Best crime TV stupidity of all time

Please vote as you browse around to help the best rise to the top.

FBI (2018)

FBI picture

God Complex - S5-E23

Stupidity: Maggie and OA are searching the building. As they walk up the stairs, Maggie is using the Harries technique, but she has both her handheld flashlight and the gun's flashlight on at the same time. This defeats the purpose of the technique. Additionally, it's daytime, so the building is lit up from natural light sources, but they still have their flashlights on. (00:13:36)

More FBI stupidity
The Adventures of Tintin picture

The Secret of the Unicorn: Part 2 - S1-E4

Stupidity: When the Bird brothers are searching the treasure room for Tintin, one of them claims they have found him, and points. The other brother then shoots at him which was turns out to have just been a mirror reflection. The brothers then proceed to find Tintin and start by going straight forward, completely in a different direction than the mirror. If they wanted to find Tintin, wouldn't the more logical thing to do be simply look in the direction the mirror was pointing at? The whole point of a mirror is to reflect what is in front of it, so Tintin would probably have been standing in that direction anyway. (00:37:25)

Casual Person

More The Adventures of Tintin stupidity
NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service picture

Trojan Horse - S4-E23

Stupidity: When the bad guys are discussing the plans inside a private jet, the scene finishes and there's a shot of the plane in the sky. The plane immediately veers to the right, and spins almost 90°, as fighter jets do when they turn quickly. If there were three people inside, (one of whom was in the bathroom) they would have been thrown about the cabin quite violently. (00:11:25)

yallmindifipraisegod

More NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service stupidity
Dexter picture

Goodbye Miami - S8-E10

Stupidity: After Dexter tells Hannah that the U.S. Marshals have distributed her picture everywhere, she questions how she will be able to flee Miami for Argentina. Dexter reasons he and Harrison can leave with her because the authorities won't be looking for a woman traveling with her "husband and child." It doesn't matter who she is or isn't traveling with. If the authorities have shared her picture, she's going to be flagged when she goes through security at the airport, which Dexter should certainly know. This is made all the more egregious when she takes Harrison to the hospital later in the episode and is ID'd by the receptionist.

Phaneron

More Dexter stupidity
Murder on the Orient Express picture

Episode #1.2 - S1-E2

Stupidity: The part when the Colonel and the governess pose as journalists does not make sense. It's far-fetched enough that after a lengthy interview about the culprit's fortune the topic of his family never came up, considering it was one of the main goals and an ideal question to lead with, but considering that "mr. Todo" does not want a picture taken and has a tight security, there's no way that a photographer carrying a large 1930 camera would have been allowed into the interview room to begin with.

Sammo

More Murder on the Orient Express stupidity
Chicago P.D. picture

Night in Chicago - S6-E13

Stupidity: During a raid of a Latin stash house, Hailey and Kim find two girls with a pistol. In Spanish, they say no bullets. Kim interprets what the girls say and Hailey replies, l didn't know you spoke Spanish. Makes no sense that a partner on an elite police unit in Chicago would not know a member of the team speaks Spanish. (00:14:58)

Snag.1

More Chicago P.D. stupidity
Lethal Weapon picture

Dial M for Murtaugh - S3-E11

Stupidity: Eve, the assassin trying to kill the Senator, tells Cole to move or she'll shoot through him, rather than just shooting him. She already killed an agent by shooting him in the back and had plenty of time to just shoot Cole, so there's no reason for her to avoid killing him.

Bishop73

More Lethal Weapon stupidity
Ray Donovan picture

Rodef - S2-E11

Stupidity: Mickey, and Terry are robbing a marijuana dispensary. They subdue the armed security guard by putting him to sleep and handcuffing and duct taping his mouth with no gloves on. They are touching door handles, door frames, shiny handcuffs, and duct tape which all are excellent sources for leaving behind fingerprints. The sticky side of tape is an excellent source of leaving fingerprints. (00:24:30)

More Ray Donovan stupidity
Magnum P.I. picture

The Ties That Bind - S1-E9

Stupidity: On his own in his helicopter, TC earlier in the episode spots a very hard to catch area of vegetation where supposedly the color of the leaves is different from what's expected. However for the ending, with 4 people in the helicopter, everyone but Magnum misses a giant clearing with a bright red excavator in the open.

Sammo

More Magnum P.I. stupidity
Wu Assassins picture

Paths Pt. 1 - S1-E9

Stupidity: Kai sends with a completely nonchalant attitude, his powerless dad to a very vague "Take your Triad back" mission. It ends the way anyone could expect.

Sammo

More Wu Assassins stupidity
Power Rangers Time Force picture

Short-Circuited - S1-E7

Stupidity: Why did Nadira decide to rewire Circuit instead of simply destroying or dismantling him? If she decided to simply destroy him, then Ransik and his army would have been victorious against the Power Rangers.

More Power Rangers Time Force stupidity
The Rookie picture

Death Notice - S5-E12

Stupidity: When the officers are getting into the elevator at the hospital, they are all banged up and dirty from whatever adventure they just had, including the Watch Commander, but Harper and Lopez brag they are clean because they're detectives. The Watch Commander outranks them, so they should be just as dirty as the rest, and he should be clean.

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

Suggested correction: We've seen time and time again that Sgt. Gray is not afraid to get involved in the action.

More The Rookie stupidity
Lupin the 3rd picture

Is Lupin Burning... ?! - S1-E1

Stupidity: Despite the fact that there are 100 (literally) cameras around the racing circuit and (again literally) everyone from the staff to the fellow racers works for the Scorpion gang, Jigen and Lupin's switch can happen without anyone noticing, even if it involved racing side by side for a lengthy period of time.

Sammo

More Lupin the 3rd stupidity
Lupin picture

Chapter 3 - S1-E3

Stupidity: The inspector knows that his house has been bugged; he does not know how many bugs and cameras are there, he just knows there are some. He does find a bunch of them with great ease when he gets back home - making you wonder how could he have ignored them to begin with, since all it takes is for him to raise his eyes, they are fairly big black cameras who do not camouflage at all for the most part. He then proceeds to make a phone call to the big baddie from his landline. Nobody in their right mind would do such a thing. Heck, you wouldn't want to use your home phone for such a call even if you didn't know that someone just put bugs all over your house.

Sammo

More Lupin stupidity
City on a Hill picture

From Injustice Came the Way to Describe Justice - S1-E5

Stupidity: The police raid an apartment in search of guns. They should have used a ballistic shield for the point man to make entry and hit the apartment with a concussion device (flash-bang). The police officer who took a stomach full of lead would have more than likely survived had they been properly equipped. Ballistic shields have been around since 1977. This story takes place in 1992. (00:49:17)

More City on a Hill stupidity
Mission: Impossible picture

The Killer - S1-E1

Stupidity: To make the hit, The Killer places a bomb on the ceiling of his room - which is the floor of the victim's. He has absolutely no way to know where in the room the man will stand and when we see the explosion, it does not even touch the couch. The brilliant plan of the flawless killer is anything but brilliant or flawless.

Sammo

More Mission: Impossible stupidity
FBI: International picture

Indefensible - S2-E13

Stupidity: Hungarian Police Lieutenant Benedeke Erdös has broken right arm in a cast. Although his arm is in a cast, he is still in uniform and carrying his firearm in a holster on his right side. There's no way he can draw the weapon or secure it. (00:20:45 - 00:21:19)

Snag.1

More FBI: International stupidity
Will Trent picture

Two Hundred Dollars and a Bus Pass - S1-E8

Stupidity: Two police officers and a physician find an injured woman in a lab. The officers attend to the woman while the physician calls for EMTs. Wouldn't it be better if the physician looked after the injured person while the officers called for help?

Leicaman

More Will Trent stupidity
Baywatch Nights picture

Takeover - S1-E11

Stupidity: Nicki's plan to blow up the boat - when she has no way of getting off it and safely back to land - is monumentally stupid.

swordfish

More Baywatch Nights stupidity
High Potential picture

Obsessed - S1-E8

Stupidity: S1E8 Obsessed - Morgan and the detectives respond to the beach for a possible homicide. None of the detectives or Morgan are wearing protective gloves. Throughout the series, the detectives remind Morgan to wear gloves before touching evidence. However, she takes the pulse of the victim without gloves. (00:04:02)

Snag.1

More High Potential stupidity