Plot holes can spell disaster for a television show, especially major ones that can undermine the entire plot or resolution to a story line. Smaller plot holes can be frustrating for long-time viewers, and lampooning these has become a sort of sport on the internet. Fortunately, not all of these inconsistencies are inexplicable.
Many errors in TV shows have logical explanations — they only require delving deeper into the story, or a simple explanation. Showrunners do sometimes make it a point to answer bigger inconsistencies with logic, which erases these plot holes. In fact, many plot holes are too small to actually even matter.
10 Using Zombie Guts (The Walking Dead)
Considered one of the worst plot holes in TV, many fans lambasted The Walking Dead for not making the survivors wear blood and guts all the time, since Rick and gang did get past walkers by covering themselves in entrails. However, there was a pretty simple, two-pronged explanation behind this.
The simplest logic was that it would be difficult to walk around covered in hazardous biological waste all the time, as it would surely give rise to numerous health issues. Secondly, there had been an incident where Daryl returned to Hershel’s farm covered in blood, and Andrea shot him thinking he was a walker. There would be no way for a stranger to distinguish between human and walker if everyone traveled like this, thus leading to extra casualties.
9 Penny Lives Alone With Financial Struggles (The Big Bang Theory)
Sitcom apartments are always up for debate, since the main characters living in great flats tend to work ordinary jobs. Similarly, fans have always thought that it was a plot hole that Penny could afford an apartment alone, while Leonard and Sheldon shared an apartment with arguably higher paying jobs.
It was obvious that Leonard and Sheldon lived in a larger apartment (a two-bedroom) while Penny’s was a smaller one-bedroom. That would signify a rent difference. Moreover, Leonard and Sheldon didn’t just share a home for financial reasons: they preferred to live together out of choice as Leonard wanted company and Sheldon wanted someone to put up with his quirks. As a waitress with minimum wage and tips in California, Penny renting the apartment was not completely farfetched.
8 The Pineapple Incident (How I Met Your Mother)
The answers to many questions appeared out of order in How I Met Your Mother because it was a non-linear TV show, but the resolution to this supposed plot hole lay in a deleted scene. In Season 1, Ted was met with the mystery of the pineapple that he found lying next to him after a long night. After much searching, he could never find out how it ended up there.
However, in the deleted scene, Ted ends up at The Captain’s home. The Captain had a pineapple outside his house as a symbol of hospitality, which he also said he kept at his city home. Presumably, Ted had taken the pineapple from there. While this wasn’t featured in the actual show, fans did get their answer.
7 Monica’s Wedding Dress (Friends)
In the Friends episode “The One with the Cheap Wedding Dress,” Monica found the perfect wedding dress, but couldn’t afford it. She then looked for it in a dress sale, and lucked out when she found it. However, some fans noticed the dress that she clutched in her hands was different from the one she tried on earlier.
This non-plot-hole plot hole is more of a continuity error, and it resolved itself at the end when she went back home and had the right dress. It was a small slip-up where the actress Courtney Cox probably caught the first dress she could pull off the rack. This can hardly be considered a huge error as the one that she tried on later was the same as the first pricey one.
6 Jason And Cheryl Are In Different Grades (Riverdale)
Riverdale was a drama that went off the rails a while ago, which is why fans love to pick it apart for continuity errors and other mistakes. One particular mistake about Jason and Cheryl is a bit peculiar but not earth shattering. They are twins who aren’t in the same school year, which is barely a plot hole.
It is possible that the twins tested for different school years, even if they were the same age. Cheryl could also have been held back a year or Jason could have started a grade higher — there are enough reasonable explanations for this. If a TV show were to depict every banal detail in a character’s life, it would have little appeal left.
5 The Polar Bears (Lost)
Lost inarguably went downhill in its final season, leaving a host of unanswered questions. Thankfully, the burning one about how polar bears came to be on the island was, in fact, answered. In the Season 6 DVD, a bonus film elaborated on how The DHARMA Initiative brought polar bears to the island as test subjects, and then took them to a colder station where they were taught to push the frozen wheel.
This was the same wheel that Ben pushed in Season 4, and it made the bears travel through space and time. These bears thus survived for several years, and that’s how they came to be on the island.
4 Chidi Didn’t Speak French On Earth (The Good Place)
The laws of the afterlife were complex, and The Good Place had established early on that it automatically translated the language of the speaker to the language the listener was most comfortable with. Chidi spoke in French, but Eleanor heard American accented English because that suited her best.
However, Chidi continued to speak in American accented English when they were back on Earth, which perplexed some fans. This was an intentional creative choice by the showrunners, who said that switching languages was considered, but ultimately was not done because the sudden change of language would have ruined the comedic timing and chemistry that the lead characters shared.
3 King’s Landing Looked Run Down In Season 8 (Game Of Thrones)
Game of Thrones actually had very few plot holes, considering how large and sprawling the series was. Some viewers took issue to the fact that King’s Landing was a verdant, blooming kingdom in the earlier seasons of the show, but when Daenerys landed there in the last season, it was a barren, desolate place.
This can be explained easily — the kingdom had transitioned from summer to a cruel winter, and Cersei Lannister wasn’t a monarch who would have paid attention to the state of her kingdom when she wanted to protect herself. King’s Landing reflected the bleak atmosphere at that time, too.
2 Waiting To Use The Megazord Earlier (Power Rangers)
There has been speculation about why the Power Rangers wait till the last moment to use the Dino Megazord to fight the villain, but there’s a logical explanation. The Power Rangers had a code of conduct, where Zordon enforced that no Ranger could escalate a battle until their nemeses did.
If they broke these rules, the Power rangers would be banished, which is why it made sense that they waited till the very end to go on the offensive. It was an inconvenient rule, but it did add the necessary morals, ethics, and drama to the beloved show.
1 Carrie’s Bus Ad (Sex And The City)
The opening credits of Sex And The City feature a bus with Carrie’s ad on it, which appears full in one shot, and empty in the next. It is absurd that this would even be considered a plot hole since it does not contribute to the show’s story whatsoever.
Morever, the whole credits montage was created with quick jump cuts and a number of clearly different shots, which means that it was never a running narrative. The bus could have turned the other way, it could have emptied its passengers between cuts, and a number of other possibilities. It is by no means a plot hole or inconsistency.
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