- Marcy Warton: "He's addicted to heroin."
- Grant MacLaren: "He's what?"
- Marcy Warton: "He inherited it from his host."
- Grant MacLaren: "Why would the Director put you in the body of a heroin addict?"
- Philip Pearson: "The historical record said that he died after the first time that he used."
- Trever Holden: "His parents were probably in denial."
- — The team discussing Philip Pearson's recklessness.[src]
Philip Pearson (Traveler 3326), played by starring cast member Template:Imdb, is the historian of the show's core Traveler team. His host body is a heroin-addicted college student, though The Director and those in the future were unaware of his addiction due to his parent's statement that he had died after his first use, most likely because they were in denial.
Averted Death
Philip was to have died from a heroin overdose from a bad batch. The consciousness transfer occurred just before he injected himself and he didn't inject. He failed to help his host's friend who had shot up just before the transfer and died of an overdose, which Philip was arrested for.
History
3326 Future History
Little is known about his past life in the future, mainly due to protocol 2. He did mention that he has a clear memory of Shelter 41 collapsing when he was a child and he can describe it in some detail.
He was also chosen to be a historian when he was an infant due to his specialty which could be specifically trained so that he could serve in the traveler program. He said that sometimes this made him feel like an experiment while other times he felt like a superhuman. He said that he'd been under the Director's care for his entire life.
Host
Philip Pearson was a 20-year-old unemployed, heroin addict who was mostly friendless. He had one friend, Stephen, who also his roommate and who he assumidly shot up heroin with on a regular basis and who died of a drug overdose. He has no close family, although his parents are assumed to be alive as they vouched for his innocence after Stephens's and his deaths.
His historical records indicate that he'd never used drugs before the overdose which was meant to happen. his parents were said to have the police this information, with Trevor saying they probably in denial. Presumably, his friend had a recorded history with heroin or else they would've been a host candidate as well.
Traveler 3326
After being transferred into Philip's body, traveler 3326 stopped himself from taking the heroin overdose which would've killed him. He watched Philip the host's unnamed friend dying while he grabbed his things and ran off. This act caused his to get into some legal troubles.
The following day he was questioned by the police as Detective Gower who wants to convict him of manslaughter so he requests legal counsel and gets Ray. He gives him some of the gambling secrets which he knows as he's the historian and then manages to get out of jail due to a technicality and gives Ray the winners of three horse races which he memorised.
Ray continues to try and information out of him to continue gambling and when he refuses, Ray dumps him in Detective Gower's sight. Gower chases him, though can hardly keep up, and ends up having a heart attack. Philip explains how Gower was considered as a host, but rejected as he was likely to have another heart attack within days. Philip also explains that he's destined to die and so there's nothing he can do to help.
He later goes and meets the rest of the team for the first time in the 21st century and explains what they are to Grant in the moments before his death. He prevents Jonas Walker from going on a shooting rampage by helping to kill him. (Travelers)
After completing their first mission, Philip goes to the garage which he'd bought to be the base for the team with the container full of antimatter. He wakes to a message from Marcy over their communicators and with withdrawal symptoms from his heroin addition. (Protocol 6)
Trivia
- Despite being labeled as the team's Historian, Philip has also been introduced as their main "computer guy".
- Shortly after arriving in the 21st, Philip purchased a turtle after a talk about loneliness with his acquaintance Ray. He later named her Poppy, and seems to care deeply for her.
- He cared about people dying and has tried to do things to prevent it for happening, even if this breaks protocol 3.