It was the writing and acting. Garak was well written and acted, the character was ambiguous with loyalty and had an arc to it.
Pulaski was fairly flat, constantly seemed angry or strident, and yes, was attacking a fan favorite character. Not very well written despite the sense the character made.
It wasn’t about any good or bad deeds, it was how the characters made you feel while watching them.
I genuinely liked Pulaski and still do despite the internet consensus, but I think a part of the hate was a reaction to Gates having been sidelined after season one. She was a feminist and did horrible things like ask for equal pay, so the menfolk producers figured they could cut her and get someone more compliant. Source for this: had a chat with her at a convention, same thing happened to Terry Farrel.
Also Dr. Pulaski only had one season to explore the character. Illem Garak had the full run of Deep Space 9 and was the audience’s window into the Cardassians. They’re almost incompairible.
I kinda agree with that, except that there are plenty of side characters that are far more interesting and better written than Pulaski, yet they might only get a few episodes to establish themselves vs Pulaski’s year.
So I definitely think it falls in the writing/directing/actor’s purview that the character seemed so shallow and controversial.
That’s a good point, Ensign Ro was only in a handful of episodes over a few series and was way less shallow. Just as controversial. At least the Trekkies I knew back then were not fans of the Bejorans.
It was the writing and acting. Garak was well written and acted, the character was ambiguous with loyalty and had an arc to it.
Pulaski was fairly flat, constantly seemed angry or strident, and yes, was attacking a fan favorite character. Not very well written despite the sense the character made.
It wasn’t about any good or bad deeds, it was how the characters made you feel while watching them.
I genuinely liked Pulaski and still do despite the internet consensus, but I think a part of the hate was a reaction to Gates having been sidelined after season one. She was a feminist and did horrible things like ask for equal pay, so the menfolk producers figured they could cut her and get someone more compliant. Source for this: had a chat with her at a convention, same thing happened to Terry Farrel.
Also Dr. Pulaski only had one season to explore the character. Illem Garak had the full run of Deep Space 9 and was the audience’s window into the Cardassians. They’re almost incompairible.
I kinda agree with that, except that there are plenty of side characters that are far more interesting and better written than Pulaski, yet they might only get a few episodes to establish themselves vs Pulaski’s year.
So I definitely think it falls in the writing/directing/actor’s purview that the character seemed so shallow and controversial.
That’s a good point, Ensign Ro was only in a handful of episodes over a few series and was way less shallow. Just as controversial. At least the Trekkies I knew back then were not fans of the Bejorans.
Garak is just super fun. I sure had a weird experience rewatching Hellraiser for the first time in a while though.