Episode Report Card Keckler: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Phlox's Runaway Imagination
By Keckler | Season 3 | Episode 16 | Aired on 02.17.2004
In the Armory, Phlox babbles about arming themselves against the Xindi while T'Pol tries to talk him out of his fantasy. Phlox won't listen to reason as his Imaginary Vulcan explains that all external docking ports and hatches were bug-proof. When Phlox brings up transporter technology, his Imaginary Vulcan says there are no transporter signatures to be found. Phlox doesn't care, and holds out a phaser to her. His Imaginary Vulcan won't take it. "I plan to start on G-deck and work my way up -- I'm going to stop them whether you help me or not!" Phlox announces.
That commercial with the Olympic volleyball chicks playing in the snow is a bit disturbing. It's the unnecessary blood that just doesn't fit with the rest of it. It's not like it's that nasty Nike commercial where people are vomiting and bleeding all over the place.
Phlox looks in on his patients. Some sleep in twos in bunk beds. Shouldn't someone turn them every few hours to ward off bedsores? Phlox checks other areas of the ship, his phaser held out in front of him, his flashlight primed and searching. He hears footsteps in a storage bay, but they belong to his Imaginary Vulcan. Walking through more corridors, his Imaginary Vulcan tries to reason with Phlox: if there were Xindi aboard, they wouldn't be hiding. Phlox argues this, and his e-pad starts beeping, telling him there's a non-human bio-sign somewhere. The Imaginary Vulcan points out that his Sickbay pets are non-human. Phlox curses that he can't lock onto the bio-sign, and his Imaginary Vulcan thinks the reconfigured space is mucking about with their sensors. "You said it wasn't affecting our sensors," Phlox challenges her. "I said it wasn't affecting main sensors, that hand scanner is far less powerful. You know that," the Imaginary Vulcan corrects him. Phlox gets his e-pad to lock onto the bio-sign, and sets off.
He creeps through the corridors with his Imaginary Vulcan behind him. There's a clicking noise. Porthos comes from around the corner, and Phlox narrowly avoids shooting him. "Doctor!" the Imaginary Vulcan cries out, grabbing at his hand. Porthos, who had jumped back initially, trots over to them and whimpers questioningly. Aww, damn, I just love that dog; he comes even when he's been shot at! "It's all right," Phlox gasps. "Fortunately, I'm not very proficient with hand weapons." You were more proficient than comfort allows, if you ask me! The Imaginary Vulcan wonders how Porthos got out, and Phlox admits that Porthos had been keeping him company for the last few days. When T'Pol accuses him of "simply" forgetting to put Porthos back in his quarters, Phlox shouts, "I've been distracted! And I would've thought this could tell the difference between a giant insect and a beagle!" Phlox waves his e-pad around. T'Pol tells him he's not using the scanner properly. Phlox accuses her of not being helpful. T'Pol thinks she's been more than helpful wasting two hours looking for a figment of his imagination. She brings up that Phlox once told Hoshi how Denobulans regularly practice hallucinating to relieve stress. "You're been under a lot of stress, lately, Doctor. You said you've been having headaches -- is there anything else you care to tell me?" T'Pol demands. Phlox shouts that he's fine. "You nearly shot the Captain's dog!" T'Pol shouts back. When you watch this episode knowing that T'Pol is an Imaginary Friend, it makes everything she says all the more layered, as you realize it's Phlox's own subconscious warning him that he's unwell. Phlox waves his e-pad around again and says he's going to recalibrate it to exclude canines, and then he's going to prove he's not seeing things. He stalks off down a corridor.