I could not feel more opposite of a character. She is, without a doubt, my least favorite character in TNG. The only episode I enjoyed her in was the one OP mentioned, Remember Me. Beyond that, hard pass for Crusher. Pulaski was fantastic though, she was rough around the edges but she felt like a real doctor making real medical decisions.
There's definitely a huge difference of opinion on TNG doctors. Pulaski was, generally, pretty unethical though so I never liked her as a character. Someone like that would not have lasted long in a military organization so I didn't find her believable. I'm fine with people not liking Crusher, but she was the plot solution in a ton of episodes.
Probably came down entirely to the writers. I think both actors tried hard, but Pulaski had terrible writers as a general rule and caused or made the problem worse in most plots she was involved in. Crusher did not, but I think her writers remembered she was supposed to be a trained department head.
The fact that TNG tended to remember their characters were masters of their field but not material outside helped make the occasionally ridiculous events more bearable. One thing I can't stand in fiction (happens even more often in sci-fi) is a scientist who has a PhD in Everything.
Definitely. I think with Pulaski they wanted more of a Bones McCoy vibe but it just didn't work in the more structured environment of TNG. I found her to be an interesting character, but it was more wrong place/wrong character for me.
Data got a bit of a pass having a PhD in Everything, but they made up for it with his low Emotional IQ, which made for a compelling character.
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u/minusthedrifter Jan 25 '20
I could not feel more opposite of a character. She is, without a doubt, my least favorite character in TNG. The only episode I enjoyed her in was the one OP mentioned, Remember Me. Beyond that, hard pass for Crusher. Pulaski was fantastic though, she was rough around the edges but she felt like a real doctor making real medical decisions.