Gates McFadden will reprise her role as Dr. Beverly Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation to guest spots and cameos, but that all changes with season 3. A full-scale Enterprise-D reunion sees Michael Dorn as Worf, LeVar Burton as Geordi LaForge, and Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher all make their Star Trek: Picard debuts, but one main The Next Generation cast member not confirmed to appear is Wil Wheaton's Wesley Crusher.
Instead, Wheaton made a brief cameo in the Star Trek: Picard season 2 finale, appearing before Kore Soong in his capacity as a Traveler and offering the opportunity to him. Continuing on from his departure in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Wesley has transcended the normal limits of mortality and consciousness to become a guardian of space and time, barely even considering himself "Wesley Crusher" any longer. As he leaves alongside Kore, Star Trek: Picard offers no indication that Wesley will return for season 3's festivities. Nevertheless, Beverly's story means he needs to.
Why Beverly's Picard Season 3 Story Needs Wesley
Star Trek: Picard brought a finality to Wesley Crusher's journey, paying off his connection to the Traveler and the special potential he demonstrated aboard the Enterprise. The Star Trek: Picard Wesley Crusher cameo did not, however, bring emotional closure to the Crusher family as a whole, and posed as many questions as it answered. The modern Wesley is detached from his former self, implying no with family and friends. How his mother feels about this should be a key element of Beverly's story in Star Trek: Picard season 3. She may feel proud of her son, or sad his lofty status came at the expense of personal attachments.
Beverly would be justified in having conflicted emotions about Wesley losing his mortality, and how his universal calling has made a mother and son virtual strangers. Gates McFadden's character might even regret letting Wesley leave in Star Trek: The Next Generation, wondering whether "dress warmly on those other planes of existence" was an appropriate farewell. Fixing past regrets in later life is a running theme in Star Trek: Picard, and Beverly Crusher's big regret might be losing her son to the fabric of the universe. To resolve that storyline, Wil Wheaton's Wesley and Gates McFadden's Beverly need one last Crusher reunion in Star Trek: Picard season 3.
Picard Season 3 Can Finally Prove Whether Or Not Jean-Luc Is Wesley’s Father
An enduring Star Trek: The Next Generation theory claims that Jean-Luc Picard is secretly Wesley Crusher's father. The paternal proposition draws upon simmering romantic tension between Picard and Dr. Crusher, as well as the Enterprise captain's status as a father figure to the youngster, to suggest Picard is the father of Wesley Crusher after having an affair with Beverly. Star Trek: The Next Generation lacks evidence to this notion, and season 7's "Attachment" directly contradicts it, with Picard confessing he would "never act on" his feelings for Beverly.
Regardless, Star Trek: Picard has proved its willingness to bend The Next Generation canon, and a reunion between Jean-Luc and Beverly could confirm the hidden truth of Wesley's parentage. Alternatively, Star Trek: Picard season 3 could lay any remaining doubt to rest by reiterating Jack Crusher as Wesley's biological father. Whatever side of the debate Star Trek: Picard falls on, the storyline only works with Wil Wheaton's character present, whether that be to cement his father-son relationship with Picard, or to give his blessing for Jean-Luc and his mother to finally find happiness together after decades of guilt, shame and lingering glances.