Best thriller TV character mistakes of all time

Please vote as you browse around to help the best rise to the top.

The X-Files picture

Drive - S6-E2

Character mistake: Scully continually addresses the senior police officer as "Captain." But he wears sergeant's stripes. As a law enforcement officer continually dealing with other law enforcement officers, Scully is not likely to make this mistake. More likely a failure to match script with costume.

Necrothesp

More The X-Files character mistakes
Twin Peaks picture

Episode Sixteen - S2-E9

Character mistake: At the Roadhouse Cooper states that the second victim (Maddy) was found dead two days ago. It has been less than 24 hours since the body was found: he likely means she was murdered two days ago.

pinkwafer

More Twin Peaks character mistakes
More The Twilight Zone character mistakes
More Digimon character mistakes
More Pretty Little Liars character mistakes
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine picture

The Way of the Warrior (2) - S4-E2

Character mistake: During the Defiant's flight to save the Cardassian officials, Worf says something to the effect of, "I've never been aboard a Federation ship equipped with a cloak before". However, he was aboard the Enterprise during the Pegasus incident, where The Ship was temporarily equipped with a cloaking device.

More Star Trek: Deep Space Nine character mistakes
More Agatha Christie's Poirot character mistakes
X-Men picture X-Men mistake picture

One Man's Worth: Part 1 - S4-E1

Character mistake: When the civilians are fleeing the coffee shop, there are two spelling errors on the coffee shop's marquee. Firstly, the name of the coffee shop is Rip Van Winkle, but on the marquee, Winkle is spelled as "Winkile." To the right of that, Coffee House is spelled as "Coffe House." (00:16:55)

Phaneron

More X-Men character mistakes
More Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan character mistakes
Bodyguard picture

Show generally

Character mistake: When the bodyguards enter elevators, they always enter last; they should be entering first to ensure it is secure. This is particularly visible in the hotel where the elevator can stop on any floor and Special Protection Branch does not have complete control of it as an express.

More Bodyguard character mistakes
Teen Titans picture

Titans Together - S5-E12

Character mistake: Another identity mistake in the finale: When Beast Boy's team is initially subdued, we see honorary Titan Hot Spot standing amongst the villains even though he is a) a hero and b) is supposed to be frozen solid at that time.

More Teen Titans character mistakes
The Man in the High Castle picture

The New World - S1-E1

Character mistake: When Juliana puts the film on the projector she loads the reel backwards.The film is supposed to drop from the front of the reel, not the back.

More The Man in the High Castle character mistakes
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

More Wayward Pines character mistakes
Mission: Impossible picture

The Bank - S2-E4

Character mistake: The 'perfect' German postcard Rollin has written is full of mistakes: 1) The 'sie' must have a capital 'S' because it's a personal pronoun; 2) The only sentence stops in the middle and makes no sense; 3) The word 'Besten' has to be written without a capital because it's not a noun; 4) In Germany the house number stands after the street name, not before; 5) The streetname makes no sense. Too many mistakes for a so-called 'perfect' card. (00:04:40)

More Mission: Impossible character mistakes
More Murder, She Wrote character mistakes
Justified picture

The Hammer - S1-E10

Character mistake: Raylan Givens tells Judge Reardon that he carries a ".45 Glock" but this is untrue. Throughout the series with the exception of the beginning of the first episode Raylan Givens carries a Glock 17, which is only chambered in 9mm parabellum. His backup can be seen to be a Glock 26 which is also in 9mm.

GunsUp0331

More Justified character mistakes
The Triangle picture

Show generally

Character mistake: Patterson - the oceanographer - at one point claims that Lithuania is land-locked. She should know better; in fact, Lithuania has a coastline of close to 100 km on the Baltic Sea.

Andrew Perry

More The Triangle character mistakes
Kolchak: The Night Stalker picture

Primal Scream - S1-E13

Character mistake: The animal control officer tells Kolchak he was crazy shooting off a flash bulb at the gorilla, but the first frontal shot Kolchak took of the gorilla did not flash at all.

Scott215

More Kolchak: The Night Stalker character mistakes
Blindspot picture

This Profound Legacy - S3-E5

Character mistake: Congressman Weitz tells the FBI task force that Kazahrus is an "absolute monarchy." Director Hirst interrupts him to state that this means "the order of succession is based solely on heredity," which she implies is well-known to students of civics. An absolute monarchy is one where the monarch's powers are unrestricted (such as by legislative or judicial branches of government). Hirst is describing a hereditary monarchy, but not all hereditary monarchies are absolute (for example, England's constitutional monarchy is hereditary), nor are all absolute monarchies hereditary (the Vatican's elective monarchy is absolute). What Hirst says is true of Kazahrus, but not of absolute monarchies, the term Weitz was defining. Weitz is presented as an expert on the topic, but doesn't correct her.

DavidK93

More Blindspot character mistakes
Burn Notice picture

End Run - S3-E3

Character mistake: Near the end, when Michael reveals to Brennen he knows everything about him, he says, "I know everything about Tyler Brennen." Michael emphasizes "Tyler" as if it's a big deal that he knows Brennen's first name. Michael already knew Brennen's first name from the first time he met him, in Season 2, Episode 15 "Sins of Omission."

More Burn Notice character mistakes

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.