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Most irreconcilable plot errors in Trek

The Ceti Alpha system should have had 6 large planetary readings for the ships gravimetric sensors, there were 5, with a large number of smaller ones (debris cloud) or maybe even just 5.

Any cadet graduating the academy should be able to tell the difference from the sensors saying "6" or "5 and a shit load of tiny ones" or "5".

Plus the distortions system wide would have still been readable, objects still settling into more stable orbits after the explosion, given it takes quite a long while for orbital dynamics to settle.

Given Reliant was probably outfitted with far higher resolution sensors and brand new equipment for the Genesis Project, her failing to tell the difference between "5" and "6" is stupid.

* Assuming the system only has 6 planets.
* Reliant was the 3rd Federation starship into the system.
Dammit, Captain! I'm a navigator, not an astronomer!
I think that makes it worse. ;)
:p
 
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Dammit, Captain! I'm a navigator, not an astronomer!

Incorrect. Already by the time of TMP Chekov was no longer a navigator.

Apparently, suggested by later scenes in TWOK, Chekov had gotten a good reputation for shooting down objects in space, prior to becoming XO aboard the Reliant (for all we know his position aboard Reliant was entirely owned to his shooting skills as someone would have had eventually to fire the Genesis torpedo :rolleyes:).

Come on, it was late at night when they arrived in the Ceti Alpha system and they were utterly exhausted. Either somebody screwed up making an exact count of the planets or forgot to pay attention to the readouts.

On the other hand it should be interesting to learn how Khan acquired all the information they missed. :evil:

Bob
 
reconciling the various Borg stories

reconciling the presence of a Borg queen with "Q Who" and "BOBW"

reconciling "Dark Frontier's" plot with the Federation supposedly knowing nothing of the Borg before "Q Who"

reconciling assimilation by touch with injecting nanoprobes with how long the process took in "Q Who" and "BOBW"
 
reconciling "Dark Frontier's" plot with the Federation supposedly knowing nothing of the Borg before "Q Who"
Picard and the Enteprise crew knew nothing of the Borg, the federation council and Starfleet command on the other hand were not so ignorant.

If Picard were to look up "Talos Four," would there be a complete file, or just notation that travel to the system is prohibited?

There are probably quite a few things in the Enterprise computer which are walled off, if Riker inquired about the omega particle it is doubtful the computer would tell him anything, but Picard would receive a notification that Riker tried.

:)
 
reconciling "Dark Frontier's" plot with the Federation supposedly knowing nothing of the Borg before "Q Who"
Picard and the Enteprise crew knew nothing of the Borg, the federation council and Starfleet command on the other hand were not so ignorant.

If Picard were to look up "Talos Four," would there be a complete file, or just notation that travel to the system is prohibited?

There are probably quite a few things in the Enterprise computer which are walled off, if Riker inquired about the omega particle it is doubtful the computer would tell him anything, but Picard would receive a notification that Riker tried.

:)


Admiral Hanson's remarks in "BOBW" would seem to dispute that interpretation.
 
reconciling "Dark Frontier's" plot with the Federation supposedly knowing nothing of the Borg before "Q Who"
Picard and the Enteprise crew knew nothing of the Borg, the federation council and Starfleet command on the other hand were not so ignorant.

Enterprise rescued El Aurian refugees in Generations. It's reasonable to assume one of them may have mentioned what happened to their world to Starfleet...
 
Enterprise rescued El Aurian refugees in Generations. It's reasonable to assume one of them may have mentioned what happened to their world to Starfleet...
In addition to that, while Captain Archer was a stubbling fool, Doctor Phlox seems like the sort to keep detailed medical records. Especially if he was treating himself with enough radiation to nearly kill himself.

:)
 
TOS: The Enemy Within...Sulu and his guys are stranded on a freezing cold planet because the transporter is broken. No one thinks to send a shuttlecraft to pick them up. Were they all broken? On loan? Repossessed by the finance company? Out getting their oil changed?

I know that the "real world" reason for not using a shuttlecraft in the story was because the models and/or sets weren't built yet, but I believe that the concept of the ship having a set of shuttlecraft predates the filming of this episode, as the shuttle bay doors were part of the ship's design from the beginning. Some line of dialogue could have been put in to explain, "Captain, the planet's atmosphere is loaded with z-particles, our shuttlecraft engines won't work".
 
Instead of those men freezing nearly to death, why not set one of the phasers to heat and fire at the planet? If you don't trust the system enough to fire right at them, fire up wind and let the warm breeze waffle across them.


:)
 
In the 23rd century, women in Starfleet weren't allowed to be promoted to captain.

Voyager had been traveling a year and a half away from the Kazon territory and yet the Kazon were able to reach them in mere hours.

Because of the Borg the Federation knows how to travel with Transwarp. Geordi reproduced their methods exactly in Descent.

Yet they seemed to forgotten it and never used it in situations when they needed it the most--like the Dominion War.
 
Voyager had been traveling a year and a half away from the Kazon territory and yet the Kazon were able to reach them in mere hours.

Oh come on! They were traveling through the borderlands between the Viidians and Kazon territory.They were sometimes inside Viidian space where it weren't heavily patrolled due to a certain internal problem. Other times, they were inside Kazon space. They didn't leave Kazon space for good until around Basics part two.

Cullah followed them. Aside from a couple of Kazon, Cullah was the only one Voyager kept bumping into.

I recently rewatched Voyager and I got the feeling they weren't traveling that far during their first year in the DQ. They were under constant attacks by huge ships to the point where Janeway decided to try to make some kind of alliance.
 
TOS: The Enemy Within...Sulu and his guys are stranded on a freezing cold planet because the transporter is broken. No one thinks to send a shuttlecraft to pick them up. Were they all broken? On loan? Repossessed by the finance company? Out getting their oil changed?

I know that the "real world" reason for not using a shuttlecraft in the story was because the models and/or sets weren't built yet, but I believe that the concept of the ship having a set of shuttlecraft predates the filming of this episode, as the shuttle bay doors were part of the ship's design from the beginning. Some line of dialogue could have been put in to explain, "Captain, the planet's atmosphere is loaded with z-particles, our shuttlecraft engines won't work".

According to Memory Alpha and the Star Trek Encyclopedia, the existence of shuttlecraft or a hangar deck had not been established even among the writers at the time the episode was written. At the time, writers were under the impression the transporter was the Enterprise's only method transportation on or off the ship.

Even then, that whole subplot wasn't even part of the original script but was added as staff re-writes.


In the 23rd century, women in Starfleet weren't allowed to be promoted to captain.

The line in Turnabout Intruder is something like "your world of starship captains doesn't allow women," which could mean any number of things. Perhaps Lester just thinks women can't be promoted to captain as a means of rationalizing why she never made into command, or perhaps she was just referring to Kirk's devotion to duty leaving him no time for a meaningful relationship.

We know women could be first officers, and the novels have shown us female captains in the 23rd century. In fact, I believe one of the captains in the upcoming The Seekers series is a woman.
 
reconciling assimilation by touch with injecting nanoprobes with how long the process took in "Q Who" and "BOBW"

That's not too difficult to reconcile - at some point after BOBW, the Borg assimilated a species that had technology that could be repurposed into a more efficient assimilation process.
 
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