Yeah, count me as a House of Quark vote, but this one is right up there.  When it takes you several seconds into the passion scene to realize that the two romantic leads are both wearing an absurd amount of prosthetics on their heads, the show has  obviously done its job.

I strongly dislike that proto-universe plot for reasons scientific (a proto-universe, if it's part of OUR "brane" in string theory terms, just doesn't make sense), ideological (it seemed to me to be a little TOO pro-life, if you know what I mean), and TV-critic-al (as you said, it just didn't fit into this episode).…

I strongly dislike that proto-universe plot for reasons scientific (a proto-universe, if it's part of OUR "brane" in string theory terms, just doesn't make sense), ideological (it seemed to me to be a little TOO pro-life, if you know what I mean), and TV-critic-al (as you said, it just didn't fit into this episode).…

Yeah, but that episode's not that great…  I mean, it's fine compared to the rest of Season 2. But it's really just a dim echo of things to come.

I agree.  While Pentangeli is no Clemenza, he manages to become a fairly consistent and interesting character over the course of a single movie.  And after all, we still get Clemenza in flashback form.  But no Hagen in Godfather III is just inexcusable.  He was under-utilized in Part II, and Michael's line about his…

"Even re-watching it with the knowledge of the clone’s true identity (and his eventual fate) wouldn’t change much."

I think if I could figure out why I hate "Rivals" but I kinda like season 1's "Move Along Home," I'd understand a lot more about what makes the entertainment side of my brain tick.  Because both episodes seem to have the same basic elements in common: cheesy/oily one-off characters, cheap plastic toy-like props,…

For some reason, Star Trek writers always assume that viewers will support colonists/displaced peoples no matter how absurd their ideological ties to their claimed land are in the context of the enlightened 24th century.  I don't know why they would expect fans of a series about progress and exploration to side with…

"Oh right, Kira gets a musician a gig at Quark’s place. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him again, but for now, he’s incidental (and annoying.)"

*ALMOST SPOILERS*

I can't remember how you felt about Ro Laren, but I felt about her the way you do about Melora. Melora, though, had more character development over the course of 44 mediocre minutes than Ro Laren had in a dozen or so episodes.

Personally I think "Dax" is a lot better than "Invasive Procedures."  The guest actors here are so awkward and unpleasant to watch, and it's hard to reconcile what happens in the episode with what we know and later learn about Trill physiology.  Also, as you mentioned, why in the hell would they ever trust or even…

"I’m not sure if he’s trying to seduce her or lead her to a higher path when he gives her a chance to view her destiny through an Orb, but whatever his reasons, zzzzzzzzz."

I'm late to the party, but I had been looking forward to this review and it didn't disappoint.  I particularly liked this line:

I liked the Binars, too, but I could have done without the Minuet side story.  I guess "The Battle" and "Coming of Age" are pretty good, though, now that I look at an episode list. But certainly nowhere near the level of "Duet."

(SPOILERS, AS ALWAYS)

I had no idea there was alt text on these pictures.  Thank you so much for posting this.  *goes back to all of the TNG reviews*

Funnily enough, as much as I like this episode I can never actually remember how it ends or what Marritza's identity ends up being.  Partly that's because I have a generally poor memory for details, and partly it's because the strength of the episode lies not in the twists and turns of the story but in the intimate,…

I tracked down a couple of the interviews that had given me the impression of a less cohesive set on DS9.  This one is an interview with director Cliff Bole, who very briefly mentions what it was like to work with Brooks on DS9 and on Spencer for Hire: 
http://www.startrek.com/art…

(MORE SPOILERS)