Gates McFadden reflects on Star Trek: Picard season 3 and her pride in working with showrunner Terry Matalas to reinvent Dr. Beverly Crusher.

Gates McFadden reflects with pride on how she and Star Trek: Picard season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas reinvented Dr. Beverly Crusher. McFadden was absent from Star Trek: Picard seasons 1 and 2, and she hadn’t played Beverly Crusher since Star Trek: Nemesis in 2002. Matalas and McFadden worked together to redefine the often neglected character of Dr. Beverly Crusher, turning her into a resourceful and resilient warrior defending her son, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers).

Star Trek: Picard season 3 cast members Patrick Stewart, Gates McFadden, Jonathan Frakes, Jeri Ryan, and Michelle Hurd attended a SAG Awards FYC screening of Star Trek: Picard season 3’s finale, “The Last Generation.” At the Q&A panel, McFadden delved into how Terry Matalas (who was also in attendance) was instrumental in giving Dr. Crusher new facets that put her at odds with Admiral Jean-Luc Picard. Read her quote and watch the video below:

It really was a challenge but it was a really great challenge, and I love the fact that he had me right away in action. He talked about her being very fierce, protecting, making choices that were going to be making Picard angry, but in the end – Crusher was right. I mean, what can I tell you? I mean, he would have been dead long ago. So, it was so much fun….

Star Trek Picard Season 3 Ending Explained (In Detail)

Star Trek: Picard season 3’s finale concludes the story of TNG in grand style and sets up the next generation’s legacy, along with a big surprise.

What Is Dr. Beverly Crusher’s Star Trek Future?

Beverly’s next steps are tied to if Picard gets a spinoff.

Star Trek: Picard season 3’s finale was an emotionally resonant and satisfying end to the saga of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but it also set up the future. Admiral Beverly Crusher is now the Head of Starfleet Medical while Ensign Jack Crusher, newly graduated from Starfleet Academy, is stationed on the USS Enterprise-G under Captain Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). All of this builds to Terry Matalas’ proposed continuation spinoff, dubbed Star Trek: Legacy. However, there is no movement by Paramount+ towards actually making Star Trek: Legacy, despite ardent demand from the fans and the cast and creative team of Star Trek: Picard season 3.

Dr. Beverly Crusher’s future in Star Trek appears tied to if Star Trek: Legacy will ever happen. Outside of voice appearances in the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy, both of which are set before Star Trek: Picard season 3, Beverly’s forward progress in the 25th century stops cold. (Dr. Crusher was name-dropped in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4). Fans who want to see Gates McFadden continue to explore the new, fiercer Dr. Beverly Crusher can only keep campaigning for Star Trek: Picard season 3 to get its deserved spinoff.