"The Begotten" is almost a remake of a pretty good TNG episode, "The Offspring". Hell, even the name is a synonym. Isolated member of nonhuman/superhuman species raises a child according to their own theories, while Star Fleet champs at the bit to research it. Eventually the crisis is resolved when the child starts…

Banks is in league with that termagant Sarah Vowell!!!

I think you're both right. The writers of DS9 decided at some point that the Prophets are 'good' (and thus have to be challenged by 'evil'), and that was a fundamental mistake.

It's not just about Bajor, it's about Sisko. Bajor joining the Federation is a big part of his story, as is being the Emissary. And DS9 is ultimately a story about Ben Sisko as much as it's about the Cardassians and the Bajorans and the Dominion.

Garak found out that Federation prisons work on the honor system, and only stayed long enough to become the secret eminence gris behind all the prison gangs and to make the warden a double agent (for him, personally).

FURTHER SPOILERS

@Prankster36:disqus It's part of the running theme in DS9 that Vulcans are complete assholes.

"some extra dayplayer whom we'd never see again, in the book, … goes on to become [vitally important to the future of the galaxy]"

He probably managed to plea-bargain down to criminal mischief.

Uurgh, I have tickets and I really want to go… but it's the first stretch of nice summery weather here, and I can't really abide the thought of spending a nice warm clear evening in a dark theater.

@avclub-2d8ab0375d529c0ccfcdb1c61a09f1c2:disqus D&D Evil is really mustache-twirlingly evil, though, not just amoral.

Yes, absolutely. The hammy and goofy and preachy bits are part of what makes Trek Trek.

A Star Trek lead has to have a certain amount of staginess to work. Shatner, Stewart, Brooks, even Mulgrew had that going on. It's one of the main things I found lacking about Enterprise — Bakula just seems too laid back and normal to be a captain.

The Orions are busy pulling the strings behind the whole operation. You know, it's like the Mafia.

I had no idea that people disliked the Kira pregnancy stuff so much. I don't understand why.

I love the Emissary/Prophets/Bajoran religion stuff up until partway through the sixth season, after which point they make a few bad decisions in order to amp up the plot. (Story being sacrificed for the sake of plot, as Ursula Le Guin would say.)

New Vegas feels a lot more like FO2 in the writing. The gameplay is more refined, too.

She thought Chuck D was Luther Vandross.

can we all please remember that this guy is just completely awful and stop giving him attention or likes or acting like he's a human being with ideas and thoughts?

I am going to be skipping out on a party to go see it. That is how much of an awful nerd I am.