In the season 3 premiere of Star Trek: Picard, we’re reunited with Beverly Crusher, the Enterprise’s doctor and Jean-Luc Picard’s long lost lover. But Beverly has someone with her—and that person leads to an Earth-shattering revelation for Jean-Luc.
Who exactly is Jack Crusher, played by Downton Abbey‘s Ed Speleers? Let’s get into it.
Jack Crusher, explained
After Jean-Luc and William Riker rescue Beverly and Jack from the wreckage of their ship, they find out that Jack is a wanted criminal with a bounty on his head. However, Picard and Riker both slowly realize something else about Jack. When Jean-Luc confronts Beverly, she confirms it: Jack Crusher is Jean-Luc’s son.
Beverly explains that she became pregnant with Jack the last time she saw Jean-Luc, twenty years before. She tells him that she didn’t originally plan to keep Jack’s existence a secret, but as she watched Jean-Luc get into one life-threatening situation after another, she realized that Jack could never have a stable existence as long as Jean-Luc kept living the life of a Starfleet captain—especially since Jean-Luc’s reputation could endanger Jack’s safety. Plus, Beverly points out, Jean-Luc used to tell her that he never wanted a family.
In the present day, Jean-Luc isn’t happy about Beverly’s reasoning. The way he sees it, he had the right to choose to be a father, rather than continuing a life in Starfleet without ever knowing about his son.
As Picard season 3 progresses, we see more layers of Jack revealed—including latent telepathy. At first, Jack is plagued by disturbing visions of murdering the crew of the Titan. Later, he finds out that he’s suffering from Irumodic Syndrome, a neurological condition that Jean-Luc suffered from in an alternate timeline in the original Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, that syndrome then begins to develop into telepathy.
What does the future hold for Jack Crusher? We’ll have to keep watching Star Trek: Picard to find out.
(featured image: Paramount+)
