This is a thing that comes up frequently. Someone wonders why Picard put Wesley, who was a teenager, at the helm of the Enterprise.
Surely, the argument goes, there are more qualified, experienced, adults on board who deserve the spot.
This most recently came across my Event Horizon, thusly:
“… The better question is how did this completely unqualified child get to actively pilot the flagship of the federation while others had to attend the academy for years and get multiple placements before even being considered.”
I NEVER respond, but today I felt like Wesley deserved someone to speak up for him, so why not me?
I replied:
“Okay, so. Disclosure: I am the actor who played Wesley. I have spent a great deal of time thinking about exactly this, because angry nerds have been yelling at me about it for 30 years.
“Remember that a being of extraordinary power and ability pulled Picard aside and said, “this kid is special. I can’t tell you exactly why, but it’s really important that you nurture and encourage him to the best of your ability.” And Picard listened. He heard that this being, who had literally just taken them where no one has gone before, and he followed his advice.
“And that eventually leads Wesley to become one of the Travelers.
“I’m sure that there are plenty of officers on the Enterprise who share your opinion. They’re pissed that this kid was promoted. They’re pissed that he’s a nepo baby.
“But they don’t know everything that Picard knows. And Picard is the captain of the ship, so he gets to make that call. And he doesn’t have to explain himself to anyone.”
And what I didn’t add there but will add here is: The Traveler from Tau Ceti made it very clear to Picard that Wesley and Beverly must never know that Wesley is special, the crew and everyone else on the Enterprise must never know. So all of the sudden, Wesley is given this thing he dreams of, and he absolutely knows he hasn’t yet earned it. How do you think this makes Wesley feel? I mean, we never saw it, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist within the character and actor who played him. He wants to make Picard and his mom proud of him more than anything, and Picard promoted him? HOLY CRAP DREAM COME TRUE! But … wait. What’s going on? His peers are jealous of him and what he gets to do. The adults he is around when he isn’t on the Bridge quietly resent him for what they believe is unearned privilege. There are a a thousand people on the Enterprise, and Wesley probably knows maybe two dozen of them. Everyone else who sees him? All they see is the nepo baby, and Wesley knows it. He has MASSIVE imposter syndrome, and spends a lot of his time trying to understand why Captain Picard believed in him and gave him a chance. He can’t understand why that isn’t enough for anyone else. It’s Captain Picard, man! He made the call! Doesn’t that count for something?
Wesley’s dream has come true, and he can’t even celebrate it. Yeah, he’s a full ensign, a Starfleet officer … but he’s a kid who has never been to the academy and learned what being a Starfleet officer means, how to behave and exist around other Starfleet officers who have also gone through everything it takes to get a posting on the federation’s flagship. He is wearing the uniform without having gained the experience that he needs to fill it. He doesn’t know that Picard and the Traveler did this. He just knows that, now, he has to show up and prove that he actually does deserve it.
And this kid has never been in a place where it’s safe and okay to make mistakes and learn from them. And he knows that. At fifteen. It’s a lot. Now this kid has to carry around with him not just the responsibility that comes with the chair and the rank, but he also has to exist on the Enterprise where he passes people in the corridors, sees people in the canteen, waits in line to use the transporter with all these other officers who have never met him, and DEEPLY resent him for something he didn’t do. Wesley feels that resentment every single time, and it hurts like fucking hell. He will spend the rest of his time in Starfleet trying to prove to everyone that he was and is worthy of the promotion. And every single time he sits at the CONN, he knows that if he fucks up even a little bit, everyone he loves could die. He carries that with him, every second of every day. He feels it in every judgmental look, every whispered conversation, every challenge from a bully who has had one too many drinks. And when he doesn’t hear it from someone else, he hears it from a voice in his head. He can’t escape it, until he finally does and it all makes sense.
And, thirty years of Terran time later, after he’s spent more time being a Traveler, seeing and doing things you wouldn’t believe than he ever spent as a human, he’ll hear someone complaining about how he got that promotion someone else really deserved way back when, and it will hurt all over again, because the body remembers.
Ask me how I know.
I posted this over on Zuckbook, but the forced UI change is awful!
I’m the one who pulled you into said Event Horizon. I was intrigued by the question of why when Wesley went to the Academy, he was basically starting with the others who had zero “real world” experience.
Sorry the thread was filled with bitter folks who only saw Wesley as an entitled child. That’s not my opinion, and I wish we’d have gotten more insight into how Wesley dealt with the pressure he was put under.
(Also, if “a Wizard did it,” I hope it was Mr. Wizard and The Wizard of ID with a soundtrack of Black Sabbath’s “The Wizard.)
Such a great post. I love Wesley – his innocence and his amazement at the wonders he experiences while on the Enterprise. It’s clear that the support he receives from his mother and Picard, and his friendship with Geordi and Data (and others) gives him a foundation to develop into an amazing human. As a Traveller, he is able to experience more than almost anyone – and maintains his good heart. I wish there was a “Wesley” series – about his adventures and life after he leaves the Enterprise and before he shows up again in Picard. I would love to see that story.
We’re taught to compare and despair, attending to what others do and don’t do as opposed to doing the inner work to become ourselves. This tendency breeds collective negativism.
Imagine a society where we’re encouraged to soar, without regard to biased or broken ego…
That mentality I think is part of the Traveler; to care so much without caring what others may think, as their thoughts become our prisons.
When we know our purpose, our own intentions, we vibe higher, breaking free from what breaks so that we can become whole. Sending you 🌬🫶⚕️
The writers really missed the boat on some good b plot drama. It’s really too bad they were not allowed to talk to th actors. Wesley was done wrong, and everyone missed out because of it.
The writers really missed the boat on some good b plot drama. It’s really too bad they were not allowed to talk to th actors. Wesley was done wrong, and everyone missed out because of it.
Any anger at Will here is totally misplaced. He was an actor, he didn’t write the shows. If anger is due anywhere, it would be to the writers. At the time the shows were first run, I felt the “Wesley saves the Enterprise” trope was being overdone, but I never got mad at Will. He seemed like a nice kid then, and has grown up to be a good adult.
Excellent and well written Wil! Of anyone, who would be more qualified to write about the feelings of Wesley Crusher? The Screen writers may have put words in his mouth and tried to set his mood, but you carried his heart and soul. On camera you had to live, breathe, and feel as Wesley. And you did it exceptionally well, considering the pressures in your life away from the camera’s scrutiny. Because of your off camera life, you have been able to juxtapose Wesley’s feelings from screenplay abstract to shared (Between you and he) human feelings. Indeed, the body remembers.
1) Picard doesn’t need a reason. It’s his ship. He wants to switch up duties and make Dr Crusher drive the shuttles for a few days or make Tasha spend some time in astrometrics, he literally gets to do that. 2) Picard was also a lot like Wesley’s long lost uncle. Friends with his father, now deceased. Just because he was uncomfortable with children doesn’t mean that, if you don’t think he was proud as hell of the bright, interested boy Wesley was or the man he became, you just don’t understand human relationships OR the man I think Picard was.
I feel like people put way too much of their own biases into how they react to these sorts of things. Like… Wesley was a genius level kid. Easily one of the smartest on the ship. He wasn’t a brat about it. He wasn’t smug about it. He didn’t rub it in people’s noses that HE got to be on the BRIDGE. He acted like it was every bit the astounding privilege that it was, and he did everything he could to live UP to that privilege.
Wesley was a frickin’ treasure. Would that every ship had someone that hardworking and that brilliant who also really wanted THAT much to be part of it all.
Thanks Wil, I see you; and Wesley. It’s been a long journey and I’m happy to have been with you the whole way.
Thank you for this, Wil. The feelings you describe echo my own youth in so many ways, continuing their crippling effects into and throughout my adult life. The body does, indeed, remember. I am looking forward to thanking you in person next month on Boat! T-minus 30 days!
The writers really missed the boat on some good b plot drama. It’s really too bad they were not allowed to talk to th actors. Wesley was done wrong, and everyone missed out because of it.
Thank you for this, in addition to so much else across the years. It is appreciated.
Wil, thank you! It has always deeply confused and bothered me that fans (at least they said they were fans) of Trek ‘hated’ Wesley. The traveler did set the stage very clearly for Wes to be special and a core character with the essential wonder anyone with all the first experiences he had would embody and he was brilliant …comparably so to Data and equally as niave as Data. No one complained because the other characters were good, kind, respectful etc. Your character was appropriate to the time and place of the society in the stories. It broke my heart the first time I read that you as an actor were treated poorly by anyone because of the character you played. You were just a kid and deserved so much better from fans. As an adult you seem to have processed a lot of that pain but the child inside still needs to know those people were wrong and mean spirited. They are the ones who needed to go away, far far away where their voices could not ever be heard. ❤
I’ve recently been re-watching TNG for the first time since it aired.
I’m a year or two younger than Wesley.
That was the character that brought me into Star Trek (my parents were huge original-series fans), and I’m learning a LOT on this re-watch about why I felt uncomfortable with Trek fans when I started going to sci-fi cons in my late teens, and eventually gave up on that entire fandom.
It was an incredibly relatable character for someone undiagnosed-neurodivergent who was pulled out of regular classes and put into a “gifted” program (this was A Thing in the 90s) where we were doing stuff that didn’t even look like school and being actively resented by the rest of the kids as a result. All because of an opaque selection process where we’d triggered some kind of threshold on standardized tests. You’ve already described better than I can the weird levels of expectation that sets up internally and socially. There was also so much in Wes’ character that just resonated with the deep sadness and loneliness of being a 90s latchkey child with shitty parents, and having better relationships with teachers than anyone you’re related to. His nerdiness is also super androgynous, which takes an entire master’s thesis to explain, but if you know you know; dealing with Trekkers who assume a girl who likes Wesley LIKES Wesley took millimeters off my tooth enamel.
Watching the Trek fandom go off about how Kirk and Picard were both badass teenage geniuses who broke all the tests and whatever, and then losing their freaking minds when Wesley Has An Idea that turns out to be kind of useful* just broke me down, and I never felt welcome among them. I haven’t really watched any of the shows since 1993, and am only taking interest again because I’d heard they’d salvaged the character for the newest series.
*Like, I’d love to see a spreadsheet on who saves the ship episode by episode, because I’ve been Actually Taking Notes and it’s always the dang android. Even when it’s supposedly Wesley, it’s mostly just him having learned something at school recently that reminds Geordi/Riker/whoever of a way that Data could save the ship this time (which is totes believable- nerdy schoolkids know a lot more weird stuff b/c they’re being taught the entire progression of a topic and still have to sort out which bits are currently useful and which are “that thing we tried one time that turns out to be Utterly Useless 99.99% of the time to where no functional adult even remembers it exists”) thank you for coming to my TED talk
Thanks so much for your TED talk. You have really nailed it — in oh so many ways! (Including about girls who liked Wesley, not LIKED him.) BTW, I read some scifi [book or short story?] a LONG time ago [like in the years between TOS and ST:NG] in which (usually young) people with the ability you sort of described of knowing tons of near-random facts and just instinctually putting them together off-the-cuff in a very useful way were assigned to a scientist companion who could recognize when the resulting comments were actually breakthroughs that would solve some major problem. I don’t even recall if this circumstance was somehow the main plot of the story or just background (though I think the latter), but I felt like in such a world I might could be such a person, so it made an impression I’ve never forgotten even though I have forgotten the title or author.
All heart sir. Many thanks
The human race evolved to no longer need money, I would like to think that they would be okay with a brilliant young man, who proved himself knowledgeable of the job and equipment being given opportunity to thrive.
Not to mention that Wesley wasn’t always on the bridge. We literally have no clue if he worked one day a week or a month. We saw 26 days out of a year and he wasn’t always on duty. But even if he was a full time guy, if he excelled at the job, why wouldn’t others want someone who excelled in the position?
The hate comes from this century. We are free to keep it here
This was pretty much my thinking, as well as (as I recall) it would occur during “down times” when, until something just happened to happen, even helm duty was probably kind of boring to an experienced officer, so they could have been glad of the relief, knowing they were just on stand-by.
This was actually put in as a reply to Josh, if anyone wants clarification of “this was pretty much my thinking”. I have had this REPLY-jump thing happen to me on other sites if new comment go in while I am typing, though those usually jump from actually being a reply to just being a new comment.
Makes me wonder if you’ve ever read “The Wounded Sky,” (for those who don’t know, that’s the novel that was the loose inspiration for “Where No One Has Gone Before”, the episode Wil is discussing) though the Traveler doesn’t really appear in that. More of a giant translucent spider.
I loved “The Wounded Sky”! Wow, that was quite a while back.
“The Wounded Sky” was one of my favorites! Long live T’klk!
Thank you. Your story and Wesley’s so parallel.
This is evident in several of Wesley’s last episodes when his behavior changes just before he becomes a Traveller. Wesley even states he has done everything everyone asked him to do. I think Wesley was representative of the idea that someone will give you a chance, but hate will follow it and to keep growing and succeed despite the hate.
I wouldn’t change anything about the entire storyline of your character Wes from TNG to Picard. Unfortunately you had to be exposed at a young age to the near abusive comments from so called fans of the Star Trek universe. I can’t even imagine how you stayed motivated during your time during TNG, but I’ve always enjoyed the effort you put into making Wes into a continuing storyline to this day. Think about it, the character Wes is still being discussed, so it only shows how important Wes, was and still is, a major part of ST. Armchair writers and directors will always exist in sci-fi just like every other areas of society; it’s how you survive and thrive that displays your true human self. Thank you Will!
We saw the snyde comments in earlier episodes too, from career officers who didn’t get Wesley’s abilities.
The episode where they’re about to be smashed by an asteroid, and all of the engineering isolinear chips are in a pile because the on-shift engineer juggled them into a pile because he was infected with the drunk disease from the holodeck.
So here, not even a cadet, a field cadet, just non-arrogantly, just happily, says “just do it in your head!” Smiles, and figures it out.
They scoff, and he does in his head, right there.
People talk, and while some would have been bitter, some would have just known that he had some abilities they didn’t.
And Picard ran a ship based on respect. People who had trouble accepting it would have gotten counselling or discussions about it. No way it would have been a pervasive impediment.
Moreover, the episodes were not every second of ship life. They were tiny slices showing events. There was plenty if additional time for other officers, lower decks types, and everyone between to get some experience being officer on watch.
You can be sure that, during major events, the senior officers were more often in command, but whenever possible, bridge duty would have others rotated in. You don’t run 4 shifts a day, 365 days a year, with the same people in the same seats.
Plus, battle bridge duties, engineering command duties, etc. If it’s an emergency procedure, you can be sure it was practiced, holodeck and live training.
Anyway, Wesley was “the boy wonder”. The smart kid who was lucky enough to have some very supportive adults in his life. A lot of us aspie kids related so much to the role. It gave us hope and motivation. Picard was a proxy father role model to us through him.
Obviously, you’re not Wesley, but much of him IS you. More I think that people might realize.
So, it never seemed off, the opportunities he got. It was the value and respect we saw, and learned to expect in our own lives.
Learning your personal context adds more connection.
Sure, some people whine about this or that, but a ton of us just quietly exist with models of your work permanently etched in our minds as examples of what’s right.
So, “of COURSE, Wesley would get bridge duty. Of COURSE, the Sr officers would see his abilities and know when/where to plug him in.”
I agree with you. Probably some crew thought Picard was giving Wesley extraordinary opportunities from guilt over the death of Wesley’s father, but they would have had too much respect for Picard to dwell on it. Plus they could have thought they’d make brownie points with Picard by treating his protege with respect. Plus, constantly being aware that Troi could realize how they really felt about Wesley (if negative) could have incentivized them to talk themselves out of jealously, doubt, whatever.
Josh, interesting you mention aspie kids. I had been thinking that Reginald Barclay kind of exhibited autistic characteristics and though you could see a very little bit of the crew’s not registering him as being as good a crew member as everyone else [and though they showed Wesley referring to him as “Broccoli”, it seemed clear that he wasn’t the only one doing so], it was apparent that their respect for Starfleet and Picard meant that they accepted that every member of the crew was competent for their assigned tasks or they wouldn’t be there. And though it wasn’t clear that Starfleet had had any say in Wesley’s position, if Picard said “make it so”, they would.
The crew kind of makes me think of part of the supposed slogan of Lake Wobegon “all the children are above average”. In this case all the Enterprise crew are “above average” but some are further above than others and in MOST cases there are no clues for the crew to tell which are which.
Wow. This hit me harder than anything else I’ve read from you. I generally find your writing compelling and thought provoking. But reading this made me so angry at your parents. Imaging you as a child, capable of this level of empathy and sensitivity. To put a child like that out there as an actor on the world stage before he even knows who he is. It’s outrageous.
I loved Star Trek and I enjoyed Wesley. Thank you.
Wesley screwed up in Evolution, pushing too hard and letting the nanites “breed”, and I was always struck by the lack of blame, the support everyone gives him, and moving directly on to “work the problem”. I like to think that at some point, off-screen, someone had a talk acknowledging the guilt he certainly felt, and affirming that everyone makes mistakes.
He screwed up a different way in The First Duty, got lectured a little harshly, but took it standing up, showing real strength of character. And at the end, he confesses his guilty feelings, and Picard acknowledges them, but reassures Wesley that this guilt doesn’t define him, acknowledging that he can move on from this.
Both could have benefitted from being more explicit, but I think the Wesley in my head isn’t carrying around as much trauma as the Wesley in your head is. That’s probably a good thing, with how formative Wesley’s characterization was to my youth. Thank you, Wil, for the wonderful work you did portraying him.
As a viewer, I never really hated Wesley. He was an awkward teen thrust into a grown-up world. Part of that awkwardness was on the writers for not knowing how to write the character and part was your own awkwardness showing through, I’m sure. I was also an awkward teen at the time, and sometimes staring into the mirror could be a bit much, ya know? But I always recognized the fantastic work you brought to the character, sometimes in spite of the writers. Wesley always seemed to be one of us… The “smart” kids who were bullied for being smart and for being into computers and math and Dungeons and Dragons and science fiction and comics and such… When I discovered your blog (while it was “In Exile”) I came to appreciate you, the actor, as well as the character himself, a whole lot more because you were just a geek with a fucked up childhood, just like so many others of us while simultaneously being nothing at all like us. I’m glad you played the role, and am happy that you’ve come to embrace your place in Star Trek 🙂
You know, it never once occurred to me to question why Wesley was at the CONN. And now I remember why: They explained it. I guess what I’ll never understand is why this sticks in the craws of so many sadboy randos. My best guess is some garbage they’re hauling around, that someone else handed to them, and they haven’t figured out how to put it down and walk away from it.
This makes so much sense, Wil.
Personally I always thought of it as Wesley got a really great internship. Yes, some of it was luck (right place, right person in charge to take a chance on Wesley) but Wesley showed immense talent and drive from the beginning. He had to prove his worth and those in command learned quickly that ignoring Wesley’s insights was a mistake. Yes, he was given an opportunity but, what Wesley was able to do with the opportunity was all the result of his own talent and ambition.
I personally love that Wesley has a change of heart regarding Starfleet. Too often we get onto a path and assume we have to stay on it even if we aren’t happy/fulfilled because that is what is expected. Wesley was able to find a way to do good and be happy outside of the confines of what was expected of him. You could see how the opportunity of his serving on the Enterprise made the choice harder. Wesley felt he owed his friends and mentors for giving him those opportunities.
So there you have character, feeling trapped by both those who helped him and those who would call his success the result of cronyism/nepotism. Those claiming to support him could do far more damage than his detractors. So much more harm is done by treating an opportunity, (which should have been freely given) as an obligation that must be repaid by the recipient (by forcing to remain in that field so as to keep from “wasting” the opportunity).
Experience that gives knowledge or growth in an individual is not wasted, ever. We do not owe anyone our future, no matter what they have done for us.
That is probably the most unfortunate part of how the Wesley character was treated.
Because Roddenberry declared that all interpersonal conflicts no longer exist we never got to see what could have been a great and tragic character, never quite fitting in wherever he went and not knowing why. A character being asked to shoulder so much burden while feeling like an imposter the whole time.
The frustration and alienation Wesley would have felt would have made for great storytelling; a sci fi avatar for kids of the age (I’m Wil’s age so I include myself) that feel like perpetual outsiders.
I have often wondered what Wesley would have been like if he was written under a more open environment like DS9.
Know you are loved Wil, no matter what wanker nerds spew at you. We see you, we hear you, we care about you, and we wish we could make it better. Thank you for being so open about your past, and please know it does help others who are struggling. Hugs and smiles!
Actually I thing that bugged me was Wesley being left alone for a whole year while his mother went off to wherever she went. There’s never mention of who’s watching Wesley or who is supervising him.
I’m gonna be THAT annoying geek and (politely, I hope) point out that the Traveler was from “Tau Alpha C” (a fictional star system), not “Tau Ceti” (a real star system, which—unofficially in the Star Trek Star Charts, which seem to have been adopted as canon by SNW and DISCO in particular—is the location of Tellar Prime).
That said, I live Wil’s explanation.
Sorry! I meant “love”, not “live”. I guess I’d better not try and pilot a starship, or my clumsy fingers would press “auto destruct” instead of “engage” by mistake!
OMG WHOOPS.
The only person who really has the right to complain about Wesley Crusher’s field promotions is Ensign Harry Kim, who remained an ensign for 7 seasons of Star Trek Voyager, and I should mention, died at least three times in the line of duty. I could believe it if Harry Kim was a little T’d off at Wesley. Otherwise, we Earth civilians should just stay out of Star Fleet matters. Great job on charity celebrity Jeopardy btw. Just watched the million dollar season finale. Well done.
Thank you for sharing this writing.