While I’ve had a nostalgic enjoyment of the The Royale, I must admit that it is a poorly conceived and very poorly written episode.

Common sense tells you that if you’re going to have an episode revolve around the plot of a novel that you at least make the novel’s plot interesting — otherwise the episode itself will not be interesting. And to go a step further and include cliché characters from a cliché novel (yes, the novel even starts with “It was a dark and stormy night”) is most unwise indeed. And yet, that is precisely what The Royale is all about.

Riker, Data, and Worf all do their best with the material they are given, and it is enough to create a few memorable moments: Worf answering a telephone and being asked for room service, Data’s betting, Riker’s generosity, to name a few.

Ultimately, this episode is difficult to watch (unless, like me, you have a nostalgia for it). The characters and story are boring, cliché and give our heroes very little to work with, much less do. When the highlight of an episode is Data cheating to win millions at a craps table, you know your episode has issues.

Because there is an element of fun to The Royale, it isn’t a complete failure. But very few people will be able to derive much enjoyment from it.

Filed under: TNG Reviews