Wesly never really bothered me all that much...

[SPCTRE]

Actually, I've been thinking about this since I first posted and there is one thing about him that kind of bothered me. Not about the character so much as behind the scenes.

Shortly after I started watching it, I found out that Gene Roddenberry's middle name was Wesley so that kind of made me think that Roddenberry based the character on himself. To me, that made the ones where Wesley saved the day seem a little narcissistic and a bit embarrassing to watch.

I think this is a common impression (at least according to a couple of websites I found) but no one here seems to have mentioned it

What does that say about Wesley getting to kiss Ashley Judd?? (Still the most beautiful women to put on a Star Trek uniform.)

Definitely in-character for Gene.

 

[Mary Ann]

I'm a few years older than Wil Wheaton and I never took to Wesley (I'm a fan of Wheaton's, though). Yes, Wes was a child genius and special and such, but I was never comfortable with a teenager being a bridge officer while the ship was teeming with officers. Brains isn't enough; life experience is of great importance in a senior position as well, and Wesley had much less of that than probably every other officer. I reckon that Wes' character could have pulled in the younger viewers without being part of the senior staff, but by having side-stories of a teenager growing up on a starship.

 

[trekkerguy]

When I was a kid I frakking hated Wesley. I thought he was patronizing and a total wuss and horrible actor as well.


After reading a certain TNG novel where he returns as a Traveler and kinda kicked ass(can't remember the name, book is in a box) and now that I've followed Wil Wheaton for a couple years on twitter I've completely revisited my views and find Wesley far more interesting. They very much wasted a chance to create a really compelling character with him

 

[Squeamous]

I have never bullied anyone in my life, but just the sight of Wesley makes me want to ram a nerd's head down a toilet and flush it. He's almost as bad as Jake Sisko, although Jake does have the one saving grace of having a noticeably prominent penis in everything he wears. Wesley couldn't even do that right (if he even has one).

Why is it that Star Trek kids have to be so damned annoying and precocious? Even their bad behaviour only seems to extend to making the odd cultural faux pas or just being too darned keen. I'm guessing Kirk and Riker were never like that. Riker would have probably left Ashley Judd in a cummy heap while Wesley was still trying to work out whether shaking your dick after a piss counts as masturbation. It's no wonder everyone picks fights with the federation all the time when their youth spend all their time skipping about with bunches of gladioli or playing with warp coils.

 

[RAMA]

I seriously wonder if anyone checked th 24th Century's equivalent of a sex-offenders registry for The Traveler. There was just something creepy about that guy, his fixation Wes and just the way he talked! Ick!

Of course, this is simply nonsense.

I like that Wesley was a genius...WNMHGB revealed him as intuitive and yes, "special". I don't have a problem with that. To me that's the BEST aspect of his character. Is he my favorite character? Not even close, but the traveler episodes with Wesley are some of his best. I also enjoy "First Duty", "Evolution", "Final Mission" and several others.

RAMA

 

[Joshonator]

Yeah one thing that bugged me was how the ship was saved so many times by an acting ensign... Plus his character is not interesting in the slightest. Realistically the Enterprise-D should have blown up shortly after he left. And i don't like the clothes he wears . I didn't really mind the prodigy thing but it was pretty pointless, since the traveler thing is never really explained. IMO Wesley crusher was just a failed attempt of an emotional character.

 

[LitmusDragon]

He used to bother me back when the show was first airing, but when I rewatched it years later he didn't bother me. A lot of it is probably the coolness factor Wil Wheaton has accrued since then. I can't be irritated at him.

 

[Gojira]

I always knew he wasn't popular amongst Trekkie but never really understood why...


What are some of the things about him that pissed you off? The incident that got him suspended from the academy not withstanding. That was pure crap out on his part.

I am one of the ones that always liked the Wesley character and never understood the dislike many had for him. I have know a few people that were at that genius level and I always admired people like that so that is one of the reason why I liked the character.

 

[Joshonator]

He's an insult to us geniuses .

 

[CaptainStoner]

I seriously wonder if anyone checked th 24th Century's equivalent of a sex-offenders registry for The Traveler. There was just something creepy about that guy, his fixation Wes and just the way he talked! Ick!

Of course, this is simply nonsense.

I like that Wesley was a genius...WNMHGB revealed him as intuitive and yes, "special". I don't have a problem with that. To me that's the BEST aspect of his character. Is he my favorite character? Not even close, but the traveler episodes with Wesley are some of his best. I also enjoy "First Duty", "Evolution", "Final Mission" and several others.

RAMA

I have to admit I find myself in agreement on said episodes, and although it is easy to overlay a molestor vibe on the Traveler, I certainly didn't interpret it that way initially. WNMHGB was the first TNG episode that I remember really liking in 1987. And like Wesley, I was put at the helm...of the VCR, as I was a zen master at editing out commercials on the fly.

 

[infinix]

When I was a kid I frakking hated Wesley. I thought he was patronizing and a total wuss and horrible actor as well.


After reading a certain TNG novel where he returns as a Traveler and kinda kicked ass(can't remember the name, book is in a box) and now that I've followed Wil Wheaton for a couple years on twitter I've completely revisited my views and find Wesley far more interesting. They very much wasted a chance to create a really compelling character with him

I couldn't find any information on this book you speak of. Please try to find the name of the book. I would like to read it as well.

 

[RyuRoots]

Ugh, I still hate that the novels went back into Traveler territory with Wes. I loved that we saw him in uniform in Nemesis. I never liked the bits with the Traveler and Wes, and him being back in Starfleet I saw as getting his character back on-track. Of course, the novels ignore it. Bleh.

 

[Keith1701]

I think people would have liked him more as an ensign post-academy. That grey "uniform" was terrible.

I just didn't like the episodes that were Wesly "save the ship" Crusher episodes.

 

[Trekker4747]

The gray uniform was vastly better than his various sweaters he wore in the first season.

 

[antiquityscion]

Post season 1, Wesley isn't so bad. Then again, same with Next Gen in general.

 

[Joshonator]

I didn't really like the grey uniform, it seemed out of place. Maybe if it was black it would have been ok but i will agree that it was an improvement to the random sweaters.

 

[Vinkula]

I liked Wesley. One of my favourites of TNG!

 

[indolover]

I never disliked him. Of all teen Trek characters, Icheb in Voyager was the biggest wuss IMO. He never dated nor seemed to have any fun. At least Wesley, by Geordi's own reckoning, dated the hottest woman on the ship once.

 

[Leathco]

I like the actor, but he was given utter tripe to work with in the beginning, that slowly got better, than worse again.

It would have been a lot more beleiveable if he started out season 1 as a cademy cadet, but took the classes on the Enterprise in the Holodeck, doing all the work that way, than graduating in season 3 as an ensign. Would have made SOME of the stuff easier to take.

 

[Cpt. Chris Pike]

The episode I hated the most was the Tasha Yar "drug speech" one.

It was so campy, like a bad after school special.