The Trouble With Tribbles - S2-E15
Corrected entry: How in the heck is the bartender getting all the tribbles from under the bar without bending his knees?
Corrected entry: At the end of part 1, Starfleet relieves Kirk of command and tells him and everyone else to stop viewing the Talosian transmissions during the Court Martial. At the beginning they say they can't stop the transmissions, go back into the courtroom, and watch them anyway. Why don't they just go to a different room, or cover the screen with a cloth?
Correction: Keep in mind the entire situation was being controlled by the Talosians. Even the commodor was an illusion created by them.
The Trouble With Tribbles - S2-E15
Corrected entry: Kirk says the Klingons will always be accompanied by an equal number of security guards, but there are no security guards present during the bar fight.
Correction: With the appearance of the Klingons, it is likely that Kirk ordered his crew members on Shore Leave to keep an eye on their counterparts. As you may notice, as Chekov, Scotty and their companion enter the bar, two other Enterprise members take their leave; obviously the guards supposed to watch the Klingons in the bar before them.
Corrected entry: Just after Kirk is "accelerated" by the Scalosians, he draws and fires his phaser. Even if the burst was a mere microsecond in length, wouldn't the instruments he hit be fried?
Correction: It's unlikely. Phasers are rarely used at their highest setting - combined with the very short beam time, this would be enough to spare the instruments any damage.
The Corbomite Maneuver - S1-E11
Corrected entry: Kirk calls the Enterprise the "United Earth Ship" (U.E.S.) Enterprise, he should have said "United Space Ship" (U.S.S.)
Correction: In the Enterprise episode "The Forge," we see the Earth embassy on Vulcan is called the "United Earth Embassy." Since United Earth was a term in widespread use, many people may still use it occasionally, like Kirk did in this episode.
Corrected entry: Just before Kirk talks to Spock inside the shuttle, he walks across the bridge, you can see Spock at his station on the bridge, then Kirk talks to him in the shuttle.
Tomorrow is Yesterday - S1-E20
Corrected entry: Why do Sulu and Kirk beam down into the Air Force base in standard Starfleet uniforms? On later such missions (Assignment: Earth - Patterns of Force) they have suitable clothing made up, but here they just stand out like sore thumbs.
Correction: In the other episodes mentioned, they were trying to blend in with the people on the planet. In this episode, it was a covert mission. They did not plan to see anyone so what they wore was unimportant.
They didn't know if they were going to run into anybody, so why not play it safe and dress appropriately.
The Man Trap - S1-E2
Corrected entry: Despite the fact that McCoy has a tricorder that can scan for life forms, Kirk orders him to return to the Enterprise to scan for life forms there.
Correction: The tricorder can only scan the immediate area, but from the ship he can scan the entire planet.
Corrected entry: Kirk says the Platonians moved to their current planet when their last planet "novaed." Planets don't go nova - stars do.
Correction: He probably meant that their previous planet orbited a star that went nova, ie the planet was "novaed".
The Ultimate Computer - S2-E24
Corrected entry: When the M-5 computer goes crazy and starts shooting at the other starships, Commodore Wesley INSTANTLY concludes that Capt. Kirk has lost his mind and is trying to kill everyone. Not even for one second does the Commodore think that the M-5, which is going through it's trial test and which has complete control of the ship, is the cause of the problem.
Correction: Kirk was supposed to be able to activate and deactivate the M-5 at will; so the Commodore probably thinks that Kirk still has control of the ship and the M-5, and is giving the order himself to attack the other ships.
Corrected entry: Spock starts to lose control of his emotions and is desperately struggling with himself. He goes into a room and the automatic doors open for him. As they close behind him, Spock leans back against the doors. The doors should sense something approaching and open again, depositing our heroic Vulcan on his back in the corridor.
Correction: Throughout all Star Trek series, it is obvious that the computer monitors doors, and knows when to open them or not. For example, the doors of someone's quarters don't automatically open when a visitor arrives, the doors stay closed while the person 'rings the doorbell'. So, when someone leans back against a set of doors, the computer would keep them shut, to avoid the person falling backwards.
Corrected entry: Trelane says he studied Earth images that travelled to him at light speed, and earlier they establish Gothos is 900 years from Earth. But Trelane references Napoleon and Hamilton, who weren't around until 1800 or so. That would put this episode in 2700, but the original Trek episodes are set in the 2200's.
Correction: You assume that Trelane lived only on that planet. Rather, Trelane was a powerful energy-entity that did not actually live on the planet, he was just playing with it. Trelane's kind could go anywhere in the galaxy they wanted, at will. In fact, Trelane's parents merely allowed him to play with a whole planet to keep him occupied. As an energy-entity, Trelane had obviously observed Earth from much closer range, at some point, which is when he became fascinated with 18th Century Earth civilization and warfare. But, when the Enterprise encounters him, he's "playing" elsewhere in the galaxy, now 900 light years from Earth.
Corrected entry: Kirk's line, "We're a doomed ship, traveling forever between galaxies" is the only time original "Trek" committed the scientific blunder of confusing galaxies and solar systems. The Enterprise wasn't capable of intergalactic travel (that's leaving one galaxy and reaching another). Yes, it strayed briefly out of our galaxy several times. But it did not - and could not - cross to another one. That would take a warp 100-plus drive and thousands of years. (00:37:25)
Correction: In the course of a normal human lifespan, Enterprise wouldn't be able to travel to another galaxy. Given enough time however, it certainly could reach other galaxies. The plot of this episode is that they were (as you stated), doomed to travel forever (as opposed to the rest of their lives). Given all eternity, they would be traveling between galaxies.
Corrected entry: Kirk says to the Admiral (actor Jose Ferrer) "Once more, Jose."
Corrected entry: The crew of the Galileo are stranded because there is a "dampening field" preventing the shuttle craft and its equipment from working. But the device they use to short out the "companion" works.
Correction: Since we have no idea how the field works, or the nature of the Companion, this can't be considered a mistake.
The City on the Edge of Forever - S1-E29
Corrected entry: After extinguishing the fire, Spock pulls a large vacuum tube out of the primitive computer power supply he's constructed on the bed. When the shot changes, the tube is back in place again. (00:30:00)
Corrected entry: Spock presents himself to Dr. McCoy in sickbay to be relieved of duty for "killing" Captain Kirk. However, as a medical officer, Bones has no place in the ship's chain of command. Doctors have an officer's rank in recognition of their education and value to the service, but no authority over military matters. (For example should Kirk, Spock and Scotty be indisposed, command of the ship would fall to Sulu who is in the chain of command even though McCoy has a higher rank) If Spock believes he should be relieved for breaking regulations and committing murder, and thus confined until court-martial, Scotty would be the one to do it, as he is the next senior officer. And this is not a character mistake, Spock quotes regulations regularly, there is no way he'd ignore chain of command. Contrary to what viewers seem to think, militaries have regulations and officers don't get to ignore them and do what they feel like! The only reason Spock talks to McCoy is so Kirk can walk out of the back of sickbay and create a nice emotional moment.
Correction: McCoy is a full commander and is in the chain of command. There are several reasons Spock may have chosen McCoy, the most likely being that Scotty simply wasn't available at the time. In any case, you're assuming regulations in the future must be identical to regulations in today's military. In the future, the regulation may simply require him to turn himself into the the first available officer above a particular rank. Spock also knew the reason for his killing of the captain was directly related to his mental state, which would fall under McCoy's expertise.
A Piece of the Action - S2-E17
Corrected entry: Not only do the billiard balls on the pool table keep changing positions between shots, but Bela seems to forget what the cue ball is for, and starts hitting the colored balls directly into the pockets instead. (00:08:00)
Corrected entry: Mira is supposedly weightless in the pressure chamber. But her tunic skirt remains perfectly flat and her long hair also "forgets" to float - it's hanging straight down below her head. Selective anti-gravity? (00:44:50)
Correction: If she were lying flat on a surface, with her hair hanging down, when the anti gravity was activated, the cloth and hair would remain in this original position due to the absence of any gravity to affect their position. There are many videos of objects in weightlessness where astronauts placing an object in a spot in front of them, and it staying put, unless it were given motion from the touch of the astronaut.
Corrected entry: Kirk orders Marple to cut around a rock to the right and make a noise to distract their observer. But the actor appears to slightly screw up his cue: Marple promptly traverses the rock to the left instead of the right. (00:16:45)
Correction: Kirk indicated to Marple and Chekhov that someone or something was behind the rock that Spock nodded towards to show Kirk where their "friend" was. Kirk told Marple to "cut around the rock to your right", meaning the the man go around the indicated rock (behind Spock) so that his movements would be to his right, thereby keeping the rock to his right.
Correction: The bartender may have a shelf that is just under the bar, so he wouldn't have to bend his knees to get the tribbles who have collected there.
Mark English