Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Favorite Fictional Character --- Dr. Beverly Crusher


Given which character I'm featuring this week, what I'm about to say is going to sound rather odd.  I'm not a huge Star Trek fan.  I don't hate it, but I would never actively seek it out to watch.  I'm sure it's been at least 15-16 years since I've seen an episode of any of the TV shows, and the only reason I watched the first Star Trek movie with Chris Pine, was because of Chris Pine.  Like any good kid of the 1990s, I got into Star Trek: The Next Generation more than the original, but if I missed a few episodes or a whole season, it was no skin off my nose.  So you are probably trying to figure out why I would be featuring a character from the Star Trek universe, so I'll tell you.  For whatever reason, boredom probably, I recently downloaded the Star Trek: Timelines game, and now I can't seem to stop playing. The universe is dealing with several temporal anomalies, and every single character who ever existed, along with every single version of the character, are now all smashed together. Dr. Beverly Crusher is not one of the characters on my crew as of yet, but I'm hoping I get her at some point in time.


Of every character created for the franchise, she is my all time favorite. She suffered loss after loss in her life, and she always found the strength to come back and beat it.  She lost her parents at a young age, then her husband dies, leaving her to raise a son by herself.  She pours herself into raising Wesley and becoming a Starfleet Commander.  She is a strong independent woman, and she really cemented herself as my favorite when she went to bat for Hugh, the young Borg that was rescued from his crashed ship.  When those around her, including Captain Picard, wanted to use him as weapon, Dr. Crusher defended him, and did everything she could to make sure he had every chance to become his own person.  Time and time again, crisis after crisis, Dr. Crusher proved to be a deeply talented officer, willing to put the needs of others before her own.  I also thought that of all the main characters on the show, she was the one who seemed to grow the most over the years.  By the end of the series, she was a woman & officer who was not only completely comfortable in her own skin, but supremely confident in who she was, and what she had to offer.

5 comments:

bermudaonion said...

My husband loves Star Trek but I don't think I've ever seen a complete episode.

Yvette said...

I am a huge STAR TREK fan. I've watched every episode in the original series as well as in STAR TREK The Next Generation (had a major crush on Captain Luc Picard...sigh!)

I liked the doctor. But my very favorite character was and always will be (beside the good captain, of course) Whorf.

Melissa (Books and Things) said...

I loved her but I always thought they should have made her more in command at times. Still a great character.

TracyK said...

I am a Star Trek fan. We watched all the Next Generation series on DVD, after having watched many of them on TV (in reruns I am guessing). I did like Beverly Crusher also. Don't think I had a favorite character, altho Picard and Data are up there.

Melissa (My World...in words and pages) said...

Oh I loved her as a character and the actress too. Great pick!