# What Was So Evil About Wesley Crusher? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 28, 2003, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086 "2003-02-28T08:26:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/41 "2003-02-28T21:06:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sublight \* > \*\*It certainly didn’t start with Star Trek: TNG. Lots of old SF movies had little kids hanging around in the middle of everything (not only American ones. See most Japanese monster movies from the 60’s and 70’s). Having a child in the cast lets lazy writers take the easy way out when it comes to explaining a situation. Rather than following the “show, don’t tell” rule, they just have the kid ask “Gee, whillikers, Captain, what’s that? Why’d they do that?” and then Captain Buck Ironjaw can answer "Well, Timmy, when Earthlings first encountered the Destructorians, we… …and if the needle on that dial ever goes above 25, then the ship will… " and the viewer is given the full background story and every plot point necessary to guess the outcome. Star Trek wasn’t any more ham-handed in its approach than its predecessors, but that didn’t make it any less annoying. \*\* Tell me about it. _MST3K_ shines here, pointing out that apparently Japanese schoolchildren have the highest security clearance of anyone in Japan and that they can make friends with giant flying turtles to boot. I mean, there’s at least two Gamera movies I can come up with off the top of my head, plus _Prince of Space_ and God only knows what else. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/42 "2003-02-28T21:16:06Z")
**quietman1920** wrote: > [@](#): > > \*\*I Hated the WC character because his presence and the unnatural attention paid to him by the captain disturbed me. I didn’t want to be accidentally watching when WC was made Picard’s ‘cabin boy’, bent over a warp coil or a replicator… > > \*\* Cute. But the character’s backstory from day one was that there was a serious possibility that he was Picard’s son. They hedged away from this in later seasons, but there it is. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/43 "2003-02-28T23:58:10Z")
The simple truth is, children have no business being in science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/44 "2003-03-01T03:01:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kaylasdad99 \* > \*\* Now Bones McCoy and Mr. Scott are dead, and we really CAN’T go back to the place we were, and should never have left. \*\* WHAT!? When did James Doohan die? I must have totally missed that. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/45 "2003-03-01T03:32:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Cute. But the character’s backstory from day one was that there was a serious possibility that he was Picard’s son. They hedged away from this in later seasons, but there it is. I didn’t know this. I’d always wondered where Wesley’s dad was. But what’s with this “serious possibility” crap? Has paternity testing become a lost technology? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/46 "2003-03-01T05:51:50Z")
> [@](#): > > WHAT!? When did James Doohan die? I must have totally missed that. He [didn’t](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Doohan,+James). ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/47 "2003-03-01T05:55:54Z")
Oh, yeah… I forgot: > [@](#): > > Cute. But the character’s backstory from day one was that there was a serious possibility that he was Picard’s son. They hedged away from this in later seasons, but there it is. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/48 "2003-03-01T07:01:53Z")
Well, that IS a comfort. Sorry to have alarmed anybody. I guess it must have been some kind of brain fart on my part. Still, the rest of my post stands. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/49 "2003-03-01T07:30:29Z")
[His website](http://www.wilwheaton.net/) has some interesting insite into who he is. In reality, I think that I’d like to hang out with him. He really regrets leaving the show, it would seem, because all he ever gets is people screaming about how much they hate him. Sadly, folks don’t seem to get that Wil Wheaton is _not_ Wesley Crusher. I would feel sorry for the guy, but he seems to have quite the life these days. I’m trying to get the guts to write and ask if he can do a custom autograph… “I did not go out like a bitch”, a reference to my friends and I’s obsession with ‘Toy Soldiers’, where he plays the son of a mob boss who, in our opinion, goes out like a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/50 "2003-03-01T07:44:03Z")
\*\* > [@](#): > > I didn’t know this. I’d always wondered where Wesley’s dad was. But what’s with this “serious possibility” crap? Has paternity testing become a lost technology? \*\* Beverly’s husband was Jean-Luc’s best friend and JLP felt guilty that he was in love with his best friend’s wife. He felt guiltier when Beverly’s husband died and he had to decide whether to act on the feelings he’d repressed for so long. Remember the episode (I think it was Season 7) where Beverly and Picard were trapped on some planet where they could read each others’ minds? They discussed it then. Beverly’s husband was the presumed father of Wesley. Presumed so totally that it never occurred to him to get a paternity test. And Beverly and Jean-Luc certainly never wanted to make an issue of it. Have an affair with a married woman sometime and you’ll figure out why. A cite on Picard’s possible paternity? It was on TV, not online, one of those “actors behind the scenes” things. Sorry, no URL. ---
**Author:** ![Fibber\_McGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a6a055/32.png) [@Fibber\_McGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fibber_McGee)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/51 "2003-03-01T08:03:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Finagle \* > \*\*Basically, Wesley was pandering to the perceived audience. Wish fulfillment for all the teen-aged geeks in the audience. Not to mention the kid who saves the day all the time is just a hideous cliche in fiction. > > And he looked more than usually retarded in the Star Trek TNG leotards. \*\* Yep, that’s part of the problem with Wesley, he’s basically a “Mary Sue” which for those of you not up on internet slang refers to characters in fan-fiction designed as a stand-in for the author. Usually young, with genius level intellect and/or uber-talent in one or more areas, saves the day on numerous occasions though extreme stupidity must usually occur in order to put the characters into a position where said wunderkind _can_ save the day. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/52 "2003-03-01T08:39:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Krokodil \* > He felt guiltier when Beverly’s husband died and he had to decide whether to act on the feelings he’d repressed for so long. Picard felt especially guilty, considering that Jack Crusher was under his command when he died. There’s nothing in the show to suggest that Wesley might be Picard’s son. If nothing else, you might think Picard would have thought about that when he was grieving the death of last of the Picards (_Generations_). Is there even any evidence that Beverly and Picard ever even had an affair? It seems unlikely to me, since she was unaware that he had feelings for her. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/53 "2003-03-01T19:14:21Z")
All the above may be true, but basically Wesley was just whiny little dweeb. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/54 "2003-03-01T19:41:05Z")
I did like i t in _The Dauphin_ (which wasn’t about fish!) when he asks Riker and Worf for romance help. Riker going on and on with Guinan was kind of cute but Worf! “And then , they throw things! …drool…” was the coolest response ever to something Wussley did. ---
**Author:** ![CadburyAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@CadburyAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CadburyAngel)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/55 "2003-03-01T20:36:09Z")
At least the team got their ducks in a row in time for DS9. Jake and Nog were well done, I thought. They grew up, got into trouble, had romantic relationships, occasionally rebelled against their parents, occasionally made their parents proud, and actually went out in the world at a certain age (Jake as a journalist, Nog into Starfleet) rather than doing the outer-space equivalent of living in your parents’ basement and working as a secretary in your mom’s office. Your mileage may vary. (Was always a bigger DS9 fan than TNG anyway…) ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/56 "2003-03-01T20:54:23Z")
I never liked Wesley Crusher, but I have nothing against Wil Wheaton, who is a fine young man [so Eric Menyuk tells me!] Wesley was shoved into the cast to get the kids to watch the show, he was supposed to be Picard’s son, but they bailed on that issue … he annoyed people because he was a kid who kept saving the universe single handedly week in week out. And leave Marina Sirtis alone!!! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/57 "2003-03-01T21:02:04Z")
I went to a science fiction convention once and they held a contest, and had prizes for those who could come up with the silliest ways to off Wesley Crush. I believe “drop a Methodist church on him” won. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/58 "2003-03-01T22:02:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Baker \* > \*\*I went to a science fiction convention once and they held a contest, and had prizes for those who could come up with the silliest ways to off Wesley Crush. I believe “drop a Methodist church on him” won. \*\* Oooh… That was clever (and it probably went over the heads of most everyone, I’m sure). ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/59 "2003-03-01T22:14:50Z")
Those tight fitting costumes on ST: TNG were among the worst in television history, but on Welsey Crusher they were just _obscene_. YECH!!! My wife once asked “My God, what pedophile designed his uniform?” ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086/60 "2003-03-01T22:23:20Z")
**Krokodil:** Thanks for bringing me up to speed in Wesley’s dad. (BTW: how did Jack Crusher die? And while we’re at it, what happened to Alexander’s mom? I think I remember seeing her in one episode, but then the next I heard of her was when Worf and Alexander were mourning her death.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-evil-about-wesley-crusher/158086.md?page=4)