Enterprise Does “Shadowplay” For “Oasis.”

The Good: Special effects, Most of the acting
The Bad: Entirely derivative plot, Huge continuity issues, Main characters do not develop at all
The Basics: When the Enterprise encounters a cargo ship on a planet without any life signs, the viewer gets bored with something they have (likely) already seen before.


Long before I saw the Enterprise episode “Oasis,” I knew I was not at all excited about it. Rene Auberjonois, who was a regular in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, appeared in the episode “Shadowplay” (reviewed here!) and appears in “Oasis” spoke at length about his role in “Oasis” at conventions at the time the episode aired. While he spoiled the episode for me, I’ll try not to spoil it for my readers.

“Oasis” is a mess, in addition to being entirely derivative of “Shadowplay.” Given that the only thing I can find positive to say about the episode is that the special effects are good and actor Rene Auberjonois does a great job as Ezral. Auberjonois, like so many of the seasoned Trek actors comes with a professionalism and effortless quality that makes the regular cast of Enterprise seems stiffer by contrast. Because this episode is such a mess and because I cannot muster up much enthusiasm for it, I thought that today I would just go with the top ten problems with the episode after describing what “Oasis” is.

The Enterprise meets with D’Marr, an alien who they trader with for the relatively light commodity of coffee. Archer trades for information on the location on a nearby downed cargo ship where D’Marr went to scavenge parts, but discovered life forms on the ship who did not emit life signs before he arrived. Archer, Mayweather, Trip, and T’Pol take the Shuttlepod down to the surface of the planet where they have detected the ship’s rare metal signature and they begin to investigate. There, they find people who they cannot detect with their Tricorders. They meet the hostile Captain Kuulan, his chief engineer Ezral, and Ezral’s daughter Liana.

Liana and Trip hit it off and, despite T’Pol teasing Tucker about how he seems likely to hook up with her, Trip convinces Liana to come with him back to the Enterprise. When T’Pol discovers the secret behind the crew’s inability to detect any lifeforms, it puts her and Trip in mortal danger as the Away Team works to repair the cargo ship.

The ten biggest issues with “Oasis” (in, mostly chronological order) are:
10. Anthony Montgomery’s performance in describing his anxieties about the downed ship is exceptionally stiff,
9. T’Pol expresses a lack of understanding of fear and human enjoyment of experiencing fear through ghost stories, despite the fact that she was on the mission – in “Strange New World” (reviewed here!) – where Trip and Mayweather tell ghost stories right in front of her,
8. The alien trader’s name is D’Marr, pronounced exactly the same as Damar. Jeeze, how lazy is that?! Why not just name him Spock?! Damar was, of course, the Cardassian hero in the final arc of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,
7. One of the first big inconsistencies in the story the crash survivors give is their claim they crashed three years prior, but they soon learn crashed twenty-two years prior. Liana pretty much freaks out at that, though the explanation could have easily been explained with “our years must be much longer than your years,”
6. T’Pol teases Trip Tucker,
5. The escape pod in orbit only appears after it is plot-convenient,
4. Trip Tucker begins repairing the alien ship based upon his experiences on the Xyrillian ship from “Unexpected” (reviewed here!). This makes for one of two immense problems with “Oasis.” Either he is grossly unable to repair the system or the moment he begins repairing it and discovers the optronic relays, the “surprise” about the nature of the crash victims should be entirely eliminated,
3. The physics of the aliens makes no sense. If they do not understand their true nature, they cannot make themselves immaterial to let phase pistol beams pass through them. If they do understand their nature (which is not evident by the episode’s resolution), then they should have no issue with trying to repair the ship . . . or the whole concept the Doctor in Star Trek: Voyager fights for ought to have been raised hundreds of years prior,
2. Trip has met three women by this point in the series. Why would T’Pol (who is one of those three women) assume that Trip can’t keep it in his pants when there was only one woman who he had a sexual relationship with and that was not consensual? Trip actually expressed a sense of discomfort over how many Reed was with, which implies that he is not the redneck womanizing hick one might initially think him to be. T’Pol, who is supposed to follow logic, is reacting with a prejudice that is not at all logical,
and 1. Archer and the Enterprise crew seem to think it is odd that the crash survivors did not send a distress call. Enterprise is the only StarFleet ship this far out in space; there are no ships to come rescue them if anything goes wrong. A distress call from Enterprise would be utterly and completely pointless. How can they not understand that an alien race, that they have never heard of or seen, that is far away from home, would not see any point in sending a distress call?! It would be like the first Earth mission to Mars sending a distress call; it’s not like we could suddenly build another space ship to go rescue it!

And, what the hell, as a bonus, Archer is so unhelpful in the resolution to this episode. He pledges to help Ezral get off the planet, but refuses to commit to helping him get home. It’s not like being out on his own worked out particularly well last time! “Oasis” is just pretty bad . . . on its own merits, not even in comparison to the episode it is derivative of.

The three biggest gaffes in “Oasis:”
3. After encountering yet another holographic system, it seems ridiculous that it took two hundred years before the Federation developed Holodecks,
2. Given how “Oasis” progresses, it makes Captain Janeway seem like a real behind-the-time racist the way she resists the Doctor’s entreaties for his own freedom in (especially) the seventh season of Star Trek: Voyager (reviewed here!),
1. Given how “Oasis” develops, the fact that Jadzia Dax would be at all surprised in “Shadowplay” is utterly nonsensical.

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Star Trek: Enterprise - The Complete First Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the premiere season here!
Thanks!]

4/10

For other Star Trek episode and movie reviews, please visit my Star Trek Review Index Page!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

A Perfect Episode, A Mediocre One, Leave "Vol. 5" Of VR-5 Swinging.

The Good: Pacing, Psychological understanding and intrigue of one episode, Imagery, Acting, Character
The Bad: Some plot/character aspects seem contrived and difficult to believe in.
The Basics: When Sydney Bloom has to investigate the mind of a man who might well have killed for hire, her own father issues surface in a great episode of VR.5!


There are very few truly perfect hours of television out there. Honestly, for all of the greatness of many hour-long dramas or comedies (a rare thing, many tend toward dramedy instead of hard one-hour sitcom), there are so few hours that I would actually rate ten out of ten in my pantheon and describe as perfect or effectively perfect. So, it is something astonishing when a little show like VR-5 manages to make a perfect hour, much less two. While the season/series finale manages this bold feat, it also succeeded with a perfect hour with "Simon's Choice," one of the two episodes on "Volume 5" of the VR.5 videos. The other episode, "Send Me An Angel," is less than stellar, but it is not such a poor venture as to make it not worth hunting down this video.

"Simon's Choice" finds Sydney Bloom dealing with a death-row inmate who confessed to a crime which it seems unlikely he committed. Desperate to discover why he might confess and be willing to be put to death, Sydney investigates the circumstances surrounding Simon Buchanan's life and makes parallels to her issues with her deceased father. She soon discovers how Simon was blackmailed and the son he was told was dead is actually still alive, though her attempt to reconcile the two goes in a very different direction than she expects.

"Send Me An Angel" has Sydney returning to the house of her childhood where there has recently been a fire and the neighbor girl was rescued by a mysterious stranger. The neighbor has declared the stranger an angel and insists that Sydney bears a resemblance to her. By trying to interview the girl and pouring through her father's journal, Sydney finds her father's VR lab in the house and makes another important discovery.

"Send Me An Angel" is a necessary evil episode of VR.5. The show is serialized and there are revelations that are coming in the final four episodes that need very much to be foreshadowed. As a result, "Send Me An Angel" has a purpose, one that is revealed near the very end of the episode and it softens the viewer up for what is coming next. The problem is that the episode feels largely contrived around Sydney's realization of what might be the reality of her situation, VR-5, and the death of her father and sister years prior. In other words, the episode has a clear point, it becomes somewhat obvious in fact, but the episode gets there in a roundabout way that is hardly as satisfying as it could be.

This might have, largely, to do with the use of the child actor and the fanatical and awkward anger played by those playing her parents. The episode seems over the top in too many ways. Instead, the end of the piece seems incongruently smart and the episode rings out as a jumble of awkward character issues from the guest characters, poor acting from those portraying them and decent plot and character revelations from the primary cast and characters.

Conversely, "Simon's Choice" is all-around amazing. First, the plot may seem simple, but it is pulled off with panache because of the character struggle that is going on both within Simon Buchanan and his son, Ky, and that of Sydney and Simon and Sydney and her dead father. When VR-5 does something well, it tends to do it on the character front, but with "Simon's Choice," it is the final sequence that sells everything and makes the struggle to save Simon's life one that ultimately is worthwhile.

The thing is, "Simon's Choice" is written for a savvy audience of science fiction fans. The final sequence, when it comes, is obvious in many respects to seasoned fans. And yet, it works. It is a rare thing that a show can pull off something that is both evident to fans and so enjoyable on a character level and special effects level as to make it a great moment of television. "Simon's Choice" manages to do that.

And before that, this is an age old story of the conflicts we carry with us, fathers and sons, daughters and mothers, through the generations and that resonate in our lives and live within us. "Simon's Choice" is surprisingly insightful and does what great television ought to; it informs the viewer of bigger picture issues outside the microcosm of the story and it is a heartfelt story about holding onto hurt and pain and it works beautifully.

Part of the reason for its success is that the characters all work and are intriguing and easy to empathize with. Simon Buchanan is intriguing and tortured and makes for an interesting antagonistic protagonist for Sydney Bloom and the audience to explore. Simon's strength is in his insistence that he live with the consequences of his actions and that level of consistent, strong character is a rare thing to be pulled off so well.

Simon is played by Robert Davi, who has a habit of being cast to play heavies. Here he uses that weight and presence to give Simon a genuine sense of body and inner strength and that works amazingly well for him. Davi brings more than just a deep voice and steely glare to the role, he has the ability to play an undercurrent of anger into every moment he is on screen that leaves the viewer - and Sydney - unsettled and wondering if he actually could be guilty.

It is Lori Singer as Sydney Bloom upon whom the episodes rest and she brings them home. Singer transforms Sydney into a more assertive character who acts proactively instead of reacting to everything around her falling apart. She is intense and clever in the role and it works well for her stand straighter and put more of her body into the role in these episodes. Fans of the entire series will notice the subtle transformations that are occurring in these episodes and those just picking up this tape will likely appreciate how she seems to have a well-rounded character who isn't a whispy wraith.

"Simon's Choice" has some of the most iconic VR-5 images . . . or what would have been iconic images, if only the series had survived and progressed. Sydney's VR experiences with Simon and Ky are appropriately image-filled and laced with psychological metaphors that work wonderfully to establish who each character is and where they are headed. Visually, "Simon's Choice" sets up the revelations coming at the end of "Send Me An Angel," VR deconstructions that will be carried through the series finale!

"Simon's Choice" pushes up the standards of the special effects and they make the episode surreal, clever, witty and satirical alternatively. The episode represents one of the best episodes this brief series ever created and it is one that anyone who likes a psychological thriller will like. Fortunately, it is not so esoteric to the universe of VR-5, that people who have not seen prior episodes will be lost.

[Sadly, even with VHS being essentially a dead medium, the VR.5 DVD set is out of print and hard to come by. Still, for those interested in it, please check out my overview of the entire series available by clicking here!
Thanks!]

“Simon’s Choice” – 10/10
“Send Me An Angel” – 4.5/10
VHS – 7/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

The Weirdness Of Virtual Reality Comes To A Head With The Too-Typical "Vol. 4" Of VR-5!

The Good: Pacing and intrigue of one episode, Psychological understanding displayed in another, Imagery, Acting, Character
The Bad: Some plot/character aspects seem contrived and difficult to believe in.
The Basics: When Sydney Bloom is captured and tormented in a surreal landscape, Duncan must rescue her in one of the best episodes of VR-5!


Sadly for a series as good as VR-5, the show never had a chance to develop enough such that the risks it took were treated as clever or even as interesting as they actually were. This becomes an issue with "Escape," an episode whose plot begins well under way. Sydney is trapped and involved in an interrogation and the viewer of the series is left scratching their head and asking, "How did I miss the episode she was captured in? Who captured her? What is going on?" The episode, fortunately, is clever enough to maintain the interest and it is so engaging viewers almost forget that lost feeling they'd have if they picked the episode up at the beginning and saw the running already in progress. Today's television does this sort of thing rarely, but the level of bewilderment that results from picking up "Escape" and watching it is like what would happen if one picked up a random episode of Lost (reviewed here!) and began watching without having any context. Unfortunately for fans of the series, "Facing The Fire" leaves the viewer with a somewhat familiar feel and it does not take long to figure out why.

"Escape" finds Sydney Bloom running from mysterious captors. She is on the run from enemies who soon take a face and she is terrified to see that it is Oliver Sampson, her contact with the Committee. As he probes her for all she knows about VR-5 and the death of her father, Sydney works desperately to escape. When she is able to reach out to Duncan through the VR system, Duncan tries to piece together the clues to find where Sydney is in the real world. It's a race against time between Duncan and the inquisitors to get to Sydney . . . or the best parts of her mind!

"Facing The Fire" puts Sydney, who is slowly piecing together the contents of her father's secret journal, in a mental hospital where she is assigned to figure out why a test pilot, Lance Jackson, is seeing fire constantly. In the process of studying him using the VR system, she finds that he is full of rage toward his own father and she begins to empathize with Jackson. Unfortunately, as Sydney and Lance make public accusations, it begins to become clear that the memories Lance has may not entirely be his own.

Fans of VR-5 might quickly realize that "Facing The Fire" should be called "Relearning The Lesson." Back in "Sisters" (reviewed here!) Dr. Morgan warned Sydney that things in VR-5 might not be real and because they deal with the subconscious, there was a large capacity to bring one's own emotional baggage into the system with them. Sydney got that in "Sisters" as she worked very hard to fight a virtual reality addiction that came about when she found herself getting a thrill off vicariously robbing through a new friend's/charge's subconscious. With "Facing The Fire," we have a clever repackage of that, but the message soon becomes clear to even the most-dense viewers of the series. Sydney's resentments toward her father for dying might be tainting Lance Jackson's memories.

While it, arguably, does the job better than "Sisters," it ultimately is a lesson already learned and the whole idea that Sydney bears some resentment toward her father is truly the only new information. Well, there is one other piece of information that is new, but it is the kicker of the episode and I'll not ruin it here. But "Facing The Fire," with the presence of Dr. Bloom's mysterious journal, clearly comes after "Escape," making the order of this serialized show very important.

"Escape" is a surprisingly taut psychological action-adventure and it is a rare thing for a television show to be able to pull that off as well as it is executed here on VR-5. In the literal world, Sydney Bloom is tortured and the possibility that Oliver Sampson is her tormentor makes for a truly chilling episode. Moreover, this is a wonderful character study and it gives an opportunity for Duncan to rise to the occasion.

"Escape" has some of the most iconic VR-5 images . . . or what would have been iconic images, if only the series had survived and progressed. Duncan VR's himself to try to decipher the clues gleaned from Sydney's call and there is a wonderful film noir detective bit that has to be seen to be believed. The torture of Sydney and Duncan's use of the same imagery to try to probe Sampson to find where Sydney might be being held makes for great - actually great - television and it is compelling.

And who would have guessed that Duncan could so amazingly rise to the occasion? He is the pacifist action hero and his role takes him from the cerebral, slightly dim detective to the sidekick to Sampson who defies all he knows to rescue Sydney. "Escape" reinforces the subtle concept that has been building on VR-5 for several episodes, that the Committee might not be the most beneficial organization and there appear to be fractures within the group.

The best television is about characters and despite the reuse of the "VR-5 plays with the brain such that one's own issues might affect it" theme, "Escape" and "Facing The Fire" net two wonderful character studies. Protagonist Sydney Bloom makes for a compelling character and her inability to answer her interrogator's questions provides a terrifyingly real twist on the often straightforward science fiction series. That she reaches out to Duncan makes sense; that she trusts Sampson after her rescue at all makes less sense given how all of her own subconscious imagery treated Sampson as her interrogator.

But "Facing The Fire" makes very real character elements with a deep-held resentment toward Dr. Bloom. How wonderfully real that a show branded typical science fiction would take the time to explore the possibility that an individual might cling - for years - to such feelings of hurt over her father's accidental death that she would grow with them as an adult to express them as anger? It's a wonderful conceptual twist and it works amazingly well in this episode.

"Facing The Fire" features a decent performance by genre actor Neal McDonough. Fans of science fiction will remember him as Lt. Hawk from Star Trek: First Contact and in his role as Lance, he is able to be far more expressive and it is surprising he does not get more work as tormented characters, he plays it so well here!

And while actress Lori Singer sheds her shy skin as Sydney Bloom, the acting winners of "Escape" are Anthony Stuart Head and Michael Easton. No longer relegated to the back rows, Easton explodes onto the screen as a vital character who becomes so much more than the quiet simpleton he's been playing the prior episodes and he sells it as a perfectly natural and real growth twist for the character. He's realistic and charming and he steals every scene he is in in "Escape." And he and Singer continue to play off one another with an amazing sense of chemistry that is not as effortless as one might suspect. It should be recognized for the impressive feat it is.

"Escape" especially pushes up the standards of the special effects and they make the episode surreal, clever, witty and satirical alternatively. The episode represents one of the best episodes this brief series ever created and it is one that anyone who likes a psychological thriller will like. Unfortunately, it also is very esoteric to the universe of VR-5, so people who have not seen prior episodes will be very lost. Fans of science fiction are likely to enjoy this anyway, but they, too will be behind those who have kept with the series up until now.

[Sadly, even with VHS being essentially a dead medium, the VR.5 DVD set is out of print and hard to come by. Still, for those interested in it, please check out my overview of the entire series available by clicking here!
Thanks!]

For other works with Neal McDonough, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Captain America: The First Avenger
Tin Man
Minority Report
Star Trek: First Contact

“Escape” – 9/10
“Facing The Fire” – 6/10
VHS – 7/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |