swordfish

And Justice For All… - S1-E10

Factual error: One of the cops confirms at the end of the episode in the vault that the fingerprints on the gun match Prater's fingerprints. Far too little time has elapsed in between the body/gun being discovered and her saying this for this to be possible. Lifting fingerprints off a gun isn't simple or quick to do, and would be done in a lab, which hasn't happened. Even assuming the NYPD expedited everything given the high-profile case, there's no way this would all be done in under half an hour.

swordfish

Factual error: The police say that they've learned whom the various shares in Coopers Chase pass to following a shareholder's death. They say they learned this by reviewing the Company Accounts. In actual fact, there's no way this would ever be discussed in the accounts. This would be found in the Articles of Association for the company. Completely different documents.

swordfish

Factual error: The police are astonished that Joyce and her friends managed to get their hands on the company accounts, since they say they couldn't get them as it is a private company. In actual fact, any private company must by law provide its accounts via the Companies House website, available to anyone to view and download.

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Lest Ye Be Judged - S5-E3

Factual error: Albert's release papers show he was born on 3rd June 1933. However, in the season 4 episode "Getting Even", his time in the US Air Force fighting in Europe in WW2 is discussed at length. Given VE Day was in May 1945, that would have made him 11 (at the very oldest) at the end of WW2: impossible to have served in this timeframe. That doesn't even include the half year of USAF training he would have undergone. The youngest soldier to fight for the US was 12: Albert would have been 10 and a half.

swordfish

Lest Ye Be Judged - S5-E3

Factual error: Albert's release papers show he was sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment at the county court. This is completely incorrect: he would have been sentenced at a Crown Court given his was a criminal offence. County courts are strictly for civil cases, not criminal ones. Additionally, "fraud" is not the offence under which he would have been convicted. (00:49:52)

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Lest Ye Be Judged - S5-E3

Factual error: Emma steals what is allegedly a "private ambulance", which is a small courier-style van. No ambulance - regardless of whether it's NHS or private - would ever be a van of such a small size. It's completely unsuitable both in terms of kit and in terms of transportation. On top of all that, you can see on the van where it states "Co-Operative Funeral Care", and the producers forgot to cover it up. (00:16:35)

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Lest Ye Be Judged - S5-E3

Factual error: Andrew Campbell is a psychoanalyst (when Emma leaves his office, a close-up of his nameplate is shown). There's no way a psychoanalyst would be sitting on a parole board, which he does subsequently in the episode. Their skills simply aren't required or relevant to a parole board. The show seems to be confusing psychoanalysts with psychologists (who do indeed frequently sit on parole boards) - but the jobs, roles and requirements are completely different for each.

swordfish

Fender Bender - S1-E4

Factual error: When Gio is driving Deb and she is about to dial the car phone, they drive past a fleet of rental shared Citi Bikes. Shared bikes wouldn't be a thing until the late 90s, and Citi Bike itself only began in 2013. (00:42:20)

swordfish

F is for Fuck-Up - S1-E5

Factual error: When Debbie Harry's "I Want That Man" is playing, just before Deb is shown being dropped off at school by Gio, an overhead shot is shown of basketball courts under a flyover. You can see modern cars parked under the flyover: at least 20 years more modern than in 1991 when the show is set. (00:06:57)

swordfish

And in the Beginning... - S1-E1

Factual error: The show is set in 1991, and Dexter walks past a Lehman Brothers stall at the jobs fair. The problem is that the stall and the marketing materials on it have the modern-day Lehman Brothers logo and branding. Back in 1991, the bank was called Shearson Lehman Brothers and had a completely different logo and colour scheme. It was only spun off into Lehman Brothers in 1994. (00:10:03)

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Histories - S1-E10

Factual error: The rabies foreman was experiencing is advanced enough that there is complete numbness to the bite area. As such, it would almost certainly have been untreatable in real life - by the time symptoms actually show, cases are almost always fatal.

swordfish

Histories - S1-E10

Factual error: The scene where Wilson gives Foreman his rabies jabs was outdated even by the early 2000s when the episode is set. Rabies shots haven't been administered to the abdomen since the 1980s - particularly not in the First World.

swordfish

Euphoria (1) - S2-E20

Factual error: The patient is diagnosed with legionnaire's disease, caught from the AC unit above their desk. The legionella bacteria causing the disease is found in warm water (commonly dehumidifiers, industrial AC cooling towers, hot water tanks) - the key point being that a water source is required. The problem with this is that the AC unit above the patient's desk is a window unit. These sorts of AC units don't use water as a coolant - you can't catch legionnaire's from them.

swordfish

Euphoria (2) - S2-E21

Factual error: Naegleriasis is a rare disease, and all the known cases involved people who had submerged their nostrils in contaminated water (commonly while swimming or diving). Foreman's exposure was just that he walked past a mister spraying contaminated water: nowhere near enough exposure to get infected. It's also highly unlikely Foreman would have survived Naegleriasis (which has an extremely high death rate) and without lasting brain damage - particularly given the length of time before diagnosis.

swordfish

Heat Rays - S1-E22

Factual error: Donna jumps off the bridge (which is relatively low down), into shallow water. She then narrowly avoids being hit by a huge ocean liner. There's no way such a huge ship would be in such shallow water - for starters, it couldn't cross under the bridge, being far too big. (00:03:12)

swordfish

Son of Coma Guy - S3-E7

Factual error: Given Gabriel has been in a coma for a decade, it is astonishing that once he wakes up he has no trouble speaking, and his muscles haven't atrophied at all— in fact, his muscles are remarkably toned.

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Son of Coma Guy - S3-E7

Factual error: It is debatable whether Tritter has enough evidence for a court to grant civil forfeiture against House. However, the evidence absolutely wouldn't warrant (even with a sympathetic court) freezing the bank accounts of four other doctors and seizing Wilson's car. Tritter's evidence is that the doctors have prescribed House Vicodin. There's no evidence of a broader conspiracy to traffic. No court would grant this, and any lawyer (including the hospital's own lawyers) could easily challenge it.

swordfish

Merry Little Christmas - S3-E10

Factual error: Wilson rolls House onto his back and leaves him lying on his back. Any doctor (especially one as good as Wilson) would never do that when there is a risk of vomiting (you can see in the background that House has already thrown up). If House were to vomit again while lying comatose on his back, he would risk choking to death on his vomit. (00:41:07)

swordfish

Merry Little Christmas - S3-E10

Factual error: Tritter states he reviewed the pharmacy log and spotted the dead man's meds being collected. Regardless of Tritter's status as a cop, this is a violation of patient-physician confidentiality. No hospital would allow him log access without a court order (which he doesn't have, would take ages to be granted and requires a very high evidential threshold), and even then it is likely this work would be allocated to the DEA rather than local police like Tritter. (00:42:30)

swordfish

Words and Deeds - S3-E11

Factual error: Chase and Foreman suggest the evidence of the pharmacy log is inadmissible at court due to patient-doctor confidentiality, but Cameron states House was neither the patient nor the doctor in question, and so confidentiality does not apply. Cameron's point is irrelevant: since the patient (who has died) and doctor in question (Wilson) did not consent to Tritter's reading the log, confidentiality still applies. As such, Tritter did not validly acquire this evidence, and it is indeed inadmissible. (00:04:18)

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