Best mystery TV character mistakes of all time

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Death in Paradise picture

Murder from Above - S7-E1

Character mistake: A computer display of currency transactions shows the word "withdrawal" spelled as "withdrawl." (It is also spelled correctly higher up on the display). (00:25:05)

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Law & Order picture

Remand - S6-E10

Character mistake: McCoy asks his witness, an expert geneticist, what the odds are that a DNA sample presented in evidence does not match that of the defendant. He answers "About one in two hundred." That is idiotic. If the DNA samples are identical the chances that the the sample presented in evidence does not come from the defendant is about one in two billion, not one in two hundred! A bright high school senior would know that, never mind an expert geneticist.

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

Suggested correction: If the odds are 1 in 200, that means the accuracy of the DNA is 99.5%. If the odds are 1 in 2 billion, that means the accuracy of the DNA is 99.9999999995%, which simply isn't true.

Bishop73

In fact as any geneticist (i.e, anyone like me) will tell you the chances of two identical DNA "fingerprints" coming from two different and unrelated individuals are around one in two thousand million. Two billion. In fact the odds are much higher than that but we scientists don't like to make claims that sound unlikely or fantastic. The accuracy of DNA fingerprinting is, as you point out, 99.9999999995%. You correction is wrong and the posting is correct.

Except that's not what happened in the scene or what happens in real life. You simply don't understand what you're arguing. You're not a geneticist.

Bishop73

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The Wire picture

Unto Others - S4-E7

Character mistake: When Cutty quits the truant officer job and walks out of the office, he runs into his old girl from way back. She calls him David instead of Dennis. (00:51:00)

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Scream Queens picture

Blood Drive - S2-E6

Character mistake: Zayday makes incorrect statements about blood types. She mentions that, since Chanel #5 is type O-, her parents must also be O-; in actuality, they could each be type A or B (genotypes AO or BO, respectively) and could also have Rh+ blood as long as they also carry the recessive Rh- allele. Zayday also says that the child of two O+ parents must be O+, but actually the child could also be O- (again, if the parents carry the Rh- allele).

DavidK93

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The Dead Zone picture

Collision - S3-E3

Character mistake: When Johnny is at the hospital, having a vision of his mother, Gene Purdy and Sarah is waiting for news of him following his accident, he states that a vision earlier was related to his accident 'Nine years ago'. Later, when he is in the ambulance on the way to where his accident occurred, he asks the paramedic if it was the same ambulance. The paramedic replies, 'Yeah, I've been driving the same rig for nearly eight years'.

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The Twilight Zone picture

The Odyssey of Flight 33 - S2-E18

Character mistake: The real speed that was reported was 3,000 knots. At one point, the plane encountered a bright flash, and violent shaking. The Captain surmised that they broke the sound barrier. 3,000 knots equates to over 3,000mph. The sound barrier (Mach 1) is about 767mph, and the captain would know that.

Movie Nut

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Kyle XY picture

This Is Not a Test - S1-E5

Character mistake: When Kyle is re-taking the test at the end of the school day, you see him bubble in 4 answer and turn the page and continue to answer questions. However there were 7 questions on the first page so he ended up putting the answer to #8 on #5 of the scantron. Kyle is too smart to do this.

Bishop73

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The Triangle picture

Show generally

Character mistake: Patterson - the oceanographer - at one point claims that Lithuania is land-locked. She should know better; in fact, Lithuania has a coastline of close to 100 km on the Baltic Sea.

Andrew Perry

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Law & Order: UK picture

Vice - S1-E3

Character mistake: When Brooks and Devlin talk to Teddy, the forensic scientist, Teddy puts his rubber glove on incorrectly, with the thumb hanging off the pinkie side of his hand. (00:09:45)

Cubs Fan

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Sherlock picture

The Great Game - S1-E3

Character mistake: In the opening scene, Sherlock makes a point to correct Barry's poor grammar. But later, when talking to Watson, Sherlock uses poor grammar by saying "who's sleeping with who." It should be "who's sleeping with whom." Not a mistake Sherlock would make.

Bishop73

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Magnum, P.I. picture

The Big Blow - S3-E21

Character mistake: The party is supposed to be "One of the premiere social events of the season", but the only people invited (Higgins knows for sure who is gonna come, so it's not like there's low attendance because of the weather) are a Prince from a fictional European state nobody knows about with his commoner wife, the editor of a poetry magazine that needs Robin's funds to survive, a sports star and Robin's accountant. 5 people in total, already all in Robin's pocket, and nobody else in attendance. While you could say that having royalty and a golden glove winner is certainly noteworthy, those people don't meet anyone else. Hardly a 'social event'. (00:04:00)

Sammo

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Kolchak: The Night Stalker picture

Primal Scream - S1-E13

Character mistake: The animal control officer tells Kolchak he was crazy shooting off a flash bulb at the gorilla, but the first frontal shot Kolchak took of the gorilla did not flash at all.

Scott215

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