Best mystery TV mistakes of all time

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Waking the Dead picture

End Game (1) - S8-E7

Revealing mistake: Boyd has a video-conversation with Linda on the phone she sent him. On top of the screen you can see how long the video will last (1 minute and 3 seconds), showing it's a pre-recorded video, not an actual live conversation.

littlestar

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The Sixth Sense picture

With This Ring, I Thee Kill! - S1-E7

Factual error: Rhodes views the silent movie and the film breaks, leaving the last frame frozen on the screen. Wouldn't happen. When 16mm film broke in 1970s projectors, any portion that jammed in the mechanism was exposed to intense heat from the projection lamp, and would burn. (00:35:30)

Jean G

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Knight Rider picture

A Knight In Shining Armor - S1-E1

Continuity mistake: When Kitt's on fire, before getting back to the HQ, we see a shot of the main HQ screen, and towards the bottom left is a screen with a picture of Kitt and green writing reading "Fire extinguished".

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Scream Queens picture

Blood Drive - S2-E6

Character mistake: Zayday makes incorrect statements about blood types. She mentions that, since Chanel #5 is type O-, her parents must also be O-; in actuality, they could each be type A or B (genotypes AO or BO, respectively) and could also have Rh+ blood as long as they also carry the recessive Rh- allele. Zayday also says that the child of two O+ parents must be O+, but actually the child could also be O- (again, if the parents carry the Rh- allele).

DavidK93

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The Event picture

Face Off - S1-E15

Revealing mistake: Episode 15, "Faceoff": When the agent fires the hook to get to the roof of the church, it does not reach the balcony. However in a following shot you can see the agent climbing there. (00:10:05)

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Covert Affairs picture Covert Affairs mistake picture

Pilot - S1-E1

Continuity mistake: In the morning, Annie comes into the kitchen and says hi to her niece and nephew. Her jacket is alternately buttoned or unbuttoned. (00:39:30)

ployp

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Major Crimes picture

By Any Means: Part 4 - S6-E13

Continuity mistake: When Buzz and Provenza race out of the squad room to follow Rusty in the frantic search for Stroh, Buzz is in shirt sleeves with no tie. However when they arrive at their destination Buzz is wearing a coat and tie.

bnemirow

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Broadchurch picture

Episode #1.4 - S1-E4

Revealing mistake: The tabloid story with the plight of the Latimers just came out, and various characters are looking at it. In the bit when David Tennant tosses on the desk his copy of the Herald, the second paragraph of the second column goes "Sitting in the family home, surrounded by pictures and mementos of Danny" etc. It is the same text that was at the very beginning of the article when the store owner was looking at it. The newspaper is a prop with the same text in a loop. (00:35:00 - 00:36:30)

Sammo

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MythBusters picture

Coffin Punch - S6-E19

Continuity mistake: Jamie and Adam are shooting at Police badges to see which one would potentially stop a bullet. When they get to the third badge, it is held up to the camera. It says 'Jamie Hyneman' on the badge. The badge is then shot, and shown again to the camera. This time the engraved writing on the badge has changed to 'Adam Savage'.

Mr Manchester

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In the Heat of the Night picture

A Matter of Justice - S8-E1

Factual error: About 45 minutes into the episode, the girls' car stalls because the alternator's wire has been removed to cause this. For a car to stall like this, the battery has to be heavily drained which it would wind up being. When the killer comes up to the car, he tells her to try and start the car. She does and it turns over but doesn't start. The battery would never have enough amperage to turn over the car if it didn't have enough to keep the motor running.

terry s

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Magic City picture

Show generally

Factual error: Noticed this watching season 2, and I assume it was also the case in season 1. The entrance of the Miramar Playa has flags from various countries flying. One of them is the Canadian flag with the maple leaf. Wrong flag. In that period the Canadian flag was the "Red Ensign", or "Dominion Flag." The maple leaf flag wasn't introduced until 1965.

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The Triangle picture

Show generally

Factual error: Haloclines are referred to throughout, and depicted occasionally as some sort of underwater tornadoes. Haloclines are in fact just salinity gradients, and look nothing like they do on the show.

Andrew Perry

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Surface picture

Episode #1.15 - S1-E15

Continuity mistake: When Miles jumps off the ferry to swim ashore, the camera view is from the ferry: he jumps into quiet, fairly level water, yet the camera recedes from him (he jumped off the back of the boat as the camera continues moving with the boat). The angle changes and we see the wake of the boat - but it's not what he jumped into.

David R Turner

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Wayward Pines picture

Time Will Tell - S2-E7

Character mistake: A shot shows Djimon Hounsou completing his year entry on a large chalk board. The entries are 20 years apart. The third entry on the second line is 2274, the next should be 2294, but instead it records 2394. The one after corrects the sequence with 2314. Considering there is an entry only every twenty years, you would think he'd be more careful. (00:20:15)

The24fretking

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The Last Thing He Told Me picture

When We Were Young - S1-E6

Revealing mistake: Hannah sits in a conference room and pulls a landline phone towards her to dial her friend, asking about the will Owen left. The phone however isn't in any way connected, hence no call could have taken place.

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