Current Events > Star Trek TNG Question: When does Wesley become terrible?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Always heard people say how terrible he is. I'm into S4 so far and Im not seeing the issue.

Does he get worse in the later seasons or have people hated his character for the entirety of the show?

he gets better over time, so if you're that far in you're golden. imo, he (like most everyone), turned the corner at the start of season 3.

You're pretty much past the "bad" point. Most of the criticism was just that he was a kid, and that's about it. He's not even that annoying by most adolescent standards

I also found the hate pretty overblown. I think you hear so much about how awful he is that it puts your expectations really low, so he turns out to not be that bad when you actually watch it.

I never was that annoyed by him either.

Hayame_Zero posted...

You're pretty much past the "bad" point. Most of the criticism was just that he was a kid, and that's about it. He's not even that annoying by most adolescent standards

This

Hayame_Zero posted...

Most of the criticism was just that he was a kid, and that's about it. He's not even that annoying by most adolescent standards

I tend to give kid actors a slight pass in regards to acting unless they are just God awful. He's been completely fine so far. Good to know most of the complaints were about the earlier seasons.

it was about how Wes was written way more than how Wil was acting.

Medussa posted...

imo, he (like most everyone), turned the corner at the start of season 3.

I noticed such an uptick in quality starting in S3. I can tell this is when the show really started getting popular and the studio increased the budget.

The criticism comes from the first two seasons, mostly, about how Wesley is basically a savant in every function of the Enterprise. He's shown to be more capable than Data multiple times, including picking up a pattern in static that Data himself missed the first time.

They kind of explain that all away with the Traveller storyline, but he wasn't super obnoxious imo. My main frustration came from Picard and others dismissing his ideas/solutions even though by that point he'd saved the crew multiple times.

It was the episodes where high school Wesley saves the entire ship while the officers stand around in amazement.

He's in the show precisely as a proxy for Gene Roddenberry to live his sci-fi fantasy of being a star child.

It's pretty overblown

He was a little annoying in Season 1 doing the "Smart kid is always right but the adults just won't listen!" thing.

But Star Trek fans just like picking a character to be "the guy we hate". See Neelix from Voyager.

also, the Wes hate is mostly a relic from those of us who watched the show as it was airing weekly. those who watched later (especially in the binge streaming era) could get through an awkward stretch in a few hours instead of a few months. a lot harder for bad feelings to develop without the time to dwell on the meh.

Alucard188 posted...

He's in the show precisely as a proxy for Gene Roddenberry to live his sci-fi fantasy of being a star child.

This-- Wesley is his middle name, hence why the Mary Sue kid saves the day over & over again.

Allanon23 posted...

The criticism comes from the first two seasons, mostly, about how Wesley is basically a savant in every function of the Enterprise. He's shown to be more capable than Data multiple times, including picking up a pattern in static that Data himself missed the first time.

They kind of explain that all away with the Traveller storyline, but he wasn't super obnoxious imo. My main frustration came from Picard and others dismissing his ideas/solutions even though by that point he'd saved the crew multiple times.

Tbf, they mentioned several times how he spends all of his time studying. He's basically obsessed with the Enterprise so it didn't surprise me how he was portrayed as the smart kid. The times he outsmarted Data were a bit much. I do agree they leaned on the adults not listening to the kid trope too much.

Medussa posted...

also, the Wes hate is mostly a relic from those of us who watched the show as it was airing weekly. those who watched later (especially in the binge streaming era) could get through an awkward stretch in a few hours instead of a few months. a lot harder for bad feelings to develop without the time to dwell on the meh.

That's an interesting point. While I did watch it back when it was airing, I was very young and it was sporadic so I generally didn't know what was going on. I just knew the characters and the set of the ship looked cool. This is the first time I've sat down and actually watched it.

Side note. Jonathan Frakes just looks like he's having a blast in nearly every scene. So funny seeing him in the background of scenes watching other actors having a conversation and him randomly smirking.

garan posted...

This-- Wesley is his middle name, hence why the Mary Sue kid saves the day over & over again.

Oh God. Seems like after they got rid of Roddenberry the whole smart kid constantly saves the day thing fizzled out.

Medussa posted...

also, the Wes hate is mostly a relic from those of us who watched the show as it was airing weekly. those who watched later (especially in the binge streaming era) could get through an awkward stretch in a few hours instead of a few months. a lot harder for bad feelings to develop without the time to dwell on the meh.

This is actually a very good point, hadn't thought of it like that.

Medussa posted...

also, the Wes hate is mostly a relic from those of us who watched the show as it was airing weekly. those who watched later (especially in the binge streaming era) could get through an awkward stretch in a few hours instead of a few months. a lot harder for bad feelings to develop without the time to dwell on the meh.

I didn't think about it like that, but this makes total sense too.

I never disliked Wesley but I think the show was better off without the character imo tbh.

But I love Tasha Yar and Dr. Pulaski so what the hell do I know.

Pulaski was Female Bones, and I didn't hate that. She had more personality than Beverly Crusher imo.

Dr. Pulaski gets a bad rap because she was clearly supposed to have an ark where she became Data's best friend.

Instead because she only lasted 1 season we just got her being a dick to Data and then deciding to not be a dick.

I'm pretty sure it was supposed to go down like Bashir and Miles .

Guns_of_Verdun posted...

Dr. Pulaski gets a bad rap because she was clearly supposed to have an ark where she became Data's best friend.

Instead because she only lasted 1 season we just got her being a dick to Data and then deciding to not be a dick.

I'm pretty sure it was supposed to go down like Bashir and Miles .

Yeah, this makes sense.

BlazinBlue88 posted...

Oh God. Seems like after they got rid of Roddenberry the whole smart kid constantly saves the day thing fizzled out.

They didn't get rid of Roddenberry, he passed away during season 5. (Though, he was barely involved after the first season).

TyVulpine posted...

They didn't get rid of Roddenberry, he passed away during season 5. (Though, he was barely involved after the first season).

Oh I thought they got rid of them after season 2 which led to the quality getting better.

BlazinBlue88 posted...

Oh I thought they got rid of them after season 2 which led to the quality getting better.

I think he did have to step away, but it was because of his poor health.