Template:Realworld The Enterprise investigates the wreckage of a 21st century Earth spaceship orbiting a distant planet and the appearance of a casino with inhabitants based on a paperback novel.
Summary
Mysterious space debris
This episode begins with an old puzzle. Captain Picard shows Commander Riker how Fermat's last theorem has gone unsolved for 800 years. Following reports from a passing Klingon cruiser, the USS Enterprise-D encounters another mystery: a piece of space debris, part of a large cluster in orbit around the eighth planet in the previously unmapped Theta One Sixteen solar system, in a sector far beyond the reaches of Earth. When beamed aboard, a marking is clearly visible: NASA.
Investigation begins with the planet's surface: large concentrations of ammonia and other gases, and wind speeds up to 312 m/s. Riker, Data and Worf are beamed down to an anomalous spot, however, it is quiet; the storm rages above them, and in the black, there is nothing but a revolving door.
The revolving door
On the other side of the door is a lavish hotel and casino, right out of Earth's mid-20th century. Despite the presence of the hotel staff and many gamblers, the tricorder reads no life signs, and comm badges have lost their signal. When they attempt to leave, the door revolves them back into the casino. Only after much investigation is contact returned, and they understand what is going on.
Col. Richey's remains
They discover a hotel room upstairs with Colonel Stephen G. Richey's body, his diary and a novel by Todd Matthews, entitled Hotel Royale. The only entry in the diary reveals an unknown alien force build this place for the lone survivor of a disaster they caused, based only on this second-rate fictional tome.
According to the Enterprise's computer, Colonel Richey was the commanding officer of the explorer ship Charybdis, which had a terrestrial launch date of July 23rd, 2037. It was the third manned attempt to travel beyond the confines of the Earth's solar system. Its telemetry failed. The ship was never heard from again.
Conjecturing the book's ending, Riker, Data and Worf attempt to fit in. Foreign investors described as flamboyantly generous are said to buy the place for 12.5 million US dollars and walk out, so Data starts gambling at the craps table. Within hours, they are able to get enough money to buy the hotel, spread the rest around, and just as the story says, walk out.
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Act One
Act Two
Act Three
Log entries
Memorable quotes
"What planet is this?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"This planet. What do you call it?"
"Earth. What do you call it?"
"We call it Theta VIII."
"How charming."
- - Riker, Clerk, and Worf
"How did you get here?"
"Vegas? Drove my car."
"Can you take me there?"
- - Data and "Texas"
"Perhaps those turbolifts can take us there."
(He stands in front of the door expecting it to open automatically like the Enterprise turbolifts)
"Seems to be malfunctioning..."
- - Worf, about the hotel lift.
"Looks like the poor devil died in his sleep."
"What a terrible way to die."
- - Riker and Worf
"When the train comes in everybody rides!"
- - Riker
"Revolving door? Number One, proceed with caution."
- - Picard
"Baby needs a new pair of shoes."
- - Data
"I write this in the hope that it will someday be read by human eyes. I can only surmise at this point, but apparently our exploratory shuttle was contaminated by an alien life form which infected and killed all personnel except myself. I awakened to find myself here in the Royale Hotel, precisely as described in the novel I found in my room. And for the last thirty eight years I have survived here. I have come to understand that the alien contaminators created this place for me out of some sense of guilt, presuming that the novel we had on board the shuttle about the Hotel Royale was in fact a guide to our preferred lifestyle and social habits. Obviously, they thought this was the world from which I came. I hold no malice toward my benefactors. They could not possibly know the hell they have put me through, for it was such a badly written book, filled with endless cliché and shallow characters. I shall welcome death when it comes."
- - Riker reading Col. Richey's sole diary entry
Background Information
- Fermat's last theorem is mentioned as being unproved for 800 years. In 1995 (several years after this episode was written), however, a proof was discovered by Andrew Wiles. It was later corrected for in a comment made by Jadzia Dax talking to Tobin (embodied in Chief O'Brien during Jadzia's zhian'tara) in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Facets" by making the comment that many others have tried more original approaches to Fermat's Last Theorem since Wiles' original proof in the 1990s. Cliff Bole also directed "Facets".
- The idea of an advanced alien race recreating a suitable environment from a wayward astronaut's cultural artifacts in which to live out his final days was first detailed by notable science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke and film director Stanley Kubrick in the novel and movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. A somewhat similar concept is also explored in the Voyager episode "Displaced".
- The idea of aliens recreating a part of human society from a book left by human explorers was also the main theme in TOS: "A Piece of the Action".
A United States flag with 52 stars
- The 52-star United States flag seen in "The Royale" is unusual in that the field of stars rests on a red stripe instead of a white stripe. The 15-star "Star-Spangled Banner" flown over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 was the last such flag, and since then, all flags (then returning to 13 instead of 15 stripes) have had the familiar arrangement of the field being to the left of the first seven stripes and resting on the 8th, a white.
- The mission patch on the dead astronaut's uniform is an Apollo 17 (1972) patch, bearing the names of that mission's astronauts (Cernan, Evans, and Schmitt).
- The debris of the Charybdis beamed aboard the Enterprise features the NASA "worm" logo. NASA retired this logo in 1992 (just a few years after this episode was filmed), replacing it with the traditional "meatball" logo.
Video and DVD releases
- Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 19, catalogue number VHR 2472, 12 August 1991.
- UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment): Volume 2.4, catalogue number VHR 4740, 24 May 1999.
- As part of the TNG Season 2 DVD collection.
Links and References
Special Guest Appearance By
Guest Stars
Special Appearance By
- Noble Willingham as Texas
Co-Stars
Uncredited Co-Stars
References
7 billion years ago; 2033; 2037; 2044; 2082; American flag; ammonia; blackjack; Cadillac; carbon; casino; casino chips; Celsius; Cernan; Charybdis; concierge; croupier; cryogenics; class K; Colonel; cowboy hat; craps; Decatur; dice; DNA; door; Earth; Evans; Fermat, Pierre de; Fermat's last theorem; gambling; Hotel Royale; hurricane; hydrogen-carbon helix; hydrogen; Jacob; Klingon; Klingon cruiser; Las Vegas; Lubbock; Math; Matthews, Todd; meters per second; methane; NASA; NCC-7100; Nevada; neon; nitrogen; phaser; poker; revolver; Stephen G. Richey; Rita; Royale; Schmitt; slot machine; Sol system; telephone; Tennessee; Texas; Theta VIII; Theta 116 system; tornado; turkey; United Federation of Planets; United States Air Force; United States of America; United States dollar; Wise County
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