Best crime TV plot holes of all time

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Leverage picture

The Hot Potato Job - S4-E5

Plot hole: Parker gains access to the external room using a valid security card, they figure out the CEO's passcode which opens the burn room door...and yet the room inside is still protected by a swarm of lasers. Was the CEO supposed to dance through the laser sensors like Parker does every time he goes in?

Jon Sandys

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FBI (2018)

FBI picture

Outsider - S2-E6

Plot hole: The FBI is looking for a "very tall" guy who has been identified as such by various witnesses and by their own expert due to the entry angle of a fatal bullet wound - 6'5" at least. They send Elena into a bar near the end of the show to meet the Albanian perp who when he arrives is barely average height.

bnemirow

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Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries picture

Raisins and Almonds - S1-E5

Plot hole: It turns out in the climax of the episode that there are no bullets left in the gun and Miss Fisher knew it. That would mean then that she deliberately wasted minutes with Simon bleeding out on the floor when Chaim was holding them at gunpoint with an empty revolver, for no discernible purpose.

Sammo

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Hawaii Five-O picture

Season 8 generally

Plot hole: 8-22 "Love Thy Neighbor, Take His Wife": The police cars speed to Tanaka's house with their sirens screaming, warning him in plenty of time to allow him to escape. Apparently these guys never heard of the law-enforcement standard "silent approach."

Jean G

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CSI: NY picture

The Fall - S1-E17

Plot hole: The CSIs catch a murder suspect putting down a drink can when reviewing security footage of a robbery, and immediately realise they didn't see it at the scene so assume one of the first cops on the scene must have removed it. Thing is though, the murderers shot out the security camera before the actual shooting occurred, meaning there was loads of time off-camera for the killers to take the can with them, but the CSIs never even consider this - they jump to the conclusion a cop took it even though there's no actual evidence for that.

Jon Sandys

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Forever Knight picture

Father Figure - S1-E14

Plot hole: When the two henchmen who break into Nick's loft to kill Lisa are captured, the case is closed. But the two thugs were reporting back to a boss who wasn't caught, and who surely would have sent more hitmen after Lisa. So the case shouldn't have been closed.

Jean G

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Luke Cage picture

Take It Personal - S1-E10

Plot hole: They only take out the shrapnel from the gut shot - they never deal with the shrapnel in his shoulder at all. (00:04:25 - 00:05:00)

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Sons of Anarchy picture

The Revelator - S1-E13

Plot hole: When the guys break into the safe house and free the witness against Bobby, they are wearing masks to hide their identities. Yet after freeing the witness, Jax and Tig decide to get involved in a fist fight inside the house which would leave their DNA all over the place. Since both are undoubtedly on the police database, it would take no time at all for the police to find at least two of the culprits who assaulted two officers, an ATF agent and intimidated their star witness.

The_Iceman

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Las Vegas picture

Shrink Rap - S5-E2

Plot hole: The man plays his last nickel and wins the jackpot. You have to play the maximum number of coins to hit the huge jackpot which on that machine states is 5 coins.

Boobra

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Remington Steele picture

Thou Shalt Not Steele - S1-E5

Plot hole: Laura successfully knocks out both bad guys, steals their van and crashes through the warehouse doors. The van doesn't stall, but inexplicably, she stops it, gets out and runs away on foot, even though the baddies are coming to and coming after her. Not the option you'd expect a kidnap victim to choose: most people would floor it and keep on driving. (00:23:40)

Jean G

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Rosemary & Thyme picture

Orpheus in the Undergrowth - S2-E2

Plot hole: When Jeremy stopped to drink his water, which turned out to be vodka and which killed him via a heart attack, why did he hide himself away, surrounded by plants and only found by his mobile ringing? And why would he put the lid back on the bottle in the throes of a heart attack?

kh1616

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CSI: Miami picture

High Octane - S5-E7

Plot hole: When Dex is doing the jack in the box ,he is hanging out the sun roof driving with his feet, using the cruise control. When he is decapitated, the body falls and the car spins out and stops. The car's cruise control was still on. The car should have kept going until the brake was pressed. Even if the body hit the brake on the way down, it would have coasted to a stop and not spun out and screeched to a stop.

Boobra

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NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service picture

Truth or Consequences - S7-E1

Plot hole: Near the end of the episode when Tony, Ziva and McGee are fleeing from the building where they were held captive, Gibbs appears out of nowhere to save their lives. But just moments before, Gibbs was more than a mile away, acting as a sniper.

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Death in Paradise picture

Episode #4.8 - S4-E8

Plot hole: For things to go the way Goodman describes them, Dwayne and JP must have not heard in the deserted courtroom building the noise of the glass of the fire alarm button being shattered in the corridor just outside their position. It's an impossibility. (00:18:00)

Sammo

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Unforgotten picture

Season 1 generally

Plot hole: The car was tracked down by finding the original car key on Jimmy's body. If he had stolen the car from the original owner, how did he come to have the original car key?

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Knight Rider picture

Season 1 generally

Plot hole: KITT was able to disable or scramble gears and locks. But whenever he is on a car lift he becomes "helpless." Unable to gain access to the controls to lower him.

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Lie to Me picture

Pilot - S1-E1

Plot hole: The pictures James took were developed from his camera into photos even though he was arrested while taking those. How did they get developed? James' father didn't approve and his mother said she had found that stack of photos after the police searched his room. (00:26:30 - 00:30:00)

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Criminal Minds picture

The Inspired - S9-E2

Plot hole: At the beginning of the episode, PD let the suspect go (twin 1) because they accidentally arrested him for the crimes that his twin brother (twin 2) committed. Hotchner still wants to question twin 1, but a lawyer threatens Hotchner to not go near the wrongfully accused twin 1. However, in the previous episode, FBI and cops pursued twin 1 and twin 1 didn't pull over. It would be legal for twin 1 to be detained on a reckless driving or eluding the police charge.

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