Episode Report Card Keckler: A+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Twilight in the Garden of Good and Better
By Keckler | Season 3 | Episode 8 | Aired on 11.04.2003
Sickbay. Quantum wakes up and tells Phlox he feels like a sh'pod landed on his head. Under the impression that only a few hours have passed, Quantum tries to go to the Bridge, but Phlox tells him he's been in Sickbay for three days. That stops him in his furrows. Phlox also tells him that his brain has been affected by some parasites left by the drive-by anomalying, which make him unable to form short-term memories. Quantum is able to remember everything before the event, but he can't retain memories after the event for more than a few hours. It's sort of like Jake 2.0 in reverse -- Quantum's the ultimate human downgrade! Although he hasn't found a way of removing them yet, Phlox promises to continue working on a way to free the captain from the parasites.
T'Pol's voice-over tells Quantum that Phlox worked for weeks on the cure, and in the meantime, she and Trip tried to keep Quantum apprised of their mission. There's a scene of the Captain's Table where Quantum suggests some upgrades. He's so childishly excited about his discovery as T'Pol and Trip sit there like worried parents. Quantum reads their faces and determines that he must've made the exact same suggestions before. After Trip tells Quantum that he made the suggestion a week ago and that the upgrades are working fine, he clears his throat uncomfortably and excuses himself. It's clear that he's having a hard time dealing with this altered Quantum. Trinneer kicks acting butt. Quantum feels like he's wasting their time with their little mealtime get-togethers, but T'Pol assures him that even if they don't depend on his memory, they do depend on his experience. T'Pol also brings up the fact that he wouldn't be in this sorry state if he had ditched her in the corridor before the anomaly blew through him. "Fortunately, I don't take orders from you," Quantum smiles, and starts to walk out. That's kind of cute, because obviously, in the altered future, T'Pol becomes the captain, so he does take orders from her. T'Pol stops Quantum from leaving and says she never expressed her gratitude. "I suppose there's not much point in thanking me. A few hours from now, I won't remember it," Quantum says. He doesn't look at her again as he clamps his lips together and leaves. Damn, that's sad. And DAY-UM, Bakula was great in that entire scene. I mean, he's still furrowing like a bad boy, but the stuff that's happening around the furrows is vastly improved.
T'Pol is called to the Bridge to talk to Starfleet.