Headscratchers / Star Trek: The Next Generation S3E18 "Allegiance"

• Where do they poop?
  • There was a door to a lavatory Behind the Black. It was not worth mentioning because it did not help them escape or resolve the interpersonal tension.
    • But we can see the whole room. There is no black. And one would think that the subject of a second room with additional facilities would have been a factor in their analysis of their captors and their escape attempts.
    • While it's probably better not to think about these things a couple of suggestions do arise, all of which presume that the abductors probably weren't that concerned with their captives' privacy. One is that that, though there wouldn't be a lot of room for this, there may be some lavatorial facility built into the beds (basically a futuristic bedpan, or even a non-futuristic one). Another is that a hole may open in the floor (it certainly wouldn’t be beyond 24th century technology to build such a thing so it could be closed up without an obvious seam). The third is that some sort of "seat" may slide out of the bottom part of that food dispenser whereupon one can sit and do what one must, with the waste then being taken inside the dispenser and disposed of. The final one is that things may work zoo-style with them using the floor and their abductors then cleaning it up (presumably beaming away the waste). Basically, there are a lot of ways things could work. However, none of them are either pleasant or plot relevant.
  • Perhaps whatever the disk-shaped food is, it provides precisely the nutrients necessary so there's no waste left over.
• Doppelganger Picard orders a round of ale for everyone in Ten-Forward, which inspires appreciative applause. But in a moneyless society where all of the crew's food and beverages are free, ordering a round for everyone wouldn't be considered generous. One would think that it would actually be rather rude, since it creates unnecessary work for the waiters and imposes on those who would rather drink something else from the limitless free options already at their disposal.
  • First, I will say I don’t think it was the ale which inspired the appreciative applause. The ale only inspired general murmurs of appreciation. It was only once Picard proposed a toast to “the finest crew in Starfleet” that people applauded. Second, I’d think that people might appreciate a drink from the Captain purely because it was a drink from the Captain which was a nice gesture even if on contemplation it might be a bit inconvenient. Third, even in a moneyless society, it's probable there's still some form of scarcity. In particular, not all drinks are replicated which would mean people there'd have to be a restriction on how many of the non-replicated drinks people can order. Assuming the ales fall into that category, the Captain giving a free non-replicated ale to everyone would be considered a generous act.
    • Since we see people show up to birthday parties and such with replicated cake and presents, clearly there's still a tradition of giving gifts, including food (and therefore why not drink), and receiving them as kind gestures despite their not costing anything. After all, when someone buys a round for everyone in the real world, you react to the thoughtfulness of the gesture, not to the convenience of saving a few bucks.