DS9 Episodes- Silly Mistakes, NitPicks, Inaccuracies

[Nightdiamond]

There were still communications systems there- The Dominion were using them in Sacrifice of Angels.

At that particular time, the Founder was with Odo a lot, and said nothing of any disease, which she certainly would have if she had known.

Possibility- they continued contact with the Gamma quadrant after they withdrew, and learned about the sickness. I would think Starfleet would either jam or attempt to intercept the transmissions.



Nog's rank in this episode is treated strangly. He needs an authorization code from Chief Obrien.

Yet Nog is a full ensign and outranks Obrien. Why didn't he use his own security code?


Odo says he knows the Vorta are all clones.. this brings up the questions of how many Vorta are there.

Are there just a select few in existence to serve the Founders, or are there millions of Vorta, all clones with backups in a facility?

How could they manage that - every clone would need a backup, at least 2 for every one Vorta, and if they're a race with normal numbers, there would be millions of them- they don't reproduce in the "normal" way...strange...

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I thought it was said there were hundreds of Vorta on Bajor during the period of the nonagression pact...could've imagined it, though.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

Nog's rank in this episode is treated strangly. He needs an authorization code from Chief Obrien.

Yet Nog is a full ensign and outranks Obrien. Why didn't he use his own security code?

He may technically outrank O'Brien, but O'Brien's also the Chief of Operations (essentially the Chief Engineer), and so I would figure that he's essentially treated as having about a Lt. Commander's rank, just that he never went through Starfleet Academy. Given that the chief is... you know, the Chief, he's the one in charge, which means that on paper, the majority of his staff probably outranks him by virtue of not being enlisted crewmen. In practice, however, he has the authority that Nog doesn't.

 

[PSGarak]

Memory Alpha had this to say specifically about this issue in its entry regarding the enlisted.

"All commissioned officer ranks, from ensign upward, outrank all enlisted in the chain of command. However, in certain cases, non-commissioned officers can exercise authority over commissioned officers. (Miles O'Brien was one such case in his position as chief of operations aboard Deep Space 9.) Additionally, chief petty officers such as O'Brien wield influence far beyond their place in the rank structure due to their extensive experience and skill, and are expected to mentor junior officers as well as other non-commissioned officers."

In light of that, the issue with Nog wasn't odd at all.

 

[Jono]

I thought it was said there were hundreds of Vorta on Bajor during the period of the nonagression pact...could've imagined it, though.

They planned to send 400 Vorta to Bajor. After Yassim's suicide and Kira got her back up she probably found a way to permanently delay their deployment.

 

[Nightdiamond]

If the Vorta are all clones, that may mean they don't reproduce sexually. That would mean that a few back ups must kept in cold storage in case something happened to the "active" Vorta.

Maybe the Vorta were reduced in numbers, because that seems to be the only way to keep track of possibly billions of clones and their back ups...

 

[Jono]

Hector Ilario in "Field of Fire" is 22 years old and was from the graduating class of 72, which means if he undertook a four year course he was 15 when he started at the Academy. That's pretty young. Is it the youngest age we've seen someone enter the Academy? Of course that's assuming he had to take a 4 year course, maybe there are 2 year course as well. That would mean he was 17, which is a more "normal" age by todays standards.

Ezri also refers to him as a drunken Ensign despite the fact he's referred to as a lieutenant and wears lieutenant jg pips. Maybe she had one too many at Quark's as well.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Hector Ilario in "Field of Fire" is 22 years old and was from the graduating class of 72, which means if he undertook a four year course he was 15 when he started at the Academy. That's pretty young. Is it the youngest age we've seen someone enter the Academy? Of course that's assuming he had to take a 4 year course, maybe there are 2 year course as well. That would mean he was 17, which is a more "normal" age by todays standards.

This is during the Dominion War, so it probably was less than four years. I'm guessing war-time recruits often receive a year of basic training and then are sent out- the Federation likely didn't have time to take the usual training regime in this time of emergency. So I've always assumed Ilario had enlisted when the war began.

 

[Jono]

^ He didn't graduate during the war. He was in the class of 72, the war didn't start until the end of 2373.

 

[Anticitizen]

Nog's rank in this episode is treated strangly. He needs an authorization code from Chief Obrien.

Yet Nog is a full ensign and outranks Obrien. Why didn't he use his own security code?

He may technically outrank O'Brien, but O'Brien's also the Chief of Operations (essentially the Chief Engineer), and so I would figure that he's essentially treated as having about a Lt. Commander's rank, just that he never went through Starfleet Academy. Given that the chief is... you know, the Chief, he's the one in charge, which means that on paper, the majority of his staff probably outranks him by virtue of not being enlisted crewmen. In practice, however, he has the authority that Nog doesn't.

DS9 was a special case in any regard... it wasn't a simple Starfleet outpost, it was a cooperative joint operation between Starfleet and Bajor. Kira wasn't a Starfleet officer, nor was Odo, and most of the support staff on the station consisted of Bajoran personnel. I don't think traditional military rank structure was in practice; it was more of a 'this is your job on this station and this is who you work for' arrangement.

In any case, Nog's orders from Sisko could easily be 'take orders from O'Brien'.

 

[Nightdiamond]

That seems to be the one flaw in the rank structure, and that is when a very green ensign can outrank an experienced noncom.

Julian was posted to DS9 right after his graduation, I believe. He had a rank of lieutenant junior grade, and did pull rank on Obrien in one episode...

 

[Deranged Nasat]

^ He didn't graduate during the war. He was in the class of 72, the war didn't start until the end of 2373.

D'oh! You're right, sorry...

 

[Pavonis]

That seems to be the one flaw in the rank structure, and that is when a very green ensign can outrank an experienced noncom.

Julian was posted to DS9 right after his graduation, I believe. He had a rank of lieutenant junior grade, and did pull rank on Obrien in one episode...

That's the way it is in real life, though. It's not a flaw, just a consequence. Besides, a smart junior officer should know better than to try ordering an experienced noncom around.

 

[Nightdiamond]

This might be more an observation than a nit, and it involves the Federation's non interference policy.

The Federation chose not to interfere with the occupation of Bajor, even though it was brutal, and the Cardassians were then their enemy.

I understand the Federation has a non interference policy that prevents them from interfering in another power's internal matters.

They did give citizenship to Bajorans and allowed them to join Starfleet, which is good.

However, when the Klingons were going to invade Cardassia, Captain Sisko, (possibly with Starfleet's blessing) went out of his way risk war with the Klingons by helping the Cardassians.

He destroyed one ship and attacked others, in order to rescue the council members.

Later they took great effort to deliver industrial replicators through dangerous battle lines in order to help Cardassia.

They gave the Cardassians 12of them, but Bajor only got 2! And only after the occupation for them,.

The Cardassians were caught several times doing things they weren't supposed to, even violating certain treaties:

They were almost caught ferrying weapons through the demilitarized zone.T.N.G

They were caught in the middle of an invasion of a federation system in which military action was approved to stop them. T.N.G

They were caught supplying a group the Federation considered terrorists. DS9

They kidnapped a Starfleet officer and tried him on trumped up charges, proven false later. DS9


Considering their non interference policy, why would Starfleet go so much out of their way to interfere in the Klingon invasion of Cardassia, when they generally allow other systems like Bajor to fall without rendering any aid?

 

[DevilEyes]

Considering their non interference policy, why would Starfleet go so much out of their way to interfere in the Klingon invasion of Cardassia, when they generally allow other systems like Bajor to fall without rendering any aid?

Because the Federation Starfleet is not a hive mind, and Sisko is not the greatest believer in the policy of absolute non-interference aka the policy of letting all sorts of shit happen even when you can stop it?

 

[Nightdiamond]

Considering their non interference policy, why would Starfleet go so much out of their way to interfere in the Klingon invasion of Cardassia, when they generally allow other systems like Bajor to fall without rendering any aid?

Because the Federation Starfleet is not a hive mind, and Sisko is not the greatest believer in the policy of absolute non-interference aka the policy of letting all sorts of shit happen even when you can stop it?

The TNG sometimes carried the idea to the extreme, and often said so.

Picard to his credit, saw what was happening with the Duras, and came up with a plan to stop it, but he really had to convince his superiors, who seemed very reluctant to do anything at all.

If they didn't do anything, the Alpha quadrant would have looked and turned out much different than it did.


So when you look at the Cardassians, you wonder, why did Starfleet at least appear to break its own rules and help Cardassia, who in the end basically started the Dominion war?

Of all governments, you'd think they'd let it fall the way they claim they let other empires fall, especially with their humanoid rights record...

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

You're forgetting the rebellion, which was trying to get a better system in place than what was there before. That was something that should've been worth supporting. And in the end, Dukat had his opportunity because the Federation did not go as FAR as it could have in backing Cardassia.

 

[SoM]

Considering their non interference policy, why would Starfleet go so much out of their way to interfere in the Klingon invasion of Cardassia, when they generally allow other systems like Bajor to fall without rendering any aid?

Because, to be blunt, Bajor didn't matter - it was a minor planet of limited spacefaring capability who never even (officially) asked for help.

Cardassia, OTOH... if that genuinely fell, and an empire dissolves in front of you, you've got post-war Iraq as a next-door neighbour.

Not to mention that, if the Klingons DID manage to hold the CU together and subjugate it, the Klingon Empire has just massively increased in size and torn up its' détente with the Federation. And the CU has a direct border with the Federation. What do you think would have happened then?

Ultimately, if Cardassia fell at that point, the Federation was looking at a pair of deeply unpalatable possibilities (or a possible combination of the two). It was in Federation military interests to keep the Depata Council going for as long as possible (possibly with a view to subsuming... sorry, offering Cardassia membership of the Federation at some point).

 

[snakespeare]

I would point out that Willie Mays was in the Korean War during the events of "Far Beyond the Stars", but I just noticed that that has been addressed at memory-alpha saying that his name is Willie HAWKINS. Well, there was no Willie Hawkins playing for the Giants, ever. It is definitely Willie Mays whose name has been changed despite the baseball card Jake buys his father in another episode.

 

[DevilEyes]

I would point out that Willie Mays was in the Korean War during the events of "Far Beyond the Stars", but I just noticed that that has been addressed at memory-alpha saying that his name is Willie HAWKINS. Well, there was no Willie Hawkins playing for the Giants, ever. It is definitely Willie Mays whose name has been changed despite the baseball card Jake buys his father in another episode.

So what? There was no SF writer called Benny Russell, either.

And it was all apparently Sisko's vision.