10 Most Hated Star Trek: The Next Generation Episodes

After encountering debris from a 21st century Earth ship orbiting an uninhabitable planet, Riker, Data, and Worf beam down to an anomalous area and discover an alien approximation of a 20th-century casino hotel.

It turns out an astronaut survived the mishap ages ago, and aliens built him this simulation based on a trashy novel he owned. There is a poignant idea here about how a supposed act of penance turned into a form of torture for the survivor who was forced to witness the novel on a loop for the rest of his life, but it’s brushed over too quickly for it to have any emotional resonance

The majority of the runtime is spent with Riker and the away time witnessing the novel with its cliché gangster archetypes, like Mickey D who longs for his dame Rita, and laughable dialogue like, "No woman's worth dying for. Killing for, not dying for." The characters constantly comment on how hackneyed and terrible the story and script are, but the criticisms lack the needed wit to be entertaining. Simply saying that what we are watching is bad doesn't make it good or any less wearisome to watch

There is also a distinct lack of desperation or even frustration at their plight as Riker and the away team just casually explore resulting in zero suspense. They are unable to leave, beam out, or communicate with the Enterprise but don't seem the least bit worried. Riker eventually figures out that the way to escape is to play a role in the novel's plot and buy the casino in order for the story to reach its conclusion leading to a climactic game of craps that doesn't exactly fire up the screen with excitement.

With a distinct lack of wonder and intrigue, The Royale proves to be a world which we too can’t wait to escape.