Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 1 - "The Next Generation"The premiere of Star Trek: Picard season 3 ends with a shocking revelation that Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) has another son, played by Ed Speleers, but who is his father? Both Crushers are attacked for unknown reasons by new enemies led by Captain Vadic (Amanda Plummer), and a distress message from Beverly pulls Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Captain Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) to rescue her. Both Star Trek: The Next Generation icons come face to face with a young man who claims to be Beverly Crusher's son.
Of course, Beverly already has a son, Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), who has since become one of the Travelers and made a surprise cameo in Star Trek: Picard season 2's finale. Taking this young man at his word, Beverly's second son appears to be in his early-to-mid 20s. Dr. Crusher also hasn't spoken to any of her old crew mates from the USS Enterprise-D and E in 20 years, which means Beverly cut off relations with them at some point after Star Trek: Nemesis. Presumably, Dr. Crusher did so in order to have her new son in secret, if he is who he says he is. As for who his father could be, there is an obvious conclusion that's easy to jump to, but there are also a handful of possibilities from Beverly's past TNG romances with exploring.
5 Odan
In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 4, Beverly Crusher fell in love with the Trill Ambassador, Odan (Franc Luz). At the time, the Trill had not yet been retconned to their spotted appearance in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but the Trill were already a joined species with a symbiont containing the memories and experiences of their past hosts. When Odan died in a shuttle accident, his symbiont was temporarily placed inside Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes).
Odan's symbiont was ultimately joined with a new female host, Kareel (Nicole Orth-Pallavicini), but Beverly ended their relationship. Dr. Crusher said she couldn't deal with the uncertainty of the Trill species and the complications of joining hosts to symbionts. However, it's possible that after Star Trek: Nemesis, Crusher encountered Odan in a new host body, and they rekindled their relationship, leading to the birth of a son.
4 Dr. Julian Bashir
Admittedly, the coupling of Dr. Crusher and Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) seems far-fetched - or is it? Bashir was the Chief Medical Officer on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but the USS Enterprise-D did stop by the space station in the TNG season 6 two-parter, "Birthright." Bashir mainly dealt with Lt. Commanders Data (Brent Spiner) and Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), but it's possible DS9 and the Enterprise's Doctors also met and got acquainted.
DS9 ended with Bashir in a relationship with Lt. Ezri Dax (Nicole de Boer), but there have been no canonical updates on them since then. Picard season 3 is also designed to be a sequel to DS9 as well as TNG. Could Bashir and Crusher have struck up a romance in the years after DS9 ended? Perhaps one telltale sign that it could have happened is that Beverly's son has a British accent in Star Trek: Picard season 3, which he may have learned from Dr. Bashir.
3 Ronin
Beverly Crusher's most infamous romance was with Ronin (Duncan Regehr) in the TNG season 7 episode, "Sub Rosa." Ronin was an anaphasic life form who bonded and romanced generations of the Howard (Beverly's maiden name) family. This ultimately included Beverly herself, and she even resigned from Starfleet to be with Ronin. Dr. Crusher soon came to her senses and destroyed Ronin after he attacked Captain Picard by destroying the candle he used to maintain molecular cohesion.
Could Ronin have somehow returned in the years after Star Trek: Nemesis? It seems preposterous, but Star Trek: Picard showrunner Terry Matalas has hinted that other TNG characters will make surprise appearances in season 3. Ronin is a deep-cut name, but also a defining part of Beverly Crusher's romantic history, for better or worse. Stranger things have happened than Ronin coming back to life and siring a son with Beverly.
2 Jack Crusher
Lt. Jack Crusher (Doug Wert) was Dr. Beverly Crusher's late husband. Jack was also close friends with Jean-Luc Picard when they served together aboard the USS Stargazer before Picard became Captain of the Enterprise. Jack died in an accident during an away mission in 2353, and Jean-Luc personally returned his body to Beverly and Wesley. But could Jack somehow have been resurrected in the decades between Star Trek: Nemesis and Star Trek: Picard season 3?
One clue that Jack Crusher may have come back is that a footlocker labeled "Lt. Commander Jack Crusher" is seen aboard Beverly's medical ship, the USS Eleos, at the start of Star Trek: Picard season 3's premiere. There are also several ways Jack could be brought back to life, such as cloning. After all, the Romulans already cloned Picard with Shinzon (Tom Hardy). Could Jack Crusher have returned to the living and become the father of a second son with Beverly?
1 Admiral Jean-Luc Picard
The most likely suspect of being the father of Beverly Crusher's son is, of course, Admiral Jean-Luc Picard. Jean-Luc and Beverly had an on-again/off-again flirtation, and he even apparently told his current love, Laris (Orla Brady), that they "tried to be lovers." It is possible that Beverly and Jean-Luc had a baby, and the son's apparent age roughly lines up with how many years have passed between Star Trek: Nemesis and Star Trek: Picard season 3.
But if Beverly and Jean-Luc had a child, why would she hide him away and break contact with the entire Enterprise crew? And why would Beverly keep something so important from Jean-Luc? Further, why does her son have a British accent if he didn't grow up with Picard as his father? However, the casting of Ed Speleers does evoke Patrick Stewart's performance as Jean-Luc Picard. Hopefully, Star Trek: Picard season 3 won't wait too long before revealing who the father of Beverly Crusher's son is.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.