mismatch!
an uneven pair of episodes. i enjoyed "rebirth" thoroughly, but with the notable exception of the "chamber of understanding," i enjoyed precious little about "in-a-gadda-da-leela." i honestly thought it was one of the weakest futurama episodes ever.

@spicoli323,

and teutonic.

contagion's one of my favorites.
love the drama of the beginning, and was also always a big fan of the "shields up" moment. i also enjoyed the conference room discussion of what caused the yamato's explosion.

in the enlightened 24th century, starfleet has realized that someone keeping tabs on the mental states of the entire crew is a vital role. granted, we seldom see troi offer any really useful advice, but we do know that she does a lot of paperwork and is involved in handling personnel matters.

lafayette's mom
she sure didn't seem very alzheimer's to me, especially for someone who's been institutionalized for at least 6 months. seems like run of the mill mild dementia to me. or, maybe she got a demon in her.

am i the only one who likes lorena? i really enjoyed her saying things like, "did you know your bf hit me over the head with a 52-inch plasma television earlier tonight? everyone says they're so thin and light, but let me tell you, when wielded properly, it's quite a weapon." maybe i just empathize with her because…

My perspective is a bit out of step on this because philosophically I'm a hard determinist (i.e., believe "free will" is an illusion). From that perspective, considering psychology, biology, chemistry, and physics to be simply different scales of inquiry into the same, exclusively physical reality, it doesn't really…

i forgot to mention, we also have a shortage of relationship role models growing up. that's probably the disadvantage that's disappearing the fastest, due to exponentially increasing media visibility over the last couple decades.

Angry White Gay, i'm a total homo. so factor that in as you will.

she did a great job with it, but for me willow's performance is the most affecting, because as a "normal" human (not a 1,000-year-old former demon), her experience is relatable. we sympathize with anya's total bewilderment, but empathize with willow's more commonplace grief. and Hannigan really has tremendous range.

i think you're looking too hard, Jordo. shadow does not equal presence. i can understand you getting that impression, and if the monk mojo were to affect any one person's health, the woman with fake giving-birth memories would probably be the one… but… no. just a coincidence.

anya is, at this point, quite officially a *former* vengeance demon who was made a real live human as a penalty for losing her power center in "the wish." they made a big deal of that in "the replacement" when she's freaking out about being mortal.

it didn't surprise me at all that tara's family had successfully maintained a women -> demons myth. tara said (in her first episode, right?) that her mother was a witch, so it's likely a hereditary gift, and likely that all the generations would be aware of the supernatural element.

making spike such an insightful character, while never forgetting his hot-headed shortcomings, was a bold, unexpected, and wonderful decision. when was the first time we saw that side of him, in season 3 where he kidnapped willow and xander?

wow, ok, i didn't read all that. but it looks like a view point that's missing from the above is what was actually said in that historically fascinating Mike Wallace special. i've seen it. if memory serves, what's stated authoritatively is not just that gays are inherently promiscuous, but that gays are inherently…

the wordplay of "a 'noid" / "annoyed" ('noid being short for humanoid) is not the anti-funny. it's actually clever. it's just not very amusing unless you're in a late-night pun haze.

i will hear no besmirching of oz. they may never have given him much to do on the show, but Seth Green was beyond adorable.

i was also confused as a sheltered teen about what acts in particular were being discussed in "the move" and with the jazz guy.

let me just throw this out there…
is anyone else persistently bothered by the fact that the enterprise is always flying into the same star field? i mean, i know it's cost-effective to reuse footage, but i always found that field of stars highly recognizable (because, oddly, it's nearly symmetrical), so it hits me…