Best crime TV continuity mistakes of all time

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Prison Break picture

Ogygia - S5-E1

Continuity mistake: On the tombstone in the previous episode, Michael's date of death is 11.4.2005. But in this episode, when Linc goes to the graveyard to visit Michael's grave, his date of death is 11.4.2010. It is also a different grave from the original, as the original was in South America beside the beach, and here we are led to believe it is in New York. (00:50:50)

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Monk picture

Mr. Monk and the End - Part I - S8-E15

Continuity mistake: In 3-7 "Employee of the Month", Joe Christie says he was with Monk when he got the news of Trudy's death. He said Monk had been laughing, and that he never heard him laugh again. In this episode Monk and Stottlemeyer get called to the scene of a crime, a women's clinic. In this episode there is a flashback to the exact same location years earlier and to Stottlemeyer getting the phone call about Trudy's death. He and Monk were working a case that day and Joe Christie was not present.

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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit picture

Wrath - S3-E2

Continuity mistake: Benson visits Stabler at his home to confronts him about the FBI detail he has ordered to protect her. They talk outside and then Benson is seen walking away. The next shot shows a side shot of Benson approaching him again in silence but mouthing words to him. (00:49:00)

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CHiPs picture

Surf's Up - S1-E15

Continuity mistake: The scene is shot in a traffic jam on the freeway. The sky has a gray overcast. All close up shots of the irate female driver were filmed in a studio - the background is flat and is a vivid blue. (00:04:00)

jairodrigue

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The Blacklist picture

The Harem (No. 102) - S4-E11

Continuity mistake: Right at the beginning of the episode a Cadillac Escalade gets stolen. The car is the newest model. The chase begins and the car is a new model right up to a scene when they crash into some other cars. That part was filmed with older model Cadillac. The damage is quite severe, but the chase continues again with the new model that has only one bit of damage - a mirror that has come apart.

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Dexter picture

Dirty Harry - S4-E5

Continuity mistake: When Dexter listens to Officer Lundy's tape recording, we hear Lundy say that the Trinity killer's weight is 190 to 200 pounds. When we saw him recording that, he said 200 to 220 pounds.

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Foyle's War picture

Enemy Fire - S3-E2

Continuity mistake: In episode 2-4 "The Funk Hole " which takes place in the fall of 1940, Andrew states to Sam that his mother died when he was eight years old. In this episode (Feb to June 1941), Foyle is looking at his wife's grave; it shows his mother died in 1932, which would have meant Andrew was born in 1924, and only 16 in 1940, far too young to be a Spitfire pilot. Also, his commanding officer states "the younger pilots look up to you, Andrew", before one of the "younger" pilots (age 19) is badly burned in a crash in Andrew's plane.

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Sherlock picture Sherlock mistake picture

The Blind Banker - S1-E2

Continuity mistake: When Sherlock is backstage at the circus and finds the yellow spray paint, he draws a line on the mirror. In the next shot, the line he drew is completely different (and in fact is more of a squiggle). (01:07:40)

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White Collar picture

Home Invasion - S1-E11

Continuity mistake: In the scene explaining the history of the missing jade elephants, they are described as being given to ambassadors by the emperor Zhu Di of China when the Forbidden City (in China) was first opened to foreigners in 1421. When the elephants are all brought together, the representative Daichi Yoshida from the Japanese embassy comes to pick them up, describing them as "a priceless piece of our history."

Rachel Weldon

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And Then There Were None picture

Episode #1.3 - S1-E3

Continuity mistake: Vera fires the gun several times, and later tells Justice Wargrave that the gun is empty, meaning that all the cartridges in it would be spent. When the judge loads his one bullet into the chamber, he does so in a gun where all five cartridge svisible are unspent.

Twotall

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Bones picture

The Parts in the Sum of the Whole - S5-E16

Continuity mistake: In this episode, Booth and Bones are telling Sweets about their "real first case" together - the case where they actually met for the first time. During this episode, Booth, Bones, and Angela take some evidence to Caroline, and Booth introduces them both (most importantly Brennan) to Caroline. However, in season 1, episode 19, "The Man in the Morgue", (which would have taken place after this initial first meeting) when Brennan is accused of murder in New Orleans, Booth has Caroline fly to NOLA to be Brennan's lawyer, and he introduces the two of them. If they had already been introduced during the first case Booth and Brennan worked on together, they would not have needed to be introduced here; they would have already known one another.

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Haven picture

301 - S3-E1

Continuity mistake: Duke is wearing an extra shirt, and his hair is longer then it was, despite continuing the scene from the end of season 2.

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Sons of Anarchy picture

To Thine Own Self - S5-E11

Continuity mistake: When Jax and his crew meet up with a Hispanic gang to sell them guns and are outnumbered, they run in the station wagon. The run the station wagon through a gate and roll it, destroying the front end, but magically the station wagon's front end appears with little damage afterwards. (00:27:15)

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The Sopranos picture

Knight in White Satin Armor - S2-E12

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Janice is trying on her wedding gown with Carmela, her tattoo is gone. However, in all the other shots, her tattoo is above her cleavage line, between her boobs. It's nowhere to be seen in the wedding dress shots.

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

Suggested correction: Actually, her tattoo is visible. The style of the wedding dress she had on was obviously chosen for the way that it NEARLY covered up the tattoo. It is easily seen if your eyes are not glued to her cleavage near the 19 minute mark.

Sorry. There is no way her tattoo is covered up. I looked at the prior engagement party scene and jumped to the wedding dress, this is an error. There is no covering it up.

The tattoo is there and it is definitely covered up. Look at her right boob, not left, since we are seeing a reflection of her in the mirror, and you'll find that tattoo all right.

Suggested correction: Actually there is more than one shot where you can't see the tattoo at all. It depends on the angle. In most shots the top of the tattoo is always visible and in others it's not at all.

Amy Emerick Tice

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Criminal Minds picture

Mirror Image - S12-E7

Continuity mistake: In the episode the team is discussing the unsub. He was a man who believed he was Tara's brother. They do not know his name yet. JJ says "He must have put Gabriel's whole life inside of Desmond". Only later does Garcia find out the unsub's name is Desmond Holt. (00:15:22 - 00:18:20)

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Castle picture

For Better or Worse - S6-E23

Continuity mistake: At the end of the episode, the Mercedes S class that is burning is not the same car that Castle drove previously in the episode, it's an older model one. Either it's a mistake or has to do something with the plot resolution, decide yourselves...

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Numb3rs picture

Prime Suspect - S1-E5

Continuity mistake: When Charlie Epps is writing a quadrillion on the whiteboard, the writing alternates between shots. Most noticably when he first writes it down, there is a significant downward tendency of the 000 groups. In the next shot, they are pretty much horizontal. Also the shapes of the commas alter.

Ronnie Bischof

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