Movies - TV
Gates McFadden Settled A Sickbay Gripe With Star Trek’s Genesis Episode
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
In the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Genesis," the anxious Lieutenant Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz) visits the sickbay, convinced he has Terellian Death Syndrome.
As a result, Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden), realizing it's just mild flu, administers Lieutenant Barclay a synthetic T-cell injection, activating a gene for immunity.
Unwittingly, Dr. Crusher also activates every dormant gene in Barclay's body, activating ancient, pre-evolutionary "memory" genes and forcing Barclay to change species.
Barclay turns into a spider, and the condition naturally spreads, altering genes and transforming Nurse Ogawa into an ape and Commander Riker into a protohuman.
McFadden, speaking with Star Trek Cruise VII (as recorded by StarTrek.com), discussed directing “Genesis” and how it led her to fix a long-standing issue with the ship's sickbay.
Throughout the series, fans only saw one patient in the sickbay at a time. Now that she was directing, McFadden could fill it with nurses, doctors, and patients.