Truth OR Myth – Error, Error, Mistakes! TNG Season 2 (Pt 1)

Hello and welcome to Truth or Myth? In today’s episode, we’re taking a fun and fast look at the mistakes made in the first 5 episodes of Season 2 of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Just a reminder, if you want to explain away any of the mistakes then it has to be with in-universe canon explanations only. So Novels, Video games, tech Manuals and your and your Great uncle Fred’s 6th Pet Goldfish are NOT valid sources to explain away the mistakes. And so, with all that out of the way, let’s begin!

(CBS) “The Child”

The Child

So this is the Premiere episode of the 2nd Season and well, I can’t stand it.

At the beginning of this episode, we get a shot of a shuttlecraft leaving what we find out to be shuttlebay 3. The problem here is that shuttle bay 3 is one of the lower shuttle bays on the neck of the Enterprise D. From that position of departure we the audience should see a clearly visible top of an engine nacelle, unfortunately, the nacelle is nowhere to be found…

When Hester Dealt, the Odette 9 Scientist beams aboard the Enterprise he spends Several hours inspecting the module before allowing the specimens to be beamed aboard. This serves to convey the Danger to the audience.

However, at the end of the episode, the Enterprise immediately begins beaming the specimens down right after they beam Hesterdell down… Does this seem right? Should Hesterdell take a few hours to inspect the module at the receiving end?

When Picard and Wesley ride the Turbolift together watch Wesley Crusher. Just before they exit on to deck 10 Wesley’s arms are at his side. But in the next shot suddenly, his arms are crossed.

Watch the shot where Wesley is gazing outside from 10 forward. In the first shot, we see Wesley’s pensive face and the star field reflected in the windows of the ship’s Lounge. However, in the next shot, over Wesley’s shoulders we clearly see the Planet the Enterprise is Orbiting. So why wasn’t the Planet being reflected in the windows?

besides this, 10 Forward is at the front of the ship, hence 10 FORWARD. So in order for Wesley to be gazing at the planet as we see it, the ship would need to be facing it, which it is not…

So when the Plasma Specimen the Enterprise is carrying suddenly begins to grow the Crew of the Enterprise D are thrown into a panic and discuss what options they have for getting rid of the growing danger. Riker suggests Jettisoning the module but the Scientist from Odette 9 says no and gives the reason for this as “whoever encounters it later will be destroyed.”

Logical right? Well no not in the slightest. Why doesn’t the Enterprise simply fly by a sun and jettison the module right into it… Would it be incinerated? And wouldn’t it be likely most Starships wouldn’t be hanging out in a sun anyhow if the samples survive the incineration?

I know someone out there will want to bring up metaphasic shielding, you know that shield that allows the Enterprise D to travel inside a sun in Descent Part 2. But remember at this point neither Starfleet nor anyone else has that capability, and such a thing seems to be an impossibility as the original episode Suspicions suggests…

Or they could even beam the module out as energy only as seen in episodes such as the TOS episode Wolf in the Fold, or TNG’s Episode Lonely Among Us?

(CBS) “Where Silence Has Lease”

Where Silence Has Lease

At the beginning of this episode, Riker asks data is there are any records of Any ships encountering a phenomenon like a hole in space there were observing. Data replies, that there are no records of anything even remotely similar! Data should brush up on his Starfleet History? What about the hole in Space encountered by the TOS Crew in The Immunity Syndrome? Would this no qualify as something that should be mentioned?

Watch Picard and Riker during the Scene where Data is trying to hail the USS Yamato. Riker is standing close to the Main View screen with Picard further back… However in the next shot suddenly Picard and Riker are almost standing side by side… Then the shot after that, suddenly they are far apart again…

Not really a mistake per se, but simply something done for the sake of the plot. During this episode, Nagilum appears and ends up killing an ensign sitting at the helm. To the audience’s dismay, the Ensign is not Wesley Crusher. I guess it was just a stroke of luck that even though he ALWAYS seems to be on the bridge in Season 2 on, Wesley just happens to be on break at this moment… Convenient…

And another oddity that isn’t really a mistake but bears mentioning is that shortly after Nagilum reveals himself to the crew he starts commenting about how some humanoids are constructed differently, referring to the females on board. He spins Polaski around a few times and that’s that… Doesn’t it seem a bit odd that he chose Pulaski as his demo Subject? Especially given that the busting out all over Troi is nearby?

It looks like the Auto Destruct Function has changed. In this episode when Picard and Riker initiate the Auto Destruct they’re asked for a time frame and choose 20 minutes… So Starfleet MUST have changed it sometime after 11001001, in THAT episode Picard and Riker discuss how the time interval is fixed at only 5 minutes.

(CBS) “Elementary, My Dear Data”

Elementary, My Dear Data

Ok, so this episode raises a LOT of issues for me. First, how with 1 simple line could a non-conscious computer system create a conscious being in the holodeck? That would imply the computer itself had consciousness, and that is not something supported at all by the Series.

Second, if Moriarty IS conscious then we may have an equal rights situation here. In Measure of a man, Picard lays out the 3 indicators for a being required to have equal rights within the Federation. Those are Intelligence, self-awareness and consciousness.

Well, we see Moriarty is Intelligent, after all, he takes over the main computer on the Enterprise and plans an elaborate plot. We also know he has consciousness as Data says so, and Troi backs this up with her empathic senses, something she can’t even do for Data and he’s sentient…

So the 3rd criteria is Self Awareness. Is Moriarty Self Aware? He sure seems to be to me! So then wouldn’t shut him off constitute a violation of his rights? And if the main computer can create a sentient life form, doesn’t that imply the Main Computer might be sentient itself? Wouldn’t a study into these factors, or at least a discussion seem appropriate here?

So another Holodeck episode here and as such certain things bear mentioning, such as, how some matter can leave the holodeck in some episodes, and in others, they simply cannot… Even Picard explaining the situation at the end of the episode to Moriarty explains that holodeck matter cannot leave the holodeck, yet scenes earlier we know it did. Star Trek always plays fast and loose when it comes to these points in holodeck history…

Watch the Inspector in the scene where a murder has occurred. In one shot the good inspector kneels down and rests a hand on his right knee. In the Next shot however, his right arm rests on his right knee…

(CBS) “The Outrageous Okona”

The Outrageous Okona

Another episode I have a problem with, but this one because of the episode’s title itself. Through this whole episode everyone marvels at how outrageous this guy is, and yet NOTHING he does is outrageous at all… After all most of the things he does are Rikers regular Tuesday Night, and no one calls HIM outrageous!

Ok, so this is a bit of a picky one but hey, that’s what I’m here for. Watch when Worf is sent to retrieve Okona and he finds him in a females quarters. the Numbers to the left of her door indicate that they are on Deck 7. However when that walk to the turbolift, the numbers there indicate they are on Deck 11. Someone made a mistake here!

(CBS) “Loud As A Whisper”

Loud As A Whisper

When the Enterprise reaches Solaris 5, Worf tells the bridge crew he detects laser activity. To this information, Picard tells the planet that they must stop all this nonsense or the Enterprise will withdrawal, since Picard won’t put his ship at risk. What happened to laser not even being able to penetrate the navigational shields? See The Previous Episode The Outrageous Okona…

Watch Dr Pulaskis Magical Disappearing act in this episode. After Retrieving Riva and his party Riker, who’s in command has Ensign Crusher set a course for Solaris 5. Riker is in the Captain’s Chair, and Polaski is beside him in Troi’s chair. In the first shot, she’s looking at Riker, and then in the next suddenly she’s looking at Troi terminal… But that’s not the big issue here. Next, we see the Enterprise blast out of orbit for about all of 2 seconds and then in the next shot on the bridge, suddenly Pulaskis is gone!


Thank you for watching today’s episode of Truth OR Myth. Have an explanation for any of the mistakes I’ve listed here? Or do you see one I’ve missed? Leave a comment in the section below. Don’t forget to like the video and subscribe to channel hitting that little bell icon so you don’t miss a single video we release.

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Thanks again for watching… Live Long and Prosper…

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