Everyone always goes on about racist/stereotyped Irish presentations, sketchy genetic science, etc. However, the thing this episode always reminds me of is a passing remark by Riker.
I haven't seen the episode in years, so I'm paraphrasing the scene, but in the cargo bay, which was full of goats, hay, etc., Riker said something to the effect of, "Don't worry about it, the ship cleans itself."
This was, to my knowledge, never brought up again. Which is probably just as well. With transporter technology and such, the idea seems at least somewhat conceivable. But how would that work? How does the ship (i.e. computer) distinguish between "junk" and "stuff"? What's to keep Geordi's under-construction model of the HMS Victory from being dissolved away, for example?
I haven't seen the episode in years, so I'm paraphrasing the scene, but in the cargo bay, which was full of goats, hay, etc., Riker said something to the effect of, "Don't worry about it, the ship cleans itself."
This was, to my knowledge, never brought up again. Which is probably just as well. With transporter technology and such, the idea seems at least somewhat conceivable. But how would that work? How does the ship (i.e. computer) distinguish between "junk" and "stuff"? What's to keep Geordi's under-construction model of the HMS Victory from being dissolved away, for example?
