Your favorite TNG plot holes

[Lieutenant Karma]

Well, the Borg sent a signal to the DQ from the 22nd century, estimated to take 2 centuries to reach 'home'. So there's enough wriggle room to have those parasites return in a successor series set in the 26th century or so

Yeah, I guess you're right

 

[Summer Solstice]

Mine's is not really a plot hole but the Mind-controlling Parasites from the episode "Conspiracy" who originally were thought to be in the role of the Borg were never mentioned (except for STO) again even though they are a big threath and apperently sent a signal to deep space calling for backup

Depends what the message said. Perhaps it said "Starfleet foiled our plans! They are very dangerous! Keep away!"

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

Depends what the message said. Perhaps it said "Starfleet foiled our plans! They are very dangerous! Keep away!"

"These guys do not have enough mullets for us to hide our conspicuous breathing gills under! Some are practically bald! Move along!"

 

[ThankQ]

Well, the Borg sent a signal to the DQ in Regeneration, set in the 22nd century, estimated to take 2 centuries to reach 'home'.

 

[Oddish]

They showed up with their neck stems and their bowls of tasty maggots a year after Picard ends. Problem solved.

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

So, the tachyon detection grid in "Redemption II" really doesn't make any sense, if one accounts for how space actually works. A Romulan warbird can just go around the thing, or above or below it.

 

[Oddish]

True. How did Douglas Adams put it? "Space is big."

 

[JesterFace]

So, the tachyon detection grid in "Redemption II" really doesn't make any sense, if one accounts for how space actually works. A Romulan warbird can just go around the thing, or above or below it.

Looking at all the graphics we see about the grid it's hard to understand how it works....
But, those two episodes are so good maybe we should just ignore how it works and just assume it does work, somehow.

 

[WarpTenLizard]

Why the Federation's flagship can't get a full Betazoid on the Bridge to tell Picard if the aliens of the week are trustworthy. Troi is a very powerful empath, to be able to sense emotions from a whole other ship, and she's only half Betazoid. Wouldn't it be even more useful to have a full Betazoid's powers? Even TNG shows in at least one episode that she's not the only Betazoid serving in Starfleet. And who says the Enterprise's lie detector even has to be in Starfleet. They couldn't get an ambassador or something?

And of course, why the senior staff seems to do most of the away missions. Voyager had the excuse of being a small ship that lost half its staff, and couldn't get replacements. But TNG and DS9 both had humongous crew compliments, and should've had different departments for various jobs. The Enterprise is the Federation's flagship, and has a crew of over 1,000! Why are the captain, chief medical officer and counselor beaming down to investigate the deserted alien city? Aren't there some archeologists and such in that crew of 1,000?

 

[Oddish]

Betazoids should be standard issue on every Starfleet ship. They're practically a "WIN" button.

 

[Wally]

Betazoids should be standard issue on every Starfleet ship. They're practically a "WIN" button.

It's very odd not only how Starfleet doesn't, but almost NO OTHER civilization does either. They don't appear to be particularly rare. There does not appear to any regulation against using their mind reading powers, and Betazoids themselves don't seem to have any taboo about them on others either. And they aren't the only beings with telepathy either.
They would be clutch in any security setting, court setting, first contact, negotiations - pretty much any time you are dealing with another mind, it would be crazy to not use that advantage.

This should be the entrance exam at the academy.

Potential Recruit: "I'm a Betazo-"
Recruiter: "You're in. Welcome to Starfleet"

 

[JesterFace]

So, why aren't there Betazoids everywhere sensing emotions and reading minds?
Perhaps there isn't a consensus if Betazoids can be trusted or that they're never wrong.
It's up to who ever is in charge to decide whether to have a Betazoid crew member(s).
If Betazoids were a standard part of the crew it would only be a matter of time when some enemy infiltrates Starfleet and other organisations with a Betazoid that might be working for the enemy.

 

[Whizkid]

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.)

Umm... I love TNG enough to not care about "plot holes." I mean, if we started doing that, which sci-fi would hold up really? Twilight Zone? Doctor Who? BSG? Babylon 5?...

As you said, I like "the larger story."

 

[Oddish]

My tolerance for plot holes increases if (1) it's part of a really good story (like "The Inner Light") or (2) if it's necessary for IRL reasons (like Riker, after explosively advancing through the ranks, suddenly having zero ambition to take his own ship).