What is THE Worst continuity error in Trek history..?!

[Tim Thomason]

Because she's wicked smart.

Are you suggesting that lab technicians aren't smart? Or that they can't transition into a revolutionary research career that could win them the (equivalent of a) Nobel Prize, twenty-some years later?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Because she's wicked smart.

Are you suggesting that lab technicians aren't smart? Or that they can't transition into a revolutionary research career that could win them the (equivalent of a) Nobel Prize, twenty-some years later?

I'm saying Carol is wicked smart and got her Masters and possibly her Doctorate before she was 30.

Hard to say what sort of Lab Tech the blonde was. I was thinking Medical. Though she seems to be working or near at the Academy when Kirk was an instructor.

 

[Kor]

Everybody has to start somewhere, even geniuses (genii? )

I never saw anything wrong with the idea that the "little blonde lab technician" might have been Carol Marcus.

Kor

 

[Nerys Myk]

Everybody has to start somewhere, even geniuses (genii? )

I never saw anything wrong with the idea that the "little blonde lab technician" might have been Carol Marcus.

Kor

I'm just thinking that by that age Carol was already past doing "lab tech" level work. Probably already laying the ground work for Genesis.

 

[T'Arwen]

Enterprise's sins are no worse than the other shows. It probably has less errors internally and with the other modern shows than TOS.

Well TOS is the daddy of the franchise. It was up to the writers of the spin offs to make sure stuff tallied up with events seen and mentioned in TOS. I don't think any of the shows apart from Enterprise went out of their way to ignore TOS. Whatever they did it was to try and improve on what came before and not to ignore it. That Temporal Cold War and Xindi stuff should not have taken place in a prequel. Sure, we can assume those events just weren't mentioned in any of the other shows but that's insulting our intelligence. They mentioned historical events both real and fictional all the time but somehow neglected to mention the time a huge chunk of Earth was destroyed in a terrorist attack? The NX-01 itself, a supposedly important historical ship, was forgotten 100 years later and not even worthy of a reference 100 years after that.

This is a rant. Rants are bad. And embarassing. I'll go now.

Enterprise probably had more nods to TOS than all the other shows combined.

I'm not fan of the Temporal Cold War's execution, but I don't see the problem with it as story element. Nothing wrong with the Xindi either. Why shouldn't either be in a prequel? Are there some rules of making prequel that they violated?

Why would these particular things have to be mentioned? The Federation is big and at that point had 300 years of history. (plus Centuries prior for its members) How often do you randomly mention events from two hundred or three hundred years ago unless they are relevant to the immediate conversation? And limiting the shows plot points to the scant information about the 22nd Century presented in the other shows is creatively stifling. Plus it would become a case of small Universe syndrome.

Who said the NX-01 was forgotten? That just an extrapolation put forth by people who dislike the show. Again, context and relevance matters. Unless something prompts me, I don't usually name drop past events, historical figures or vehicles into my conversations.

To put your argument another way, Christopher Bennett said that not mentioning the Xindi is much like how Mission Impossible doesn't mention countries it doesn't go to. If they don't go to India, they are highly unlikely to say anything about it. Space is much bigger than earth. I don't feel like finding his post but Christopher, if you're out there, you should check this thread out! I'm no fan of the Temporal Cold War but it was more a storytelling issue (and shoehorning by UPN) than a continuity one. They should have made episodes like Terra Prime from the start but that's a whole other discussion.

 

[fireproof78]

Well TOS is the daddy of the franchise. It was up to the writers of the spin offs to make sure stuff tallied up with events seen and mentioned in TOS. I don't think any of the shows apart from Enterprise went out of their way to ignore TOS. Whatever they did it was to try and improve on what came before and not to ignore it. That Temporal Cold War and Xindi stuff should not have taken place in a prequel. Sure, we can assume those events just weren't mentioned in any of the other shows but that's insulting our intelligence. They mentioned historical events both real and fictional all the time but somehow neglected to mention the time a huge chunk of Earth was destroyed in a terrorist attack? The NX-01 itself, a supposedly important historical ship, was forgotten 100 years later and not even worthy of a reference 100 years after that.

This is a rant. Rants are bad. And embarassing. I'll go now.

Enterprise probably had more nods to TOS than all the other shows combined.

I'm not fan of the Temporal Cold War's execution, but I don't see the problem with it as story element. Nothing wrong with the Xindi either. Why shouldn't either be in a prequel? Are there some rules of making prequel that they violated?

Why would these particular things have to be mentioned? The Federation is big and at that point had 300 years of history. (plus Centuries prior for its members) How often do you randomly mention events from two hundred or three hundred years ago unless they are relevant to the immediate conversation? And limiting the shows plot points to the scant information about the 22nd Century presented in the other shows is creatively stifling. Plus it would become a case of small Universe syndrome.

Who said the NX-01 was forgotten? That just an extrapolation put forth by people who dislike the show. Again, context and relevance matters. Unless something prompts me, I don't usually name drop past events, historical figures or vehicles into my conversations.

To put your argument another way, Christopher Bennett said that not mentioning the Xindi is much like how Mission Impossible doesn't mention countries it doesn't go to. If they don't go to India, they are highly unlikely to say anything about it. Space is much bigger than earth. I don't feel like finding his post but Christopher, if you're out there, you should check this thread out! I'm no fan of the Temporal Cold War but it was more a storytelling issue (and shoehorning by UPN) than a continuity one. They should have made episodes like Terra Prime from the start but that's a whole other discussion.

I think Terra Prime could have been an interesting kick off for a season or series, with the Enterprise going out and trying to mend fences after the whole debacle.

Also, as for Carol Marcus as the "blonde lab tech" I always took it as Gary Mitchell's rather blase way of talking about women. Does he even call Dehner by the rank or title?

 

[Rojixus]

Everybody has to start somewhere, even geniuses (genii? )

I never saw anything wrong with the idea that the "little blonde lab technician" might have been Carol Marcus.

Kor

Yeah, we can't all go from Starfleet Academy straight to command of the Enterprise.

 

[T'Arwen]

Enterprise probably had more nods to TOS than all the other shows combined.

I'm not fan of the Temporal Cold War's execution, but I don't see the problem with it as story element. Nothing wrong with the Xindi either. Why shouldn't either be in a prequel? Are there some rules of making prequel that they violated?

Why would these particular things have to be mentioned? The Federation is big and at that point had 300 years of history. (plus Centuries prior for its members) How often do you randomly mention events from two hundred or three hundred years ago unless they are relevant to the immediate conversation? And limiting the shows plot points to the scant information about the 22nd Century presented in the other shows is creatively stifling. Plus it would become a case of small Universe syndrome.

Who said the NX-01 was forgotten? That just an extrapolation put forth by people who dislike the show. Again, context and relevance matters. Unless something prompts me, I don't usually name drop past events, historical figures or vehicles into my conversations.

To put your argument another way, Christopher Bennett said that not mentioning the Xindi is much like how Mission Impossible doesn't mention countries it doesn't go to. If they don't go to India, they are highly unlikely to say anything about it. Space is much bigger than earth. I don't feel like finding his post but Christopher, if you're out there, you should check this thread out! I'm no fan of the Temporal Cold War but it was more a storytelling issue (and shoehorning by UPN) than a continuity one. They should have made episodes like Terra Prime from the start but that's a whole other discussion.

I think Terra Prime could have been an interesting kick off for a season or series, with the Enterprise going out and trying to mend fences after the whole debacle.

Also, as for Carol Marcus as the "blonde lab tech" I always took it as Gary Mitchell's rather blase way of talking about women. Does he even call Dehner by the rank or title?

You have described the perfect jump-off for season 5. There's a lot of potential that got killed once they canceled the show. On the other hand, they floated the idea that T'Pol is half-Romulan. To me, that makes Vulcans too one-dimensional. Doesn't mean they would have finalized it if they got a 5th season but the hypothetical is still there.

While we're on the topic of Terra Prime, it should have been 3 parts. What were they thinking with TATV? Forget Pegasus, a lot was inconsistent with the rest of ENT.

 

[fireproof78]

To put your argument another way, Christopher Bennett said that not mentioning the Xindi is much like how Mission Impossible doesn't mention countries it doesn't go to. If they don't go to India, they are highly unlikely to say anything about it. Space is much bigger than earth. I don't feel like finding his post but Christopher, if you're out there, you should check this thread out! I'm no fan of the Temporal Cold War but it was more a storytelling issue (and shoehorning by UPN) than a continuity one. They should have made episodes like Terra Prime from the start but that's a whole other discussion.

I think Terra Prime could have been an interesting kick off for a season or series, with the Enterprise going out and trying to mend fences after the whole debacle.

Also, as for Carol Marcus as the "blonde lab tech" I always took it as Gary Mitchell's rather blase way of talking about women. Does he even call Dehner by the rank or title?

You have described the perfect jump-off for season 5. There's a lot of potential that got killed once they canceled the show. On the other hand, they floated the idea that T'Pol is half-Romulan. To me, that makes Vulcans too one-dimensional. Doesn't mean they would have finalized it if they got a 5th season but the hypothetical is still there.

While we're on the topic of Terra Prime, it should have been 3 parts. What were they thinking with TATV? Forget Pegasus, a lot was inconsistent with the rest of ENT.

Well, they ignored the emotional impact of losing a child (genetically engineered or not, they named her and everything), ignored the larger political implications of Terra Prime, as well as Archer's experience on Mars.

So much wasted potential.

 

[eyeresist]

Well, they ignored the emotional impact of losing a child (genetically engineered or not, they named her and everything)

Not to defend TATV, but it was implied that Trip and T'Pol broke up because of their daughter's death.

 

[T'Arwen]

Well, they ignored the emotional impact of losing a child (genetically engineered or not, they named her and everything)

Not to defend TATV, but it was implied that Trip and T'Pol broke up because of their daughter's death.

While it's the most logical reason, TATV didn't mention Elizabeth at all. Or anything from Terra Prime. As for continuity issues, I was thinking more along the lines of how Trip and Shran were out of character. And T'Pol saying that she didn't find anything more fulfilling than following orders before joining the crew. Which contradicts Fusion.

 

[fireproof78]

Well, they ignored the emotional impact of losing a child (genetically engineered or not, they named her and everything)

Not to defend TATV, but it was implied that Trip and T'Pol broke up because of their daughter's death.

While it's the most logical reason, TATV didn't mention Elizabeth at all. Or anything from Terra Prime. As for continuity issues, I was thinking more along the lines of how Trip and Shran were out of character. And T'Pol saying that she didn't find anything more fulfilling than following orders before joining the crew. Which contradicts Fusion.

While the broader implication of T'Pol and Trip's relationship ending because of Elizabeth's death is acceptable, it really doesn't fit with the ending of Terra Prime, or with T'Pol's dialog regarding their relationship in TATV, that it has been over for 6 years, and apparently that is unremarkable to her.

Perhaps that makes sense from a Vulcan point of view, and we can point to Spock and T'Pring as precedent, but it just strikes me as odd, especially given the broadcast order.

 

[Shawnster]

Pretty sure just First Contact was responsible for that. Voyager was just using what was there.

If they hadn't included the Borg Queen, people would've been screaming after she was clearly established in the films.

If they hadn't put her in First Contact and kept the Borg as they were in the episode Q Who they would have been far scarier.. But yeah they did that.

So the Cybermen can have Cyber-Kings, Cyber-Queens, Cyber-Controllers and the Daleks can have Emperors and Davros...

...But the Borg can't?

Cybermen and Daleks were never portrayed as a collective with a complete lack of individuality.

The continuity error of the Borg Queen is that she negates the entire need for "Best of Both Worlds."

The Borg, this race of collective beings, was having difficulty understanding and assimilating the Federation. They felt the need to have 1 Borg become an individual and speak for the entire collective. To that end, they assimilated Picard and he became Locutus, the voice and face of the collective.

BORG: Captain Jean Luc Picard, you lead the strongest ship of the Federation fleet. You speak for your people.
PICARD: I have nothing to say to you, and I will resist you with my last ounce of strength.
BORG: Strength is irrelevant. Resistance is futile. We wish to improve ourselves. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service ours.
PICARD: Impossible. My culture is based on freedom and self determination.
BORG: Freedom is irrelevant. Self determination is irrelevant. You must comply.
PICARD: We would rather die.
BORG: Death is irrelevant. Your archaic cultures are authority driven. To facilitate our introduction into your societies, it has been decided that a human voice will speak for us in all communications. You have been chosen to be that voice.

Then they introduce the Borg Queen, an individual capable of speaking for the entire collective. First Contact even implies she existed when Picard was assimilated.

So, why did they need to assimilate Picard when they already had the Queen?

 

[Anwar]

Cybermen and Daleks were never portrayed as a collective with a complete lack of individuality.

They were still portrayed as faceless hordes of robotic invaders. No one complained that Cyber-Controllers or Dalek Emperors/Davros somehow made the Cybermen or Daleks weaker.

So, why did they need to assimilate Picard when they already had the Queen?

They never really needed to, they just thought having a famous Federation figure among their number to broadcast their invasion would make it easier to invade.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Also FC establishes the Queen wanted an equal, hence Loutus and later Seven of Nine.

 

[T'Arwen]

Not to defend TATV, but it was implied that Trip and T'Pol broke up because of their daughter's death.

While it's the most logical reason, TATV didn't mention Elizabeth at all. Or anything from Terra Prime. As for continuity issues, I was thinking more along the lines of how Trip and Shran were out of character. And T'Pol saying that she didn't find anything more fulfilling than following orders before joining the crew. Which contradicts Fusion.

While the broader implication of T'Pol and Trip's relationship ending because of Elizabeth's death is acceptable, it really doesn't fit with the ending of Terra Prime, or with T'Pol's dialog regarding their relationship in TATV, that it has been over for 6 years, and apparently that is unremarkable to her.

Perhaps that makes sense from a Vulcan point of view, and we can point to Spock and T'Pring as precedent, but it just strikes me as odd, especially given the broadcast order.

I don't think you can use Spock and T'Pring as an example because they were never in a relationship. But the rest of what you say is correct. What made me angry was they didn't attempt to explain why Trip and T'Pol broke up. This podcast is long but the people in it wonder if Berman and Braga even watched Terra Prime.

http://www.trek.fm/warp-five/78

 

[heavyneos]

has anyone said the entirety of Star Trek Enterprise

 

[BillJ]

has anyone said the entirety of Star Trek Enterprise

Outside of the cloaking device, the only thing Enterprise broke was fan assumptions.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I'm just thinking that by that age Carol was already past doing "lab tech" level work. Probably already laying the ground work for Genesis.

Then again, the only person who mentions the phrase "little blonde lab technician" is Gary Mitchell, and that could be chalked up to just Gary being a sexist pig. Which he kinda seemed to be, really. So it still could have been Carol he was talking about - she could well have been an experienced scientist already, but thickheaded Gary wouldn't even bother noticing that.

 

[Galileo7]

Outside of the cloaking device, the only thing Enterprise broke was fan assumptions.

Agree, I wanted to see a next next Generation television series based one hundred years beyond after the end of Voyager and Nemesis. Not the unfortunate Enterprise prequel series to TOS.