PATRON TAKES - Star Trek TNG S2E12

In-lieu of another holodeck ep you get a magic planet who can do basically the same thing. This is a prison of sorts and the team really have to work hard to find a way to end the story. Really a useless ep. because of your affinity for TOS and the holodeck I am going to wager a guess you will like this ep. But also think you will put it in the not bad but not a favorite.

I loved this one. It was plain old fun. It didn’t drag. Had some good worf humor. I’ll rewatch this, especially when I want to just have fun and not ponder the universe.

Baby needs a new pair of shoes!

The most interesting part of this episode is the flag on the debrie and uniform. 52 stars. Data was entertaning too. The episode is below average for the show. I predict that you will judge this episode as middling

I don't remember much about this episode, just that it was kind of bizarre and interesting, but overall not much meat on the bone. I think alluding to TOS episodes and Twilight Zone is probably accurate. Take Spectre of the Gun, Shore Leave, and Paradise Syndrome, throw in some TZ, and mix well. This is what you get.

Have not seen this one for 25 years or so. Then I considered it as quite boring. But I learned by rewatching TNG with Josh and Alex that I see many things differently now. I am curious.

I loved the correcting of the dice for some reason.

Prediction: You’ll dig the TOS vibes. Question: Fermat’s Last Theorem aside, what guess about the future in Star Trek have you found the most dated? Trivia: Data is wrong about the blackjack hand. 5-word review: Loved it as a teen.

Not showing the episode title is ignorant.

Michael Dorn doesn't have a ton to do as Worf here. But the scene where Riker says something like "poor devil died in bed" and Worf says "what a terrible way to die" I always found to be a nice little reminder of Worf's value system.

I've watched TNG in its entirety probably 20 times and yet somehow I just always forget this episode even exists. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I found this one pretty boring when it first came out. I've rewatched it a handful of times since and liked it a bit more but it's nothing special and definitely in my bottom third of season 2 episodes.

Oh god! Not this one!

I actually like this episode. Data seems a bit incongruent in how he suddenly seems to be acting "cool" and having "fun" while loading up the dice and cheating. Still I enjoy it.

Welcome to the rollercoaster boys: good ep, bad ep, good ep, bad ep. I bet that moment with the single revolving door in the black had you fearing another "The Empath" type episode.

This has always been a favorite of mine. Mickey D's line. "No woman's worth dying for, killing for. not dying for" is perhaps the best line in the season.

The Royale, a bad holodeck episode without a holodeck

“The Royale” or “Could be worse. Could have been reading Fifty Shades.”

I remember finding the episode unremarkable when it first aired. My second viewing has done nothing to change that opinion.

Just a fun, light episode! It also feels comfortable somehow, because it's got a couple of guest stars who were TV character actor staples of this late '80s-early '90s era. The desk clerk and the Texas gambler were in EVERYTHING back then.

The first time I saw this episode I didn't like it, but over the years it has grown on me. I enjoy it very much now.

This is one episode that I don’t know how other people feel about it but I personally love it! The idea of Riker, Data, and Worf essentially stuck in a cheap poorly written novel is the type of story I loved about TNG and it’s always on my go to list when rewatching TNG. The scene when Picard starts reading the novel with the extremely cliched “Dark and Stormy Night” with Troi saying I might get better is my favorite.

Story really goes nowhere.....slowly. Maybe it was fun for Frakes, Spiner and Dorn to film. Something needed to be added about half-way through to either justify the set-up, or to make the episode amount to more than a bit of a diversion/oddity.

I always thought the set up to this episode was so effective. Creepy and mysterious, like a good twilight zone hook. In my memories this episode doesn't exist past the reveal of the twist.

Andrew Wiles: "Fermat's Last Theorem won't be proved for another 800 years, Picard? Alright, bet." (Wiles proved this theorem 6 years after the episode aired in 1995)

TNG's attempt at "A Piece of the Action". It doesn't hit as well and only Data really starts to buy a little into the parts they were playing. A good enough episode that could have been so much better.

I know I'm in the minority that enjoys what this episode for what it is. For better or worse, it feels almost TOS like to me.

It is not that this is a bad episode. No, this episode is not bad, it is just about a really bad book.

I predict you both liking the episode, mostly for little scenes and character touches. The only problem with this is that in some ways it is the same story as Contagion and TOS's The Paradise Syndrome. But I enjoyed this much more on rewatch. I remember thinking "This stinks!" But on rewatch I just enjoyed it for what it was.

Definitely not a “Measure of a Man” quality, but it’s such a clever little premise. Almost meta as it’s an episode about a book filled with clichés, that is itself filled with Trek clichés (a small patch of “earth like conditions on an uninhabited planet. A 20th century scenario recreation. An away team trapped and unable to beam out. The NASA craft, etc.). Enjoyable, but never going to make a top 10 list lol.

Ok so we are stuck forever in a casino, do you think the buffet stays the same or do you think they rotate the selection of food? Be like “I really want to leave this casino, but not tomorrow, tomorrow is the prime rib dinner..”

This episode feels like an old 1960s Trek episode. Some fans love this episode, and some hate this one. It was something different and memorable without using the holodeck, so I kind of liked it.

This episode suffers some unfortunate scientific errors and goofs. Geordi announces its temperature is −291 °C... but that's below absolute zero! Picard talks about Fermat's Last theorem, still unsolved in the 24th century. But it was solved for us in 1995, after this episode was written. The patch on the astronaut suit is an Apollo patch, and in the original broadcast it had their names on it instead. Tracy Tormé originally wrote this but it was extensively edited after his submission. Who knows where these errors crept in. (I'd bet it wasn't him. RIP Mr. Tracy Tormé)

Hey another 20th Century humans Episode, except they are not human. The only thing I liked about this one is Data getting into the the Dice throwing and the Guy with the Hat. That's about all I liked when it aired Originally....the Royale story was just too slow and a bit boring. I can't really see you guys liking this anymore than the last Ep. That's it! 😀🤟 I forgot the Worf Line..."What a terrible way to die!"

Do TNG writers not know what "advanced decomposition" is? There wasn't much left!

The Royale with a bit of cheese.

This is one of my favorite episodes of all time! A celebration of bad paperback/pulp fiction, the Twilight Zone and Brent Spiner's charm all in one! Great performances by the main guest star. More of that awesome 80s "sexism" that is sorely lacking in today's television and one teeny-tiny moment with Worf that made me chuckle the first time I saw this gem of an episode.

The episode reminds me a little bit of the TOS episode A Piece of the Action where a whole society is built after a book. This is scaled down dramatically but still ... perhaps there are some aliens out there who collect books from Earth and then built worlds out of it for Humans to live in

If the musical score seems more noticeable and enjoyable than usual, that's 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 and Rick Berman were frequently in conflict because Berman wanted music less distinctive and emotional than Jones generally provided. I've always liked this episode very much, and I think Jones' score is one of the major reasons the final product is so good.

Pitch meeting went something like this: "We are running out of money this season, already did a few bottle shows, how about a holodeck episode? Rent existing sets and costumes for a period piece based on some public domain book." "We did a couple those too!" "I know... we'll do a holodeck episode and NOT MAKE IT ON THE HOLODECK!" "GENIUS!"

Preposterous. The best elements of this immature twaddle are the characters in the casino. Data playing dumb with “room service”, “card counter” etc is cringy; the aliens read the same book and understood it.

Feels like The Twilight Zone to me with a Star Trek wrap-around. It’s a bit daft but enjoyable.

I’ve always liked this one. The hotel setting is cool, and revolving door in the middle of a storm adds a surreal air to the story. I used to wonder why the astronaut never figured out how to escape, but then I realized it’s because he never finished reading the terribly written novel.

Oh those leftover Season One scripts....still so terrible. You would think they would at least capitalize on Data having "learned" Poker. They have already shown he can be beaten that way, so that could have added some actual tension or stakes to the ending. The fantasy-ability to toss dice at exactly the right speed, angle, ambient air control, etc. to get the right land every single time.....yeah, that whole thing rolled snake-eyes in my opinion. Next episode please!

I think you guys will say this one is alright. Not great, not terrible. You'll either like or hate the Texan guy who's trying to pick up that girl. Might need lots of Fireball in this one!

I enjoy this episode, it's corny and predictable, but it's also kinda fun watching Data do his thing. It's "funny" watching him "fix" the dice. I wonder where the aliens got the inspiration for the appearances of all the different people in the casino.

My only problem with this episode is, when they try to leave through the revolving door, they don't walk out and back in simultaneously—there's a time gap while they very obviously go around the outside of the door.

Favorite moment: "He died in his sleep." Worf, in the background "What a terrible way to die." It's a small thing, but it just is so Worf. Dying peacefully in your sleep. something most human beings hope for, is the most unappealing way for a Klingon to go. Also, love the spinny doors. It's such a surreal image.

“It was a dark and stormy night” is of course the cliché beginning for all bad stories, first used in Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s 1830 novel “Paul Clifford” and often employed by Snoopy at his typewriter.

Every once in a while Star Trek does a silly episode that is just meant to be fun (eg. "Shore Leave"). If you can switch your brain off and watch it for what it is, you'll enjoy it. If not, you'll think it's stupid.

To me, this is the average season 2 episode: there’s a spark or a good concept that utterly fails to materialize to anything interesting. The definition of 5/10. The meta aspect of it being based on a crummy novel is kind of funny though.

Welcome to the Hotel California..

This episode gets a bad rep but I think it’s one of the highlights of S2. Cheesier than a Quattro Formaggi pizza with a cheese stuffed crust. It’s worth it for the “Data plays craps” scene alone. “Baby needs a new pair of shoes”

I really enjoy this one. A bit goofy, but still fun. I'm impressed that the wreckage they first beam aboard actually had a flag painted with 52 stars, just like the dialog said. Well done, prop guys!

Favorite moment has to be Worf muttering "What a terrible way to die" when Riker mentions the guy died in his sleep.

This one is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. Is it "good"? Maybe not. Is it effectively a holodeck episode without the holodeck? Sure. Is it a giant, stinky wedge of cheese? Yup! I don't care, it's fun. Enjoy!

This episode is one of those where it's most fun when watching it for the first time. Going back to it once in a while is fine, but beyond that it doesn't offer that much (except Data bringing on those wrist flicks when tossing the dice!). I like it for what it is.

For me this one definitely has the flavor of a TOS episode with sort of some of the same elements as “A Piece of the Action” but not nearly as much fun, and a bit of “The Twilight Zone” thrown in. Not quite the worst but definitely not close to the best. I have it ranked as “At Least It's Only 45ish Minutes”. The only thing that keeps it out of the “No. Just...No”. category for me is thinking about the poor guy who had to relive that terrible novel over and over again with no way out except for death. The idea of that reality is pretty haunting.