Star Trek: The Next Generation

Correction: Mistakes like these have already been entered and corrected. The holodeck uses transporter technology with replicators to generating actual matter in some instances, as well as projecting force fields to give the objects the illusion of substance. It's most likely food that is eaten in the holodeck is replicated matter and in this case, the water was also replicated matter and thus physically real, even after leaving the holodeck.

Bishop73

Lonely Among Us - S1-E7

Corrected entry: As a non-corporeal entity enters and damages the ship's electronic systems, it causes the ship's engines to shut down. The ship, traveling at Warp 6, slows down and stops when the engines are shut down. However, in reality, ships in space only need the engines to get up to speed. Inertia will allow the ship to continue without the engines "pushing" the ship, because in space there is no friction to slow the ship when the engines shut down. The ship would continue on its current course at its current speed when the engines fail. Even if the warp field collapsed they wouldn't stop entirely.

MissTCShore

Correction: The warp field bends space around the ship, it doesn't propel the ship forwards. If the warp field collapses, this bending of space would stop and as such the ship would stop moving.

Correction: Simple matter and objects can leave the holodeck. They are created using the same technology as the replicators. There are numerous cases where matter (paper, water, food) has left the holodeck, and this is accepted as part of the technology. Complex matter (i.e. people, animals, etc.) cannot leave the holodeck. The computer might have made the lipstick transferrable for a sense of realism - no reason not to.

Encounter at Farpoint (1) - S1-E1

Corrected entry: After the crew has separated the saucer section from the main section, we see the senior staff waiting on the bridge for the encounter with Q. Yet, on all the Enterprise blueprints and schematics, the main bridge is on the top of the saucer section. How can the crew let the saucer section go, wait on the war segment, and still be on the main bridge awaiting Q.

Correction: They are not on the main bridge anymore, they are on The Battle bridge in the lower section.

pross79

Correction: Not a mistake. That was a normal uniform variation at that point in the show. It wasn't seen a lot, but it was intentional- not a mistake.

johnrosa

Correction: Way too vague. We're supposed to look at each episode to wonder which ones you're talking about?

K.C. Sierra

The Big Goodbye - S1-E12

Corrected entry: At the end of the episode after delivering his complex greeting to the Jarada, Picard and Riker head for the Turbo lift. Just as they are about to enter, Picard opens his mouth really wide as if making a funny face to someone inside the turbolift or maybe quietly celebrating a 'successful take' given the bizarre nature of the greeting! Although it was filmed from the side it is quite easy to spot.

Correction: Picard doesn't do anything close to that in this episode. He does however do something exactly as described in the later episode "Too Short a Season", an entry for which already exists.

Correction: This must be from an outtake or alternate scene, and since it's not included in the actual show isn't "eligible" for a mistake entry (not that there's anything wrong with Picard smiling). In the episode as it was aired, at the end of the episode, after the greeting, Picard and Riker do not go to the turbolift, they sit down. However, we do see Picard smirk when he turns to the side, but also everyone on the bridge claps for him and when he turns, he's still smiling.

Bishop73

Correction: It is well established in multiple episodes that Data has body hair. He was created to look as human as possible.

Correction: Picard clearly states in his log entry "Because engineering is involved in preventative maintenance of our dilithium crystals we are presently travelling on impulse power" the impulse engines are located at the stern of the saucer section.

Coming of Age - S1-E19

Corrected entry: After Captain Picard guides Jake Kurland safely through his encounter with a planet's gravity, Picard instructs Kurland to report to Mister Riker. Riker is a Commander and the Executive Officer (XO); Mister is a title used as a rank honorific for someone holding a lower rank and not for the XO.

rickmurray

Correction: He is the captain of the ship. He has the privilege to call lower-ranked officers "Mister".

LorgSkyegon

The Big Goodbye - S1-E12

Corrected entry: When Picard leaves the holodeck after the holodeck character kisses him, the lipstick remains on his face. As we're told later in the episode, matter created on the holodeck cannot exist outside the holodeck. So once Picard left, the lipstick should have vanished since it came from a holodeck character. The "correction" that says simple matter can leave the holodeck is incorrect, since in another episode, they throw a book (which is simple matter) out of the holodeck and it dissolves.

poehitman

Correction: The book was, as you pointed out, thrown. It was not being carried by a person. The technical manual states that many of the objects on the holodeck are in fact generated using the standard replication process. But when Picard threw the book, the holodeck simply recycled the energy from that book, the same way the food replicators recycle any food left over. When Picard walks off with lipstick on his face, or when Data walks off with a piece of paper that Moriarty gave him on "Elementary, Dear Data", the system allowed those things to be carried out without recycling them. You can take issue with what makes the holodeck decide when to recycle material or not, but the fact is simple: some simple objects can be taken off of the holodeck.

Garlonuss

Skin of Evil - S1-E23

Corrected entry: When the away team goes down to the planet, the oily blob blocks their path, like a moving moat, and Riker gets sucked into that. But later, the blob returns to covering the shuttle craft like it did before they arrived. But Riker is still inside it, he is released only later. So the moat is temporarily gone. Where is he supposed to be during the time that the black blob covers the shuttle?

Correction: The material and properties that comprise Armus (the oily blob) are unknown - since the tricorders cannot scan it. So we can only extrapolate from what we see and hear. When Riker is absorbed by the entity, he is essentially made part of the oily blob. in other words, he's liquefied. So Riker is still a part of Armus when it envelops the shuttle, he just doesn't have his physical form.

JC Fernandez

Correction: He says Data is his "Second Officer" meaning he is next in the chain of command after Riker, who is the first officer.

Correction: We do not know the exact nature of Armus or his abilities, so we cannot say for sure if such a bulge should appear.

wizard_of_gore

When The Bough Breaks - S1-E17

Corrected entry: During the 'little power demonstration' a repulser beam hits the Enterprise and throw it three days away from the planet. But no-one on the bridge shows any signs of movement - even the standing one. Remember every space battle when after each hit you see people flying through the air . (00:25:20)

Correction: Since the Enterprise has artificial gravity and inertial compensators, the crew is usually unaffected by changes in speed or trajectory - no one is slammed to the back walls when they go to warp, for instance. These systems are often affected as power is rerouted to shields during a battle. The momentary readjustment results in crewmembers falling or flying. Clearly, these systems weren't affected by the repulser beam.

JC Fernandez

The Naked Now - S1-E3

Corrected entry: When Wesley demonstrates his miniature tractor beam, he looks over his shoulder. The controlling device in his hands shakes a little during it - but the model stays very calm in the air. (00:18:10)

Correction: Wesley is more than intelligent enough to design the device to compensate for minor movements by the user; he wouldn't want the object being tractored to be shaken unnecessarily.

Tailkinker

Correction: Not a mistake. As seen several other times in the series, the Enterprise's computer is capable of reading the life signs of it's crewmembers anywhere on the ship. That LaForge's signs appear on the medical display, is simply a matter of output chosen previously by the doctor.

Twotall

Skin of Evil - S1-E23

Corrected entry: In the episode "Skin of Evil", right after Commander Riker gets pulled into the sludge type black substance watch the left side of the screen. When the away team looks into it after Riker's face comes out of the sludge you will see something plop into the goo, that was Geordi's phaser falling out of his holster when he leaned over the pool of goo.

Correction: Not a mistake, as it is possible to lose things like this in real life. The mistake is, however, that the phaser reappears later, which is already listed on this site.

Twotall

Correction: Licensed surgeons (whom we can assume are 'skilled' based on their schooling and licensing) have been known to leave surgical instruments inside patients. Pobody is nerfect. Not a 'mistake' or 'plot hole'.

johnrosa

Skin of Evil - S1-E23

Corrected entry: When Riker is dragged into the pool of goo, his head reappears for just a moment, then is pulled back into the pool. Note that his mouth is open and fills with goo, but his mouth is above the surface. Obviously this is a mask that is pulled under.

StevenJ

Correction: The pool of goo is a living, shape shifting entity called Armus. If Armus wanted to only partially fill Riker's mouth with some of himself, it surely would have been in his power.

Rlvlk

The Best of Both Worlds (2) - S4-E1

Factual error: Shelby announces the Borg have entered Sector 001, and we get an exterior shot of the Borg ship flying past Saturn. The problem is that the Borg are approaching from the side of the planet illuminated by the sun, meaning they would actually be moving AWAY from Earth rather than toward it.

More mistakes in Star Trek: The Next Generation
More quotes from Star Trek: The Next Generation

Loud as a Whisper - S2-E5

Trivia: Guest star Marnie Mosiman, who plays a member of Riva's chorus, is married to John de Lancie, who had a recurring role as the omnipotent mischief-maker Q.

Cubs Fan

More trivia for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Answer: He brought the Borg to the Alpha Quadrant and showed them that it was full of worlds waiting to be assimilated. Guinan's homeworld was their first stop, and they assimilated everyone and took over the planet, leaving The Survivors of her race without a home. Q is ultimately responsible for that.

Captain Defenestrator

By the time Q takes the Enterprise to meet the Borg, Guinan already knew who they were and they had already destroyed her world. Therefore the above answer can not be right. I believe Guinan is much more than she appears, and her people have had encounters with the Q in the past. It is these interactions, that obviously were not pleasant, that fuels her distrust.

oldbaldyone

That's what the above answer is saying. Q brought the Borg to the Alpha Quadrant (not Earth) and the Borg destroyed Guinan's home world in the late 2200's, which is why she hates Q. Although she met Q in 2160 and they both saw each other as enemies right away.

Bishop73

More questions & answers from Star Trek: The Next Generation

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.