Star Trek: The Next Generation

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.

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

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)

Timescape - S6-E25

Plot hole: Wouldn't Worf have known that the distress call was coming from a Romulan ship long before Riker arrived on the bridge?

The Royale - S2-E12

Factual error: 30 seconds in Geordi says: 'surface temperature -291 degrees Celsius'. (The scale only goes down to -273.15 which is absolute zero). (00:00:30)

More mistakes in Star Trek: The Next Generation

Deja Q - S3-E13

Picard: Return that moon to its orbit.
Q: I have no powers! Q, the ordinary!
Picard: Q, the liar! Q, the misanthrope!
Q: Q, the miserable! Q, the desperate! What must I do to convince you people?
Worf: Die.

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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

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