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Ai/LLM reviews of STNG - The Royale

Google Gemini

"Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Royale" 
is an unusual and often perplexing episode 
that blends a scientific mystery with a bizarre, 
self-contained cultural simulation, exploring 
themes of reality, perception, and the unintended 
consequences of alien interpretation.

Plot Overview: The USS Enterprise-D investigates 
a strange vessel in orbit around an unexplored planet. 
They discover the planet has a breathable atmosphere 
and a peculiar, isolated structure on its surface. 
An away team, comprising Commander Riker, Lieutenant 
Commander Data, and Lieutenant Worf, beams down 
to investigate. They find a revolving door that 
leads them into a lavish, yet eerily empty, 
20th-century Earth hotel lobby – "The Royale."
The team quickly realises that the hotel is 
a meticulously detailed, but ultimately flawed, 
recreation of a bygone era. The "people" inside 
are not truly alive but are part of the simulation. 
They soon discover the skeletal remains of Colonel 
Richey, an astronaut whose 21st-century Earth 
ship mysteriously disappeared. Through their 
investigation, the Enterprise crew pieces 
together the bizarre truth: a highly advanced
alien race, in an attempt to understand humanity, 
created this entire hotel environment based 
on a poorly written, melodramatic novel found 
on Richey's ship. The aliens, misinterpreting 
the fictional narrative as a guide to human life, 
trapped Richey within this endless, looping 
simulation, where he eventually died. The away 
team must then find a way to escape this bizarre, 
inescapable prison, ultimately succeeding 
and leaving the Enterprise crew to ponder 
the strange and tragic fate of Colonel Richey 
and the profound misunderstanding that led to it.

Strengths:Unique Concept: The premise of an entire 
reality constructed from a bad novel is highly 
imaginative and a distinctly Star Trek way to 
explore themes of perception 
and cultural interpretation.

Data's Role: Data's logical approach to the illogical 
events within The Royale provides some of the episode's 
more interesting moments, as he tries to apply reason 
to a nonsensical situation.Atmosphere: The isolated, 
looping nature of the hotel, and the constant repetition 
of its bizarre events, creates a genuinely unsettling 
and surreal atmosphere.

Exploration of Misinterpretation: The episode effectively 
highlights the dangers of misinterpreting alien cultures, 
even with good intentions.

Weaknesses:Pacing: The episode's pacing can feel quite 
slow, particularly as the crew repeatedly experiences 
the same events within the hotel. The repetition, 
while thematic, can become tedious.

Lack of Clear Stakes: While Richey's fate is tragic, 
the immediate danger to the away team within 
the hotel often feels less urgent or compelling 
than other TNG threats.

The "Bad Novel" Premise: While a creative idea, 
the execution of the "bad novel" as the source 
material can sometimes make the events within 
The Royale feel more silly than profound.

Underdeveloped Aliens: The alien race responsible 
for creating The Royale is never seen or fully 
explained, which leaves a significant plot hole 
and reduces the impact of their "misinterpretation."

Convenient Resolution: The method of escape, 
while eventually figured out by the crew, can feel 
a bit arbitrary and lacks a truly satisfying 
intellectual breakthrough.

Worf and Riker's Reactions: Their acceptance 
of the bizarre situation, particularly Worf's, 
feels somewhat out of character at times.

Overall Impression:"The Royale" is one 
of Star Trek: The Next Generation's more polarising 
episodes. Its unique and imaginative concept is its 
greatest strength, offering a truly "strange new 
world" to explore. However, its slow pacing, 
reliance on a somewhat silly central premise, 
and underdeveloped alien antagonists prevent 
it from reaching its full potential. It's a 
curiosity for fans interested in the show's 
early experimental phase, but not a universally 
beloved entry.

Rating: 5/10

ChatGPT

Alright — let’s break down 
**“Star Trek: The Next Generation” — *The Royale*** 
using the transcript from [chakoteya.net]
(http://www.chakoteya.net/NextGen/138.htm).

---

**Episode:** *The Royale*
**Season:** 2, Episode 12
**Original Air Date:** March 27, 1989

---

### **Summary (based on the transcript)**

The Enterprise investigates the wreckage 
of a 21st-century NASA ship found orbiting 
a planet in an uninhabitable atmosphere. 
Data, Riker, and Worf beam down to the surface 
and discover a surreal bubble of breathable 
atmosphere containing… a cheesy Earth-style 
casino hotel called “The Royale.” Inside, 
they find a cast of melodramatic, one-dimensional 
characters acting out the plot of a pulp crime 
novel. The away team realises the entire environment 
was created by aliens who misinterpreted the only 
clue they had about humans — a terrible novel left 
on the dead astronaut’s ship. The astronaut lived 
out his life trapped inside this artificial setting, 
which was supposed to be a gesture of hospitality 
but became a prison. To escape, the crew must 
“play the game” and finish the novel’s plot, 
buying the hotel so they can leave.

---

### **Strengths:**

✅ **Weird and memorable:** TNG occasionally 
veers into pure surrealism, and *The Royale* 
is a good example. The absurdity of three 
Starfleet officers wandering through a cheap 
knockoff of 20th-century Americana is oddly fun.

✅ **Fish-out-of-water comedy:** There’s genuine 
humour in how baffled Worf and Data are by the 
hotel’s tacky clichés, gambling, and melodrama. 
Data counting cards and cleaning out the casino
is a fun highlight.

✅ **Clever premise:** The aliens creating 
a fake reality based on an Earth novel they 
didn’t understand is classic Trek: a “what 
if aliens tried to recreate our culture 
with only partial info?” scenario. It echoes 
TOS’s *A Piece of the Action*, but less successfully.

✅ **Atmosphere:** The episode nails a dreamlike
“Twilight Zone” vibe — it’s cheap and pulpy but 
in a way that fits the story’s concept.

---

### **Weaknesses:**

❌ **Paper-thin plot:** There’s no real character 
growth or deep stakes. Once you grasp the mystery, 
it’s just the crew playing along until they can leave.

❌ **Goofy execution:** The Royale is meant to be 
cheesy, but the characters and dialogue inside it 
are so flat they get tedious fast. It’s one-note 
camp that overstays its welcome.

❌ **No payoff:** The tragic backstory of the lone 
astronaut is barely explored. It could have been 
poignant, but it feels brushed aside so the crew 
can focus on the puzzle.

❌ **Filler feel:** The episode doesn’t connect 
to any larger Trek arcs or deepen anyone’s character. 
It’s just a self-contained oddity.

---

### **Standout line:**

* **Worf:** *“I am not altogether certain this is a good idea.”*
* This sums up the entire episode’s vibe.

---

### **Rating: 5/10**

*The Royale* is odd, mildly amusing filler. 
It’s not *bad* in a painful way — it’s just 
shallow and forgettable once the novelty wears off. 
It has a certain B-movie charm for fans who 
enjoy Trek’s occasional forays into surreal 
pulp weirdness, but it’s far from essential TNG.

---

**So far, here’s a quick ranking for context:**

| Episode                  | Rating |
| ------------------------ | ------ |
| **The Measure of a Man** | 9.5/10 |
| **A Matter of Honor**    | 8.5/10 |
| **Contagion**            | 7/10   |
| **The Schizoid Man**     | 6/10   |
| **The Royale**           | 5/10   |
| **Unnatural Selection**  | 5.5/10 |
| **The Dauphin**          | 5/10   |



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