I'll drink the Kool-Aid! Why not?
wesley crusher/children on the enterprise
- Thread starter euphorik
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I can't imagine how writers could think put a 15y.o. guy on a more or less military ship bridge was a good idea.
Tell that to anyone facing a court martial...
Actually, from a history perspective, not having 15yo guys on board naval ships is a fairly recent development, being relatively old for a cabin boy, junior rating or "young gentleman" (would-be officer usu midshipman).
That said, the job they gave Wesley (acting bridge officer) would always have been a bit out of line, personally I would have preferred he be given "Qualified Specialist" status based on prior knowledge (CR3 based on ENT, CR based on TMP-TUC & TNG) and worked mostly with the engineering team).
Sure, but ENT-D is not a wooden sea ship and weasley is not the captain toyboy.
He pilots that ship. He works on enginering room. He was a genius but even geniuses needs time to develop their abilities and assimilate notions
They don't give him all the difficult moments straight away, do they? I imagine he's put at the helm initially when things are copacetic but if it goes south, he proves himself. They don't sit him down in front of the apocalypse and say, "Here, kid. It's all yours." You wouldn't teach your 5 year old kid to play baseball, no matter how precocious an athlete he seems to be, by starting him as the leadoff batter in a Toronto Blue Jays game, would you?
I wouldn't have put him at the helm at all. It doesn't sit quite right with the Mozart hobcobblers rap they gave him in the Traveller episode just to then have him as the driver. If Wesley was depicted as some kind of topgun shuttle pilot, yeah. But that's not what they were doing with the character.
I would've give him Data as a mentor and a science officer role. He'd man one of those consoles at the back and he'd step forward if the ship encounters some problem and he had a point to contribute. Something like the way Geordi's bridge scenes unfolded where he gives his view from behind the tactical console. When Data is on his away team or is off duty, he'd get the ops post. We'd also see him perhaps engage in cutting edge experiments in his off-time, some of which of course will bite our heroes in the backside. I would've mapped the character out more like that, instead of hemming him in as the chauffeur.
I would've give him Data as a mentor and a science officer role. He'd man one of those consoles at the back and he'd step forward if the ship encounters some problem and he had a point to contribute. Something like the way Geordi's bridge scenes unfolded where he gives his view from behind the tactical console. When Data is on his away team or is off duty, he'd get the ops post. We'd also see him perhaps engage in cutting edge experiments in his off-time, some of which of course will bite our heroes in the backside. I would've mapped the character out more like that, instead of hemming him in as the chauffeur.
You're definitely not the only one. Wesley has some bad episodes, but quite frankly most characters are misused a handful of times in S1 and S2. He grew on me. In episodes like Final Mission and especially The First Duty, Wesley is an incredibly rich, complex character. The First Duty is probably in my Top 5 TNG episodes, and it's not just because Patrick Stewart is great in it (he is) but Wil Wheaton does an outstanding job too. I think a lot of the misgivings about Wesley have more to do with the writers not knowing how to write for him than Wil Wheaton not knowing how to play him. He has the misfortune of missing out on the bulk of the later seasons, where his character could have really come into his own.
I don't like Alexander as much because at his age I don't think he was able to manage the weight of the part he was asked to play.
When I was a kid watching TNG, aged 7-8, Wesley was my favourite character.
Looking back, I think he wasn't the best-written character on the show. And I agree with the poster who said he should have been working more in engineering than at the helm (or, rotating through different departments and stations).
And no kids on the Enterprise = no Captain Picard Day...
Looking back, I think he wasn't the best-written character on the show. And I agree with the poster who said he should have been working more in engineering than at the helm (or, rotating through different departments and stations).
And no kids on the Enterprise = no Captain Picard Day...
I think if Wesley hadn't been shown favoritism by being made an acting bridge officer, and maybe there had been more episodes focusing on his relationship with his mom instead of "everyone look how smart and special Wesley is" maybe people would think he was less obnoxious. I think the writers of Deep Space Nine got some things right with Jake Sisko's character that maybe should have been done with Wesley before.
Wheaton is quoted in the 50yr mission as stating he wanted out because they weren't writing much for him at that point. The backlash from Wesley saving the ship too often was to put him in the background. But when they wrote the final mission ep, he loved how they wrote for him and regretted leaving. I guess that's why he came back more than Tasha/Sela did.
I'm surprised that they didn't use a story like BOBW to axe the families on board idea. It always seemed reckless to me. When Riker was about to give the order to ram the borg cube, I kept thinking about all those civilians and children on board. Same thing with Yamato (Contagion)and the Odyssey(from the ds9 ep Jem'Hadar)
I'm surprised that they didn't use a story like BOBW to axe the families on board idea. It always seemed reckless to me. When Riker was about to give the order to ram the borg cube, I kept thinking about all those civilians and children on board. Same thing with Yamato (Contagion)and the Odyssey(from the ds9 ep Jem'Hadar)
I very much agree that Wesley was tragically misused. I've sometimes described Jake Sisko as "Wesley Crusher done right," and let me try to explain that.
Conceptually, Wesley should have worked like this -- he's a civilian aboard the ship, he's the son of one of the ship's senior officers, he should have been the doorway into stories aboard ship that involved the civilian population of the Enterprise, especially the children of other personnel, both Starfleet and not. The episode where the children are kidnapped in the first season comes closest to that.
But the producers never embraced the "civilians aboard the Enterprise" angle of the series' premise, probably because they had no idea what to do with it. The more lower decks drama there is with the civilians aboard the ship, the less strange new worlds drama there is, and they weren't paying the main cast to be, essentially, guest stars in their own series. From that angle, especially when you're trying to get a series off the ground, it's easy to understand why the civilian angle was never really developed. But that meant there wasn't really any point to Wesley; his function was a peripheral character, and they had to make him more central. Hence, the Acting Ensign nonsense.
And it is nonsense. There were trained professionals on the Enterprise, people who had been through Starfleet Academy, who could sit at the nav console. And Picard entrusts the piloting of his ship to an amateur? Wesley was obviously talented at what he did, and from an "Economy of Characters" standpoint the decision to put Wesley on the bridge makes production sense, but in itself was a nonsensical decision.
Jake Sisko is what was possible with Wesley if the TNG producers in the first season had realized what Michael Piller realized with Deep Space Nine -- the show doesn't need to be on the bridge with the bridge crew all the time. There were other storytelling centers on the Enterprise, but they were never developed, unlike Deep Space Nine, which developed storytelling centers other than Ops.
Next Generation was an often excellent show, but Wesley is symbolic of how it never really lived up to its promise.
I personally think that Jake works best in contrast to Nog, who could also be described as "Wesley done right" in an even more literal sense (as his character journey was a more direct retread of Wesley's).
As far as the "character that gives a view into the civilian population" I agree that would have been good as well. However, I would suggest that they already one main cast member in Troi that could have/should have served in this role, as could regulars Guinan and Keiko. So I can understand why they didn't go this route with Wesley.
Similarly, I think the biggest problem with "Acting Ensign Crusher" was that he was the only character with that designation that we ever saw before or since. If they had established that A/ENS was a regularly used rank and had a few others cameo occassionally (maybe even have Wes socialise with them in his off hours) I don't think it would have addressed all the complaints about the character I think it would've helped as would more characters like Tarses IMO
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Jake and Nog were both "Wesley Crusher done right" because they were written like actual children/teenagers, and allowed to grow as such. They had their own talents but they were allowed to progress normally, while Wesley was given unreasonable advatages that, realistically, a 15-16 year old probably couldn't, or shouldn't be expected to handle. I know I wouln't at that age.
Only if badder means lamer.
Wesley had a doting mother, who never ditched her child with a abusive uncle.
Wesley was a only child.
Wesley had a early lack of confidence.
Wesley becomes part of a ship's crew prior to joining the academy.
Wesley (while occasionally annoying) was never a complete and utter ass.
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