Following a lead from a Klingon vessel, the Enterprise goes into orbit around an uninhabitable planet, one with debris from an unknown vessel in its orbit. Beaming a bit of the debris aboard, Picard and Riker are startled to find a piece of a hull bearing a 21st century "NASA" logo. Shortly thereafter, they detect a small structure on the planet, surrounded by breathable air. Riker, Data, and Worf beam down to investigate.
They find themselves in the Hotel Royale, a hotel in what appears to be mid-20th century Earth. They are unable to contact the ship, but there appears to be no threat. When they attempt to leave, however, they discover that the door simply leads them right back inside, with no other apparent exits. They are trapped, with no apparent possibility of escape!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: "Is there some connection between (the structure) and the debris?" he demands of Geordi the instant Geordi finds the structure. Uh, I'm pretty sure Geordi knows what you know, Captain. "Is there some intelligence behind all this?" he asks later, in the same tone that indicates that he isn't speculating, but actually expects Geordi to have an answer other than "not enough information." Maybe travel through Ikonian gates has brain cell-killing side effects? On the plus side, the faces Patrick Stewart pulls as Picard is subjected to the soul-deadening dialogue of Hotel Royale are quite funny, and a reminder of just how much Stewart brings to this series.
Riker: "There's no danger here, let's look around." Yeah, um, you're on a very strange planet, in an inexplicable building, and you've just lost contact with the ship. Maybe going back out of that revolving door to at least contact the ship would be a sensible thing to do. All right, eventually they do just that and it doesn't work... but the fact that it takes more than ten minutes' screen time before any of them think that might be a good idea is early evidence that we are in the midst of an idiot plot, with Riker acting as Idiot-in-Chief.
Data: Has some amusing scenes opposite Noble Willingham's leering character, known only as "Texas." I could complain that the expressions he makes during the craps scene are a bit too obviously Brent Spiner having fun rather than Data. Given the quality of the overall episode, though, any amusement value that can be wrung is welcome.
THOUGHTS
There are times when you can tell almost instantly that what you are watching is going to be a bad episode. When one of the first exchanges in The Royale has Geordi punctuating his analysis of the planet with cracks about "ammonia tornadoes," and ends with Geordi shuddering, "Nasty" to himself, I had a sinking feeling that this was going to be one of those times.
This is an episode with no sense of jeopardy at all. That would be fine, if that lack of jeopardy was made up for by some imagination or strong sense of fun. But the goings-on at the Hotel Royale simply offer no hook. The late Colonel Richey's dismissal of the source material as cliched and shallow is all too apt, and the hackneyed strands involving a Texan and a bimbo and a lovelorn bellboy are presented in a way that's unimaginative on the one hand, and lacking in any knowing sense of fun on the other.
There is some amusement value to the ending, with Data at the craps table "adjusting" the loaded dice in order to bring about the story's end. But in the end, The Royale is an attempt at a bit of period-style nuttiness in the style of the previous season's The Big Goodbye, only not half so well-done. It's a watchable enough bad episode... but that doesn't save it from being a pretty bad episode.
Rating: 3/10.
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