Best crime TV deliberate mistakes of all time

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Hawaii Five-0 picture

Pilot - S1-E1

Deliberate mistake: The police car Steve & Danny are driving on the bridge as they approach the freighter has 467 on the roof, which then becomes flipped & backwards a few shots later as they take a sharp right, only to become 467 again (as Danny has conversation with Rachel). (00:38:10 - 00:39:05)

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CSI: Miami picture

Bunk - S1-E13

Deliberate mistake: In the episode "Bunk," a man goes in the house looking for his cat. When the cat releases the fumes, it jumps down, but when the man dies, the cat is nowhere to be found. The cat is not mentioned ever again in the episode either.

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Mr. Robot picture

406 Not Acceptable - S4-E6

Deliberate mistake: Elliot threatens Olivia about her testing positive for Oxycontin because she drank a peppermint mocha he brought her. If she tests positive she loses custody of her child. The thing with Oxy is that it's in one's system for a maximum of 4 days. Could be even less if only a small amount was taken and somebody exercises and drinks lots of water. Somebody could also eat poppyseeds and that would give a false positive. She could say she ate a poppyseed bagel. (00:14:00 - 00:16:00)

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JAG (1995)

JAG picture

We the People - S2-E1

Deliberate mistake: Because the series changed networks after the end of season one, this episode completely ignores that season's cliffhanger about Harm being arrested as a suspect in the murder of Lt. Schonke.

Cubs Fan

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Prison Break picture Video

The Art of the Deal - S3-E13

Deliberate mistake: *SPOILER ALERT* Behind T-Bag is the actor who plays Lechero, and Lechero had just died in the episode. The person was not Lechero, but maybe they didn't have another extra at hand to replace him. 'Time 1' and 'Time 2' are taken from Netflix at the time this was posted. (00:29:46 - 00:30:25)

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Forever Knight picture

Fever - S3-E13

Deliberate mistake: At the end, a line apparently cut earlier creates slight confusion. Nick says to Nat, "When LaCroix asked you why?" (why save vampires). In the earlier scene as shown, the elusive LaCroix spoke only briefly to Nat in the lab, and never asked her that question. (00:42:20)

Jean G

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Adam-12 picture

Log 1: The Impossible Mission - S1-E1

Deliberate mistake: Halfway through the episode, they are chasing car thieves in a drainage channel. The thief's car comes to the end of the road and crashes into a deeper gully. You can see that the windshield has been taken out of the car, although it was previously there. They cut away and when they come back, parts of the windshield are back in the car, but the whole center is missing.

terry s

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Agatha Christie's Poirot picture

Triangle at Rhodes - S1-E6

Deliberate mistake: The day of his scheduled departure, Poirot overhears conversations (mainly the one from the window of his room) he couldn't possibly be hearing given the long distance outdoors and the tone of voice. His reactions are shown as if he could hear and not simply see and infer the meaning. (00:23:00)

Sammo

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Sons of Anarchy picture

Crucifixed - S5-E10

Deliberate mistake: When Tara is talking to Gemma in the parking lot of Stockton Prison, the chrome bumper of Tara's SUV is blurred out, probably to cover up visible crew and equipment. It looks unnatural, since the image is sharp enough that you can see the radiator itself behind the grille, and the numberplate is perfectly sharp.

Friso94

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Law & Order: UK picture

Show generally

Deliberate mistake: Because the opening narration was adapted from the original American series, the phrase describing the role of the Crown Prosecutors (e.g. "prosecutors who prosecute") is redundant.

Cubs Fan

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Sharp Objects picture

Ripe - S1-E4

Deliberate mistake: As Chief Vickery, in present time, patrols Wind Gap in his car he passes by the barbershop. From his POV, through the car window, we see four men sitting outside. The same men were also seen in Episode 01, but from young Camille's POV as she and her sister pass by the barbershop in 1992. The show hid a load of easter eggs and signs throughout all episodes. They would hardly make such a mistake. More likely, the repeat was to underline Vickery's backward, stepfordian attitude.

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The Following picture

The Poet's Fire - S1-E3

Deliberate mistake: Rick is talking to Joe in a maximum security facility through glass without a phone. It is impossible to hear through such glass. One would literally have to scream and still it would be difficult to hear. They should be on a two-way phone and those conversations are at times recorded, especially with high profile prisoners like murderers, mafiosi, terrorists. There's no way they would get away about discussing murder and revenge without an intercept. (00:14:00 - 00:15:00)

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Black Spot picture

In Another Life - S2-E3

Deliberate mistake: The police force in the town is the Gendarmerie, the standard issued firearm is the Sig Sauer P2022 in 9mm. The police officers on this show carry a Beretta and not the 9x19mm one which is the model 92fs, they carry a never issued Beretta 84 chambered in .32 acp or 9mm short. Plus they use some weird holster where the gun arches out and hangs low like a cowboy holster and dangles around. Easy for a suspect to gain control of the officers gun and this happened in this episode.

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Hustle picture

Cops and Robbers - S1-E4

Deliberate mistake: When Sam first meets Mickey (who is posing as a bank robber), Mickey says he needs Sam to state that he needs Mickey's help in robbing a bank, so if Sam turns out to be an undercover cop, Mickey can plead entrapment. This is a classic error. Entrapment only exists where a cop actively persuades a criminal to do something he otherwise wouldn't have done - which is not the case here. If Mickey as a con artist knows this (which is likely), it's a deliberate mistake, otherwise it's a factual error. (00:30:09)

swordfish

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Leverage picture

The Stork Job - S1-E6

Deliberate mistake: When filming the fake movie with Sophie playing the nun, many holes are made in the door, but when she slowly kneels to the ground, there isn't a hole behind her, so it seems like she's been miraculously saved. But as the scene continues, the nun starts to bleed and dies. Technically, they couldn't safely put a squib that close to her. (00:21:15)

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