# ST: TNG, is there an episode with a bigger plot hole than this?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 4, 2014, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873 "2014-01-04T13:24:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/1 "2014-01-04T13:24:32Z")
I have some major issues with this episode:
> [@](#):
>
> **Clues** After passing through a wormhole, the crew uncovers clues that they were unconscious for more than the 30 seconds that they were led to believe.
This is the one where they stumble across a planet of xenophobic aliens. The aliens get all pissy with them because the Enterprise now has knowledge of their existence. So to make everything right as rain, they render everyone unconscious and lead them to believe they were only out for 30 seconds , when in actuality, they lost an entire day. The only one who remembers any of this nonsense is Data, who has got like a creepy vibe going on in this episode.
The question that burns in my mind is, next time they come in contact with a starbase, aren’t they going to find it rather strange that it’s Wednesday when it should only be Tuesday? I mean, isn’t that a major fucking plot hole?
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### Author:  [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/2 "2014-01-04T13:29:32Z")
As I recall, at the end of that episode they have a throwaway line that the wormhole they went through had a time effect as well - so Picard says something along the lines to count themselves lucky it was so short and to reset the ships chronometer.
The biggest plot hole, to me, was the last episode. The time vortex was supposed to get bigger the further into the past that you go. Yet the first time the “future” enterprise visits it it isn’t there because it gets bigger going forwards in time instead of backwards.
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### Author:  [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/3 "2014-01-04T14:18:55Z")
I always felt that the Prime Directive stuff in “Justice” qualified as a pretty big plot hole.
Wesley broke a couple of plants on the paradise planet where breaking any rule is a death sentence, and Captain Picard can’t beam him away because that would be interfering with planetary affairs. So what’s his backup plan?
**He tries to argue them out of their culture’s concept of justice**
Seriously, in what galaxy is that less interference than taking back a crewman who isn’t really anything to do with the native planet or their own business?
😕 :smack: :mad:
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### Author:  [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/4 "2014-01-04T14:26:15Z")
> [@Frazzled](#):
>
> The biggest plot hole, to me, was the last episode.
Yes, this, right here. The finale was one big annoying plot hole.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/5 "2014-01-04T14:51:53Z")
_Datalore_.
Lore impersonates Data, urging Picard to scare the Big Bad by dropping the shields and beaming stuff out into space for to make a display of strength…
…because, see, upon dropping shields to beam stuff out into space, the defenseless Enterprise will get attacked by the Big Bad; it’s sort of the entire plan, y’know?
Lore, though, is foiled; the Enterprise drops its shields and beams him out into space.
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### Author:  [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/6 "2014-01-04T15:08:54Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#):
>
> _Datalore_.
>
> Lore impersonates Data, urging Picard to scare the Big Bad by dropping the shields and beaming stuff out into space for to make a display of strength…
>
> …because, see, upon dropping shields to beam stuff out into space, the defenseless Enterprise will get attacked by the Big Bad; it’s sort of the entire plan, y’know?
>
> Lore, though, is foiled; the Enterprise drops its shields and beams him out into space.
which is really qutite stupid - once you have him in the pattern buffer - simply don’t materialize him anywhere - just delete the buffer or if you have to materialize him - make him a potted plant.
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### Author:  [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/7 "2014-01-04T15:13:42Z")
I just thought it was very random when DOCTOR Crusher was suddenly a expert on ships shield tech. For an episode.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/8 "2014-01-04T15:31:03Z")
> [@chrisk](#):
>
> I always felt that the Prime Directive stuff in “Justice” qualified as a pretty big plot hole.
The PD only applies to planets that have not yet been contacted and are unaware of the existence of the Federation.
> [@Zebra](#):
>
> I just thought it was very random when DOCTOR Crusher was suddenly a expert on ships shield tech. For an episode.
But she’s also a Starfleet officer. Just like any college grad, she probably has a basic grounding in other areas besides being a doctor.
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### Author:  [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/9 "2014-01-04T15:39:21Z")
> [@Zebra](#):
>
> I just thought it was very random when DOCTOR Crusher was suddenly a expert on ships shield tech. For an episode.
In fairness that was a callback to a previous episode where she had to deal by herself with a certain kind of experimental shield.
One of the worst for me was in Datalore where they make a huge deal through the episode about the fact that Data can’t use contractions but Lore could and in the end Data says, “I’m fine.” Really? Was that the best time to let that mistake go through?
I also agree about the last episode. As much as I loved it, the Plot breaks it’s own rules. The Anti Time anomaly is supposed to grow backwards in time. If that’s true, it should already be there when the Future Enterprise arrives but it isn’t.
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### Author:  [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/10 "2014-01-04T16:15:53Z")
My biggest plot hole is why, anytime anyone uses the transporter, a backup copy of that person isn’t saved to guard against something bad happening on the away mission.
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### Author:  [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/11 "2014-01-04T16:28:52Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#):
>
> Yes, this, right here. The finale was one big annoying plot hole.
Made all the worse because it’s the central plot device of the series where Q is congratulating Picard on his brilliance. I’ve never seen a plot hole so self congratulatory and yet so contradictory at the same time.
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### Author:  [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/12 "2014-01-04T17:25:25Z")
In the episode when Picard, Ensign Ro, and I can’t remember who else were accidentally transformed into children due to a transporter accident, how did Picard’s artificial heart manage to also turn into a child-sized one?
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/13 "2014-01-04T17:29:41Z")
> [@Quimby](#):
>
> One of the worst for me was in Datalore where they make a huge deal through the episode about the fact that Data can’t use contractions but Lore could and in the end Data says, “I’m fine.” Really? Was that the best time to let that mistake go through?
I’m not sure that was a mistake.
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### Author:  [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/14 "2014-01-04T17:32:09Z")
> [@Morbo](#):
>
> In the episode when Picard, Ensign Ro, and I can’t remember who else were accidentally transformed into children due to a transporter accident, how did Picard’s artificial heart manage to also turn into a child-sized one?
his heart grew three sizes that day…
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### Author:  [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/15 "2014-01-04T17:42:41Z")
I think the biggest plothole is in _The Next Phase_ - when someone is out of phase, they can go through walls, but somehow they’re perfectly capable of walking on a deck floor without falling (or floating) through that.
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### Author:  [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/16 "2014-01-04T17:53:33Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#):
>
> I think the biggest plothole is in _The Next Phase_ - when someone is out of phase, they can go through walls, but somehow they’re perfectly capable of walking on a deck floor without falling (or floating) through that.
I think that can be handwaved as an effect of the gravity plating, which is incorporated into the deck, but not the bulkheads. They’re not walking on the deck material so much as floating at the inflection point of the gravity field. Of course, it would have been nice to show them slipping and stumbling a bit as they adjust to it, but for the sake of getting on with the show, I suppose we can say that it just felt to them like the floor had gotten sort of soft and springy.
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### Author:  [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/17 "2014-01-04T20:19:41Z")
> [@chrisk](#):
>
> I always felt that the Prime Directive stuff in “Justice” qualified as a pretty big plot hole.
>
> Wesley broke a couple of plants on the paradise planet where breaking any rule is a death sentence, and Captain Picard can’t beam him away because that would be interfering with planetary affairs. So what’s his backup plan?
>
> **He tries to argue them out of their culture’s concept of justice**
>
> Seriously, in what galaxy is that less interference than taking back a crewman who isn’t really anything to do with the native planet or their own business?
>
> 😕 :smack: :mad:
Not only that, but I was under the impression that he only saved Wesley because his mother was on the ship and Picard was responsible (I think) for Jack Crusher’s death.
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### Author:  [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/18 "2014-01-04T20:36:05Z")
> [@Miller](#):
>
> I’m not sure that was a mistake.
It’s been Lore all along?! Someone warn the Captain! 🙂
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### Author:  [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/19 "2014-01-04T20:39:26Z")
I can’t think of any plot holes that haven’t been discussed to death, so I’ll just complain about the ridiculousness of “Pen Pals”
ok, so apparently it violates the Prime Directive to save planets from deadly natural phenomena. And they hand wave it away with a bunch of BS about ‘playing God’ and ‘the fate of people’.
1. This is the Prime Directive. THE PRIME DIRECTIVE. They probably took 6 years of courses on the PD. And yet, there the senior staff is having to get a lecture from Picard as if they never heard of it. As a viewer, I love it. But it’s silly. It shouldn’t even be a discussion.
2. And yet as soon as Picard hears a little girl’s plaintive voice, he throws it all out the window. I guess it’s a good thing for that entire planet Data’s friend wasn’t some nasty little boy.
Which brings up something I just thought of. As liberal as the Feds are…if an uninhabited (meaning no sentient species) class M planet is in danger of destruction from natural causes, SURELY the goody-two shoes Federation acts to prevent it don’t they? I mean _right now_ we bend over backwards to save endangered species. I have to believe that if a planet chock-full of unique species is going to be plastered by an asteroid, the Feds will spare the resources to save the planet, yes? And we know the Feds will help a planet that asks for help from natural causes.
SO…it’s only the poor sentient bastards between monkeys and warp-capable (or those aware of space-faring races) people who are effed. Yeah, that makes sense.
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### Author:  [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tng-is-there-an-episode-with-a-bigger-plot-hole-than-this/677873/20 "2014-01-04T20:41:41Z")
> [@Morbo](#):
>
> In the episode when Picard, Ensign Ro, and I can’t remember who else were accidentally transformed into children due to a transporter accident, how did Picard’s artificial heart manage to also turn into a child-sized one?
The other two were Keiko O’Brien and Guinan.
And I think it assumes his heart reverts to the same state it was when he was actually that age - ie, a non-stabbed biological heart - which has significant logic issues, but…
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