Dr. Beverly Crusher’s romantic life in Star Trek: The Next Generation was explored through relationships very different men (and one candle ghost).

On Star Trek: The Next Generation, Dr. Beverly Crusher’s (Gates McFadden) romantic life was presented as just one aspect of her well-rounded character, with only a handful of Crusher’s unique love interests sprinkled throughout TNG‘s seven-year run. TNG episodes dedicated to Beverly as a character generally focused on her career as Chief Medical Officer of the USS Enterprise-D, her role as mother to Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), or as a friend to the Enterprise crew, with the occasional B-story highlighting Beverly’s theatrical hobby, a trait she shared with Gates McFadden.

While Dr. Crusher remained a consummate medical professional during her tenure on the Enterprise-D, Beverly’s professionalism didn’t preclude her from having love interests — some more memorable than others. Though most didn’t remain in Beverly’s life for very long, the romantic feelings that Beverly developed for each man in her life were deep and sincere. Beverly Crusher’s love stories took into account her career as a physician by raising questions about the physical nature of love itself. Could love live on past death? Did the body of one’s lover matter? Did a lover even need a body?

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5 Lt. Commander Jack R. Crusher (Doug Wert)

Prior to Star Trek: The Next Generation

For 5 years, Beverly Crusher was married to Lt. Commander Jack R. Crusher, the father of her son, Wesley (Wil Wheaton). Jack was friends with Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and served on the USS Stargazer with Picard, until Jack’s accidental death in 2353. The memory of Jack affected both Beverly and Jean-Luc deeply, so Jack was rarely referenced on-screen. Through Beverly’s dialogue and Wesley’s exploration of his father’s life, it’s evident that Jack was a witty, honorable Starfleet officer who cared for his wife and young son tremendously, and undoubtedly a great love of Beverly Crusher’s life before his passing.

4 John Doe (Mark La Mura)

TNG season 3, episode 25 “Transfigurations”

In TNG season 3, episode 25 “Transfigurations”, Beverly Crusher develops a connection with John Doe, an amnesiac patient she rescued from a crashed single-person vessel. John has no memory of his identity or mission, but heals rapidly from his crash injuries, and later shows that he can also heal others. Crusher denies a “Florence Nightingale” situation with the mysteriously glowing patient and insists that her interest in him is a professional curiosity, but Crusher’s words belie the connection between Beverly and John that grows over the months that John is on the Enterprise. When John’s memory returns, he transforms into energy, which (in this case) ends the relationship.

3 Ambassador Odan (Franc Luz, Jonathan Frakes, Nicole Orth-Pallavicini)

TNG season 4, episode 23 “The Host”

An immediate romance sparks between Dr. Crusher and Odan (Franc Luz), a Trill ambassador that the Enterprise is escorting to peace talks. Odan’s accidental death reveals that the Trill are a symbiotic species, and his symbiont is temporarily placed into Commander Riker until a replacement Trill host arrives. Odan wants to pick up the romance in Riker’s body, and although Beverly debates whether she still loves Odan as Riker, the relationship continues until Riker rejects the symbiont. When Odan’s new Trill host is a woman, however, Crusher explains that these drastic changes are difficult for her, as a human, to keep up with, and she breaks off their romance.

2 Ronin (Duncan Regehr)

TNG season 7, episode 14 “Sub Rosa”

A discussion of Dr. Beverly Crusher’s love life is incomplete without mentioning Dr. Crusher’s candle ghost lover, Ronin (Duncan Regehr), In “Sub Rosa”, TNG‘s take on gothic romance, Beverly inherits racy journals and an antique candle from her grandmother, Felisa Howard, and lighting the candle causes Ronin to manifest as an amorphous, but sexually skilled, green light. Ronin does all he can to win Beverly’s affection, with manipulative promises of everlasting love and physical manifestation. Beverly falls hard for Ronin, to the point of ignoring warnings, and Crusher resigns her Starfleet commission to be with him.

Ronin is more vampire than ghost because he’s an anaphasic life form relying on the specific biochemistry of the Howard women in order to survive. His thorough seduction alters the brain chemistry of generations of otherwise reasonable women, Beverly included, but with Picard’s intervention, Crusher is able to put an end to the amorous candle ghost that she inherited from her grandmother. Despite the abusive nature of the relationship between Ronin and Beverly, there’s real grief in Beverly’s reaction to undoing Ronin, marking the impact Ronin had on Crusher’s life.

1 Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart)

Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Picard

Beverly Crusher’s relationship with Jean-Luc Picard is the longest lasting and most poignant one of her life. Crusher and Picard’s friendship began years before TNG, through Jack R. Crusher. Serving together on the Enterprise-D, Beverly and Jean-Luc grew closer, often taking breakfast together and offering advice both professional and personal. Despite attempting to maintain distance, the mind-link between Beverly and Jean-Luc in TNG season 7, episode 8, “Attached” revealed a mutual love for one another. Respect for Jack’s memory prevented Jean-Luc from acting on his feelings for Beverly, which he had harbored for years, and they only remained friends to prevent a conflict of interest.

Jean-Luc and Beverly try several times to maintain a romantic relationship while serving on the Enterprise-E, but the obligations and dangers in the lives of Starfleet officers keep them separated. Picard and Crusher’s son Jack is conceived in 2381, and Crusher withdraws from Picard’s life out of respect for Jean-Luc’s reluctance to have children, and to protect Jack. Their reunion after nearly 20 years is fraught with questions, but also clarifications that Picard and Crusher’s missteps arise from their deep mutual respect. It’s clear that Beverly and Jean-Luc still care for one another in Star Trek: Picard, just as they did in Star Trek: The Next Generation.