I liked it. Porthos still shines as the best cast member...
Best stuff: the continuing storyline. I agree that the effects of their previous journeys on the present episodes is refreshing.
Phlox was great. WE laughed our asses off.
Bakula was better in this episodes than he has been through the season. Didn't like the chick. Hated her dog; Portos shoulda taken her out in the first scene.
Trip & Reed...like we didn't know these two goofballs would be the one who DIDN'T get laid.
Apparently, Trip is destined to live in just underwear.
The smiling helmsman...he's the new Chekov. "Captain, look! Aaaaaah!!!!"
Hoshi. Still don't like the character much.
Overall, pretty good. Still prefer the Andorian eps to most of the season. But it's improving steadily.
"War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
John Stuart Mill