Star Trek

Who Mourns for Adonais? - S2-E2

Continuity mistake: Apollo's lightning bolt throws Scotty across the table and dislodges a big bunch of green grapes from the fruit bowl. They fall onto the table. But when Kirk's crew later assemble at the table, the green grapes aren't there, or in the bowl, or anywhere in the temple. They magically reappear in the bowl just after Spock gets through to Kirk on the communicator. (00:18:55 - 00:41:10)

Jean G

Whom Gods Destroy - S3-E14

Continuity mistake: When Scott orders Sulu to fire phasers to punch through the force field, the two phaser beams are diverging when they leave the ship, but converging somehow (space mirrors?) when they strike the planet. (00:41:20)

Jean G

The Tholian Web - S3-E9

Continuity mistake: When Kirk is being beamed aboard near the end, the crewman operating the transporter has a single lieutenant's stripe. But in the close-up of his hands on the controls, the stripe changes into the braid of a lieutenant commander. (00:46:40)

Jean G

The Ultimate Computer - S2-E24

Plot hole: When M-5 destroys the ore freighter, Dr. Daystrom says, "Fortunately, it was only a robot ship." But Daystrom wasn't on the bridge yet when Spock announced that fact. He didn't have any way of knowing that the freighter was unmanned. (00:23:00 - 00:25:05)

Jean G

The Alternative Factor - S1-E28

Continuity mistake: Mad Lazarus has just put a black-and-white hatch cover over the stolen dilithium crystal in his time ship. It's in place when Kirk arrives to confront him. But a moment later, when Kirk leans in and is accidentally transported to the negative universe, the cover has disappeared. It's still missing when Kirk returns to push Lazarus through the portal. (00:39:20)

Jean G

Friday's Child - S2-E11

Revealing mistake: In McCoy's video of the Capellans, the weapon thrown at the sapling actually misses it and nails a nearby bush instead. The tree, however, obediently breaks in half and falls over anyway. (00:00:20)

Jean G

The Menagerie (1) - S1-E12

Continuity mistake: The landing party beams down in daylight, but the window inside Mendez's office shows that it's night outside. In the next exterior shot, it's day again. Next shot back in the office: night. (00:00:30 - 00:05:20)

Jean G

That Which Survives - S3-E17

Continuity mistake: When Kirk splits up the landing party, he asks McCoy to further inspect the vegetation. In the two shot, McCoy isn't wearing his tricorder, but in close-up, it's there, strapped over his left shoulder. Cut back to the two shot, though, and it's gone again. (00:10:20)

Jean G

Elaan of Troyius - S3-E13

Revealing mistake: During the battle scene, the use of special effects stock footage of the view screen, as seen over the helm from the opposite side of the bridge, briefly turns the short, brunette Ensign Chekov into a tall, thin blond guy. (00:44:20)

Jean G

Friday's Child - S2-E11

Continuity mistake: Kirk's arrow strikes the Klingon in the knee. But a few shots later, the shaft is protruding from his thigh, several inches above its original position. Still later, he's holding one hand to his calf just below the knee, which isn't where the arrow was either time. (00:43:40)

Jean G

The Trouble With Tribbles - S2-E15

Continuity mistake: During the scene when the Klingon agent is exposed by the Tribbles, Kirk first holds the two furballs as if they had a handle on the underside (probably for the parts to make them wriggle). As he turns to Spock (the wide-angle shot), he holds the Tribbles cupped in his hands, his thumbs supporting their flanks. But as Kirk approaches Spock (close-up), he has them 'by the handle' again.

Elaan of Troyius - S3-E13

Factual error: Spock says the Klingon ship is approaching at Warp Six, but Sulu counts off the distance at about 50,000 kilometers per second - that isn't even the speed of light.

Capt. Kirk: Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its 5-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

More quotes from Star Trek
More trivia for Star Trek

Answer: Kirk was getting his physical and Dr. McCoy probably turned off communications, because if he hadn't, Kirk would have left and headed straight for the bridge, leaving McCoy irritated.

More questions & answers from Star Trek

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.