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ST: TNG Rewatch

The Royale

The Enterprise reaches a planet with a toxic atmosphere and beams up a piece of an old American space craft. Then they discover a building is on the surface in a pocket of breathable atmosphere. Riker, Worf and Data beam down and see a single revolving door. They walk through it and wind up in a recreation of an old Earth hotel...The Royale. Hijinks ensue.

I hated this episode first run so I dreaded my rewatch of it. Well, like a number of episodes I've revisited, it's not bad. It's not good, but it's a fun diversion. It's funny. It has a sad core story about the remaining stranded astronaut and everyone seems to be having a good time.

Pulaski has one scene that's less than a minute, sitting by herself in the conference room on a conference call. Why bother? Did they have a minimum number of episodes they were required to use her in?

Deanna was a little grating. "Commander Riker feels trapped!" Jesus lady.

Good to see O'Brien at the transporter controls.

I felt bad for "Texas" at the end. He lost everything and took it personally, but not angrily. He was like "damn Data, why'd you let me lose it all like that?" Probably the most emotional point of the episode.

Then there's the relatively pointless chat about Fermat's Last Theorem. The unproven equation left behind by Pierre de Fermat. In 1988 it was still unproven. About 5 years later - oops. Andrew Wiles got it done. I guess Jean-Luc missed that in his Wiki search. It still adds little to the episode, much like a number of non-sequitur 2nd season bits.

An okay low stakes episode. Not as bad as I initially thought but not one I'd rush to revisit before my eventual passing.

2/5
 
The Royale was whacky fun unless you were Col Ritchie. There are other books I'd rather be trapped in than that one. I enjoyed Data's antics at the dice table.

The pseudodrama with the bellboy was trite and meaningless, but it was supposed to be trite and meaningless.

I have enough trouble finding e-books from 20 years ago, no idea how Picard googled a 300 yr old one.
 
I started my own rewatch today - partly inspired by this thread. The stunt doubles for Tasha and Data in Encounter at Farpoint are hilarious. Picard's general awkwardness is also very funny. It was a lot of fun. I grew up with TNG and it felt like going back in time. I really liked seeing Tasha again. I absolutely love this show and need it back in my life.
 
Time Squared

Let's kick this off with...I will never ask Will Riker to make me breakfast. Not because he chose the shittiest tasting eggs in the galaxy (he's never had them?), but because he has zero idea how to cook them. Christ, this scene made me cringe. First, he apparently promised omelets, since Pulaski brings ale as a perfect companion drink because "your omelets deserve no less."

A breakfast ale? Okay I guess people have mimosas but still...

Well, he obviously f'ks up the omelets because be immediately transitions to making scrambled eggs.

And proceeds to burn them. The guy has a non-stick pan and all I see is an over-heated skillet with stuck eggs in the center.

timesquared_hd_019.jpg


You're gonna need to let that pan soak a little before you clean it, Will.

Just because he raises and lowers his bowl of egg mix doesn't mean he's a "practiced hand." I've been making eggs since I was a kid and I don't effing do that. And I don't burn the shit out of them either.

He cracks like one egg which becomes food for 6 and then decides to give Data extra before giving Worf (who's hysterical) a smallest amount because he gave out or ruined the rest.

"A cook is only as good as his ingredients" ... and his freaking skill. Lower the flame. Grease the pan. Add things like meat or veggies if you're making an omelette. Christ on a pony, this scene really snarked me off.

Foreshadowing: Pulaski is shocked to hear Riker's dad liked cooking. It's ADR but it's obvious in retrospect that they wanted her to be dumbfounded and not because of Worf's "WOMEN cook!" attitude.

"Riker's dad plooked Pulaski next time on Starrrrr Trek - The NextGen-ration!"

Okay well, yeah there's 42 more minutes left here.

Man, this one had such an amazing premise. And I realize the intention was for this to be a weirdo mystery and the following episode was supposed to be Q Who? and have Q be the one behind it all. The producers were averse to serializing, so they made it standalone and pretty much had a hasty but unconvincing explanation about the anomaly being a life form. Still not sure how Picard got thrown back in time, but okay. It was a dandy puzzle and had wonderful atmosphere but ultimately didn't go anywhere. Which, to be fair, isn't necessarily a minus. If you accept that sometimes weird shit happens in space. I guess if you liked "Where Silence Has Lease" you won't have an issue with this. This one was just executed better. But funny they both had nonsense openings. Riker on the holodeck with Worf vs Riker ruining breakfast. Also with Worf.

Pulaski get s an unnecessary "I can relieve the captain" bit that makes Troi so pissy that she walks out of sickbay minutes after Picard ordered her to stay there.

O'Brien shows up at the very end. Nice for continuity and a paycheck for Colm but no reason why he had to do that bit. Why not Troi?

I hate the shuttle craft design. This is the same year Shatner would give us a splendid update of the classic shuttle and TNG gives us this blocky little toy with no graceful angles. It literally looks like an off the shelf Playmates toy. TNG will never have attractive shuttles.

And did the hanger deck crew really need Data on the intercom giving them directions to activate the alternate tractor beam? You know, that little tiny stand up thing in the middle of the floor? Which is actually kinda stupid. This should be automated. The outside beam brings it in and another beam, mounted in the ceiling, automatically takes over. Now......if they didn't insist on having people stationed in the hanger bay when ships were docking, they could have depressurized and turned the gravity down and let inertia take care of it and then gradually turn up the gravity until the shuttle gently touched down, but okay. And I'd hate that duty. What if the force field glitches? See ya Ensign Ricky!

This one feels like a wasted premise, but I like the randomness of space in this. It was a great mystery and the cast, as always, is in top form. The Picard double scenes were pretty flawless. The Space is Dangerous motif really sells it. And frankly, I appreciate not getting an answer this time around. Space is disease and danger, wrapped in darkness and silence. As well as mystery.

Not great, but a good weirdo 43 minutes after the Tragedy of Riker's Eggs.

3.5/5
 
Time Squared

Let's kick this off with...I will never ask Will Riker to make me breakfast. Not because he chose the shittiest tasting eggs in the galaxy (he's never had them?), but because he has zero idea how to cook them. Christ, this scene made me cringe. First, he apparently promised omelets, since Pulaski brings ale as a perfect companion drink because "your omelets deserve no less."

A breakfast ale? Okay I guess people have mimosas but still...

Well, he obviously f'ks up the omelets because be immediately transitions to making scrambled eggs.

And proceeds to burn them. The guy has a non-stick pan and all I see is an over-heated skillet with stuck eggs in the center.

timesquared_hd_019.jpg


You're gonna need to let that pan soak a little before you clean it, Will.

Just because he raises and lowers his bowl of egg mix doesn't mean he's a "practiced hand." I've been making eggs since I was a kid and I don't effing do that. And I don't burn the shit out of them either.

He cracks like one egg which becomes food for 6 and then decides to give Data extra before giving Worf (who's hysterical) a smallest amount because he gave out or ruined the rest.

"A cook is only as good as his ingredients" ... and his freaking skill. Lower the flame. Grease the pan. Add things like meat or veggies if you're making an omelette. Christ on a pony, this scene really snarked me off.

Foreshadowing: Pulaski is shocked to hear Riker's dad liked cooking. It's ADR but it's obvious in retrospect that they wanted her to be dumbfounded and not because of Worf's "WOMEN cook!" attitude.

"Riker's dad plooked Pulaski next time on Starrrrr Trek - The NextGen-ration!"

Okay well, yeah there's 42 more minutes left here.

LOL!

I sorta like this opening scene, showing the characters when not quite on duty. It also lends itself to Photoshop with some grace


(less) jokes.

Also, the 24th century got away from things like friendship. Don't blame me, they say it on screen:

PULASKI: For much of the history of mankind, the breaking of bread was a symbol of friendship and community. Something we have gotten away from in the twenty-fourth century.

Well, they stopped breaking bread if nothing else. Based on the spandex and how it can retain perspiration and smells, I hope they did away with breaking wind too!

Man, this one had such an amazing premise. And I realize the intention was for this to be a weirdo mystery and the following episode was supposed to be Q Who? and have Q be the one behind it all. The producers were averse to serializing, so they made it standalone and pretty much had a hasty but unconvincing explanation about the anomaly being a life form. Still not sure how Picard got thrown back in time, but okay. It was a dandy puzzle and had wonderful atmosphere but ultimately didn't go anywhere. Which, to be fair, isn't necessarily a minus. If you accept that sometimes weird shit happens in space. I guess if you liked "Where Silence Has Lease" you won't have an issue with this. This one was just executed better. But funny they both had nonsense openings. Riker on the holodeck with Worf vs Riker ruining breakfast. Also with Worf.

^^this

I've not researched, but had it been a direct continuation, it would spell it outright that Troi can only sense Q when Q wants her to sense him, rendering him that much more... dangerous, for lack of word given Q's complexity. As it stands, the episode remains open-ended and with no answers - which, IMHO, elevates it as we're left to guess. I sorta like the fact that there are other unknowns in space, open-ended for the future should anyone need a hook to follow up with should ideas start to dry up. But we never got that, plus - back in the day - seasons 1 and 2 generally had been treated by fans if they had cooties and lots of other icky diseases (even if season 4-onward built on some of these things that the early seasons created as one-off ideas.) As with the neon pink crawdads from "Conspiracy", the magical mystery space tornado is another. Maybe it was one of Janeway's new enemies in the Delta quadrant or another Caretaker for all anyone's going to really care, especially as that's risking diving into small universe syndrome territory instead of going anywhere new or taking its own path instead.

And T² was executed better, even if WSHL has more atmosphere permeating, T² is stronger overall, especially with the moralplay that Picard is puffing his cranial veins over.

Pulaski get s an unnecessary "I can relieve the captain" bit that makes Troi so pissy that she walks out of sickbay minutes after Picard ordered her to stay there.

:)

O'Brien shows up at the very end. Nice for continuity and a paycheck for Colm but no reason why he had to do that bit. Why not Troi?

An atypical sense of adherence to duty, only O'Brien can touch the console or else the one attempting to do so gets cooties, I've no idea... it hurts even more since Guinan ends up doing most of the things Troi would or could do anyhow. That said, Guinan's mysterious background allows TNG's universe to expand just a little bit more as a result...

I hate the shuttle craft design. This is the same year Shatner would give us a splendid update of the classic shuttle and TNG gives us this blocky little toy with no graceful angles. It literally looks like an off the shelf Playmates toy. TNG will never have attractive shuttles.

Merchandising! At least we got a Playmates model of that - which IMHO looks better like the misshapen lumps of bread dough rolls seen in season one - and that cannot be said for the Spaceballs brand Flamethrower I'd been jonesing for ever since 1987, but I digress; hate to say it but season 5 or so perfected a combination of "super-curvy swimsuit issue design" with "80s angles gone wild". Which reminds of a supertangent, how come "Timescape" on blu-ray never got the shadow detail re-applied for the smileyface? Oh well!

And did the hanger deck crew really need Data on the intercom giving them directions to activate the alternate tractor beam?

Why did Spock feel a need to use the intercom to ask Kirk to allow him to turn off the tractor beam in "Tomorrow is Yesterday", you'd think Kirk wouldn't need to have every last bit of minutiae reported as there is sufficient common-sense autonomy to turn the damn thing off now that the little airplane disintegrated, unless Kirk liked to keep it running or something. But I digress again.

You know, that little tiny stand up thing in the middle of the floor? Which is actually kinda stupid. This should be automated. The outside beam brings it in and another beam, mounted in the ceiling, automatically takes over. Now......if they didn't insist on having people stationed in the hanger bay when ships were docking, they could have depressurized and turned the gravity down and let inertia take care of it and then gradually turn up the gravity until the shuttle gently touched down, but okay. And I'd hate that duty. What if the force field glitches? See ya Ensign Ricky!

LOL. too true. Gotta love those "smart forcefields" where they'll let anything of a certain mass pass, but not anything else. Yes, it looks cool, but don't stop and think too much into any details. Then again, it's sci-fi, we're supposed to play "Magical Tetris" to figure out how it all gets put together. Or so I'd like to think but I'm thinking too much into things...

I also had to headcanon that the ship's exterior has retractable turrets - otherwise the exterior beam facing straight down wouldn't be possible at all. Not that we needed an exterior POV shot, but you know someone in the audience would have had to (a) wonder where it came from, then hopefully (b) fathoming how it'd work as a result.

This one feels like a wasted premise, but I like the randomness of space in this. It was a great mystery and the cast, as always, is in top form. The Picard double scenes were pretty flawless. The Space is Dangerous motif really sells it. And frankly, I appreciate not getting an answer this time around. Space is disease and danger, wrapped in darkness and silence. As well as mystery.

Not great, but a good weirdo 43 minutes after the Tragedy of Riker's Eggs.

LOL


4/5 for me. It's a fresh premise, one that "Cause and Effect" almost one-ups (more on that down the road), and has a great moral quandary for our dear captain of, indeed, a unique and very personal kind.
 
The Royale

The Enterprise reaches a planet with a toxic atmosphere and beams up a piece of an old American space craft. Then they discover a building is on the surface in a pocket of breathable atmosphere. Riker, Worf and Data beam down and see a single revolving door. They walk through it and wind up in a recreation of an old Earth hotel...The Royale. Hijinks ensue.

I've a soft spot for this one. It's attempting to do the "fish out of water" trope, a la Star Trek IV. Not as successfully, but part of me likes how they're playing it straight. (Thank Hurley for that, Torme had his name removed because of the rewrites and removal of the comedic bent. Then again, the original draft is surely out there and to get a feel of how Torme was trying to do "Fish Out of Water - The Next Generation" might have been really good. Especially as it's not taking the easy route that TVH had.)

I hated this episode first run so I dreaded my rewatch of it. Well, like a number of episodes I've revisited, it's not bad. It's not good, but it's a fun diversion. It's funny. It has a sad core story about the remaining stranded astronaut and everyone seems to be having a good time.

The reveal of the astronaut's fate is pretty strong. What precedes it is a mixed bag, I'll admit, if not too slowly paced. Great opening and mystery leading to the landing party going down...

Pulaski has one scene that's less than a minute, sitting by herself in the conference room on a conference call. Why bother? Did they have a minimum number of episodes they were required to use her in?

^^this

The scene feels too much like an aside for no reason and then Riker is quick to state what they will do if they're stuck there for months, despite Pulaski's certainty - and I don't disbelieve her abilities... her scene does feel shoehorned in.

Deanna was a little grating. "Commander Riker feels trapped!" Jesus lady.

On the plus side, she gets this gem later on:

TROI: I don't believe this dialogue. Did humans really talk like that?

Best triple entendre ever as the line reflects (a) the cheesy novel on a dark and stormy night, (b) how 20th century people are known to talk, and (c) an interesting attempt to present a window to the past in a serious way. Troi would work just as well living today and having to read an original Shakespeare cursive manuscript, for the same reason - the gulf of centuries and the change in verbal communication structure.

Good to see O'Brien at the transporter controls.

Like a piece of stone you water chia seeds on, it all grows on you over time. Ditto for earlobe hair except that isn't as pretty.

I felt bad for "Texas" at the end. He lost everything and took it personally, but not angrily. He was like "damn Data, why'd you let me lose it all like that?" Probably the most emotional point of the episode.

Texas is almost a form of holodeck character, pre-Minuet.

Then there's the relatively pointless chat about Fermat's Last Theorem. The unproven equation left behind by Pierre de Fermat. In 1988 it was still unproven. About 5 years later - oops. Andrew Wiles got it done. I guess Jean-Luc missed that in his Wiki search. It still adds little to the episode, much like a number of non-sequitur 2nd season bits.

It was a lovely thought at the time. :D

Up next, Pi reaches a final digit, rendering x number of TOS and TNG episodes inaccurate as a result. Drat.

:guffaw:

An okay low stakes episode. Not as bad as I initially thought but not one I'd rush to revisit before my eventual passing.

2/5

Definitely is filler. Even with the season truncated to 22 episodes, there's room to get one or two fillers in. It's better than the Okona one and by some measure, I've rewatched it a few times, it has some interesting ideas, but even as a fan of Tracy Torme's work, this eppy is not a go-to favorite. 2.5~3 for me.
 
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