monkee reviews 'Oasis'
(and the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum! Bonus!)
First Impression: Predictable and a little dull. Again. But partially salvaged by Rene Auberjonois' performance.
I really don't have a lot to say about this one because...well, it was predictable and a little dull. Besides, I'd rather be reviewing the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum. In fact, maybe I will!
But first, a few words on 'Oasis.'
Déjà vu All Over Again: This episode borrowed heavily from a number of other sources, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's been two decades since I've read 'The Tempest,' and I've never seen 'Forbidden Planet.' Mercifully (or so I'm told), I only ever caught part of DS9's 'Shadowplay,' and that was a long time ago. And TNG's 'The Survivor' wasn't all that good. So I don't really mind that they wanted to tell an old story a new way, I just wish it had been...better. It simply wasn't inspired enough to justify the re-telling.
And who didn't know that some or all of the 'crash survivors' were holograms within ten minutes? No one, that's who! Except Archer and company, that is...
The More Interesting Story: A father (Ezral, played by Auberjonois) and his two year-old daughter are the only survivors of an accident on their starship. Wracked with guilt over a) the accident, for which he feels responsible, and b) the fact that his child is isolated and lonely, the father creates a holographic community (the ship's late crew) for the two of them to live in, which they do for over twenty years, until Enterprise shows up. How sentient were the holograms? Were they running constantly sleeping, working, playing, and eating holographic food? When was Liana told the truth about the 'people' around her? How did all of this work? This would have interested me a lot more than watching Archer and crew figure out what I already knew. And it would have given the story more depth and meaning, too. As it was, we had to glean all of that from...
Ezral: Auberjonois did a beautiful job with this character, and his scenes towards the end really helped salvage this episode. His performance as a protective father and an anguished ship's engineer struggling with survivor's guilt, was moving and believable.
Trip and Liana: Less interesting was the Trip and Liana romantic subplot. Liana was likable enough after all, anyone whose chief desire on an Enterprise tour is to meet Porthos is okay in my book! "Dr. Phlox let me feed his bat!" she excitedly tells Trip. Hee. But some of their interactions were too sappy even for my cries-during-Folgers-commercials tastes. "Which planet was your favorite?" she asks Trip. "This one," he replies. [monkee rolls her eyes.] Maybe I'm just afraid that with so few female main characters on this show, we're going to be subjected to a lot of lightweight, adolescent romances like this one (or Archer's in 'Civilization.')
Still, it wasn't THAT bad. The little kiss and forehead touch at the end was kind of sweet. And at least they weren't professing undying love for each other.
Character Interactions: It was good to see Archer, Reed, Mayweather (!), and Phlox work together so smoothly to solve the big mystery. And if nothing else, at least poor Mayweather had significant dialog for a change!
'Shipper Watch: There were quite a few...interesting...Trip/T'Pol exchanges this week. He told her she'd look good in Triaxian silk in the teaser. She looked taken aback, and who can blame her? What on earth would make him blurt out something like that, hmmm? And later, when she reminded him of his indiscretion in 'Unexpected' was it jealousy, or simply the concern of a shipmate and friend? Me I don't really care one way or another. They can tease me, because I refuse to take implied Trek romance seriously anymore. A Trip/T'Pol relationship would be interesting I don't think the chemistry is quite there yet, but it certainly has potential. I'd be just as happy with a nice friendship, though. My favorite Trip/T'Pol scenes this week were the subtler ones the banter about fear on the wrecked ship, and his acute concern for her when she was missing. Nice. Not much else on the 'shipper front this week, although I did notice that Archer and Reed got knocked down together, for all you slash fans out there...
Archer Watch: It's a disadvantage of doing a prequel, I suppose. Since WE know what's going on with the 'crash survivors' immediately, Archer can't help but look a little plodding and dull when he doesn't. It's not fair, really, but there you are. When you take into account, however, that he's not as familiar with holograms as we are, he comes out looking pretty good. He seems to be an able supply negotiator, he offered assistance to the crash survivors, listened to and explored his crew's suspicions, and let Trip do the talking when it made sense, since he knew Liana better than anyone else. And he was a good sounding board when Ezral needed one.
Best Lines:
"I bet you'd look GOOD in Triaxian silk!" (Trip, to T'Pol)
"Yeah, the creeps. The willies? The heebie jeebies? Don't you get frightened every once in a while?" (Trip, to T'Pol)
"No." (T'Pol, to Trip)
"I'm simply noting that the last time you found someone this 'competent,' you wound up carrying her child." (T'Pol, to Trip)
"You're just never gonna let that go, are you?" (Trip, to T'Pol)
"I wish more women would pay that much attention to me." (Trip, to Liana. Awww pity party for Trip!)
"Did T'Pol say something? Sir, I swear, I've been nothing but a perfect gentleman!" (Trip, to Archer)
"Marshmallows? They're made of sugar, mostly. They're...you know, I'm not sure what they are." (Trip, to Liana)
"Do you think it's possible to tell a lie so many times you begin to believe it's the truth?" (Liana, to Trip)
"What'll happen if she gets hurt? What'll you do then program a holographic doctor?" (Trip, to Ezral)
Rating: 7.5/10. So-so. Would have been lower without Auberjonois.
Next Week: Repeats for a while, and then we hit the home stretch! Let's hope they end it on a high note!
Now...the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum! If you ever happen to be passing through Wapakoneta, Ohio, be sure not to miss this treasure! Yeah, you probably won't be passing through Wapakoneta, but it's about an hour north of Dayton, and it really is worth the side trip if you're traveling through Ohio on Interstate 70. Anyway. I grew up near Washington D.C., and I feel like a traitor for saying this, but I liked this museum even more than the National Air and Space Museum! The Neil Armstrong A&S Museum is just packed full of stuff for the ardent space buff! In addition to outstanding displays of the space race, the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo projects, and the Soviet space program, there's also a full-size model of Sputnik and the Apollo command module, AND the actual Gemini 8 capsule! There's a moon rock! There are spacesuits, and sampling equipment, and examples of astronaut food packs and sanitary supplies. (A POOP question, sir?) There are recordings, and films, and a whole new section on the space shuttle, with a shuttle landing simulator (I won't be piloting one anytime soon ) Yowza! I could have spent the entire weekend there! Even my kids had a pretty good time. They liked the 'infinity' room, done up with lights and mirrors to make you feel like you're in space. Cool! And just before the gift shop, they have cardboard cutouts of the first four Trek Captains, and a sign "You too can boldly go where no one has gone before." I highly recommend this museum to any space nut that can get there! You won't be disappointed. The Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum gets a 10/10!
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