What a Card: Katherine Pulaski

Being a look back at cards from the Star Trek CCG, and what I thought of them back when they were fresh and new... in EPISODE order. Just as she's introduced...

EXPANSION: Q-Continuum

PICTURE: Strong close-up, but also a good action shot, better than Beverly's rather passive posture. Kate is actually DOING something medical. Her expression is inquisitive and skeptical, just like the woman herself. A good 3.7.

LORE: Woefully truncated. I would at least have liked to see something about her mispronouncing Data's name, or her romantic liaison with Riker Sr. At least we get the McCoyish dislike of transporters (it's evident the creators tried to make her a McCoy clone, but they just plumb forgot to put Bones' old country doctor sweetness into the recipe), which is nice flavor. And what's that about turbolifts? That's actually a nice little Easter egg: Diana Muldaur's character on L.A. Law died from falling into an elevator shaft (actually, from landing). Now her 24th-Century reincarnation (of sorts) has a phobia about it. Cute. Manages to rise to a 3.7.

TREK SENSE:
Only Staff?!? Come on now, she may not have stayed on the show very long, but she was still Chief Medical Officer. I don't even care how many pips she had on her collar, she had people under her command (including the Captain when it came to his health), she's earned a Command star (or is that specifically for ship commanders?). Next, we have the double MEDICAL endemic to the CMO position. Along with that, no Biology or Exobiology, but rather a SCIENCE. I won't argue with that since she was much more at ease with scientific matters (cloning, timeshifts, cybernetic hearts, clip show enducers) than Bev ever was. I still think another skill should have been tacked on there. How about a Cybernetics for her connection to Picard's heart (maybe not, but SOMEthing - Anthropology for debating Klingon literature?). The odd restriction is cute, but probably overkill. She may not like transport, but neither does Reg Barclay (no restriction), and we've seen her beam more often than him. Her special ability regarding Doppelganger is... well, hard to justify. After all, Pulaski or no, Picard killed Picard2. She wasn't present anymore, one could argue, but I don't see how any harm could have come to Picard2 had she not been there earlier in the episode. That card has its own Trek Sense problems, which makes interpretation of this one difficult. Integrity would have been higher if she'd respected Data's sentience more. Cunning and Strength are at probable levels, though Cunning could have been a touch higher, going by her impressive credentials. Mostly problematic at 2.2.

STOCKABILITY: The beaming restriction alone is enough to keep her bindered, but it's not the only thing. A double (indeed, a triple) classification is always nice (MEDICAL/MEDICAL/SCIENCE in particular), but that's really all she has - no other skills. Her other abilities, listed and not, are rather weak as they are based on your opponent using certain cards. One is Doppleganger, a card that got just 1.4 in Stockability. As more and more personnel and affiliations became available to us, the less chance of "duplication in the universe". Who needs to suspend (not even nullify) Doppleganger when there are none? Her nullification of Picard's Artificial Heart (on that card) may be slightly more useful, but too rare an occurrence to warrant her inclusion on that basis. So, to wrap up, I go back to the restriction which makes her difficult to use in a speed deck (unless leaning heavily on space missions or landed ships) or even in conjunction with the Away Team-only Genetronic Replicator. Slaps her with a low 2.5.

TOTAL: 12.1 (60.5%) As unpopular as she was on the show (though she's better in reruns).

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