Continuity mistake: On the airplane, when Kate lifts the glass of juice with her handcuffed hands, in this close-up the cuff round her right wrist has the single bar facing out. However, when the turbulence hits, in another close-up of her hands, the same cuff is on the opposite way, it now has the double bar facing out. (00:31:10)
Tabula Rasa - S1-E3
Continuity mistake: When Jack removes the paper with Kate's mugshot from the marshal's jacket pocket, in the close-up of the paper there is no writing at the top center of the paper, only at the sides. However, in the previous shot the center writing is visible from behind, and is also perfectly seen when Hurley finds the paper.
Continuity mistake: When Charlie, Kate and Jack are in the nose wreckage, to find the transceiver, there is a shot in first class, facing the cockpit, showing the glass wall with the decorative circular design. When Charlie is aboard the flight, running from the stewards, he stands beside that glass wall, and the circular pattern is reversed. Neither shot is flipped.
Factual error: In the classroom where Jack argues with Roger next to the chalkboard we can see a poster of the periodic table of the elements. We can see some elements that wouldn't be there in 1977 since they weren't discovered until 1999.
Exodus (1) - S1-E23
Visible crew/equipment: As the raft sets sail with Walt, when Vincent runs into the water chasing it, Walt shouts, "Stay Vincent!" At the start of the next shot, on the right, the crew's vessel/equipment is quite visible. (00:40:45)
Revealing mistake: When Goodwin and Ana Lucia sits down to have a break and Goodwin hands over some fruit to Ana, she says "Where do you think they got it? I mean they're not even wearing shoes", directing to the knife. If you watch in the background you can see a car driving. (00:33:20)
Continuity mistake: When Jack drops to his knees, after removing the undershirt, one white shirt lies stretched out horizontally on the ground directly in front of him, with both knees centered in front of it; the other shirt is off to his right (viewer's left), with the undershirt he drops. Three shots later, still on his knees, all three shirts lie rumpled to his right; eleven shots later, the single white shirt once again lies horizontally directly in front of him, in the very same position as the earlier shot.
The Greater Good (a.k.a. Sides) - S1-E21
Visible crew/equipment: After Sayid and Essam pull into the garage, when Sayid leaves through the back of the white van and closes the door, there is a lovely clear reflection of the cameraman and camera reflected on the door. (00:34:25)
Continuity mistake: Season 3, episode 2, "The Glass Ballerina". When Jin is in the hotel and is about to kill Jae Lee, he holds a pillow to Lee's head and presses his gun against it. At first, the gun is pointing to Lee's cheekbone, but when it cuts to Lee as he is sobbing "I'm sorry. I'm sorry", the gun is much lower, and pointing to his throat. Cut back to Jin, and you can see the gun is once again pointing to Lee's face. There was no time for Jin to move it between shots, and Lee did not move nearly enough to cause this changes. (00:26:50)
Whatever the Case May Be - S1-E12
Continuity mistake: When Kate and Sawyer happen upon the lovely waterfall, Sawyer removes his shirt and he has the bandage tied round the stab wound on his upper arm. When underwater, there is a different dressing on his arm; it is snugger, with no ends - most likely an elastic type to stay put during the underwater shots. (00:02:50 - 00:04:15)
Continuity mistake: In episode 10 Sayid shoots young Ben Linus in the chest, upper left part, just above his heart. It can be seen where the bullet enters the body. In episode 11 when Jin finds the boy and roll him over, the wound and blood is on the right side while the left is clean.
Continuity mistake: When Sawyer and Sayid are fighting and Jack tries to pull Sawyer away, Sayid changes from holding onto Sawyer's shirt to holding onto his pants between the shots. (00:07:55)
Exodus (2) - S1-E24
Visible crew/equipment: After Kate throws dynamite down the hole, when Jack pulls Locke up, the green straps (for device used in the stunt) going round Locke's pant leg are clearly visible. (00:46:40)
Whatever the Case May Be - S1-E12
Continuity mistake: On the beach, when Shannon questions Boone about his and Locke's whereabouts everyday, Boone wears a sleeveless tee shirt with large Asian characters on the front. Then, when Boone kneels beside Shannon the entire design actually disappears. (00:09:35)
Tabula Rasa - S1-E3
Continuity mistake: When Kate leans over the unconscious marshal he wakes and chokes her, and when Jack subdues him the marshal's large head bandage falls off. When Jack squeezes water into the marshal's mouth, the bandages are wrapped perfectly round his head, yet when Kate stands up the bandages are off again. (00:19:30)
Continuity mistake: When Jin offers food to Claire while she is writing in her diary, we see her writing while holding the diary in her hand. When it cuts she holds the book in both hands, place it in her left hand and begin writing again. (00:23:40)
Homecoming - S1-E15
Continuity mistake: When Jack shows Locke the case with guns, the bar trim beneath the handle is whole and unbroken. However, in "Whatever the Case May Be" when Boone tries to open the case without the key, the trim beneath the handle breaks off and is damaged. (00:27:45)
White Rabbit - S1-E5
Visible crew/equipment: In the episode where the doctor tries to save the woman who is drowning, when he enters the water for the second time just as he says "there's someone else out there", you can easily see the keel water of the boat or Jet Ski that is filming him. (00:02:45)
Continuity mistake: The white tape round Charlie's fingers, that first read "fate" and later "late", drastically change their appearance - such as the size and shape of the letters, and the color and condition of the tape, in numerous consecutive shots.
Chosen answer: None of the main characters died in the plane crash. Many died on the island after the crash (Jack, Charlie, Sun, Jin, Daniel, Juliet, others), some lived on the island for an apparently long time after the crash (Hurley, Ben, Bernard, Rose) but some lived lives off the island after the crash (Sawyer, Kate, Claire, Miles, Aplert, and Lapidus). Remember that Christian tells Jack that "time has no meaning here," (in Purgatory). When everyone meets at the church, they are at the end of their lives however long that may have been and will now "move on" together. They look like they did on the island because that is the way they best remember each other.
Guy
That has to be the clearest explanation of the ending I've ever read.
Ssiscool ★