mcfadden star trek

Actor. Director. Choreographer.

G ates McFadden is best known for her role as Dr. Beverly Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation – six seasons and four films. She is also a stage actress, choreographer, director, teacher, and the host of the Nacelle Podcast Gates McFadden InvestiGates: Who Do You Think You Are?

Born and raised in Ohio, she spent many years working and teaching in France, New York, and along the East Coast. Gates now lives primarily in Los Angeles, where she is always hard at work on upcoming projects and teaching her smart aleck cats to make a decent cup of coffee

See below for her extensive body of stage, screen, and teaching work. 

• Medea —Studio Theatre, University of Pittsburg, PA 1976 — director/choreographer
• Pal Joey — Springold Theatre | Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 1977 — choreographer
• Women of Trachis — Springold Theatre | Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 1979 — director *Winner of Most Innovative Director in Boston Area along with Peter Sellars
• Old Times — Laurie Theater |Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 1979 — director
• He Who Gets Slapped — Springold Theatre | Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 1979 — director
• Johnny on a Spot — Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) NY 1980 —fight choreographer
• A Winter’s Tale — Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) NY 1980 — choreographer
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream — Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) NY 1981 — choreographer
• Cloud 9 — Theatre De Lys NYC 1981, Tommy Tune; director — Ellen/Mrs Saunders/Betty
• Rosario and the Gypsies — Ensemble Studio Theatre NYC 1982 — Mary
• “Bumps” and “Knots” — Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, London 1982 — director/choreographer
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream — NY Shakespeare Festival | Delacorte Theatre 1982, James Lapine; director — Fairy/Prologue/Helena understudy
• To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday — Ensemble Studio Theatre New York 1983 — Gillian
• To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday — Circle in the Square Downtown, NYC 1984 — Gillian
• The Homecoming — Jewish Repertory Theatre (JRT), NYC 1984 —Ruth
• The Bloodletters — Ensemble Studio Theatre, NYC 1984 —Annie Sutter
• How to Say Goodbye — Vineyard Theatre, NYC 1986 —Casey Staiger
• Couch Tandem —Women’s InterArt Center, NYC 1987 — Dr. Handleman
• The Matchmaker — La Jolla Playhouse, CA 1987 — Mrs. Malloy
• Bottleneck at the Bar — Golden Lion Theatre, NYC 1990 — Playwright (as Jesse Stuart Gates) and director
• L’historie du Soldat (Soldier’s Tale) — Ja Jolla Chamber Music Festival, CA; Kent Nagano, Conductor 1993— The Devil
• Carnival des Animaux —Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, OH; Leonard Slatkin, Conductor 1993 — narrator
• Emerald City — Perry Street Theatre | New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW), NYC 1988 —Kate
• Viva Detroit — Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC), LA 1990 — Pat
• Every Good Boy Deserves Favour — Tour 1992-93 (Patrick Stewart; Director) —Schoolteacher
• Voices in the Dark — George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick, NJ 1998 — Lil
• Tree —EST-LA 2009 — Artistic Director/Producer
• Mlle. God — EST-LA 2011 —Artistic Director/Producer
• The House of the Rising Sun — EST-LA 2011 — Artistic Director/Producer
• Crack Whore Galore —EST-LA 2011 — Director/Producer/Co-creator
• House of Gold — EST-LA 2011 — Director/Producer
• The Many Mistresses of Martin Luther King — EST-LA 2012 —Artistic Director/ Producer
• The Belle of Belfast — EST-LA 2012 — Artistic Director/Producer
• Year of the Rabbit —EST-LA 2012 — Artistic Director/Producer
• Does Anyone Know What a Pancreas Is? —EST-LA 2012 — Director/Artistic Director/ Producer
• The Fisherman’s Wife —EST-LA 2012 —Director/Producer
• The Last Look Back — EST-LA 2013 —Director/Producer
• The Ugly One — EST-LA 2014 — Director/Producer
• Land Line — EST-LA 2014 — Producer
• Féstival à Pélican — Domaine de Pélican, Gignac, France 2016 —producer
• Féstival à Pélican — Domaine de Pélican, Gignac, France 2017 —producer
• The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)— Mr. Price’s Secretary
• Dreamchild (1985) —director of choreography
• Labyrinth (1986)— Director of Choreography and Puppet Movement
• The Hunt for Red October (1990) —Carolyn Ryan
• Taking Care of Business (aka Filofax) (1990) —Diane Conners
• Beyond the Groove (1990) —Secretary (with David Rappaport)
• Star Trek Generations (1994) —Dr. Beverly Crusher
• Start Trek First Contact (1996)— Dr. Beverly Crusher
• Crowned and Dangerous (1997) —Patrice Baxter
• Star Trek Insurrection (1998) —Dr. Beverly Crusher
• Star Trek Nemesis (2002) —Dr. Beverly Crusher
• Dirty (2005) —Wife
• Make the Yuletide Gay (2009) Martha Stanford
• Mattresside (2015 short) — Nurse
• Follow the Number (2016 ONSEN music video )
• Finger (2019 short)
• The Edge of Night (1982)— five episodes —Tammy Dryden
• The Wizard (1986) —episode pilot “El Dorado” —Darcy Stafford (David Rappaport)
• The Cosby Show (1987) —episode “Cliff’s 50th Birthday” —Anita Garcia
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1988; 1989-1994) —154 episodes— Dr. Beverly Crusher/choreographer one episode (Data’s Day)/director one episode (Genesis)
• All My Children (1988)— Dr. Lisa Mallory
• L.A. Law (1992) —episode “Steal It Again, Sam”— Uta Keller
• Dream On (1993) —episode “The Book, the Thief, Her Boss and His Lover” —Ina Dreikoff
• Party of Five (1994) —episode “Something Out of Nothing”— Greer Erikson
• Marker (1995) —13 episodes —Kimba Hills Rose
• Mystery Dance (1995) —episode pilot #1.1— Nancy Maxwell; John Wells director
• Mad About You (1995-1996)— Four episodes — Allison Rourke
• The Practice (2000)— episode “Checkmates” —Judge Emily Harrison
• The Division (2001) —episode “Hero”— Mrs. Petersen
• The Handler (2004) —episode “Wedding Party” —Siobhan
• Franklin & Bash (2011-2013) —four episodes — Judge Mallory Jacobs
• A Neighbor’s Deception (2017) —Dr Constance Abrams
• NCIS (2017) episode “Skeleton Crew” —Mrs. Belmont
• The Guy… Who Was In That Thing 3: Trek Stars (2019 tv movie)— Narrator/Self
• The Center Seat (2021) — The History Channel — Narrator

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• Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Final Unity (1995) — Dr. Beverly Crusher (voice)
• Star Trek: Generations (1997) —Dr. Beverly Crusher (voice)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (1999) —Dr. Beverly Crusher (voice)
• Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff (2014) —Dr. Beverly Crusher (voice)
• Mary Jane Colter: House Made of Dawn (1999) — PBS documentary — Narrator
• Star Trek: The Next Generation: First Contact (Adapted) —2000
• Chapter Two — 2001
• This Town —2001
• War of the Worlds (Dramatized) — 2002
• Pariswalks —2003
• Walk and Talk Paris —2006
• Family Guy (2009) — episode “Not All Dogs Go to Heaven” —  (voice)
• The Autumn Garden — 2009
• METAtropolis: Cascadia —2010
• Pure Voice Audio Bible- King James Version, KJV: Complete Bible —2012
• Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Devil’s Heart (Adapted) — 2013
• Star Trek: The Next Generation: Reunion (Adapted) — 2014
• Confessor (A METAtropolis Story) — 2014
• Scary Endings (2016) —  episode “U Get What U Deserve” —  (voice) 911 operator
• Harvard Hasty Pudding Show Choreographer; 1970 Boy Who Cried Beowulf; 1971 Rhinestones in the Rough
• Choreographer in Residence for the BAM Theater Company under David Jones
• Artistic Director of Ensemble Studio Theatre LA (EST-LA) for five years
• NYU Tisch School of the Arts
• Brandeis University
• University of Pittsburgh
• Brooklyn College
• AADA New York
• The Stella Academy in Hamburg, Germany
• Teaching artist for Lincoln Center Institute
• Nashville Institue of the Arts (director of “The Drummer”)
• USC where she was awarded the George Burns Teaching Fellowship
• NYU Fredonia
• NYU Stony Brook
• George Washington Institute
• Eckerd College
• Browns & Nichols
• Cambridge School
• Harvard West Lake
• Theatre of The Riverside Church

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Gates McFadden

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McFadden left the series at the end of the first season and was replaced by Diana Muldaur as Doctor Katherine Pulaski in the second season . An official announcement states that McFadden had left the series to pursue other career options. McFadden herself got a call from her agent who told her that the producers decided to go in another direction with the character. Like the other cast members, McFadden was surprised. ("Gates McFadden – Dr. Beverly Crusher", The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 12 , p. 43)

In Making It So: Continuing Star Trek - The Next Generation , Part 2: "New Life and New Civilizations," McFadden states that she was fired. She was too vocal to the show's staff regarding some of the writing on The Next Generation being sexist, and was unsavvy at the time regarding studio politics. Patrick Stewart described the entire cast as being "horrified and appalled," that they had never expected that her comments would lead to it, and it having been a terrible shock. McFadden herself was stunned, as Gene Roddenberry had told her that her character was the third most popular on the series. Ultimately, she felt that she spoke her mind "in a way that really pissed people off" and it was a good lesson to learn.

But thanks to a letter-writing campaign, support from Stewart, and a personal invitation from Rick Berman , McFadden was brought back to the TNG cast for the third and subsequent seasons. McFadden was absent for all episodes of the second season, was mentioned in " The Child ", and only appeared in stock footage in " Shades of Gray " which was used from the first season episodes " Symbiosis " and " Skin Of Evil ".

McFadden and Jonathan West on the set of "Genesis"

McFadden became pregnant with her first child during the fourth season of TNG , learning of the pregnancy only days after performing her own stunts for the episode " Remember Me ". This explains her absence during the last part of the season. Although the directors were able to hide her pregnancy behind objects and Crusher's trademark lab coat, it was briefly visible in some episodes, including " The Host ". Her son was born over hiatus; Brent Spiner is his godfather. McFadden has been quoted as saying her son grew up on the bridge of the USS Enterprise -D , and he was upset when the sets were torn down following Star Trek Generations .

McFadden narrated the 2021 documentary series The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek and was one of its executive producers.

Ensign Gates , the conn officer played by Joycelyn Robinson , was named for her. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 268))

• 2.1 Appearances as Beverly Crusher
• 3 Star Trek interviews
• 4 External links

McFadden's birth date is somewhat unclear; official promotional material from Paramount Pictures lists her birthday as August 28, 1953 while the IMDb lists it as March 2, 1949. Public records indicate that a "Cheryl G. McFadden" was born in 1949 and McFadden has admitted that she makes up dates since she is uncomfortable with revealing her true birth date. Given that she graduated from Brandeis University in 1970 (X) , it is likely that she was born before 1953.

Upon her graduation from Brandeis, McFadden spent most of the 1970s teaching at the University of Pittsburgh, Harvard University, and George Washington University. During that era she formed The New York Theatre Commotion theater company and toured an all-female clown act, "Commedia Dell Pinky" in 1975. ( The Pittsburgh Press , 4 April 1975, p. 15)

Gates McFadden is an accomplished dancer and puppeteer; her first recorded professional industry credit entailed her choreography work on the 1985 film Dreamchild for which she received a "Special thanks to…" credit. Subsequently, she worked on several Jim Henson productions as a choreographer, most notably in the 1986 film Labyrinth (earlier, she also choreographed movement for the 1982 Henson production The Dark Crystal , albeit uncredited, whereas she made her 1984 film acting debut in Henson's The Muppets Take Manhattan ). She prefers stage roles to television, and has been seen in countless productions over her career. She is trained in stage swordfighting; ironically, only she and Marina Sirtis were trained in the technique which was featured in TNG : " Qpid " but only the male characters were allowed to use swords. For her behind-the-scenes choreography work McFadden usually goes by her "Cheryl McFadden" credit, as opposed to her "Gates McFadden" acting credits.

During her break from Star Trek , McFadden played Cathy Ryan (coincidentally another doctor with a husband named Jack) in the film The Hunt for Red October (1990, co-starring Daniel Davis , Boris Krutonog , Ned Vaughn , and served by Star Trek alumnus Greg Jein and his staff of visual effects artists, John Eaves among them), although most of her scenes were edited from the film. She returned to Manhattan for the break where she performed in a play and took up her pre- Trek teaching post in acting and improvisation at the New York University's Graduate School of the Arts.

In 1992, McFadden appeared alongside fellow castmembers Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes , Brent Spiner, and Colm Meaney in a production of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour directed by Stewart, which was performed in four cities. In 2011, McFadden began a recurring role as judge Mallory Jacobs on the legal comedy television series Franklin and Bash having her working again with Malcolm McDowell . McFadden debuted in the first season finale "Go Tell it on the Mountain" where as Jacobs, presided over the trial of Macdowell's character Stanton Infeld. McFadden returned in the second season, first in "For Those About to Rock" joining Geoffrey Blake , Peter Weller and Tom Wright and again in the season finale "650 to SLC" reuniting with " Conundrum " guest star Erich Anderson . Anderson himself has a recurring role on the series.

McFadden had starred in the short-lived 1995 drama series Marker , which was one of the pilot series on UPN alongside Star Trek: Voyager . She has also starred in the Microsoft People Ready Business commercials, aired in the Spring of 2006 on television.

The The Center Seat documentary series McFadden narrated, was produced by The Nacelle Company , where McFadden is actually part of its editorial staff as freelancer, producing and hosting its Gates McFadden InvestiGates: Who Do You Think You Are? podcast series. [2]

Star Trek appearances [ ]

Appearances as Beverly Crusher [ ]

• Every episode in season 1
• " Shades of Gray " (archive footage from " Symbiosis " and " Skin Of Evil " only) ( Season 2 )
• Every episode from seasons 3 to 7 except " The Wounded "
• Star Trek Generations
• Star Trek: First Contact
• Star Trek: Insurrection
• Star Trek Nemesis
• " The Next Generation "
• " Disengage " (no lines)
• " Seventeen Seconds "
• " No Win Scenario "
• " Imposters "
• " The Bounty "
• " Dominion "
• " Surrender "
• " The Last Generation "
• VST : " Worst Contact "

Star Trek interviews [ ]

McFadden was interviewed for the following Star Trek media:

• TNG Season 1 DVD special feature "The Beginning"
• TNG Season 1 DVD special feature "Selected Crew Analysis"
• TNG Season 3 DVD special feature "Mission Overview Year Three" ("The Doctor Returns"), interviewed on 27 September 1989
• TNG Season 3 DVD special feature "Selected Crew Analysis Year Three" ("Crew Profile: Beverly and Wesley Crusher "), interviewed on 27 September 1989
• TNG Season 4 DVD special feature "Mission Overview Year Four" ("Celebrating 100 Episodes"), interviewed by Entertainment Tonight in 1991
• TNG Season 4 DVD special feature "Inside the Star Trek Archives" ("Cast Member Hides Pregnancy"), interviewed on 7 April 1994
• TNG Season 5 DVD special feature "A Tribute to Gene Roddenberry" ("Gene's Final Voyage")
• TNG Season 7 DVD special feature "Mission Overview Year Seven" ("An Ending And A Beginning"), interviewed on 7 April 1994
• TNG Season 7 DVD special feature "Departmental Briefing Year Seven: Production" ("New Director, New Challenges", "Creating Stronger Women"), interviewed on 7 April 1994
• TNG Season 7 DVD special feature "Starfleet Moments & Memories Year Seven" ("A Unique Family"), interviewed on 7 April 1994
• TNG Season 7 DVD special feature "The Making of "All Good Things…" Year Seven" ("Make Up", " USS Pasteur "), interviewed on 7 April 1994
• All Good Things Blu-ray special feature The Unknown Possibilities of Existence: Making "All Good Things" ( 2014 )
• To Boldly Go
• "Gates McFadden – Dr. Beverly Crusher", The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 1 , p. 22, interviewed by Marc Shapiro
• "Medical Cases", The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 4 , p. 27, interviewed by Dennis Fischer
• "Gates McFadden – Dr. Beverly Crusher", The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 12 , pp. 43-44, interviewed by Monika Gutman

External links [ ]

• Gates McFadden at X (formerly Twitter)
• Gates McFadden at the Internet Movie Database
• Gates McFadden at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Gates McFadden at the Muppet Wiki
• Gates McFadden at Wikipedia
• Gates McFadden at TriviaTribute.com
• 2 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-G)
• 3 Star Trek: The Next Generation

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Star Trek’s Gates McFadden opens up about The Next Generation , Picard , her podcast and more

Gates McFadden seems to be everywhere nowadays. From Star Trek: Picard season three, where she has a significant starring role, to her podcast Gates McFadden InvestiGates: Who Do You Think You Are? , where she delves deeper into getting to know actors and actresses who have been on Sar Trek , we’re hearing and seeing her now seemingly more than in the last 20 years combined. We certainly don’t mind.

Gates took some time out of a rainy Friday morning to catch up with us about her projects, and, silly us, we even stumbled upon the heart of the human condition during our conversation.

TrekNews.net : Thanks for joining us, Gates. We appreciate the way you delineate your guests on InvestiGates as people who are far more than just Star Trek alum. That was embodied well in your recent episode with Kate Mulgrew. In your intro for her, you never even mentioned she was on Voyager . We’re curious… what do you get out of really digging into these people and revealing who they are and exposing them to your audience?

Gates McFadden : Well, you honor me far too much by saying I expose them to my audience. I’m simply searching for things I don’t know about my guest. I love researching because it just opens the world to you and you go, oh my gosh, these are people who I’ve known about, some of them are dear friends… but there’s always something new you learn about them. So that to me is what’s challenging and also really enjoyable.

I do not consider myself an excellent podcaster. I am a neophyte; I am learning on my feet. It’s been fascinating and excruciating as well because you have to listen to your own voice and your own dumb questions.

TrekNews.net : It can be so tough for podcasters to nail down a level of comfort with their guest. But we think you do it really well. To what do you attribute your intimate interviewing skills?

Gates McFadden : I feel it takes a moment to get comfortable on a podcast, just as it does on an in-person or video interview like we’re doing. In the beginning, I always feel I’m trying too hard. And once it settles down, then both people are really listening to each other and it’s a conversation, which is what I love. Then it’s a give and take, and it can go places I haven’t anticipated or they haven’t anticipated. I also love it when there are big surprises that happen.

Everybody I talk to is interesting and so different. That’s an extraordinary thing for me. I didn’t pick that up as much when I was interviewing my TNG folks because I was close friends with all of them. But when you really don’t have a super-close friendship, it’s a fascinating give and takes. Some of the topics we talk about are fascinating. Like with the recent interviews with Tawney Newsome and Kate Mulgrew, we talked about our shared backgrounds, like our Catholicism.

I love talking to people like Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome because I’m getting to know them in a new way. I adore both of them. I love their screen presence. I like who they seem to be as people. I sort of go, “yeah, I would like to get to know that person.” So, it’s pretty easy. There’s nobody I’ve worked with that I’ve gone, “well, that person’s a dud” because Star Trek actors are amazing, usually truly human beings who really care about so many different things in the world. So that part’s been fabulous.

TrekNews.net : Have you learned anything about yourself from talking with these people that you maybe didn’t realize before?

Gates McFadden : Oh, so much! I’m fighting my own self-judgment all the time. I never would’ve gone into podcasting had it not been something offered to me. I was offered and turned it down twice. I did the same thing with Star Trek . There’s something about me that keeps saying, “oh no, no.” And then, “Okay, okay, let me try this.” <laughs>. And it opened a whole new world. So, that’s what I’ve learned about me over the last, you know, 50 years.

As I was pondering doing a podcast, I have these two girlfriends who I always go over and discuss if I should do a certain thing. We walk through the pros and cons. They have a dog called Luna, and at that point, Luna never let me touch her. She was very shy. I was on the fence about doing a podcast and I said, okay, look, I’m going to take two dog biscuits. If Luna takes the biscuit in my right hand, I’m going to do it. And if she takes the left, I won’t do it. And I swear she went back and forth. It took her five minutes to make the decision, and she took the biscuit on the right. And I said, “well, I guess I’m doing it.”

TrekNews.net : Sounds like Luna can make all your life decisions from now on.

Gates McFadden : Yeah, it’s become a big joke! It’s taken me this long to learn how I need to make sure I open myself up to growing and trying new things. Somebody once referred to me as a “refuser.” Maybe that’s me.

TrekNews.net : When you talk about working on the podcast, you’ve mentioned how you edit your shows. Are you the person who actually sits down at the computer and gets into the nuts and bolts of an editing program?

Gates McFadden : Yes, and it takes forever! It’s a tremendous amount of editing. In the first season of InvestiGates , I would sometimes take a story from my interview and put it earlier or later in the show, depending on if that was a good ending. I don’t do that now. But I would have loved to be an editor in my life. I think it’s a fascinating thing because editing really makes a huge difference to the flow of a show.

TrekNews.net : Yeah, we don’t think television editors get nearly enough recognition because without doing what they do, you really don’t have a TV show. You don’t have nearly the same emotional punch or flow. It really is a valuable skill.

Gates McFadden : It would be fascinating if someone would do a TV show and have three different editors edit. The public would be just amazed at the impact different editors can have. Editing is a fine art.  

TrekNews.net : We’re sure all your guests have stuck out in your mind somehow, but is there one person who you remember as being a really interesting person?

Gates McFadden : I think I might have to go back to Wil Wheaton actually because he’s someone who I certainly knew and liked for a long time. But I learned more about him in our podcast than I had learned in years. I learned what was shocking to him and what was gross to him. I learned that he doesn’t dance. I learned he doesn’t think of himself as a forgiving person. I mean, that’s pretty amazing.

TrekNews.net : It’s almost like getting to know somebody else again, even though you might have already known them.

Gates McFadden: Yes. People oftentimes make snap judgments about other people, maybe based on what they see on TV or just a passing encounter with a person in a check-out line. You think you know a person, but we often cut ourselves off from really significant observations because we close ourselves off.

TrekNews.net: You strike us, Gates, as someone who is a real student of the human condition. Would you agree with that assessment?

Gates McFadden : I would be honored if that was the case, and I do sort of agree with that assessment.  I like looking at life like a scientist, really, because you sort of go, “why did I react that way? Why am I so scared now?” I try to stay where I like myself and try to be open to others in the same way. It’s a constant learning process. You can really do harm if you’re not thoughtful.

TrekNews.net : Fascinating. So, snap your fingers and you can get anybody on the show. Who would it be? Doesn’t have to be a Star Trek alum.

Gates McFadden : Well, one person I would love to talk to is [former Georgia State Representative and gubernatorial candidate] Stacey Abrams. I have great admiration for her. Plus, she’s been on – and loves – Star Trek !

TrekNews.net : Who would you be starstruck by?

Gates McFadden : Mads Mikkelsen is a big heartthrob of my life. He’s so great. He was a dancer, and one of those people that from afar I go, “wow, he’s a really good actor.” I love watching him on screen.

TrekNews.net : It’s good to see Beverly get some major meat in season three of Picard . We’re sure you feel the same way. What was your first reaction when you saw her storyline, considering the character unfortunately was not so prominent in the TNG movies?

Gates McFadden : That’s an understatement. Yeah, I needed to know in advance that there was going to be a good storyline, something that would show different aspects of Beverly. That it wouldn’t just be that she was a mother, or I was a vehicle to make the son come back. Obviously, they could have used any number of people who that could have happened to.

I don’t want to be limited to things that are just considered “female,” or “feminine.” I don’t only think it’s about nurturing. I think it’s about being forceful, in a good way, being assertive about being a scientist, and being really curious about what’s going to make the situation get better. I think she’s a humanist. I think she is, of course, a nurturer, but I think she is also very interested in science and technology, and collaboration is huge for her.

TrekNews.net : Would you do a Crusher show?

Gates McFadden : Are you kidding? <laughs>, Of course, I would. I mean, that could be very interesting. You know, we could be off on the Eleos doing medical supply runs and running into people sort of Pre- Picard .

TrekNews.net : It’s been basically 20 years since Nemesis . So, how did you get back into that headspace? How did you get back into character after so long?

Gates McFadden : Oh, it becomes very easy because we go to Star Trek conventions. It was after the 20 th or 25 th anniversary that we all started heavily doing conventions again. I hadn’t done them for a while. And we [the TNG cast] all were in contact. You know, once you’re with your television family again, it just starts to happen. And we all are very close. We have a group text. So, I think we know who our characters are, and how the characters evolved.

TrekNews.net : Forgive this next slightly morbid question. It’s fair to say your obituary is going to have Star Trek in the first paragraph. Let’s take Star Trek out of the picture. What do you want to be remembered for besides Star Trek ?

Gates McFadden : In my life, I would like to be remembered for giving love. Every time I’ve ever given love, I’ve grown as a person. And I think there’s no point in giving hate or giving negativity. Being with my own personal family brings me so much love. I have so much love from my niece and nephew. I have so much love for my friends, and certainly for my son. Being a parent was the greatest experience of my life, for sure, because it is about protection and giving love. You learn about yourself as you do it. That was something I really wanted.

Being a parent illustrates what is so amazing about our existence. Yeah, there’s the risk of pain and injury and all sorts of things, but it’s like, are you willing to get positive? Are you willing to give love? But it’s about trying to emphasize giving . It’s about taking it off of me, me, me .

TrekNews.net: Well said. Thanks for sitting down with us today, Gates.

Gates McFadden : Oh, you’re certainly welcome!

Gates McFadden InvestiGates is available on Apple Podcasts , Audible , Spotify , and other podcast apps through gatesmcfadden.com .

The third and final season of Star Trek: Picard stars Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Michael Dorn as Worf, Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, Brent Spiner as Lore, Jeri Ryan as Seven, Michelle Hurd as Raffi, along with Amanda Plummer as Vadic, Todd Stashwick as Captain Liam Shaw and Ed Speleers as Jack Crusher.

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Kyle Hadyniak has been a lifelong Star Trek fan, and isn't ashamed to admit that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek: Nemesis are his favorite Star Trek movies. You can follow Kyle on Twitter @khady93 .

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‘Star Trek: Picard’ Star Gates McFadden on the ‘Visceral’ Experience of Seeing [SPOILER] Again and Dr. Crusher’s Controversial Decision

By Adam B. Vary

Adam B. Vary

Senior Entertainment Writer

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SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments in Season 3, Episode 9 of “ Star Trek: Picard ,” currently streaming on Paramount+.

Gates McFadden didn’t know what to expect when she first got on a Zoom call with “Star Trek: Picard” executive producers Terry Matalas and Akiva Goldsman. A few years earlier, Patrick Stewart had taken the cast of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” — Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Marina Sirtis, Michael Dorn, Brent Spiner and McFadden — to dinner to announce that he was going to star on the spinoff series without them. But for the show’s third and final season, Matalas wanted to bring the full cast back together. 

“So much of the history of the character — you didn’t even see it,” McFadden says. “Jean-Luc Picard could have this brand new love interest every time, and it was as if he and Crusher had nothing between them, or ever did. That was a huge part of the character that was just put away.”

To McFadden’s surprise and delight, Matalas pitched her what has turned out to be the most robust storyline her character has ever been given. At some point after the events of “Nemesis,” Crusher and Picard consummated their relationship in a liaison that resulted in a child. Rather than tell Picard, however, Crusher cut herself off from the rest of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D and raised her son, named Jack Crusher (and played as an adult by “You” co-star Ed Speleers ), alone.

If that wasn’t enough, the episode ends with one final shocking twist: The “TNG” cast reuniting with the Enterprise-D, which Burton’s Geordi LaForge has painstakingly reconstructed since it was destroyed in the events of 1994’s “Star Trek: Generations.”

McFadden talked with Variety about what it was like to return to the old Enterprise-D and reunite on camera with all her old friends, as well as her own mixed feelings about Crusher’s controversial decision to keep Picard in the dark about his own son — and the “TNG” episode that made her feel better about it.

How did you feel about Beverly Crusher’s presence in the “TNG” movies?

Well, it’s no surprise to hear that it was very disappointing. It’s always tricky when you’re the actor. You want your role to be as wonderful as possible. But you’re also not stupid, and you’re very happy that the franchise is doing well. “First Contact” was just an amazingly written film. My only sadness was that there had to be new female love interests. But then, that’s Hollywood. So you just accept it and do the best you can do with what you’re given. I mean, that’s the job.

So when did you understand that not only would Crusher have that history with Picard on this season of the show, but it would be central to the story?

I think in the very first conversation I had with Terry and Akiva. They told me the storyline. And I said, “Hey, terrific story, but my concern is that she’s not seen as ‘That bitch didn’t tell him she was pregnant with his child! How could she do something like that?’” 

She’s basically a very ethical humanist. She really cares about doing the right thing. That was my concern. I was coming from “TNG” where I felt the female point of view was only done through different women characters who would come on board, not Troi or Crusher. I felt that we were lacking in terms of a very strong female presence. Our only scenes, usually we would be, you know, working out and talking about men somehow. 

The famous scene of the two of them stretching in leotards .

I mean, it was quite crazy, right? I have enough sense of humor to go, okay, the stupidest scene. I get it. We go to conventions and people are dressed in cosplay with our outfits. It’s funny, and I don’t feel judged by the younger generations, in a way that I wish my generation had gotten it when it happened.

So how did you resolve your feelings about Crusher’s choice about Jack?

I think if we hadn’t had the episode “Attached,” I would have had more of a problem. We had this episode where we were totally connected with each other’s deepest thoughts. I feel that’s why they basically broke up, or it never really went anywhere. Because she didn’t want this on-and-off relationship; she wanted a family. And he very clearly from the deepest instincts did not.

On “TNG,” Crusher was often a character who was unafraid to go off alone on her own path if she felt it was the right thing to do, rules be damned. Her decision to cut off all her friends and not tell Picard about his son is the most extreme version of that, but I see how people had mixed reactions.

It’s interesting because she didn’t choose to have an abortion. She really wanted to be a mother. And if you’ve just been recently listening to Picard’s deepest thoughts — “no, I would never want a baby, absolutely no, no, no” — I think you have to base it on what she knew then. And I think she hopes that later the child would reunite with Picard, and it’s a shock when her son doesn’t want to. And perhaps she had an instinct, when the child was crying all the time at night, that this child needed protection, and was perhaps a little different. Obviously, there’s going to be people who disagree with [her decision]; I understand that. I just feel also people should then try to focus on maybe the good of why that happened.

At the same time, how did it feel to have so much material to perform as Crusher?

It was the first time ever for me in “Star Trek.” It felt fabulous. It was terrific. I owe that all to Terry. It was wonderful acting again with Patrick. We’ve always had a good chemistry on screen. I never dreamt it was ever going to happen, because I didn’t assume I was going to go back to do a just a one off where I’m, you know, opening a knitting shop or something. That I would not have been interested in.

What was it like the first day the core seven of you were all on set together?

It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen most of them. The only one I hadn’t seen was Marina. The effect on fans in my mind is probably greater than it was for us. We’re in a group text; we’re in each other’s lives. I mean, there was humor. We were sort of, “Okay, we’re back at the Observation Lounge! How are they going to do these shots?” Because in the “TNG” olden days, it would be a whole day in the observation lounge for everyone’s close-up. So it was done in a different way. 

What else was different?

The cameras were so fantastic. The lenses were so much sharper. The sound was better. You really notice that it’s been quite a while, 20 years or so — 35 years since we shot the first one. Because I couldn’t make a sound like this. [Drops a pen.] We’d have to reshoot the whole scene before, or I’d have to loop the whole scene. Now, you could make some noise. And I mean, technology has really been rockin it for cameras.

What’s your sharpest memory of being together on set with the cast?

LeVar Burton and Brent Spiner told me the same thing , that you’re “older” and “more mature” now.

I think that’s definitely true, but I’m not sure that given the right circumstances, we wouldn’t still be singing on a set or whatever. There was one moment where we went crazy with it. But poor Terry had a lot to shoot in a limited time, and I think we were all aware of that. So maybe narcissistically we were more well behaved because we wanted it to be good. We wanted the first one to be good. That’s silly to say. But we had much longer hours. So I think after you’ve shot for 14 hours, you start to get incredibly silly.

So when did you learn that the Enterprise-D was going to be resurrected?

I think pretty early on. That was amazing. It was a huge visceral difference. The Titan was an intimidating bridge. Even the Gates part of it that was like, “Wow, if I were on this bridge, I wouldn’t know how to work all those machines.” Whereas on the Enterprise bridge, I was like, “Oh, yeah, I can do it all. I know how to drive it.”

It was interesting to see the difference in the lighting, for example. The original “TNG” bridge is like a living room. My little boy, he was learning how to walk on that bridge. He was going up and down and into the ready room and looking at the fish and the spaceship model. It really was this homey feeling. And it also seems really small compared to the technology and the size and the scope of the Titan.

How closely did they recreate the original “TNG” bridge?

[Whispers] Very. Very. Amazing. They had the same stuff, things that you’d be reading that would be from the show. [“TNG” graphic designer] Michael Okuda helped them with all those little details. He’s such a genius. He and his wife Denise just figured all of those things out.

Did you see it for the first time the day you shot? 

I had seen it before. I went over. I wanted to see it.

As you’ve said, the “TNG” cast has been close for a long time, but what was it like to be on that set together for the first time since 1994’s “Star Trek: Generations”?

It just felt like home. You knew where to go, what to hold, where to run for this control and that control. I think it’s for the fans almost more exciting in a sense, because they’re seeing the whole. When I see it in the context of the episode, it’s powerful. When you’re acting it in the space, I had seen it before. It was just like going to a museum and seeing it. It was just lovely. I think that’s all I can say, you know. We had all the shots to fit in. But it wasn’t like, you know, we all burst into tears. What Terry and the editors have done is pretty great. It’s really dramatic and powerful.

Did you like where you were standing?

Terry’s made no secret that he would love to continue this storyline on a new show that he wants to call “Star Trek: Legacy.” Would you want to continue playing Crusher?

If she was as three dimensional as she was really becoming in this one? Absolutely. And, as I said, I trust Terry. I’ll play a Klingon for Terry. I mean, he’s really a wonderful, wonderful producer and writer, storyteller. And I love good storytellers. I built a theater in L.A., and we did only new work. I think people who can tell a story, I’ll be the first one to jump on board to help out. I hope it does. I think he would do a tremendous job. And I would love to be involved in some way.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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‘Star Trek: Picard’ Stars Patrick Stewart, Gates McFadden And Jonathan Frakes On Returning To The Bridge Of The USS Enterprise: “An Emotional Experience”

The third and final season of Star Trek: Picard went out with a bang this year, reuniting the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation and delivering a compelling conclusion to a story that started 37 years ago. Patrick Stewart , Gates McFadden and Jonathan Frakes reflect on their earliest days, and describe the emotion they felt as they stepped back onto the bridge of the USS Enterprise.

DEADLINE: Do you remember your first meeting with one another, way back in 1986?

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GATES McFADDEN : I was doing a play with Linda Hunt called The Matchmaker , down in La Jolla. Patrick came down to see it. We went out to dinner and it was all very exciting; we found we had a lot of mutual friends who were in the Royal Shakespeare Company. We talked all night. We both said, “I don’t know, I’m nervous about this whole thing…”

PATRICK STEWART : I remember people telling me not to worry about signing a six-year contract. They said, “You’ll be lucky to make it through the first season.” You cannot revive an iconic series, that’s what they told us. I was told, “Get a plane ticket, come over here, do the show, make some money for the first time in your life, and work on your tan, then you can go home.”

FRAKES : You have to remember, audiences were not ready for a bald English captain with a French name. And a Klingon on the bridge, and a blind guy driving. It was a very strange environment and people were skeptical to say the least. I didn’t know anything about Star Trek . Neither did Gates, or Brent [Spiner], or Patrick. I think [Michael] Dorn did, and I know your space son, Gates, Wil Wheaton did. But we had different tastes in television — in spite of the fact that my wife, the wonderful Genie Frakes, had a poster of Captain Kirk on her bedroom wall when she was a kid [laughs].

McFADDEN : Brent said the same, that we just didn’t know if this was a good idea.

STEWART : Of course, I found out eventually that I was also signing up for six years of Jonathan Frakes.

FRAKES : Hey, now [laughs].

DEADLINE: Star Trek: Picard ’s third season reunites the whole Next Generation ensemble. The chemistry between the characters takes us right back to Next Gen when it had hit its stride. How long did it take you to settle in and find that chemistry?

FRAKES : I don’t think we got rolling until about the third season of Next Generation , in terms of chemistry. The writers didn’t know yet who they were writing for. For us, I’d never worn a silly spandex spacesuit with no pockets. I didn’t know how to act without my f*cking hands in my pockets. It was a lot to learn. And the technobabble. God bless Brent and LeVar [Burton], who were given the bulk of it.

McFADDEN : Excuse me, Beverly had quite a lot to say, too.

FRAKES : Yeah, and Beverly Crusher, my apologies [laughs]. I had the great privilege that for most of the scenes, we’d be gathered as a crew and I just had to sit next to the captain and say, “Report.” Then I could listen to everyone else mumble the technobabble, and Patrick would wrap it up. That was my favorite kind of scene.

STEWART : My knowledge of Star Trek was so minimal, and my knowledge of being on a soundstage with cameras and 40 crew was non-existent. I wasn’t called to shoot on the first day, and I remember being very annoyed about that. I wanted to be there from the start. I wanted to experience everything. So, I went out to the location in Griffith Park, just to watch how they did it. It was Brent and you, Jon.

FRAKES : The “Pop Goes the Weasel” scene.

STEWART : The ease and relaxation with which everyone was approaching that day’s work so impressed me. I think maybe I’d been unlucky. Whenever I’d been on camera, or where cameras were the observers, I had experienced tension and stress and anxiety. The atmosphere that day in Griffith Park was so relaxed. You and Brent were working together as though you’d been doing it a lifetime, and you’ve never worked together before, had you?

FRAKES : No. We’d done a play reading, but never anything on camera before, and certainly not with these characters.

STEWART : Those first days for me was just acquiring information and experience at the highest possible speed, and from the beginning there was a cooperative and social atmosphere on set. There was a lot of fun, too, a lot of humor, for which I paid a big penalty down the road [laughs]. But most of the first season, for me, was a huge learning experience.

I’ve watched quite a lot of it in the past few months as we’ve been talking about Picard , and I must say I’m not happy with a lot of the work I did in that first season. It was a little artificial, not spontaneous, not being in the moment. Not all of those things that are now fundamental to whatever we do. It got better as it went on.

FRAKES : I feel the same way. I had the exact same reaction to watching those early shows. I felt physically uncomfortable — and I look it. I was clearly nervous. I wasn’t centered, and wasn’t relaxed, despite appearances.

Do you remember, we couldn’t make any noise? You couldn’t put anything down on the set, because it would make a huge noise and then you’d have to dub the entire scene.

DEADLINE: You sat out the second season, Gates. When you came back for Season 3, did you start to feel more comfortable?

McFADDEN : The character was different when I came back. They’d had a different doctor, Pulaski, who was a bit more Bones-like, and that’s who they were writing Season 3 for. Suddenly, my character was a little more matronly. So, no, I was a little lost for the next couple of years, really, and didn’t really get into some great writing for the character until much later. I did have a couple of really wonderful episodes, like “Remember Me”, that were a little earlier.

DEADLINE: You each got episodes that allowed you to sink your teeth into your characters. As you got more comfortable, did you start to feel the potential of what you could do through the show?

FRAKES : Of course. And as they got to know us better, the writing made that easier to find. Patrick seemed to have a grasp of the captain before the rest of us had a grasp of who we were. At least, it felt that way to me. Patrick had some center, some position, that we didn’t have. He didn’t seem very nervous to us during Season 1.

STEWART : Oh, boy [laughs]. The comfort and reassurance that I perhaps projected came from years and years before I went to Hollywood, playing leaders, kings, princes, soldiers, warriors, in half of the plays of Shakespeare. I leant on that, I think, and while it may have given me that sense, rewatching the episodes I’m left with the feeling that I was too formalized. Too predictable. There wasn’t much of a human being there.

FRAKES : This might be a good time to remind you about the one-man show that Patrick did called Kings , in which he played a number of kings, including Billie Jean King, B.B. King, and of course, Elvis, which was my personal favorite [laughs].

McFADDEN : Patrick, which year was it when you directed us in Every Good Boy Deserves Favour , the Tom Stoppard play? That, to me, was one of the greatest experiences of my entire time doing the show. It wasn’t Star Trek , but it was, because we were all there and we were all very tight. We had Colm Meaney as well. We did it with an 80-piece orchestra in different cities, and they sold out, 6,000 seats every time. It was Star Trek fans; many of whom had never seen a theater, let alone a play, or an orchestral performance. It was phenomenal, and it was Patrick’s idea.

STEWART : As we were doing five days of work every week on the show, Monday to Friday.

FRAKES : And then to go to Chicago on the weekend and play Stoppard. That was a great period. I loved that. I think it was 1992. We started in LA, then went to Chicago. We played with the Atlanta Symphony. And Minneapolis. It was a beautiful experience, and we were directed by our captain.

DEADLINE: It has been more than two decades since the last Next Generation movie, Star Trek: Nemesis . Returning to Picard , how quickly did the characters come back to you?

FRAKES : Our family of friends never stopped knowing one another, so there was no feeling of reunion. We hadn’t been apart. What was unfamiliar was stepping back into a turbolift, waiting to walk back onto the bridge of the Enterprise-D. That was quite an emotional experience.

But 20 years had passed. And I remember Akiva Goldsman saying to me, “Patrick, your life has changed in the past 20 years. So many things have happened to you. Are you the same person you were then?” I realized then that it didn’t have to make reference to The Next Generation at all. What had been happening to these characters in those 20 years? Who were they today? I already knew mine had been up and down — captain, admiral, a desk job, not flying a spaceship.

McFADDEN : The reason to come back was that Terry [Matalas] pitched a really great story, and I loved it. I liked the fact it was different, that the character was much more three-dimensional as far as I was concerned. I loved that it was a story about the corruption of the Federation, because our world today is so full of corruption; of the environment, of the values we’d grown up with. You read three newspapers in the morning and you’re ready to go back to bed.

DEADLINE: Star Trek has always been at its best when it’s shrouding real-world issues and human experience in science fiction. This season too, Patrick and Gates, you’re working out your relationship as Picard is discovering a son, he never knew he had, and what that means for his life, for his legacy. Jonathan, you are dealing with grief over the loss of your son. I’m sure you’ve heard from people who have been affected by that kind of loss in their own lives.

FRAKES : I certainly have, and it has been very moving. Terry pitched a really satisfying arc for the third season, so it wasn’t necessarily a reunion. Each of the characters had to earn their entrance, and meet their position in the storytelling, and we each brought those 20 years of life back to it. There was conflict again, which as we know is the basis of all drama . Matalas really delivered what he promised us all at lunch one day, and I was thrilled to be a part of it.

McFADDEN : Terry did such a great job because he really loved TNG , and he loved our characters. There were more Easter eggs planted on that set than even I knew about. He knew more about the series than most of us, and certainly me. Some fans have said, “It was all action, and not enough talking about philosophy.” But look at the world. We have to take action, to prevent voter fraud, to stop this corruption that’s all around us in so many ways.

STEWART : It was very significant that we had Jonathan, who had broken down the barrier during The Next Generation of, “No, no no. The actors don’t get to direct episodes as well.” He broke that barrier down, and so he was able to bring his role as director, and all the experience he’s had, to this set.

Even though Jonathan, better than anyone else I know, can switch very easily from one move to another, at times he would have to make critical comments about what he was seeing that he thought wasn’t right. Now, that’s not an easy task ever, but under circumstances like these it’s even harder. At the heart of it all is affection, and I speak for everyone on our cast and crew. There is respect, there is admiration, and an intense love for one another in order that we protect this show and these characters. I mean it when I say this was a unique experience. I’ve had many wonderful experiences in my life, but there’s been nothing quite as unique as what we had in The Next Generation and, now, in Star Trek: Picard .

DEADLINE: What has the reaction to the show meant to you?

FRAKES : LeVar said the other day that we didn’t dare hope it could be this good, or that we could revisit this world, this friendship, this family. I think it’s even better than we could ever have dared hope. I’m proud of the work, the time and the experience. And it has only made our friendships stronger.

Audiences reacted in a way I have never experienced before, as an actor or a director. The outpouring of support has been, at times, a little overwhelming. I don’t want to be caught in the bubble of it because that’s a danger, but I’ve been so grateful.

McFADDEN : I’ll toast to that. I’m grateful and I feel the same way. It has been a complete surprise; a surprise that it happened and a surprise that it has been so well-received.

STEWART : It was a gamble, wasn’t it?

FRAKES : It certainly was.

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Emmy Awards Nominations 2024

Predictions, drama series.

• The Crown 9/2
• The Morning Show 11/2
• The Gilded Age 13/2

Drama Actress

• Jennifer Aniston 4/1
• Imelda Staunton 4/1
• Emma Stone 11/2

Drama Actor

• Gary Oldman 18/5
• Dominic West 9/2
• Colin Farrell 13/2

Comedy Series

• The Bear 4/1
• Abbott Elementary 6/1 -

Comedy Actress

• Ayo Edebiri 69/20
• Jean Smart 19/5
• Quinta Brunson 4/1

Comedy Actor

• Jeremy Allen White 16/5
• Martin Short 39/10
• Steve Martin 9/2

Limited Series

• Lessons in Chemistry 9/2

Movie/Limited Actress

• Jodie Foster 4/1
• Brie Larson 9/2
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Movie/Limited Actor

• Jon Hamm 19/5
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Gates McFadden (‘Star Trek: Picard’) on reprising her famous role and why Beverly kept her secret for so long [Exclusive Video Interview]

• April 3, 2023 11:30AM

“I think it kind of shows how powerful Gene Roddenberry ‘s vision was, and how much people long for a future that is more positive than the situation we’re in right now,” says “ Star Trek: Picard ” actress Gates McFadden about the enduring legacy of the “Star Trek” franchise. “People need something positive that anchors them.” Watch our exclusive video interview with McFadden above.

McFadden originated the role of Dr. Beverly Crusher on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” in 1987. She played that role for six seasons and in multiple feature films before now reprising the role in the third and final season of “Picard.” “I would not have wanted to come back if it was simply just, oh she’s also going to be there and she has a tiny little bit,” the actress explains. “I wanted to have a really interesting, fun story so that you have something to really act. Everyone felt the same way. And I feel that we were listened to. And [showrunner] Terry Matalas came, and his writers, his team came up with an amazingly exciting story.”

The story involves a secret Crusher has kept for decades: a son ( Ed Speleers ) fathered by Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ). “I loved that, because it wasn’t just coming back in the same old way. She obviously had evolved as a human being … And so it was exciting to come back and be part of the story.” But why didn’t she ever tell Picard the truth? “There are reasons that she didn’t. And those reasons cannot all be revealed initially. And they still haven’t all been revealed, but I think she had instincts about something. And a woman’s instinct is often very good.”

Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores . See our latest prediction champs . Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?

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‘Star Trek: Picard’: Gates McFadden on Crusher & Picard’s ‘Raw’ Argument & All Those Reunions

Spoiler Alert

Star trek: picard.

• Michelle Hurd Talks ‘Star Trek: Legacy’ Hopes & Ponders ‘SVU’ Return
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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for  Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 8 “Surrender.”]

Star Trek: Picard brought back Patrick Stewart’s   Next Generation costars for its final season, and so far, it’s been one reunion after another.

But it’s the eighth episode in which we see everyone together again — Picard (Stewart), Crusher ( Gates McFadden ), Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ), Geordi ( LeVar Burton ), Worf ( Michael Dorn ), Deanna ( Marina Sirtis ), and Data ( Brent Spiner ). McFadden talks about filming that scene and Crusher’s arc this season.

When you first signed on to come back to Star Trek , how much had you known about Crusher’s arc?

Gates McFadden: Nothing. I was contacted by [showrunner] Terry Matalas and he said, “Would you be interested? We have a really great storyline.” I said, “I’m interested. Tell me the storyline.” I think it was clear to the producers that the reason it was interesting for us to come back was if they would honor each character in some way, and they did. They gave all of us tremendous arcs. I love the arc of Beverly Crusher. Patrick had told us three years ago or so that he was going to do a show on his own without us, and he just wanted us to know and maybe we would occasionally have a guest star appearance. But this was quite different. This was really as if it was its own movie actually, so it was so much fun!

What was your reaction to Jack ( Ed Speleers ) being Crusher and Picard’s son ? I love it.

I do, too. I am always honored to have anything that’s connected with motherhood because I really think parenting is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, and it’s also the most rewarding by far, so anything that has to do with that on board. But the fact that she had gone away, was out of Starfleet, was a little bit of a renegade in that she was commandeering her own ship, she was doing something she believed in, and sometimes skirting the law because in order to get medicine places, you had to sometimes do a weapons exchange… I love the fact that we don’t know everything that’s happened to her.

She raised this son single-handedly, for the second time really, but this time really off alone. It’s a tribute to single parents everywhere and to the parents up on the space station. There are sacrifices that have to be made. And I loved the fact that she was still a scientist, doing research. She was still a doctor, and she very much was protecting her son from a serious trouble if she had just let everyone know whose son it was. I know it was controversial, but I don’t think she’s a selfish person at all. How do you read it?

Trae Patton/Paramount+

I agree. What works is that you don’t ignore the past and pretend this is her first child. So you can understand why she wants to protect Jack.

Yeah, and the argument that they crafted between us — which obviously Patrick had final say in, and I did lose a couple things that I thought were more on Crusher’s side, but the show is called Picard , not Crusher and rightfully so … It was only last season that Picard really dealt with his issues about his parents. So in a way, I think there’s a lot of truth when she says, “I don’t know how it would’ve been,” and she did what she felt was right for various reasons. Some of it is just a mother’s instinct, which if you stay to the end, we don’t know what would’ve happened had that child been out and about in the world.

Can you share what was lost from Crusher’s side in that argument?

I won’t because I think it’s a beautiful scene. … There was more of how much she had really wanted Jack to contact him and that he had made his decision, but she was against that decision. You have to make a choice as a parent: Are you going to be loyal to the father of the child or are you going to be loyal to your child? If the child says, “don’t, I don’t want him to know. I don’t want you to tell him.” You’re in a tricky spot there. [Also] she really did strongly believe there would be a target on his back, and I think she was right.

How was it for you to step back into Crusher’s shoes?

The shoes were more comfortable, as was the costume. [ Laughs ] I loved my costumes! I had the coolest jackets. I want them.

What’s really special about this is how many groups of people who have worked together on a series have the chance — I’m sure it’s happened before and it will happen again, but it’s pretty rare that you are also friends in real life, so we know what’s going on in our lives. We see each other a lot. But then to be able to act our old characters who have evolved just as we have evolved as human beings, because hopefully as you get older you might get a little wiser — either that or maybe set in your ways, I don’t know which… The chance to explore that through characters you love is pretty terrific. I look into Jean-Luc Picard’s eyes and there’s chemistry already. There’s something there. I have a history with both Sir Patrick Stewart and with the character.

In this episode, everyone’s back together for a scene that honestly was not long enough for me.

What was it like on set?

It was a little bit difficult because there was a lens and we were changing some of the ideas that the director had at that time, so it wasn’t as relaxed as I think we all thought it was going to be. But it ended up later being very, very relaxed. It’s so much fun to be back around a table, the Observation Lounge. We just missed the Ready Room. That was a room I really liked going into for scenes. It had the fish, the Shakespeare book. It was great.

How far will Crusher go to keep Jack safe? Does she have a line on cross? Her maternal and doctor sides have to constantly be in conflict.

They are. That’s very much in the last two episodes. She’s in great turmoil about it.

What is so amazing about the franchise in general is that no matter what the stakes and how many conflicts you have, you all collaborate to work together for the greater good. That’s the choice that everybody makes. … It resonates with me because it’s rarely the easy choice. It’s usually the difficult choice. There’s not one character in that crew that wouldn’t be willing to give their lives to save the others.

Talk about filming scenes like Crusher and Picard’s argument. They’re so heavy with all these years that have passed.

Patrick and I loved doing [that]. It was what we’d been longing to do. I longed for scenes like that in film and earlier on in the original Next Gen where they’re more raw. Because people who love each other fight, but you have to learn how to also forgive and go forward and work together. And that’s what is so special. It’s real life in the sense of the way character relationships are, but the technology is very advanced and not so real, but soon may be real because right now we’re going so fast. People are working on virtual realities that are very like the Holodeck, so who knows?

It wasn’t difficult to shoot. What took time was the script. We went back and forth with giving our point of view to the writers and the producers. … We were really listened to. You don’t always get what you asked for, but I think we got a terrific balance. It was just a few takes and it was great because we both were ready to do the scene.

What might the future hold for those two?

I think they might be in different spots in their lives. She’s certainly very happy to be back into the world that she was so used to and that she loved so much, which is the world of the Federation … and [she] would like to participate in the world very much. I certainly don’t see her as somebody retiring.

What else can you say about how the series ends for Crusher?

She’s three-dimensional, which is fantastic. All of us are three-dimensional or more, and it’s nice when we’re validated and challenged and tolerant and then when we learn, and I think she’s learned a lot. She’s probably made some mistakes. I can’t give out the very end, which I know people want to know. [ Laughs ] And I don’t blame them. But what’s very clear is there’s a lot of love amongst the members of the cast and with the new members. I love Ed Speleers, who plays my son. I love the daughters of Geordi La Forge. All the actors are so good. And then there’s Jeri [Ryan] and Michelle [Hurd]  and Todd [Stashwick] , who we all adore and now the public’s going crazy for. I’m over the moon that people are liking it, that I had so much fun doing it. It’s a privilege.

Patrick Stewart & Gates McFadden on Reuniting on 'Star Trek: Picard'

What was your reaction to the last script?

I feel that it’s a very complete story and that it leaves a lot of things not completely defined, and people are just going to have to fill in their own blanks and hope for more.

How that you’ve stepped back into her shoes, do you see this as the final time or would you do it again if the right opportunity arose?

I would definitely do it again in a minute. Jonathan and I were talking about that this last weekend. I feel a legacy show would be fantastic. They could focus on different characters and then maybe everyone would come back for a bit and focus on another character.

What really is exciting to me, honestly, about this show, other than yes, I was so happy to have a part and be part of it, but I don’t think it’s that often that we see such a balance of young and old characters, different generations, actually sort of three generations on the Titan ship, collaborating, respecting each other and working together, and people standing up for each other. That’s a very beautiful thing to see. It’s something I believe we need to do more of in our own world today in society.

Star Trek: Picard , Thursdays, Paramount+

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'Star Trek: Picard': Patrick Stewart & Gates McFadden Say Season 3 Is Dangerous & Emotional

"We are living in a different world from the one of 'Next Generation'."

As we prepare for Star Trek: Picard to premiere tonight on Paramount+, Collider’s Steve Weintraub spoke with Patrick Stewart , who plays the titular Jean-Luc Picard, and Gates McFadden (Beverly Crusher) about the third and final season. During their interview, Stewart and McFadden talk about reuniting with their Star Trek: The Next Generation family for a “dangerous and emotional” third season, how the world and their characters have transformed, and the ways showrunner Terry Matalas , stayed true to the Star Trek theme.

After the divisive first two seasons of Picard , Season 3 is being hailed as a fantastic tribute to fans, bringing back beloved Next Generation characters with new storylines and continuations. Also reprising their roles alongside Stewart and McFadden are Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, Michael Dorn as Worf, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, and Brent Spiner as Lore. They join Season 2’s Jeri Ryan as Star Trek: Voyager ’s Seven of Nine and Michelle Hurd as Raffi Musiker.

Picard Season 3 isn’t just about bringing back familiar faces, the show is also introducing fans to new talent, including Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut and Mica Burton as Sidney and Alandra La Forge and Amanda Plummer as the villainous Vadic. Others joining the fray are Todd Stashwick ( 12 Monkeys ) as Captain Shaw of the USS Titan, and new series regular and associate of Beverly Crusher, Ed Speleers ( Outlander ).

Check our conversation with Stewart and McFadden in the player above, or read the full transcript below. For even more on Star Trek: Picard , you can read what Maggie Lovitt has to say in her review, which says Season 3, "...feels like the start of something new and exciting review."

COLLIDER: I've seen the first six episodes of Season 3, loved them. It’s fantastic seeing everyone together again. I don't know how much you're allowed to actually say, so what have you been saying to people about what Season 3 is about?

PATRICK STEWART: Well, Season 2 was very much left in suspense. Those problems there have got to be dealt with, which is what, largely, Season 3 is about. It's dangerous and violent and emotional, and it was engaging to be able to act those scenes.

GATES MCFADDEN: And for Dr. Beverly Crusher, it's a huge leap. It's a wonderful way to begin because she's being hunted, and has been for quite a while, and running, and not understanding exactly what's going on. But for her to actually say to Picard, “Trust no one,” and the fact that after all these years of no contact, that she still goes, “Well, that's my last hope.” You know, there's something powerful in whatever that relationship is that she would call on him like, “I need help.” So, I think that starts something.

And, of course, we find out, also, there's another reason that she's wanted to be in touch with him for a long time, but because of this danger… And she had good instincts about it. So, it was a really fabulous comeback, having not seen people and that she's been running her own ship and doing it all, you know, that was fun.

One of the things I thought (showrunner) Terry [Matalas] did a great job with is that he's nodding to the past, he's including things that fans are going to know, but it never feels like fan service.

MCFADDEN: Perfect.

I’m curious if you could talk about that, that if you're a fan, there's a lot there.

MCFADDEN: I agree, I think he was really cognizant of that, and he was saying this is an Easter egg, you know? This is something that we're putting in there.

I loved it actually. There's a line that Crusher says at one point – I can't give it away – but it really harkens back to the whole Star Trek theme. It was very moving to me. It's the birth sequence, but I thought that was beautiful. I loved all that Terry did on it. I thought the writers did a beautiful job with all of the characters, including the new characters. Just exquisite.

For both of you, it's been 20 years, I believe, since everyone has done the roles together and it might not have ever happened again. So, what did it mean to both of you to be able to do this one more time with the group of you?

STEWART: But it's not one more time. It's new. It's different. 20, 25 years have gone by. I'm a different person. Gates is. All of us are, and so are those characters that we play. And the world has been transformed. They worked out ways in which the planet and the galaxy can be affected by what's going on elsewhere. And so although it's the same title, still Star Trek, and although we have the same names, we are living in a different world from the one of Next Generation .

MCFADDEN: We are close as a group, and we all feel like a family, literally, with each other's lives. But to be able to be acting in scenes again, on a spaceship, to me, that was fantastic because it just felt so easy to know that we’re different characters, but when I lock into those eyes, those are eyes that I know and love, and that adds just a depth to it that's wonderful. That's beyond character, even, it's just humanity and it's our lives. We are different, we're acting roles that have evolved, these characters have evolved, but it's fun.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 premieres on Paramount+ tonight. For more on Picard Season 3, here's our interview with LeVar Burton & Jonathan Frakes .

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Chronicles rare and fascinating details of how "Star Trek" began, where it's been, and how it's going where no television series has gone before. Chronicles rare and fascinating details of how "Star Trek" began, where it's been, and how it's going where no television series has gone before. Chronicles rare and fascinating details of how "Star Trek" began, where it's been, and how it's going where no television series has gone before.

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Why Did Gates McFadden Leave ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Then Come Back?

• By Robin Zabiegalski
• Updated Sep 18, 2021 at 6:30pm

YouTube/Getty Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and Gates McFadden at NY ComicCon.

G ates McFadden was one of the original cast members of “ Star Trek: The Next Generation .” Her character, Dr. Beverly Crusher , appeared in the first episode of the series. She also appeared in every season of the series, except one.

During the second season, Dr. Crusher was notably absent. The in-universe explanation for her disappearance was that she took a position as the head of Starfleet Medical . However, by the third season, Dr. Crusher was back on the Enterprise-D , where she stayed for several more years.

Though it would be logical to assume that McFadden needed a year off for personal reasons, the real reason she left the show was much more dramatic — and so was the reason she returned.

The Backstory: The Rise of Maurice Hurley

Maurice Hurley was part of “TNG” almost from the beginning. According to “ The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years ,” “TNG” creator Gene Roddenberry  admired Hurley because he had a wide range of experience in the television industry. Hurley was initially hired as a writer for the show’s first season.

The majority of the writers that worked on the first season of TNG quit before the completion of the season. Several of those writers told the authors of “The Fifty-Year Mission” that Roddenberry was extremely difficult to work for. Rick Berman , one “TNG” producer, said that after the mass exodus from the “TNG” writers’ room, Hurley was one of the only writers left. So, he became Roddenberry’s “right-hand man in the writing area.”

Berman and Hurley told the authors of “The Fifty-Year Mission” that over the course of the first season, Roddenberry started to step away from day-to-day management of the show. He gave most of the control to Hurley and Berman.

Soon after, Hurley was promoted to co-executive producer on the show, giving him much more control behind the scenes. Many “TNG” writers told the authors of “The Fifty-Year Mission” that Hurley didn’t use the power given him very judiciously. They said he was extremely controlling, and many people didn’t get along with him.

Hurley ‘Got Rid of’ McFadden

One of the people who really didn’t get along with Hurley was McFadden. In an interview with IGN in July 2021, McFadden revealed that she and Hurley constantly clashed on set.

“Maurice Hurley who was the only one I didn’t get along with … got rid of me, but that’s because I would speak up,” McFadden said. “If I thought something was racist or sexist, I would just say it. I was used to that, having taught at a university for years. You speak up. And that’s not the way you do it in Hollywood.”

During a Q&A session at a Toronto ComicCon, McFadden remarked that giving the writers feedback on her character got her fired. Though she didn’t name Hurley as the one who fired her during that panel, this has been confirmed by others who worked on the show.

Berman told the authors of “The Fifty-Year Mission” that Hurley “hated Gates.”

“He disliked the whole character of Dr. Crusher and he wanted to get rid of Gates and replace her,” Berman said. “He didn’t like her acting and he didn’t like her.”

Berman went on to say that he told Hurley firing McFadden would be a bad idea, but Hurley apparently didn’t listen. He managed to convince Roddenberry to let McFadden go, and she was abruptly fired before the second season. This led to the introduction of Dr. Pulaski, played by Diana Muldaur .

McFadden’s Return

Berman told the authors of “The Fifty-Year Mission” that fans of “TNG” were very upset with Dr. Crusher’s departure from the show, and most of them really didn’t like Dr. Pulaski. When Muldaur told the show’s producers that she didn’t want to continue on the show, they had to figure out what to do about the role of the ship’s doctor.

The decision became clear when Hurley decided to leave “TNG” after the second season.

“When Hurley left at the end of season two, the very first thing I did was to rehire Gates,” Berman said. “I mean, literally the day Hurley left, Gates was rehired.”

Though McFadden was happy to be back on the show, she still had issues with the way her character was written. She felt that the female characters on “TNG” lacked depth, as she told StarTrek.com in 2012:

Any time there was any crisis with Wesley, it was always a male character who talked to him, who gave him the wisdom. I felt that was something that bothered me. And I just said, “It seems to me that you can be a strong woman and you can also be a loving woman.” I feel that now people are portraying that very well. I see that all over in things that are written. But there [were] times I did feel that there was writing that was not as nuanced for the female characters.

However, McFadden’s dissatisfaction with the writing for her character didn’t keep her from continuing with the show through its finale five seasons later. McFadden reprised the role for all of the “TNG” movies , and she’s said that she’d be willing to reprise the role in “ Star Trek: Picard ” if asked.

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How Star Trek Icon Gates McFadden Joined Star Trek Online

Just as Gates McFadden makes her triumphant return to Star Trek screens in Star Trek: Picard Season 3, the twisted doppelganger of her iconic character, Dr. Beverly Crusher, is appearing for the first time in Star Trek Online as part of the Refractions update! This Terran version of Dr. Crusher has never been voiced by Gates McFadden before, and she delivers a deep and dark performance in the quest to rescue her son, the Terran Emperor himself, before he can destroy both universes.

The last time McFadden and Wil Wheaton, who portrayed Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, shared a screen together as these characters was decades ago, in a deleted scene from Star Trek: Nemesis.  Star Trek Online Design Lead, Al Rivera, worked closely with McFadden and Wheaton to craft a story that tells their twisted family backstory.

“One of the things we try to do with our stories is we try to end our story arcs, not with pew pew, and not with just murdering the bad guy. But we always like to end our stories in a very Starfleet way. How can you solve this problem, often a universe threatening problem, in a way that is becoming of Starfleet? In a peaceful way, in an emotional way. And so we said, how would you defeat Emperor Crusher, who has this traveler power as well as this merged power from V’ger? His mom.

“So his mother, both as a doctor and a scientist, and as a mother, could really connect with him. It was a logical choice to choose her. And Gates came in and, she’s a wonderful person. Her character is a beloved character, and I was so excited that we got to work with her while she’s coming back. And we see her again in Picard, and it’s so great to see her perform again. If we ever have an opportunity to bring her back again, I would really welcome it.”

“If we ever have an opportunity to bring her back again, I would really welcome it.”

For her part, McFadden stepped right back into the shoes of her previous character, something Rivera has come to expect: “What I find is that most of the actors have played these characters for years, they really know their characters, and they have no trouble turning it on. And sometimes it’s really uncanny how you’ll be talking to them in the recording studio, and talking to them like a normal person would talk. And then when they go into character it’s like flipping a switch, and all of a sudden you’re listening to an episode of Star Trek.”

We hope you enjoy the new update, Star Trek Online: Refractions , now live on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One! The game is completely free to play, and it’s free to access all of this story content. We aim to create the best place online to celebrate your Star Trek fandom, so come and join us if you can. Your Captain, your Trek story.

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Star Trek's 10 Best Monster Episodes

• Star Trek embraces peace but also explores monster movie elements for some thrilling episodes.
• Shows like Voyager & Next Generation weave classic monster movie themes with sci-fi twists.
• Even as monsters take center stage, empathy remains a core theme in the Star Trek universe.

Star Trek has a message of peace and tolerance and seeing beyond the surface, but it's not above doing an all-out monster movie from time to time. From its inception in 1966, Star Trek has taught audiences not to judge alien species by appearances . For example, Star Trek: Voyager villains Species 8472 were terrifying, Alien -inspired creatures, who turned out to be benevolent aliens that had been driven to violence by the actions of the Borg Collective. Earlier episodes like Star Trek: The Original Series ' "Devil in the Dark" revealed hidden emotional depths to a creature that was ostensibly a disgusting rock monster.

Despite Star Trek 's message of empathy, sometimes the writers can't resist creating scary monsters and super creeps. Star Trek has always drawn on the history of science fiction, and the big monster movies popularized by studios like RKO are no exception . Over nearly six decades, Star Trek TV shows have drawn on classic monster movies like The Thing From Another World and King Kong , giving them a Gene Roddenberry-style twist.

10 Times Star Trek Went Full-On Horror And Gave Us Nightmares

Star trek: voyager, season 2, episode 15, "threshold", story by michael de luca, teleplay by brannon braga.

Star Trek: Voyager 's notorious salamander episode , "Threshold" begins as an exploration of theoretical transwarp barriers and becomes something more akin to The Phantom of the Opera or King Kong . When Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) breaks the transwarp barrier, he begins experiencing some bizarre side effects. Breaking the transwarp barrier has triggered a strange evolution in Paris' body, which turns him into a salamander, who decides they need a mate in the form of Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew).

...the monster movie elements ensure that "Threshold" is never boring.

There are some obvious monster movie parallels in "Threshold", from the way that the reptilian Paris carries an unconscious Janeway like the Phantom of the Opera to the body horror of the Voyager helmsman's transformation. The climax of the notorious Star Trek: Voyager episode, in which the "monster" that is now Paris fights off the crew to take Janeway as his mate, is pure King Kong . It's a Voyager episode that is rightly panned for its lack of narrative cohesion, but the monster movie elements ensure that "Threshold" is never boring.

Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 7, Episode 19, "Genesis"

Written by brannon braga.

Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7, episode 19, "Genesis" is essentially The Island of Dr. Moreau set aboard the USS Enterprise-D. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) return to the Enterprise to discover that the crew has devolved into various terrifying monsters. For example, Lt. Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz) is de-evolved into a spider-like creature, while Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) devolves into a savage proto-Klingon that tries to kill Picard. The cause of these transformations is a mistake made by Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) while reactivating a cell that would have given Barclay immunity to the flu.

Gates McFadden injects what could have been a very silly story with genuine tension.

Although the science is just as dubious as Star Trek: Voyager 's "Threshold", Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7, episode 19, "Genesis" has the benefit of being much more atmospheric. Interestingly, "Genesis" was directed by Dr. Beverly Crusher actor Gates McFadden , who injects what could have been a very silly story with genuine tension. The climax, where Picard tries to fend off an attack from a prehistoric Worf, while Data tries to concoct a cure using the DNA of Nurse Ogawa's unborn baby, is well directed by McFadden, giving this daft TNG outing an exciting monster movie vibe.

"Genesis" was the only episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation to be directed by Gates McFadden.

Star Trek: Every Actor Who Also Directed Episodes Or Movies

Star trek: the original series, season 1, episode 26, "the devil in the dark", written by gene l. coon.

"The Devil in the Dark" is a classic Star Trek monster episode , because it hinges on Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Lt. Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Dr. "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley) learning to understand a creature beyond their understanding. Investigating a supposed monster that is attacking a mining operation on Janus IV, they soon discover that the titular " devil in the dark " is no monster, but a mother protecting their young. It's thanks to Kirk and Spock's open-mindedness that the miners manage to avert the destruction of the entire Horta race .

The scene in which Kirk has to reason with the baying mob invokes images of the villagers with torches and pitchforks in the climax of Universal's classic monster movie, Frankenstein .

From a visual effects perspective, the actual Horta in Star Trek: The Original Series may look hokey by today's standards , but it tells a story about the need for empathy. TOS' cave monster isn't able to communicate with the miners, and so has to resort to violence. Similarly, the miners want violent recriminations from the "monster" that killed their colleagues. The scene in which Kirk has to reason with the baying mob invokes images of the villagers with torches and pitchforks in the climax of Universal's classic monster movie, Frankenstein . Thanks to Kirk, however, the Horta has a happier ending than Frankenstein's monster.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 2, Episode 12, "The Alternate"

Teleplay by bill dial, story by jim trombetti and bill dial.

In one of Constable Odo's best Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes , a mysterious monster stalks the corridors of DS9 late at night. It's believed to be the mysterious sample that Odo (Rene Auberjonois) and scientist Dr. Mora Pol (James Sloyan) brought back from the Gamma Quadrant. However, in reality, it's Odo, who is under the influence of mysterious alien toxins, and the stress of seeing his "father" again. "The Alternate" is a fun Star Trek spin on Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde , that has some genuinely unnerving moments of horror.

Odo's monstrous alter-ego is less Mr. Hyde, and more like the titular Blob from the classic 1958 sci-fi monster movie.

Odo's transition into the monster toward the end of the episode is horrifying to watch as he rants and raves while struggling to remain in a solid state. Odo's monstrous alter-ego is less Mr. Hyde, and more like the titular Blob from the classic 1958 sci-fi monster movie. Interestingly, Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) doesn't categorically confirm it's the alien toxins that caused the transformation, suggesting another cause. As the gelatinous monster bears down on Dr. Mora Pol, it becomes clear that the real cause of the transformation is Odo's father issues.

All 4 Star Trek Characters Played By James Sloyan

Star trek: voyager, season 3, episode 12, "macrocosm".

Star Trek: Voyager has many creepy episodes , but "Macrocosm" is the most overt monster episode. Like Star Trek: The Next Generation 's "Genesis", also written by Brannon Braga, "Macrocosm" has a silly concept that is realized like a survival horror movie. The monsters faced by Captain Janeway and the Doctor (Robert Picardo) are effectively giant viruses that become airborne, infecting those they come into contact with. To repel the viral infection of the USS Voyager, the Doctor created an antigen which Janeway eventually detonated inside the holodeck, killing the assembled macroviruses.

"Macrocosm" finally gave Captain Janeway her Ellen Ripley moment.

"Macrocosm" got a wryly funny sequel in Star Trek: Lower Decks ' season 4 premiere, "Twovixed", but the episode itself is a decent homage to the Alien franchise. As the Star Trek franchise's first female captain, it's great to see Janeway getting to be an action hero like Captain Kirk in Star Trek: The Original Series , or Picard in Star Trek: First Contact . While the monsters themselves weren't anywhere near as terrifying as Alien 's Xenomorph, "Macrosm" finally gave Captain Janeway her Ellen Ripley moment.

Star Trek: Discovery, Season 1, Episode 3, "Context is for Kings"

Teleplay by gretchen j. berg, aaron harberts, and craig sweeny.

The disgraced Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is given a second chance after her mutiny aboard the USS Shenzhou in a Star Trek: Discovery monster episode. "Context is for Kings" explores what happened to the USS Glenn, the second of Discovery 's crossfield-class starships . Following a catastrophic accident while experimenting with spore drive technology, the ship's entire crew were killed, save for the tartigrade creature they had captured and wired to the spore drive. Freed from its shackles by the accident, the creature rampaged through the Glenn, killing a Klingon boarding party and turning its attention to Burnham and her away team .

The true monster in Star Trek: Discovery season 1, episode 3, "Context is for Kings" is Starfleet themselves.

The true monster in Star Trek: Discovery season 1, episode 3, "Context is for Kings" is Starfleet themselves. The cruelty that the crew of the USS Glenn had shown to the tartigrade was unbecoming of Starfleet, and showed how far they were willing to diverge from their principles to defeat the Klingon Empire . Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) hammers this point home by having the tartigrade brought aboard the USS Discovery, taunting it as it tries to break free from the forcefield.

Jason Isaacs 10 Best Acting Roles (Including Star Trek: Discoverys Lorca)

Star trek: lower decks, season 4, episode 2, "i have no bones yet i must flee", written by aaron burdette.

Star Trek: Lower Decks introduced Moopsy into the canon in the season 4 episode, "I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee". Visiting an alien menagerie, newly promoted Lt. junior grade Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell) had to conted with Moopsy, a soft fluffy creature that also happened to drink bones . Mariner and Ransom came up with a suitably irreverent Lower Decks solution to their problem, by punching out Ransom's teeth and using them as treats to lure the Moopsy back into its cage.

Moopsy is basically a monstrous Tribble, unable to control its base urges.

Moopsy was the sort of creation that could only feature in the irreverent world of Star Trek: Lower Decks , and yet it plays on existing creatures in the canon. Moopsy is basically a monstrous Tribble, unable to control its base urges. However, Mariner and Ransom don't kill the creature to save themselves, they find a humane - if slightly painful - solution to their situation. Not only that, but Mariner also unmasks the truly dangerous monsters - greedy humans seeking to bulk up their business portfolios , in this case by staging a hostile takeover of an alien menagerie.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Season 1, Episode 9, "All Those Who Wander"

Written by davy perez.

"All Those Who Wander" combines the classic Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Arena" with Alien to provide a terrifying episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . The vicious Gorn babies that are encountered by the Enterprise away team are relentless, rampaging through the ship and killing everything in their path. It's through the noble sacrifice of Lt. Hemmer (Bruce Horak) that the away team is able to get back to the safety of the USS Enterprise. However, the scars of the terrifying encounter between the Enterprise and the Gorn carry over into Strange New Worlds season 2 .

The Gorn infants move like raptors, drawing comparisons with the climax of Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park

Because there's genuine dramatic stakes and a cost to life, Star Trek: Strange New World 's Gorn survival horror movie is the best version of the subgenre after the classic movie, Star Trek: First Contact . As an hour of television, it wears its genre influences on its sleeve, particularly the similarities between the icy crash site with the colony in Aliens . However, it's not just the Alien franchise that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds riffs on in "All Those Who Wander". The Gorn infants move like raptors, drawing comparisons with the climax of Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park .

Complete History Of The Gorn In Star Trek

Star trek: the next generation, season 1, episode 23, "skin of evil", teleplay by joseph stefano & hannah louise shearer.

Armus (Ron Gans) in Star Trek: The Next Generation , is a truly monstrous creation, and even refers to himself as " evil " . Unlike the Horta in Star Trek: The Original Series , Armus isn't attacking the Enterprise away team to protect its children, he's doing it because he's a monster. A black, oily mass of everything impure and evil rejected by a " race of Titans ", Armus was abandoned on the planet Vagra II . There, he fantasized about torturing any visitors to the planet, but he quickly got bored after killing Lt. Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby).

Tasha Yar was no red shirt, and her death at the hands of the monster of the week makes "Skin of Evil" an impactful entry in the TNG canon.

"Skin of Evil" is one of Star Trek 's best monster episodes because, like "All Those Who Wander", it takes a toll on the characters. Star Trek: The Next Generation loses Tasha Yar to this monster, which proved that it would be a very different show to Star Trek: The Original Series . A TOS version of "Skin of Evil" would have played out in a similar fashion, but with the deaths of some disposable red shirts thrown in . Tasha Yar was no red shirt, and her death at the hands of the monster of the week makes "Skin of Evil" an impactful entry in the TNG canon.

Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 1, Episode 5, "The Man Trap"

Written by george clayton johnson.

Star Trek 's best monster episode is also its very first, setting the tone for those that would follow . Star Trek: The Original Series , season 1, episode 5, "The Man Trap", features a Salt Vampire that feeds on salt, which can also shapeshift to take the form of anyone that can help it achieve its goals. In essence, "The Man Trap" is Star Trek 's take on the 1951 movie The Thing From Another World , later remade by John Carpenter as The Thing . Both the Star Trek episode and the Thing movies center on a shapeshifting creature that feeds on the human characters.

"The Man Trap" was chosen by the network as the first episode of Star Trek: The Original Series to air due, in part, to its strong monster-of-the-week.

Both iterations of The Thing and Star Trek: TOS season 1, episode 5, "The Man Trap" also play on paranoia and being unable to trust your own eyes . In "The Man Trap", the Salt Vampire has the ability to take the form of the woman most desirable to each of the male characters. For example, Dr. McCoy believes it to be his former lover, Nancy, driving a wedge between him, Kirk and Spock. "The Man Trap" was chosen as the first episode of Star Trek: TOS to air in 1966, and its influence can be felt in Star Trek 's monster episodes nearly 60 years later.

All these episodes of Star Trek are available to stream on Paramount+.

Screen Rant

All 4 star trek characters played by james sloyan.

From a time-traveling Klingon to a Barjoran scientist, James Sloyan's guest starring roles stole the show in all four of his Star Trek appearances.

• James Sloyan portrayed four distinct characters across Star Trek series, delivering unforgettable performances in every appearance.
• From Romulan Admiral to Klingon Time Traveler to complex scientists, Sloyan's versatility shone in his various Star Trek roles.
• Sloyan appeared in popular TV shows and movies, showcasing his talent beyond Star Trek with voice work in commercials and trailers.

James Sloyan has portrayed four different characters in the Star Trek universe, across three different shows. An accomplished character actor, Sloyan portrayed memorable guest stars in every one of his Star Trek appearances. On Star Trek: The Next Generation , Sloyan played Romulan Admiral Alidar Jarok in "The Defector," and time-traveling Klingon K'mtar in "Firstborn." Sloyan appeared as Haakonian scientist Doctor Ma'Bor Jetrel in Star Trek: Voyager's "Jetel," and as Bajoran scientist Dr. Mora Pol in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "The Alternate" and "The Begotten."

Since he began acting in the 1970s, James Sloyan has appeared in episodes of many popular television shows, including Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Love Boat, Matlock, MacGyver, Murder, She Wrote, Quantum Leap, Baywatch, and The X-Files . He also had roles in 1973's The Sting and 1980's Xanadu , as well as numerous made-for-television movies. Sloyan has also provided his voice to several commercials and film trailers. From a Romulan defector to a Klingon time traveler to a couple of complicated scientists, here are James Sloyan's four Star Trek roles.

Every Star Trek Series, Ranked Worst To Best

4 admiral alidar jarok, star trek: the next generation season 3, episode 10 - "the defector", star trek: the next generation.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation 's "The Defector," James Sloyan plays Admiral Alidar Jarok, a high-ranking Romulan officer who seeks asylum aboard the USS Enterprise-D after defecting from Romulus. Jarok once led several campaigns against Federation outposts, but now believes another Earth-Romulan war would destroy the Empire. After Jarok learned that Romulus was planning an invasion of the Federation, he stole a Romulan scout ship to warn Starfleet, knowing he could never return to his home planet.

"The Defector" has some truly amazing performances from Patrick Stewart and James Sloyan.

Motivated by love for his wife and daughter, Jarok thought he was saving Romulus from being devasted by war. Jarok provides important tactical information to Picard, but it's later revealed that he was fed incorrect information to lead the Enterprise into a trap. Captain Picard anticipated this and came accompanied by three Klingon Birds-of-Prey. Realizing that he sacrificed everything for nothing, Jarok tragically takes his own life, leaving Picard to reflect on the Romulan's bravery. "The Defector" has some truly amazing performances from Patrick Stewart and James Sloyan, and the episode is often cited as one of TNG's best.

3 K'Mtar / Adult Alexander

Star trek: the next generation season 7, episode 21 - "firstborn".

Star Trek: The Next Generation 's "Firstborn" begins with Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) lamenting that his son, Alexander Rozhenko (Brian Bonsall) , has no desire to become a Klingon warrior. To teach Alexander more about Klingon culture, Worf takes his young son to the Kot'baval festival at Maranga IV. Not long after they arrive, however, three Klingons attack Worf and a mysterious Klingon named K'Mtar jumps to Worf's aid. James Sloyan brings K'Mtar to life, making the mysterious Klingon immediately compelling and selling his obvious obsession with his mission (even if his mission does not quite make sense).

K'Mtar eventually reveals himself to be Alexander from the future, who has come to the past to prepare his younger self for an assassination attempt on Worf's life. The future Alexander believed that if his younger self chose the path of the Klingon warrior, he would be able to save his father's life. At one point, the adult Alexander contemplates killing his younger self, which would essentially erase him from existence. When K'Mtar sees that Worf has taken more of an interest in the young Alexander's life, he returns to his own time.

"Worf Is A Terrible Father": Michael Dorn Hopes Star Trek: Picard Spinoff Brings Back Worf's Son

2 dr. ma'bor jetrel, star trek: voyager season 1, episode 15 - "jetrel", star trek voyager.

Neelix (Ethan Phillips) may not have been the most popular of Star Trek: Voyager's main characters , but he shines in this episode alongside James Sloyan's Dr. Jetrel. A Haakonian scientist, Jetrel was responsible for creating a weapon of mass destruction that killed over 300,000 Talaxians on the moon Rinax, including Neelix's family. Neelix understandably wants nothing to do with Jetrel after Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) allows him on board. Eventually, Neelix allows Jetrel to examine him, and the Haakonian reveals that Neelix has a fatal blood disease called metremia, contracted from the weapon Jetrel created.

Jetrel seemingly wants to help Neelix, and the USS Voyager travels to the Talaxian system so that Jetrel can create a cure for metremia. In the end, Jetrel reveals that he lied about Neelix having metremia, and that his real goal is to bring back the Talaxians killed on Rinax using Voyager's transporter. His far-fetched plan fails, and Jetrel dies of metremia just after Neelix offers him forgiveness. Not only is "Jetrel" a great episode of Star Trek: Voyager , but it also gives Ethan Phillips the chance to portray a more serious version of Neelix, as he plays off of James Sloyan's incredibly compelling Jetrel.

The story of Dr. Ma'bor Jetrel and his superweapon has obvious (and intentional) parallels to J. Robert Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb.

1 Dr. Mora Pol

Star trek: deep space nine season 2, episode 12 - "the alternate" & season 5, episode 12 - "the begotten", star trek: deep space nine.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "The Alternate" introduces James Sloyan as Dr. Mora Pol, the Bajoran scientist who studied Odo (René Auberjonois) when he was first discovered. Before Mora knew that Odo was a sentient lifeform, he performed various, often painful experiments on the Changeling. Sloyan perfectly plays Mora as a self-centered, but realistic character, who tries to act like a father figure to Odo without acknowledging the pain his initial experiments caused. In the end, Mora begins to understand the tragedy of Odo's history and the two part on better terms.

Much like Brent Spiner played both Lt. Commander Data and Data's creator, Dr. Noonien Soong, Dr. Mora Pol was originally meant to be played by René Auberjonois. However, the extensive make-up and prosthetics required for Odo made it too difficult for Auberjonois to switch back and forth between the two characters.

Mora returns in "The Begotten," when Odo comes across an infant Changeling. The two immediately clash over how to raise the Changeling, with Odo condemning the more invasive techniques Mora once used on him. Mora and Odo eventually work together to teach the young Changeling how to shapeshift, and they share in their excitement. Tragically, the infant Changeling dies, merging into Odo in its last moments. The experience helps Odo better understand how Mora must have felt when Odo left, and the two end the episode with an embrace and a promise to remain in each other's lives. In only two appearances, James Sloyan makes Mora one of Star Trek's more interesting and memorable recurring characters.

Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are available to stream on Paramount+.

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Published Jan 27, 2023

Gates McFadden Joins Star Trek Online with Refractions Update

Welcome to Refractions!

StarTrek.com

The conclusion to the Terran Gambit story arc for the free-to-play MMORPG, Star Trek Online is here!

What began with Reflections ends with Refractions as Terran Emperor Crusher has nearly made his way to Earth with “The Other,” the Mirror version of our V’ger , to destroy the capitol of the Federation.

Before he gets to Earth, you and your allies must break into a maximum-security prison in the Mirror Universe in a new 5 Captain Ground Task Force Operation “Bird Cage” and break out the Mirror version of Beverly Crusher in the hopes that she might help stop her son. Gates McFadden joins our long list of Star Trek cast members in this release.

Star Trek Online: Refractions - Launch Trailer

In our new giant-sized episode “Fujiwhara Effect,” Emperor Crusher and “The Other” have made it to Earth. You and your allies must make a desperate attempt to stop him as the galaxy hangs in the balance. If you want to know more, you’ll have to play it — the less spoilers for this one, the better.

In addition to this, there are two new Patrols based on content from previous release, Ascension . Both of these patrols fill in more details from Ascension . How did Janeway’s Borg drones get cleared from Jupiter Station? And what happened to the Khonshu while it was trapped in the Mirror Universe?

In addition to this release, Star Trek Online is celebrating our 13th anniversary. Play the new content above, along with some previous Terran Gambit content, and the Omega Stabilization Game, to earn the brand new V’Ger tech-inspired Compiler Science Dreadnought [Tier-6]. This gigantic, alien ship can transform itself into electric probes that will chase your enemies. Anniversary Celebration festivities kicked off this week and will continue until February 23.

This fantastic starship is visually inspired by a mix between the visuals of the V’Ger entity as seen in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (as well as concept art from the same), along with a portion of custom designs created in Star Trek Online for fleshing out the technology and enemies associated with “The Other,” as seen in the current story arc.

It wouldn’t be an anniversary without a brand-new Party Popper to earn. The 13th Anniversary version of the annual toy-device takes the grand, cosmic power of V'ger and shrinks it down to an itty bitty party horn.

Work on the Terran Gambit storyline kicked off in early 2021, and the Star Trek Online team has done a great job in bringing it to life. Along the way Kate Mulgrew, Wil Wheaton, and Gates McFadden joined the big cast of Star Trek actors. We can’t wait for you to play it!

To download and play Star Trek Online today for free, visit www.playstartrekonline.com .

Stay tuned to StarTrek.com for more details! And be sure to follow @StarTrek on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram .

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