Continuity mistake: When Walter Stark is first shown in the hospital bed, his pillow is brown, and looks to be made from a hard material, judging from the light reflection coming off it. When the shot changes, the pillow is beige and looks soft like a pillow should. (00:07:19)
Continuity mistake: When Crimson Dynamo is tossing Tony around, Tony opens up his armory by placing his hand on a biometric scanner on the right of the door. The scanner is then missing for the rest of the scene. (00:19:23)
Continuity mistake: When Howard Stark is saying he doesn't remember how he ended up being a captive of A.I.M., his head and pillow are closer to the top of the bed than they were in all previous and subsequent shots. (00:07:19 - 00:08:01)
Continuity mistake: When Tony walks in on his father talking to H.O.M.E.R, his father has a gold clip on his tie. When the shot changes, the clip is gone. (00:10:19)
Cell of Iron - S2-E3
Continuity mistake: When Dum Dum Dugan is showing Iron Man the footage of the school being set on fire, he sets his mug of coffee down on the control panel. A couple of shots later, the mug has disappeared. (00:05:14)
Cell of Iron - S2-E3
Continuity mistake: When Dum Dum Dugan is about to stand up and get in Iron Man's face, the control panel in front of him goes all the way up to his chest, whereas it only went as high as the middle of his stomach in all previous shots. (00:05:13 - 00:05:55)
Cell of Iron - S2-E3
Continuity mistake: When Iron Man picks up Arthur Dearborn by his collar, the left side of Dearborn's head is just outside the spotlight. When the shot changes, his entire head is in the spotlight. (00:10:54)
Cell of Iron - S2-E3
Factual error: When Iron Man lands near Liberty Island, you can see the Statue of Liberty has its back towards the Manhattan skyline, including the Twin Towers. In real life, the Manhattan skyline is more to the statue's left, and New Jersey is behind the statue. (00:20:10)
Cell of Iron - S2-E3
Continuity mistake: When Mandarin's hands first appear at the top of the cliff, he's not wearing any rings. A few shots later, he is suddenly wearing a ring on his right-hand ring finger. The ring then alternates between being on his finger and off for the remainder of the scene. (00:20:35)
Cell of Iron - S2-E3
Factual error: When Iron Man is talking about what Arthur Dearborn's gift to mankind was, the Statue of Liberty is incorrectly depicted with its left arm holding the tablet at nearly shoulder level. In real life, the tablet is held at a lower angle. (00:20:17)
Cell of Iron - S2-E3
Other mistake: When Iron Man enters the spaceship through the airlock, he lands in front of the airlock door. When the airlock closes, it somehow does so in front of him, even though it should be behind him. (00:09:00)
Continuity mistake: After Tony puts the tape in the VCR, he leans forward and rests his hands on the control panel, and you can see no-one is around him on his right. When the shot changes, Tony is standing upright, Rhodey is suddenly on his right. (00:11:20)
Cell of Iron - S2-E3
Continuity mistake: When Dum Dum Dugan is holding up the documents for Iron Man to see, his right hand is grasping them by the top-center. When the shot changes to the documents reflected in Iron Man's helmet, Dugan's hand is missing from the reflection. The words on the document are also gibberish. (00:03:12)
Other mistake: When Firebrand is in the back of the police car, his handcuffs are the same yellow-orange color as most of his costume, and half of the front passenger seat is missing. (00:19:19)
Continuity mistake: When Iron Man and War Machine are flying away with Firebrand in tow, a power cable linking their two suits together appears when the shot changes. (00:17:57)
Continuity mistake: When Rhodey is telling Tony that he is done being War Machine, large monitors are behind him. When Rhodey is leaving the room, the monitors behind him are significantly smaller. (00:19:44 - 00:20:10)
Continuity mistake: When Tony is standing over an unconscious Rhodey, his shirt has no pocket. After he sits down, a pocket has appeared on his shirt. (00:05:09)
Continuity mistake: When the slave driver is raising his whip to Mandarin, the ring on his finger has a large red jewel on it. When the shot changes, the entire ring is gold. (00:20:34)
Continuity mistake: When Fin Fang Foom is saying "This planet, my brothers, is ours," the dragons are standing in a circle. When the shot changes, they are all standing directly next to each other and would only be forming a half-circle at most. (00:18:39)
Continuity mistake: When War Machine is surveying the wreckage of Tony's jet, he finds one of Iron Man's gauntlets on the floor of the jet, with the palm facing up. When the shot changes, the gauntlet has rotated so that the outside of the thumb is facing up, and is also now on the ocean floor instead of the jet floor. (00:09:39)
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 ★