Pulaski's background is touched upon in the episode "
The Icarus Factor". She is thrice divorced and was previously romantically involved with Commander William Riker's father
Kyle Riker (
Mitchell Ryan), after she was part of a rescue team responding to a
Tholian attack on a
Federation Starbase. She realised that a romantic relationship with Riker would not work, but they remained friends. Directly prior to serving on the
Enterprise-D Pulaski served on the USS
Repulse. In, "
Elementary, Dear Data" she challenges Lt. Cmdr
Data to solve an original
Sherlock Holmes mystery on the
holodeck. He accepts her challenge, which results in the creation of a self-aware hologram of
Professor Moriarty (
Daniel Davis). Pulaski joins Data and Lieutenant
Geordi La Forge (
LeVar Burton), but is captured by Moriarty who also takes over control of the
Enterprise. Moriarty demands that they find a way to enable him to leave the holodeck, but is persuaded by Captain
Jean-Luc Picard (
Patrick Stewart) to release control and be stored within the ship's computer memory until a means can be found to grant his wish. Pulaski's apprehension at using the transporter was evident in "
The Schizoid Man", where
Dr. Selar (
Suzie Plakson) went with the away team instead of Pulaski, as it required her to beam over to a transport vessel. However, the transporter would later save Pulaski's life in "
Unnatural Selection", after she was infected with a disease from the planet Gagarin IV that accelerated her aging process. The transporter is used to remove the infection and she is returned to health. She demonstrates her medical expertise on several occasions. In "
Time Squared", Pulaski discovers that the duplicate Captain Picard is out of sync in time and will slowly improve until he returns to the point at which he left. In the episode "
Pen Pals", Picard orders Pulaski to wipe the memories of a young girl called Sarjenka, whom Data had been corresponding with and helping in violation of the prime directive. When the
Enterprise arrives at the lost colony of Mariposa in "
Up the Long Ladder", the Mariposans kidnap Pulaski and Commander
William Riker (
Jonathan Frakes) and steal their DNA to clone new members of their colony. Although technologically advanced, the Mariposans lack genetic diversity. When Pulaski and Riker discover the clones, they destroy them. Picard helps resolve the dispute by suggesting the Mariposans allow the Bringloidi, a preindustrial, rural people whose colony was destroyed, to migrate to their world. The Mariposans, however, have relied on cloning for 300 years, and no longer sexually reproduce. Pulaski notes that with time, they will become familiar with the practice once again, and recommends that the Mariposans form large, group marriages with the Bringloidi to create a healthy population. Following Data's defeat at a game of stratagema in "
Peak Performance", Pulaski and Counselor
Deanna Troi (
Marina Sirtis) attempt to console him, but it is left to Captain Picard to convince Data that he is not malfunctioning. Pulaski's final appearance on
The Next Generation was in the episode "
Shades of Gray". When Commander Riker falls ill to a dangerous virus during an away team mission, Pulaski drives out the virus with a device that stimulates his memory centre. After she discovers that negative memories are more effective in removing the virus, she uses memories of fear and survival to save Riker's life. In the alternative future timeline portrayed in "
Endgame", the
Star Trek: Voyager finale, Pulaski is said to have worked at the Starfleet Medical facility in San Francisco.
Novels Pulaski appears in several books of the non-canon novel series based on the adventures of the crew in
The Next Generation and elsewhere in the same time period. In
Peter David's novel
Vendetta (1991), Pulaski is reassigned to the
Repulse under Captain Taggart following her departure from the
Enterprise. In
Star Trek: Progress (2006), a
Starfleet Corps of Engineers book by
Terri Osborne, Pulaski is on board the USS
Progress when it visits Drema IV, as she wants to check up on the progress of Sarjenka, a young girl from
The Next Generation episode "Pen Pals". Pulaski also appeared alongside
Wesley Crusher and Guinan in
Michael Jan Friedman's "
All Good Things..." (1994), a novelisation of
The Next Generation series finale. ==Reception and commentary==