Fighter pilot reflexes

The Science Vulcan Directorate has determined that time travel is not fair

With some of the biggest baseball caps you've ever seen

Some do. Most are too cheap to bother.

The very young do not always do what they are told

Mariner's fighting just to be fighting. She has grown a lot over the past seasons. Her undefined angry outburst in this episode seemed pointless. There's nothing keeping JG Lieutenant Mariner from her Ensign Mariner renegade behavior and schemes.

Seems realistic to me. Have you never watched someone spend so long fighting that even peace starts to make them uneasy?

It's hard watching your loved ones go through it. You do all you can to get them on the right track. You show them that you believe in them and that you support them. They start making progress. They get to a good place. And then inevitably they run into the identity crisis where they have to make a conscious decision to unlearn all of their unconscious insecurities and defense mechanisms.

They literally start fighting their progress for no reason.

Mariner's depiction with a physical fight was a little on the nose, but it hits really close to home for anyone who has ever supported someone in that way before.

It's a fear response, and it's extremely difficult to break the cycle. "Everything is okay! Wait, is it too okay? Something bad is coming."

Rutherford and Tendi's discomfort pretending to be a couple made me uncomfortable. They've clearly been sweet on each other for a while. I could have done without forcing them into this pretend couple scenario, and let their relationship develop at its previous pace.

If anything it felt a little like a reality check for all the shippers. I was afraid they were going to play it the other direction, with the two of them actually falling for each other once they were in the position of role-playing. Feels like they set the record straight that the romantic chemistry is not there right now and that it won't be forced.

I would like to point out that the or in this comment is not necessarily an exclusive or.

Gene Roddenberry invented Ferengi for R34.

One influence on the Ferengi was what Herb Wright described as Gene Roddenberry's "sex fetish." In early first season discussions between them about developing the Ferengi, Roddenberry let Wright know it was his intention to make the species well-endowed. "He wanted to put a gigantic codpiece on the Ferengi," Wright stated. "He spent 25 minutes explaining to me all the sexual positions the Ferengi could go through. I finally said, 'Gene, this is a family show, on at 7:00 on Saturdays. He finally said, 'Okay, you're right.'" (Cinefantastique, Vol. 23, No. 2/3, pp. 60-61) With Roddenberry's approval, the development of the new species got underway. (Star Trek: The Next Generation 365, p. 36)

Oh yes. People absolutely love it.

Usually if I lose it's because I chose to participate. Sometimes the only winning move is not to play.

The history of the phrase bury the lede is fascinating. Especially the part where they started spelling it wrong on purpose.

How many extra trees do you need to offset the manufacture of that unnecessary CO2 meter?