“In a place similar to where Wesley was"- Star Trek: The Next Generation's Wil Wheaton got honest about this episode from the show

Wil Wheaton’s portrayal of Wesley Crusher in Star Trek remains a fan favorite even after years. Wesley is known for his exceptional skills and intelligence on Star Trek: The Next Generation. At the end of the show, despite having a bright future with Starfleet, he would drop out to join the mysterious group known as The Traveler. In a recent interview, Wheaton shared that while filming for Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5 episode 19 titled ‘The First Duty’, he was going through some personal hardships, which paralleled his on-screen character’s experience as well.

In the Star Trek podcast The 7th Rule hosted by Cirroc Lofton and Ryan T. Husk, Wheaton shared,

“…..(The First Duty) was done in 1992, I was either 20 or 21 years old… and I was in a real bad place in my life then. It was real, real hard. I was kind of in a place similar to where Wesley was. You know, we have this episode coming up where Wesley’s like, “Dude, Starfleet Academy’s extremely not for me. Being in Starfleet is all kinds of not what I want to do. I thought it was, but it’s not.” And I was in that place as an actor.”

After Season 4 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Wheaton was part of the show only in guest roles. In 'The First Duty', he came back to the series as a Starfleet Academy cadet, who was part of an investigation involving the death of a fellow cadet. Wheaton shared that though it is one of the more celebrated episodes in the series, he felt his acting fell short.

In the interview, Wheaton said,

“I was really, really feeling like I don’t know if this is what I want to do. And when I was there on set in 1992, oh, the incredible amount of sadness and deep, deep, deep regret I was experiencing that I wasn’t there every day, and it wasn’t my regular job. To me, going back there felt almost like an admission of failure that like the career I had hoped to have when I stopped being a regular just hadn’t worked. And at the same time I was just so grateful to be in so many scenes.”

What happened in the episode ‘The First Duty’ in Star Trek: The Next Generation?

Wesley Crusher was not a series regular when 'The First Duty' premiered; nonetheless, he had already established a name for himself in the Star Trek universe. Hence, his return to the role was widely appreciated, and the episode often finds itself among the best.

In the episode, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (played by Patrick Stewart) and the Enterprise crew are on the way to the Starfleet Academy. Before they arrive, they learn that during a flight training program, there was a catastrophic collision, in which Wesley was injured. While four other cadets managed to escape, the accident caused the death of cadet Joshua Albert.

Upon hearing about the incident, Picard decides to investigate the case with his crew. They discover that the Nova Squadron, the team that the cadets belonged to, was performing a maneuver called the ‘Kolvoord Starburst’. It was a banned training program that had killed five cadets over a century ago.

When Picard asks Wesley to reveal the truth, the young cadet is caught in a dilemma as it could undermine his loyalty to his friends. Picard reminds Wesley that he has the potential to become one of the more brilliant Starfleet officers in history, and the first duty of every officer is truth.

Wesley’s team leader will try to force Wesley to uphold the statements given by others to dismiss Picard’s claims. But Wesley ends up confessing the truth to the Admiral in charge of the inquiry. His team leader takes full responsibility and gets expelled from Starfleet Academy, while Wesley, along with other cadets, loses their academic credits and flight privileges. Picard tells him that though it will be hard for him on the campus for some time, he did the right thing.

The episode brought forth conversations around peer pressure and the predicament that young adults often find themselves struggling with in their social circle and academic life. 'The First Duty' remains one of the more impressive Wesley Crusher moments from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Yet, Wheaton disregards his own performance as he was dealing with difficulties in his career at the time. He also shares that he was not on board with the way the episode was directed by Paul Lynch, who would insist that the actors show more energy. He said,

“I don’t dislike Paul Lynch at all….it just did not work for me.”

Knowing that Wheaton was having a hard time during filming will make the viewers see the episode in a different light.

Wheaton has portrayed the role of Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Nemesis, and Star Trek: Picard.

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