Star Trek has been a mainstay of television for over half a century. Starting with the original 1960s series through The Next Generation and Discovery timelines, Starfleet crews have traversed the galaxy. Though their goal has been to discover, they’ve also fought their way out of some serious situations.
The original Star Trek offered a single-story concept while later shows, like Deep Space Nine, maintained threads that lasted several seasons. Still, there have been moments where plots that seemed to promise more turned into nothingness.
7 After The Corbomite Maneuver (TOS) The First Federation Is Rarely Mentioned
The First Federation was established over 50,000 years ago in the Perseus Arm of the Alpha Quadrant. Though the civilization had declined since its peak, it still had space travel capabilities. When the First Federation ship (Fesarius) encountered Captain Kirk, it attempted to bluff its immense powers. In the end, the fearful sight the Enterprise crew saw was an image created by a seemingly young boy (played by Clint Howard).
In a cultural exchange to honor this first contact, Kirk relieved helmsman Lieutenant Bailey of his duty to become an ambassador to the First Federation. Nothing was heard of Bailey or the civilization after this. The only reference has been about the drink Balok offered, something called tranya. It was briefly mentioned in a first-season episode of Star Trek: Picard.
6 No One Went Back To Talk To The Iotians After A Piece Of The Action (TOS)
In The Original Series episode A Piece Of The Action, The Enterprise is assigned to visit Sigma Iotia II. A century before, the Federation ship Horizon vanished. However, it turns out its captain left a book about 1920s mobsters with the Iotians. A highly intelligent and adaptable society, the Iotians modeled their civilization to this era.
Kirk negotiates peace between the warring mob families and mentions that Federation ships will be stopping by. However, this storyline goes nowhere, even after McCoy informed Kirk that he left his communicator on the planet. With the Iotians’ ability to quickly analyze technology, there was every chance they would be a space-faring society in a short period. Yet, none of the future Star Trek incarnations looked into it.
5 What Happened To The Stolen Cloaking Device After The Enterprise Incident (TOS)?
Captain Kirk went to a lot of trouble to steal a Romulan cloaking device in the third-season episode, The Enterprise Incident. He intentionally passes through the Neutral Zone, feigns insanity, and has surgery to resemble a Romulan. Eventually, Kirk manages to steal a cloaking device.
However, cloaking technology isn’t utilized by Starfleet for the rest of Star Trek: The Original Series or in the first batch of Star Trek movies. Additionally, it isn’t implemented in ships during The Next Generation. The use of a Romulan cloaking device didn’t occur until its application in the U.S.S. Defiant.
4 Conspiracy (TNG) Is The Ultimate Example Of A Story Gone Nowhere
Conspiracy, the penultimate episode in The Next Generation’s first season, is the prime example of a storyline that went absolutely nowhere. After Captain Picard is told of a conspiracy within Starfleet, he takes the Enterprise-D to Earth. There, he realizes high-ranking members have been taken over by an alien parasite. The only way to eliminate them is to destroy its host, Commander Dexter Remmick.
At the end of Conspiracy, Data informs Picard and Riker that a signal went out to a distant quadrant of the galaxy as a homing beacon. The Next Generation ends on an ominous note. Yet, the alien parasites are never seen again. Instead, they’re replaced by the Borg as the rogue aliens in the Next Generation universe.
3 The Frozen Humans Found In The Neutral Zone (TNG) Don’t Get A Follow-Up
One episode later, in The Neutral Zone, another storyline is established that didn’t move forward. The Enterprise discovers a space capsule that contains three individuals from the 21st century. All are cryogenically frozen due to death from incurable diseases. Being the 24th century, the trio is revived and cured.
After some initial tension, they decide to explore their new timeline, and that’s it. The storyline is never revisited by TNG or any other series. In the end, this main plot of The Neutral Zone should have been the secondary plot. The reintroduction of the Romulans in The Neutral Zone and the veiled introduction to the Borg was probably better as the primary plot.
2 Not Long After Force Of Nature (TNG), Warp Limits Vanish Without Explanation
Even space requires a reduction of human footprints, which happened in the TNG episode Force Of Nature. An alien race declares that sustained warp speed has opened a rift in the fabric of space near their planet. At the end of Force Of Nature, the Federation limits ships to a speed of warp five in non-emergency situations.
Though this mandate was briefly mentioned during the rest of TNG’s seventh season, it’s completely removed in the Star Trek movies. Furthermore, the mandate isn’t discussed in shows like Deep Space Nine. By the time Final Contact premiered in the theaters, the Enterprise-E could exceed speeds of warp 9.5.
1 After Equinox (Voyager) What Happened To The Surviving Crew?
In the two-part episode Equinox, the Voyager crew encounters another Federation ship in the Delta Quadrant. However, they aren’t as well-meaning as Janeway’s personnel to get home. They harvest nucleogenic life forms to power their warp core. Eventually, the Equinox’s captain realizes what he’s done wrong and sacrifices himself and the ship to protect Voyager.
He also transports five surviving crew members to Janeway’s craft. They’re stripped of all rank and integrated into daily activities. Nothing else is learned about these individuals, or how well they do during the Voyager’s remaining time in the Delta Quadrant.
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