Continuity mistake: When Mandarin pulls the lever to initiate the decomposition sequence, the jewels on his rings are shown to take up about half the width. When the shot changes, the jewels are suddenly as wide as the rings themselves, if not wider. (00:18:20)
Continuity mistake: Mandarin pulls a lever to initiate a decomposition sequence on the vessel. When the shot changes, MODOK is suddenly in view next to Mandarin's arm. (00:18:20)
Continuity mistake: After Century restores gravity to the vessel, he is suddenly nowhere near the control panel he used to accomplish the task. (00:18:06)
Continuity mistake: When Mandarin and MODOK are watching the satellite pass by, they are positioned close to each other. When the shot changes, they are suddenly several feet apart. (00:11:49)
Continuity mistake: When Iron Man is stepping into his armor, he is wearing a blue shirt and a suit jacket. When the armor is shown closing around his torso, he is suddenly wearing some kind of body suit with what appears to be sensors or electrodes on it. (00:10:57)
Continuity mistake: When Tony is setting the timer, the appearance of the control panel completely changes when Julia is asking him if the person who reprogrammed his other satellites takes control of the one he is setting up. (00:10:37)
Other mistake: When Tony is setting the satellite trap, he sets the timer for twenty seconds. The counter can be seen going from 12 to 10, skipping eleven. (00:10:38)
Continuity mistake: After the MODOK E.L.F. takes over Rhodey's mind, a piece of framed art appears and disappears on the wall next to the tipped over chair. A lamp also appears on the desk. (00:06:05 - 00:06:31)
Continuity mistake: When the MODOK E.L.F. is in the fish tank watching Rhodey at his computer, it is located at the bottom of the tank near the sidewall on its right. When the shot changes to over Rhodey's shoulder, the MODOK E.L.F. is now at the top-center area of the tank. (00:05:50)
Continuity mistake: When Tony and Rhodey are talking to Bill Clinton, the stripes on the knot of Clinton's tie, from left to right, are blue, red, blue, and red. It then changes to red, blue, red, and blue when Clinton is asking Tony about his satellite systems. (00:04:32 - 00:05:26)
Continuity mistake: The orientation of the planes on the aircraft carrier at the beginning of the episode changes between shots. (00:01:00)
Other mistake: When Century is pressing the button on the control panel to restore gravity to the vessel, you can see his finger doesn't actually touch the button. (00:18:06)
Other mistake: When Iron Man tells Mandarin that he's been waiting to meet him face to face, they are standing only a few yards apart. Mandarin retorts by saying "Then face this, Iron Man," while firing an energy blast from one of his rings at him. The shot changes and Iron Man is hit by the blast. With how fast the blast was shown traveling and the short distance between the two, Iron Man would have been hit by the blast before Mandarin could have finished saying his comeback line. (00:14:38)
Other mistake: When Tony and Julia and the two tailing reporters walk past the press, they appear out of thin air. They should have either appeared from the courthouse door, which is closed the entire time, or from the left side of the screen. Instead, they appear on screen from just behind the reporter in the foreground, who is not obscuring enough of the screen for Tony and Julia to have gone unseen up until that point. (00:10:03)
Answer: Gleaned from the Internet: Some critics criticized the premise of so many one-off battles that were introduced and concluded within one or two episodes. Others felt the first-season plot lines were overly simplistic and never progressed or developed through the season. Also, the rivalry between Iron Man and the Mandarin also failed to capture viewer's attention.
raywest ★