Warning: Contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard In Star Trek: Picard could change that. Crusher is the USS Enterprise’s doctor, is an accomplished ethnobotanist, and has many creative hobbies. Her quick thinking saves her friends and the Enterprise on more than one occasion. Therefore, it is curious that most Star Trek: The Next Generation viewers mainly her as the object of desire of a formless entity.
There could be a few reasons for this collective misremembrance of Dr. Beverly Crusher. First, viewers are often shocked at the open exploration of sexuality in a mature woman. Also, people the last impression of a character the best. “Sub Rosa” is one of the last episodes focused on Dr. Crusher as a character and of Star Trek: The Next Generation as a series. A third possible explanation is that perhaps viewers recognize and resonate with the potentially toxic situation between Ronin and Dr. Crusher. Ronin began by love-bombing Dr. Crusher with physical pleasure. He then escalates to possessiveness which culminates in attempting to isolate her from her work and friends. He then outright attacks Captain Picard. Star Trek: The Next Generation explores this situation in a hamhanded but ultimately powerful way.
What Happened In Crusher's TNG "Sub Rosa" Episode
In “Sub Rosa,” Dr. Crusher is back on her home colony of Caldos for the funeral of her grandmother, Felisa Howard. Dr. Crusher finds and reads Felisa’s journals and discovers the main sub rosa, or secret, of her grandmother’s life: she had a 30-something lover. Almost immediately, this entity, called Ronin, seduces Dr. Crusher. This romance causes Dr. Beverly Crusher to resign her commission to live on Caldos with him. Fortunately, Captain Picard isn’t willing to let her go so easily and follows Dr. Crusher down to Caldos. He then confronts Ronin in Felisa’s home. Ronin, predictably, attacks Picard in response. Dr. Crusher is shocked and does not listen to Ronin telling her to leave her friend to become one with him. She eventually vaporizes Ronin in self-defense and returns to the USS Enterprise and her life as the ship’s doctor.
How Picard Season 3 Can Redefine Dr. Crusher
Star Trek: Picard is an excellent post-script to Star Trek: The Next Generation. Viewers get to see several characters' post-Star Trek: The Next Generation lives. For instance, Troi and Riker married and had two kids and live a seemingly idyllic life in the woods. Dr. Crusher’s son, Wesley Crusher, reveals that he has ed The Travellers, as hinted at in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and recruits Kobe, the android daughter of Adam Soong, to be one as well. In true Star Trek fashion, the episodic stories are tied together in season-long arcs of personal discovery.
This makes the series the perfect one to finally give Dr. Crusher the ending she deserves. Writers could mine non-canon storylines, such as a deleted scene from Star Trek: Nemesis that suggests that Dr. Crusher becomes head of Starfleet Medical. Dr. Crusher could also return to Caldos and learn more of her grandmother’s secrets and help the old colony continue to flourish.
One way or another, there are plenty of potential Dr Beverly Crusher storylines for Star Trek: Picard season 3 to use. After all, it is a shame that such an essential character as Enterprise Doctor Crusher is only ed as the lover of a possessive entity. Having Dr. Crusher return to Caldos as the key to some sort of world-saving action would help redefine her role there and finally put her Star Trek: The Next Generation Ronin story to bed.