Star Trek The Next Generation
S3E1
· Evolution

Riker's Comm Jolts Wesley Awake

Wesley Crusher, collapsed from an all-night cram session amid microscopes, pizza and a forgotten textbook, is yanked from stupor by Commander Riker's crisp comm. The abrupt interruption snaps him from private exhaustion into instant alertness — a small, intimate beat that pivots the scene from adolescent overwork to emergent duty. It functions as a narrative hinge: personal fatigue and a hidden mistake meet shipboard command, foreshadowing that the broader system-wide crisis has already reached even the quiet of the sickbay lab.

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

2

Wesley Crusher lies unconscious in the lab, surrounded by evidence of an all-night study session, when Commander Riker's voice abruptly startles him awake.

exhaustion to startled alertness ['Sickbay Lab']

Commander Riker's urgent communication disrupts Wesley's exhausted state, forcing him back to alertness with visible disorientation.

disorientation to forced alertness ['Sickbay Lab']

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

1
Wesley Crusher
Acting Ensign
 primary

Groggy and startled on the surface; beneath that, embarrassed about having fallen asleep and immediately anxious to appear competent and responsive to command.

Wesley is discovered face-down on the lab table among textbooks and lab gear, abruptly jolting awake when Riker's comm calls him; he turns disoriented and answers hoarsely, a mix of physical exhaustion and sudden professional alertness.

Goals in this moment
  • • Respond promptly to the comm and establish situational awareness.
  • • Mask or minimize the appearance of having slept on duty to avoid reprimand.
  • • Shift from private study mode to official readiness as required by shipboard command.
Active beliefs
  • • He believes Starfleet command expects readiness and quick responsiveness.
  • • He believes his late-night study is important but potentially compromising his duties.
  • • He believes that immediate compliance with orders will mitigate consequences of his lapse.
Character traits
studious (evidenced by the open textbook and notes) exhausted reactive self-conscious
Follow Wesley Crusher's journey

Objects Involved

Significant items in this scene

4
Beverly Crusher's Futuristic Microscope

Beverly Crusher's futuristic microscope sits on the bench near Wesley's collapsed form, anchoring the sickbay-as-study image and lending medical/scientific texture to the scene; it helps explain why Wesley is in sickbay and underscores his practical immersion in lab work.

Before: Positioned on the lab bench, humming softly, lenses …
After: Still on the bench and undisturbed physically by …
Before: Positioned on the lab bench, humming softly, lenses and stage smudged from an all-night cram session.
After: Still on the bench and undisturbed physically by the comm; it continues to mark the space as a working laboratory where private experiments and study occur.
Sickbay Lab Reagent and Sample Containers (Scattered on Table)

A scatter of reagent and sample containers litters the table near Wesley, reinforcing the sense of an improvised, intensive study session; they act as atmospheric detail that makes his collapse believable and suggests potential stakes in what he was handling.

Before: Scattered across the lab table among textbooks, pizza …
After: Remain where they lay; their presence continues to …
Before: Scattered across the lab table among textbooks, pizza boxes and the microscope; some bear handwritten labels or residues.
After: Remain where they lay; their presence continues to imply active lab work but are not directly disturbed by the comm interruption.
Wesley Crusher's Textbook on Advanced Genetics

The advanced genetics textbook lies open and prominently on the table, functioning as the visible evidence of Wesley's all-night study and the proximate cause for his collapse. It frames his youthful ambition and explains why he is exhausted when the comm interrupts him.

Before: Flat on the lab tabletop, open, pages thumbed …
After: Remains in place on the table, unchanged; its …
Before: Flat on the lab tabletop, open, pages thumbed and stained with pizza grease and coffee, marked with tabs and a microscope slide and pencil resting on it.
After: Remains in place on the table, unchanged; its presence now carries added narrative weight as proof of Wesley's exhaustion and recent activity.
Wesley's Glass of Milk (Sickbay Lab)

Wesley's nearly finished glass of milk sits within arm's reach, a domestic detail that humanizes the scene and signals fatigue; it emphasizes the long hours and juvenile comforts that accompany his academic drive.

Before: An almost finished glass of milk with condensation …
After: Still present and undisturbed; it continues to mark …
Before: An almost finished glass of milk with condensation beads and a faint ring on the tabletop, placed close to Wesley's hand.
After: Still present and undisturbed; it continues to mark the space as personal and lived-in, reinforcing Wesley's exhausted state.

Location Details

Places and their significance in this event

1
Crusher's Lab

Sickbay Lab functions as both medical facility and private study nook in this beat: a sterile clinical space compromised by the youth's late-night work. It frames the collision of institutional duty and personal ambition, making Wesley's lapse both intimate and institutionally relevant.

Atmosphere Clinical and quietly humming, tinged with fatigue and the intimacy of an improvised study space …
Function Sanctuary for private study that is suddenly reasserted as an extension of shipboard duty — …
Symbolism Represents the tension between youthful curiosity/ambition and institutional responsibility; a physical intersection of learning and …
Access Generally restricted to medical personnel and authorized crew; in practice accessible to the ship's personnel …
Clinical glare from fluorescent panels and a steady mechanical hum from diagnostic equipment. Scattered lab paraphernalia: microscopes, reagent containers, an open textbook, pizza box and a nearly finished glass of milk.

Narrative Connections

How this event relates to others in the story

No narrative connections mapped yet

This event is currently isolated in the narrative graph

Key Dialogue

"Riker: "Commander Riker to Ensign Crusher.""
"Wesley: "(hoarse) Go ahead....""