Of all the characters introduced to the franchise right at the start of Star Trek: The Next Generation, no one has been as divisive among the fans as Wesley Crusher. The teenage son of the Enterprise’s chief medical officer Doctor Beverly Crusher, Wesley was a young genius that managed to conveniently save the ship from dire peril on multiple occasions in the series’ early seasons. As franchise creator Gene Roddenberry limited his involvement with The Next Generation following the first season, Wesley’s role would diminish, while the fandom’s ire towards the character has have grown over the years.
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Portrayed by Wil Wheaton, Wesley accompanies his mother after she is assigned to the Enterprise, with his father Jack having died on a mission under Enterprise Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s command. Picard was visibly annoyed with the ship having children on board accompanying their families before learning Wesley was considered a child prodigy. Picard would assign Wesley the rank of acting ensign, and it’s this gifted status and understated arrogance that would rub many Star Trek fans the wrong way. Even when the character’s genius status was downplayed, the discussion around him stayed the same.
There are a lot of problems with The Next Generation‘s first season. Plenty of creative sensibilities from the original Star Trek series were carried over to the season, but many of them did not age well, while other suggestions to plot and character were considered downright problematic. Wesley is not one of the first season’s strengths, but he is not its weakest element, either. And this becomes even more apparent after The Next Generation found its own direction and voice as the second season began.
With Roddenberry co-creating the character of Wesley with longtime collaborator D.C. Fontana, many speculated him to be a self-insert for the executive producer. As Roddenberry’s declining health led his creative role to diminish, Wesley was moved more to the periphery and was allowed to become more complicated. He would initially fail to enter Starfleet Academy and admit to abetting an incident caused by his fellow cadets during his time there. Due to Picard’s involvement in the death of Jack Crusher, Wesley would also confess to harboring resentment to the starship captain, something he was never quite been able to do during the first season. No longer the wunderkind solving each problem of the week, Wesley had grown alongside the rest of the crew to become more of a fully-formed character.
Wesley Crusher is far from a perfect character, but he does personify the creative issues behind-the-scenes during the production of The Next Generation‘s first season. Similarly, as Star Trek: The Next Generation improves, so does Wesley; he’s never quite held in the same regard as Picard or the rest of the main cast, but he is allowed to delve into darker, more morally complicated character arcs that would’ve been impossible with Roddenberry at the helm.
While many fans would balk at the idea, with Star Trek: Picard reincorporating many of the familiar faces Jean-Luc served with years ago, maybe it’s time for Wheaton to get the chance to reprise his role and redeem the public perception of his much-maligned character.
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