Did anyone of you like Dr. Pulaski

[Ergi]

I am currently watching the second season of TNG (skipping some episodes this time, though), so I noticed once more what a terrible character Dr. Pulaski is. I really hate her. She is arrogant, not funny, a know-it-all, totally unskilled in any field but medicine, and old. And I am certain that I have forgotten/repressed a lot more things that annoy me about her. Please feel free to complete the list.
I really wonder, what were the writers thinking. It seems to me like they were trying to create a character that wouldn't be missed by anybody, after the return of Gates McFadden.
Her presence even makes me like the other characters less, since they all have to act as if they like her.
There have been discussions about why some people don't like Whesley (I do like him) so it only seems fair to talk about Pulaski a little bit.

Your opinions?

[strict31]

I preferred Dr. Crusher for the most part, but I think Pulaski was an attempt to recapture some of the crotchedy down home human "wisdom" of Dr. McCoy. Unfortunately, Pulaski really didn't have anyone to play off of and seemed only antagonistic to characters like Data and Picard.

Diana Muldare is a trek veteran though, and it was, on some level, good to see her still invloved with the show. And, while she may have been old in TNG, she was gorgeous when she was on TOS.

Well...I think she was...


Strictly Speaking

[Phantom]

I liked her. If for nothing else she wasn't an expert at everything like the rest of the crew, she was an MD and that was it.

And let's face it most MDs are arrogant know-it-alls anyway. At least all the ones I've met.

Note: This doesn't make them unpleasent people to be around.

[Tobian]

Hmm - well my first impressions of her were initially - OH NO WHERE'S CRUSHER GONE

But once I got over that fact, I quite liked her. Actually I think I'd have liked to have seen her make a comeback at some part, if only for a few episodes.

I agree it was refreshing that she wasn't more technically competent than Geordie (I mean Come on look at the stuff Crusher pulled!) and I think her reaction to Data was an honest one - it was much the same reaction as we saw to his all human crew, when he got to command the Sutherland - she had no idea what to make of him and hadn't worked with him, knowing how to handle him! In some ways it was bungled a little, because she was supposed to be an enlightened Starfleet officer, but then that was the point! She was basically there to anchor us back to the 20th century - to give that old fashioned viewpoint and show how people felt on the inside - as in she wasn't afraid to be rude or tell it straight!

She was also a good representation of exactly the types of bad things that can happen when you draw from a stock of the planets greatest geniuses and put them all together on one ship - they chafe and their egoes the size of planets rub

[Owen E Oulton]

The big problem with Pulaski is that she was a bully, and a bigot. The McCoy/Spock relationship was one of equals, each giving as good as he got, with mutual respect underlying it all. The Pulaski/Data relationship was... not.

[Sea Tyger]

I've always liked Diana Muldare from her TOS appearances, and although I felt she was a disjointed with the rest of the crew, she wasn't any worse than the normal sophomore-season slump that the rest of the TNG cast and crew were going through.

And I agree with Strict....she was a beautiful and elegant lady in her TOS days. I still prefer Joan Collins, though.

[Cut]

After the end of TNG season two, was Pulaski ever mentioned again on screen?

I remember when I watch TNG for the first time on german TV. back in the beginning of the 90s. We hadn't run further than half the first season, when I saw a muted black-and-white picture in a badly tuned TV-set, showing the program of an american TV station. Playing an unknow TNG episode, with this person in a very prominent role. I hadn't had any sound, so I couldn't figure it out, who she was. Years later, I watched the whole series and understood. It was Pulaski I had been seeing on screen...

I really like Crusher more, although I didn't want to end up on her table during course of season one. I believe, she saved NO grievely wounded patient in the entire season...

[D.S.McBride]

This is one that's been sort of a sliver in the palm for a long time...I appreciated that, as many others have pointed out, they were attempting to get some TOS flavor in there to push up the interest level, but as Owen very accurately mentioned, Data's nature and character were not up to the task.

I've got TNG on VHS, with two episodes from first season ("Heart of Glory" and "Conspiracy") and two from second ("Q Who" and "Peak Performance"). This should give an indication as to exactly what my interest level in the first couple of years was; the best thing Catherine Pulaski did during her time on the ship, in my opinion, was volunteering Data for that match with Kolrami that ended up planting the nitroglycerine in his confidence. Other than that - yes, she was unduly sarcastic, sniping, and a fish out of water in the blue skies and candyland dream world of TNG. Ro Laren, at least, had a radically divergent background to explain her behavioral difficulties with the rest of the emotionally and psychologically perfect crew.

[ComaBoy]

Originally posted by Cut
After the end of TNG season two, was Pulaski ever mentioned again on screen?

Yes, her memory erasing technique was mentioned in "Who Watches The Watchers" in season 3.

In my opinion, Pulaski was another case of trying to lift ideas straight from TOS, which was a hallmark of the first season. It showed that Roddenbury (sp?) hadn't really evolved past the planning stage of Star Trek: Phase Two in the late 70s.

[Rayaru]

Originally posted by Phantom
And let's face it most MDs are arrogant know-it-alls anyway. At least all the ones I've met.

I would strongly disagree with that....

[REG]

Originally posted by Ergi

Your opinions?

Both Wesley Crusher's and Dr. Pulaski's roles could have been written better. The only thing I like about Dr. Pulaski is her fascination with Klingons.

But the second season of TNG still suffered the same problem of the first season: trying to deal with a large ensemble cast.

[Jem'hadar]

I liked the Dr. Pulaski character. She was a flawed character but that made her all the more real. However, I do prefer Dr. Crusher & was glad to see her come back to the show. But I would have liked to see Dr. Pulaski make occasional guest appearances.

[Ergi]

Originally posted by REG
The only thing I like about Dr. Pulaski is her fascination with Klingons.

Originally said by Pulaski (might be not exactly the way she said it)

• Gagh?!?
• I am only glad that we (humans) have evolved past such barbarism.

But yes, there also was that poisoned tea ceremony.

[Phantom]

Originally posted by Rayaru
I would strongly disagree with that....

As you are entitled to.

"The big problem with Pulaski is that she was a bully, and a bigot. The McCoy/Spock relationship was one of equals, each giving as good as he got, with mutual respect underlying it all. The Pulaski/Data relationship was... not."

And that is what made her character so damned refreshing. They finally had a real person as a character.

[redwood973]

I like her, and was sorry to see her go. I would have loved to see her character develop and evolve as the show progressed. Just like the rest of the characters the writers and players needed to get a feel of the character. . .to develop them, with only one season we did not really get to see that. I think she could have been a great character.