Episode Report Card Keckler: F | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Tempus fudges-it
By Keckler | Season 1 | Episode 11 | Aired on 11.27.2001
Captain's Ready Room. Quantum pours out two sherry glasses full of the Vindaloo-Sinteel liqueur. It looks like Kool-Aid. "You sure you don't want a glass?" he asks T'Pol. T'Pol's sure. I thought they were supposed to drink that during the Great Flume to "enhance the experience." There's not going to be much enhancement going on in Quantum's dark ready-or-not room. T'Pol tells them that the Vulcans have studied the concept of time travel "in great detail," but have discovered no evidence that it exists or will ever exist. Quantum says that Sarin -- the Suliban chick who kissed him in order to determine if he was trustworthy in "Broken Bow" -- also mentioned the TCW. "That's what Daniels called it?" Trip asks. "The same words," Quantum confirms. T'Pol points out that that proves a little less than zip. Quantum rolls his eyes at T'Pol and reminds them of Phlox's comment that the Suliban's genetic alterations are far beyond their present-day technologies. "That doesn't mean that it was given to them by visitors from the future," T'Pol says, and Quantum rolls his eyes again. He's been recently diagnosed with logicus phobiacocci. One of the side effects is uncontrollable rolling of the eyeballs, which is triggered by any expression of common sense or intelligence. "Until Daniels can offer you concrete proof, I'd remain extremely skeptical," T'Pol finishes. Quantum seems to emphatically believe that Daniels's laser show is proof enough that he's telling the truth. Trip reminds him that his experience in the Xyrillian holographic chamber was also mind-blowing enough to convince him that he was in a real boat on a real lake when it was all just virtual reality. "If what Daniels says is true, then Silik saved Enterprise. Maybe we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth," Trip finishes. And if a frog had side pockets, he'd carry a handgun.
Quantum decides that including T'Pol in his conversation is unnecessary; he turns his back on her and tells Trip they can't risk ignoring Daniels's request if there's a chance that he's being truthful about the TCW. And that doesn't really make sense to me. I mean, even if the TCW does exist, how do they know Daniels is the one to trust? His truth-telling record isn't exactly stellar at this juncture. Hoshi comms Quantum that they're approaching the protostar, and some of the members of Heaven's Gate want to take him up on his offer of watching the Great Flume from the Mess Hall. Quantum acknowledges. "One of them might be Silik," Quantum says to T'Pol. "We don't have time to debate this any longer. I want you to help Daniels." He puts his glass down and leaves. Why does he even bother with the pretense of asking for anyone else's opinion? His ego never goes with it. I just realized something -- isn't he on duty? He made such a big deal about not having Dralaxian whisky with Capt. Coma, and his excuse was that he was on duty. Yet, now he thinks it's okay to drink some alien Babysham -- which has been guaranteed to alter his perception of things -- at a time when he and his crew are facing a potentially hostile intruder on their ship, not to mention the general confusion over temporal stuff?