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.
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)
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.
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 ★