Best TV plot holes of all time

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Bones picture

The Man in the Fallout Shelter - S1-E9

Plot hole: At first the victim (Careful Lionel) is described as not returning to pick up his new shirt in November 1958, and possessing love letters dated from 1957 through early winter (November) 1958. Booth reports the fallout shelter where Lionel's body was discovered was sealed in 1958. Later Lionel is described as reported missing by his boss in January 1960, and the illegitimate child he fathered was born in 1960 as well. That would mean his boss didn't notice he was gone for over a year, and his pregnant girlfriend was with child for at least 14 months.

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Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers picture

A Friend in Need (3) - S3-E3

Plot hole: Somehow Bulk and Skull know that the Rangers use the phrase "It's Morphin' time" and also reach behind their belts. They're not supposed to know this, unless they know the Rangers' identities (which of course they don't know despite their "efforts").

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Power Rangers Turbo picture

Shift Into Turbo: Part I - S1-E1

Plot hole: Divatox and co. live in a submarine in Angel Grove lake. In "Hogday Afternoon", Angel Grove lake was drained to about 30ft at the deepest. The lake would have to be several hundred feet deep for a large submarine to hide there.

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Scrubs picture

My Lunch - S5-E20

Plot hole: Season 5, episode 20 (My Lunch). One of Dr. Cox' patients needs a heart valve transplanted. Heart valves don't have to be transplanted from another person. They can be replaced by a metal valve, or the surgeon can create a new valve from a different part of the patient's body. There was no reason to wait for a donor valve when they had other options available.

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Bewitched picture

Santa Comes to Visit and Stays and Stays - S6-E14

Plot hole: Mrs. Kravitz, while standing in the Stephenses' front doorway, sees Santa Claus and assumes that it's Darrin in costume. However, the very next shot shows Santa exiting the kitchen (around the corner from the front door) and starting up the hallway toward the living room. There is no possible way Mrs. Kravitz could have seen him when she said she did. (00:09:30)

Jeff Swanson

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Only Fools and Horses picture

To Hull and Back - S4-E8

Plot hole: Rodney follows Denzil all the way to Hull. However, it's established that Rodney is a fair distance behind Denzil several miles at least. How is it that Rodney knows exactly where Denzil has gone? He doesn't know Denzil's destination as he says to Del "he must have a load to pick up".

Ssiscool

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Boy Meets World picture

What A Drag! - S7-E11

Plot hole: At the beginning of the episode, Eric and Jack call the cops on Luther for planning an illegal rave at the college, but the cops let him go because he had not started the rave. He still broke into the student union building, and therefore should have still been arrested. He even threatens Eric and Jack afterwards right in front of the cops, and they do nothing about it. (00:00:20 - 00:02:10)

Phaneron

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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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Good Luck Charlie picture

Show generally

Plot hole: In the episode where Gabe wants PJ and Teddy to pretend to be his parents when his teacher wants to see them after getting in trouble at school, it is established that Gabe's elderly teacher is short-sighted. When he asks "How many fingers am I holding up" his teacher gives an incorrect answer. However, later in the episode, his teacher spots Teddy on a date at the cinema (movie theatre) and assumes she's cheating/having an affair. How could she have seen Teddy from a row in-front, when Teddy is facing the audience and not the teacher, if she couldn't see how many fingers Gabe was holding up close to her face?

itsemilylm

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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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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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The Mandalorian picture

Chapter 7: The Reckoning - S1-E7

Plot hole: The boss of the boss murders Werner Herzog because he knows that the baby is not in the crib. Yet it takes Mando's message (somehow intercepted) for the troopers to start moving in pursuit. The heck were they waiting for? They have overwhelming forces in the area and a previous deal with Karga. (00:33:10)

Sammo

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The West Wing picture

Jefferson Lives - S5-E3

Plot hole: The Zoey Bartlett kidnap crisis cliffhanger that stretches across the end of Season 4 and the beginning of Season 5 makes no sense in terms of time. Charlie pulls out a note from his wallet that says they will dig up a bottle of champagne on May 7 - Zoey's graduation night. They do. Later that night she is abducted. She is gone three days. Four days later (in "Jefferson Lives") Abby chews out Leo, saying, "It's only been four days and her bruises have not yet begun to heal." The date should be May 14th. However, "Jefferson Lives" supposedly occurs on the Fourth of July - Zoey says it's the Fourth and they all watch the Capitol Fireworks at the end.

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Degrassi: The Next Generation picture

Show generally

Plot hole: In the start of season 4 we meet Liberty's little brother, Danny. J.T. and Manny are making fun of him because he is new to the school and is starting out. If he is starting out, then he should be in the 7th grade, because it is stated in the first episode that the school changed into a 7-12. Liberty, J.T., Manny, Emma,Toby etc. are all in the 10th grade so how does it end up that Danny is a grade below Liberty?

Movieman123

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The Walking Dead picture

The Next World - S6-E10

Plot hole: Diana in her final scene is seen shooting her last bullets at the walkers that are offscreen, moving toward her, so suicide was not an option, meaning the walkers would have eaten her until she died, becoming a walker. And yet her body is completely clean when her son and Michone discover her in walker form. Blood free (even on her clothes) and fully intact, no chunks of her missing, no bite marks.

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Ghost Whisperer picture

Threshold - S4-E7

Plot hole: Jim taking over Sam's body just doesn't make any sense. It's plausible for a spirit to temporarily take over a living body, but a dead body is dead for a reason. It can't sustain life anymore. Death isn't a temporary ailment. It's permanent. What should have happened was the same thing that happened when another ghost took over a recently deceased person, which happened in a previous episode. The dead body would decay and start to lose function. Sam's body suddenly gaining back the properties of life is completely inconsistent with what we're led to believe in the setting of the show.

Knever

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

Suggested correction: This is a fictional show that pushed the boundaries and constantly changed the rules; how is this a mistake?

I tell myself that Sam's injuries were not as extensive as prom ghost so his body was able to stay alive.

I think what happened is that Sam jumped out and went into the light before they were able to revive him. Had he waited just a few more seconds next to his body He would have gone right back in. Some people die for a few seconds, and then they're able to bring them back through CPR or using the paddles and shocking his heart, etc.

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Suggested correction: The guards do not care about cheating as long as it doesn't break the rules of the game or challenge the integrity of the games. Using a lighter was not explicitly forbidden by the rules, so even if they saw it (which is not guaranteed), the guards wouldn't step in.

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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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