Enterprise investigates a crashed ship, where they hope to salvage valuable resources. But the wreck is not abandoned as it first appears. While the people living aboard this derelict ship do seem friendly, it becomes clear they are hiding a secret from Archer and his crew -- even as one in particular is growing close to Trip Tucker.
"Oasis" is an episode that seems to change its mind about what it is several times along the way. It begins almost as a haunted house story. An alien tells a tale of a creepy abandoned ship. When our heroes search the wreck, it's all moody lighting, sudden glimpses of reflections that aren't there when you turn around... the beginnings of a fun little sci-fi mystery.
Then, abruptly, the episode becomes a pretty standard "help aliens who need it" story. They're hiding something, yes, but that's par for the course in these kind of episodes. It may even be that the production realized how rote this kind of Star Trek episode is, and that's why they reached out to Rene Auberjonois for a bit of stunt casting that might stir fan interest.
It's a bit of a weird role for Auberjonois to take. He's not the leader of these aliens; for the first several scenes, he's almost lost in a crowd, challenging you to go "wait a minute, that's not Odo, is it?" It finally becomes clear why you'd cast Auberjonois when the alien secret is revealed -- (um, old spoiler incoming) that only he and his daughter are actual living people. The rest of the ship's crew are holograms he conjured up. Auberjonois gives a moving monologue about how much his character cares for his daughter, and how he did all this for her, putting all the spin on it he can muster. But that emotion is undermined somewhat for any Star Trek fan who knows Deep Space Nine well, because this entire story line is a retread of the episode "Shadowplay." That was even an Odo episode -- we've just had Rene Auberjonois switch parts this time around!
At some point along the way, "Oasis" decides it wants to be a romance episode as well. At least, it toys with the notion, as Trip seems to take an interest in the alien daughter (and T'Pol archly reminds him what could happen). The subplot plays as a mostly chaste and earnest desire to help... right up until the final moment, spoiled by an unnecessary kiss goodbye.
Still, despite the episode being both scattershot and familiar, it isn't exactly "bad." Perhaps having Auberjonois around made all the actors up their game, because the performances throughout are strong. I think part of the reason I so disliked the final kiss is because I was getting plenty of other, more nuanced subtext from Annie Wersching, who plays Liana. (This was decades before she'd return to Star Trek as the Borg Queen in season 2 of Star Trek: Picard.) Even Tom Bergeron is good; yes, that's the host of Dancing With the Stars and other game shows in a makeup-covered appearance as the alien captain at the start of this episode.
Other observations:
- When Rene Auberjonois' character says "I’ve made all the friends I need," it's such a wonderfully on-the-nose admission, if you know the episode's big twist.
- There's a fun wink at Star Trek: Voyager when Trip scoffs at the notion of being diagnosed by a holographic doctor.
The elements of "Oasis" feel jumbled to me. I think the whole of them assemble into something that's about a B-. Or maybe I'm just thrilled to get Rene Auberjonois in one more episode of Star Trek.
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