It may seem, at first, that this question has an obvious answer. Even casual fans of the show know that his father was the late Jack Crusher, an officer who tragically died before the events of The Next Generation aboard the USS Stargazer, Captain Picard’s old ship. This was referred to often through the series. Early on, there was an uncomfortable awkwardness between Picard, Wesley, and Dr. Beverly Crusher, as Picard not only had to tell his family of his death, but he also felt somewhat responsible. While this is the storyline the show keeps throughout, there is a subtle suggestion at the start. There are whispers of a forgotten storyline that would perhaps lead to the discovery that Picard was actually Wesley’s father, in a plot twist that would have shaken the Star Trek community to its core.
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While this may have been the original intention behind these characters, it seems that show writers either forgot about it, or realized that it wouldn’t work. Perhaps they felt would go against the heroic and moral man Picard was, amplified by Patrick Stewart’s wonderful performance. He was a good man, so to reveal later on that he had had an affair with Beverly and fathered an illegitimate son, all behind his friend’s back, would have ruined his character.
While this might be true, it could also make sense. After all, the Picard of TNG is an older, wiser man than he was in his youth. Audiences got to see this in the Q led episode “Tapestry,” which showed a youthful Picard to be a reckless figure with little regard for rules or authority. It would not have been a stretch for this man to have had an affair. His older self would have been shaken to his core and perhaps ashamed about it, but what makes a great captain if not the mistakes of their past?
It goes a long way to explain Picard and Beverley’s relationship in TNG. Their dynamic was overtly awkward for the majority of the first season, to the point where she almost cannot look him in the eye. There’s definitely something going on here, and the showrunners would later reveal that this was due to them both being romantically interested in each other, purely in the present and future sense rather than past. However, this dynamic would also make a lot of sense if it were due to Wesley being Picard’s child. If this were the case, Picard would not have known about it. The affair would have taken place just before he left for the Stargazer, as a young man with ambition who was just about to start his career away from all those close to him. It is something shown time and time again in Star Trek that an officer’s job often takes them away from their family, making it an incredibly lonely role. There is also the point of why Beverly and Wesley were on the ship in the first place. She specifically asked to be assigned to the iconic USS Enterprise D, where she knew Picard was.
Throughout the series, Beverly constantly pushes the two together, resulting in Wesley and Picard having what parallels a father son relationship in many ways. She gets Wesley on the bridge, something very unusual for someone so young. The two men spend a lot of time together, whether stranded on a moon, or Picard coming to help Wesley out with issues at Starfleet academy. Picard, in many senses, becomes the boy’s father figure, even if this is often met with some reluctance.
The biggest hint that this was an intended plot line, however, was revealed during the episode “The Arsenal of Freedom” in season one. Here, Beverly reveals that she has a huge secret she has been keeping, and has been hesitant to tell Picard ever since they set out on their voyage together. Again, this is suggested to be that she loves him, but feels guilty because she believes her feelings betray her late husband. However, it makes so much more sense for this to be that Picard is Wesley’s father. After the season wrapped, however, and after the big upheaval that welcomes in the golden age of TNG, this secret was never revealed and went nowhere.
This is purely a non-canonical theory, and one that likely doesn’t make much sense past the first season. Yet, it still could have been what their original writers were gearing up for. There is a considerable amount of tension between Picard and Dr. Crusher that is never explained, but would make perfect sense if Wesley turned out to be Picard’s son. It’s also important to remember that during the show’s filming, there was serious buzz for the original Star Wars movies. The famous ‘I am your father’ line was floating around a lot and most likely influencing the show’s writers, who may have wanted to do a similar thing with Picard. While it’s unlikely, these themes might be explored further in the third season of Picard, with Dr. Crusher (and potentially Wesley) returning to the franchise. But of course, only time will tell.
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