I always wonder what the writers wanted us to make of Jellico in that episode. He's positioned in the narrative as an utter dick, yet the "dickish" things he does involve yelling at Troi about her impractical, non-uniform "dresses" that weaken her as an officer, and yelling about Riker about his overall toolishness. …

The way I think of them is this.

Nobody should watch anything from Season 2. It was top-to-bottom awful. I watched it live every week at the time waiting for the show to get better. Instead, it made me quit the show and it took me like half a season to try it again, despite the general chatter that Season 3 was better from the jump.

Agreed, I think it'd work much better as a live action movie.

Gosh, the Season 2 casting is uninspiring so far.

I liked this episode very much. Solid review as well.

I have both, along with Civ III, which really IS the inferior in the Civ series. Never played II, and that's the one I've occasionally been told is "the best." I feel like V looks a lot better, makes slight improvements in some areas and adds a few fun things (like the Death Robot), but if you've played IV it…

There are only a few bonus features I've ever felt compelled to rewatch on the DVDs, but that's one of them. Love it.

B+ seems about right, and I suppose quibbling over a half-grade is the height of Internet silliness.

Most major productions don't write parts for people who look like Naveen Andrews or Jorge Garcia. Technically, "Lost" didn't, either. Both parts were essentially created because casting directors liked the actors. I don't think either was in the original pilot script, though in Sayid's case I could be wrong. …

Depends on how much you were invested in the mysteries, I suppose, and how disappointed you ultimately were in them. The show was never about that for me, as frustrating as I find the course the show ultimately took. On a level of good drama, I'll take 1 any day.

I'm not sure I'd put "Outlaws" as a whole in the A range, but the conversation between Sawyer and Christian at the bar is one of my favorite scenes in the series. I love pretty much every Christian interaction with a character who isn't Jack.

1 > 4 > 5 > 2 > 3 > 6

I'm up to over 1,000 hours on Civ IV now. It's become a reliable moment of, "Oh God, what am I doing with my life?" every time I open up my Steam account.

Yep, this. Hate crimes based on religious affiliations aren't uncommon, and Jewish groups are frequent targets, so the law is decidedly not whitey-free.

Ah, Mad Space Nine. My second-favorite comment meme. Only behind Rappin' Jake Sisko, who is theoretically out on tour and no longer participating in comment threads.

Me either. Wow, he looks entirely different.

"Ab Aterno" is the only season 6 episode I will defend, but I will defend it a lot.

I get that his growth spurt was a problem…up to a point. But when they did all the off-island time-jump stuff in Season 4 and time travel stuff in Season 5, it created opportunities to bring him back…which they teased, kind of played with in a couple episodes, but then also just allowed to go nowhere.

As for "Hearts and Minds," I actually dig this episode. It has a trippy vibe that imbued the Island with underlying danger, kind of like "White Rabbit," and for some reason I didn't mind the fake-out death here as much as I did Charlie's in "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues."