Best sci-fi TV plot holes of all time

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Red Dwarf picture

Skipper - S12-E6

Plot hole: Kryten explains that the quantum skipper must be recharged after every use, and the time this takes must be must be taken into account. This is an important plot device the first time Rimmer uses it, but it is conveniently forgotten for the rest of the episode.

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Thunderbirds picture

Path of Destruction - S2-E2

Plot hole: In order to build up suspense, Virgil and Brains stand on the Crab Logger as its dangerous fuel is pumped out, despite the fact that it is hanging on the edge of a precipice. In fact they could have left as soon as they had plumbed in the pipes to empty the fuel tanks - the whole procedure is controlled by Scott in Thunderbird 1 and they make absolutely no contribution to the operation at all. They do not need to disconnect the pipes; they are left behind and dropped from Thunderbird 1 as planned. They just stand there chatting about how much danger they are in until jumping clear at the very last second. Silly buggers.

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Limitless picture

Pilot - S1-E1

Plot hole: Brian calls Rebecca after he has been shot. She asks him "Where is the bullet? Is it in your leg still?" Brian never mentioned he was shot in the leg. (00:30:20)

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Justice League picture

Fury (1) - S1-E14

Plot hole: Hippolyta tells Hawkgirl of Aresia's background of being born in the outside world, the war in her country and right up to her drifting to the shores of Themyscira. It would be impossible for her to know anything of Aresia's background as in part two, it's explained that the captain of the ship who saved Aresia died shortly after reaching Themyscira and therefore would not have been able to tell Hippolyta anything.

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Star Trek: Voyager picture

Elogium - S2-E4

Plot hole: In this episode Kes states that she has to decide now whether to have a child or not because Ocampa women can only get pregnant once and deliver one child. If that was the case they would have died out a long time ago, or never even evolved, as two people only getting one offspring would reduce the population to 50% of the original figure each generation.

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

Suggested correction: It's also possible that it's simply required of Ocampan women to give birth the first time they go through it, and can then experience it again.

Greg Dwyer

Nothing in the dialogue suggest Ocampa's can have additional children. While we can speculate about fictitious species, it's still a plot hole due to writing. Kes states she's going through the "elogium" which is a time of change where her body prepares for fertilization. She then explicit states the "elogium" only occurs once. While the doctor compares it to puberty, the elogium is both sexual maturity and "heat", that is, the time a female is ready for fertilization.

Bishop73

But it doesn't ever state the normalcy of birthing for Ocompans. Perhaps sextuplets is the norm?

Kes frequently used the word "child." If it was normal to give birth to more than one, she would know this and should say "children."

Bishop73

Do not forget that this is all done through the universal translator. For all you know the Ocompan word for child and children is the same so the translator cannot tell the difference.

More Star Trek: Voyager plot holes
Fringe picture

And Those We Left Behind - S4-E6

Plot hole: The very ending scene where Peter (in this version died in the ice as a boy so Walter's wife never met him) takes off some of the dust covers then picks up a toy airplane. The toy airplane he got as a child from ... Walter's wife when she was trying to placate him in an earlier episode for trying to run "home". This toy airplane wouldn't have been his as a child in this version of the universe. (00:42:00)

juarlita

More Fringe plot holes
Heroes picture

An Invisible Thread - S3-E25

Plot hole: If Noah could be brought back from the dead with Claire's blood why couldn't they bring back Nathan? Was turning Sylar into Nathan really the first thing they could think of?

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Doctor Who picture

Planet of the Spiders - S11-E5

Plot hole: At the climax of episode 2, the Doctor is about to catch Lupton when the latter simply teleports to safety. So why didn't he do that in the first place, before engaging in a 15-minute chase?

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The X-Files picture

Darkness Falls - S1-E20

Plot hole: At The End, a man is attacked while standing in the light of his automobile's headlights. Supposedly, though, the bugs were terrified of light. (00:38:45)

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X-Men picture X-Men mistake picture

Slave Island - S1-E7

Plot hole: After Storm's attempt to escape the Genoshan prison is thwarted, she ends up in the ocean right at the shoreline of the beach, where she is captured by a Sentinel. Aside from the fact that it makes no sense for a Sentinel to be hiding in the ocean in the event that a mutant tries to escape the prison, there is absolutely no way that a two-story tall robot could hide in the ocean right by the beach, as the water would be way too shallow. You can even see that the water level only goes up to the Sentinel's ankle area when it is standing upright in the ocean. (00:03:15)

Phaneron

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The Incredible Hulk picture

Darkness and Light: Part 1 - S1-E11

Plot hole: When Hulk and Banner have been physically separated by the nutrient bath, they are both wearing tattered pants. Given that Hulk and Banner were previously occupying the same body, this should not be possible. Hulk was the one that went into the nutrient bath, so if Banner's body was separated from Hulk, then Banner should be naked.

Phaneron

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

Suggested correction: It was done deliberately as a form of censorship. They didn't want to show Bruce's genitals.

Explaining why the mistake occurred doesn't invalidate it. Unless you're suggesting the nutrient bath also was able to duplicate the pants.

Bishop73

I am not. I am just explaining the reason behind this error.

Do you have a source for this explanation? If not, I would call it conjecture and while it doesn't invalidate the mistake, it does change it to a deliberate mistake if true.

ctown28

You realise a character can be drawn naked without actually showing their genitals (and/or breasts in the case of women), right? The Little Mermaid is a good example of this.

Phaneron

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Star Trek: The Next Generation picture

Angel One - S1-E14

Plot hole: Data calculates the time to reach The Neutral Zone in time by assuming maximum warp speed. After the solution, in the last minutes, Picard orders only warp six. With this speed, they won't get there in time. Aren't they in a hurry anymore ? (00:35:30 - 00:42:20)

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Star Trek picture

The Cage - S1-E1

Plot hole: Pike says he doesn't want women on his bridge, Number One being the one and only exception, and he keeps ordering Colt off it. His apology to Number One indicates that A) he doesn't think of her as female, and B) she's the only exception to his rule. So how does he overlook the very female crew-woman seated at the science station? (00:06:55)

Jean G

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Stargate SG-1 picture

Family - S2-E8

Plot hole: Huge plot error: Apophis and Clorell (Skara) should not have survived the explosion in Season 2, Episode 1 (when they attack Earth with two ships). In "Family" they explain that Apophis and Clorell survived by escaping through the stargate aboard Clorell's ship moments after Daniel Jackson did the same. However, when Daniel Jackson escapes through it, Apophis and Clorell are not even on the right ship, and there is 1 second left on the C4 timer when Daniel escapes. They actually show Daniel Jackson escape, and then cut to Apophis and Clorell still aboard their ship. So apparently, Apophis was able to "ring" from his ship over to Clorell's ship, make it to the stargate room, dial an address, and escape through the stargate all within literally 1 second. Is this guy related to The Flash?

AutofireDev

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

Suggested correction: That's not what happened or what was said. Daniel suggested Apophis and Klorel used the rings after he did, not that they used the Stargate after him. In "The Serpent's Lair", we see Apophis and Klorel use the rings BEFORE Daniel uses the Stargate. But we don't actually know how much time is meant to be left on the C-4 when they use the rings. They ended up using the Stargate before Daniel did and they never cut to them on board after Daniel escapes.

Bishop73

More Stargate SG-1 plot holes
Doctor Who picture

New Earth - S2-E4

Plot hole: Those people created for medical experiments cannot run. In fact they can barely walk, so how come they can climb nearly as fast as Rose? What's more, when you see them climbing, they seem to have little ability to coordinate hand over hand. Even with the delay brought on by the cat-woman-thing, they should not have been able to keep up with her.

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Tru Calling picture

Show generally

Plot hole: Throughout the series, auxiliary characters are always far too willing to give all kinds of information to Tru. Doctors and registrars constantly give her privileged information about patients and students. Tru is often able to retrieve information like addresses and phone numbers from people's service and utility companies, when normally you must verify your own information before they will even talk to you about your account. Of course there can't be an episode if Tru doesn't quickly find the person who asked for her help, even though she doesn't usually know much more than their name, but it's still a bit conspicuous.

DavidK93

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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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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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