Best crime TV plot holes of all time

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Murder on the Orient Express picture

Episode #1.2 - S1-E2

Plot hole: Contrary to any other version (including the novel), here the mastermind behind the murder realises in timely fashion that burning the letter was a mistake, it was not actually part of the plan. With this change, they'd have still all the time in the world to go back to the compartment and get the burnt remains, but they simply do not.

Sammo

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City on a Hill picture

Is the Total Black, Being Spoken - S2-E3

Plot hole: Jimmy was willing to give Cathy $10k in cash for her troubles and to help her out. She wanted to sell drugs instead of getting his charity. Now he's having a problem fronting her the same amount of money worth of drugs. He's saying his dealer will hurt him if he doesn't pay him back. Makes no sense how he had $10k to give her and now he needs her to pay back the $10k front of product he gave her. What happened to his $10k worth of charity? Why can't he use that to pay it off? (00:42:04 - 00:43:25)

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Vega$ picture

The Lido Girls - S2-E16

Plot hole: Michelle and the girls are winning at Baccarat every time due to a system where they know the cards in advance by seeing through them. However, all betting in that game is done before cards start coming out of the dealer's card chute onto the table. So even with their cheating system, they realistically couldn't always win, as the cards are not already face down on the table.

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Bosch picture

The Four Last Things - S3-E2

Plot hole: A major plot device is Harry's fingerprints on a whisky glass at the murder scene. We see the glass being taken after he drinks from it at a bar. Why are there only his prints on it and not the bar staffs'? And why does no-one wonder why the victims prints aren't on it as well? If they think it is an attempt to frame him, why do they not even check if it matches any other glasses in the apartment or is an odd one out?

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Mission: Impossible picture

Holograms - S1-E3

Plot hole: The mysterious neurosurgeon Dr. Quinn was mentioned by the fake Myles Taggart under the pretence that his presence was announced by the local newspaper. It turns out that his invitation by the university was a lie - presumably no newspaper story existed at all then, or the university would have acted on that. Taggart is exposed as a fraud, Quinn's link to him is so direct that he was even the one who invited him (instead of goading the Colonel into inviting him like it was his own idea) and yet the Colonel continues to trust Quinn blindly - he even has the whole night and day to think about this simple fact, nothing was decided on the spur of the moment.

Sammo

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Baywatch Nights picture

Just a Gigolo - S1-E5

Plot hole: Garner is absolutely rubbish at playing basketball in this episode. The problem with this is that in an episode of Baywatch ("Lifeguards Can't Jump") - which happens in the same universe - his character is shown as being a very skilled basketball player.

swordfish

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Signora Volpe picture

A Deadly Net - S2-E2

Plot hole: S2E2 A Deadly Net Midway through the episode, Sylvia and others in the cast bid people goodnight, offer after-dinner drinks, but the sun is shining brightly and continues to do so for quite a period of time as events continue to unfold.

bnemirow

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Troppo picture

Woman in the White Hat - S2-E4

Plot hole: Ronnie and her daughter, and son-in-law spot a pick-up truck towing a large trailer through her plantation. Ronnie runs to her truck to investigate. When she arrives, which could only be a few minutes behind the truck and trailer, there are technicians well into the process of mixing chemicals.

bnemirow

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Matlock picture

Friends - S1-E9

Plot hole: Erv saw the sonogram pictures in the stolen truck. The mistake is that the truck was stolen at the time the sonogram was being taken.

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High Potential picture

Partners - S1-E12

Plot hole: The poison is in the dog collar. Anson gets the poison from touching the collar. Why didn't the dog get any poison from the collar?

Leicaman

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

Suggested correction: The poison cannot penetrate the skin as dogs don't have sweat glands on their bodies (except on the paws).

Andy Benham

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Dexter: Original Sin picture

Show generally

Plot hole: This series depicts Dexter and Harry working together at Miami Metro. However, the original series established that Harry died before Dexter ever started working at Miami Metro.

Phaneron

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MobLand picture

Antwerp Blues - S1-E6

Plot hole: Harry is sent to Amsterdam to find and safely return Brandan and Seraphina, who are engaged in an illegal diamond transaction. Maeve tells Ritchie Stevenson the hotel in Amsterdam where they are staying. However, Brandan and Seraphina have left to head to a secret rendezvous, which Harry finds out about with considerable effort. But Ritchie's henchmen show up to ambush the Harrigans. Neither Ritchie nor anyone on his team could have possibly known of this location.

bnemirow

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