Continuity mistake: Barney is on the floor unconscious when the scene fades out for a commercial break. When we fade back in, he's still unconscious, but his head is in a different position. (00:14:40)
Continuity mistake: As Phelps listens to his assignment in the opening sequence, the distinctively different tape reels on the recorder switch positions twice. (00:02:20)
The Elixir - S3-E7
Continuity mistake: When Willie reassembles the electrical socket he puts it in with the ground on the top. Then they show Barney putting his socket together and switchback to Willie, but when the scene shows him putting in the plug it is on the bottom.
The System - S3-E15
Continuity mistake: Phelps takes the tape from the recorder's right-hand spindle. When he opens the acid vat, we can see the tape he just removed back on the recorder - but on the left spindle. The tape he then drops into the acid doesn't remotely resemble the one he pulled, and when he drops it, the recorder's left spindle, where the full tape was in the last shot and where the empty reel should be, now has nothing on it at all. (00:02:50)
Continuity mistake: When the Major checks the prison log book, the box next to 27 where the time entry should be is blank. He closes the book and holds it under his arm while conversing with a subordinate, and when he opens it again to show it to the other man, the time box has, impossibly, been filled in. (00:43:30)
Continuity mistake: During Phelps' mission briefing, the amount of tape on the left-hand reel, which should be diminishing as the assignment is read to him, increases instead. (00:01:45)
Continuity mistake: The shots of the tape recorder giving Phelps his assignment don't match. Each time the camera angle changes, the tape reels are spinning at different speeds and in opposite directions.
Visible crew/equipment: When the dignitaries' limo pulls away, its doors mirror several studio lights and reflectors. (00:34:15)
Character mistake: On Barney's counterfeit military ID, the word "sergeant" is misspelled as "sargent." (00:10:30)
Continuity mistake: Everyone in the rescue party is covered in dust and grime after crawling through the cave. But when they emerge, their white shirts are completely clean and spotless. (00:45:30)
Death Squad - S4-E24
Continuity mistake: After Jocarro douses Paris with a pitcher of water, the front of Paris' uniform is either soaking wet or entirely dry every time the angle changes from close-up to master shot. (00:33:15)
Audio problem: Throughout the episode, Alex's voice is very badly overdubbed, and his lips never quite match the spoken words.
Visible crew/equipment: When Carlos confronts Dana about the gold watch, the microphone shadow can be seen moving on the wall above him. (00:30:15)
The Hostage - S5-E13
Revealing mistake: While Robert Siomney and Jorge Cabal are watching the news, the pictures on the screen, behind the news commentator, extend past the outside of the TV set and so can be seen against the wall in the room where Siomney & Cabal are standing.
Continuity mistake: The tape recorder giving Phelps his assignment has a clear plastic lid/cover that disappears and reappears repeatedly. The amount of tape on the reels also changes several times. (00:04:10)
Continuity mistake: Channing turns off the tape recorder. But in the next shot, as he walks away, we can see the recorder's reels still turning. (00:18:00)
Continuity mistake: Because episodes were not aired in production order, both Lynda Day George (whose character is said to be on a prolonged assignment in Europe) and Greg Morris' mustache appear, disappear and re-appear throughout the seventh season.
Character mistake: Barney tells Joe Epic that a Miss Davis stayed in room 408. Later he calls her Miss Evans.
Factual error: In what is supposed to be a maximum security prison, the inmates (all of whom have stylish but non-prison-regulation haircuts) have a pool-cue brawl in a completely unsupervised rec room. Not a guard in sight.
Visible crew/equipment: The surface of Casey's shiny red van shows us the entire film crew, along with several lights and reflector panels. (00:17:00)
Answer: We don't know what would happen because the show never addressed this issue. Any answer would be speculation. This is a TV show, and the plot is structured so that only IMF team will retrieve the secret message.
raywest ★