Best drama 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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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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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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Lioness picture

Along Came a Spider - S2-E3

Factual error: S2 E3 Along Came a Spider - Captain Carrillo is target shooting with a hand weapon. She empties the magazine, but she catches the magazine and hands it to her ranger partner instead of letting the empty magazine fall to the ground. As a trained military officer and training with special operators, catching an empty magazine is an extremely bad habit and practice, which is a big no-no. (00:40:23)

Snag.1

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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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Silo picture

Outside - S1-E10

Other mistake: Juliette and two cohorts need to go from Level 22 down to Level 125. Using the normal circular stairs, it would take several hours if not days to get there. They enter a garbage chute and climb down using a vertical ladder on the side - a very clumsy and slow descent. Yet, they make it in what appears to be a very short time.

toroscan

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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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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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Rabbit Hole picture

Show generally

Other mistake: Agent Maddy is approaching the scene of a downtown explosion and fire. She has her FBI badge showing on her belt. As she approaches the police line she rummages in her jacket and looks down at where the badge is, but reaches into the adjacent pocket to pull out another badge in a wallet. Why not identify herself with the badge on her belt?

toroscan

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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
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