Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) performed a medical miracle in Star Trek: Picard season 3, but she hasn't gotten the recognition she deserves for it. Picard season 3 saw Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) reunite with his Star Trek: The Next Generation crew aboard the newly rebuilt USS Enterprise-D. In the first episode of Picard season 3, Jean-Luc receives a distress call from Beverly Crusher and immediately recruits Captain Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) for an impromptu rescue mission. Picard and Riker then commandeer the USS Titan-A and embark on an adventure that quickly turns dangerous.
When they arrive to rescue Dr. Crusher, Picard and Riker learn that she has an adult son named Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) and that the two have been traveling around offering medical assistance to those in need. Before long, Picard and his old crew find themselves facing off against a Borg/Changeling alliance that threatens the entire Federation. In her plot to destroy Starfleet, the Borg Queen (Alice Krige) orchestrates a plan to assimilate every Starfleet officer under the age of 25 and make Jack Crusher the voice of the Borg. But it was Dr. Beverly Crusher who made sure the Borg Queen's plot didn't stick.
Dr. Beverly Crusher Miraculously Healed Starfleet From Borg Assimilation In Picard Season 3
Beverly Also Helped Find Any Remaining Changeling Infiltrators
In Star Trek: Picard's season 3 finale, the Borg Queen uses Jack Crusher to trigger the assimilation of every young Starfleet officer at the Frontier Day celebration. Thankfully, the USS Enterprise-D swoops in just in time to prevent this attack from being much worse. In the aftermath, Dr. Crusher finds a way to save all of the assimilated Starfleet officers, developing an adjustment to Starfleet's transporters that removes the Borg DNA. With all of the other storylines of the episode, Beverly's cure is glossed over, despite the fact that she saved thousands of people.
Dr. Crusher proved herself to be an intelligent scientist and compassionate doctor many times over on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and she has gained even more skills by the time of Star Trek: Picard. Not only does Beverly cure the assimilated Starfleet officers, but she also helps develop a way to detect any lingering Changeling infiltrators. Both the Borg and Changelings received significant upgrades since the TNG era, but that does not stop Dr. Crusher from finding solutions to both problems.
Beverly Cured Jack Crusher’s Borg Assimilation In Picard Season 3
Dr. Crusher Ensured Her Son Will Have A Bright Star Trek Future
Of course, Dr. Crusher would have helped the assimilated Starfleet officers regardless, but she had strong personal reasons to help as well. Not only was her son Jack Crusher turned into Vox of Borg, but Commodore Geordi La Forge's (LeVar Burton) two daughters were assimilated as well. Beverly's transporter solution saved Sidney (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) and Alandra (Mica Burton) La Forge and the rest of the young Starfleet officers, but Jack required more help. Like Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation's "The Best of Both Worlds," the Borg altered Jack's body with cybernetic attachments.
Jack had also had Borg DNA in his brain all of his life, but Beverly presumably removed that as well.
After Captain Picard's time as Locutus, Dr. Crusher removed the Borg parts from his body, providing her with the necessary experience to help Jack. Jack had also had Borg DNA in his brain all of his life, but Beverly presumably removed that as well, using her transporter technology. With no trace of Borg in his system, Jack ends Picard season 3 as a Starfleet officer on the bridge of the USS Enterprise-G under the command of Captain Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). Jack appears to have a bold and adventurous future ahead of him, which would not have been possible without Dr. Crusher's medical knowledge.
Why Beverly’s Picard Season 3 Medical Miracle Deserves More Recognition
Beverly Saved Thousands Of Starfleet Officers & Neutralized The Changeling Threat
After her medical miracle, Beverly Crusher was promoted to Admiral and accepted a position as the Head of Starfleet Medical. This seems like the very least that Starfleet could do, considering Beverly almost singlehandedly saved thousands of officers and ferreted out the remaining Changelings.Dr. Crusher already held the position of Head of Starfleet Medical all the way back in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2. She was not an admiral then, but her new career still feels like a step backward. Beverly should have had her pick of Starfleet positions.
Whatever the future holds for Dr. Crusher, it remains to be seen whether viewers will get to see more of her story. Although fans began clamoring for a spin-off soon after Star Trek: Picard season 3 ended, Paramount+ currently has no plans for the long-rumored Star Trek: Legacy. Still, there are other ways Dr. Crusher's story could continue, and it would be fun to see her as the Chief Medical Officer on a starship again. Beverly Crusher had learned a lot of new skills since her time on the Enterprise, and after the events of Star Trek: Picard season 3, Starfleet owes her big time.
