Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 3 - "Seventeen Seconds"The long-awaited Star Trek: Picard season 3 heart-to-heart between Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) is one of Star Trek's greatest scenes. Picard season 3's premiere established the surprising fact that Beverly broke contact with Picard and the rest of her friends from the USS Enterprise-D and E for over 20 years. Picard and Captain Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) staged a mission to rescue Beverly, only to learn Dr. Crusher has an adult son named Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) - and Jean-Luc Picard himself is Jack's father.
Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 2, "Disengage," culminated in a powerful scene where Jean-Luc and Beverly came face-to-face for the first time in over two decades. In a masterful display of acting from Gates McFadden and Patrick Stewart that needed no dialogue, Crusher confirmed to Picard that Jack is his son, which Jean-Luc refused to accept until that very moment. But with this revelation must come answers, which Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 3, "Seventeen Seconds," wasted no time in delivering. Crucially, "Seventeen Seconds" is directed by Jonathan Frakes and, with their trusted friend behind the camera, Stewart and McFadden were emboldened to make Picard and Beverly's first conversation in over two decades one for the ages.
Picard Confronting Beverly About Jack Crusher Is One Of Star Trek's Greatest Scenes
Jean-Luc and Beverly had matters of great importance to discuss in Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 3, and at the forefront was Dr. Crusher explaining why she broke all contact with Jean-Luc for over 20 years and raised their son in secret. Any hurt Jean-Luc may feel about Jack being named after Beverly's dead husband wasn't addressed. Rather, Picard simply needed to understand why Beverly kept their son away from him. Both Jean-Luc and Beverly faced their mutual regret for the repeated failure of their romantic relationship, while Patrick Stewart and Gates McFadden's performances masterfully but delicately walked the tightrope of Crusher remaining sympathetic as she gave Picard the hard answers he deserved.
Jean-Luc Picard had a right to be hurt by Beverly's choice to raise Jack in secret, and by her rationale to do so, but his anger at Crusher was always underscored by the deep mutual affection between the two failed lovers. By cutting herself off from Picard for 20 years, Beverly didn't know that Jean-Luc faced his lifelong trauma regarding his father, Maurice Picard (James Callis). Jean-Luc telling Beverly that had he been able to share in raising Jack, he could have learned Star Trek: Picard season 2's lessons "twenty years before" was heartbreaking. Meanwhile, Beverly's singular desire to keep her son safe and not lose him to "the same stars" that "own" Jean-Luc and her firstborn son, Wesley (Wil Wheaton), was understandable and made Dr. Crusher empathetic.
Why Beverly Hid Jack From Picard
At the heart of Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 3's brilliant Jean-Luc and Beverly scene were her reasons for keeping Jack's existence a secret. Dr. Crusher's rationale echoed why Dr. Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch) chose to raise David (Merritt Butrick) without his father, Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, but Beverly's fears were more palpable. Simply put, Jean-Luc Picard has always been a target, and his life is continually at risk. Further, despite Picard's claims, Jean-Luc has proven he can't resist springing into action when "the galaxy calls," which is a fact Beverly knows all too well. Beverly didn't believe she could protect the son of Jean-Luc Picard, but she felt she could keep her son safe if no one knew he was the offspring of one of Starfleet's greatest legends.
In truth, Star Trek has always cast actors of the highest caliber, and the franchise has no shortage of emotionally gripping dramatic scenes. Picard and Crusher's scene is so poignant and resonant, even the simple explanation for Jack's British accent feels plausible and satisfying. Enhanced by Jonathan Frakes' elegant direction and fine writing by Jane Maggs and Cindy Appel, Jean-Luc and Beverly's Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 3 face off showed Patrick Stewart and Gates McFadden at the height of their acting powers and is a new high-water mark for Star Trek drama.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.