Phil's life trajectory has him winning a Nobel prize but a series of unfortunate choices and events had their dreams sucked into a black hole. He luckily was able to get a job at Point University due to the kindness of his old college roommate. He's now teaching intro classes and in his free time he's been exploring the island and noticing some anomalies. He now thinks if he plays his cards right, he can get back on track for that Nobel.