Marill Re-Reads "Only In My Dreams"

Oh lookie another song title. Don't worry there's one more, and kinda another one slightly altered and we're onto "normal" titles for a one or two. Sigh.

Back to this episode. I was very surprised that events I thought happened here, actually happened in the last one. Though thinking on it I get why. Only In My Dreams is similar to it in a lot of ways, very easy mistake to make. Apart from that I do remember more of it than I do the last one, and I remember it being more than ok. Like 30/40% ok. We'll see.

I haven't made any guesses in quite a while, so with only four left until the overall ranking I like to do every ten episodes, here's the next four before we start: Dreams 40%, The Chain Reaction 55%, Friday The Thirteenth 25%, The Secret of Malain 30%.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh look guys it's Annika!

Annika stepped through the main door, the room was rather quiet. There were only an odd few people around. She spotted B'Elanna near the warp core, she the headed towards her. As she passed the jeffries tube door she felt dizzy. She stopped and placed her hand on the wall to steady herself. The room seemed to circle around her as she stood.

Dies counter on standby

Then she saw inside the jeffries tube like she was actually inside it herself. She saw a body lying in front of her, still and lifeless.

Those darn red shirts getting in the way of Annika deaths. Booo

This wouldn't be a bad opening if Danny and Lisa weren't randomly arguing after Annika walks out. I mean, I'll hand this one over to the expert.

Duncan: Whhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyy?

Juna's like Quarters (sorry, bad joke):

pfft, you're not sorry!!

Annika runs in and tries to steal one of Lena's classic gimmicks from her Morgan days:

"I went into Engineering, I was really dizzy. Then I was inside the jeffries tube, I saw a dead guy in there. I turned around and I was back in Engineering," Annika replied.

Yes, thank you for that Annika, I never figured that one out.

"Hmm, sounds like to me like you've gained Derna's like power. She used to like see into the past and like future. When a like witch dies her like powers are passed onto someone like else. That Jessie lass like looked like she gained the freeze power off like Tersa," Juna said.

LOL no

but we'll humour her for the moment. Reminder, Derna was the other Hansen sister who created the timeloop bullcrap in Cause & Effect. Tersa pressed pause on a few people.

Okay humoured over. This passing over stuff is ripped off from the Hansens sisters origin show, I believe, so while fine Annika gets the dead leftovers, Jessie really wouldn't since she's thankfully not related to them. All that can be said about hers now was her proximity to her murderous past life.

"Yeah, like just like me. You can like learn new powers.. but like all witches you have to be careful. If you like lose your temper they can like turn evil. Just like those like Slayers do," Juna replied.

Gee thanks for that (also bullcrap) nugget Juna, I don't think we'll need it somehow

"Yeah whatever. I might see if I can learn how to get the writers to like me. I keep getting killed off by them," Annika said just before the nearby wardrobe toppled over and fell on top of her.

Annika Dies Count: +1

You've had a few episodes rest and that was during James' killathon, so count your blessings!

On the doomed island known as Cyprus,

*cough*

Half an hour later:

Huh? I must've hallucinated that writers scene. Oh well, carrying on.

Danny stepped into Engineering, this time no one was around. She made her way further into the room.

"James, have you finished that thing yet?" Danny yelled. There was no reply.

Nothing funky about this, he'll slide in unannounced or something.

"James said he'd finish some work I got stuck on. He said he'd wait for me to come back," Danny replied.

"He went about twenty minutes ago," B'Elanna said.

um Danny? Why do you work in Engineering if you don't know what you're doing. It's not a dumb question, I'm sure when it comes to fixing things, James isn't the first person you think of. Though it is Danny and it was probably something like bending over and picking something up. She wouldn't have left if that was the case. Anyway!

She noticed the jeffries tube door wasn't closed properly. She went over to it. She was just about to close it, but something inside caught her eye. She opened it further and she backed away in horror. "B'Elanna!"

B'Elanna rushed over to the lift. Once it got to ground level, she went over to Danny as quickly as she could. She tapped her commbadge. "Torres to Sickbay. Medical Emergency."

hmmmmmmmm?

We're to assume it's the middle of the night, like morning early

Sickbay, the next day:

"This better be good, I haven't had my morning cup of coffee yet," Kathryn said.

"More like ten," Chakotay muttered.

Oh then whatever this is, it can't be very urgent.

And just noticed, this is mostly Voyager right? *faints*

"You're not going to like it but Threepwood was murdered in Engineering last night," Doctor Jones said.

That's okay, we can always load the last save. Orrrr... he's in the afterlife, solving puzzles to get out and haunt everyone. Good old Guybrush, so resilient.

"I'm going to do a DNA test, just in case any of the wounds weren't inflicted by a weapon. According to the security logs Threepwood's lifesigns disappeared at 0110 hours," Doctor Jones replied.

I wonder how long this test will take? It depends on what the plot says.

Interesting that no one mentions any suspects or anything.

Meanwhile on the Enterprise

Lena was sitting on her chair, Craig was standing nearby in the only clear spot near the desk.

"You know, you can sit down," Lena said.

"I would but it took me less time and effort to get here," Craig said.

I'm sure Picard is rolling in his... vineyard house. I hope he got custody of the fish.

J/C arrive, and we have an exchange I'm convinced was written by a friend

"Hey, I don't moan about your Ready Room," Lena said.

"That's because there's nothing to moan about," Kathryn said.

"Oh really, what about the smell?" Lena asked.

"What small, the room smells beautiful," Kathryn replied.

"Beautiful? It stinks of coffee, it's disgusting," Lena muttered.

It reminds me of how she wrote Janeway, and it's a little funny so.

"Now girls, don't you think we should get on with more important matters," Chakotay said calmly.

"Good point. Lena, put your hair back the way it was. It was black for heaven's sake," Kathryn said.

Sexist Crap Count: +1

Now girrrrls, oh yes the important matter is HAIR

"Oh right. Craig, you and James better get started with the investigation. The murder was at 0110 hours.." Kathryn said.

lol cos it went so well last time

speaking of which, do we have amnesia today?

"Remember, James isn't exactly well enough to deal with another murder. The last one resulted in him turning evil again," Lena said.

"Oh yeah," Kathryn said quietly.

he tried to murder her during the first time he turned, you'd THINK she'd remember something like this

"He can't be fully evil, right. I mean he isn't on a killing spree at this minute in time," Craig said.

Ah yes. When he turned black eyed the last time they stunned him with a phaser and chucked him into the brig. I mean true the forcefield didn't really work for long, STILL, this time Lena let him walk off to pick up his kid and then the episode ended. All we know about what happened after was Danny invited him to Engineering to do her work for her. Or be leered at.

So we'll be taking his word for it, if it weren't for the very recent murder in Engineering.

I mean it's nice they're not jumping to conclusions, Disconnected style. This is the time they really should though.

"He says he's controlling it. If we're not careful with him it'll be the other way round," Lena said.

Again, taking his word for it. Lena said back in New Earth and/or Oasis that black eyed's never stop killing, and yet James is just going by his days like nothing's going on with an occasional telekinetic episode or two. It's interesting is all I'm saying for now.

"He is, but there's a chance that the killer used a weapon to inflict all the wounds, and not touched him at all. In other words, no DNA from the attacker," Kathryn said.

Look I know this, I played Tales of. LeChuck stabbed him. Surely you'd see the stab wound. Goodlord!

"I'll get started then," Craig said. He headed out of the room, he just managed to trip over twice.

My god, a justified just

"I'm sorry Lena, but she is really getting on my nerves now," Chakotay said as he sat down.

"Huh, what's she done?" Lena asked.

"First she wants a divorce, then she carries on like nothing's wrong," Chakotay replied.

Excuuuuuuse me!

This is your daughter, not the f$$$$$ therapist or your mates at the pub.

J/C are the worst (grand)parents ever: +1

Tbf, this was likely written from my experience, I was piggy in the middle so... not saying it doesn't happen, I just standby my points.

"I could tell she wasn't kidding about it. Sure we got married in the stupidest way possible, but it's not a marriage we shouldn't give up. I mean there's a family to keep together," Chakotay said.

"A family that keeps falling apart, I noticed," Lena said.

Can I again remind you that Lena's like 17 years old. No reason.

Chakotay continues to whine like an inc£l, somebody teach her a lesson for rejecting me, WAH

"But dad, aren't you being a bit selfish. I mean she's been through a lot, her son's slowly turning into a psychopath, she had an accidental marriage, not to mention two screwed up engagements. A daughter's appeared out of nowhere, no one knows how.." Lena said.

When your teen daughter who is the spoilt Sue Lena is more mature than you, BE AFRAID

He continues whining about the Yasmin popping up out of nowhere, believing that stupid impregnated by a ghost story from Here & Now. Moron. EVEN BETTER Lena reacts like no one told her about this, and fsrehn46ipyn46eion767

J/C are the worst (grand)parents ever: +1

this goes on a while until he talks himself into agreeing with the divorce

"Dad you said it yourself, we need the marriage to keep this family together," Lena said.

"Yeah we would, if it was together in the first place," Chakotay said.

"You changed your opinion very quickly," Lena muttered.

"I know, that's what worries me," Chakotay said.

Normally this would be typical FV melodramatic nonsense... it still is nonsense of course, but this needs to be remembered for later. unfortunately

Craig was sitting on the sofa reading a PADD. The door chimed. "Come in," he said.

Annika skipped straight in and she sat down on a nearby chair. "Hi pet, how are you doing?" she asked.

Craig decides to do his murder interviews in his own quarters. Again I ask, when was the Security Office "invented" for FV. I'm assuming both ships had one each.

"Oh great, she's hyper," Craig muttered.

"What pet?" Annika said questioningly.

"I said I'm great, a little hyper.

haha, no one will see through that ruse

Annika's smiled faded away, and she looked shocked. "Was he in the jeffries tube?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" Craig asked.

"I saw him in there in a flash forward," Annika replied.

Question. Did you actually see who it was? If you did then, why didn't you at least try to do something? So much for being the solver of episodes, she's losing it.

Annika leaves without dying and replaced with Danny lugging around her exposition script.

"Well, Lisa was trying to sort out a problem for me. She didn't do right and we started arguing. It nearly came to blows, that Security team James is on came in and stopped it. Lisa left with Thompson and Foster. I saw Threepwood talking to B'Elanna. James offered to help me fix the problem I had if I checked on Duncan for him. I checked on Duncan, oh and Ian and the kids. When I got back only B'Elanna was there, that's when I found the body," Danny replied.

Craig proposes to her afterwards. Danny's a little confused, but more than flattered. Thankfully Annika dies outside, interrupting bad things from happening.

Ok no that doesn't happen, I was just trying to avoid reading all that. Nm it's important. And lol Danny and Lisa's bickering in scene 1 was important to the plot, and I laugh a little too hard. I also laugh at Danny's random "I saw Threepwood" sentence in the middle of her story.

"Was Threepwood still in Engineering when you left?" Craig asked.

"I don't know, I wasn't paying attention. I didn't hear the doors, so maybe he was," Danny replied.

See, now this is when you mention the last time you saw him. Not in between "Some of Security dragged Lisa out by her hair" and "James couldn't be arsed to go all the way to the other ship."

"What was the problem you had?" Craig asked.

"Oh just the console was acting up. It wouldn't display the right data," Danny replied.

Interesting question.

I have a feeling it's a good one too. AND the problem actually is something James would be able to fix, sounds like his sorta problem.

Craig realises he needs to talk to B'Elanna and James, and as if on cue

The door chime interrupted his thoughts. "Yeah, come in."

James came in. "Getting anywhere?"

No and he really should've gone to the bathroom before these interviews, now his pants need changing.

"Have you got anywhere with the case. I only just found out that you had already started. No one bothered to tell me," James replied.

AAAH I'M SCARED, EVIL BLACK EYED SLAYERS SO CREEPY

"What because of the last time," James said.

"Yeah, I think," Craig said quietly.

"That's nice. If you need any help, just let me know," James said and he turned to leave.

OMG THE HORROR, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE, RUN CRAIG RUN

erm

yeah, he seems fine. wow

I'm still due a good talking about this Evil storyline. It's too soon though.

"Wait, I need to interview you actually," Craig said quickly.

So close

"You were in Engineering round about the time, I er need to find out what exactly happened between 0100 and 0110 hours," Craig said.

"Ok then," James said.

"Erm, what happened in Engineering?" Craig asked.

He's a natural at this!

Thankfully James's paragraph is smaller than Danny's, and it's pretty much the same.

I fixed the problem in five minutes, then I left," James replied.

So a very easy problem it seems

"You left Engineering straight away?" Craig asked carefully.

"Am I getting accused of murdering Threepwood here?" James asked.

CRAIG RUN YOU FOOL

"Yes I did leave straight away. Only B'Elanna and Threepwood were there when I did," James said.

Interesting. How long was B'Elanna there for after this... I'm curious.

"No, except that he's an annoying little twat and nobody likes him," James replied.

"So everyone has one, right?" Craig asked.

okay, maybe he's not so "fine". What's wrong with Guybrush, he's hilarious

my sarcasm earlier gets ruined

"Yeah, there's always a motive," James replied.

"You would know," Craig muttered.

"Yeah I do know, I mean if someone found you dead the one investigating would go straight to me, I have a few motives for you," James said.

this is totally fine

everything's fine

Craig looked rather uneasy. "Really, we have a good friendship don't we. I really think we should get back to the questions."

"Craig, Craig, why are you scared of me. I'm only having you on," James asked.

LOL yeah Craig, you've been his bestest friend this whole time.

and oh dear James, you don't joke like that sporting black eyes

"I'm not scared of you," Craig replied.

"It seems like you are. I guess you have a good reason too. You accused my sister of going out with me. She dumped you, yet you still flirt and show off for her. There's a part of me that does want to kill you, but I keep that well controlled now," James said.

Craig will need a new sofa after this. It's a bit soggy, and smelly

And yeah RUN BOY RUN, CHANGE YOUR PANTS FIRST IT MIGHT LEAVE A TRAIL, RUN

"Ok, you do realise I was still having you on," James said.

"Yeah, of course I do," Craig said nervously.

"Yeah right," James said and he turned to leave.

OK I BELIEVE YOU

Lena rolled her eyes and she sat down. "Ok, make my day."

"I think we have a suspect," Craig said.

Daw what a clever boy figuring this tricky one out, have a lollipop

Meanwhile Doc steals his thunder with the DNA results, he calls Janeway Senior.

Craig went closer to the sofa. "He wasn't. I can tell when someone hates me. I have a nack for it."

Really, you thought he was being subtle? LOL WHAT A SMART BOY

"Lena, not long ago he accidentally killed Claire and gained those black eyes. Now you're trying to get me to believe that B'Elanna's a more likely suspect than he is," Craig said.

Lena stood up. "He's in control, what could possibly happen that could make him do this?"

Guybrush: *use rubber chicken with pulley in the middle on Cranky Man*

James: er WTF?

Guybrush: I'm selling these fine leather jackets

"Yeah, if I murdered him I wouldn't go giving myself away like that," Lena said.

that's a point

Craig covered his face with his hand and he groaned. "Lena, I don't think he cares if he's caught or not. He didn't care the last time he committed murder, did he?"

that's a better point!

"Probably because it's obvious who it is," Craig replied.

Lena glanced down at the PADD, she looked at it briefly, and she handed it back to Doctor Jones. She turned her back at everyone else, she placed her right hand on her forehead. "What are we going to do?"

I'M SHOCKED, SHOCKED... THAT B'ELANNA WAS ALWAYS IN A BAD MOOD

"Therapy might help, there's a program on the holodeck that I used for Annika. At least there's a better chance of him staying in there than in the brig," Doctor Jones replied.

Ohnoes a prequel retcon. He's "forgotten" he already tried this years ago.

"Didn't we try therapy last time?" Craig asked.

oh

lol, still something to complain about. Doc of all people should remember.

"It's the only way," Kathryn said.

"Is it? Why don't you try getting yourself involved more, I mean this is your fault anyway," Lena said angrily.

DAAAAAAAAAAAM JANEWAY'S BEEN TRUTHED

"Yeah, you should have told him sooner. The reason why he lost control the last time was because he found out at the worst possible time," Lena said.

You know one of my complaints for New Earth was that Lena handled this info far too well. She was ohnoes that incesty moment in Resurrection, and was totally cool with the two parents that lied/misled her about this her whole life. Finally, about time!

"Don't you think I know that, Lena. It isn't just my fault that this happened, I mean it was Peter who told him, not me," Kathryn said.

"Oh yeah, what a shame. If he hadn't of, who would have told him? I cannot really see you doing it," Lena said.

"Lena, we're not getting anywhere with this," Craig said nervously.

"I don't care, it makes me feel better. I think before trying therapy we should bring him here and find out why it happened in the first place," Lena said.

And mediator Craig is back, and it's to calm Lena down, not defend her. He probably still hasn't changed his pants yet though.

and yeaaaah Lena, if you're insisting on chatting with James about this, kick Janeway out.

"That's simple enough, he kills for no reason doesn't he," Doctor Jones said.

"That's not true, don't make me delete you!" Lena yelled. Doctor Jones cowered.

Lena stuck up for him like this in Disconnected, this is a nice callback in a way, and proof this isn't a recent givesacrap about him.

"But he did kill his dad for no reason, didn't he?" Craig asked. Lena glared at him too, he cringed slightly.

"No reason? If he were my dad I would of killed him too. He was a monster," Lena replied.

Yikes Craig, this isn't how you do it. And you're damn right Lena.

James is invited to Sickbay in a following scene and I don't see a Janeway in sight, so phew!

"It was an accident," James replied.

We're not talking about Claire last week

"And don't say you just hit him once, that wouldn't be original," Doctor Jones said.

Indeed

Flashback time!

"Actually, could you check on Duncan for me. He had a nightmare and he called me an hour ago. He was fine when I checked on him, can you check him again?" James asked.

I was about to go off it here, but he did actually check on him after the nightmare. He's only asking Danny for a follow up check

"The problem was really easy to fix. I just pressed a few buttons and it was done. Obviously Danny had been working too long to think straight.

How nice of you to assume... are we sure it wasn't something he needed to bend over for?

Then it gets, strange.

 Don't laugh, but when I was waiting for Danny to come back, I fell asleep on the console, obviously not for that long," James said.

How can someone be sooo insecure that they'd think people would laugh at him for SLEEPING

gosh! back in flashback land

"We have been talking a while, you'll have to find them," B'Elanna said.

"I suppose so. This'll be fun, I'd better wake up Mr Evil over there and get going," Threepwood said.

Ohno, he really did use the chicken. He used his entire inventory on the Sleeping Cranky Man. No wonder. Of course I'm not victim blaming, he deserved a scolding at most for putting that huge pan on his head.

B'Elanna said. She went into the lift and went to the top floor.

Ok, so far B'Elanna's still in Engineering. And I have many questions. Okay just one question.

"How did you know what they said when you were asleep?" Doctor Jones asked.

Thanks Doc! We get a fourth wall writer answer, so we know now that James is a lost evil cause. So sad.

Threepwood made his way over to James. He looked a bit nervous for a few seconds, he shook it off and started to shake him roughly. "Hey wake up, we're supposed to be working remember. Wake up!"

James woke up and he looked at Threepwood. "Yeh, I'm up.."

Yeah this already stinks.

"You're not supposed to be sleeping, this is a night shift. I mean somebody could be getting killed and here you are asleep. I really don't know how you get away with everything," Threepwood said angrily.

haha why are you making s$$$ up Jamesy? what you hiding?

I don't know how you keep getting away with everything. I'm surprised you're not in the brig for the rest of your life, you've caused more trouble on this ship than everyone else put together," Threepwood said.

ouch, and soooo out of character still. notbuying

James punched Threepwood in the face, which made him fall into the console, he hit his head hard off the console and he fell to the ground. He didn't move afterwards. James knelt down next to him, he saw blood pouring out of an open scar where he hit his head.

What did the Doc say earlier!

"And don't say you just hit him once, that wouldn't be original," Doctor Jones said.

I'm calling foul on this one. Sorry!

Back in the present Janeway is there, and still breathing so... I'm confused even more.

Kathryn turned to Doctor Jones. He nodded his head. "Mr Threepwood did die of a severe concussion."

hmm

"Why didn't you tell me?" Lena asked.

"Because I knew that you were already disgusted with me after what happened with Claire.." James replied.

okay that I believe... for a few seconds, then I remember he went all weird when talking to Craig so, what?

"When I saw he was dead, I panicked. I thought I heard B'Elanna coming, so I quickly dumped his body in there and left," James replied.

"Panicked? That's pushing it a bit," Craig said. Lena glanced at Craig. "Lena, if he'd panicked after 'accidentally' killing Threepwood, he wouldn't of acted so smug about it when I saw him."

another good point, boy's back on fire

"Would you two cut it out. We have no reason to believe that James is lying about this," Kathryn said.

"You as well, why am I not surprised?" Craig asked sarcastically.

Ok forget Janeway, Craig's gonna die...

"I didn't think many people would believe me, that's another reason why I didn't tell anyone," James said.

"You gotta admit, it is a little hard to believe judging by the fact that your eyes show evil inside you," Doctor Jones said.

Really, no one knows what Threepwood acts like? The dialogue did not fit him. And don't tell me he's just named after the character. Threepwood was introduced as if he were him.

James still thinks he's in control and I look like this

...even with hindsight of the rest of the episode. Boy's in denial.

"Look, we may not agree with what Craig thinks about this, but it doesn't seem like you're controlling the evil very well," Kathryn said.

"You have no idea," James said as he glanced at Kathryn.

Hoooo boy. Fine, he might be holding some of it back, I'll admit to that. He doesn't have full control though like he thinks.

"Whatever. The point is you'll be kept in there, there really won't be an easy way out. It'll be safer for the crew if you were to stay there instead of the brig," Doctor Jones said.

"Look I was controlling this evil fine until I had that stupid dream. I don't see why.." James said.

and you only mention this part now because?

"Before Threepwood woke me up, I was actually dreaming about killing him," James replied.

"Why didn't you mention that before?" Lena asked.

"Didn't think it mattered," James replied.

"No, I think you just made it up to get out of this 'nut house' thing," Doctor Jones said.

"Why would I, I actually think it's a good idea. As long as you don't get a straightjacket," James said.

He's still joking around... read the room. further proof he's not in full control

"Yeah I do, and if you're not willing to investigate the possibility of something else but the evil causing Threepwood's death, then I'll ask Freddie to do a scan," Lena said.

I er... what does she hope to find?

"Do it if you want to Lena, but we'll have to keep him in the brig until Doctor Jones can send the program into the Enterprise's holodecks. Our holodecks aren't working yet," Kathryn said.

of course!

Next scene previous James victim and alien possessee Claire, Unu's previous possesee Faye, and the weirdo Tani are chatting about the trying to be weirder than her Nikki

"No way, I saw it. Haven't you noticed that some guys keep disappearing for a while and come back acting like they've been kidnapped or something?" Tani said questioningly.

Maybe that's why Threepwood lost his marbles and thought yelling at the 4+7 times killer was a good idea.

"Oh boo hoo, some guys got locked in the cupboard. Big deal, why don't you talk about something more interesting," Faye muttered.

And now that the suspicions are happening, here comes "Faye". Hey speaking of her, I thought of Unu and remembered she's still locked up right? How??

Back on Voyager, the "narration" chucks a hyper before Janeway's name. So you just know we're in for a good laugh. Just in case we don't, one year old Bryan is trying to unlock the helm.

"I just asked the Captain if I could work on the Bridge," Naomi replied.

"And she let you? That's not fair, she lets Lena have her own ship, lets Bryan fly this ship, well sorta, and lets you work at Tactical. She won't let me anywhere near a console," Kiara said and she pouted.

I think the earlier comment may explain that one Kiara

WTF KIARA'S ALIVE, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN

"It's more than I've got, I'm sick and tired of this," Kiara muttered. She clicked her fingers a few times, then she heard something crash onto the floor.

"Oh dear god!" Kathryn exclaimed.

Oh boy this should be good

Everyone looked towards Kathryn who was now kneeling in front of a coffee stain and a smashed cup. "This day can't get any worse, it just can't," she sobbed.

-snip a bit-

A few seconds later Chakotay came back out of the Ready Room and gave Kathryn some more coffee. Kiara clicked her fingers again and the cup suddenly just fell onto the floor. Kathryn got to her feet and she ran into her Ready Room. Chakotay rolled his eyes again and he sat back down in his chair.

Daaaw poor Janeway *snigger*

"Harry, you know the drill," Chakotay said.

"Oh, not again," Harry muttered.

Harry the Janitor replaces Harry the Grumpy. I dunno which is best.

"Yeah, you won't need me, so I should be in the brig," James said.

"Do you want to go in the brig or something?" Lena asked.

"It's safer that way," James replied.

Is it though? I doubt the Holodeck program would be much better.

"Maybe it is, but for now you're just staying with me. You're nothing compared to me, sorry," Lena said.

sigh

Lena the Sue Count: +1

nothing is a STRONG word

Lets recap Death of the Night for a bit since it was fairly recent. During the red eyed phase he used telekineses to toss knives, stop his son from falling, toss a witch around, and DEFLECTED F$$$$$ LIGHTNING FROM HITTING HIS FACE. Healed a stab wound and then revived his so called more powerful sister by just staring. All before his black eyes, which he has now. What did Lena do, wave some knives around and stab herself with one. Yeah *thumbs up*

On a normal day these two should be equal in strength. Lena thinks she has better training so if that's true it's all she has on him, again on a normal day.

Lets see what the actual reaction to this is, I'm betting its full agreement or something

"Oh, thanks," James muttered.

"You're welcome," Lena said.

close enough

"There's nothing wrong, unless telepathic activity in a human brain isn't normal," Freddie said.

Lena and James glanced at each other briefly, then turned back to Freddie. "I have telepathic abilities, but I was given them. Human's aren't supposed to be telepathic."

Lena has to say this, and we didn't have to guess either

"I'm not saying he is, I'm saying that somebody who's telepathic has tampered with his brain. I said there was activity not ability," Freddie said.

"That's what I'd say about his brain, or matrix," James said quietly.

lol and yeah, that wasn't clear Freddo

"Something's telling me that, that dream you had may of been a message of some sort," Lena said.

"I don't think so, I didn't hit Threepwood because something told me to, I hit him because he was annoying me," James said.

hmmmmmmmmmm? I'm still not convinced of your memory of the events anyway

My theory (cos I only remember bits vaguely) explains this, James knowing what happened while he was sleeping, B'Elanna still being around, and Threepwoods OOcness. Until it's proved right or wrong, shush.

"I don't want to talk about it," Kathryn said and she started crying again.

"Probably somebody spilt her coffee, or something," James said. Kathryn started crying louder.

Okay I'm sorry but, why is James still walking around freely? Sure Lena buys she's super duper woman, but James did seem adamant about being locked up somehow.

back to the story, erm yeah lol, easy guess

Kathryn tried to wipe the tears from her eyes again. "What did you come here for?"

Lena tried not to laugh. "Can't some loving kids see their mummy once in a while."

Chakotay burst out laughing, while James just pulled a disgusted face.

Ohno not mummy again, I had a flashback to "bad mummy". Must be the reason for James and Chakotay's reactions, they did too.

"Do you mean that, no you don't do you," Kathryn said.

"I didn't mean anything nasty, you just didn't ask very nicely," Lena said.

There was nothing there that seemed rude to me, it didn't describe how she said it. Not even a mutter.

Lena updates Janeway and reminds us about the telepathy reveal, and Janeway continues losing the will to live. Why, this is better news than James killed Threepwood for the luls

"Erm, ok," Lena muttered. Kathryn stood up and she went over to everyone. Then she suddenly started hugging James, he pulled another disgusted face. "Erm, mum be careful," Lena said.

OMG

Sooo James does nothing but continue pulling a face. And you people, including me, didn't believe him when he said he was in control. tsk. New Earth James would've flipped the bookshelf

Lena tempts fate because she probably thinks this is a sorta nice scene, like I do kinda

"That explains it then," Lena muttered. She glanced at Kathryn and James. "Oh come on, just hug her back."

"I'll pass, can you get her off me?" James asked.

snigger

Kiara walked in the room, she started giggling when she saw the sight in front of her. "Ah, what a picture perfect sight." She clicked her fingers again, and the other cup of coffee tipped over. Kiara rushed back out.

OH KIARA YOU LITTLE SCAMP

I have missed mischevious Kiara, I really have. She and Duncan need more scenes together, the devil cousins, you know it has potential

"Ok, you go, I gotta rescue my brother," Lena said. Chakotay shook his head and he walked out. "Er, mum, it's not that bad. You can get more coffee, and we can sort this problem out."

Kathryn let go of James and she wiped more tears from her eyes. "Yes, you're right. I'm sorry, I had a lot of coffee today."

"Yeah, we noticed," James muttered.

Come on, you gotta admit. The Janeway family was always bizarre and a little funny, James always fit in, the evidence he was one of them was there from the start. I can totally see Janeway throwing bobbles at Chakotay. gallons of coffee! erm yeah anyway

Janeway notices the coffee "accident" before the pair can escape, and like the loving kiddies they are they leg it.

Chakotay, Tom, Harry, Lena, James, Faye and Craig were all at the table. Kathryn was standing at the head of the table looking a lot more sober than before.

Aaaw

and apart from Faye, holy moly that's a reasonably sized meeting with today's main cast. It's not ott at all.

"Now, Craig... have you spoken to all the telepaths on the ship?" Kathryn asked.

"Yeah, I have. Faye's the only one that seems suspicious," Craig replied.

ohhhh that's why

STOP MAKING SENSE, I'M SCARED

"I keep experiencing weird mood swings, you know one second I'm happy the next I'm depressed, angry or even upset," Faye said.

"Sounds like Marill," Tom sniggered.

Sounds like a fourth wall scene. And you're not wrong.

"Just in the early hours of this morning," Faye replied.

"Are you sure it's not just because you were originally based on Marill's character?" Lena sniggered.

Ah Lena, re-jigging what Tom's already pointed out, who's a good smart girl

"I guess we're getting somewhere. James loses control of the evil inside him, Faye gets strange mood swings and swears," Kathryn said.

"I think everyone's gathered that the two are related already," Chakotay said.

"What, how much related?" Kathryn asked in shock.

erm, are we sure that coma a few episodes ago didn't have any lasting effects?

Faye rolled her eyes and glanced towards James. Somehow he could hear her voice in his head. "This is boring isn't it. I don't know about you, but I want to leave this room now and get down to business."

"Faye, not now," James said, no one else heard him.

erm again, James was acting ignorant of what was happening this whole time or... what? he seemed genuinely confused earlier, what's this!?

Faye thought, "don't speak it, just think it.

If no one heard him, he couldn't have spoke it. Oh who am I kidding, selective hearing

James shook his head, Faye just looked briefly under the table. She thought, "your little son is under the table. If I were you I'd keep him away from Tommy boy. Remember what I told you earlier. You won't let him do that, will you."

Okay I'm not sure what's happening here. other than my half decent theory earlier being disproved

Tom glanced under the table and he saw Duncan sitting on the floor nearby his feet. "Uhoh, hi Tom."

Faye thought, "better act fast, he's about to take him."

this doesn't seem like something that would work

James stood up and he went over to where Tom was. "Duncan, come out of there now."

Duncan climbed out from under the table. "Hi daddy."

it might though? and daw, Duncan

"I just came here to hide from the smoking man," Duncan replied.

Wait why is he babysitting the kids?

James picked up Duncan, and headed out. Faye followed him. Everyone else stood up, looking confused. Lena and Craig were the first to follow, the others were close behind.

Okay? Tom notices Duncan under the table. His dad does some parenting for once, picks him up to take him out of the senior staff meeting. Everyone's confused and now I am, they don't hear Faye, there's nothing confusing about this

"James, what's wrong?" Lena asked.

"I'm sick of waiting for you to work it out," Faye said. She pressed a few buttons on a nearby console, a forcefield appeared around Kathryn, Chakotay, Harry and Tom. It just missed going around Lena and Craig too.

Lena: pfft your forcefields are no match for my SUE AGILITY, ACTIVATE

Craig: hope you don't mind that I was in your personal space

Faye looked around the room, everyone manning stations looked frightened so they went into the nearest turbolift. "There are some wimps on this ship aren't there, they get scared of a little telepathy."

The people on this ship are also confused when parents pick up their kids. It's a strange place, okay

James put Duncan down. "Go," he said quietly. Duncan looked confused.

"What's going on?" Duncan asked.

Faye turned to him, she thought, "go or you'll regret it."

Duncan does go, so I'm still none of the wiser what's going on

"Lena, Lena, it's obvious. I'm sick of this boring old trek through the Delta Quadrant. I want one of these ships, and James is going to help me do it," Faye replied.

Yes I'm sure killing Threepwood and making James parent is gonna nab you a starship. Great plan

"I think he will, he is my servant after all," Faye said.

Everyone glanced towards James, he glanced away.

"What have you done?" Lena asked.

"What do you mean, he was willingly to help me. It was in the interest of his son. His son would be a lot safer with me in command," Faye replied.

I have so many questions

"Suit yourself, you can't stand in the way, if you do, it's curtains time for you," Faye said and she smiled.

Lena stepped in front of her. "You talk too much." She punched her in the face, and she fell to the ground.

Yeah villains do that, and this always happens to them. word for word

Janeway calls Engineering for help with the forcefield

Faye started to get up, but Lena kicked her so she fell back. Lena then went to opps. "I can't lower the forcefield. It's encrypted."

In: "Captain, we can't get rid.."

Lena stopped mid fight to do this quicker than them? Whhhy, what's the point

Lena glanced over at James. "He isn't much of a servant, he isn't doing anything," she said.

Craig briefly glanced up. "Yeah, I don't get it either."

I think I do, but I was wrong before.

In: "Security to the Bridge, something's wrong with the turbolift. It won't go to Deck 1."

"Great," Kathryn muttered.

Faye's been hanging out with Annika hasn't she, only she would do these annoying blocks

Faye thought, "if he lets Tom out he'll go after Duncan, you can't let him do it."

Lena glanced over at Kathryn and the others. Kathryn started pointing behind her. Lena glanced over where she was pointing. It was where Craig was working, and James was going over to him.

Welp, nice knowing you Craig

Craig glanced up just in time to see James come up to him. He grabbed a hold of him by the arms and pushed him into the back console. Then he pushed him onto the ground. He watched as Craig tried to pull himself up.

On screened and was only a push. yeah I'm still thinking my second theory

James put his hand on the console. Lena noticed, "what are you doing?" Craig stood up, Lena glanced at him briefly. Suddenly a huge piece of the ceiling collapsed in front of Lena and Craig, which knocked them to the ground.

Yeah Lena, you show James why he's nothing compared to you.

Lena quickly got back onto her feet. "Don't provoke me, James. I don't want to have to hurt you."

Faye laughed again, "you hurt him? Girl you're out of your league." She thought, "destroy her."

Theory, I think Lena is well aware of this, she's re-assuring herself

"You forget, I've had far more training than you probably ever have. Wanna give up before we both do something we'll regret."

Still!

"You're wrong. Remember your training on the Borg sphere was mostly a false memory. You don't have any training," Faye said.

"As long as I remember the training.. it doesn't matter," Lena said.

.. is a stall, it backs me up

James pushed Lena back, he then attacked her quick. Lena fought back, and it wasn't long before they were both in a huge fight.

Yeah I'm not complaining, the fight scenes weren't being done well anyway

Craig was meanwhile at the Tactical station, looking around for something. He eventually picked a phaser up. He then went closer to the fight scene without Faye noticing him. He fiddled with it before aiming it at Faye. She quickly turned his way. He fired at her, but she ducked. She then pushed him into the turbolift doors. The phaser fell out of Craig's hands, and rolled away.

Super Craig to the not rescue and wasting timing

Craig pushed her, and he hit her hard in the face. She stumbled onto the floor. Lena turned briefly to see what happened, but she was knocked hard onto the floor.

see, even when he does something it ruins things. His doing distracted Lena. Dumbass

James picked up the phaser which wasn't that far away. He fiddled with the controls, and he aimed at Lena.

Craig tries to play the hero again, thwarted by Faye. It's a little embarrassing

James lowered the phaser, he glanced towards Faye. He aimed the phaser at her instead.

"What are you doing, just kill her!" Faye exclaimed as she stood up. The phaser fired and she fell onto the ground.

i never saw that coming ohno

and I'm not sure if this counts. Craig went to fire on Faye, lost the phaser, James picked it up and changed settings before doing anything. We're assuming it's on kill. On standby for now.

James glanced at her briefly before dropping the phaser and leaving the Bridge.

I'm still no closer to getting this right. sigh. my first theory went to the garbage, and the second theory went when James started fighting Lena for real, or maybe when he nearly KO'd them with a hull plating.

"Good," Lena muttered. She tapped her commbadge. "Lena to Transporter Room, beam Faye to Sickbay, and put a forcefield around her."

Is she still alive? Somebody tell me!!

"Craig," Chakotay said. Craig stopped and looked towards him. "Good work."

"What, what did I do?" Craig asked.

"You know what," Chakotay replied

I DON'T, HELP ME

"No doubt about it. Remember when Unu was brought in, frozen in time. I found something strange inside her. That same thing is inside Faye. A witch is playing around with witchcraft," Doctor Jones said.

I er...

"Faye is telepathic. Once the spell infected her, all she needed to do was use her telepathy to tap into his mind. In his current state it would of been easy to turn him against the crew," Doctor Jones replied.

WHAT SPELL, YOU DIDN'T... DID YOU JUSTIFY UNU'S BEHAVIOUR TOO, I'M SOOOO

It's quite obvious that this brother and sister revelation has allowed them to get closer. Even with the evil inside him, he couldn't hurt her," Doctor Jones replied.

Way to ruin a so far good episode you ninny

They had a bloody fight, but ohnoes the phaser was the last straw that broke the brainwashing. So we're assuming it was on kill then. Okay.

James Kill Count: +1

So yeah that's seemingly it, I haven't a clue what the hell happened. SOMEONE(who? Unu??) cast a spell on Faye, who used her telepathy to control James sometimes. I dunno.

Next is the sad finale I remember, lets get to it.

The room was a mess, things were over turned and as usual the glass table was smashed. Lena went further into the room.

She looked around, the room was dark so it was hard to see. She spotted James sitting on the ground near what was left of the table.

Stop replicating these tables and putting them in James's quarters. That's three dead at his hands. I think!

James glanced at her, he then stood up. "I had another dream, but I was awake. I saw Duncan getting taken away, lots of times by different people. Most of the time it was Tom. When I ran into Faye before the meeting, she told me that Duncan was in danger and that the only way to keep him safe was to get rid of the crew, to take over the ship."

I'm still absolutely baffled

"The dream seemed really real, I didn't think about what she was saying. I just lost control, she seemed to have control over me," James said.

what was that about control

how many times does he use that word in this episode?

"I didn't want to be responsible for another death of someone who was close to me. I.. don't know how I got control back, I just did," James replied.

look Jamesy, it's sorta the only part of the story that makes a tad bit of a sense. only a tad.

Lena's like wtf happened to this room, then convinces him to go to Sickbay. He wasn't described injured, so *shrug*

and apparently this isn't the scene, there's more before

"Experimenting with witchcraft sounds dangerous enough, why did you do it?" Kathryn asked.

"I like didn't. Annika like wanted to get the writers to like her," Juna replied.

wait what?

oh!

"She turned against the crew, and brainwashed James," Kathryn replied.

"That'll like disappear once she falls asleep, that's like a temporary spell. It's called the like spell of power. Victims want to get control of like anything they can," Juna said.

what? why did she do it to Faye? and what?

and judging by the rest of the convo, Annika's only gonna get a slap on the wrist for this?

back in Sickbay for that scene I assumed earlier

"There is no program right now. We have no choice, besides you said it yourself, you can control it," Lena said.

"Obviously I can't," James said.

yeaah, I'm not sure where I am on this fence cos I'M SO CONFUSED

"James is right though, Lena. We have to be careful. If we don't treat him there maybe a chance that he'll never be free from the evil inside of him," Doctor Jones said.

"Doc, everytime he turned evil it had a fight with the good inside him, and it lost everytime. You know why?" Lena said.

"Because there's more good than evil, sure it'll be a long fight, but good will win," Lena said.

oh so corny.

"No it won't," James said as he took off his sunglasses, he still had the black eyes.

I dunno why the sunglasses mentions always make me cringe. they just do. they're a good way of hiding the eyes, but probably look daft on someone walking around a spaceship. it's all I got

"Because it won't. I lost control before because I thought Duncan was in danger. He and the unborn baby are the only things I have left of Jessie, as long as they keep getting into danger I'm going to lose it," James replied.

oh dear

"Well that's why we're going to keep fighting against it, if you think like that it will win," Lena said.

"You remember when this all started, don't you?" James asked.

"Yeah, when Jess was murdered," Lena replied.

she's right you know, but here we go

"When I was a teen I was taken away from her by my so called mother and step father. I went on at least three hunger strikes to get their attention, so they'd take me back. One of them nearly killed me, one was stopped after a day, the first one did kill me.

one was stopped? I didn't think he'd be easy to forcefeed as a teen

anyway he's only started

When Jessie came to Manchester after getting expelled I slowly started to feel less depressed and aggressive towards myself, but a few years later my mother kicked her out of the house. I thought I was never going to see her again, I felt like something was missing, so I tried suicide. When I found her in the Marquis, once again I felt less depressed.

well f$$$

another attempted suicide, and since it's before the Marquis mention I assume it's not a one I've forgotten about (prequel/s4 spoilers: after the stepmum's death/Cardassian fight Evil-nearmiss?)

When I saw her lying dead right in front of me, I could no longer take it. Even months later I feel there's a half of me missing. I know that she's never coming back, and it's killing me. I've got evil inside of me because that's the only way to fill in the missing part of me. It's never going to go

"Lena, it won't. It was always there, just it's now got room to grow. And most of me is not willing to fight against it. I'm better off dead," James said.

Lena glanced back at Doctor Jones. She turned back to James. "Do you have any idea what that'll do to me, mum, and especially Duncan if you did die?"

"Not as much as Jessie's death did to me," James replied.

Ohhh that'd be so bloody sad, but kinda loses its oomph when he implies Jessie dying is worse for him than Duncan losing his dad so soon after his mum. just no, no it wouldn't. I'd usually defend it cos he thinks he's a lost cause, just an evil shell of a person so Duncan'd be better off but... No I'd defend it in another way, he said it multiple times over, he's depressed and needs help for it. All Jessie "did" was distract him from it a lot of the time.

Anyways that's the end and I really think this evil storyline needs some talking about nowish. However I'm still at an absolute loss about this episode's storyline. I'm very very confused and may need to ramble to get my head around it. First though, the usual junk:

What has Marill got planned for the next episode with Tom and Chakotay?

Come on Marill, stupid answer, stupid answer. You can do this.

Um, get possessed and/or murdered by a ghost?

Will Annika cast anymore spells?

I'm still not sure how the hell she even did it or anything.

Why did Janeway cry over spilt coffee?

The same reason I ramble on when FV does something dumb. IT'S CALLED FOR

What was going on with Marill when she was talking to Tom and Chakotay?

Stupid answer she jumped in a pool and became deaf. Serious answer is she was writing in her notebook while a doc/nurse flushed her ears, and since she was talking to herself aloud he charged her mum a small fortune to make up for that loss of sanity.

... read from that whatever you want

And what will happen with James?

Judging by these two episodes, the next one he'll be the one getting possessed and then he'll unlock a new phase of Evil Slayer-ness that gives him white eyes. In other unrelated news Faye and Claire go to Being Possessed By Pyscho Killers Anonymous. They groan when they see Faye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Counter Results:

Muttered Count: 35 (273)

Sexist Crap Count: 1 (12)

Lena the Sue Count: 1 (6)

Annika Dies Count: 1 (4)

James Kill Count: 2 (6)

Marill's Playing With Her Dolls Again: 0 (1)

James Dies Count: 0 (0)

James Badasses Off Screen For Our Sins: 0 (13)

J/C are the worst (grand)parents ever: 2 (14)

Fifth Enterprise E: 0 (5)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Score:

Negatives:

1) Writers intermission during their holidays. It's gone now, it can't hurt you.

2) This'll be going into the "working out Dreams' plot" rant: Annika sees a dead body in the jeffries tube, asks why and how from her sister, mentions to Craig later after someone dies that she foresaw it, apparently cast a spell on Faye (intended for her, we assume) that allows her to control people and so she controlled James to kill the person she saw dead in a jeffries tube.

No this isn't some clever cause and effect plot. It doesn't add up, and I much prefer my original theory which I can say now: James slept-killed, still under Faye's influence of course. It explains a lot of the problems in the first half. Oh well. Instead we have Annika causing her own foreshadowing in such a tiny timeframe it's beyond dumb. While it sorta explains why she didn't warn anyone about Threepwood dying. That's it, it just creates more problems.

You know what, this complaint's gonna about the whole plot problems which I'm gonna list and point accordingly

#) Above, Annika's the cause of the plot even though it makes no sense.
1) What does Threepwood OOC'ly ranting on about James getting away with literal murders have to do with Duncan being kidnapped? Plus Threepwood's very sudden turn from nervous to wake him up to OMG YOU SUCK, HERE'S WHY ranting.
2) From what it says, Faye can only control with her mind now and yet: her personality changes enough for people to point it out, she's completely power mad and psychopathic. It's like she's possessed but... Don't even get me restarted on the "thing" the Doc detects in her AND UNU to explain that its witchcraft. At first and second glance looks like Unu's been toyed with too, and is not responsible for her actions of late. pfftno
3) Is she responsible for the Threepwood incident at all? James only mentions her and the Duncan threats after this. If so, what the hell was the point?
4) While it's right that James acts normal even in his evil state (that will be gone over I still promise) since Faye's thoughts to him are like some kind of trigger, it doesn't explain his shifty creepy behaviour with Craig or why he showed up there at all. On the James subject as I think both points are minimal and deserve only half points each, why is the problem with the console in Engineering given so much attention that Craig asks about it? I thought it was something done on purpose to lure him there. Turns out it's tah dah, nothing.
5) Faye's weapon used to control James was his fear of losing Duncan, fair enough, but using Tom the majority of the time to that end. Haha no, not buying it. When he's told Lena and/or Craig might take him, it loses further credibility when he picks a fight with Lena. sorryno.
6) Wtf did Craig do that warranted a "good job kiddo" from Chakotay, even he's confused.

This one's gonna be a bitch to edit later.

3) Chakotay bitching about his divorce from Janeway to Lena, his own teenaged daughter ffs, is so god damn toxic and horrible, AND familiar to me. I really feel sorry for Janeway in this one, she gets toyed with so much as if she's the bad guy in this.

4) It's noticed in the bridge scene that James was resisting in some manner against Faye. He did nothing, hesitated etc... but no, we have to have the fight between him and Lena so forget all that, put 'em up! It's for nothing, cos the fight's barely written anyway. Ruins a perfectly good moment for him.

Sub-total: 10

Positives:

1) The intro was pretty good.

2) Annika's random dying when she was leaving her sister's

3) Lena's continued defence for James all throughout despite the glaring obvious, to the point where she's telling her own mother off, could be seen as annoying by some but it's really nice how much she believes in him. It's not come out of nowhere either, she's done it time and time again.

4) James' storyline is coming along nicely despite the terrible attempts to plot things out. He's almost himself sometimes, where at other times he's fine when you think he'd lose his temper (a little too fine, you know), the struggle against the villain and his evilside that's briefly shown before the fight and after. Then finally the moment where he gives up completely. Like I said earlier, it's clear this depression isn't something he just got when Jessie died, he's had it a while. She helped him through it, and when she was gone the thought of taking care of Duncan gave him something to fight on for, but after Death of the Night and this, villains messing with him, he thinks he's far too weak to do it and here we are. Like Lena does with her "I'm better than youoooo", his "I have control" line has been said for his own sake, a reassurance that continues to hold no weight from what's happening. Yesh, I likes it. So much so I forgive him for his last line in the episode, cos depressed people think this way, that Duncan would be better off without him.

5) Kiara's repeated coffee drops, Janeway's reactions. I did literally lol when she ran into a scene, made the coffee fall over and ran back out. I've missed her.

6) Okay my grievances with the plot got in the way of noticing a few details, or overlooking them entirely. For example the encrypted forcefield and the screwed up turbolift, I said "has Faye been hanging out with Annika cos she'd do this stuff with her Borg encryption Sue powers", maybe she did do it, or maybe this is why she (or they, it's not clear yet if Annika did this on purpose or had any control) recruited James, he could've done it too. It doesn't excuse the 5-6 negative points though, I prefer my original interpretation.

Sub-total: 6

Marill's Rating: 38%

Rankings So Far:

#01 New Earth: 50%
#02 Oasis of Abatua: 44%
#03 Only In My Dreams: 38%
#04 Death of the Night: 36%
#05 Here & Now: 31%
#06 Fair Chance Part 2: 23%

Weeeelll it's still scored better than Death of the Night, so I was still kinda right about something.

Looking at this list, the season's doing fine so far. When I say fine I mean better than I pictured.

Next Time: we have fires, epic foreshadowing, betrayal, time travel, glorious returns for glorious villains, and plenty of other stuff. This one's got it all. I think Resistance and maybe even Worse Case 2 should watch their backs, here's the only one for a looong while that can challenge them. Bring...it...on