Episode Report Card Keckler: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Mucus of Borg
By Keckler | Season 1 | Episode 22 | Aired on 04.30.2002
T'Pol comms Phlox to ask what he's up to. Phlox tells her he's "preparing to examine the specimen," and asks if they'd care to observe. Heh heh, "specimen." Never mind. Bathroom-humor Keckler family joke. T'Pol puts an overhead view of Phlox and his slimy segment on the Situation Room wall computer. I'm glad to note that Phlox is suitably attired in a full environmental suit for this procedure. Phlox points out that, although severed from the Globlin mass, the segment survives independently. Huh. Much like the earthworm, as taught by dissection classes everywhere. "Not unlike the common earthworm or the Neethian cradlefish," the good doctor says. From my mouth to Phlox's Denobulan ears. Incidentally, not only is Phlox's name reminiscent of horticulture, but his race is as well, when you think of Dendrobian orchids. I've been reading a little Nero Wolfe lately. And watching a lot of it on A&E. Phlox starts to apply some pincers to the segment, and Reed asks if it's wise to do that. Phlox says, "Possibly not, but I'm going to need a tissue sample if I hope to learn more about its physiology." The Globlin segment reaches up and puts its end on Phlox's forearm. Aw, that's kind of cute. Poppadum does the same thing with her paw when I'm typing and she's tired of not being admired. Phlox removes the inquiring segment with a "That'll be quite enough!" Awww, even cuter! Phlox scans the segment with a blue-light thing and says, a trifle ominously, "This is no earthworm." Without waiting for the "dun-dun-DUN!" music, Phlox explains that the synaptic activity, which the rest of the crew can see on the side of their computer screen, proves that the creature has a very sophisticated nervous system and might be capable of higher mental facilities. Hoshi suggests they might be able to communicate with it, saying, "The frequency distortions? They look a lot like the phonetic patterns in certain Andorian dialects." Excuse me? I'm not a linguist or anything, but how do synaptic readings bear any similarity to a spoken language?
Reed gets impatient and tells her they're not dealing with nouns and verbs, so it could take Hoshi days to learn the Globlin's language. Hoshi asks him what other choice they have and turns to T'Pol to say, "Give me a chance." T'Pol says, "I'm sorry, Ensign, there isn't enough time." Before Hoshi can protest further, T'Pol turns to Reed and says they need to neutralize the Globlin. "You said phase pistols had no effect," T'Pol says. "None that I could tell," Reed confirms. Well, in that case, it seems as though my twenty-twenty vision is failing, because it certainly looked to me as if the tentacles reacted to the phaser blasts. Phlox interrupts them saying that the Globlin exhibits signs of being photosensitive: "A sustained burst of EM radiation might be enough to stun the creature." T'Pol turns to Reed and tells him to assemble a few EM emitters. Now, couldn't Hoshi be working on the Globlin's language in the meantime, since they've not given her anything else to do?