Star Trek Picard: 3 names that need to be in season 2

Wesley Crusher

Last we saw of Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: Nemesis (as a deleted scene) he was a Lt. Junior Grade set to join Captain William Riker on the U.S.S Titan. Crusher’s time with the franchise wasn’t so well heralded as his ending would lead one to believe. Played by Wil Wheaton, Crusher was seen as a Gary Stu of sorts. Talented, and smart enough to save the U.S.S. Enterprise in a variety of different ways throughout the first season or so, but not talented or smart enough to get into Star Fleet Academy. Despite having an eidetic memory.

Crusher has become a bit of a pop-culture joke, with memes of Picard telling Crusher to “shut up” becoming more and more what the character is remembered for. His disdain of the fanbase may be justified but the curious things about maligned characters such as Crusher are that you can do a whole lot with them. There are no real expectations with Crusher. Some characters you can’t get change at all, no matter what, but when a character is so unevenly accepted as Crusher is, you have far more leeway.

Putting Crusher as an antagonist of sorts, not necessarily a villain, but a Star Fleet representative that is tasked with dealing with Picard and his mission could be truly compelling television. The reclaiming of the character as he shows a depth of maturity and even brutality never before thought possible would make Crusher’s entire arc mean so much more than being just a meme.