Your favorite TNG plot holes

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

While it's true that good storytelling has no holes in it, one could argue that good storytelling also gets you to miss a plot hole or ignore it for the sake of enjoying the larger story.

What are some of your favorite TNG plot holes? I'll mention a few to get the ball rolling:

- "Matter of Perspective" (when Riker's accused of murder): one of the first things you look for in a murder investigation is the murder weapon. His phaser (or lack thereof) never comes up once, even though he supposedly would've shown up on the transporter pad with it in hand if he'd just used it to blow up the station while beaming out.

- "Conundrum" (when the whole crew loses their memory): MacDuff makes himself Commander, subject to the captain's orders. The obvious choice would've been to make yourself captain so everyone had to obey.

- "I, Borg": The Enterprise banks on Hue's sense of individuality to affect the Collective, and yet the Collective assimilated millions of people all the time who had a sense of individuality.

- "All Good Things": of course, the problem with an anti-time phenomenon that's appearing in a linear/forward manner rather than backwards. In the future, they're viewing its inception and continued existence in a linear/forward way, when instead it should've appeared before they created it, and should've disappeared after they made it. (Fun brain-twisters for anti-time.)

 

[Finn]

- "I, Borg": The Enterprise banks on Hue's sense of individuality to affect the Collective, and yet the Collective assimilated millions of people all the time who had a sense of individuality.

The nature of the Borg as we know now weren't well fleshed out when that episode came out. I watched it when it first came out. I didn't think anything was odd. But on recent rewatches, I'll admit it looks weird.

 

[Marlonius]

Data catches the disease in "The Naked Now".

 

[Tosk]

- "Conundrum" (when the whole crew loses their memory): MacDuff makes himself Commander, subject to the captain's orders. The obvious choice would've been to make yourself captain so everyone had to obey.

And that's just one of the problems with that episode.

 

[Mojochi]

If Scotty & Geordi figured out a way to activate the Dyson sphere door without getting dragged in by its tractor beam, then why wouldn't you just keep doing that until the Enterprise could navigate back out? The whole idea of using the Jenolan as a doorstop is only necessary if you could never get it to open again

 

[LJones41]

Picard's mission in "Chain of Command". Completely ridiculous to me, considering that someone from Starfleet Intelligence could have been used. I also have a low opinion of the Cardassians' reason for capturing him.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

All the times Troi's empathy could have been super useful. Like Matter of Time, she only gets some vague feeling that maybe somebody is not being completely honest, when in fact he is a normal human just maliciously lying outright.

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

If Scotty & Geordi figured out a way to activate the Dyson sphere door without getting dragged in by its tractor beam, then why wouldn't you just keep doing that until the Enterprise could navigate back out? The whole idea of using the Jenolan as a doorstop is only necessary if you could never get it to open again

They also beamed out while the ship's shields were still up, bracing the doors. That footage was reused/recycled in Voyager when Kim and Paris stole the prototype runabout in the timestream episode.

 

[JesterFace]

"I, Borg": The Enterprise banks on Hue's sense of individuality to affect the Collective, and yet the Collective assimilated millions of people all the time who had a sense of individuality.

The nature of the Borg as we know now weren't well fleshed out when that episode came out. I watched it when it first came out. I didn't think anything was odd. But on recent rewatches, I'll admit it looks weird.

My theory is that Hugh was able to spread his individualiy through the collective since he already was a member of the collective.
When someone is assimilated, there might be somekind of "blocker" so the individuality of the person being assimilated doesn't affect the hive mind.
However, Hugh was already a member of the hive mind so perhaps the Borg just picked up a survivor from a crash site and plugged him in without any suspicions he would be an individual. Why would he be, just a drone alone on a moon.

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

All the times Troi's empathy could have been super useful. Like Matter of Time, she only gets some vague feeling that maybe somebody is not being completely honest, when in fact he is a normal human just maliciously lying outright.

I really liked Marina as an actress, I just don't know about the fit for that particular role. Apparently they had originally considered other roles for her within the show before settling on that one. Honestly she's not even in some of my favorite TNG episodes, which is not a swipe at her, but rather the material she was given.

In many situations where she could've come to the rescue, she was somehow always neutralized in one way or another. "Matter of Time" is a great example you gave there. "Devil's Due" is another. "The Survivors" and "The Loss" are 2 blatant examples. So it's like, if you're going to keep neutralizing one of this character's defining traits, what's the point, give her another role.

 

[JesterFace]

^^ Basically, Deanna was a bit too good and had this ability that could ruin many episodes if that ability wasn't turned off for some reason.

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

^^ Basically, Deanna was a bit too good and had this ability that could ruin many episodes if that ability wasn't turned off for some reason.

I know, it would've made for 5-minute episodes if she always did her thing and unmasked the bad guy without at least 40 minutes of suspense, but it's just unfortunate because Marina was capable of doing a lot more there. She did the best with what she was given.

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

A few more:
- "Powerplay" (when Troi, O'Brien and Data are taken over): it gets established that pain is the key to expelling the entities, but every time they get shot with phasers, they take it better than anybody. Pain's no issue when you're getting shot.
- "The Next Phase" (when Geordi and Ro are cloaked): obviously there's an issue when you can pass through walls, but the floor is as solid as ever. Geordi (and the rest of the gang) fail to reminisce about his debacle when they face the same tech again in "The Pegasus." They treat it a brand new idea.
- "Darmok": Data and Troi have a library of info on a species they supposedly know nothing about.

All fun episodes, though. I'd watch 'em again.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Of course there’s the issue with all self causal time loop episodes of, how did it happen the first time?

 

[Finn]

- "The Next Phase" (when Geordi and Ro are cloaked): obviously there's an issue when you can pass through walls, but the floor is as solid as ever. Geordi (and the rest of the gang) fail to reminisce about his debacle when they face the same tech again in "The Pegasus." They treat it a brand new idea.

Easy, the artifical gravity panels are on each deck. We should have seem them appearing to wade in the floor as if they were in an inch of water... As for Pegasus, they didn't act like phasing ships were a new concept...

- "Darmok": Data and Troi have a library of info on a species they supposedly know nothing about.

All fun episodes, though. I'd watch 'em again.

I don't think this is a plot hole. They both personally do not know anything about the Tamarians. That why they had to consult with the computer...

 

[HugeLobes]

^^ Basically, Deanna was a bit too good...

Might be the first time those words have been written.

I guess for general plot holes, the idea that Data became a Lieutenant Commander without running into basic human idioms or behaviours.

 

[Noname Given]

- "All Good Things": of course, the problem with an anti-time phenomenon that's appearing in a linear/forward manner rather than backwards. In the future, they're viewing its inception and continued existence in a linear/forward way, when instead it should've appeared before they created it, and should've disappeared after they made it. (Fun brain-twisters for anti-time.)

I find it funny that Future Data (when scanning the anomaly from the U.S.S. Pasteur) says "It's like all three beams are coming from the Enterprise..." <--- Funny, the U.S.S. Pasteur was never renamed to my knowledge; and didn't look like a Galaxy Class ship. (And it's Data who will usually obsess about and will correct such minute details.)

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Easy, the artifical gravity panels are on each deck. We should have seem them appearing to wade in the floor as if they were in an inch of water...

Sure, but how can they breathe? They're out of phase with the oxygen.

 

[Finn]

Good point

 

[Timo]

I plead Stephen King's Langoliers. Being out of phase means being slightly ahead or behind the universe in terms of time, as in "Time's Arrow". And if you lag behind, you will see the pale shadows of the people of the universe, but they won't see any light coming from you because they have already "moved on". And you get to breathe their old air...

- "Conundrum" (when the whole crew loses their memory): MacDuff makes himself Commander, subject to the captain's orders. The obvious choice would've been to make yourself captain so everyone had to obey.

But if the Satarrans knew how to fly the E-D, they wouldn't need this ruse to begin with. If MacDuff pretended to be the boss, he'd be caught when it turns out he knows even less than anybody else aboard. But being the parrot on the CO's shoulder that merely shrieks "Full impulse! Raise shields! Pieces of Warp Eight!" in perfect echo of the CO is ideal.

- "All Good Things": of course, the problem with an anti-time phenomenon that's appearing in a linear/forward manner rather than backwards. In the future, they're viewing its inception and continued existence in a linear/forward way, when instead it should've appeared before they created it, and should've disappeared after they made it. (Fun brain-twisters for anti-time.)

It no doubt did appear before they created it, only in that other timeline that had not yet been created when the heroes approached the spot... Changes in the future only take effect after the heroes or villains have performed the deed that creates the changes, so the same ought to apply to changes in the past in this reverse scenario.

- "Powerplay" (when Troi, O'Brien and Data are taken over): it gets established that pain is the key to expelling the entities, but every time they get shot with phasers, they take it better than anybody. Pain's no issue when you're getting shot.

So where's the problem? Getting shot with a phaser might indeed be completely painless.

If Scotty & Geordi figured out a way to activate the Dyson sphere door without getting dragged in by its tractor beam, then why wouldn't you just keep doing that until the Enterprise could navigate back out? The whole idea of using the Jenolan as a doorstop is only necessary if you could never get it to open again

Scotty's the one to quote "Fool me once..." on screen. There's no trusting those wily doors that so eagerly aim to please and drag you in!

Timo Saloniemi