It has previously been written in the pages of /Film that Dr. Beverly Crusher, played by actor Gates McFadden on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," rarely got her due. Apart from a scant few episodes where she served as the protagonist, her arc as a character was disappointingly flat, leaving her nowhere to grow and no dramatic struggles to face. The reasons for this are clear: Dr. Crusher had her s*** together. She was adult, mature, capable, and complete. From day one, her personal ethics were well-formed and she was staunchly unwilling to compromise. Writers, it seems, didn't know how to construct stories for someone who was more or less complete from the start, so they often relegated Dr. Crusher to a supporting player in other characters' dramas. 

The best ongoing arc Dr. Crusher was granted was her constant near-miss romance with Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart). The two were clearly attracted to one another, but professional propriety often kept them apart. Each of them had other romances along the way, but many Trekkies figured they would end up together. Also, early in the series, Dr. Crusher talked about her relationship with her teenage son, Wesley, but her parenting of him pretty much ended when he was old enough to ship off to Starfleet Academy. It was rare that Dr. Crusher was permitted to talk about her career, her personal interests, go on vacation, attend medical lectures, or impress her crewmates with a new medical invention. 

McFadden herself has expressed her disappointment in the treatment of her character. In a recent interview with Variety, she addressed her character's lack of things to do in the four "Next Generation" feature films, and how little history "Trek" writers felt they could explore with her.