Gates McFadden deserves one more turn in Picard’s second season

Gates McFadden believes she’ll be in season two of Picard.

Gates McFadden will be known to many as Beverly Crusher from the iconic Star Trek: The Next Generation series, and it’s subsequent films. All this after being replaced by the showrunners after the first season of the show. She’d eventually return in season three and would be a mainstay ever since,  yet her brief departure and her tangled relationship with Patrick Stewart’s on-screen character, Jean-Luc Picard, are just two of a thousand reasons why McFadden’s Crusher should return on Star Trek: Picard.

Which may very well happen, anyway. When asked by TrekMovie.com if she’d be appearing in the second season of Picard, the Next Generation alum was adamant there was no contract signed, but never say never.

"Well, I don’t know. There’s a good chance, let’s put it that way. But I have no contract signed."

To see Crusher dealing with Picard’s new android form, as goofy of a concept as that is, would actually be interesting. Especially if she was written in a way to be just very confused by the whole thing. After all, who makes an android body that will eventually die?

McFadden’s Crusher has become a very popular character and has even found her way into a running bit on SyFy Wire’s War Factor series. During the final moments of the show, host Brian Silliman conducts a “Crusher Watch”, in which he’ll take a look at a given episode to see what Crusher had been up to. As the series covers all of Star Trek, there will be episodes she doesn’t appear in and Silliman explains why. Usually with some witticism.

McFadden’s time as Crusher was just one part of the fabric that became Star Trek: The Next Generation and whether you like Star Trek: Picard or not, you as fans should always root for your favorite talent to get work. Especially to get work in a franchise with a fanbase that has loved them so.