Marill Re-Reads Fear
Here's the stats so far.
Exclaimed Count: 153
Muttered Count: 641
Motto Count: 15
Sexist Crap Count: 32
Jessie's Sin Points: 24
Morgan the Sue Count: 7
Seven Dies Count: 5
Here I go again, reviewing an oldie instead of rebooting them. Honestly at this point I'm eager to get these done. Yeah the remaining episodes are close to being rebooted and should be looked at again (I've already done something with World Domination and reread Prepare For Trouble yonks ago), but these re-reads have helped me figure out just how much I'll need to do.
Upendi for example has turned into a half new, half edit into a mostly new rewrite. Muse I already knew was being blitzed, but it's always nice to know it wasn't paranoia fueling that. Too Q might be the only one truly salvaged so far, even Fair Haven didn't have much usable material in it.
I can see Fear being a bit hit and miss to be honest, I remember both positive and negative things about it. Since it's merged with Muse and Fair Haven, it'll be interesting to see if one of the trio can make it into the Reboot season in a bigger piece. It'd be nice, I don't fancy having to write this one from scratch either.
It's World Domination's eve so that's got to be a positive on its own right? Even if it's terrible you'll move onto the next one and instantly forgive it for absolutely any crime it committed. TRUST ME. Let's do this!
##############
"What video?" Morgan muttered as she drank her Cherry Coke. Tani and Craig were sitting with her, bored to tears. Tom was holding a futuristic video camera.
"Well do you remember your mum's birthday party a month ago?" Tom asked.
OHNO, not off to a good start. Why would you show Morgan and Tani this you pervert! They're kids!
*Flashback*
The song 'Buzz' by Steps was on. Most of the people in the room were drunk. Morgan was sitting at the table with an angel ring around her head, totally sober."Come on Morgan, lets go and wreck Tom's quarters," Tani said in a slurry voice.
"No thanks, that's horrible," Morgan said politely.
"Okay then," Tani said and she 'walked' away.
pfft snigger, good one!
"Er Morgan, that story was not accurate," Tani groaned.
"In what way was it not accurate?" Morgan asked.
"It was a load of bulls***!" Tani snapped.
Touché
I'm convinced, great reasoning
"Yeah, you an angel.. wait a minute. Did Tani really wreck my quarters?" Tom asked.
"She's my angel," Craig said in a dreamy voice.
"Oh great, he's turned back to normal Craig," Morgan groaned.
"Wow, he was normal for one entire episode," Tani said.
???
Did you forget his YAY I HAVE A KID WITH MORGAN bit in the last one? And the SHE'S THE LURVE OF MY LIFE after confessing that he knew he didn't have a shot.
Clearly
"I'll get the Fair Haven program on again," Tom said.
Everyone but Morgan, Craig and Tani rushed out of the room in panic.
Beat me to it
"Er Tom, what were you going to say about the party?" Tani asked.
"Oh yeah. I filmed bits of the party right, and I've finally got the video up and running because somebody smashed it on the same night," Tom said.
Somebody
I hope it is one of the two people I'm thinking of
"Must of been when I.. er Tani wrecked your quarters," Morgan muttered.
Haha, oh Morgan you little scamp. Never change (I know you won't, I remember a certain Season Three scene very well)
"Yeah. So, what's on the vid?" Craig asked.
"I'll show you when our dear sober Jessie and James come," Tom said. Right on cue the pair walked into the empty mess hall.
Sigh, I was right
Of course I was right
Isn't it bad enough that he filmed it, maybe watched it himself and wanted to show them? Now he wants to show their friends. wtfwhyyyyyyyyyy??
"Where's everyone gone?" James asked.
"Tom must of been threatening everyone with that Fair Haven program again," Jessie muttered.
I'm sure Neelix is thrilled it isn't his cooking that's the butt of the joke at the moment
"Oh hi guys. Guess what, I've got this video of the Captain's birthday party," Tom said.
"That must of been the scare," James muttered.
LOL
I don't know exactly what he's insinuating, but laughing anyway at the numerous possibilities.
"Shut up! Anyway, a few of you are the stars, so are you coming to watch?" Tom asked.
"There's nothing to worry about. I've never touched a drink since Tom's Fair Hell," Jessie said.
Sigh
Are you even giving them a choice?
Can they decide if their friends can watch or not?
I know Jessie (and James) didn't intend to get drunk but surely they'd remember, or more accurately not remember the rest of the night.
The Bridge, ten minutes later:
"Where's Tom?" Kathryn asked.
"I dunno," Harry muttered.
RIP Tom, we knew you too much
"Have you guys seen Tom?" Chakotay asked.
"Yeah actually," James muttered. Morgan and Craig burst out laughing.
"Last time I saw him he was lying in Sickbay," Jessie said angrily.
Ooops, my picture posting was premature.
"Jessie, don't tell me you've been beating him up again," Kathryn said.
"It's gone public," Morgan muttered.
Haha bless you Morgan, I'm now imagining a beat up Tom pile up
"He video taped the Captain's birthday party," Morgan replied.
"No wonder I couldn't remember what happened in the party. That jerk spiked the Cherry Coke," Jessie muttered.
I can think of a better name
"I hate to interrupt but there's a strange ship heading our way," Harry said.
"On screen," Kathryn ordered. The flying through space screensaver was on. A mouse cursor started moving around and a little box appeared.
"Oh s***! Who put the password on?" Chakotay asked.
And it begins
The probably only original part of this storyline
Trivia Time!: Long ago when I was only planning and writing very little Kidz Trek, I got into Voyager and then quickly grew interested in J/C. I don't remember how I did it, but I stumbled onto J/C fanfiction. I never knew about fanfiction full stop and was instantly obsessed with this newfound goldmine.
Not all were great. I've accidentally stumbled onto R rated ones where I didn't know what the R meant. I've seen some stuff, let me tell you! But the notable one was one of my firsts' Obli De Obli Dah (I cannot recall the spelling). It had two sequels so that kept me busy for a while.
As you may or may not know, J/C fanfiction was the initial driving factor for starting Fifth Voyager. So yeah I'm thankful to the writer of the above fics (and Eidolon, that one was awesomely tense, loved it). Anyway I liked the basic premise of Obli De's first sequel The Greatest Fear. It has been a very long time, I printed it out luckily as I cannot find it online, not that I can literally find my copy but still.
To be honest my memory may be playing tricks but Season Five's Parental Advisory may have unintentionally more in common with Greatest Fear, but anyway Fear was meant to be some sort of tribute (you can say ripoff if you'd like) to the story that helped give me inspiration all those years ago.
"Well put in the password," Chakotay said.
"I can't, I was hyper at the time and I can't remember the password," Kathryn muttered.
Oh we've all been there
It's probably coffee
Oh wait post Voyager Conspiracy Season One. Cherry Coke's the password
"Shields to full!" Kathryn ordered.
"I can't, somebody has put the password on my screensaver too," Tuvok said.
That was very fast or you've been doing nothing for five/ten minutes, no wonder you didn't see the ships coming.
"For crying out loud! Why did you let the screensaver come on?" Chakotay yelled.
"The writers had to think of some way for the aliens to break through the shields," Tuvok replied.
OR THAT
"At least they're thinking up new ideas," Craig muttered.
"Yeah and they're terrible," Morgan groaned.
OH SNAP you're so right
"I think our shields are down," Tuvok said.
"How did you figure that out?" Chakotay asked.
"Well my computer without the screensaver said that we have intruders on deck eleven to fifteen," Tuvok replied.
Hey, here's an idea. Redirect stuff. Thank me later
Tom, with several cuts and bruises, ran onto the Bridge followed by the Doctor.
"Captain what's going on? Why has my computer gone on the screensaver," the Doctor asked. Kathryn looked innocent.
WOW she gets around lol
"You don't want to know, Doc. Tuvok get security down to those decks," Chakotay said. Tuvok nodded and he left the Bridge.
"Craig, you can take tactical. And get that bloody screensaver off!" Chakotay yelled.
I have a better idea, get James to do it. Hacker. Or has that been forgotten?
"The aliens have breached Engineering," Harry said.
"Ohno! B'Elanna's down there," Tom cried.
"I bet we all wish it was the other way round," James muttered.
lol, that would be a much better episode.
"Tom, join Tuvok in Engineering," Kathryn ordered. Tom rushed off the Bridge.
"You too Seven," Chakotay said. Seven followed Tom into the turbolift.
Wait, are we doing the dog pile beating up of Tom after all? GET THE CAMERA
"Their shields aren't working either, looks like they've got the screensaver problem. Their weapons and transporters are offline," Harry said.
LOL WHUT? WHY?
"How many people have they got on our ship, Craig?" Kathryn asked.
"About one hundred and twenty," Craig muttered.
Pfft no problem, we outnumber them!
"Naomi, where is this shuttlebay? I wanna play with the Delta Flyer," Kiara moaned as she and Naomi were running through the corridors. They reached the shuttlebay doors.
Tom: *ears twitch violently, starts sweating*
"Here," Naomi muttered. The door opened and they screamed. Three big alien blokes were staring down at them holding phaser rifles.
"Come with us," one of them said. The other two grabbed the two girl's arms and they all disappeared back into the shuttlebay.
Phew, lucky those bad guy aliens were there, huh? That could've been bad
"Hahahaha, look at that one, she has funny markings on her head," an alien laughed.
"Haha, you've got dirt marks on your face," B'Elanna muttered angrily.
HAHAHAHA RACISM but thrown in its face like it belongs
THOUGH I DON'T GET THE DIRT MARKS PART, NO ONE'S DESCRIBED THE ALIENS YET. ALL WE KNOW IS THREE OF THEM ARE BIG
"Hahaha, put her with the others," the alien muttered. Another alien grabbed B'Elanna by her arms and he dragged her to where the other staff were being held hostage.
Despite the lame racist insult, I like the exchange.
"Have you found a good place for prison?" the alien replied.
"Yes, I've found a shuttle bay and a cargo area."
"Set up everything in the cargo area," Xan said.
OH GOD, THIS IS BAD. PEOPLE ARE EITHER GOING TO DIE FROM LEOLA ROOT POISON OR SEVEN WHINING ABOUT HER ROOM. IT'S HORRIBLE
"You may proceed to the ninth deck," Xan said. An alien woman walked up to Xan.
"Xan, should I go now," she asked.
"That would be a good idea. You can start with these people," Xan replied. The woman nodded. She walked out of Engineering. The other aliens dragged everyone to their feet and they pushed them out of Engineering.
I dunno, I think setting up shop in an important place like Engineering is a much better plan than the Cargo Bay. tut
"Captain, Engineering has been taken over," Tuvok said.
"How many main characters have been taken?" Kathryn asked.
"Hmm, B'Elanna & Triah were in Engineering, so that's two," Seven said.
Ohnoes, you know things are bleak when the people taken hostage have names. Screw those other guys
"Tom disappeared, so that's three. Nobody has seen Kiara and Naomi yet so that's five all together," Tuvok replied.
"Damn, five out of seventeen. Wait a minute, where is Tani and Neelix?" Chakotay asked
1) SEVENTEEN
2) I LOVE HOW CONCERNED HE IS ABOUT KIARA, NOT
3) SEVENTEEN
And there's still two more to go. I'm so glad I narrowed down the main extra cast to 6 (Morgan, James, Jessie, Craig, Kiara and Damien). It's never more than 15 which is still bad I know, but SEVENTEEN when there's Lilly, Emma, Bryan and Duncan yet to join. And that's only Season Two.
"Er make that seven," Seven said.
"Neelix should be still in the Mess Hall hiding in his kitchen," Jessie said.
"Why do you think that?" Kathryn asked.
He should??? Did I miss something?
"Fair Haven scares the s**t out of people, everyone who was in the Mess Hall when Tom mentioned it are still hiding in their quarters," Jessie replied.
Jesus, what other YOU MUST KISS THIS PERSON NOW, I HAVE CHOSEN style chatshows has Tom subjected everyone to? Why is it still called Fair Haven? Or am I just thinking about the original program. Could be either.
But lol that Neelix didn't run out, despite the narrative saying everyone else did, but instead hid in his kitchen.
"You two go and find out where the aliens are keeping the main characters, er I mean the crew that have been taken captive," Kathryn ordered.
"And don't make it eight," Chakotay said. Both of them nodded and they left the Bridge.
Which both of them?
It's Seven and Tuvok, I know because I remember a later scene with Jessie and so I'd know there'd be a reaction here if it were.
But hey, a first time reader won't. The last two to speak are Tuvok and Jessie. Both could mean any combination.
"Oh god, what will happen if the aliens got a hold of all seventeen of us?" Morgan asked.
"There would be no main cast to rescue us so convenient guest stars would have to rescue us," Harry replied. Everyone shuddered in fear.
NAOMI TO THE RESCUE
WAIT, IS SHE A MC YET?
DAMN IT SHE WAS COUNTED HERE, SO YEP
Ensign Thingymajig will save us
"We're never going to have an episode like 'Basics' again," Kathryn said.
Ah yeah, I didn't used to like Basics. It's been a while, I forgot.
"Who should we take first?" the woman asked.
"I don't know Pearla, all of them look like they'll be fun to torture," Makinan replied.
Back up a step
Pearla? I used this name again without realising it in Season Five. Even if Pearla was a shortened nickname version of her full name, not good.
Over 200 episodes, I'm bound to repeat a few names, even with aliens. Sotjin from S2's Disconnected and Shoytin from S5 was the best one. At least Shoytin had some depth to him, you know reasons for why he turned into a villain. Shoytin>Sotjin.
Anyways torture, that's badder.
"I pick the one with the scruffy short blondish hair," Pearla said.
"Which one?" Makinan asked.
"There is only three main characters with scruffy short blondish hair and we only have one of them here," Pearla said angrily.
YEAH MAKINAN, STOP BEING SO PICKY
He grabbed Tom's arm and he dragged him with him. Pearla followed them to a little section of the cargo bay that was out of sight.
Oh boy, karma time
Nah, it's only karma time if James and Jessie smack him around and/or film him doing something embarrassing (on his own free will, I draw the line at them doing the exact thing he did).
They now had a surgery bed there with lots of strange equipment near by. Makinan strapped Tom to the bed. Pearla picked up a strange needle.
That was quick.
I bet this is Seven's cargo bay. She did get more and more mechanical every season, this may explain why
"Here you go cutie," she said as she injected the needle into Tom's arm. He screamed in pain. "That acid will hurt for a little while. Now what should I use," Pearla muttered as she looked at her equipment.
OH GOD I WAS ONLY JOKING
She picked up a strange knife. She stared at it for a couple of seconds and she dropped it. It's point landed right in Tom's hand. "Ooops," she muttered. She picked the knife back up and she rested it on Tom's cheek.
Okay so I knew Tom was being an insufferable piece of s$$$, it was done on purpose so he'd be chosen for this scene, it wasn't something I wrote naively as a joke? No way. It's the only explanation for this.
"Sorry about that sweet cheeks. Speaking of cheeks," she muttered. She slit his cheek with the knife. Blood started pouring from his cheek. "Now, you will tell me the password for this screensaver of yours or you'll have a lot more than a cut on your face," she said.
There's a lot of (S1) detail for a torture scene. Good lord.
I dunno if I like this or not, conflicted.
Somewhere safe on Voyager:
"Why are you being nasty to my Tommy?" Togepi asked.
"Cos it's fun," Raichu replied with an evil grin on her face.
Well that was easy, went straight into dislike in a flash
"What are you up to then you boring people?" Nichola asked.
"We're not boring, we're kinda hyper actually," Raichu said.
Um
"You call that nasty?" Nichola asked as she read the torture scene.
"Well we have to keep it a PG or 12," Marill muttered.
UM?
He had acid injected into him
His cheek sliced open
A knife dropped into his hand
THIS IS THE TAMER VERSION?
"Oh well, I'd better go, younger ones, I shall bother you no more," Nichola said.
"Are you going to torture my Tommy anymore?" Togepi asked.
"Why do you want more?" Marill asked.
"No!" Togepi screamed as Raichu and Marill burst into evil laughter. Well more like hyper laughter.
What was the point of that?
Oh and while we're on the Nichola subject. Previous episode had school friend Nicola appear on the Bridge for the Pokémon James scene, and this has sister Nichola appear to complain the torture isn't bloody enough.
Isn't that a bit confusing? I know real people, can't change their names. You know cos Marill, Firera and Raichu are totally legit names.
"Seven and Tuvok have been captured," Harry said.
"Damn! How did you find out," Kathryn asked.
"It's just another hunch," Harry replied.
Oh I'm sure Seven will be captured. That torture scene was made for her.
"No it doesn't. Anyway, if we can get transporters online we can transport the entire alien crew back onto their ship," Chakotay said.
"Probably by the time we get transporters online their shields will be working," Jessie said.
Wait did I miss the part where transporters had a screensaver password?
I still don't get what happened to the alien ship.
"Anyway the only way we can get transporters online is to get to Engineering. These damn screensavers seem to have overthrown the ship," Craig said.
Well that's one question answered.
"Hmm, do we have any volunteers?" Chakotay asked.
"Volunteers for what?" Kathryn asked.
"Volunteers for a dangerous mission to gain control of Engineering," Chakotay replied.
So there are still aliens in Engineering? It wasn't clear, or very smart.
"I volunteer, I'm going crazy because of the screensaver on the viewscreen," Harry said.
"I volunteer as well," Craig said boldly.
Oh look, another Craig is brave despite terrible odds moment.
Morgan's there so I don't take much stock in it.
"Great, we'll get some weapons from the locker," Chakotay said. He, Harry & Craig left the Bridge.
"Looks like it's eleven," Morgan muttered.
Hmm I wonder how many MCs, and who they are, will be left by the end.
HMMMMMMMMMMMM
Chakotay, Harry & Craig waited around a corner. Other people that weren't on the guest star list waited behind them. There were about six aliens hanging around with phaser rifles.
"Now," Chakotay whispered. Everyone jumped out and started shooting. The aliens started shooting back extremely quickly. Three of the aliens went down. The gueststars went down quickly. There were only three of them left.
Well I saw a big couple of paragraphs and expected a touch of detail. NOPE
"Ooh, some more main characters, lets get em!" one alien said. They all fired at once at the three main characters. After a few shots Harry and Craig were lying unconscious on the floor. The three guest stars ran away in fear.
WELL DONE HARRY AND CRAIG, chumps
A sincere well done to the three guest stars for surviving the episode though. An episode where the point is the main characters are "slowly" kidnapped down to nearly nothing but hey!
"Damn, who couldn't tell that this was coming?" Chakotay asked. The aliens shot at him and he fell to the ground.
WELL DONE CHAKOTAY, chump
Could've ran off with the guest stars. Nope stood there and made a joke. Hope it was worth it. Hint it wasn't.
Pearla and Makinan dragged Tom from their torture bed and they dumped him on the floor. He had severe cuts all over his body, his hand a severe hole where the knife stabbed him. B'Elanna rushed over to Tom.
"What the hell have you done to him?" B'Elanna asked angrily
I wanted retribution, not like this, not like this
"Maybe we should try one of the new characters. We've had one original character," Makinan said.
"Good idea, I'll have that girl with the short hair," Pearla said as she pointed at Tani.
"Oh s**t!" Tani muttered as Makinan dragged her to her feet.
BUT SEVEN IS RIGHT THERE (this is definitely pre-C/7)
WHAT HAS TANI DONE?
TANI'S 16/17, TOM WAS BAD ENOUGH, STAWP
"Only the Captain knows the password, or at least she did," Tuvok said.
"That's just great," Triah muttered.
"Actually it is, those aliens won't be able to crack the password on their own," B'Elanna said.
Tom: *convulses and dies from blood loss*
B'Elanna: I'm glad you agree
"Don't worry, I'm sure the Captain will be able to think up a plan to get the ship back," B'Elanna said.
The Bridge:
"Any ideas?" Kathryn asked.
ANYONE WHO DIDN'T SEE THAT JOKE COMING, GIVE YOURSELF A SLAP IN THE FACE
"Maybe we should send the Doc to Engineering. They won't be able to shoot him because he's a hologram," Jessie said.
"But what about his mobile emitter? Wont they shoot that?" Morgan asked.
"Maybe somebody should go with him to make sure that doesn't happen," James said.
OR people could stop getting shot
Just a thought
"Great, thirteen," Morgan muttered.
"Make that none, I have another idea. We can send the Doctor down there with at least two escorts..."
who said that?
"Fourteen down three to go," Morgan muttered.
"Shut up! Anyway while they create a distraction, the rest of us sneak into Engineering to get the transporters online," Kathryn said.
Yes Morgan, we get the episode's gimmick. I'm sure people can keep count
Oh god, the Doctor's gonna do a dance or tell the aliens they need an analgesic cream. He's gonna sing a Pokémon song, isn't he?
Everyone jumped when they heard a bang coming from the turbolift. The door started to open but it got stuck.
"Help! The screensaver's on," Neelix's voice yelled. Morgan and Kathryn walked over to the door and they managed to pull it open. Neelix stepped out. "What on earth is going on, Captain?" Neelix asked.
There's a screensaver
on the turbolift door?
WHAT?
"I just thought of something. Wont the screensavers be on in Engineering?" Morgan asked. Everyone stared oddly at her.
"I doubt it. The writers are in a hurry and they haven't got time to write a good plot. Anyway even if the screensavers are on the Captain will probably conveniently remember the password," Jessie said.
Yeah true, the writer's plots are usually so intricate and clever, we can let her have this one... PFFFTHAHAHAHAHA SERIOUSLY, WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME THERE WAS A PLOT THAT WAS UNINTERRUPTED AND GOOD AT THE SAME TIME?
"That's right. Welcome to the unsophisticated world of Fifth Voyager," Kathryn said.
"Hmm, sometimes it is handy to be in this dodgy show," Morgan muttered.
Indeed. Surely someone's tried Cherry Coke or coffee by now
"Now that we've got that settled who will be the Doctor's escorts?" Kathryn asked.
"Which is less dangerous?" James asked.
"The escorting," Morgan lied.
"We'll do that, right Jess," James said.
"Yep. We'll be safe while you suckers get hurt," Jessie replied.
We've come a long way, ladies and gents. A looooooooooong way
"Crewman, Ensign. I think you've both been tricked," the Doctor whispered. The pair glanced at each other.
SHHHH
It'd be funnier if they remained unaware. That'll teach them for being out of character again, ffs
After only twenty minutes most of the main cast were lying or sitting with severe cuts and stab wounds. Pearla was looking a little ticked off.
"You would think that they would of cracked by now!" Pearla moaned.
Good lord, she tortured the whole cast
Hopefully not Kiara and Naomi, right
"Maybe we need some cowards, is there any in the main cast?" Makinan asked.
ohno
"Supposable there are two that are as cowardly as two to five year old kids," Pearla replied.
lol supposable
I always spelt supposedly wrong, but I figured I had already find/replaced it with the correct one. MISSED ONE SOMEHOW
Though the most offensive part is James and Jessie are back to being cowards just for this. And I hope it wasn't for the sake of the title.
"No, I do not torture kids. Anyway I'm sure that these two crewman are not kids," Pearla replied.
"I wonder who that could be," Tom muttered.
i can't even be bothered to hold shift for this crap
"Why did we have to get suckered into doing this," James muttered as he, Jessie and the Doctor walked down the corridor. Both were on the Doctor's right side, covering the emitter.
"Because Morgan is a b**ch, that's why, she'll be dead when this is all over," Jessie muttered
James: are you still drunk? did the video kill your braincells?
Jessie: guess what
Jessie's Sin Points: +1
Stop threatening to kill kids. This is your last warning.
"Would you two keep it down, the aliens will know we're here before we get to Engineering," the Doctor muttered.
"Hey Doc, you would look great in a Teletubbie costume," James said.
Good god, he's right. STFU
The Jeffries Tube nearby Engineering:
"Why are we using the Doc as a distraction for, we're already inside Engineering," Neelix asked.
"We're not inside yet. Besides the Doc will distract the people inside Engineering so we can get in un noticed," Kathryn replied.
It doesn't matter, we all know what's going to go down. Pearla will be struggling to decide who to torture and...
wait weren't they in the Cargo Bay? When they ran out of people to torture did they come back to Engineering? I'm so lost, and tired. Which may explain it.
anyway, they'll be dipping on who to torture while James and Jessie do the classic Team Rocket fear hug, after shoving the Doctor at them first. Janeway will order a drink from the replicator, the computer overhears the password and viola computers are back. Aliens are beamed back and Voyager skedaddles. Episode ends with Tom putting the make out video on everyone's monitors.
"That's heavily guarded? I'd love to know what lightly guarded is," James muttered. There was only one guard outside Engineering's door.
Oh, so they aren't in Engineering. The remaining MCs just don't know they moved to Cargo Bay for torture sessions.
"This shouldn't be too hard," Jessie said and she fired her phaser at the guard. He fell to the ground. The three walked into the room and several aliens were waiting for them inside. All of them were aiming phaser rifles at them.
I'm sure Pearla will show up soon, her coward detector will be ringing.
"Is it too late to back off?" James asked.
"I wish it wasn't," Jessie muttered. The Doctor rolled his eyes at them.
TELL ME ABOUT IT DOC
Pearla & Makinan walked in between the aliens.
"So you think these are them Makinan?" Pearla asked.
"Dunno," Makinan muttered.
OH, DAMN THIS EPISODE. I KNEW I SHOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN MY HOPES UP THERE
"Take them away. We haven't got much time so you can interrogate the girl and I'll have this cutie," Pearla said.
Ok now James will have his panic mode activated, at least that's consistent.
This woman really disturbs me though. Does she call every guy she tortures cutey?
"Get into his matrix. He may have the password in his memory banks," Pearla replied.
"Er you can't do that because.. er," Jessie stuttered.
"Because he's rigged to explode," James said quickly. The Doctor groaned.
Or he doesn't know the password?
I like to know how a hologram can blow up. Is his safeties off?
"Oh, you people are far more intelligent than I thought. Tell me cutie, how do I disable the bomb," Pearla asked.
"Miss, who are you talking too. I hope it's not the Doc," James said as he glanced around the room.
When I read this I picture James as a five year old kid talking to his teacher. Though in his defence cutie is a weird word to use on any adult.
"You darling," Pearla replied. What she didn't know was that Kathryn, Morgan and Neelix had snuck in behind their backs and they were fiddling with a console.
Ok forget the Doctor, Jessie will save everyone by going into a jealous rage in 5,4,3,2...
"You can't disable the bomb, it'll stay there until it explodes," Jessie said.
Perhaps not.
"Didn't you hear me?" Jessie asked angrily.
"Yes dear. Makinan, take her away. Leave me alone with this cutie," Pearla said.
"But you haven't got a weapon," Makinan said.
STOP SAYING CUTIE
"He doesn't strike me as someone who'll use a phaser rifle," Pearla said.
Oh LOL, how times have changed
"Look, if he stays, I stay," Jessie said as Makinan took away her rifle and put it on the console.
Jessie lets him take her weapon, allowing him to drag her away. Whether he has a weapon or not that's laughable. Does she do anything in character in this episode?
Meanwhile Kathryn was close to hitting the computer.
"This bloody screensaver is getting on my wick!" Kathryn whispered.
So it's not coffee then? How odd
"BINGO! I've just remembered the password!" Kathryn loudly blurted out. The aliens turned around quickly.
"Uhoh, now you've done it mum," Morgan groaned.
Well you did sorta predict this, reap what you sow
"Er.. mum, we didn't bring any weapons," Morgan muttered.
"Why not?" Kathryn asked.
"We didn't feel it was necessary," Neelix replied. The aliens headed towards the three while Makinan kept a tight hold on Jessie.
James meanwhile stands there, still wondering who Pearla was talking to
"I'm going as fast as I can," Kathryn said. She tapped into the transporters. Suddenly Pearla fell to the ground. Makinan and Jessie just stared at her in shock.
Um, what?
"Er.. who did that?" Makinan asked. He and Jessie looked over to James who was looking rather guilty
No seriously, what?
"You b****rd! You killed her!" Makinan yelled. With his other arm he aimed his phaser rifle at him.
WHAT?
Suddenly he felt a small phaser at his own head.
"Don't even think about it fatty," Jessie said. She pressed the button on the phaser and Makinan fell to the floor.
Well um, that happened.
"Jess, where did you get that phaser from?" James asked. She looked at the Doctor.
"You think that I would come unarmed?" the Doctor asked
I'm so confused.
Didn't she already use a phaser at the start of this? Why did she bring two?
"I got it, energising," Kathryn said happily. Suddenly all the aliens including Pearla and Makinan beamed away.
"I think we'd better get back to the Bridge and get tactical back online," Morgan said.
"It'd be quicker if you told us the password," the Doctor said.
That's the only good idea I've read so far
"It was Janeway," Kathryn said happily
Okay, did not see that one coming. kudos
I didn't see many things coming. So much for predictability.
If James was gonna shoot anyone, I figured it would be Makinan because of Jessie. Not that I expected him to shoot anyone, the standing around comment was typed in ignorance. As for Jessie same, but characters reversed.
What the f$$$ happened?
Oh and it's a lot earlier than I thought but
James Kill Count: 1 (Spoilers: once earlier ones are mentioned/flashbacked, sure I'll add them. A certain infamous 2 shouldn't be known and prequels forget about it)
Jessie should have one, but she has a sin counter. As Spiderman always says, everyone gets one.
I dunno if I should bother with this, I don't expect anymore for Season One. Only fair I start here since I had completely forgotten about it and don't want to again. Now future material is completely ruined since because I did, the characters don't remember it and it isn't counted. Yeah she's a ruthless torturer but it still counts.
I'm not done here. Why did James shoot Pearla? Don't think she did anything to Jessie. Only Makinan was still around, everyone else but him were going towards Janeway and co. I get why he didn't shoot Makinan, a touch risky if Jessie's in the way. I figured if he was gonna do something, it'd be after he'd let go of her. I expected Jessie to react to Pearla more than him, and give her a taste of her own medicine. Ironic that Pearla goes down in a sudden second.
Maybe James is really sick of girls hitting on him. Be afraid, be very afraid girls. It's always the ones that seem soft and childlike that turn out to be unhinged sociopathic killers. Notice how normal he is afterwards. Killing her was nothing to him (clearly since he never mentions it again, and trust me, he talks about his kills a lot, which is why I'm mad I forgot about her).
Did Jessie kill Makinan? Doubtful, the Doc's phaser wouldn't have been on kill. James though, well...
Oh yeah I almost forgot in my ramblings
Truly deserved. Pearla was a piece of work.
After the "omg which is least dangerous, we'll do that one suckers" and the torture the coward talk, I wasn't expecting anything like this. Bravo Fear for pulling the expectations rug from my feet. Well done indeed.
Captains Log Supplemental: We managed to defeat our alien captives and we're taking them back to their homeworld for punishment. Right now everyone is disabling the screensaver option on the main computer.
Makinan and Pearla were beamed away as well. I figured Makinan survived anyway because of the reason above, but did Pearla? I guess we'll never know and it's something I'll have to decide during its reboot. Since it means changing four seasons worth of heavy material, I'm leaning more towards her living. I don't think she ever was meant to be a part of James' "darkside" path, or I would've remembered her.
Tom rushed onto the Bridge holding a video.
"Ohno, not again," Jessie groaned.
"Okay, who wants to see what happened at the Captain's birthday party?" Tom asked.
DEAR GOD NO
At least I sorta predicted this part. Yay for me?
A tricorder was thrown into his face and he fell to the ground. Everyone looked Jessie and James' way.
"What?" they both said innocently.
YAY TRICORDER ATTACKS
And yah innocently, James at least can no longer use that. We've seen the true him now.
##############
Well let's see how everything tallies up.
Negatives:
1) Why the hell is Tom so obsessed with showing other people footage or should I say proof that he spiked J/J's drinks so they'd smooch? No wonder the thing happens and gets out of hand in Season Two, who can blame them when he does things like this?
2) The ohnoes the main characters are quickly dwindling down to nothing because of being kidnapped, tortured and hostaged gimmick was fine, but Morgan's keeping track of them jokes were more annoying than anything else.
3) I like the screensaver gimmick but I don't get how it spread across the ship. Does Voyager only run on one Operating System, one monitor. I know it's a joke and I'm taking it seriously, I just think it'd be funnier if it did the same thing but made sense.
4) What happened to the alien ship? Why was it shut down? For that matter, what did they want with Voyager? Was that why, because their ship was dying? The villains are pretty one dimensional, have no motive and its why I consider the password the main villain of the episode over them.
5) During this whole mess with an unknown password and a screensaver virus, not one person suggests James. He doesn't even suggest James. Has his hacking abilities been forgotten like his Pearla kill?
6) Kiara and Naomi get kidnapped because Kiara wants to take the Flyer for a spin? I don't remember seeing her in ages and this is what we get? So weird. She's a mischievous kid but that's a step too far IMO.
7) The locations are a bit confusing. They capture Engineering, go to Cargo Bay once their hostages pile up and remain there for a while, torturing them. Then they're in Engineering, which has one guard making people think they're still in the Cargo Bay, for the final showdown.
8) Yeh Tom deserves a little something for his behaviour lately, the torture scene wasn't it. Was it there so we wouldn't give a crap when James casually shot Pearla dead for calling him cutie? NO I WON'T GET OVER THAT.
BUT, that isn't the negative part. See Positives for why. I object more to torturing most of the main cast, seemingly and probably the same way before the remaining lot come to the rescue. That's a lot of people in such a short space of time, and unnecessarily OTT.
9) Writers intermission. If this was a TV show it'd be the moment people could go for a coffee/toilet break if they forgot during the adverts.
10) Why did James and Jessie regress any character development they've had to turn into snivelling and self centred cowards? Not only do they pick the safest option, or they try to, but they gloat in the face of 16 year old Morgan getting the dangerous one.
Yeah that later scene in Engineering shocked me, but I really doubt I did the coward bit for that purpose. It's jarring, but at the same time shockingly effective and I'm tempted to use something like it again. Still a negative as I refuse to believe it was intentionally done this way.
Positives:
1) Morgan once more pins the blame for her mischievous ways on Tani, in a flashback that made me smile briefly. This is the Morgan I want to see more of, less Upendi Morgan please.
2) I've always liked the silly gimmick of the screensaver password being the main antagonist of the episode, and the aliens being more of a secondary one. At least that's how I imagine the rebooted version will be, cough. I also like how the obvious passwords weren't used. I mean it is an easy password, but its the kind you'd kick yourself over after remembering it.
3) The torture scene, wow. It isn't rushed, it's detailed, it's ironically not painful to read, and you know what, despite what I said it does kinda work with Tom's behaviour lately but not in a karma, that'll teach him way. I didn't think that when I read it, I had sympathy for him. I hadn't forgotten the stuff he's done, but I was able to feel sorry for him in spite of that. I personally think this is a good thing to do in fiction.
The torture of other characters wasn't necessary and I think there's a reason Tom's was the only one shown.
Nicely done for Season One.
4) I'm probably the only one who found it funny that three redshirts ran away and survived the attack on Engineering, while three MC's were shot down like chumps. Yeah it's because of the MC are taken down gimmick of the episode but it still tickled me.
5) There's been hints now and then building up throughout the season, I really thought it wouldn't be until Season Two but here James shows us who he is really behind that weird inconsistent mask he's had throughout the season. Or more accurately he's slipping gradually into his Season 2+ persona and starting his entire series character arc. He'll get s$$$ done, he'll kill if he has to and he does it so effortlessly, and doesn't act like it's a big deal.
I'm actually glad this is here. What Season Two's example of this did wrong (of course this is when I thought Season One didn't do anything such as the shooting of Pearla) was people were not shocked. By then everyone were acting as if this was James all along. This re-read has shown me that it wasn't THAT sudden, though I know it still was. People still think of him as the useless wuss here, but that was before this scene.
Sure he only used a phaser, it's the intent though. If he had shot Makinan because he grabbed Jessie, it wouldn't be such a big deal. It's typical of him, so many examples in Season One alone of him rescuing Jessie. But no he shot and killed Pearla, who was the biggest threat of the aliens and was not interested in Jessie whatsoever.
I think this is something I like more here in the original Season One than in the Reboot. I know! If I had written Reboot One with James acting disinterested, even meek sometimes, make him seem useless and then keep the same badass moments in original One it'd be super effective. New readers will get brief tastes, hints that there's more to him but no idea what, then this happens in Muse In Fear Haven and bam, "what the hell is this character all about?" And that's before Season Two's triple whammy head turn.
Yeah I know I think about this too much. Next to Morgan, James' character arc is the work I'm the most proud of. Any opportunity to make it better would be like giving me a bigger glass to pour Cherry Coke in. Give it to me.
To be fair I was sorta doing this in Reboot One anyway. I just don't think I pulled it off too well and in later episodes I've been far less subtle. Oh well.
6) The episode and especially Morgan kept predicting the most obvious outcome. Oh two more will be kidnapped, Janeway will remember the password blah blah, James & Jessie are cowards and the aliens want one to torture. I was expecting a pretty lacklustre and predictable finale. I didn't get that and unlike the coward bit, I think that was done on purpose. It shocked me and considering that FV is very predictable, and that it only shocks me in a bad way, it was a pleasant change of pace.
Marill's Rating: 6/10
Exclaimed Count: 0 (153)
Muttered Count: 50 (691)
Motto Count: 0 (15)
Sexist Crap Count: 0 (32)
Jessie's Sin Points: Earned 1, Lost 0 (25)
Morgan the Sue Count: 0 (7)
Seven Dies Count: 0 (5) This one shocked me, though a lot of Fear shocked me, as it seemed obvious her torture would be seen (she must have been, the scene says Pearla tried everyone). If it isn't written, it didn't happen. I guess I have to remember these episodes were written earlier than some of the ones before and likely before C/7 was common or any knowledge.
James Kill Count: 1 (1)