voice for Jack (via Esquire):
In preparation, before shooting, I would spend three or four hours a day working on the text, working on the character. And then I’d finish that day by watching one of these films or watching a couple of episodes. That allowed things to just wash over me and absorb this world. I didn’t necessarily go into the semantics of exactly how the TNG characters were moving and thinking and talking, because I feel that Jack’s his own man. He wasn’t brought up by Picard. I feel like he had his own entity to hold onto. But I certainly did a lot, a lot of watching.
Ed Speleers In “Disengage”
Why Beverly kept him secret… and about his age
Episode two was built around the final reveal of Jack as Picard’s son, leaving the lingering question as to why Beverly never told Jean-Luc. Speleers offered some insight into this with Variety:
I think with Beverly, she is a very strong-willed woman who, in order to protect her son, took him away from everything that she knew. Her qualities of sensitivity, of wanting to help or better understand people, filter into Jack’s way of being. He gets a real forthright energy from his old man. I know that people look at Jack thinking that he’s not necessarily in the Picard mold — maybe he’s more roguish. I think he is, but he still has this underpinned characteristic that I think he shares with Picard — to always be fearless, and do the best you possibly can for the benefit of others.
In the same Variety interview, he also revealed Jack’s age:
23, 24, I think we’ve discussed in the series.
And addressed the obvious follow-up being that he is actually 34:
It was something that was discussed. I certainly felt a challenge to play down a bit. I know that happens in TV and cinema quite a lot anyway — quite often actors have to play down in age. I definitely tried to bring some youthfulness to the role, I think. But the gap, I mean, I come from a big age gap between me and my folks. My mom hates me saying that, but anyway — it’s something that I can relate to. I know that it might be an ongoing question. However, I believe that if we get the story told in the right way, and if these characters are believed, then the relationships will be believed — and I think the numbers and the age differences will become superfluous.
Relationship with his father is difficult
Episode two showed some hostility between Jack and Jean-Luc, and Speleers talked to TVLine about these challenges:
There’s an element of a thick-skin facade being put up there. I feel that he wants to portray that it’s resentment, but deep down he has been longing for some understanding and some connection. He is just deeply hurt and angry. And no one wants to stay that way so he wants to find a way to rectify that, but he finds it incredibly difficult to confront it with a man that represents everything that he can’t stand. I think his relationship with his mother is very strong. She’s obviously nurtured him. She’s protected him from the world of Starfleet of what that signifies. However, she’s also allowed in great space to become his own individual and his own entity.
The actor also talked about how there may be some common ground:
Although they are on different paths and at different elements of the law, they do share some commonalities: their forthrightness and their desire to get things right for the benefit of other people is definitely something they share. This relationship, it’s a work in progress, because as I say, he’s longing for that connection with his father, but he doesn’t know how to go about it because he feels like he’s been deeply burned by it. And I think he’s told himself a narrative that he’s managed to come so far without him, why would he suddenly need him now? Why does he suddenly need all the pomp and ceremony of Starfleet and one of the biggest celebrities in that universe? So the question is: does he want that to be his world?
Patrick Stewart as Picard and Ed Speleers as Jack in “Disengage”
Hopes for spinoff
Showrunner Terry Matalas has made no secret that he is hoping to continue telling stories in this early 25th-century setting, likely including Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and other Picard characters. Speleers talked to Cinemablend about how Matalas includes Jack Crusher in these spinoff plans:
He’s got a lot of ideas about it. I’m not gonna lie because I’m proud of the fact that Terry and I discussed this almost every day for the last eighteen months what could happen… He pitched this particular story and narrative to me as if it’s–and I think he grew in this assumption as we went along–that this is almost like Jack’s origin story. There are definitely more stories to be told if we’re given the opportunity to tell them. And I know that Terry [Matalas] has bucketloads of ideas.
A common theme in all of Speleers’ interviews is how excited he is about this prospect. Here is what he told Esquire:
I fly the Star Trek flag for a spinoff. I’m there. I’m a hundred percent there. If I get the chance to do this for 10,15, or 20 years and Paramount wants to do it, then I would love to and I would give it my all. I think it would work very well with Jeri. I think the dynamic between Seven and Jack is quite fascinating and invigorating, and it still allows the scope to have so many other [characters] come back and create new worlds. I would definitely do it.
Like Terry, Speleers sees the fans as the drivers of any potential spin-off:
If it happens, and I really hope it does — at the moment, there’s no indication of that being the case. This is going to be driven — I really, really believe this — by how it’s received and what “Trek” fans feel about it. If it comes, genuinely, this whole experience has meant so much to me, both for me and for my family, that I would love to play for years to come. Really, really, really — if it turned out that way that I was able to play Jack for the next 5, 10, 15 years, I would welcome it with open arms.
Watch Crusher kids together
Ed is the featured guest this week on The Ready Room where he talks about Jack Crusher with Wil Wheaton, and of course they talk about how they are now connected as Star Trek half-brothers.
Picard streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the Americas, Europe, the Caribbean and South Korea. It also streams internationally on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave.
Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.
Having watched the 2nd episode 3 times already, I think a show with the Titan crew + Jack Crusher will be amazing. Now, if that crew would placed on the Enterprise-G after successfully undergoing their trial by fire – underdog role on the Titan, that’s it, we’ve got out Next Next Generation show!
Good thinking. I guess that might be the endgame. That’s maybe the reason they just acknowledge the F and put her out of service prematurely, to make space for the big G.
On the other hand, a Titan show would be also kinda interesting, though I prefer the Enterprise saga…
My one gripe is that Seven is already a commander. Thus, the temptation is to make her captain in a spin-off. I really like her in the role of first officer because it gives her some pressure points and inner conflict because she doesn’t like being subservient and doesn’t get along with Shaw.
If the next show makes her captain, i’ll be somewhat disappointed.
Great thoughts and I agree it is a more interesting position for her narrative. I just have this feeling that the back-issues between Shaw and Seven will be revealed over the course of the season (like why Shaw even chose her), culminating in Shaw sacrificing himself for Seven as a resolution for their relationship. I just don’t see Shaw making it out of the season which then sets up Seven for a captaincy.
On this we agree Alpha Predator.
Seven’s barely arrived as a Commander in an accelerated command development program.
Matalas could have chosen to advance the clock a few years for this season to give her time to develop, but didn’t. It seems to me that he wants to show us a dynamic between Seven as first officer and a captain. It seems a rich opportunity for challenges as her character grows into the role.
Why Starfleet is at a point that it needs such a program has been established in the earlier seasons of Picard, but these kinds of programs still put commanders through the steps needed to lead a capital ship with hundreds of subordinates, all the more so for a flagship.
Serving and running the ship as first/executive officer is that essential piece Seven is missing. Riker, a successful regular track officer still was three years before being offered the Yorktown as his first command.
To be clear: I have no problem with them making Seven a commander here. I will have a problem if they then rush her into a captain’s chair right after.
Well, you know how it goes. Discovery started with them highlighting the fact that unlike in other series, the main character wasn’t the Captain. But eventually the producers just couldn’t help themselves…
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but before the series launched they made it crystal clear that the point of the show would be to show Burnham’s rise to captain. It was a stated mission of the show that they followed through on.
Interesting, I missed that. Kindly provide a link to some of those pre-launch press releases/interviews.
Most of those interviews were with Fuller, but Alpha Predator was absolutely correct, the pitch was that Discovery would be about a female officer’s journey to captain.
Google or ChatGPT it.
How much of a ‘rise’ was that though? She was already a first officer for 7 years when we met her in the first episode. 🤣
She should’ve just became a Captain in 1-2 years at best.
But instead the rise went to a downfall from being a XO to a jailbird for mutineering to a ‘specialist’ promoted back to a commander to first officer (again) before being busted down a rank (???) for more ignoring the rules before getting the captain’s job out of nowhere anyway a month later. That’s quite the journey lol.
Man Discovery is such a bad show. 🤣
The point is, making her captain was not a betrayal of the concept. Making her a captain was part of the concept from the very beginning, and was stated as such beforehand.
You can complain all you want about how well the story was told (I’m not a huge fan of it myself) but the show producers intended for Burnham to become Discovery’s captain.
That’s what I meant.
6 months or less as a commander after a ‘mustang’ commissioning as an officer does not prepare someone (no matter how talented or experienced outside regular ranks) to be captain of a capital ship.
Seven needs that accelerated development program, and it seems she’s been given the kind of posting that can challenge her to grow.
Agreed that any spin off in the works should leave Seven as the first officer of that new ship. Her stoic, disciplined, almost machine like demeanour should be paired up with a captain that is more loose with a great sense of humor. Making Riker the captain would be an amazing pairing, and we would be fortunate enough to have Troi who can help Seven in her struggles and of course Kestra can be a great addition to the show.
Finally the Titan show we’ve been waiting for 20 years.
As a bonus, if Jack Crusher would be part of that ship having Riker as a mentor and a person who can bridge the gap between him and his father would be the best decision they can make.
To be honest i don’t want another show set on the Enterprise not for another 8-10 years at least.
I mean we already have a Enterprise show with SNW and having 2 shows airing in the same year both set on the Enterprise would be a bit silly imo.
Also there 1000’s more ships in Starfleet then the Enterprise.
A Titan show could have 7 as Captain of the Titan along with Raffi as her 1st Officer (along with Sidney La Forge).
I don’t want Captain shaw in a spin-off unless they pull a 180 on the character and he becomes a proper captain that shows respect to his fellow officers/retired officers.
I hope they pull a 180 with the character because the actor Todd Stashwick is pretty good in Picard and he was great in 12 Monkeys and i would like to see him in more Trek but his character needs to change his attitude.
Christopher, could you look at this from another point of view?
Shaw is very much a proper captain who from the outset was treated contemptuously on his own ship.
Isn’t it incredibly disrespectful for Picard and Riker to be attempting a transparent ruse against a captain of a capital ship? And attempting to manipulate his first officer by playing on her loyalty to a friend and former commander?
Picard would’ve given short shrift any retired officers who tried that stunt on Enterprise. In fact, he did in TNG.
Shaw gave them a sarcastic piece of his mind, but he did it in privacy and not in front of his crew. When Picard was on his bridge, he challenged him but didn’t treat him with disrespect.
Why does it have to be the Enterprise… I love the fact they chose the Titan and it being linked to Riker having been captain… If it had been the enterprise Picard wouldn’t really have had an real affiliation with that ship to throw his weight around
I’m glad we have a hero ship with another name, and hope they stick with the Titan.
SNW has the 1701 no A,B,C or D…
That’s enough Enterprise for this set of new shows.
I bet the ship blows up in the last episode 🤣
I think it will be fine as long as Troi doesn’t take the helm. But then.. “Crash LaForge” is piloting it so maybe you’re right.
Think they did some foreshadowing with “Crash” LaForge here.
‘Star Trek: Titan’ – Sounds like a show to me!
I can see Jack Crusher being in a spin-off show set in the style of a Doctor’s without borders story but not set on a Starfleet vessel.
From what we saw of him in the 2 episodes so far he doesn’t seem the type to be in Starfleet but as a leader of a rag-tag group of medical do gooders who go planet to planet saving lives.
Hopeship One :-)
Yeah, I’m not seeing how a rogue with a criminal background would fit on a Starfleet ship. But I don’t know much about his character yet. Maybe it could make sense after the season plays out.
Tom Paris? Chacotay? Kira? Former-Emperor Georgiou? Ash Tyler? Torres?
I was waiting for someone to bring up the Maquis on Voyager. That was a completely different situation as they were all stranded together on the other side of the galaxy with a federation starship being their only way home. Add to that, I always thought the maquis fell in line and were trusted too easily and too quickly. Janeway was on a mission to arrest them after all.
In my opinion, Discovery threw all believable reasoning out the window as far as the genocidal Emperor and the Klingon who murdered Dr. Culber were concerned. But well that had become expected with much of that show.
Kira was a former freedom fighter serving on the space station of her former oppressors that was being run by starfleet and the Bajoran provisional government. She was not a criminal as far as the Federation was concerned. The only people considering her a criminal were the Cardassians.
Under normal circumstances, are starfleet vessels known for harboring criminals among their crews?
Anyway, like I said, who knows how things turn out with his character by the end of the season. Maybe he will be the hero and get his record wiped as a reward. Star Trek loves to do that.
I dunno if without Starfleet there is enough Viewers to back it up
Ageed!
If that’s the case, and I can definitely see that, I would expect Seven’s arc to end with her leaving Starfleet and joining him.
I think the idea of a non-Starfleet show has sailed.
Which is why we see Seven returning to Starfleet, despite its challenges.
Making an non-Starfleet about Picard’s son instead of totally new characters like Rios isn’t going to carry much further.
This isn’t SW where the franchise is centered on genetic family. Quite the opposite in fact, as we saw young Sidney LaForge telling her father in one of the trailers.
I don’t think the idea of a non-starfleet show is ever off the table. In fact, setting Picard on a non-starfleet ship was only an issue because Picard himself is not the kind of character who really works in that setting.
But Seven? Heck yeah, gimme that. I know it’s less likely now that Seven is in Starfleet, but I think there’s a good chance we’ll get a non-starfleet show at some point.
I could see him captaining the La Sirena. It seems to be changing hands every season.
They’d better clear up that possible murder charge then, because that really bothers me.
I’ve only seen 15 minutes of the screen time from this character so far, and I frankly think he’s a bit of an ass, and so I think it’s crazy that people are saying, let’s build a show around this dude already…WTF?
Yes, nearly every reviewer agrees he’s one of the best new characters the series has produced, so i’m not sure why you don’t agree! Many people are pointing that out!
Come on dude, you’re surely better than this? But in case you’re simply mistaken in your weird criticism of me here, please see below my entire review of episode one last week below, which I completed immediately after seeing Ep 1. Note my specific comments on the VFX. This was my own formed opinion and it’s not my f’ing fault that a lot of people have made similar observations on the VFX quality since then. So please drop the personal attacks where you are fraudulently claiming I am parroting groupthink — that’s incorrect and is personally insulting to my integrity.
UpperDecks-NormalNecks
February 16, 2023 9:02 pm
Here is my review of Episode 1…
Overall: 7.5 (out of 10) — solid drama, great humor, great acting, callbacks to the TOS Trek movie, nice mystery set-up for the series, OUTSTANDING music, disappointing VFX/very dark, some questionable tech stuff. I’d say it’s the best season opener in Star Trek since The Vulcan Hello.
Story: 7 — very good mystery set-up for the story — liked the Beverly and Raffi elements, liked the Seven elements.
Tone: 9 — loved TOS movie tone of presentation (like of Nick Meyer had done a TNG movie), loved the more military style behavior on the Titan, loved the Spacedock stuff, loved the interiors.
Acting: 8 — Patrick Stewart is so much better this season with Riker as his sidekick — this came across like the SF action adventure version of Grumpy old men.
VFX: 5 — looked like the budget was less than on DSC/SNW — not movie quality and could see a lot of CGI artifacts. A bit disappointing. Loved the design of the Titan, but it looked very CGI’ish. And it’s just too dark, folks — I have a $7000+ set-up with HDR, 110-inch screen, 4K projector, but with all that some of the scenes are just way too dark.
Music: 10 — this is easily the best musical soundtrack I have ever had the pleasure of listening too on a single TV ep of Trek, and it’s right up there with the the 2nd and third best movie soundtracks — Trek II and Trek 2009 (TMP still is the tops overall though).
Misc:
*Loved Geordi’s daughter and that great scene with her and Riker
*It seemed sort of “JJ Abramish” hard-to-believe that a simple Starfleet comm badge could pick up a long-range subspace transmission?
*Loved the end credits…I need to watch that again multiple times — just great!
*Wondering if fans will give Seven a free pass that they were NEVER seeming willing to give Commander Burnham for completely disobeying of her Captain and putting the ship in danger because she knew she was doing the right thing and that her captain was wrong???
Additional Thoughts and Observations:
(1) Can’t wait for next week’s ep. This seems like it’s going to deliver and be a great season and a tremendous capstone to TNG. Great job, Matalas and Kurtzman — it looks like you’ve pulled this off, BIG TIME!
(2) I really liked the more traditional Star Trek pacing in this ep that we have not seen since the Berman years and TOS Trek movies. That being said, there were a lot of explosions, violence and phaser fire in this ep — not all that dissimilar from the JJA Trek movies.
(3) One slight negative regarding any potential follow on — what I saw in this very good ep reinforced my opinion that this season is for us older fans — I mean, the who set-up of Riker and Picard as a “Grumpy Old Men” comedy adventure team, Beverley obviously in her senior years…nothing so far convinces me that this is going to gain a lot of traction to bring in new fans say under 35 years old…however, it’s still early and it sounds like we are going to see a new generation highlighted in future eps…we’ll see.
Have the opening credits been analyzed anywhere? There is a DNA double helix in the opening credits. That, and Picard pointing out to Naris that “tried to be lovers is the operative word” makes me wonder if Jack is genetically created. When he says he ” had no father!” maybe he literally didn’t? Likely illegal and certainly without consent, which is why Beverly had to go into hiding 20 years ago.
“Tried to be lovers” doesn’t necessarily mean that they didn’t do “that”,just that a relationship didn’t work.
“Tried to be lovers” means their relationship didn’t work. It doesn’t mean Picard couldn’t get it up. LOL
I didn’t notice that DNA thing in the credits but I had thought that myself. Picard having a child well into his 50’s or perhaps 60’s and then OK males can conceive but women are far less likely to be able to get pregnant later in life so perhaps he is one of those conceived without sex type of things. In fact this far into the future you might not even need a sperm and egg from the parents but maybe all they need is a DNA sample from both and mix it together in some machine and bam a child. Remember isn’t that how Tom Hardy was conceived in Star Trek Nemesis? From some blood sample or something like that and he was turned into a clone of Picard.
Of all the story lines they can have for this season… giving Crusher a “new” son… there’s a part of me that thinks it’s just yet another way TNG’s legacy takes a poop on Wil Wheaton. Anyone else?
I mean, considering we just had Wesley return last season, I don’t see it that way. I’m sure he’ll be addressed.
Poop on Wil Wheaton? He hosts a weekly Star Trek talk show and he showed up in season two in a way that honored the character’s history.
Wil Wheaton says that this is his favorite Trek season ever, so he clearly doesn’t feel too pooped upon. Granted, I suspect that the most recent season that he watched is always his favorite season ever, but still.
“I suspect that the most recent season that he watched is always his favorite season ever”
Yeah, but that’s his job he’s being paid for. He’s our head cheerleader. That’s his job.
Well, the show is called PICARD and primarily it is him getting a son, who happens to be Beverly’s. So no, it’s not pooping on Wil Wheaton at all…
But he’s also very anti-Starfleet. Now, whether that’s an active decision because of what his father represents, or something that’s required to complete his tasks, is up to interpretation.
More likely something that’s required to riff on Wrath of Khan yet again.
Trek fans’ commentary is so original, though.
Hey, unoriginal begets unoriginal.
And you might try to give it a rest, too. Even real cops get a day off.
Thanks for the advice, i’ll take it under advisement Mr. Coyote.
Well, if you’re going to pull people over for every. single. comment…
It’s a bit much, that’s all.
I’ll let you off with a warning this time. Next time I catch you doing it though, I won’t be so easy on you.
No offense, dude, but I think some of us here can’t wait until Ep 7 where your patriarchal, self-appointed super-fan BS (i.e. “I’ve seen the first 6 already so let me guide you all here”) will no longer be all that compelling. :-) That being sad, when you are not invoking that BS, I really enjoy many of your thoughtful comments and observations here.
It’s sad that having the honor and privilege of seeing the first 6 eps in advance can get to some fan’s heads…they start believing that they really are in a sperate class of “super-fans” from the rest of us, and start acting out their imagined role of being one.
So, he’s neither Han Solo nor James T Kirk, he’s David Marcus, lol.
I’m citing you for this comment, violation of statute 04.311-9.
Lol
He is not very David Like, characters wise.
He may not be, but sight unseen this description fits David.
How can he be 24? That would mean he was born two years before Nemesis, which would mean Picard and Beverly were having sex during the TNG film era, and that Bev somehow had a kid, hid him from Jean-Luc for the next two years, didn’t have him with her during Nemesis, and THEN vanished. This makes no sense. Nemesis is in 2379. Picard season one is in 2401. That’s a gap of 22 years. So the oldest he can be is 21, as there’d need to be time for gestation. This makes no sense.
I think Speleers was just guesstimating the age. Jack obviously has to be 20 or 21.
problem is he looks like he’s 30 at least which makes sense given the actors age
The fan-guessing will be put to rest shortly, when it’s stated on screen. I’m sure fans will nitpick and call Matalas an idiot, but that’s fans for you.
He’s just spitballing. I doubt Ed Speleers sat down at looked up dates at did the math.
I still want him to be 34-35, which puts Bev’s pregnancy during her missing year on the 1701-d/TNG Season 2. Baby Jack was raised by her Irish/British relatives explaining why he does not speak at all like his mother.
if he is born post insurrection, it does make sense however, Bev might have been the rebound girl, and both Bev and JLP would be horny after the rejuvenation from the briar patch. Bev may have also been super fertile as an effect too.
Season 2 was set in 2401. The producers have mentioned a gap between season 2 and 3, so season 3 is probably 2402 or 2403. That would fit the age he’s talking about. Of course, it doesn’t fit the actual age of the actor.
I believe Frontier Day is stated to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the launch of Enterprise in 2151, making this season set in 2401 also.
Ignore the actor’s age. Ed Speleers plays a fictional character named Jack Crusher, he is not playing himself.
Apparently there was a wine bottle with a 2401 label in the season 2 opener, so season 2 should have been at least 2401 or 2402. If they now putting season 3 in 2401 it would seem they are fudging the years a little bit.
I don’t have a problem with Speleer’s age.
Can you imagine the uproar if JJ Abrams did this, or if something like this happened on Discovery? A lot of hypocrites here…lol
Well, if it’s up to the fans then I vote yes!
I wonder if Terry Matalas is thinking about setting the next series 5-10 years after Picard season 3. That would address concerns in this thread about Seven having enough command experience to be a captain and the age difference between Jack Crusher and Ed Speleers.
Matalas has said the current season is 2401 which is basically the spring following the fall harvest of season two.
It could however been set a few years in the future with greater credibility.
Choosing to make this the 250th anniversary of the launch of the NX-01 has locked them in.
Which shouldn’t bother anyone because unless you’re an anal nitpicker, it really doesn’t matter that much to the story.
As it stands, the reason this kind of complaint annoys me so much — ages of characters, how good or bad the CG is — is because I really like to have substantive discussion about actual quality of story, character, etc. That’s interesting.
Obsessing over details is fine if it’s taken as a fun little side discussion, but too many people are treating how old Speleers looks, whether his character is 22 or 24, or whether the CG is as good as Avatar, as a legitimate argument for the quality of the show.
I like Shaw, with 7 and Sidney and Jack in a spin-off. I like the titan as a constitution 3 class ship on a spin-off, although the bridge I just don’t like too much. The only Captain I’d prefer over Shaw would be Captain Worf, but that seems unlikely. Love Riker more than ever, but don’t think that would be it, I’d like to see Riker as Commodore over Enterprise F or G as recurring only.
I think if we are going to lose someone, it may be Beverly. Granted she just got unfridged, but if Jack is going to have a turn, it’s going to take the sacrifice of Beverly or JLP, and I just don’t see a second death of JLP… unless it is together with Beverly.
I was actually disappointed that Jack is Picard and Beverly’s son, it was super obvious when they didn’t announce his character name, but he was with Beverly and was plaid by a British actor. I was hoping for a bigger twist. They are also just copying what happened with Kirk and David.
As he is, I don’t want to see a Jack Crusher show, now maybe if he goes though an arc and decided that Starfleet was something to pursue, could be interesting.
I’d like to just see a brand new ship/crew that didn’t really have anything else to do with PIC or others. Just make a new one, like we did when they made TNG DS9 or VOY. They were continuations of the Star Trek saga, but not really spinoffs.
For all the reasons you just mentioned, Roykirk, I think there is some serious misdirection going on with Jack.
I’m hoping there’s something more interesting as well.
What if he’s a clone of Jack Crusher Sr? Bev’s hubby and JL’s best friend (whose death he feels teapot for)? Perhaps Bev carried him to term? Could explain the age discrepancy but not why Vadic wants him.
Teapot> responsible 😅
You know, there IS an edit button…
Edit: wow, there is. Holy smokes.
I think it’s entirely possible something fishy could be up with him. But if there isn’t, I see no problem with him being 20, 21, 22, 21, 24… it really isn’t that upsetting.
He looks and sounds nothing like Picard and he’s obviously in his early 30s which makes the age thing a big question mark as well.
I’m enjoying this season so far, but I’m not in love with this character like a lot of fans seem to be.
LOL well a lot of fans have pointed out that he’s a great actor and a fun character!
LOL well a lot of fans have pointed out that he’s a great actor and a fun character!
Of course, that’s what I just said:
I’m not in love with this character like a lot of fans seem to be.
Dude, please pay attention and read the full posts. Sheesh, it’s like you read the first sentence all the time and then quickly reply without realizing what else the person said, thus missing the full meaning and context of what they said? It’s not all just about “scoring gotcha points” here, we are just discussing Star Trek. Sheesh!
Am I the only one who thinks him being Picard’s son is just a little too convenient of a turn? I feel like him being a kid Beverly saved on some humanitarian outing and that him being “Picard’s son” is a manipulation of sorts she has now engaged in to prevent him from being turned over because she did raise him as a son and knows how Picard would react in that particular moment if he found out that was his son.
This could explain away the accent much more naturally than really anything I can think of they could try to do (kid was already verbal when Beverly rescued him from some war torn bio weapon attacked place where he was orphaned or something)…
I don’t know- I just feel like thew hole “Son” thing feels way too obvious and, as such, I expect it to be a misdirect.
This.
It would be very disappointing if he wound up actually being Picard’s son. I would think a professional writer would want to stay away from such a hoary old cliche.
24 years before 2401 take it back to 2377, two year’s before Nemesis takes place.
There doesn’t seem to me a depicted relationship that is intimate between Picard and Crusher in that film and where does or would the child be and how would Picard not know and Beverly just hide it? She would have to hide away for a couple of years and then rock up again for Nemesis and face the father as if nothing happened and apparently Picard is totally is ambivalent. It should be interesting how this gets explained.
Excellent points, and this is why I still think there’s a twist coming. Yes, genetically he might be the son of Beverly Crusher and Jean-Luc Picard. Yes, Picard admitted to Laris in “The Next Generation” that he and Beverly attempted a relationship. And then there’s the very powerful look he shares with Beverly at the end of “Disengage.” This does not mean Jack was conceived in the traditional way. This is Star Trek, after all, maybe his origins are unique in some fashion? Regarding the age though, I don’t think 2401 is the year we’re in. I think 2401 was Season 2, and I do recall reading a tweet from Matalas that Season 3 is 1.5-2 years later, so however he was conceived it could have happened right after Nemesis.
If he was conceived around the time of Insurrection then maybe the Baku home world had an effect on the situation? Or maybe there still some spare Borg parts inside of Picard that effected any future child he would have? These things might make him physically valuable. I still think though that just being Picard’s son might be the problem. Ultimately I don’t care about how old he looks. I care more about how he acts the part but I am curious as to what happened to end the Picard/Crusher relationship.
I can’t help but think the way to fix this is to have some kind of Borg connection, Beverly realizing Picard at the time is still talking with the Borg and subconsciousnessly pushing AI for them, her thinking the only way to “cure” Picard is to do some geneic manipulation with a son,then deciding to hide her son from all that. Something along those lines.. though why would Beverly feel safe now.. er… uh… because robo-Picard is now free of that connection. Yeah I guess. And then you have the Borg wanting both robo-Picard and the son for the secret to completely replacing organic life and obtaining V’gerness (but in an evil way).
Too wrinkled for 24
That’s because the actor is 34, and this is Hollywood. If you can’t suspend your disbelief about an actor’s age, wait till I tell you about starships, warp engines, and aliens!
I can suspend my disbelief, but that character’s not 22 or less as some are insisting — that’s ridiculous
He is 23 or 24, according to interviews. If you can’t believe that, THAT’S the ridiculous thing.
Apparently you lack simple reading comprehension skills — I specifically said “22 or less” would be ridiculous.
Pay attention! :-)
Oh I read, I just know he’s not 22.
Then, but my own definition, I don’t find it ridiculous, and we have no disagreement whatsoever here.
It’s not a disagreement, it’s a difference of opinion. Speleers said he was 23 or 24. You (and some others) seem to take issue with the fact that he looks older, because the actor is older.
I’m simply saying that it’s ridiculous that your inability to “believe” him as a younger character is a barrier to enjoying the episode. That’s all.
It’s weird how you don’t get this. I specifically said the I would find “22 or under” as his age ridiculous to believe. You then said he’s 23 or 24, which is OLDER than that range I provided, so I obviously don’t find 23 or 24 ridiculous. I still thinks he looks older than 23/24, but that age doesn’t approach the “ridiculous” label for me where it would take me out of the ep. I mean, if they say he’s 19, the I am groaning while watching the ep, thinking, “no way this kids not drinking age.” — so 19 would take me out of ep.
You are a hard person to agree with! :-)
I’m enjoying this season so far, but in the back of my mind I’m wondering: can you imagine the shit-show that we would be seeing here by fans if JJ Abrams gave us some of these elements like the Picard Han Solo-like son thing and the technology where you can throw starships at each other?
In my opinion there are a lot of fan hypocrites who are giving all these JJ Abrams-like elements we are seeing in Picard S3 a free pass. It doesn’t bother me because I like Star Trek 2009 and Beyond (STID not so much), but there are many fans posting daily here (those cats know who they are) I just know would have a whole different opinion on these elements if this were a JJ Abrams Trek production.
Pine playing Han Solo as Kirk bothered me at first to be honest, then i saw Wesley Kirk complete without screen presence or gravitas and i changed my mind. Mount’s Pike is more like Kirk than the SNW Kirk. Solo a Star Wars story basing their Han on Pine Kirk is hilarious though. When Pine was trying to emulate Harrison. That was a failed attempt almost a bad SNL skit total miscasting. Alden is a good actor too, i almost feel bad for him.