May The Force Live Long and Prosper

This week, Cate and Dietrich brace themselves for DS9's very first Lwaxana Troi episode, only to be a bit shocked when it's... kinda great? They discuss payback for the Dax 2.0 incident, the difficulty of editing out the HBO logo in your timely Cardassian attacks, and the challenges of navigating an O'Brien temper tantrum. It's a packed episode, with schadenfreude picnic baskets, HR begging an amb...

This week, Dietrich and Cate dig into the stellar Hidden Enemy, which might be about the Jedi hunting down a brave abolitionist but maybe don't think too much about it. It's an episode that reveals Dietrich's deep abiding love for spy thrillers, figures out where the "Vietnam War in Space" line actually is and waves cheerfully as this episode whizzes past said line, and gives Obi Wan and Ventress...

This week, Cate and Dietrich dig into the bottom of the barrel for season one with the bafflingly named If Wishes were Horses. It's an episode that manages to include creepy fantasies come to life, a quick glimpse at the dark side of Kira's emotional state, a snowstorm in the Promenade, and still impressively manages to not be entertaining. Cate and Dietrich do find time to ask the important quest...

This week, Cate and Dietrich discuss the episode "Trespass", in which some already creepy toys from the late 80s get exponentially more terrifying when a racist moron opens his mouth. The pair discuss Anakin's dedication to his night school art classes, Obi-Wan's unfortunate boomer tendencies when he doesn't speak the local language, and the frustration the pair feel at constantly being denied Qui...

This week, Cate and Dietrich discuss the sugar of a B-story that helps one hell of a heavy A-story go down, and Jake and Nog shoulder the nigh-on impossible task of keeping an episode about the scars left by the brutal subjugation of the people forcing everyone to dirty their hands light and fun. Fortunately, the Noh-Jay Consortium is up to the task. Cate and Dietrich talk about the gleeful joy of...

This week, Cate and Dietrich dig into Defenders of Peace, the episode of The Clone Wars that has the unfortunate distinction to follow up the outstanding Jedi Crash. The pair dig into Sun Tzu's glowstick stratagems, find delight in Ashoka demonstrating the fact that she is not a pacifist in the most direct way possible, and lament the freshman philosophy class debates that are the raisins in this...

This week, Dietrich and Cate dig into the Deep Space Nine episode "The Storyteller" to try to find a shred of common sense and generally come up empty. Does it make sense why a teenage girl is threatening war because of a wobbly river? Does it make sense why a goo cloud menacing an entire village of day players hasn't gotten more attention? Does it make sense why Tony Robbins is the only hope for...

This week, Cate and Dietrich dig into Jedi Crash, an absolutely breakneck whirlwind of an episode that sees more happen in the first three minutes than most episodes see in their full run. We settle the landmark case of Anakin V Massive Wall of Fire, debate whether the writers or animators consumed more nose candy during the production, and discuss just how lean Sam The Eagle's roasted flesh would...

To celebrate May The 4th, Cate and Dietrich dive into the 2009 film Fanboys, a movie that answers the question, "How uncomfortable do two nerds feel discussing a movie that's aged like cream in a sauna?" They spend time discussing Danny Trejo's beautiful smile, the many layers of the greatest van ever built, and the shockingly poor security at Skywalker Ranch. It's a complicated movie to talk abou...

This week, Cate and Dietrich sit down to discuss the season one episode "Battle Lines", in which we learn that Benjamin Sisko's one weakness is Catholic guilt. The pair chat about Kira's questionable stress management techniques, Keiko possibly throwing down with Quark to prevent Molly from entering the cutthroat world of estate auctions, and the fact that Dax and O'Brien are so goddamn good at so...

This week, Dietrich reluctantly sits down with Cate to discuss the latest adventures of nobody's favorite Gungan with Gungan Generals. They establish in no uncertain terms which current US policymaker fills the role of Jar Jar of the Senate, they dig deep into the proper jam choices and the unholy plasmid that is sunbutter, and they lament the decision made not to simply incorporate this legendary...

This week, Cate and Dietrich sit down to talk about The Vortex, an episode that argues that Odo's cousin can be found at any Claire's near you, debates whether murder is forgivable if the murder victim was just kind of a dick, and demonstrates once again that Quark pines helplessly for Odo's love. It's an episode that struggles with a tone vacillating wildly between "goofy crime caper" and "rememb...

This week, Cate and Dietrich dig into the episode Dooku Captured, which for some goddamn reason kicks off about halfway through a really cool story we never get to see. We reunite with the galaxy's favorite bickering married couple back together again, we learn that Dooku has so much drip it's genuinely intimidating, and we meet the most bafflingly competent pirates in the galaxy. In addition, Die...

This week, Dietrich finally gets his vengeance for the gnarled sexual awakening of Itchy by introducing the supernatural refractory period of an octogenarian Ferengi head of state. Cate looks on in existential horror as the pair debate the need for soundproofing the holosuites, the practicality of door to door autopsies, and whether or not Paramount is missing a tremendous opportunity by not selli...

This week, Cate and Dietrich discover the dreamboat of the Star Wars universe with Dietrich's future husband, Kit Fisto, who definitely will never have anything bad happen to him. Ever. We learn that battle droids are as good at improv as they are bad at battle, that Grevious somehow selected the sassiest of mechadoctors, and what the fearsome Jedi killer's non-negotiables were on his HGTV appeara...

This week, Cate promptly invokes the new Taylor Rule, and the pair are joined by author Taylor Vaughan to discuss the fever dream acid trip that is Move Along Home. Cate shares the insanity of this episode unraveling with our guest, including the unsettling implication of Wadi fuck sticks, the hanging thread of Jake learning about the birds and the bees, and Bashir introducing the revolutionary ta...

This week, Cate and Dietrich brave the second part of the Nute Gunray trilogy, an episode blessedly free from any Gungan interference. They talk about the importance of focusing on an emergency's location prior to dunking on someone, whether the Republic has a police brutality problem, and more. In addition, Cate builds a lightsaber, Dietrich tempts fate and bears in one weekend, and they calmly d...

This week, Cate and Dietrich sit down to chat about the masterclass in bad acting put on in The Passenger. Should Kira Nerys get a combat medal for not punting Julian straight out of an airlock? Did Starfleet send extra security because apparently these idiots are handing out clearances to every ham and egger that hoves into their field of view? Why was Dax so thrilled to see a petrie dish murder...

This week, Cate is absolutely delighted to discuss Bombad Jedi, and when Cate's delighted, Dietrich should be very, very worried. The pair sit down to chat about the Jar Jar Binks of it all, including Filoni absolutely going ham with his love of giant sea creatures, the sheer exhaustion that must be felt by the Gungan's guardian angel, and the two dozen times this episode should have come to a swi...

This week, Cate and Dietrich dig into Deep Space Nine's first adventure in the courtroom, as Sisko, Kira, and the best guest star ever break out weapons-grade sass as they try to determine if Curzon Dax being a bit of a man-whore can justify Jadzia Dax being executed. The pair discuss Bashir crossing the line into a possible sexual harassment case, Sisko and Odo getting to wield the ferocious swor...

This week, Cate and Dietrich ask the hard hitting questions, including: Can industrial grade steel shelving units withstand the scope of Cate's Star Wars apparel? How WOULD Dietrich properly wine and dine Anakin Skywalker should The Chosen One agree to be his Valentine? Does going barefoot on a ship cross a line that even Grevious refuses to cross? And most importantly, can Duel of the Droids rede...

This week, Q makes his appearance on everyone's favorite fixer upper in space, to mixed results. Cate and Dietrich discuss whether or not you need to let Odo's tannins breathe and the practicality of an Odo decanter, how many times Jean-Luc's name is uttered in the span of a single episode, and wonder if Bashir's absenteeism is becoming a problem that no one realizes when he's been space roofied f...

This week, Cate and Dietrich dig into the baffling Downfall of a Droid, at least once they're done digging into the arcane mysteries of whether or not Count Dooku is subtle when he rips some fat clouds of cotton. The pair discuss some strange child bride vibes, the joy of seeing Grevious love his work, and debate the wisdom of putting a tween in command of a naval armada. In addition, Cate does a...

This week, Cate and Dietrich discuss Deep Space Nine's take on The Most Dangerous Game, at least if a day player on Flash Gordon was chasing a very leathery Groot. They talk about Sisko's wildly relaxed approach to first contact, Bashir's wildly relaxed approach to HIPPA, and pretty much everyone's wildly relaxed approach to the station being boarded by aliens as hostile as they are goofy. Cate ra...

This week, Cate and Dietrich sit down to discuss the episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Rookies, an episode that features Dietrich's new favorite character, shines a light on Dave Filoni's weird kink for space fish, and sees Cate quietly watching Dietrich spiral into madness at the idea of suicidal sentient propane tanks. In addition, they share some of the more unhinged merchandise that's ever...