2x12 The Royale - Star Trek: The Next Generation Episode Guide

Star Trek: The Next Generation

- Episode 02x12

Episode: 02x12
Title: The Royale
Type: Regular Episode
Production Code: 138
First Aired: Mar. 27, 1989

Season 2 » Episode #12 - The Royale

Star Trek: The Next Generation - 02x12 The Royale

Summary: Stardate 42625.4 After discovering debris from an old manned NASA vessel, an away team beams down to an out of place building on a nearby planet. There inside the building they discover a recreation of an Earth casino-hotel. They also discover that there is no exit from this casino-hotel.

Who appeared in this episode?

Guest Stars:

Captain Jean-Luc Picard	played by Patrick Stewart
Lieutenant Geordi La Forge	played by LeVar Burton
Counselor Deanna Troi	played by Marina Sirtis
Lt. Commander Data	played by Brent Spiner
Wesley Crusher	played by Wil Wheaton
Doctor Pulaski	played by Diana Muldaur
Texas	played by Noble Willingham
Assistant Manager	played by Sam Anderson
Vanessa	played by Jill Jacobson

Season 2 / Episode 12: - The Royale

Lieutenant Worf: What is this place? How did a being like you get here?
Asst. Manager: Why, this is the Royale, of course. And my personal life if really none of your business, thank you.
Commander William T. Riker: What he means is, what planet is this?
Asst. Manager: I beg your pardon?
Commander William T. Riker: This planet, what do you call it?
Asst. Manager: Earth. What do you call it?
Lieutenant Worf: We call it Theta VIII.
Asst. Manager: How charming.

Season 2 / Episode 12: - The Royale

Commander William T. Riker: Rest in peace, Colonel.

[More Quotes]

MISTAKES/GOOFS

FACT: They report that the planet has a temperature of -291 degrees Celsius. This is impossible since absolute zero, the lowest possible temperature, is -273 Celsius.
CHAR: Riker is supposedly the best poker player on the ship, which would imply a more than passing interest in gambling. Therefore, Data should not have to explain the rules of craps to him.
FACT: Captain Picard appears to be vaguely interested in Fermat's last theorem. With unconquerable archaeological flair the skipper unravels Fermat's hypothesis which had managed to puzzle illustrious mathematicians for nearly three hundred and fifty years (from 1638 to 1995) and Picard himself for almost another four hundred, until an early morning - say 14 seconds past 6:30, August 17, 2365 - when he decides to share his predicament with Mr. Riker. Mr. Riker, a glorious mathematician himself in his early days, had managed to be eluded as well by the solution to the unreasonable quandary. Had he done otherwise he would have, undoubtedly, learned that a young fellow, who went about by the name of Andrew, published a solution in 1995 which put a stop to the three century old quarrel.
CREW: The camera crew can be seen in a mirror on the craps table.
CONT: Data is playing blackjack. The dealer deals Data a 7 and a 5 in the wide shot. However, in the close-up shot, the cards become a 3 and 2, thus allowing Data to get the five-card Charlie.

TRIVIA

The mission patch on Col. Ritchie's (the dead astronaut) uniform, found in the wardrobe, is that of Apollo 17 with the word 'Apollo' obscured.
Picard states here that Fermat's Last Theorem had gone unsolved for 800 years. It was actually solved a few years after this episode aired by Princeton University Professor Andrew Wiles.
SPOILER: In the original final draft script, Major Richey's image was kept alive in the casino by the aliens, and a dead away team crew woman was retained to keep him company after the unseen casino manager told the story of the Colonel's shipwreck; Richey was the only member of a seven-person crew to survive. None of this made it into the final script or the finished episode.
The Royale book begins, "It was a dark and stormy night..." This is a double homage, first to Snoopy, from Charles M. Schulz's comic, Peanuts. Snoopy spent a great deal of time writing a novel which had the same beginning. Second, this is the motto of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, which gives out an annual award for the worst beginning of a novel.
The American flag on the ship debris has 52 stars.