Character mistake: The 'perfect' German postcard Rollin has written is full of mistakes: 1) The 'sie' must have a capital 'S' because it's a personal pronoun; 2) The only sentence stops in the middle and makes no sense; 3) The word 'Besten' has to be written without a capital because it's not a noun; 4) In Germany the house number stands after the street name, not before; 5) The streetname makes no sense. Too many mistakes for a so-called 'perfect' card. (00:04:40)
Visible crew/equipment: During the prison escape, as Phelps and Cole are stealing the car, a microphone can be seen above them, hanging more than a foot into the shot. (00:18:20)
Character mistake: There are two minor German mistakes. The sign 'Nur für Arbeitnehemere' should be 'Nur für Arbeitnehmer' (the last word is totally wrong). And the title of the German newspaper 'Die tagliche Zeitung' should be 'Die tägliche Zeitung' (the two points over the German Umlaut are missing). (00:05:35 - 00:41:05)
Continuity mistake: When Cinammon is in the gallery and turns around after seeing The Seal to follow Taggart, we can see that her jacket is different from behind.
Continuity mistake: When Mr Phelps finishes choosing the mission candidates he closes the bag and puts it on the table. When they show us the bag with the IMF typing on it, it is now open again.
Continuity mistake: As Phelps receives his assignment, the amount of tape on the recorder changes several times between shots. So does the style/design of the plastic reels. (00:02:05)
Visible crew/equipment: When Phelps is in the phone booth getting his assignment, the camera can be seen reflected in the booth's glass door. (00:01:10)
Continuity mistake: In the opening sequence, the tape giving Phelps his assignment is running backwards in some shots, isn't threaded properly in others, and in reverse angles, it's running twice as fast as it is in the previous shots. (00:02:30)
Revealing mistake: The "microfilm" that Rollin and Barney steal from the safe isn't micro at all. It's a conventional single frame of 35mm movie film, not coincidentally the same film stock on which Mission: Impossible was shot. (00:36:05)
Visible crew/equipment: In the final scenes at the airport, the camera crew and lighting panels are reflected in both the limo door and the sides of the white panel truck. (00:48:20)
Visible crew/equipment: The fire on the bed is contained within a small space by a visible asbestos pad. (00:21:45)
Continuity mistake: When Rollin sets the bed quilt on fire, the burned portion gets larger, then smaller, then larger again in alternating shots. (00:21:05)
Continuity mistake: The drink Cinnamon ultimately knocks off the edge of the pool table moves several inches between takes, and in one shot disappears altogether. (00:23:40)
Visible crew/equipment: When Phelps and Barney shove Frank into the back seat of the car, the door captures a clear reflection of the camera crew. (00:36:20)
Continuity mistake: When Hagar's wife opens the Mercedes' trunk, the deflated silver mat is wrinkled and covers the entire space. When she picks it up, it's less than half its original size and has no wrinkles in it at all. (00:47:50)
Continuity mistake: The gray dye job on Rollin's hair varies noticeably (from lighter to darker and back) throughout the episode.
Continuity mistake: When the two baddies are counting out the money stolen from their latest victim, the piles of currency change positions on the table between takes.
Continuity mistake: When the episode starts, Mr Phelps put a black cassette to listen, during the mission announcement, we can see that the cassette color is white and even the cassette player is different.
Answer: We don't know what would happen because the show never addressed this issue. Any answer would be speculation. This is a TV show, and the plot is structured so that only IMF team will retrieve the secret message.
raywest ★