Wesley Crusher is a character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. Played by actor Wil Wheaton, the character was a regular for the first four seasons. Afterwards, the character appeared sporadically. The character also appeared briefly in Star Trek Nemesis.
Overview
Wil Wheaton first read for the role in 1986.Subsequently, in the TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation, the character of Wesley Crusher first arrived on the Enterprise-D with his mother, soon after Captain Jean-Luc Picard assumed command. Captain Picard was annoyed by Wesley at first - as Picard is uncomfortable around all children - but he comes to realize that Wesley understands many things beyond his age. An alien Traveler expressed to Captain Picard that Wesley had a unique intelligence and great potential if provided encouragement and opportunity, comparing him to a child prodigy like Mozart. Captain Picard soon appointed Wesley Crusher to an acting ensign.
Wesley eventually took the entrance exam for Starfleet Academy. His test score ranked lower than expected, so Wesley decided to stay on the Enterprise-D to gain more experience. Later he missed his second chance to take the academy entrance exam in order to assist the Enterprise-D crew in rescuing Will Riker, Deanna Troi and Lwaxana Troi from hostile Ferengi. Picard soon granted him a field promotion to full ensign ("Ménage à Troi"). He was invited to reapply the following year, took the exam, and was accepted into the Academy. He stayed in the academy for a number of years until the Traveler re-contacted him. He resigned his commission and went with the traveler to explore other planes of reality. Only later, approximately at the time of Star Trek: Nemesis, did Wesley rejoin Starfleet, and had made it to the rank of Lieutenant, Jr. Grade. In other timelines – "Yesterday's Enterprise", "Parallels" – Wesley made it to full Lieutenant.
The back story states that Wesley Crusher is the son of Beverly Crusher and Jack Crusher.
In the very early episodes of the show, Picard did not allow Wesley on the bridge of the ship. However, in the first season's episode "Where No One Has Gone Before" he was made an acting ensign. Later that season he failed Starfleet Academy's entrance exam ("Coming of Age"). He tried again the next year and was accepted.
Fan reception
Fans have reacted negatively to the Wesley Crusher character. He is considered by some to be a Mary Sue cypher for (Eu)gene Wesley Roddenberry. This seems to lead credence to fans disliking the idea of a young boy constantly saving the whole ship or universe. Commentators have observed at least seven times in which Wesley, "who has trouble getting into the Starfleet Academy" and is on a ship "filled with Starfleet's best and brightest crew members", has come up "with the needed solution. While a simple majority of Star Trek fans think that The Next Generation never jumped the shark, there are a significant portion of fans that blame Wesley Crusher.
In popular culture
- It is stated in several commentaries for the TV show Futurama that the character Cubert Farnsworth is loosely based on Wesley Crusher. Series co-creator David X. Cohen says the character was intended to parody "annoying" characters such as Wesley, who many fans would like to "punch in the face" except in Cubert's case, he actually would be punched.
References
External links
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Last updated on Friday July 25, 2008 at 06:25:50 PDT (GMT -0700)
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