Hmm. I'm noticing in all these "who is your favorite?" threads that a lot of people seem be interpreting "favorite" as "best," and arguing on the basis of who is best at their jobs, or who saved the day the most, or is most qualified, or the most morally upright, or whatever.
The way I see it, "best" and "favorite" are not necessarily the same things. I mean, Doctors Phlox and Crusher certainly have much better bedside manners than the EMH, and are perfectly well-qualified for their jobs, but, as a viewer, I find McCoy and the EMH to be lot more interesting and entertaining and colorful as characters.
My favorites are the ones who are the most fun to watch (and write), regardless of whether they're the "best" at their jobs or not.
Yeah, but only Phlox is responsible for letting millions of people die while withholding the cure to their illness... That's got to weigh heavy on the cons side of the equation no matter what criteria you are basing your evaluation on.
Perhaps, but I try not to judge fictional characters on the basis of one possibly ill-conceived episode. That's the writer's fault, not the character's.
