Theory:Torchwood television discontinuity and plot holes/The New World


 * Why don't they want to know who was in the helicopter trying to kill them? Wouldn't they theoretically be behind this whole thing?
 * After Gwen shoots down the helicopter, no one seems to think about the fact that the pliots or soldiers wouldn't have died.
 * Ah but they would be in the same category as the suicide bomber - "living" but non-functional.


 * Danes gets himself released from prison by threatening to sue the Governor personally for damages for wrongful imprisonment. That wouldn't work. If he had really good lawyers, the Governor might pause to think about it, but otherwise, they'd just laugh at him. Along with all of the obvious legal issues, and the fact that Danes didn't even know the right words for the legal ideas he invoked, consider what the precedent would be: Any time someone is falsely imprisoned by the government, the Governor must go out of his way to order him to be released, whether or not he has the authority to do so, or he's liable for civil damages?
 * Also, Danes was convicted of multiple crimes. He may have gotten the death sentence for murder, but he probably also got life, or at least 20 years, for rape and the other crimes. So, even if he's right that he's served his death sentence, he still doesn't get out of jail. (In the past, in states where governors aren't allowed to commute sentences, they've pardoned people of their capital offense while leaving them still guilty of other offenses with life sentences.)
 * Also, most states have fixed limits on torts, so the idea that "every second that passes means another million dollars" is unlikely. More likely it's something like $200K max.
 * Hhe probably wouldn't get anywhere near that maximum anyway. Someone who was held prisoner by the State of Maryland for over a decade, because of a paperwork error, for a crime he wasn't even accused of, much less guilty of, was awarded $20K/year in restitution. So, every second that passes means another 6/100ths of a cent.
 * Danes is obviously just trying to frighten/push his case when he says his "every second..." comment. He's not a lawyer, and doesn't understand or explain well his case. However, given the bizarre circumstances, it's possible that the Governor's lawyers felt that Danes' lawyers would be able to make enough of a case that commuting the sentence to parole was the safest action. We also don't know if he was convicted of any other crimes, or if so what sentences he may have received for them. They may have all been rolled into the death sentence.
 * Danes is obviously just trying to frighten/push his case when he says his "every second..." comment. He's not a lawyer, and doesn't understand or explain well his case. However, given the bizarre circumstances, it's possible that the Governor's lawyers felt that Danes' lawyers would be able to make enough of a case that commuting the sentence to parole was the safest action. We also don't know if he was convicted of any other crimes, or if so what sentences he may have received for them. They may have all been rolled into the death sentence.


 * Esther says, "That wasn't a virus, it's gotta be some kind of malware.", and later Jack confirms this. But a virus is any malware that can copy itself. It's like saying, "No dog could have done that, it must be some kind of terrier."
 * Easy enough to pass that off as a simple mis-speak by someone who isn't a technical expert in that field. If anything, this would be a production error rather than a discontinuty/plot hole.