Episode Report Card Keckler: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Crazy Like A Phlox
By Keckler | Season 2 | Episode 21 | Aired on 04.22.2003
The voice that does the Country Time Lemonade commercials reaches out of my television and grabs me every summer. Without fail. That voice has to be magic, because there's just a certain something about it -- not to get all Smurfy on you -- that really and truly transports me back to childhood. Or a sepia childhood in the country that I actually never had since I grew up in Minneapolis. The thing is, I'm not susceptible to commercials. Unless they're for greeting cards. Or have animals. Or have people trying to sell jeans amidst a throng of running bulls, but that's not really susceptibility -- that's just nausea-inducing. Okay, but regardless, there's something just so nostalgy about that voice and I love it.
Devil's Tower. Trip yells, "Can't...reach...it!" I have no idea what he is talking about. Reed and Trip swing violently from the efforts of Trip not reaching whatever it is he's not reaching, which puts May-Juryo in even more pain. Trip grunts out, "Almost!" and May-Juryo says he can't hold them much longer as he clutches onto the safety wire. Trip calls that they'll try again and swing together. Trip swings ably, but Reed just seems to flail a bit. After some groaning and whimpers from May-Juryo, he finally loses his grip on the safety just as Trip locks into a crevice. Reed only free-flails a little bit more before the slack is taken up. Trip calls out that they got it, and May-Juryo collapses back in relief and agony.
Trip scans May-Juryo's ankle and pronounces it broken with lots of torn ligaments as well. May-Juryo sweats that he can keep moving as long as they give him a painkiller. Trip hypos some Vicodin in him and tells him he's not going anywhere. May-Juryo insists that he can make it, but Reed calls him "Ensign" and says he would only slow them down. Reed thanks him for getting them this far, and May-Juryo makes a face. "You'll be all right," Trip comforts him. "Respectfully, sir, it's not me that I'm worried about." They chuckle, and Trip bandages May-Juryo. I can't believe they broke Travis. Again.
Sick Bay. As Denotbulan sleeps, Phlox fiddles with stuff near him. Denotbulan wakes up as Phlox scans his ear, and demands to know what Phlox is doing. Denotbulan gets very sarcastic and snippy with Phlox, while Phlox tries to maintain his composure. Phlox ignores most of Denotbulan's barbs until the patient says, "You must know a lot about our anatomy after what your doctors did to us." That sounds vaguely Nazi-experiment-ish and quite creepy. Phlox stalks away to another part of Sick Bay. Denotbulan wants to know if Phlox was raised listening to stories of the evil Antarans: "Did they give you nightmares?" Phlox says he could ask the same question about his people. Denotbulan goads him some more by asking if he taught his own children to hate Antarans just as he was taught. I know he's supposed to be one of the oppressed masses, but Denotbulan's voice is hissingly evil-sounding. Phlox says his children have nothing to do with it. "Don't they?" Denotbulan asks. "If they were here right now, what would they think about their father talking to an Antaran? Would you even let them in the same room with me?" Phlox finally whips around and shouts, "Enough! I have tried to treat you with respect but I refuse to listen to these insults! You're the reason we haven't been able to put the past behind us -- you have kept this hatred alive! No Denobulan would want to be in the same room with you!" Phlox rapidly leaves the room. Denotbulan breathes heavily and smiles slightly. What was so excellent about his scene is that Phlox's normally calming, melodious voice went very high and panicked as he got angry. Billingsley has got this character down, there's no doubt about it.