Truth OR Myth? Error, Error, Mistakes- TOS (Season 1, Part 1)

Hello and welcome to episode 11 of Truth Or Myth. In this Episode, we’re going to take a fun and fast look at the mistakes and continuity problems with the first 5 episodes of Star Trek The Original Series.

Aside from doing the Cage First, all other episodes will be presented in the order in which they aired and will be analyzed accordingly, Let’s begin

(CBS) “The Cage”

THE CAGE:

This is the pilot episode of Star Trek which wasn’t bought up but warranted an unprecedented 2nd pilot to made, so I’ll go a bit easier on this episode than the others.

Why is Spock limping when he beams down to Talos IV? Did the transporter somehow sprain his ankle?

Speaking of Spock, what’s with this logical Vulcan displaying so much emotion? In all other incarnations of Star Trek in which we see a younger Spock his emotions are quite in check, so why aren’t they here?

When on the Planet a crew member tells the Talos survivors that the time barriers been broken, that they won’t believe how fast they can make it back. So are we to believe that these survivors made it to Talos without Warp drive?

When Captured by the Talosians, Pike exclaims where he’s from and what he represents. How can this be correct when we know from series like Deep Space Nine and Voyager exactly how long it would take from the other end of the Galaxy to get home?

(CBS) “The Man Trap”

THE MAN TRAP:

When Kirk, McCoy and Darnell first beam to the planet Kirk has a Tricorder in his hand then suddenly it’s slung over his shoulder, then when he picks the so-called flowers suddenly it’s gone from his shoulder and then back in his hand…

Does Crewman Darnel not understand what an order is? Would a Starfleet officer really just leave his position and go wandering off for a booty call? You’re not Captain Kirk Darnel!

Also, why didn’t Darnel scream when he was being sucked dry by the salt sucker like Kirk at the end? After all, we heard Nancy’s scream so wouldn’t we have heard his?

While on the Bridge Spock tells Uhura that Vulcan has no moon, what about in Star Trek The Motion Picture? There we see a scene with a gas giant and what looks like a moon in the distance. Sure it could be a moon orbiting THAT Gas planet, guess you can decide.

Why does Kirk want to return to the ship to find Nancy Crater? Doesn’t McCoy have a Tricorder? Couldn’t he use THAT to find Nancy? Couldn’t they have gotten out of range of it already could they?

Speaking of Sensors, why doesn’t the Enterprises sensors detect the crew mans dead body on the planet? After all body heat doesn’t dissipate THAT quickly.

Watch the plate of food that Yeoman Rand brings to Sulu, notice the coloured cubes are in a bowl. But then later after Nancy/ Green Salt Sucker shows up, he looks at the tray and suddenly it’s a plate full of coloured cubes.

Shouldn’t Captain Kirk be trained in tactical manoeuvres both in Space and on the ground? In the scenes where Kirk and Spock are attempting to capture Dr Crater, Kirk jumps under a large stone slab that Dr Crater has just shut out the middle pillar holding it up. Does that make sense? What if Dr Carter shoots out one of the other pillars? Wouldn’t the slab then Kill Kirk? And to make matters worse he tempts fate by doing the same type of thing again moments later…

(CBS) “Charlie X”

CHARLIE X:

In the opening log, Kirk Calls the Starship Antares, “The Cargo Vessel Antares” but then later after it’s destroyed he refers to it as “The Science Probe Vessel Antares,” did the ship change its mission Profile after leaving Charlie on the Enterprise?

And during the scenes leading up to Kirk learning of the Antares destruction, Kirk and Charlie enter the turbolift to head to the bridge. Note Kirks wearing his yellow tunic. And Then when they exit on to the bridge Kirk is suddenly wearing a green tunic. Did he change in the turbolift?

When Charlie goes to Rands corner to confront her, Rand backs up in fear and presses the comm button to contact the bridge. And valiantly Kirk and Spock rush to her quarters. The problem is though if you watch the scene the viewer shows that the comm channel is already open. Then she presses the button and turns off the comm channel. So how did Kirk and Spock hear what was going on in her quarters?

(CBS) “Where No Man Has Gone Before”

WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE:

This episode was actually the 2nd pilot created by Roddenberry to sell the series to the network. But since it was aired as the 3rd episode in the series there’s a huge discrepancy when it comes to the uniforms. Suddenly all the women are in pants and shirts like the males, and there are no red uniforms. Also, the colours on the Yellow and blue uniforms seem off.

After Mitchell begins to become a superhuman in sickbay Spock and Kirk are worried about the rate at which Mitchell is reading the computer’s library. I don’t know what they’re so worried about, Mitchell is reading the same pages over and over again.

Just before the fight scene between Kirk and Michell, we get a shot of Kirks tombstone which reads James R Kirk. I thought Kirks middle name was Tiberius?

And after the fight we’re left with this oddity, why is there a sleeping crewman at the communications station? I guess communications is not that exciting of a job…

(CBS) “The Naked Time”

THE NAKED TIME:

What’s with the isolation suits in this episode? Shouldn’t they isolate? Yet we see Tormolan causally reach under his helmet, so how exactly does that isolate? And why did he take off his gloves and do that anyhow? They were obviously ordered to wear the suits, to begin with so he thought that taking off his gloves was a good idea?

We also see a scene in which Spock comments on a woman that’s been strangled. Use your Tricorder Spock, that is obviously a manikin.

Why exactly does liquid drip sideways on this planet?

In this episode Kirk makes a log entry about how it’s unknown to the crew that a disease is on board, how does Kirk know what’s going to happen? Does he have a dilithium Crystal Ball?

Why doesn’t Spock hear the conversation between Riley and Sulu on the bridge? In Operation Annihilate we find out that Spock has amazing hearing when he oveoverhearsCoys Comment to Kirk. So Shouldn’t he known of Sulu’s plan?

When Riley has locked Engineering up tight why don’t they just use a site to site transport like Kirk does in the Episode Day Of The Dove? And that transport was done while the enterprise was in warp…

When Scotty finishes cutting through the bulkhead he immediately grabs the cut out piece with his hands. How fast does phaser fired metal to cool down anyhow. Shouldn’t this cutout still be white hot?

When they succeed in imploding the engines, implosion doesn’t seem the right word to use but ok I accept it, why do 4 of the bridge crew grimace in pain while the others on the bridge are just fine? What’s up with that?

Thank you for watching today’s episode. If I’ve missed something feel free to leave a comment below and don’t forget to like and subscribe. Thanks again for watching, live long and prosper.

 

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