UNCUT REACTION - Star Trek TNG S2E12 - The Royale
Added 2024-02-23 15:00:11 +0000 UTC
Comments
I'm not going to say this is one of my favourites, or even a particularly good episode, but it's always been a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. It's campy, but it's self aware of that, and it just has fun with that concept, and there's a cool, eerie atmosphere to the whole thing. I'm guessing the story is supposed to be set in the 1990s given Texas says he has a "91 Caddy" with 80K miles on it. Feels more like the 60s or 70s I wanna say. My personal experience with gambling is basically non existent, although I do trade stocks which arguably is a form of gambling. At my first job about 15 years ago, they did a whole casino night for the Christmas party. No real money involved. I did manage to pile up 3 pretty monstrous piles of chips playing Blackjack(I got a lot of practice with the concept playing Pazaak in Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic), enough that the dealer asked me "are you sure you're not cheating". After that I went and blew those winnings in about 3 minutes at the roulette table. Regarding Col. Richey, they could tell it was a he because there are differences between male and female skeletons, particularly in the pelvis. As to why he didn't try variations in the story, I'm sure he did. He probably played out the story and bought the hotel before, perhaps many times, he probably explored the entire shielded area and found nothing and had no way to leave. As to just playing variations to avoid boredom, imagine it this way. Imagine you've got say, Fallout New Vegas translated into a holodeck program, if you had NOTHING else to do, you'd probably play as many variations of the story and side quests as possible, play around with different builds, etc.. You'd still get bored, but at least you've have new things to try for a long time. Now imagine all you had for 38 years was 1 crappy side quest. No wonder Col. Richey wanted to die. When Data told him to blend in, Worf can be seen silently protesting as Data walks away, almost like he's thinking and wants to say "but I...dammit". I think this is the first of many times Worf does this kind of thing on the show. Worf is always getting denied by the higher ups. Ron Jones made some interesting choices with the soundtrack. It sounds a lot like S1 music in a few places, and elements of TOS like music can be heard in the shot after Riker figures out they need to buy the hotel, when you see the Enterprise in orbit. Anyway, not a very popular episode, but it's definitely unique, and I consider it a fun enough episode to revisit any time I go through the show.
Timothy Nikiforovs
2024-07-13 02:27:32 +0000 UTCHard disagree on the first 2 TNG movies. Highly memorable soundtracks IMO
Timothy Nikiforovs
2024-07-12 09:16:34 +0000 UTCAs I kid, I thought it was lots of fun, and still find it amusing. "Baby needs a new pair of shoes"
Firekrys FWO
2024-03-23 21:44:41 +0000 UTCThe first proof of Fermat's last theorem was, incidentally, published about five years after this episode aired.
Justin
2024-03-13 00:20:32 +0000 UTCYeah, biggest flaw with this episode is the aliens understood the book, so they understood the language therefore could surely communicate. But no, fake an environment based on the book and then run lol. Other than that it's pretty damn funny tbf, the reactions of Picard particularly is perfect.
Incredible Jon
2024-03-10 20:19:25 +0000 UTCThe idea of an alien race creating the novel they found on him was a brilliant idea. Whether or not it was implemented well is for us to decide... I do like strange puzzling episodes, and its kind of unique.
Andrew Bassey
2024-03-10 13:12:31 +0000 UTCI really like this episode
Matthew Webb
2024-03-09 21:11:39 +0000 UTCI've always enjoyed this episode. It's strange, but I like the stranger episodes, which I think TNG did better than other Trek shows
Vina
2024-03-03 22:17:52 +0000 UTCRoyale with Cheese
Vina
2024-03-03 22:15:38 +0000 UTCYeah I never got into this ep To me it was just a holodeck story turned on its ear, lazy writng
Scarpad’s Domain
2024-02-27 00:38:32 +0000 UTCIt’s a bit like Aliens being unable to read V’ger, they recreate the novel in exacting detail after reading it?? But couldn’t understand Richey or cater to his wishes?
Philbot
2024-02-26 18:10:49 +0000 UTCHaha yeah YTP isn't for everyone
Rhyan Patrick
2024-02-25 21:39:22 +0000 UTCThat is awful.
Jovet
2024-02-25 21:19:00 +0000 UTCTorme passed away this year. No future Trek spoilers in this article about him and his very famous father. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/tracy-torme-dead-sliders-star-trek-next-generation-1235783832/
Shatner's Cigarette
2024-02-25 14:44:41 +0000 UTCthere is a YTP of this episode called Picards cheese hotel that is absolutely hilarious. Ive always enjoyed this episode.
Rhyan Patrick
2024-02-25 09:24:33 +0000 UTCI like this 1 quite a bit. I know lots of people do not
harrypothead42024
2024-02-24 21:33:24 +0000 UTCFermats last theorem is a real thing. It was solved not long after this episode
harrypothead42024
2024-02-24 20:51:58 +0000 UTCThanks, I've always hated this episode but it was fun watching it with you guys. You are very entertaining! Thanks for continuing to provide excellent content!
Gary Leyh
2024-02-24 06:15:38 +0000 UTCAs before, Gene Roddenberry was grooming Tracy Torme to become the showrunner as he stepped back. His experience with this episode is a major reason he left the series. I've also heard, but never confirmed that one of the executive producers, sensing what Gene was planning made things difficult for the young writer.
Mark Chrisco
2024-02-24 00:29:54 +0000 UTCIt seems like the motel manager knows more than he lets on, given how he recognizes them as "THE foreign investors." Like he was waiting for someone to show up and buy the hotel.
tyranusfan
2024-02-24 00:28:34 +0000 UTCYes, that is what I had thought - Spectre of the Gun
Collin Freeman
2024-02-23 21:17:49 +0000 UTC45:10 I think you guys liked this one more than I thought you would!
Jovet
2024-02-23 19:47:27 +0000 UTCTNG unfortunately developed a policy that the music had to be functional and a very clear 'house style' dominated after season 3. The 4 TNG movies also never allowed the music to emerge too much from background effectiveness. Those 4 movies really needed the 2 composers to be allowed greater freedom to bolster the films. Rick Berman's musical legacy.
Numinous2019
2024-02-23 19:10:30 +0000 UTCi enjoy reading all your messages there's a wealth of information
Narnman
2024-02-23 18:26:30 +0000 UTCI just skipped this one and went to your end reaction.
Monty Crawford
2024-02-23 18:07:08 +0000 UTCThis episode was cheesetastic! But for once done purposely as the the book is described as complete mess of cliches. I guess the episode is a parody of sorts?
Narnman
2024-02-23 17:58:03 +0000 UTCFIREBALL BROS!
StonyD
2024-02-23 17:33:09 +0000 UTCNot again!!!
Josh (Target Audience)
2024-02-23 17:24:17 +0000 UTCJust wanted to say the whiskey glasses are much classier, well done
JD Nevesytrof
2024-02-23 17:18:05 +0000 UTCOops Tracy Torme is a guy or was a guy, rip
Narnman
2024-02-23 17:13:29 +0000 UTCThis is a good example of an episode which is fine if you have it as background that you're half paying attention to whilst playing an open world sandbox/ browsing interweb/ housework/ similar.
James Knight
2024-02-23 17:13:18 +0000 UTC2:42 Yes, the Fermat story is true!
Jovet
2024-02-23 16:54:37 +0000 UTCWorking title: “The Blue Moon Hotel.” “Keith Mills” is a pseudonym for writer Tracy Tormé, who had previously written “The Big Goodbye” and co-written “Haven,” “Conspiracy,” and “The Schizoid Man,” but who was deeply unhappy with the rewriting of this script (and who was a man, by the way). The lost astronaut was a major character in Tormé’s version, and Maurice Hurley told him that the show was trying to get away from featuring major guest roles, even though other Season 2 episodes (e.g., “The Outrageous Okona,” “Loud as a Whisper,” and “The Schizoid Man”) contradict this. Tormé, who was the son of well-known singer-songwriter Mel Tormé (“The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)”), passed away less than two months ago, on January 4. Fermat’s Last Theorem was indeed a real mathematical hypothesis proposed by French mathematician Pierre de Fermat around 1637, for which he claimed he had found “a truly marvelous proof,” which would not fit in the margin in which he was writing. However, English mathematician Andrew Wiles proved the theorem in 1994, five years after “The Royale” aired (and is now *Sir* Andrew Wiles due to this accomplishment). Star Trek fans and writers have expressed regret and embarrassment about this apparent predictive failure on TNG’s part. Wiles’ proof, however, involves advanced mathematics with which Fermat would not have been familiar, and the exact wording of Picard’s comments in the cold open does not indicate that the theorem has never been proven, leaving open the possibility that Picard is trying to find, not just any proof, but Fermat’s “marvelous proof,” using only 17th-century mathematics. If the musical score for this episode seems more noticeable and enjoyable than usual, that is because the TNG staff thought this was a bad episode and for once allowed composer Ron Jones to do anything he wanted to make it work. Jones (who alternated episodes with composer Dennis McCarthy at this point in the series) and Rick Berman were frequently in conflict because Berman wanted music less distinctive and emotional than Jones preferred to write. This dispute went all the way back to Jones’ first TNG episode, “The Naked Now,” the final edit of which dropped the cues Jones had composed for Tasha talking about her feelings with Troi and Dr. Crusher’s attempted seduction of Picard. Berman asked Jones during the work on that episode, “Can’t you write anything non-emotional?” – a bad omen for the future of Star Trek music given the length of time Berman was destined to remain in a position of power over the franchise. Even in “The Royale,” the producers replaced the music Jones composed for the discovery of Colonel Richey’s body with a cue from “Skin of Evil.” I have always liked “The Royale” very much, and Jones' score is one of the major reasons the final product is so good. One moment Jones enhances in this episode is the beaming of the piece of wreckage onto the Enterprise in the cold open. I distinctly remember the feeling of suspense I experienced the first time I saw this episode as a kid, knowing before Riker and O’Brien turned it around that there would be something shocking on the other side of the object, and it was Jones’ score that made me feel that way. In the final draft script, the United States Air Force insignia appears on the wreckage rather than the NASA logo and American flag, but the USAF logo would not have been instantly recognizable to many viewers. It also would have been another feature that dated the episode, since viewers would now be more likely to expect to see the U.S. *Space* Force logo on a future spacecraft… Concerning the institutional lineage of Starfleet, both the U.S. Space Force logo and the NASA “meatball” logo (the older symbol which NASA now uses interchangeably with the “worm” logo on the wreckage in this episode) feature deltas like those used by Starfleet (including on the TNG communicator badges). When the Space Force unveiled its logo in 2020, Internet commentators accused them of ripping off Star Trek, but the use of this symbol in the aerospace field predates TOS. For example, NASA was already using the “meatball” during Project Mercury (1958-1963). It seems to me, however, that the Space Force may be trying to position itself with the logo as the predecessor organization to Starfleet. Anyone in today’s world who expects Star Trek to “come true,” however, should bear in mind that such a process would entail a Third World War in the disturbingly near future, with no guarantee that either NASA or the Space Force would survive. Director Cliff Bole was familiar with casino settings, having directed every other episode of the TV series "Vega$." This episode includes one of my all-time favorite Star Trek moments (up there with Gillian slapping her boss in Voyage Home), Worf’s reaction to Colonel Richey having died in his sleep: “What a terrible way to die.” That line has shaped my whole outlook on life! Since Alex spoke over the line, I was glad that Josh immediately pointed out how great it was. Colonel Richey's dresser drawer likely did not contain a Gideon Bible because the "Hotel Royale" novel did not mention them. Even if Richey was not religious, imagine how much more bearable his 38 years in the hotel would have been with a second book to read! As I think Alex correctly intuited, Sam Anderson (the Assistant Manager) is one of those “Hey, it’s that guy!” film and TV actors; his other roles include appearances in "Forrest Gump" and on "Tales from the Darkside," "The Golden Girls," "ER," "Friends," "The West Wing," "Lost," and many other TV series. He is also in one of the films in your current Audience Cut poll! Actor Noble Willingham (Texas), best known for his supporting role on "Walker, Texas Ranger," was also one of the candidates for the role of Jean-Luc Picard in 1987. “It was a dark and stormy night” is a famously cliched opening line for a novel. It became well-known due to English novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s use of it at the beginning of his 1830 novel "Paul Clifford" but may be best known to later generations as the first line of Snoopy’s novels in "Peanuts." Madeleine L’Engle impishly used it as the first line of her 1962 children’s novel "A Wrinkle in Time," which won the Newbery Medal and remains a beloved classic. It would, sadly, be straying too far off-topic to mention that L’Engle was especially good at opening lines, with other examples including, “ʻThere are dragons in the twins’ vegetable garden,’” “A sudden snow shower brought an end to hockey practice,” “A heavy summer fog enveloped Kennedy International,” and “I first saw him at the funeral.” (There are two film versions of "A Wrinkle in Time," a TV movie from 2003 and a 2018 theatrical film by director Ava DuVernay. I regret to say that I do not consider either version good enough to recommend it for a reaction from you; L’Engle’s wonderful book verges on unfilmability.) Concerning your comments about Riker and Troi’s psychic link, I have seen entirely serious online speculation that they may share each other’s sexual experiences with other people, despite the dubious ethics of such an arrangement.
Anthony Bernacchi
2024-02-23 16:48:31 +0000 UTCI didn't make that TOS episode connection, but now you say it the similarities are striking.
Numinous2019
2024-02-23 16:23:46 +0000 UTCIn a way it's like Spectre of the Gun, with aliens creating an artificial environment full of artificial Earth people, which they can't leave until they figure it out. But the stakes are a lot lower.
James H
2024-02-23 15:57:38 +0000 UTCReminds me of the tos a piece of the action,light hearted and fun
Mark
2024-02-23 15:43:39 +0000 UTCThat's the problem with much of the first 2 seasons of TNG... even when it's not horrendous, it's just not memorable, and doesn't ask the viewer to return for another watch. It's cotton candy, and some of it isn't even tasty. Just.... meh. Waiting on Season 3 for things to really move forward.
Tom Occhipinti
2024-02-23 15:37:03 +0000 UTCIt’s definitely one of the lightweight episodes for me..nothing to think about or react to, just an hour of TNG.
Glenn Johnson Barnes
2024-02-23 15:22:22 +0000 UTCI glanced at this episode the other day, knowing it was coming up for our guys here. I haven't seen it since it originally aired... and my impression of it as I skimmed through some scene.... The episode spends a lot of time showing some lighthearted stuff... without delving into much meaning, depth, or narrative purpose. It's not very cohesive. And then it just ends. Or maybe I just needed to re-watch the whole thing. Am I being unfair?
Tom Occhipinti
2024-02-23 15:12:22 +0000 UTCThis is one of my two least favorite episodes of TNG.
Just another Red Shirt
2024-02-23 15:02:34 +0000 UTC
