I feel like a traitor to redheads, because there are few enough of us on screen as it is, but I am liking Dr. Pulaski and am sad to see her character being Takei’d over the course of the season. (Takei’d, of course, is where you have a great character that is atrophied to serve the screen time needs of the “main” characters)
Part of the problem is how to handle so many characters; the more serious part of the problem is how the choice bits have gone to the males, especially the Pale Males. On the one hand, TNG is doing well because there are only three Pale Males — Picard, Riker, and Data (though with O’Brien slowly sneaking into the picture) — but these are the captain, first officer, and second officer, so the message is that the crew can be diverse, so long as the Pale Males retain authority.
I’ve wondered before what if Yar hadn’t died. Instead, what if Yar were the first officer, with a mixture of Yar’s and Riker’s background? That is, the hard childhood, the past relationship with Lwaxana (hey, I might as well make that change, too), etc… Or Worf is the first officer as part of an exchange program with the Klingons? I’m still fond of Jonathan Frakes and his handling of the Riker character, but he’s the one I’d swap out in a reimagining of TNG.
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