Thoughts on Pulaski?

[olysounder89]

I shamefully admit it's been years since I've watched any of the TNG episodes, as I'm more of a VOY guy. So I took it upon myself to casually get through TNG since I've forgotten so much. Oooooh and how did I forget how much I disliked Pulaski's character when she arrived on the show. Then several episodes in of me missing Crusher. Pulaski starts growing on me! I'm contributing this thought to being older and understanding her character better, but I'm rather liking her this time around. Yes, she can be a four letter word most of the time, but she is undeniably good at her job and does care for the crew.... eventually.

Has anyone else felt this way? Just despise her at first but eventually she warmed up? Perhaps it's too soon for me to post this since I haven't finished watching the season and occasionally do find myself frustrated with the character but then liking her again.

 

[Kilana2]

Most people dislike her because of her condescending attitude towards Data. But it changed during her stay aboard Enterprise and she finally grudgingly accepted him. There were great episodes featuring Pulaski. I like how she interacted with Worf and was never shy when it came to standing up to Picard. I never disliked her. It is unfair to compare her with Crusher who was CMO in Season 1 and in Seasons 2-7. She had more episodes to shine. I'd like to have seen Pulaski as recurring character in the later Seasons.

 

[olysounder89]

I'd like to have seen Pulaski as recurring character in the later Seasons.

I would have loved for her to be a recurring character!

I do get that she shouldn't be compared to Crusher, it's just hard to not compare. On a side point, while Diana Muldaur is a wonderful actress, I feel she tried to mimic McCoy too much and just would brush me the wrong way at first as well.

 

[Kilana2]

I would have loved for her to be a recurring character!

I do get that she shouldn't be compared to Crusher, it's just hard to not compare. On a side point, while Diana Muldaur is a wonderful actress, I feel she tried to mimic McCoy too much and just would brush me the wrong way at first as well.

Yes. Pulaski and McCoy share their dislike of transporters. I can relate to that, considering what happened to the poor souls in TMP during the beaming process. And don't forget Tuvix. Just imagine McCoy and Spock being beamed and merged into McSpock....

 

[JesterFace]

About the recurring role for Pulaski, it might have been interesting if Pulaski was the doctor brought in to try to fix Worf after his accident in 'Ethics'.

But I guess she would have been changed over time, the visiting doctor in 'Ethics' wasn't the greatest.
Not one to be CMO on the flagship.

 

[Mysterion]

Personally prefer Pulaski to Crusher, who I found to be bland and a bit whiny.

 

[Kilana2]

Crusher should have interacted more with Dr. Selar. Which would have made a return of Suzie Plakson necessary. I liked most of the scenes where Crusher worked with Nurse Ogawa. There were only few interactions with Pulaski's staff. Most interesting thing for me was that Pulaski had a relationship with Riker's dad.

 

[Relayer1]

Didn't like the actor or the character.

Still don't.

 

[Qonundrum]

About the recurring role for Pulaski, it might have been interesting if Pulaski was the doctor brought in to try to fix Worf after his accident in 'Ethics'.

IMHO, absolutely not, unless they did a genuinely intellectual study featuring the reasoning from BOTH perspectives. That episode was an IQ-flattening, excessively haughty preachfest with Crusher being given the preferred lines to bark, complete with convenience plotting to ensure Worf doesn't die. They didn't jump the shark, they "jumped the shark while performing surgery on it during the jump", it's that awful. Not that I have any opinions on the episode, of course...

But I guess she would have been changed over time, the visiting doctor in 'Ethics' wasn't the greatest.
Not one to be CMO on the flagship.

Dr Pulaski definitely improved during season 2 - even siding with Data in "Pen Pals" and staying in character doing so as much as Data was staying in character in it, and she continues to develop afterward. Even as far as "Peak Performance" - the last episode they share dialogue in. Indeed, for all the flak I give that episode's ending, a valid counterpoint might be that Data - using rote based on his then-current understanding of emotions - took and gave the shell to the girl as a belief she would be consoled by it. While remaining remaining unaware of other issues. Data has been compared to as an analogue of some autistic people, so it isn't out of character. Even if Hannah wrote it as a schmaltzy ending that also risked Sarjenka's mind wipe failing - so it makes for an interesting open-ending after getting past the "what about the fact that the memory wipe may not be as effective as Pulaski cautioned?". I do need to track down the follow-up novel. I wonder if she wrote it - that would be compelling.

 

[Amaris]

I'm a big fan of Pulaski, and prefer her to Crusher, though I like her, too.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The only reason I didn't like Pulaski is because she treated Data like dirt.

 

[JesterFace]

Treating Data differently because he is, as Locutus put it, "primitive artificial organism" is not very Star Trekky.

Androidracist as CMO? Maybe not....

 

[Amaris]

The only reason I didn't like Pulaski is because she treated Data like dirt.

She got better, and by the end of the season, she was one of Data's biggest champions. I like the idea of someone not cottoning on to the new thing sometimes. It gives us a real sense of humanity that would certainly still exist in the future. Pulaski's dislike of Data wasn't malevolent, she just thought he was a machine, like Bruce Maddox did, and he managed to redeem himself, too.

 

[Kilana2]

I liked Pulaski in the Holodeck episode with Moriarty. And The Child was great, too. Deanna trusted Pulaski immediately and had no misgivings. Picard felt uneasy in her company, like in Lwaxana's company. I would think that a dinner featuring Lwaxana and Pulaski would be diplomatically challenging for Jean-Luc.

 

[Terok Nor]

I like her now but didn't at the time. I think her treatment of Data early on soured me towards her. Having rewatched the series recently she clearly changed her views about him and supported him in several episodes. Good character development.

 

[Kor]

Maybe Pulaski's early treatment of Data was supposed to be like the McCoy-Spock dynamic.
But IMO it came across as too disrespectful.

Kor

 

[F. King Daniel]

She was a blatantly genderswapped McCoy, right down to the distrust of transporters. That said, she was infinitely better than Beverlump and brought some colour to a bland cast.

 

[Nyotarules]

I like the character and the actress, she seemed more real than the 'we are so perfect' humans that came across in seasons 1 and 2.

 

[Sakonna]

I love Pulaski, I always did, and I enjoy that there's this one random season where a member of the core 7 is rotated out for this weird, off-format character.

Also, how often do you see TV shows making this kind of swap, a young woman for an older one? It's practically unheard of! That alone makes the Pulaski year satisfying for me.

I also fondly remember as a kid trying to puzzle out what the hell Pulaski's deal was, since I came upon TNG in season 5 and then backfilled the earlier years via syndicated reruns that sometimes confusingly jumped around in sequence. It seemed from that perspective that they must have always intended for Crusher to return (what with the guest start billing for Muldaur), and I loved trying to track down the behind-the-scenes story on the doctor swap and why it felt so weird.

 

[Mojochi]

The Data thing didn't play well, despite the fact that I think the intent was for her to not only change her opinion, but to perhaps eventually become one of his most prominent advocates. However, they wanted that to be a journey of enlightenment & growth, so they started it where they did, so to have somewhere to take it, & it was too much too soon

That said, I don't have a problem with her, or what the intention was in trying to introduce a character like her, but it just didn't mesh all that well. I honestly think that if you want to introduce a character that stark into the mix, after the fact, you have to have at least one other person with whom they are tied to or close to. For her to be so wrongful to Data & then to also have a slight animosity with Picard, & no real bonds with anyone to speak of, short of a little Klingon admiration, it makes for a very unbecoming vibe imho, that will be too hard to overcome

I remember that, at the time, I didn't like her due to Picard not seeming to, just as much as for the fact that she was so wrongful to Data. As the lead, his opinion of her tended to shape everyone else's, even though, when I look at it now, it's much more obvious to me what's happening. She might be a doctor who's had captains try to push her around in other assignments, & in this one, she is trying to establish her agency with him. Stand her ground, & let it be known she's an authority in her own right, which is not only understandable, but admirable. However, because she rubs him wrong, they never can get past it fast enough for everyone to feel good about the relationship... or at least not feel as bad about the loss of the one he'd had previously with his unrequited crush... er

Had they maybe made that Riker connection to his dad a deeper story where he knew her from his childhood, that she was maybe a close family friend, someone who he had an immediate bond with, it might've lessened the odd-man-out tone of it all. She needed ties, a sense of belonging that went beyond just wearing the same uniform, if she was going to be so at odds with a number of the main cast

The sad thing is I think the actress was really good. In her limited time, she by far convinced me of her role as a doctor much better than McFadden did. As a result, I now feel like Pulaski is probably the better doctor

 

[Terok Nor]

I wish they'd explained in an episode why Pulaski left.