Beverly Crusher
 Cmdr. Beverly Crusher, M.D. |
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| Species | Human |
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| Affiliation | United Federation of Planets Starfleet |
| Posting | USS Enterprise-D chief medical officer Starfleet Medical Celtris III special operations USS Enterprise-E chief medical officer |
| Rank | Commander |
| Portrayed by | Gates McFadden |
Commander Beverly Crusher, M.D. (born Beverly Howard), played by actress Gates McFadden, is a fictional character on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and its subsequent spinoff films. She was a regular character in the show for all but the second of its seven seasons.
Gates McFadden was replaced during the second season, and the character of Dr. Katherine Pulaski, played by Diana Muldaur, was added as the USS Enterprise-D's chief medical officer. On the show, Crusher's absence was explained due to her being promoted to head of Starfleet medical. Citing a lack of chemistry between Muldaur and the rest of the cast, McFadden and her character returned to the show from season 3 on, to re-replace Pulaski.
Dr. Crusher is the chief medical officer on board the USS Enterprise-D and its successor, the USS Enterprise-E. Crusher held the rank of Commander, and was the head of Starfleet Medical during 2365.
She has one son, Wesley, with her late husband, Jack Crusher.
She is very intelligent, passionate, and caring; she has a very strong will and a sense of justice and will stand up for the underdog, even if that sometimes means going against her training as a Starfleet officer. She is often found playing devil's advocate in the senior staff meetings.
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Casting
Gates McFadden was reluctant to accept the role of Dr. Crusher because of her commitment to appear in the play The Matchmaker at the La Jolla Playhouse.[1] During the second season, the Crusher character was written out of the show and replaced by Diana Muldaur as Dr. Katherine Pulaski. Patrick Stewart was upset by McFadden's departure from the show and played a large part in bringing about her return. [1] McFadden returned to the show in the third season, with her character being reassigned to the Enterprise. In the story of the show, the explanation was that her character "was off heading up Starfleet Medical for the year."[1] Upon her return, the character became more varied and more richly developed, and was not afraid to go head-to-head with Picard.
Scholarly reception
In Sexual Generations: Star Trek: The Next Generation and Gender (University of Illinois Press, 1999), Robin Roberts notes that this character "is shaped more by her femininity than by her medical, scientific training."
Character information
Beverly Crusher was born (prematurely) Beverly Howard in Copernicus City, Luna (Earth's moon). Following the death of her (never married) parents when she was very young she lived with her grandmother, Felisa Howard on Arvada III, a colony planet until a great moon collision caused the planet to flood, forcing its evacuation. Resourceful Felisa, with her granddaughter's aid, used herbs, grasses, tree chemicals, and roots as medicines when synthetic medicines ran out for the injured.
It was her grandmother's career as a healer and Beverly's own caring and sensitivity that largely sparked Beverly's lifelong interest in medicine and healing the sick and wounded. The Arvada III disaster solidified Beverly's decision to be a doctor.
After Arvada III was evacuated, Beverly and Felisa then settled on Caldos II where Beverly finished growing up and entered Starfleet Academy.
After graduating from Starfleet Academy's medical school, Beverly married Lieutenant Jack Crusher, who served under Captain Jean-Luc Picard on the USS Stargazer. Beverly and Jack had one son, Wesley Crusher. They had a very happy marriage until Jack was killed in an accident on board the Stargazer in 2354 when Wesley was five years old. That death was very traumatic for Beverly and it took her several years to recover from Jack's death. However, she continued her career as a doctor and continued to mother Wesley.
Wesley accompanied his mother on board the USS Enterprise until he left to enroll at Starfleet Academy. On board the ship, Dr. Crusher is good friends with all of the senior staff. She plays poker each week with them and also runs the onboard theatre troupe, being a skilled actress and director. Beverly is also a talented tap dancer, having won trophies for her performances in the past. She is reluctant to reveal this part of her background, as she does not want to be known by a nickname she had been called earlier in life -- the Dancing Doctor.
Dr. Crusher and Captain Picard knew each other well when Jack was alive, as Picard and Jack Crusher were very close friends. After Jack's death, they fell out of touch; when the series begins, they have not seen each other for many years. It is eventually revealed that Picard had been in love with her for some time while she was married, and perhaps continues to have feelings for her while on the Enterprise. However, Picard is consistent in concealing his feelings from Dr. Crusher. As the series progresses, the two become closer, starting with the first season episode "The Naked Now". Their relationship is further developed in "Attached", when the two are linked telepathically. This leads them to discover that they do have feelings for each other. They decide somewhat hesitantly not to pursue these feelings, to save potentially harming their close friendship, and sensitive Beverly is fearful of rushing into another relationship. However, now that they have both acknowledged them, it seems likely that the issue will be addressed at some point in the characters' futures.
In the series finale "All Good Things...", it is revealed that in an alternate future, Dr. Crusher and Captain Picard had been married and then divorced — still evidently having feelings for each other after so many years. Little information is given about the circumstances of their marriage or separation. In the present, during the episode, the two share a kiss. However that timeline, as well as that version of the future, is destroyed when Picard changes the past.
Character future
In an alternate future during Star Trek: The Next Generation series, Dr. Crusher is depicted as Captain Beverly Picard of the USS Pasteur.
The future of most of the main characters remains a mystery; however, in the bonus deleted scenes of the feature film Star Trek Nemesis, part of the story which was cut due to the length of the film reveals that she is leaving the Enterprise-E to become head of Starfleet Medical again (as she had obtained this position in her absence during Star Trek TNG's Season 2). It is then furthermore revealed in the (non-canon) post-Nemesis novels that she remains at Starfleet Medical for two years and then once again rejoins Captain Picard on the Enterprise-E as Chief Medical Officer.
The non-canon novel Death in Winter by Michael Jan Friedman has Crusher starting a romantic relationship with Picard after he rescues her when she becomes trapped on a planet under Romulan control. Later, in Christopher L. Bennett's Greater than the Sum (also a non-canon novel), the two are married and expecting their first child.
References
External links
- Official biography at StarTrek.com
- Beverly Crusher at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
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