Episode Report Card Keckler: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Imzadi Prime
By Keckler | Season 3 | Episode 18 | Aired on 03.02.2004
May-brie trains Quantum in the Bug House sh'pod. "Can I ask you something?" May-brie asks, after Quantum shows signs of getting the hang of things. Quantum tells him to go ahead. "You're the least expendable man on Enterprise, why're you doing this?" May-brie asks so very naturally that I have to give Montgomery props. Of all the other characters, I'm glad they gave these lines to him. From him, the question sounds innocent and earnest. We already saw T'Pol's rendition of this, and from Trip they'd be, well, Trip. Reed would be stiff, correct, and Britishy, and Hoshi would whine. Phlox would probably ask if he could tag-along to glean some rare water centipedes from the ocean to feed to his pets. Or himself. Quantum broods that after putting the kill on those three Xindi on the lunar outpost and creating and killing Sim, he just can't order anyone else to their deaths. Can he order me? PLEASE?!
Okay, San Francisco is so freakin' weird, y'all. I went down to work at my cheese-mongering, and there were cars driving by with people lolling out the windows. Barking. BARKING! People. Were. Barking. Why? Because it's the Urban Iditarod, of course.Sickbay. Quantum walks in carrying Porthos, a big Eddie Bauer dog cushion, and a few bowls. He thanks Phlox for looking after the beagle, and mockingly asks the doctor not to harvest any part of the pooch. "Oh, I doubt that would be necessary," Phlox says, cradling Porthos. I love that dog. Quantum cups Porthos's ears in his hands and looks at him one last time before he leaves. Aw, that got a sniff out of me. He pauses at the doors to say, "Oh, do me a favor -- slip him a piece of cheese every now and then." "Certainly," Phlox smiles softly. Exit Quantum.
Quantum makes a big speech on the Bridge to half a dozen officers. Some (like Reed) stand at attention with their hands behind their backs, while others (like Red Stripes) stand all casual with their hands in front of them. T'Pol stands with her arms crossed, a stance, as I've said before, that exudes a bitchy impatience. Although, since it's Blalock, I think she's just taking the opportunity to give her dinners some extra support. Quantum asks them all to think back to the day when the ship first launched. Reed is hysterical here -- he basically frowns like, "Hm, what's he talking about? Can't...quite...remember..." and then his eyebrows raise as comprehension dawns, and finally, he smiles all, "Yeah, man, what a day that was." It's pretty damn funny. What's kind of sweet about this speech is that you might think that Bakula's speaking from the heart in the face of this show's cancellation. I just wish he'd loosen up a bit more. He tells them that after he dies in this mission they have to get back to the business of exploring. He adds that of all captains that will sit in that chair, none of them will be more proud of them than he is right at that moment. Can't say that's going to be hard, considering that T'Pol is incapable (supposedly) of that emotion. Quantum looks down and swallows.