The aforementioned Cardassian chick scientist is in fact Tracy Scoggins, who is better known as Captain Elizabeth Lochley.

Probably because they aren't married anymore, haven't been for a very long time, and don't really do events together; your eyes have never tracked across a random celebrity magazine or commercial or whatnot with Susan hanging off his arm, celebrity-couple style.

Not to pour water on this thread, but something to always keep in mind is that the Federation isn't really meant to be a realistic portrayal of a post-scarcity, currency-free, pseudo-socialist society. It's primarily aspirational, intended to say "Hey, maybe in the future, we won't all want to slaughter each other for…

First resort to violence is the mark of the incompetent.

The writers (minor spoilers) backdoor an explanation for "the Ferengi" (who are represented by Quark, mostly) being a bit Worf-ized in later seasons that's really quite clever: they simply establish that Quark isn't a very good Ferengi.

Well, neither has Patrick Stewart.

It's not in the United States.

Bloody Mary, full of vodka, blessed are you among cocktails.

You know, Pema and Tenzin are an amazing couple NOW, but that must have been weird and awkward and slightly scandalous when they were dating.

And I should point out that in Episode One, Amon has a big old picture of what looks like a giant deathbot on his wall.

Which is something that occurs constantly in the real world.

I actually kind of like that Bolin ISN'T waiting patiently. He's not doing that passive-aggressive "nice guy" bullshit. He's made his interest clear and he periodically (but not overly aggressively) reiterates said interest.

Ah, you say he wouldn't lock her away, but we don't really know the
state of affairs in the world, nor do we know how Aang died or what
happened with Yukon.

If Ikki can smell Tarrloks scent, he is wearing too much.

Even without the bending-taking-away, the Equalists assaulted and kidnapped a bunch of people and then enacted unilateral punishment on them without trial. Yes, most of them were criminals. So what? Criminals deserve the protection of the law as well. If I kidnap a mob boss, I'm still a kidnapper.

Well, for me it comes down to the fact that the Equalists are, in fact, dangerous. They're criminals and terrorists. The establishment isn't making shit up about them and hauling people into jail on trumped-up charged, and the raid seemed to follow due process of law, at least by Republic standards.

Despite the fact that the comparisons are apt, I've been trying to avoid going all Godwin with regard to the Equalists. Virulently racist populist groups with a shaky grip on the truth are not exactly uncommon, so there's plenty of other examples to use.

Tarrlok *said* he tried to talk Korra out of her challenge, but did he?

I'd say her mentality is more Firebender than Earthbender, really. She's fantastically aggressive and believes in projecting power, always on the attack; when she can't do that she's uncomfortable.

I chalked it up to "weird shit happens when you're the Avatar and either traumatized or under a great deal of stress."