How Dr. Crusher Is Actually the Conscience of Star Trek: TNG

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▶Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
04:16 - “The High Ground”
14:30 - Crusher and Picard, “The Perfect Mate”
20:35 - “Suspicions” / A Character of Conscience
34:00 - Conclusion
35:47 - Shoutouts, Plugs, and Announcements

#startrek #videoessay #startrek #startrektng #startrekthenextgeneration #startrekuniverse

[patrickdodds]

Dr. Beverly Crusher had a soft voice but was NEVER soft spoken.

[carycharlebois]

Gates McFadden really sold her character so, so well. She didn't always have a lot to do in several episodes, but she had a quiet, deep strength, commitment to her beliefs and sense of justice. And she was a damned good captain of a slowly disappearing starship. Always loved her work.

[patrickdodds]

"Where are the calluses we doctors are supposed to grow over our feelings?" -- Dr. Crusher
"Perhaps the good ones never do." -- Captain Picard

[TightPantsJack]

One of my favorite Beverly moments is in I, Borg when, during the scene where the crew is reviewing the plan to introduce a virus that will destroy the Borg, Crusher is the only person to say “so, JUST TO BE CLEAR, we're doing genocide now? And we're supposed to be okay with that? And you're all cool with genocide?" Even Troi didn't take that stance during that scene, but everyone came around to Beverly's point of view by the end of the episode.

[justinaclayburn]

14:31 - An important element of this section is that Beverly is also the only one on the ship who can give orders to Picard (in very specific circumstances). She is the closest he has to there being someone of equal rank on the ship on a regular basis. This is why she is the only person on the ship he could have an ethical romantic relationship with as well.

[YannaTarassi]

Bonus points for her remembering (and using) the shield tech in a later episode because she still believed in him.

[tom.parryjones]

I had no idea Patti Yasutake had died... or that she was 70! She was excellent as Nurse Ogawa - one of my favourite recurring characters on TNG. RIP.

[itsOasus]

Don't forget that The high ground is the episode that references the Irish unification of 2024. Still time for that to happen by the way!

[IvanDobski]

Great vid Steve!
You missed out on her best line in the whole series though, which I think sums up Beverly's strong moral core perfectly: "If there's nothing wrong with me... maybe there's something wrong with the universe..." 😉👍

[bensollenberger]

I never put it together before, but... Dr. Crusher probably disobeys Picard's orders more often than any other main character in TNG, when it's called for - when it's the "right thing to do". When starfleet officers attempt to forcibly relocate human colonists in a later episode, it's Dr. Crusher's son, Wesley, who disobeys those orders - and interrupts the mission - because it was the "right thing to do". Maybe he learned something from her.

[patrickdodds]

Bless you.a million times for doing such a wonderful video for the most underrated character in the history of the Star Trek franchise. You totally nailed what makes her awesome. Thank you.

[Yteranger]

I loved in I Borg where she voices in simple language that the plan is to commit genocide and that every one seems to have no objections to that.

[Best_Stressed]

I feel like there’s a Steve Shives Cinematic Universe of Star Trek jokes. There’s the Lwaxana Troi joke, the Voyager joke, the Tuvix joke… (I feel like that sounds critical but for me it adds to the joke at this point because when you tee one up, there’s always a moment where I’m like, “oh wait, I bet I know where you’re going with this” that, like, raises the dramatic tension of the joke.

[ProxyExpy]

I recently rewatched The High Ground, a very good episode of the show. What struck me during the episode was how much of a badass they made Crusher just by her actions throughout the runtime. They had her stick to her morals and try to help where she could but not allow herself to be bullied by her abductor.

[bendonatier]

One of the things I've always loved about star trek is the doctors being incredibly smart science minded individuals, that are also the most human members of the crew. Bones, Crusher, and Bashir are not fools, they are very technically minded, but they are also still in touch with their emotions, and usually the first to call out cruelty for what it is. So often we claim that a high inelegance, or a great deal of logic makes a person cold, but you can easily be foolish and cold. The doctors are just smart enough to realize that life is fragile, and the soul can get just as sick as the body.

[TinyGamerAlec]

Legit I think getting into Trek as a kid and seeing Beverly Crusher refusing to let shitty behaviour pass unquestioned had such a huge effect on my moral growth. (And got me into trouble with some of my less ethical teachers.)

[HenshinHead]

Always worth remembering that when TNG was being planned out, Dr.Crusher was meant to play the same role McCoy did in TOS. To be the conscience, the passionate doctor that didn't mind debating the right thing. Of course, she was also meant to play off Troi and Tasha Yar as female counterparts to Spock and Kirk respectively, but that didn't really pan out for obvious reasons, which honestly I think helped her character overall. What good would it do to have the doctor, the ship counselor, and the Chief of Security debating about the problem of the week off to the side when none of them would have final say to do anything about it?

[amandapepin]

1990's Star Trek always had three archetypes for their female characters: the Mom, the Warrior Woman, and the Hottie.

Moms: Beverley Crusher, Keiko O'Brien, Captain Janeway
Warriors: Tasha Yar, Major Kira, B'Elanna Torres
Hotties: Deanna Troi, Jadzia Dax, Seven of Nine

But as a mom myself, I like how Crusher shows that a mom can also be a badass, and maybe even her maternal instincts contribute to her badassery. Mom goals.

Also, fandom needs to quit shaming her for that ghost thing. After all she's been through, she deserved to have a sexy ghost lover, I say.

[sarahlamoureux]

Also, in "I, Borg, " Dr. Crusher is the first one with qualms about using Hugh as a weapon against the Borg.

[bluemujika]

Of possible note, I don't think TNG wanted the mostly boys club either, they had Tasha as the security chief, a woman in the bad-ass department, Worf only became head of security because Denise dropped out. I'd like to imagine what later TNG would have been like with Tasha staying on the crew.