Picard says, "Are you out of your fucking mind? My chief of security got kidnapped and taken down to the planet and we haven't heard from her in over a day, you idiot! Of all the times in the world to drag your annoying little wunderkind up here, you picked now? What are you smoking, and why didn't you bring me any? Get out of here, and take Mary Sue with you!"
Nah, I'm just kidding. He invites Wesley to sit at ops. Next to Geordi. In the middle of a major crisis.
My god, a lot of the hate mail I used to get suddenly makes a whole lot of sense. I have never been more grateful that there wasn't liveblogging in 1987 as I am right now.
Can't blame Wesley for the hate of early TNG. By the time Season 3 rolled around, everything had gotten better, but it was too late, the damage had been done. And Chuck screaming at Wes post-Season 3 feels... really uncomfortable. Again, he's not that annoying once Season 3 kicks in. I think the awfulness of early TNG was so ingrained into the audience's mind they were looking for an avatar to blame, so poor Wesley became that avatar. And lo and behold, he left around the time the quality of the show improved. I'm sure many idiot fans don't see that as mere coincidence. I mean, I liked Nog's journey. I don't see Wesley as being any different.
"A culture's teachings - and more importantly, the nature of its people - achieve definition in conflict. They find themselves, or find themselves lacking."
— Kreia, Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords
Indeed, and as that quote illustrates, the bad writing was giving the most annoying actions to the crew around Wesley. It wasn't Wesley himself being obnoxious (most of the time). It was because he was there, yes, but it really reflected poorly on the adults.