Star Trek: The Next Generation

Timescape - S6-E25

Revealing mistake: As Picard goes to check the fuel consumption logs his right hand is in a closed fist. When he sits at a console and uses his right hand it already has the long nails he will get in the next few minutes when he reaches for the rotten fruit. (00:11:00)

DJH747

Realm of Fear - S6-E2

Revealing mistake: In the scene where Barclay reappears on the transporter with the crewmember, they both fall to the ground. The transporter chief had put up a forcefield around the transporter chamber, in case something goes wrong. However, when the crewmember falls to the ground, his foot goes right through where the forcefield is meant to be. It is still active, as only a few seconds later we see it being deactivated.

Star Trek: The Next Generation mistake picture

Birthright (1) - S6-E16

Visible crew/equipment: During Data's second dream experience he imagines becoming a bird and flies through the Enterprise and beyond. As he flies past his father Soong standing at the anvil, a crew member is sitting on the floor by the double doors behind him. This has been edited out in some versions. (00:36:10)

DJH747

Ship in a Bottle - S6-E12

Other mistake: In the transporter room, Data asks the computer what file log is shown. The computer reply is "Transport Log 759", Data confirms "That is the correct log", but the screen reads "Transport Log 721".

Movie Nut

Timescape - S6-E25

Continuity mistake: In the scene right before the shuttle's crew finds the Romulan ship and the Enterprise, Geordi calls the shuttle craft's cockpit to explain the temporal disturbances. Captain Picard, Troi and Data walk into the shuttle's cockpit room and Troi puts her right arm on Geordi's chair. As Geordi, Data and Captain Picard are talking you can see Troi's wrist hanging off the chair, but when the camera cuts directly in front of Geordi her whole wrist is on the chair. The camera then cuts back and you can see that Troi's wrist is still hanging off the chair.

Schisms - S6-E5

Visible crew/equipment: In the scene where Geordi and the Captain are in engineering trying to close the subspace hole, you can see a silhouette of the camera in the reflection of the warp core blue lights in the window between the warp core and the console they are working from.

Schisms - S6-E5

Visible crew/equipment: In the scene where Picard comes to engineering to ask Laforge if he has been successful in locating Riker's homing beacon, you can see the blue light of the warp core reflected in the window. Outlined in that reflection, near Geordi's chest, you can see a studio spotlight.

Timescape - S6-E25

Factual error: Picard reaches for the bowl of rotten fruit, winces in pain, and suddenly his fingernails have grown about an inch. This was due to the fruit bowl being inside an area where time was moving much faster. The problem is, in order for his fingernails to grow, blood would have to supply the needed nutrients to his fingers at the accelerated rate. Since his heart is in normal time, being away from the bowl of fruit, there is no way his fingernails could have grown like that - his heart is only supplying a normal-time-continuum's worth of blood.

Matty Blast

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: This entry conflates rapid growth with sped up time.

Rightful Heir - S6-E23

Plot hole: During a private conversation with Worf, (the not yet revealed to be clone of) Kahless recounts a time during Worf's childhood when the actual Kahless appeared to Worf in a vision and told him he would do something no other Klingon had ever done. However, it would be impossible for a clone to have such a memory, as his creators would have no knowledge that such a memory even existed, let alone the circumstances and specific content of that vision.

Michael Albert

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: The implication is that Koroth or one of the other priests knew of Worf's vision. Given the purpose of the temple, and the fact Worf had discussions with Koroth prior to the clone appearing, it is obvious that Worf told either Koroth or one of the other priests the specifics of his vision and that his purpose for being there was he wished to see Kahless again.

BaconIsMyBFF

Birthright (2) - S6-E17

Continuity mistake: The stardate given in the previous episode is 46578.4 and the stardate of the episode after this is 46682.4. In this episode, Picard records the stardate in his log as 46759.2. There was either a typo in the script or the actor misspoke the scripted 46579.2. This isn't excusable as a character error, because the episode is accepted in Trek lore as occurring on the date Picard states.

johnrosa

Lessons - S6-E19

Revealing mistake: When Picard and Cmdr. Daron are in Picard's quarters together for the first time, watch Picard play his Inner Light theme. The hands playing the flute are obviously not his.

Timescape - S6-E25

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Captain Picard reaches for the aged fruit, he screams while holding his right wrist with his left hand. As Troi, Geordi, and Data rush in you can see Captain Picard holding his wrist up in the air. The camera then cuts directly in front of Captain Picard and you can see Troi scanning his wrist but he isn't holding his wrist anymore. The camera then cuts directly in front of Troi and Geordi and you can see that Captain Picard is still holding his wrist. The camera then again cuts back to Captain Picard and he isn't holding his wrist anymore.

Schisms - S6-E5

Continuity mistake: At one point, Worf reveals that a missing crew member has reappeared in his quarters on Deck 9, Section 17. Picard Riker and Crusher all meet at the cabin which has mysteriously moved to Section 19.

Timescape - S6-E25

Factual error: With the Enterprise and the Romulan ship are stuck in a bubble in time and virtually stopped, the 2 ships would not be visible to the crew on the shuttle. The light entering the bubble would slow down, as would the light reflecting off the ships. All the shuttle crew would see is a "black hole" in space. (The disruptor beam was stopped in mid fire and sensors cannot penetrate the bubble).

Ship in a Bottle - S6-E12

Plot hole: About two thirds of the way through this episode, Data deduces how Moriarty was able to 'leave' the holodeck. The big reveal is that he never did leave the holodeck, he merely reprogrammed it to simulate the rest of the ship without Picard, Barclay or Data's knowledge. While it is believable that this would fool humans like Picard and Barclay, it is ludicrous to suggest that Data would be taken in by it, even for a second. Data is an android whose perceptions of sight, sound and the world around him are far more sophisticated than humans. To list what we know of Data's perceptive abilities from previous episodes would take up the entire page, but suffice it to say he should have immediately recognised the 'Enterprise' as force fields and holograms rather than the genuine article. Note: this goes beyond a 'character mistake' or anything like that. Data's enthusiasm for Sherlock Holmes style deduction should have led him to eliminate the impossible before considering what was probable. Data accepts the impossibility of a holodeck character existing is the real world before discounting the possibility that it was still a holodeck simulation. This contradicts an awful lot of what is known about Data's abilities and powers of deduction. Although it serves for a good mystery the fact is it takes Data far longer than it should to deduce, or even guess at, the truth of their situation.

Timescape - S6-E25

Plot hole: When Picard, Geordi, and Troi encounter one of the first time disturbances it results in one of the runabout's nacelles using up all of its fuel. Data says this is due to it having been in operation for 47 days (according to the plasma conversion sensor). After this the Captain reaches for the bowl of rotting fruit which causes him to scream in pain. The other crew members rush in and Troi scans his hand. She tells Picard that his hand is metabolizing at approximately 50 times the normal rate. Data and Geordi then discover that the temporal disturbance which covers the fruit also covers the nacelle that has lost all of its fuel. Data also notes the disturbance extends outward from the hull, about 17 meters from the ship and is spherical in shape. The problem here is that according to what Data said earlier the engine was active for 47 days even though it had only very briefly come into contact with the time distortion - maybe 1 second at most, but likely far less time than this since the ship was at warp when the fuel was consumed. So if we assume the engine was in contact with the fragment for 1 second then time is actually moving at 4,060,800 times the normal rate - not 47 or 50 times normal. (00:11:00 - 00:12:00)

Rascals - S6-E7

Continuity mistake: When young Picard sees his "father" Riker, he says to turn on the computer in schoolroom 8. In the scene showing the children gaining access to the computer, the terminal they are at shows classroom 7 across the header of the screen. (00:36:20 - 00:39:55)

Qpid - S4-E20

Worf: Captain, I must protest. I am not a merry man.

More quotes from Star Trek: The Next Generation

Trivia: Another joke from the set designers: whenever someone is in the Jeffries Tubes, you will see several pipes on the walls labeled "GNDN" this stands for "Goes Nowhere, Does Nothing."

More trivia for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Skin of Evil - S1-E23

Question: Near the end when they are in the holodeck for the memorial ceremony for Lt. Yar, Dr. Crusher's uniform is green and seconds later it is blue. After watching it several times, it does not appear to be a trick of the light. What happened here? Why would she have on a green uniform in the first place?

con8iv

Chosen answer: The uniform does indeed change colour. It may be due to the need for a green screen in part, or perhaps some lighting altering our perception. That being said, it certainly looks green at the start, blue thereafter.

The show has been done in HD now and not sure if they fix this problem.

Dan23

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.