Beverly Crusher's 10 Best Star Trek: TNG Episodes | Screen Rant
Beverly Crusher started out on Star Trek: The Next Generation as a somewhat controversial character. After starring in the first season, actress Gates McFadden was let go from the show, and her character was replaced by Doctor Katherine Pulaski, played by Diana Muldaur.
She was brought back from season 3 onwards as a permanent character and set out to carve a path for herself as a standout member of the Enterprise. Some of her best episodes put Dr. Crusher front and center as a major linchpin of the story, proving that she was much more than just a doctor who patched up the occasional injury.
Dr. Crusher took a prominent role in this classic and tense season 3 episode, featuring the mysterious and militaristic Star Trek characters the Romulans. Only Lieutenant Worf was capable of acting as a compatible ribosome donor for a gravely injured Romulan officer, but that meant burying a lifetime of racial hatred and animosity.
As the story progressed, Dr. Crusher tried desperately to convince Worf to let the past go, and work to save the Romulan's life. Doing so would have defused an already tense situation, but Worf remained steadfast in his refusal. Nevertheless, Crusher was one of the first voices of reason who tried to bridge a gap between the two peoples.
Terrorism was the central theme of this memorable episode, and it offered the chance for Captain Picard to deliver one of his most heroic quotes from Star Trek: TNG. After being abducted by a group of political extremists battling an increasingly authoritarian government, she got a first-hand look at what drove their ideology and violent terrorist actions.
The episode didn't shy away from uncomfortable truths, using Crusher as a window through which the audience could absorb the message. The final act of the episode found Crusher convincing a would-be child terrorist to stand down, by telling him "No more killing!" It was a gripping moment for the series.
This amazing episode boasts one of the most inventive scripts ever penned for The Next Generation. It starts out with Dr. Crusher meeting her old friend and mentor Dalen Quaice, who came aboard the Enterprise, only to disappear shortly afterward. Soon, other crew members begin to disappear, one by one.
Crusher believes she's losing her mind, but she soon deduces that she's become caught in an alternate reality born from the power of her mind, and triggered by a warp field experiment that her son Wesley was conducting in engineering. As her universe begins to collapse, she's forced to figure out a means of escape.
Crusher found passionate romance in this season 4 episode when she met the charismatic Odan, a Trill ambassador seeking to broker peace between the twin moons of Peliar Zel. However, a violent faction soon attacks Odan's transport shuttle, causing his body to suffer mortal wounds.
It's there that Dr. Crusher learns that Odan's body is actually host to the real Trill - a symbiotic life form. Without a body to mediate the dispute, Commander Riker makes the perilous decision to temporarily bond with Odan. The episode tackled the complex nature of love and the limitations of the human experience.
"Cause and Effect" remains one of TNG's most frightening episodes, thanks to its horrifying premise. The Enterprise became caught in a temporal causality loop that ended with its destruction, only to begin the cycle anew. Each time the loop repeated, the crew experienced stronger bouts of déjà vu, leading Dr. Crusher to surmise that it wasn't a coincidence.
It was Crusher who led the charge when it came to investigating the phenomenon, and she helped devise a method by which the crew could send their future selves a message. Her contribution to the team effort allowed the Enterprise to break the cycle.
Crusher was at her most heroic and courageous in this season 6 episode when she took it upon herself to investigate the death of a Ferengi colleague working on a revolutionary type of metaphasic shielding. She was even willing to risk her Starfleet career to prove it, thanks to some not-so-subtle encouragement from the Star Trek: TNG's resident wise bartender, Guinan.
Over the course of the episode, Crusher braves angry Klingons, a frustrated Captain Picard, and even her own doom in order to vindicate the work of her colleague. Her devotion to principle and ethics made her a standout character in a way she hadn't achieved before.
Picard and his crew were forced to deal with Data's evil twin Lore once again, but this time, he had help in the form of the immensely powerful Star Trek: TNG villain the Borg, some of whom had left the collective. They had united under Lore's banner, with the express intention of waging war on the Federation.
Meanwhile, Dr. Crusher was made acting captain in Picard's absence, which was a first for her. This medical doctor had to defy the odds - and a few of her Starfleet colleagues - in order to prove she had what it took. It was her leadership that allowed the Enterprise to destroy the heavily armed Borg vessel, scoring her major respect in the process.
This episode found the indomitable Worf in peril after an accident shattered his spinal column, leaving him permanently paralyzed. Under Klingon custom, the only solution would be ritual suicide, but Crusher pushed Worf to explore alternative means of treatment.
When the attempts failed, Worf became more resolute in his determination to take his own life. As a result, Crusher was forced to work with Dr. Russell, a brilliant surgeon experimenting with a revolutionary, and highly dangerous genetic technology that would allow him to walk again. Crusher's protest of Dr. Russell's irresponsible methods made her a spokeswoman against the "ends justify the means" excuse.
Dr. Crusher was at the forefront of this final Next Generation episode, where she played a future version of herself. As Captain of a Federation medical vessel, Crusher was the one who granted Picard the use of her ship, in order to investigate a strange anomaly that threatened the past, present, and future of the galaxy.
It was established that Crusher had married Picard, before divorcing him, yet the two remained amicable and loving towards one another. It also showed one possible trajectory of Crusher's career - one that involved being in full command of a starship, as opposed to just treating wounds in sick bay. It was the culmination of the way Star Trek: The Next Generation had changed and grown throughout the show's run.
For years, Star Trek fans had pondered whether Captain Picard and Dr. Crusher would ever become a romantic couple, as the seeds had already been planted. This episode tried to explore that dynamic when the two were imprisoned and outfitted with devices that made it impossible for them to move more than a few feet away from each other.
The devices also created a side effect that allowed both Picard and Crusher to hear each other's thoughts. With no way to hide their feelings, they became closer than ever, until such time as they decided to discuss their relationship and the possibility of something more in the future. It was a watershed moment not just for Crusher's character, but Picard's as well.