Continuity mistake: Tanya chucks her number and 10 bucks down on the table. These items then proceed to change place without being touched. (00:07:50)
Continuity mistake: Elizabeth walks away from the security brief and puts her arm on the wall. When David approaches her, her arm is still on the wall. When the camera changes to the front angle, her arm is not on the wall any more. This is an instant cut. (00:06:30)
11:00 A.M.-12:00 Noon - S1-E12
Continuity mistake: Jack spits in Kevin's face to clear some of the blood. Between camera angles his face gets a lot cleaner instantly. (00:07:50)
Continuity mistake: When Dan's body is put in the grave, his shirt is only slightly raised up his chest. When they start filling the grave in, his shirt is raised a lot higher. (00:37:00)
Continuity mistake: When Mrs Palmer is walking towards the senator, she has her left arm outstretched in the front shot and not in the rear shot. (00:15:00)
Continuity mistake: Dan is shot at chest height in the previous episode. In this episode the gunshot is to the head. (00:04:20)
Continuity mistake: When Alan tells Teri he will stay with her until they find Kim, Teri's bag strap falls off her shoulder. Camera changes and the strap is back up on her shoulder. (00:32:30)
Continuity mistake: When Teri is talking to Alan about Kim failing Algebra, she has her hand on her bag in one shot and on her coffee in the next. (00:31:40)
Continuity mistake: When Alan gets out the car to ask the cop to speed things up his car door is open or closed depending on the shot. (00:15:15)
Continuity mistake: When Richard is shot and on the floor, there is a blood blob above his shirt pocket that keeps disappearing and reappearing. (00:35:10)
12:00 Midnight-1:00 A.M. - S1-E1
Continuity mistake: Kim Bauer has a full set of glittery pink disco nails on episode one (midnight) but then these are not visible at all in most episodes. In the 2pm episode her nails look clean/natural in nearly all the shots, apart from during the phone call with Rick where traces of pink glitter can be seen. I know she's had a very rough night but it doesn't explain the amount of damage her nails have sustained.
Chosen answer: Nobody knew, not even the writers, until at least halfway through the season when they were writing the end. They wanted to keep all options open.
Nick N.