O'Brien should have beamed Pulaski into space. I dont think I could spend and evening playing Poker with her without poisoning her drink.
Star Trek has had some bad characters...but she's up there.
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Originally Posted by Blaster86
I think Diana Mulduar did when she took the job. I think the rest of the cast resented her and she realized that it wasn't the place for her. It's the same story as Jeri Ryan coming in to Voyager at the expense of a cast mate. In the 80s the public was told McFadden had quit over story lines. But now it's known she was fired and the cast would have known that. It also explains why Stewart was so adamant she come back in season 3.
That being said, Pulaski was a #### character. If I wanted Bones, by the time she appeared I had three seasons of ToS, two seasons of animated and four movies. I didn't need a poor, unlikable facsimile to keep me sated. Bones and Spock's relationship was unique and combative but I would never describe it as overtly disrespectful. I think everyone has a close friendship like that one in their life. Pulaski was just a see you next tuesday to Data and just unbelievably disrespectful.
I think your guys' opinion of Muldaur as an actress and Pulaski as a character are coloured by the background knowledge of McFadden getting fired by Maurice Hurley rather than her having "quit" as was reported at the time. And the opinion of Pulaski as a character is also strongly affected by the "cee-you-next-Tuesday" behaviour toward fan-favourite Data.
I think it's fair to say Dr. Kate Pulaski was not a particularly good character, but honestly circa the end of season 2 you could say that about pretty much all of the characters on the show. The leap forward in quality of... I was going to write "storytelling", but it was an improvement in everything, really... from season 2 to season 3 is one of the most remarkable in TV history, I think. What we think of as likeable, "classic" characters today were boring cardboard cutouts, mostly, as of the summer of 1989. Pulaski was a cheap McCoy knockoff, Data was a cheap Spock knock-off, Riker was a Kirk knock-off, Worf just looked menacingly at people and whenever anything went awry would suggest going in phasers-a-blazin', Crusher was almost a background character whose only traits were being a widow and mother to Wesley, LaForge was "token blind guy", Troi just every once in a while winced because she "felt" ####, Wesley was an annoying wunderkind, and Picard was a grumpy ######.
Pulaski being standoff-ish and disrespectful to Data was, in retrospect, very off-putting but at least she showed some growth in that she came to respect Data as time went on. In the grand Star Trek legacy of morality plays, her character was one which showed the audience, "See? There's no good reason to be discriminatory to people because they're different." Usually they used villains to make those sorts of allegories, not a member of the hero crew.
But yeah, Locke: if you think any character was more reviled than Wesley Crusher, you've got to lay off the Romulan Ale.
I think your guys' opinion of Muldaur as an actress and Pulaski as a character are coloured by the background knowledge of McFadden getting fired by Maurice Hurley rather than her having "quit" as was reported at the time. And the opinion of Pulaski as a character is also strongly affected by the "cee-you-next-Tuesday" behaviour toward fan-favourite Data.
I think Diana Muldaur is an amazing actress. I don't blame her personally for the failings of the character of Kate Pulaski. The
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Originally Posted by timun
I think it's fair to say Dr. Kate Pulaski was not a particularly good character, but honestly circa the end of season 2 you could say that about pretty much all of the characters on the show.
True, and she's never going to get a redemption arc so she will always remain a bad character.
Quote:
Originally Posted by timun
The leap forward in quality of... I was going to write "storytelling", but it was an improvement in everything, really... from season 2 to season 3 is one of the most remarkable in TV history, I think. What we think of as likeable, "classic" characters today were boring cardboard cutouts, mostly, as of the summer of 1989. Pulaski was a cheap McCoy knockoff, Data was a cheap Spock knock-off, Riker was a Kirk knock-off.
Of these three, only Pulaski was pretty much copy paste. The other two at least had traits and personality traits that set them apart from the first two. Though it's impossible to deny that everything just got better after season two. We all know that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by timun
Worf just looked menacingly at people and whenever anything went awry would suggest going in phasers-a-blazin',
I never understand why everyone is shocked that the head of security's suggestions are all what you'd want from the person in that role. Troi's suggestions were always diplomatic but no one rides her for that. In DS9 when he's the tactical operations officer, his tone and suggestions become less security and defensive and more tactical.
Quote:
Originally Posted by timun
Pulaski being standoff-ish and disrespectful to Data was, in retrospect, very off-putting but at least she showed some growth in that she came to respect Data as time went on. In the grand Star Trek legacy of morality plays, her character was one which showed the audience, "See? There's no good reason to be discriminatory to people because they're different." Usually they used villains to make those sorts of allegories, not a member of the hero crew.
Did she respect him? I never felt they properly wrapped that up. I agree that if she gets to come back, they probably smooth it all over but she never got that opportunity. I feel like she started as an awful McCoy facsimile. She finished as an awful McCoy facsimile. And she'll never get the chance to be anything but an awful McCoy facsimile.
Did she respect him? I never felt they properly wrapped that up. I agree that if she gets to come back, they probably smooth it all over but she never got that opportunity. I feel like she started as an awful McCoy facsimile. She finished as an awful McCoy facsimile. And she'll never get the chance to be anything but an awful McCoy facsimile.
I cant speak to the actress, the character sucked.
That being said, someone who understands Trek and writing could have made something out of that.
Data is trying to Understand/Become human and in her own way Pulaski is helping that, but the way she was written and what she was given was awful.
In a way it kind of makes sense?
A Medical Doctor, someone who has spent their life healing people, might have a distaste for Androids?
I dont know. Thats just pure 'off the top of my head BS.' I just made that up. But its a direction that could have been explored.
Maybe at least give Pulaski a reason to be a sour bitch who hates Data all the time.
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Diana Muldar kind of got typecasted in the 80s as a bitchy character actor with that short curly hairstyle of your grandmother. Both in TNG and L.A. Law she rubbed fans the wrong way.
I liked the variety and characterization she provided versus Dr. Crusher who was kind of just generic once they dropped the romantic tension with Picard for most of the series until the very end.
They definitely tried too hard to replicate the McCoy/Spock dynamic with Pulaski/Data. I think it could have worked if she didn't have her grandma hairstyle to be honest.
Thinking back on TNG, most of the characters and actors are mostly generic straight laced do-gooders/keeners. Pulaski was a rarer one with some of own grittiness.
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The thing with the McCoy Spock dynamic is Spock can and could punch back.
Data was didn't or couldn't, and read as a little more..child like I guess, so it just seemed hella mean.
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Originally Posted by Locke
Thats why Flames fans make ideal Star Trek fans. We've really been taught to embrace the self-loathing and extreme criticism.
I do like on old Trek that they have people with sparkling career accomplishments be the ones chosen for the Enterprise. Like Pulaski is well known through the medical community and has written books and taught at the academy, she's a respected expert. New Star Trek seems to think people just get assigned on to the Enterprise right out of school and just go for it.
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TNG S1/S2 characterizations are bad. Real bad. Picard is a smarmy old grouch. Most other characters had no traits other than they existed. Even Data was all weird - he used contractions and was basically a mobile computer with hands.
And holy crap I rewatched Naked Now and Wesley was just awful. That episode singlehandedly made everybody hate him.
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I do like on old Trek that they have people with sparkling career accomplishments be the ones chosen for the Enterprise. Like Pulaski is well known through the medical community and has written books and taught at the academy, she's a respected expert. New Star Trek seems to think people just get assigned on to the Enterprise right out of school and just go for it.
Yeah, this is something that bugs me too and kind of why I'm more endeared to Lower Decks.
This attitude kind of assumes that 'everyone in Starfleet' is the 'Best of the Best' which just isnt true.
And I think SNW does a good job of that especially with Uhura. She's a cadet then an Ensign, but she was the top of her class and a clear workaholic...thats the kind of person you'd expect on the Flagship.
At the end with Scotty, she mentions that while his grades werent great he was a gifted student at the academy. Thats Flagship material.
Ortegas. Top pilot and War Hero. Flagship material.
That kind of thing.
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The day may come when the strength of men fails and I get 'A Clockwork Oranged' into watching Discovery...but it is not this day!
Besides...who cares? Who needs a crew when you've got Jesus Mikey?
If it happens, I trust in my brain's trauma coping mechanism to block out and repress my memory of it.
There is a non-zero chance I have actually watched every episode of Discovery and my brain is doing everything it can with duct tape, three tooth picks and a garbage bag to keep those memories locked away.
If it happens, I trust in my brain's trauma coping mechanism to block out and repress my memory of it.
There is a non-zero chance I have actually watched every episode of Discovery and my brain is doing everything it can with duct tape, three tooth picks and a garbage bag to keep those memories locked away.
With God as my witness I tried. I really tried.
My wife wanted to watch it because she went to High School and is Facebook friends with one of the actors in it...
But we just couldnt do it.
We watched the one episode where the alien second officer Manu Manu or whatever dies but then flowers wont let him or some such nonsense?
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So WTF, I'm watching Jay Leno's Garage and Terry Matalas is billed as "car restorer" and he rolls a Delorean time machine so accurate that Bob Gale asked for it to be the reference for universal to restore one of their A cars.
This guy is the nerd who cares enough about the details that you want to lead your nerd projects.
TNG S1/S2 characterizations are bad. Real bad. Picard is a smarmy old grouch. Most other characters had no traits other than they existed. Even Data was all weird - he used contractions and was basically a mobile computer with hands.
And holy crap I rewatched Naked Now and Wesley was just awful. That episode singlehandedly made everybody hate him.
In Datalore, the entire premise is the audience knows which character is Lore when he uses contractions. After Data beams Lore into space, Data uses a contraction... That would have been a great twist if it was intentional.
In Datalore, the entire premise is the audience knows which character is Lore when he uses contractions. After Data beams Lore into space, Data uses a contraction... That would have been a great twist if it was intentional.
Shaka! When the writers whiffed!
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The thing with the McCoy Spock dynamic is Spock can and could punch back.
Data was didn't or couldn't, and read as a little more..child like I guess, so it just seemed hella mean.
I've made this point in conversations with others, that the Pulaski-Data dynamic never worked anywhere near as well as Bones-Spock because it was like Pulaski was picking on an autistic kid.
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That would have been a great twist if it was intentional.
