Dr. Katherine Pulaski was the replacement chief medical officer for Dr. Beverly Crusher, during the second season of The Next Generation. She was played by Diana Muldaur.

Despite being a regular character on the show, Muldaur was always listed during the opening credits as a "Special Guest Star" (this was at her request, to easily facilitate appearing in other movies or television shows, which would have been more difficult when listed as a regular).

Overview

Prior to serving on the Enterprise-D, she served on the USS Repulse under Captain Taggart, who was sorry to lose her.

Kate was a fairly traditional doctor, well versed in methods that her nurses considered archaic, such as splints. She had an excellent bedside manner, and was known to prescribe "PCS", also known as "Pulaski's Chicken Soup", for minor ailments. She shared many personality traits with Dr. Leonard McCoy of the original Star Trek, including a distrust of transporters and androids.

Pulaski was also well respected in the field of research. Her book, "Linear Models of Viral Propagation", was the standard text on the subject for several years.

Other interests included poker and Klingon literature.

Pulaski had been married and divorced three times by the time she joined the Enterprise crew in 2365. She remained on good terms with all three men. Prior to this she was involved with Kyle Riker, estranged father of Enterprise first officer William Riker, but they never married because of his preoccupation with his work.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard's working relationship with Dr. Pulaski was somewhat strained, and at the beginning of her service on the ship, her stubborn, brusque manner annoyed him at times. This eventually would change. In the episode "Unnatural Selection", a highly-contageous disease which caused rapid aging and decline, followed by death was investigated by the Enterprise. In order to protect the crew from exposure, Dr. Pulaski examined a young man who carried the disease, by leaving the ship with him and examining him inside a shuttle. Unfortunately, she accidentally became infected with the disease, and began experiencing immediately painful symptoms. She then quarantined herself on a planetary medical facility where others afflicted were living, while she, and both the Enterprise medical staff and researchers on the planet tried desperately to discover a cure. Pulaski rapidly aged near the point of death, until a sudden cure was discovered involving the transporters, which instantly reversed the aging effect. Throughout the ordeal, Capt. Picard admired Pulaski's courage, dedication, and compassion. Their professional relationship remained solid after these events.

Pulaski had some "personality" issues with Lieutenant Commander Data. Despite the fact that Data has always been seen as alive (and later won the legal rights of a sentient being), Pulaski thought of Data merely as a machine, and didn't understand why he wanted to be human. She sometimes spoke about him in the third person while he was present, even referring to him as "it". Data's innocent nature left him ill-equipped to deal with Pulaski's lack of understanding, making Pulaski seem needlessly harsh. Their relationship presumably would have evolved, had Muldaur stayed with the show, but as it was fans never warmed to it.

Pulaski was never particularly popular with viewers, especially fans of Gates McFadden. Many saw Pulaski as a transparently conceived female version of McCoy. Following production of the second season, Muldaur left TNG, then joined the cast of "L.A. Law". McFadden returned to continue playing Dr. Crusher. In terms of official Star Trek canon, it has never been revealed why Pulaski left the Enterprise, nor what became of her afterward.

Trivia

Diana Muldaur also appeared in 2 episodes of the original Star Trek: "Is There in Truth No Beauty?", and "Return to Tomorrow".

External links

Fictional commanders | Fictional medical personnel | Star Trek: The Next Generation characters | Fictional doctors