Best TV mistakes of 2023

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The Ark picture

Hoping for Forever - S1-E10

Factual error: Trust called Proxima B an "eyeball" planet, meaning according to him a planet that does not spin on its own axis and always has one side facing the sun. That is incorrect. If only one side faces the sun it means the rotation on its axis and its revolution around the sun are the same.Otherwise, the planet would seasonally have all of its surface facing the sun once every solar year.

toroscan

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True Lies picture

Independent Dependents - S1-E7

Plot hole: When Helen goes into the air ducts, she simply removes the grates. They would not be loose like that, they would be firmly attached. When the team enters the basement they go through an ordinary door by picking an ordinary lock. A very high security installation like Axe Industries would not have such an insecure entry, even into the basement.

Leicaman

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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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The Last of Us picture The Last of Us mistake picture

Kin - S1-E6

Visible crew/equipment: When Joel and Ellie cross the bridge, you can see crew on the left, in the overhead long shot. This show is an HBO Original, and the mistake has been edited out in the current streaming version. (00:14:35)

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Secret Invasion picture

Season 1 generally

Plot hole: The Skrull base is inside an abandoned nuclear power plant with enough radioactivity to force any human (like, say, Nick Fury) to constantly pop iodine pills to fight the symptoms of a poisoning that would kill them in less than half an hour. Despite that, Skrulls also detain prisoners, for years in some cases, in rudimentary shackles without any sort of shield or protection against the radiation.

Sammo

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Iodine pills don't fight the symptoms of radiation poisoning; they prevent the body from absorbing radioactive iodine. It does not protect from exposure to radiation; it won't save you from it. Secondly, it's all an act by Gi'Ah posing as Fury anyway. Thirdly, they are in the reactor control room where Gravik says the radiation is higher. The prisoners are in a low radiation room, which could be extra shielded from radiation. It could also be that the prisoners are fed iodine to block radioactive iodine.

lionhead

We can make up if we want that there's a special, super-secret anti-radiation serum and/or super-effective shielding, helping humans even during an exposure that lasts years (a decade in the case of Rhodey!), but there has to be something in the actual visuals that remotely hints at it. It's hard to headcanon that the dingy area of the plant where they are racked together, strapped to bed nets behind tarps, can be "low radiation", or that they are given anything to counter it. In particular, in the ending, the rescued people leisurely walk around the plant with zero radiation protection, even casually in the open yard where "Fury's" Geiger counter was going mad earlier. And the radiation was not something induced by the Skrulls that just ended when the baddie died. Not only is there no techno-babble justification (one could argue it's simply a pedantic detail not unlike the lack of hair growth or muscle atrophy), there's a direct flagrant contradiction in how the environment of the location - which is the only reason why they picked that site as a base - is deadly to humans only to a dramatic degree only when it's convenient.

Sammo

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The Night Agent picture

The Devil We Know - S1-E9

Factual error: There are two Marines posted at Marine 1, the Presidential helicopter. Their pants are ridiculously long and not the image of Marines with well-fitted uniforms. Their position of attention is wrong, with the hands clenched and placed on their thighs as opposed to being fixed at the sides. Worse, when they saluted with their right hands were above the service cap brim, instead of the fingertips touching the bottom of the brim.

toroscan

More The Night Agent mistakes
Drops of God picture

Duel - S1-E3

Character mistake: Issei meets with a journalist to tell her that he has decided to end his participation in the contest to win the estate. She hands him her business card, which he immediately puts in his pocket. This completely violates the Japanese traditional business card ritual, which includes looking carefully at the card (a sign of respect).

bnemirow

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Dead Ringers picture

Show generally

Deliberate mistake: Identical twins Beverly and Elliot have the exact same beauty mark on their faces, roughly on the smile line directly across from the right nostril. Identical twins don't share features like that.

Phaneron

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The Playboy Murders picture

Moth to a Flame - S1-E3

Other mistake: The police are watching a bus traveling between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. As part of the surveillance, they show a policeman in a car taking pictures. The lens cap is still on.

toroscan

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X-Men '97 picture

To Me, My X-Men - S1-E1

Deliberate mistake: When the news program is discussing Gyrich's assassination attempt on Xavier from the series finale of the original animated series, he's shown to have his classic look of auburn hair and sunglasses. However, when this scene occurred, Gyrich had black hair and was not wearing sunglasses. This was done deliberately to match the character design of the original series prior to the final 6 episodes, when Saban took over and redesigned much of the show's look.

Phaneron

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The Catch picture

Show generally

Factual error: The Royal Navy sailors are shown with just 'HMS' on their cap tallies. This was only seen in the Second World War for security reasons. In peacetime, the tally bears the name of the ship or shore establishment to which the rating is assigned.

Necrothesp

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Monarch: Legacy of Monsters picture

Beyond Logic - S1-E10

Factual error: Season 1, Episode 10: Lee is trying to get out of the underworld on his capsule with the rescued others. They all get in, and he closes the top hatch by turning the hatch wheel clockwise. Trying to take off, a wire becomes disconnected outside, and Lee has to go out again. He turns the hatch wheel clockwise, and this time it opens instead of closing. If it was clockwise for close, it should be counterclockwise to open.

toroscan

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Extraordinary picture

The Void - S2-E1

Continuity mistake: As Jizzlord says, "so really, this is a good thing", he's holding the posters upright, facing Jen. Cut to a shot from the side and he's holding them horizontally, facing upwards.

Jon Sandys

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A Small Light picture

Show generally

Factual error: Karl Silberbauer, who headed the raid on the secret annexe, wears the insignia of an SS-Sturmbannführer (major). He was actually an SS-Hauptscharführer (senior sergeant). His superior is addressed in German as "Herr Major" (not an SS rank and not how an SS officer would be addressed), but wears the insignia of an SS-Standartenführer (colonel).

Necrothesp

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Beef picture

Such Inward Secret Creatures - S1-E5

Audio problem: After Paul and Amy make love, Paul puts his pants back on and stands back up. He says, "What?" There is a strangely timed "what" right after that. It's an exact replica of the first one. There is an audio overlap from the other angle here.

manthabeat

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Class of '09 picture

Thank You for Not Driving - S1-E3

Other mistake: The scene in which Tayo's wife gets into her car to leave their home is filled with mistakes. First off, it seems to take her much too long for the short driveway to reach the curb. Then, when she is blocked by the perp's van, she rams one of the perps twice and then backs away. As she is backing away, the perp's body flies forward, smashing into the van. She then rams the van twice with great force, and yet her car has minimal damage, only to the corner of the car.

bnemirow

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