Star Trek Casino Episode

TNG Episode 2x12

Pretty good episode where Data/Riker/Worf get stuck in a world of a 1960's Vegas casino (I don't know the time frame for sure). They have to play out a fictional book and "break the bank" of the casino in order to buy it out. The entire episode is kind of ridiculous on many fronts, especially with Data recommending a "stay" with a player 13 and a dealer showing a face card. I've been a star trek fan for over a decade and never saw this episode before, I'd highly recommend it.

I saw it when it first aired, lo these many years ago. I recall the episode quite well, but not the casino aspects (not into gambling at that time). It is an above average fluff episode (fluff: nothing remotely important happens, characters are not developed).

Quote: ahiromu

TNG Episode 2x12

Pretty good episode where Data/Riker/Worf get stuck in a world of a 1960's Vegas casino (I don't know the time frame for sure). They have to play out a fictional book and "break the bank" of the casino in order to buy it out. The entire episode is kind of ridiculous on many fronts, especially with Data recommending a "stay" with a player 13 and a dealer showing a face card. I've been a star trek fan for over a decade and never saw this episode before, I'd highly recommend it.

"The Royale", from the second season. these are being reviewed by The A.V. Club. I always thought the episodes that relied on the holodeck were pretty lame, but this one was OK with me.

Quote: Mosca

"The Royale", from the second season. these are being reviewed by The A.V. Club. I always thought the episodes that relied on the holodeck were pretty lame, but this one was OK with me.

At least it wasn't really a holodeck episode, but one of those "alien creates a holodeck type scenario", like Future Imperfect. There were some really ridiculous situations in it though. But I did like that they showed a slice of life on Earth (with an American astronaut) between the present and the far future where the show was set. (Not that that's when the casino was set, but that would have been cool, too.)

Quote: cclub79

At least it wasn't really a holodeck episode, but one of those "alien creates a holodeck type scenario", like Future Imperfect.

Given how many times, and under how many different conditions, the holodecks malfunction and put people in danger, you'd think they'd have been banned from all Starfleet ships by now. Or at least used as weapons to repell boarders.

Ok, there were a few good holodeck eps, the ones with Proffessor Moriarty come to mind. But overall the fabled R&R room must have produced more stress than combat.

Quote: Nareed

Quote: cclub79

At least it wasn't really a holodeck episode, but one of those "alien creates a holodeck type scenario", like Future Imperfect.

Given how many times, and under how many different conditions, the holodecks malfunction and put people in danger, you'd think they'd have been banned from all Starfleet ships by now. Or at least used as weapons to repell boarders.

Ok, there were a few good holodeck eps, the ones with Proffessor Moriarty come to mind. But overall the fabled R&R room must have produced more stress than combat.

I think it was those darned Binars that should be blamed. In the early first season, the holodeck was just used to create scenery and objects and Parisi's Squares Courts. Then they do their "upgrade" and all of a sudden you've got interactive people with the ability to learn and adapt and screw everything up. The ship coming alive in the final season was awful though. The show hit its stride 3rd, 4th, and 5th seasons, and was downhill after that. The episodes that I still enjoy the most are Yesterday's Enterprise, Best of Both Worlds, and Clues (my wildcard that's not on most people's favorites list)

Quote: cclub79

I think it was those darned Binars that should be blamed.

There are extenuating circumstances, namely Minuet.

Quote:

The ship coming alive in the final season was awful though.

Among the worst episodes prior to the advent of "Enterprise"

Quote:

The episodes that I still enjoy the most are Yesterday's Enterprise, Best of Both Worlds, and Clues (my wildcard that's not on most people's favorites list)

I wonder if "Yesterday's Enterprise" would have been such a fan favorite if they hadn't resurrected Tasha for the occasion. My guess is no.

Trek did time travel episodes well. "The City on the Edge of Forever" is one of the best classic Trek eps. The best Trek movies, "The Voyage Home" and "First Contact" both involve time travel.

Quote: Nareed

I wonder if "Yesterday's Enterprise" would have been such a fan favorite if they hadn't resurrected Tasha for the occasion. My guess is no.

I can't speak for everyone, but I was never a superfan of Tasha, and I just love the backstory of the previous ship. Maybe it's because of my mathematical mind, but I really like shows that focus on things making sense continuity-wise, and showing the other Enterprise sacrificing itself in a hopeless battle to secure the Klingons' trust and admiration was just a great story, Tasha or no Tasha, (though it was one of Whoopi's greatest performances IMO). Plus seeing the alt-world was cool. Too bad Deep Space Nine thought that they could build a mini-franchise on an alt-world continuously existing for several seasons. Lame.

My favorite holodeck episode was the one where Data has been playing the role of Sherlock Holmes. He gets bored with how easy it is to solve the cases and asks the computer to create a villain and situation that are suitably challenging. The computer complies, creating an adversary challenging not to Holmes but to Data. The impact spreads well beyond the confines of the holodeck and creates a crisis for the ship. I found the end solution quite amusing. No idea at all of the episode name or number.

Quote: Doc

My favorite holodeck episode was the one where Data has been playing the role of Sherlock Holmes. He gets bored with how easy it is to solve the cases and asks the computer to create a villain and situation that are suitably challenging. The computer complies, creating an adversary challenging not to Holmes but to Data. The impact spreads well beyond the confines of the holodeck and creates a crisis for the ship. I found the end solution quite amusing. No idea at all of the episode name or number.

Season 2, because it has Dr. Pulaski in it. The title is "Elementary, Dear Data." (Not that much of a Trekkie no, but www.epguides.com is a handy website to know).

As I recall the change in adversary was Geordi's idea. He was miffed that Data knew all the Holmes stories, so he solved the crime at the start of the holodeck novel, rather than play along.