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Star Trek has always pondered metaphysical and existential questions, and The Next Generation went above and beyond, exploring humanism, social justice, and all kinds of ethical issues. The wrong cast could have resulted in a tiresome, sluggish bore-fest, but led by diminutive-yet-towering actor Patrick Stewart, these serious themes became compelling viewing.
However, some of the more memorable episodes in the series are light-hearted, or downright daft, using the Holodeck as an excuse to raid the dressing-up box, or the mischievous Q to throw one of his many spanners into the Enterprise’s works. Everyone has their favourites — Spaghetti-Western style “A Fistful of Datas”, “Phantasms” where Data creates his own dream function, or “Deja Q”, where immortal rascal Q brings his own Mariachi band to the bridge — are amongst the funniest. But we’ll go with these two, as arguably the silliest TNG episodes.
The Royale
Intrigued by mysterious debris from a NASA spacecraft in the orbit of a lifeless planet, Riker, Worf, and Data beam down to investigate. Before long they enter the revolving doors of a casino hotel called ‘The Royale’, and are quickly cut off from contact with the Enterprise. Trapped in the casino they decide to explore, finding the remains of an astronaut and the trashy novel he was reading, ‘Hotel Royale’. The rest of the episode plays out in a rather pulpy way, following the tropes of a hard-boiled high-rolling movie (The trio realise that they must gamble in order to win enough money to buy the casino — only then can they escape).
But with Data involved, any pop-culture trope becomes hilarious — realising the dice are loaded he makes a few calculations, declares “baby needs a new pair of shoes”, and of course, begins to clean up. Casinos are often used as the backdrop in films and on TV shows, and such is the popularity of casino gambling that it has made its way online. Themed slots are amongst the most popular games in online casinos, and players can find sci-fi slots such as Space Man and Space Invaders, based on the arcade classic. But if sci-fi isn’t your thing, you’ll find games such as the Ancient Egyptian themed Eye of Horus slot, which deals with the opposite end of civilisation.
“The Royale” gets the atmosphere of a casino spot on, with Data encountering a gung-ho Texan high-roller and his girlfriend at the dice table, all the while deducing his way through peculiar human games of chance.
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QPid
There is never a dull moment when Q appears and this is one of his best, and funniest, episodes. What begins as an ostensibly romantic affair, with Picard sharing a kiss with treasure hunter Vash before giving her something of a cold-shoulder, it soon plunges into the absurd, as a bored and cheeky Q hijacks the captain’s address to a party of archaeologists. The costumes duly come out, with the crew transported to Medieval England, in the guise of Robin Hood (Picard) and his Merry Men. The crew are less than happy about this, especially Worf (“I am NOT a merry man”).
Inevitably Data out-funnies everyone, transforming into Friar Tuck replete with an 11th Century monastic hair-do. Q, determined to fix Picard’s problems, transforms Vash into Maid Marian, and an elaborately daft kidnapping/rescue mission unfolds. Eventually, Picard and Vash are reunited, but the latter departs to join Q on his galactic explorations.
It’s always fun when the crew of the Enterprise find themselves transported into unfamiliar surroundings, or when Data has to figure out some un-computable human behaviour — they’re great fun to watch, and were probably a blast to film as well. And while TNG loved to tackle the big questions, perhaps the silliest adventures are the best-loved.