I don’t know whether it’s a popular opinion or not, but I think Dr. Pulaski was a great character and I found her much more interesting than Dr. Crusher. I don’t know if it was down to the writing or the performance but Pulaski is one of the best parts of season 2 and I would have been happy to see her character continue.

She wasn’t very nice to Data but that bit of friction between some of the main characters of the show was welcome, especially in the early seasons. And her performance in Unnatural Selection is a moment in the series my mind returns to often.

How about it? Do we like Dr. Pulaski? What’s her best moment on the show?

  • Value Subtracted@startrek.websiteMEnglish
    42·
    1 month ago

    I’m pretty ambivalent about her, but I agree it was an interesting performance, particularly for a woman at that time in television.

    She was horribly underused - it’s downright criminal that she doesn’t pay a significant role in “The Measure of a Man.”

    • Deebster@programming.devEnglish
      16·
      1 month ago

      I watched that one last night and had the same thought - she’s been the face of nonacceptance towards Data and although Bruce Maddox is far more extreme in his views it seemed like a waste of her character building.

      That said, they’d already shoehorned in a Guinan scene so I don’t know where they’d find the time.

      • milkisklim@lemm.eeEnglish
        5·
        1 month ago

        Could you please expand on what you mean by shoehorning in the Guinan scene? How would you handle it if you were the episode writer?

        Edit: to be clear, I know what shoehorning is, I just want to know why you think it occured here.

        • Deebster@programming.devEnglish
          10·
          1 month ago

          I was referring to this trivia:

          Picard’s scene with Guinan was not in the original script. Melinda M. Snodgrass was told that they needed a “Ten-Forward” scene to accommodate Whoopi Goldberg coming in that week.

          I took it as true, although I had a quick go at finding where this claim came from and am drawing a blank

    • richieadler@lemmy.myserv.oneEnglish
      41·
      1 month ago

      I think obvious that she would have sided with Maddox and disagreed with the ruling. I don’t think her capable of overcoming her prejudices against artificial life forms.

        • xyguy@startrek.websiteOPEnglish
          2·
          1 month ago

          I think that’s something that gets forgotten. Season 2 gets skipped through a lot during rewatches I know. All anyone remembers is her being racist to data.

          She starts out mean to Data but she comes around by the end of the season. She is also a former lover of Kyle Riker, which could have made for a much more interesting dynamic for and with Riker if it had continued.