Gates McFadden won’t reprise her character on Star Trek: Picard’s second season.
Despite being absent for the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gates McFadden has long been viewed as an integral member of the Enterprise-D crew. McFadden played Dr. Beverly Crusher on the series, and served as the primary medical physician for the ship, while also serving as mother to son Wesley (Wil Wheaton) and occasional love interest to Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).
The latter of which has a series on Paramount+, and it’s serving as a reunion show of sorts for past members of Star Trek, with Will Riker (Johnathan Frakes), Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), Data (Brent Spiner), and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) all appearing on the series.
With season two, many had hoped even more names would join the adventure, including McFadden but that no longer appears to be the case. McFadden spoke to TrekMovie.com about not appearing in the second season, saying;
"I’m not in the second season. I’m sad that I’m not. Things have changed a lot on different levels. So I have no idea at this point. I’m disappointed because it would have been so much fun to just work with those people. But we’ll see. I have no idea. I wish I could tell you."
No Beverly Crusher at all in Star Trek: Picard?
This may lead to a situation that could see McFadden not reprise her role as Beverly Crusher at all in Star Trek: Picard. It’s been confirmed by actor John de Lancie, who plays Q, that the shows are shooting back-to-back. If that’s true, that would mean that McFadden wouldn’t be on the show for either season if she’s not filming with the crew already.
More so, there have been rumors for years that Picard was only ever going to be three seasons. If that holds to be true, it could mean that McFadden will never get a chance to reprise her role as Crusher.
Or that there’s a lot of smoke screens being used and that a reunion is in fact on its way, but everyone involved is attempting to misdirect fans.
Either way, keep an eye out for any potential news on the matter.