On the first viewing of "Unnatural Selection" (TNG 2.7), are we supposed to believe Dr. Pulaski can really die?

One of the biggest difficulties of most episodic dramas, including the various Star Trek series, is that putting main characters in danger is seldom believable. It’s such a common syndrome that it’s even a pop culture trope: plot armor. Watching the early second-season episode “Unnatural Selection,” in which Dr. Pulaski...