When I was last in New York City, I stayed with The Mighty Vengeance Of Ho. She'd been in America for several years, and had come to hate just about everything about it.

One of the few aspects of American culture she liked was Star Trek. I sat down with her and tried to watch an episode, but couldn't get very far. I hadn't seen Star Trek since childhood, and I was struck by how silly the plot was. And the dialogue was just embarrassing. It scaled new heights of pomposity, and loudly refused to come down again.

"Hey, Mighty Vengeance Of Ho," I said, "what do you think of this dialogue?"

"It's all right," she said, her attention still devoted to the screen.

"So you don't think it's ridiculous?"

The Mighty Vengeance Of Ho turned to look at me, contempt now boiling in the mighty vengeance of her heart.

"No, I don't," she said. She'd gritted her teeth and now looked impressively threatening.

Even so, I pushed it further. And eventually she said The Great Puzzling Thing: "you don't watch Star Trek for the dialogue. You watch Star Trek for the costumes."

She delivered this claim with complete conviction, and with the unstated threat of execution if I asked any more questions. I therefore retreated into a silent world of reflection. There I stayed for some time.

I'm puzzled by many things, of course, and this reason for watching this show is one of them.