There are currently seven-hundred and forty episodes of Star Trek in existence as of the time of writing, with thirteen Star Trek movies that have also been produced across the lifespan of the franchise.
This is to say nothing of the numerous Star Trek projects that were canceled at various stages of development, as well as the ones that are currently in production, like the recently announced TV show that will star Jean-Luc Picard.
A lot of work goes into the production of even a simple episode of Star Trek, as the various shows will often deal with complicated subject matters.
Star Trek has also used a lot of special effects in its production, which are difficult to create at the best of times.
When all of these complications are put together, they can result in mistakes that aren’t seen until the show has already been broadcast.
It’s only natural that a series with so many man hours put into it would eventually lead to a screw-up that ended up on the screen, which is why Star Trek has so many errors for the eagle-eyed fans to spot and complain about on the Internet.
We are here today to uncover the various mistakes which crept into many different episodes of Star Trek; from the intergalactic uniform to the disappearing country.
Here are 20 Mistakes In Star Trek Even True Fans Completely Missed!
Geordi’s Uniform Comes From Another Dimension
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, we are given a glimpse into a reality where one of the costly wars with the Klingon Empire had never ended, and a more military-minded Enterprise crew is involved with the conflict, rather than exploring the galaxy.
The Starfleet of “Yesterday’s Enterprise” uses a different uniform than the one seen in the regular universe.
This was meant to reflect how they are more of a military outfit than a peace-keeping force.
It seems that LeVar Burton was fond of the new uniform, as he was wearing it during the closing scenes of “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, even though the timeline had been restored and he had should have been wearing the regular uniform.
Miles O’Brien’s Rank Kept Changing
Miles O’Brien has been the favorite chew toy of the Star Trek writers for years, as several different episodes were dedicated to making him suffer.
The writers were also screwing with Miles O’Brien through his rank, as there was contradictory information over what exactly his role on the Enterprise and Deep Space Nine was for years.
Throughout Miles O’Brien’s existence, he has held the rank of ensign, lieutenant, chief petty officer, chief warrant officer, warrant officer, and chief of operations.
There have also been times when O’Brien never wore an insignia and sometimes even wore the wrong color uniform.
The mistakes concerning Miles O’Brien (especially during the early years of The Next Generation) can be attributed to the fact that he was never meant to be a major character and that his role grew over time, which meant that little thought was put into his backstory until it became relevant to the plot of an episode.
The Obvious Conspiracy
The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Conspiracy” was controversial in certain countries, due to the sheer amount of violence that appears throughout the story.
This is due to how several humans and aliens are vaporized in a brutal fashion.
“Conspiracy” is controversial among Star Trek fans due to one particular scene that was poorly shot, as it did nothing to hide the fact that two of the actors were replaced with their stunt doubles.
The viewer isn’t meant to see a stunt double for more than a fraction of a second, so as to maintain the illusion that the main actor is performing all of the dangerous deeds.
The fight scene in “Conspiracy” shows both the stunt doubles for Riker and Quinn for five seconds, meaning that it’s very obvious that strangers have temporarily taken over the roles of the characters.
The Changing Klingon Blood
The Klingons have undergone several major physical shifts over the course of Star Trek’s history, many of which have required retcons in order to explain.
The Vulcans of Star Trek are known for having green blood, which may be why Klingons were given pink blood in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. There is even a scene where droplets of Klingon blood are seen floating around a ship in zero gravity.
When the Klingons appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation, they were shown to possess red blood.
The reason for this shift has never been explained, though it was likely due to the producers of the show forgetting the color of Klingon blood.
There is also the possibility that the producers felt that a warrior race with bright pink blood would look kind of silly.
The Reused Bird-Of-Prey Shot
It’s common for science fiction shows to reuse CGI and model shots in order to save money on the budget.
There really isn’t any need to film more than a few shots of a ship like the Battlestar Galactica, Enterprise, or Red Dwarf, as they will mostly be sailing through the dark void of space.
You would think that the producers of Star Trek Generations would be willing to spend a bit of money on the budget in order to have another shot of a Klingon Bird-of-Prey being destroyed.
However, the crew decided to cheat, and reuse a shot of another ship being destroyed that appeared in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
The reason using this shot was a mistake was due to the fact that the original Bird-of-Prey was destroyed by a single photon torpedo. Riker orders Worf to prepare a spread of photon torpedoes, yet we only see one being fired from the Enterprise, which was likely due to maintain continuity.
Two Rikers From Across Time & Space
There are two Rikers in the Star Trek universe; Thomas Riker and William Riker, with the former being created due to a transporter accident.
Thomas Riker would go on to join the Maquis and was last seen in the hands of the Cardassians, while William Riker would go on to marry Deanna Troi and became the captain of the Titan.
There were also two Rikers in the final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, but this was only due to shoddy effects work.
In “These Are the Voyages…”, there is a shot in Ten Forward that was reused from “Ménage à Troi” that was used as the basis for adding in new footage that was recorded at a later date.
The problem with using this footage is that Riker was already sitting in Ten Forward in “Ménage à Troi”.
This means that the viewer can see the original version of Riker from “Ménage à Troi” and the one who was added in later in “These Are the Voyages…” sitting in the same bar.
Dr. Crusher’s Wristwatch
“Code of Honor” is one of the most despised Star Trek episodes of all time. The reason why “Code of Honor” is so disliked is due to accusations of the story being racist, which have come from both the fans and the people involved with the show.
It seems that the producers of “Code of Honor” weren’t keeping up with their futuristic continuity, as they missed the fact that Gates McFadden was wearing a wristwatch during the scene where Dr. Crusher revived Yareena.
The fact that the ship’s doctor might have a use for a wristwatch would have made sense if she had worn one on a regular basis.
However, “Code of Honor” was the only time Dr. Crusher was seen sporting a timepiece, so it was clearly an error on behalf of the costume department.
Chekov Looks Odd…
The crew of the original Enterprise in Star Trek: The Original Series would sometimes shift positions on the bridge, as not all of the actors were available for each episode.
One of the Starfleet officers who served as a helmsman aboard the Enterprise was Hadley, who sat on the bridge on several occasions when Chekov or Sulu wasn’t available.
Hadley appeared in sixty-three episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series and footage of him would be used in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Trials and Tribble-ations”.
The presence of Hadley on the bridge caused issues in “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”, as there were some reused shots from a previous episode that showed Hadley at the helm.
These shots were used, even though Chekov was meant to be at the helm and it’s his voice that is heard speaking over the footage.
Tuvok Wore The Wrong Insignia For Half A Season
Miles O’Brien wasn’t the only character who suffered from problems with his rank, but that was at least understandable, as it took a while for O’Brien to become a main character in the series, so there is at least a reason why there wasn’t much care put into his background.
The same cannot be said for Tuvok in Star Trek: Voyager, as he was one of the main characters in the show from the very beginning, yet he was wearing the wrong rank for most of the first season.
When Tuvok was introduced, he was seen wearing the insignia of a lieutenant commander, even though the other people on the crew referred to him as a lieutenant.
This wasn’t rectified for thirteen episodes, as he was finally given the correct insignia in “Cathexis.”
The Trill Transporter Retcon
The Trill species were introduced in a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode called “The Host”, where the various bizarre rules of their physiology were defined.
These rules were later thrown out of the window when a joined Trill became one of the main characters in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
The first Trill to appear in Star Trek was Odan, who had weird ridges on his forehead, was unable to safely use the transporter, and was free to pursue romantic relationships with those that they had loved in their previous host’s body.
When the Trill appeared in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (in the form of Jadzia Dax) they replaced the forehead ridges with spots, could use the transporter as much as they wanted, and were strictly forbidden from rekindling romances with those whom they had loved in a previous host body.
Dr. McCoy’s Uniform Keeps Changing In Front Of Ladies
You would think that living in a society that had abandoned outdated beliefs concerning human behavior and had eliminated all diseases would mean that a free love utopia was created on Earth, but that wasn’t the case.
Star Trek is a family show, so the romance had to be kept PG at all times.
It’s for this reason that the crew of the Enterprise was so impressed when Harry Mudd brought his three ladies on board the ship in “Mudd’s Women”.
The Starfleet officers are all spellbound by Mudd’s three ladies as they walked through the corridors of the ship.
The most impressed member of the Enterprise crew has to be Doctor McCoy, as his uniform changes from his standard Starfleet uniform to his medical scrubs in the space of a few seconds.
This happens when he looks on at Mudd’s women.
Data’s Incorrect Insignia
“All Good Things…” was the final two-part episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The story of the episode is set across three points in time, with Captain Picard being aware of each timeline and wondering whether he was losing his mind.
One of the time periods that Captain Picard returns to is the events of “Encounter at Farpoint” which occurred during the first episode of The Next Generation.
This meant that Captain Picard was dealing with the crew from the pilot episode again, including Tasha Yar, who was slain during a mission that took place in the first season of the show.
There is an inconsistency regarding how Data appears during the segment set in the past, as he is wearing the wrong insignia.
In “Encounter at Farpoint”, Data is seen wearing the lieutenant commander insignia, while the flashback to the same period in “All Good Things…” shows Data wearing the lieutenant junior grade insignia.
The Romulan Reflection
Reflections are the bane of all of film production crews, which is why sets need to be properly covered and lit, in order to diminish them as much as possible.
The quickest way to break an audience’s immersion and to make your camerawork look shoddy is with a boom mic being reflected in a car window or mirror, so a lot of care is taken in making sure they don’t appear.
The producers of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Unification II” missed a pretty big reflection, as a crew member’s face is clearly seen within a large green lamp sitting on a desk.
Bill Gocke was the person seen within the reflection. He was a boom mic operator who worked on Star Trek: The Next Generation and it’s his face that you can clearly see in the episode.
This means that Gocke is one of the few people to share the screen with Brent Spiner, Leonard Nimoy, and Patrick Stewart at the same time.
Captain Kirk Makes Candles Grow
The only thing worse for a film crew than dealing with reflections is objects that are lit with a flame, such as candles or cigarettes.
The reason for this is due to continuity, as lit objects have a tendency to burn down very fast, especially when they are used over the course of a long day of shooting.
This means that when the editors are putting the footage together, they may be left with items that look different from scene to scene, even though they are meant to be a few seconds apart.
We can see this problem in action in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, during a scene where Captain Kirk is eating dinner with Gillian at a restaurant.
The table where they are sitting has a candle within a glass vase between them. The length of this candle varies from shot to shot, as the camera keeps cutting between Kirk and Gillian.
Bajoran Baseball Jerseys Are Strange
When you watch the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Take Me Out to the Holosuite” for the first time, you get the impression that the crew who worked on the show were desperate to get out of the studio and film outside in the fresh air.
The episode has one of the silliest premises to ever grace Star Trek (which is saying something) and it could only have been okayed by people with cabin fever.
The crew of Deep Space Nine each wears baseball jerseys during the game that takes place at the end of the episode.
It seems that there was a screwup in the costume department, as Kira is seen wearing two different Jerseys within the space of a few seconds.
In one shot, Kira Nerys is seen wearing a jersey that has her first name on it, while a few seconds later she is wearing a jersey with her surname written on it.
The Borg Inconsistencies
The Borg have been subjected to just as many design changes and retcons as the Klingons, as their original philosophy was altered and watered down in order to meet the demands of later stories that used them as villains.
When the Borg were introduced, they were shown to be uninterested in assimilating any member of the Enterprise crew, yet in their next appearance, they wanted to assimilate everything in their path.
The Borg were then shown to want to assimilate all living beings and bring them into the collective. This was later retconned with the Kazon species, who were introduced in Star Trek: Voyager.
The Borg believed that the Kazon were unworthy of assimilation, so they got a free pass from being turned into Borg drones.
Quark Doesn’t Know The Value Of Gold
The Federation is meant to have abandoned all form of currency, with every citizen being guaranteed the right to everything they need without any sort of cost.
This is an idea that doesn’t necessarily stretch to Starfleet personnel, as we see them trading with other factions and races from time to time, as most of the other powers in the galaxy still use currency.
The Ferengi are obsessed with possessions more than any other species in the known universe, to the point where it defines their whole species.
There is a still a question concerning how much the Ferengi value gold, as gold is meant to be worthless, due to how it can be replicated.
In some episodes, we see Quark treating gold as a valuable commodity (like in “Little Green Men”), yet he is later seen bemoaning how gold is worthless, most notably in “Who Mourns for Morn?”
Kirk & His Evil Double Forgot To Put Their Insignias On
The costumes turned out to be a huge problem for the crew of Star Trek.
In Star Trek: The Next Generation, the crew wore tight lycra costumes that were intentionally too small in order to prevent creases and wrinkles.
These uncomfortable outfits weren’t changed until Patrick Stewart complained that they were hurting his back, so the uniforms were redesigned to be more comfortable.
In Star Trek: The Original Series, there was a union requirement for each uniform to be cleaned daily, which meant that the Starfleet insignia had to be removed and returned when production was ready to start again.
It is due to this rule that Captain Kirk and his evil double were sometimes seen without their insignia in “The Enemy Within”, as the crew forgot to return them once the uniforms were brought back from cleaning.
Data Cannot Use Contractions (Except When He Can)
Data has a unique speech pattern due to an oversight in his programming that he was unable to fix. When Data is talking, he cannot use verbal contractions to shorten his words.
This problem is unique to Data, as both his brother (Lore) and his daughter (Lal) were able to use contractions in their speech.
It took a while for Brent Spiner to become used to Data’s unique speech pattern, as he frequently flubbed his lines and used contractions throughout the early episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
These mistakes were missed by the producers and made their way into the show, as no one at Paramount was going to fund expensive reshoots just so Brent Spiner could say “I will go there” instead of “I’ll go there.”
Khan Must Have Stolen New Zealand
It’s a sad state of affairs when map makers forget to add your country to the world. This is a common occurrence for New Zealand, as it is often left off images of the globe.
That’s right, the land of the Hobbits isn’t deemed to be important enough to include on many maps of the world.
It seems that map makers are content to just draw Australia and call it a day.
The people responsible for the special effects in Star Trek: First Contact was also guilty of forgetting New Zealand, as they left it off the image of the globe that we see when Captain Picard opens the airlock for Lily.
The special effects crew forgot to add an entire island nation to their picture of Earth.
Are there any other mistakes in Star Trek that you noticed? Sound off in the comments!
