After a two-week "Star Trek" detour, we're back to "Alien Nation" with an episode about taxes, bribes, scams, and gangs. This week's episode, called "The First Cigar" involves a Tenctonese business owner who may have a surprise hidden up her sleeve...literally. Meanwhile, Buck sells real estate, George deals with the IRS, and Matt & George give each other guilt trips over morally-ambiguous gifts & favors.

- What purpose was served by having Cathy back but only for two quick scenes?

- What bit of camera work impressed both Todd & Nick?

- What would an ideal Tenctonese community look like?

- What good lessons were both learned & taught by 10-year-old Emily Francisco this week?

- What guest star in this week's episode has a full movie & TV filmography and unfortunately passed away a couple days before this episode is being published?

- Is Matt any less frustrating this week, and is there much hope that he'll get better before the end of the season?

- Was the subplot involving the IRS interesting at all?

- Was the real estate subplot any better than the tax subplot?

- What strange oddities occurred in this week's episode with certain actors getting quick minor scenes, non-speaking moments, blink-and-you-miss-it cameos, and mentions in the credits even if not actually appearing in the episode? What theories does one co-host have about how & why actors should have appeared more but didn't?

- In what new ways does Matt act like a caveman with poor communication skills this week?

- What do Matt & Cathy see in each other (or not see in each other)?

- Are there any noticeable trends yet between writers & episode quality?

- What factoids about cold opens did Todd learn & teach this week?

- Which scene might have been "queer-coded"?

- How strange was Dobbs Watch this week?

- And, what caveat did Todd learn about the episode count for the Moodri recurring character, who apparently should have been in this episode but wasn't?

Listen now for the answer to these and other taxing questions as Nick & Todd audit "The First Cigar."

Note: Due to a last-minute decision to work in a holiday episode, there will be another detour next week, when Nick & Todd review the "Doctor Who" Christmas special, "Last Christmas."

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Royalty-free music used in this episode comes from Pixabay.com