Wesley Crusher is a fictional character in the television series Star Trek: The Next
Generation, appearing regularly in the first four seasons and sporadically afterwards.
He is the son of Beverly Crusher and is portrayed by actor Wil Wheaton.
Overview Television series and films
In the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Wesley Crusher first arrives on
the Enterprise-D with his mother, soon after Captain Jean-Luc Picard assumes command.
Crusher's father was killed while under Picard's command, with Picard delivering the message
to Wesley and to his mother, Beverly.
Picard initially found Crusher irritating, as he is often uncomfortable around all children,
a fact which he discloses to his second, William Riker in the pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint".
In early episodes of the series, Picard does not allow Crusher on the bridge of the ship.
However, through the progression of the series, Picard comes to realize that Crusher understands
many things beyond his age and has inherited his mother's high level of intelligence, while
Crusher himself also learns to overcome his initial animosity towards Picard following
his father's death.
Picard begins to afford Crusher more opportunities on board the ship.
An alien known as the Traveler tells Captain Picard that Wesley possesses a unique intelligence
and great potential when provided encouragement and opportunity, comparing him to a child
prodigy like Mozart.
Picard soon appoints Crusher as an acting ensign.
Crusher eventually takes the entrance exam for Starfleet Academy.
His test score ranks lower than required, and he is not accepted into the Academy in
his first attempt, as detailed in the episode "Coming of Age".
Later, he misses his second chance to take the Academy entrance exam during the episode
"Ménage à Troi" in which he assists the Enterprise-D crew in rescuing Riker, Deanna
Troi, and Lwaxana Troi from hostile Ferengi, for which Picard grants him a field promotion
to full ensign.
Crusher is then invited to reapply the following year, taking the exam and being accepted into
the Academy where he joins an elite group of cadets known as Nova Squadron.
His involvement with this group leads to his losing academic credits, when a squadron-mate
is killed attempting a dangerous and prohibited flight maneuver and, under pressure from the
team leader Nick Locarno, Crusher abets the squadron's efforts to cover up the truth.
Although the crew's intervention and Crusher's own testimony saves him from expulsion, all
of Cadet Crusher's academic credits for the year are canceled and he is required to repeat
the year and graduate after most of the rest of his class.
He remains in the Academy thereafter until the Traveler re-contacts him, whereupon he
resigns his commission and goes with the Traveler to explore other planes of reality.
He is next seen sitting next to his mother in the background of the wedding scenes in
Star Trek: Nemesis.
In a scene deleted from the movie, Captain Picard asks Crusher if he's excited to serve
on board the USS Titan, and Crusher tells him that he will be running the night shift
in Engineering.
This implies that Wesley returned to Starfleet at some point prior to the events of the film.
Spin-off works The subsequently released A Time to... novel
miniseries and the 2007 novel relaunch of Star Trek: The Next Generation revealed that
Crusher had become a full-fledged Traveler.
He was wearing a Starfleet uniform in Star Trek: Nemesis because he had mistakenly arrived
to Riker and Troi's wedding naked, expecting a Betazoid wedding.
Several years later, Crusher enlisted the aid of the Enterprise-E crew in stopping a
powerful machine from destroying all organic life in the galaxy.
Reception Many fans, including Wil Wheaton himself,
considered the character to be a Mary Sue and a stand-in for Gene Roddenberry, whose
middle name was "Wesley".
A 2009 Family Guy episode, "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven" included the main The Next Generation
cast and featured Wil Wheaton in character as Wesley, being bullied by Patrick Stewart
as infantile and annoying.
Some fans disliked the idea of a young boy who seems to constantly save the whole ship
as a deus ex machina plot device.
Commentators have observed at least seven times in which Wesley, "who has trouble getting
into the Starfleet Academy" and is on a ship "filled with Starfleet's best and brightest
crew members", has come up "with the needed solution".
References
External links Wesley Crusher at Memory Alpha
Wesley Crusher biography at StarTrek.com