God! Shut UP! Pulaski!!! Shut UP!!!
'IT does know how to do these things, dosen't it?"
- Thread starter Trekker4747
- Start date
I like what Pulaski brought to the show. Having a foil for Data who was a part of the crew made Data all the more endearing. In order for characters to develop, other characters need to challenge them. The effect is all the more powerful when it is the fellow "good guys" who are providing the challenges. Think about how fast Barkley developed - we love him because he had to win over his fellow crew as well as face the challenges from "out there."
Besides, remember that scene where Negelim freezes her and then bounces her off the wall?? No way Gates is pulling that move off! :lol
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"The minstrel boy to the war is gone,
In the ranks of death you will find him.
His father's sword he had girded on,
With his wild heart slung behind him."
Besides, remember that scene where Negelim freezes her and then bounces her off the wall?? No way Gates is pulling that move off! :lol
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"The minstrel boy to the war is gone,
In the ranks of death you will find him.
His father's sword he had girded on,
With his wild heart slung behind him."
But really, isn't it odd that Pulaski was the only person on the ship who seemed to regard Data as a machine instead of a person?
She was a cheap writer's construct. An ill-considered attempt to recreate the Spock-McCoy dynamic by people who didn't seem to have a clue as to why that worked in the first place.
The show, and Diana Muldaur, deserved better.
The show, and Diana Muldaur, deserved better.
Not really. They knew Data for a year already. Pulaski just arrived and she seemed to have old fashioned ideas. Takes awhile to adjust to new things.
Right but it didn't work. With Spock-McCoy Spock could defend himself by dishing it back out to McCoy as bad or worse as he was getting it. With Data, well, it comes of as kind of picking on a child.
But Pulaski grew to like Data. It was almost like character development! 
I liked Pulaski, especially compared to season 1-Crusher but I agree that it was a poor attempt at a Spock/McCoy-type dynamic. She's still a big reason that I like season 2 though.
I liked Pulaski, especially compared to season 1-Crusher but I agree that it was a poor attempt at a Spock/McCoy-type dynamic. She's still a big reason that I like season 2 though.
Seven Of Five said:
But Pulaski grew to like Data. It was almost like character development!
I liked Pulaski, especially compared to season 1-Crusher but I agree that it was a poor attempt at a Spock/McCoy-type dynamic. She's still a big reason that I like season 2 though.
My main problem with the character (and this was in no way Dianna Muldar's faukt as she had to play what was written) was that she was SUCH an obvious 'Doctor Leonard McCoy' clone right down to the:
"I'm just an old country doctor"
and the
"I don't like to have my molecules scatter across the Galaxy" distrust of the transporter.
Not to mention that is a few of the early Pulaski/Data 'heated' exchanges they lifted some McCoy/Spock lines DIRECTLY from the earlier TOS episodes, and the Spock lines just didn't work for the Data character.
I find it funny that for all the flak later Star Trek spinoffs get for being 'unoriginal'; TNG (and Gene Roddenbery) often get what I see as a free pass on this blatent (and imo unoriginal) female McCoy character rip off.
Plus, I find it really interesting that the ONLY reason the character was shelved, and McFadden brought back was because Muldar had a scheduling conflict that made her unavailable for the first three season three episodes; so the producers fired her and decided to bring McFadden back.
If not for that, we mght have gotten a season or two more of the blatent Leonard McCoy ripoff.
Never heard that before. I always heard that Pulaksi/Muldar left becaus TPTB realized that Pulaski wasn't working and rather than have 3 doctors in as many years McFadden was invited back (at the insistance of Stewart.)
Had she stayed I do kind of wonder how she would've fared in the "revamping" TNG got between seasons 2 and 3. As noted towards the end of S2 she did lighten up a bit towards Data. And almost everyone had minor character changes in season 3. (Picard became a lot more diplomatic and the on-board captain, Riker became "crew evaluation reports" middle management and less Kirk-like, Worf became even MORE Klingon and torn between his peoples, Data became more androidish, and Geordi and Troi became more... wallpapery?)
Had she stayed I do kind of wonder how she would've fared in the "revamping" TNG got between seasons 2 and 3. As noted towards the end of S2 she did lighten up a bit towards Data. And almost everyone had minor character changes in season 3. (Picard became a lot more diplomatic and the on-board captain, Riker became "crew evaluation reports" middle management and less Kirk-like, Worf became even MORE Klingon and torn between his peoples, Data became more androidish, and Geordi and Troi became more... wallpapery?)
People,
I really disliked the character of Pulaski for the same reason NoNameGiven articulated -- she was a blatant McCoy clone, and on top of that, not as charming. But she did have some good moments.
For example, I did like her chummy relationship with Worf. In one ep, they're playing poker (think it's "The Emissary," which introduced K'Ehlar [sp?]), and she and Worf are the only two players left, and she says, "Looks like it's just you and me, handsome." Worf wins, and Pulaski says something like, "You could at least smile, Worf, when you win!"
In another ep, Worf gets sick and collapses on the bridge. Pulaski figures out why and for some reason, Worf has to engage in some ritual which requires him taking some poison. So Pulaski joins him in the ceremony, but not before inoculating herself against the poison, in an effort at camaraderie with our Klingon security chief.
And it's true she does mellow toward Data, particularly when she goads him into taking on Kolrami in a game of Strategema in "Peak Performance," which undermines Data's confidence. She storms into his lab where he's performing test after test and says to him, "How long are going to sulk here like Achilles in his tent?"
And that led to one of my favorite Picard lines, when both Pulaski and Troi come to him about Data's dilemma. He says, "We're an hour away from a battle simulation, and I have to handhold an android!"
Red Ranger
I really disliked the character of Pulaski for the same reason NoNameGiven articulated -- she was a blatant McCoy clone, and on top of that, not as charming. But she did have some good moments.
For example, I did like her chummy relationship with Worf. In one ep, they're playing poker (think it's "The Emissary," which introduced K'Ehlar [sp?]), and she and Worf are the only two players left, and she says, "Looks like it's just you and me, handsome." Worf wins, and Pulaski says something like, "You could at least smile, Worf, when you win!"
In another ep, Worf gets sick and collapses on the bridge. Pulaski figures out why and for some reason, Worf has to engage in some ritual which requires him taking some poison. So Pulaski joins him in the ceremony, but not before inoculating herself against the poison, in an effort at camaraderie with our Klingon security chief.
And it's true she does mellow toward Data, particularly when she goads him into taking on Kolrami in a game of Strategema in "Peak Performance," which undermines Data's confidence. She storms into his lab where he's performing test after test and says to him, "How long are going to sulk here like Achilles in his tent?"
And that led to one of my favorite Picard lines, when both Pulaski and Troi come to him about Data's dilemma. He says, "We're an hour away from a battle simulation, and I have to handhold an android!"
Red Ranger
Well, in the beginning, so did Riker, albeit briefly, and never with the vehemence of Pulaski's objection to Data and doubt over his lack of human intuition. -- RR
Yes. That's what I wrote.
Spock was arch, and had intellectual pride, which served him well in dealing with McCoy. As you say, that doesn't transfer to the guileless Data. Anybody with the slightest feel for the dynamic of TOS should have grasped that, which gets back to my complaint last week that Tormé and Hurley put on something that, if not exactly halfassed, was too close to halfassed to be carrying the Star Trek brand name.
Listen, i have the utmost respect for McCoy and Spock and their dynamic. And its true that challenging Data and challenging Spock are 2 different experiences. But that was the point!! Pulaski was a figure of strength, so very much unlike Troi and Crusher (for the most part). Maybe she could have evolved into a character who became a teacher for young cadets on board (ala "Lower Decks" kind of cadets). You know, her rough and tumble ways imparting wisdom for the young and maybe for Picard or Worf or anyone else for that matter! And yes, I think she and Worf and probably O'Brien would become friends. Well, just some thoughts. Maybe Wesley would have developed into a better character if his mom died and Pulaski and Picard became his role models... we can only wonder....
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Cellar Door
"The minstrel boy to the war has gone,
In the ranks of death you will find him.
His father's sword he had girded on
With his wild heart slung behind him." - Miles et. al
...That's what you do when your skilled writers are on strike!
I wonder what the second season would have looked like if the people responsible for the first one had been there to continue their original plans, threads and arcs. How would Crusher's replacement have fit in then?
Timo Saloniemi
Just had a thought (and maybe I should post a new thread, as it's off-topic), but what if Geordi's dad, Dr. LaForge, replaced Dr. Crusher? He was played by Ben Vereen in his only appearance, but that would've made for an interesting dynamic! -- RR
Do we know that he was a medical doctor?
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