Star Trek’s Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) meeting Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) is likely impossible, butthe actresses just crossed over in Gates McFadden’s podcast,InvestiGates: Who Do You Think You Are?Since 2021,Star Trek: The Next GenerationandStar Trek: Picard’sGates McFadden has hosted an intimate, conversational podcastfrom The Nacelle Company.InvestiGatesseason 3 just premiered, dropping three new episodes withStar Trekguests Sonequa Martin-Green, Michelle Hurd, and Jess Bush.
Since 1987, Gates McFadden has portrayed Dr. Beverly Crusher, Chief Medical Officer of the USS Enterprise-D and E, as part of the maincast of StarTrek: The Next Generationand continuing in the fourTNGmovies.McFadden reprised Beverly to great acclaim inStar Trek: Picardseason 3. Although the character of Nurse Christine Chapel was originated by Majel Barrett-Roddenberry inStar Trek: The Original Series, Jess Bush portrays the younger Chapel in the prequelStar Trek: Strange New Worlds, which has delved deeper and fully explored the Starship Enterprise’s top nurse.
Doctor Crusher & Nurse Chapel Just Crossed Over On Gates McFadden’s Podcast
Jess Bush Joins Gates McFadden’s InvestiGates
Jess Bush joins Gates McFadden for an hour-long conversation inInvestiGatesepisode 302.The two actors conversing is an otherwise impossible crossover between Nurse Christine Chapel and Dr. Beverly Crusher, who exist a century apart in two differentStar Trekeras and time periods. Jess Bush is best known forStar Trek, but the Australian native is also an accomplished visual artist, photographer, writer, and model who works with NASA, and she gets personal delving into all of these subjects onInvestiGates, which is Jess' first-ever podcast appearance. Listen below:
Of course, Gates McFadden is an inspiration to Jess Bush, not just as a fellow actor who plays adoctor inStar Trek, but also as a person. McFadden herself is a multi-talented and accomplished actor, dancer, choreographer, and director. On her Instagram (@onejessa), Jess posted a photo with herself and Gates at a Creation Star Trek convention,praising McFadden as"one of the coolest women I know.“Check it out below:
While aStar Trekcrossover between Dr. Beverly Crusher and Nurse Christine Chapel can’t happen without a significant break in established canon,Nurse Chapel’s work in the 23rd century may have inspired Dr. Crusher in the 24th century. Chapel is one of the most prominent Starfleet medical officers of her era, and the first woman to practice on the Starship Enterprise. Dr. Crusher becomes even more accomplished inStar Trek: The Next GenerationandStar Trek: Picard’s timeline, becominghead of Starfleet Medicaland even curing Starfleet of Borg assimilation inStar Trek: Picardseason 3.
Nurse Chapel Is Still A Product Of The Era She Was Created
Nurse Christine Chapel was created for Majel Barrett-Roddenberry to give her a role inStar Trek: The Original SeriesafterStar Trek’s first pilot, “The Cage,” was rejected by NBC. Majel played Number One, the First Officer of the USS Enterprise, but NBC demanded her character be excised. Nurse Chapel was a recurring character inStar Trek, helping Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) in Sickbay, andChristine was best known for her unrequited love for Mr. Spock(Leonard Nimoy).
Christine Chapel does become a doctor in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Nurse Chapel was a product of the 1960s when the popular convention was that a woman was seen to be a nurse while a man would be a doctor. As a prequel,Star Trek: Strange New Worldsis bound by this canon so that Chapel must remain a nurse intoStar Trek: The Original Series. However,Christine Chapel does become a doctorinStar Trek: The Motion Picture. Meanwhile,Strange New Worldsexplores Chapel’s talent and ambition more thoroughly thanStar Trek: The Original Series.
What Happens To Nurse Chapel In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds & TOS
Nurse Chapel Is On Her Own Journey
Jess Bush’s Nurse Christine Chapel is a principalcharacter inStar Trek: Strange New Worldswho has multiple storylines deepening her character and giving Chapel more agency thanStar Trek: The OriginalSeries did.Strange New WorldsestablishedChapel to be a driven and hardworking genius who developed the technology to surgically alter humans into aliens. Chapel is also a veteran ofStar Trek: Discovery’s Klingon War, where she met and formed a bond with Dr. Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusankomun), who is now Chief Medical Officer of the USS Enterprise.
Jess Bush was recently interviewed by PIX11 in New York, where she revealed thatStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3premieres in 2025, andStrange New Worldsseason 4 will begin filming in March 2025. Watch the interview below:
Star Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3 will deepen Nurse Chapel’s character even more, creating a three-way love triangle between Christine, Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck), and Dr. Roger Korby (Cillian O’Sullivan).Korby is Chapel’s future fiancéaccording toStar Trek: The Original Seriescanon, and Chapel is meant to leave the Starship Enterprise temporarily to study archaeological medicine under Korby.Chapel and Spock’s romance is one ofStrange New Worlds’key relationships,and season 3 will add new wrinkles and twists.
Will Gates McFadden’s Dr. Crusher Return To Star Trek?
Dr. Crusher Came Back In Star Trek: Prodigy, But Will Star Trek: Legacy Happen?
Star Trek: Picardseason 3 ended in triumphfor Dr. Beverly Crusher. Promoted to Admiral for her ridding Starfleet of their Borg assimilation and creating a means of detecting Changeling infiltrators,Crusher was made head of Starfleet Medical. Meanwhile, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), her son with Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), was fast-tracked through Starfleet Academy and was assigned as an Ensign to the USS Enterprise-G as Special Counselor to Captain Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan).
AlthoughStar Trek: Starfleet Academyis set in the 32nd century, it’s possible Gates McFadden could appear as Dr. Beverly Crusher as a hologram or through some other sci-fi means.
However, future live-action appearances by Dr. Beverly Crusher are seemingly tied to whetherStar Trek: Picard’s proposed spinoff,Star Trek: Legacy,ever happens. Gates McFadden did make a surprise appearance asDr. Beverly Crusher inStar Trek: Prodigyseason 2, which predatesStar Trek: Picardseason 3 by roughly 15 years.
Gates McFadden and Jess Bush are popular and inspiring women of theStar Trekfranchise, and while the odds of Dr. Crusher and Nurse Chapel meeting seem impossible,InvestiGatesbrings Gates and Jess together for a fascinatingStar Trekdoctors mind-meld.
