The five aft consoles were originally intended for use only when specific 
story points required them, or in crisis and alert situations. In fact, during 
ÒEncounter at FarpointÓ (TNG), these consoles were almost totally inactive 
for most of the episode. After that first episode was completed, it was 
realized that blank consoles looked pretty uninteresting, so a decision was 
made to allow them to remain active (lit-up). At the same time, blinking lights 
and display screens were added to these stations.