"I certainly wanted to maintain some sense of mystery about Picard and that's why we never allowed certain situations to fully evolve, like the relationship between Picard and Beverly Crusher"
About this Quote
The sly part is the phrase “never allowed certain situations to fully evolve.” That’s actor-talk for a creative veto over the most obvious soap-opera move available. A Picard/Crusher romance would have delivered reliable emotional payoff, but it also would have domesticated him. Once the captain is a boyfriend in an ongoing arc, the character’s authority shifts. He becomes legible in a way Stewart seems to think would shrink him, pulling focus from Picard’s defining romance: duty.
The subtext is also about ensemble balance and 1990s television economics. Star Trek: The Next Generation needed continuity, but not the kind that alienated casual viewers or turned the bridge into a melodrama set. Keeping the relationship in a state of “almost” lets the show flirt with intimacy without paying the narrative cost of commitment.
And culturally, it’s a statement about masculinity that aged well: intimacy expressed through restraint, affection conveyed through professionalism, desire acknowledged but not indulged. The tension becomes the point, not a problem to solve.
Quote Details
| Topic | Romantic |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Stewart, Patrick. (2026, January 17). I certainly wanted to maintain some sense of mystery about Picard and that's why we never allowed certain situations to fully evolve, like the relationship between Picard and Beverly Crusher. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-certainly-wanted-to-maintain-some-sense-of-76837/
Chicago Style
Stewart, Patrick. "I certainly wanted to maintain some sense of mystery about Picard and that's why we never allowed certain situations to fully evolve, like the relationship between Picard and Beverly Crusher." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-certainly-wanted-to-maintain-some-sense-of-76837/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I certainly wanted to maintain some sense of mystery about Picard and that's why we never allowed certain situations to fully evolve, like the relationship between Picard and Beverly Crusher." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-certainly-wanted-to-maintain-some-sense-of-76837/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
