Star Trek: Picard 3.1: Crusher's Son

Good to see Star Trek: Picard back with the beginning of its third (and final) season on Paramount Plus yesterday.  All kinds of fun things in this first episode, including Riker back with some great repartee and all sorts of other good touches including Riker accidentally calling Picard (who's now an Admiral) "Captain" once again.  But my favorite moment came at the very end, when--

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

We learn that the character played by Ed Speleers is Beverly Crusher's son.  This is very significant for one big reason:  He's not being played by Wil Wheaton, who of course played Wesley Crusher in the original TNG.  We don't hear the first name of the Speleers character, but IMDb says it's Jack Crusher.

Speelers, by the way, is an excellent actor.  He played a sinister villain, Bonnet, in Outlander.  And he checked in with a fine performance as another villain at the end of the first part of You, Season 4. (One of his specialities seems to be coming in at the end of an episode.)  But the question is: why didn't Picard bring back Wesley, played by Wheaton?

Well, he did appear briefly at the end of Picard, Season 2, as a Traveler, and I guess if this Traveler had been able to help Beverly out of her predicament in 3.1, he would have done so, making Picard's emergency visit, the motivation for this whole new season, unnecessary.  But there's no reason Wesley can't appear later in this season, and I hope he does.

Meanwhile, it will be wonderful to see how and when the original cast will be reassembled.  Good job so far by Terry Matalas

See also Picard Season 2 Finale: Resolves and New Vistas ...  Picard 2.9: Cooperation!  ... Picard 2.8: Borg, Q, Soong, FBI ... Picard 2.7: The Bread Was Tastier than the Meat ...  Picard 2.6: Borg and Soong .. Picard 2.5: Don't Walk Away Renee ... Picard 2.4: 2024 LA ... Picard 2.3: Agnes, Borg, Badge ... Picard 2.2: Q and Borg ...  Star Trek: Picard 2.1: Cameos and Time Travel ...  Star Trek: Picard (Season One): Non-Pareil 

                                                        a little time travel story -- free