‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘The Royale’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

If there is one thing that we can all agree upon, it would have to be that stories are supremely important to modern society. For not only do they provide us with a wonderful escape from everyday reality, but they have incredible meaning to us on a personal and societal level. After all, some stories change our lives and provide us with a new outlook on life whilst others, perfectly encapsulate the times or important moments in history. Which is why we cherish storytelling and pass along great stories to others, and that is also why the Library of Congress works to preserve those socially relevant pieces of art, so that future generations can properly understand what the world was like when said story was created.

But what would happen if those important stories were lost, and all that was left was the silly or fluffy stuff? Well clearly future generations might view us in a supremely unique and different light when the only understanding they have of the modern world is a sub-par Adam Sandler comedy, and oddly enough; the next episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation takes the time to explore this notion in an incredibly fascinating manner. By pondering upon what life on other worlds would think of us if they, by chance, were able to study our society through mediocre fiction. Which makes the ‘The Royale’ a supremely unique episode for certain, since you really don’t think you’re going to see Data rolling craps in a casino when you tune into an episode this series, but that’s what happens here. 

An act that is brought to fruition by way of a surprising discovery on a barren and inhospitable world. For not only does the crew of the Enterprise discover the remains of a deep space exploration vessel from the 21st Century, named the Charybdis, they also come to learn that a tiny sliver of this awful planet can support human life and well, when Riker and Data and Worf beam down, that’s when things get interesting. For in the middle of an ammonia storm, is the Hotel Royale, a Vegas-style casino that offers up over-the-top characters and no escape for the Away Team. Because it turns out they are trapped in a never-ending simulation of an awful 21st Century novel known as Hotel Royale. Which was created by the beings of this world as an apology/gift to the lone surviving crew member of the Charybdis and the only way for the Away Team to get back home… is to immerse themselves in this story and bring it to its cheesy and gambling-filled conclusion.   

Now, this is an episode that quite frankly, I didn’t like all that much when it first came out. Because at the time, it seemed like a step backward for the franchise since this feels a little bit like an updated version of ‘A Piece of the Action’ from The Original Series. Only this version is on steroids since it features some powerhouse stereotypes and incredibly goofy sequences. But upon a second viewing all these years later, now it makes sense. In that, the story isn’t designed to be taken seriously in the slightest. For this is nothing more than a caricature of our world and its people and that’s why everything here is so off the wall and goofy and that’s on me for not paying closer attention the first time around. Because this really is a lighthearted tale, one that lets several members of the cast let loose and have fun and it does feature some memorable moments for certain, especially when the crew tries to ‘blend in’.

But while this particular tale grows on you and puts a smile on your face, it is clear that this episode didn’t quite resonate with audiences when all is said and done. Because TNG would never try this type of tale again and if it wanted to let the characters and actors get silly, then the Holodeck would serve as the perfect setting to let that happen, since that was oddly more palatable for the audience. Yet while this story may not be the most popular TNG one out there, it gets props for trying something incredibly different and for providing future space travelers with quite the important lesson. In that, when you board your ship, bring some classy literature and magnificent movies with you. Otherwise, things might get weird years down the line, and you could force an incredibly intelligent android to say ‘baby needs a new pair of shoes’, before rolling a hard six, so that he can escape the cheesy prison that you inadvertently helped to create for him. Until next time.

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