Photons and Forcefields
In my entry " The Thing About Being a Hologram . . . " I discussed some of the oversights and inconsistencies involving the nature of holodeck characters, in particular sentient holodeck characters. But a number of episodes have inconsistencies revolving around holodeck "matter" leaving the holodeck. It has been elsewhere stated the holodeck "matter" cannot do that. The Nitpicker's Guide for Next Generation Trekkers , written by Phil Farrand, is a classic work of Star Trek commentary discussing inconsistencies and bloopers from throughout the series. (In fact, I must credit Mr. Farrand for inspiring the name of this blog - he has a subheading called "Ruminations" in his discussion of certain episodes.) The problem of holographic objects leaving the holodeck is touched on throughout the book and finally summed up in his entry on the sixth season episode "Ship in a Bottle": If holodeck matter cannot exist outside the holodeck, the fo...