Keeley Hawes’ latest thriller The Assassin is packed with twists, turns, violence and dark comedy – but it also has some big plot holes.

The six-part Prime Video series sees Keeley take on the role of a hardened ex-assassin called Julie, who has turned her back on contract killings for retirement on a remote Greek island.

But when her estranged son Edward, played by Freddie Highmore, turns up to visit, she quickly finds herself back at work.

Julie is forced to flee with Edward when a massive bounty is put on her head. Someone is seeking revenge and she has to work out who’s behind it…before it’s too late.

The plot becomes entwined with a mysterious tale involving the billionaire family of Edward’s fiancée Kayla Cross (Shalom Brune-Franklin) and viewers have been captivated.

But four discrepancies in the script have not gone unnoticed, either. How many of these plot holes in The Assassin did you spot?

***Warning: spoilers for The Assassin lie ahead so stop reading unless you’ve watched all six episodes****

The Assassin’s Julie and Edward

Viewers of The Assassin were quick to pick up on Julie and Edward’s age gap in the first few episodes of The Assassin. In real life, leading lady Keeley is 49 and Freddie is 33. This is just a 16-year age gap.

In the Prime Video series, Edward reveals his age during (one of many) awkward exchanges with his mum while eating lunch.

Edward tells her: “There is something I’d like to ask you actually. Does the name Anvil Assets ring a bell?” He adds: “I got this letter, the day of my 30th birthday, making me a trustee in Anvil Assets.”

Although Julie’s exact age is not revealed in The Assassin, she refers to herself as “peri-menopausal”. Mayo Health cites that women can notice signs of the peri-menopause “sometime in your 40s. But some women notice changes as early as their mid-30s”.

This would have made Julie at the very best, a school-girl mum. Yet she had already left school and was working as an assassin when she became a mother.

Picking up on the plot hole, one baffled viewer wrote on X: “Loving #TheAssassin so far BUT struggling to accept the wonderful Keeley Hawes as a retired killer with a 31 year old son.  She would have to be 10 years older than in real life and just doesn’t look it.”

Spoiler alert… It is revealed in the finale of The Assassin that Julie is not Edward’s real mum. She took him as a baby during a hit job on his dad, Jean-Luc, owner of Anvil Assets.

Julie killed Jean-Luc and left his wife Marie for dead. She heard their son Florent crying, so scooped him up and raised him as her own.

Nevertheless, Julie also reveals the truth about that pregnancy test she looked at in the opening scene. Young Julie – played by Georgina Bitmead –  had pulled it from her pocket and it swore at the two pink lines.

In the finale, she told Edward: “I was pregnant a long time ago but miscarried.”

A pregnant assassin aged about 12? Unlikely.

Location, location, location

Similar to previous Two Brothers Pictures thrillers, including The Missing and Baptiste, The Assassin’s location jumps around. The series begins in Greece and takes viewers on a journey through Libya, Albania and France, before ending in Spain.

Albania features quite heavily in episodes two to four. Julie believes her former handler Damien, played by Jack Davenport, is there and holds the key to who wants her dead. So off she trots with Edward, Kayla and her Greek neighbour Luka (Gerald Kyd).

But don’t be fooled. One ex-pat has picked up on a big plot hole thanks to several major blunders.

He wrote online: “Watching the #TheAssassin. I can’t stop laughing. They made the show in Greece. But they show that they are in Albania.

“I remember last year when they did the series I my area. But still you can see Greek signs, number plates, houses. etc. It’s hilarious!”

The eagle-eyed viewer is absolutely correct. The Assassin was all filmed in Greece. Mostly Athens, to be precise. And Keeley Hawes and Freddie Highmore were particularly happy to film there.

Freddie said: “Filming in Athens has been amazing. The variety of locations that we’ve filmed in has been crazy, we’ve covered land, sea, woods, yachts, mansions… the list goes on.”

He added: “This is my first time in Athens, and it was amazing to film there, but the most challenging thing has been the heat. Any sweat on screen that can be seen as we run around is most likely genuine! It’s certainly one of the hottest climates I’ve ever filmed in.”

It was a return visit to Greece for Keeley, who previously shot the ITV comedy-drama The Durrells there.

Keeley said: “I previously did The Durrells for four series and we filmed that in Corfu, but because there’s no infrastructure there for filming, lots of the crew had come from Athens. Coming to Athens to shoot The Assassin has meant I’m back with a lot of those people I met in Corfu.”

The Assassin plot holes – Edward’s leg up

Keeley’s character Julie proved just how unbothered she is by death in episode three of The Assassin. But with it came another plot hole.

After arriving at Damien’s deserted flat, Julie came to the conclusion he might have been bumped off. Splatters of blood across the white wall all gave her this impression.

Julie was most keen to get her hands on Damien’s old green laptop, which she believed held the key to who was trying to kill her. In a moment of quick-thinking, Julie suggests they visit the local morgue to check any important possessions with his body.

With Luka off buying them an old banger of a car to continue their pursuit, Julie, Edward and Kayla head to the morgue and try to find a way in.

The trio head down a side passage of the building and Edward suggests entering via “the ventilation system”. Julie shoots back: “Unless your veganism has left you so malnourished you can slip through the fan blades, no.”

She then finds an open window, that is level with her head. “See, I told you,” Julie tells her son and fiancée Kayla. “Albanians. Lazy.”

Julie asks Edward to do the honours and give her a leg up, before scrabbling through the window. Kayla is next, using Edward as a makeshift ladder.

But then Edward is suddenly seen jumping through the high window. WHO gave him a bunk up? Hmmm.

Kayla goes AWOL

The Assassin’s script is pretty far-fetched in places, but TVGuide has little complaints about it. However, one scene in episode three appeared just a stretch too far.

Julie, Edward, Kayla and Luka had headed into Albania in the hunt of handler Damien. But when their very tiny car became overheated and broke down in the middle of nowhere, Kayla and Edward came to blows.

With Julie and Luka off on foot to the “mechanics shop” – the one they conveniently passed on their way up into the hills – Edward drops a bombshell. He tells Kayla the truth about the first time they met.

Edward had drawn a link between Anvil Assets and Cross Global Mining, Kayla’s family business, while investigating where his lump of cash had come from. He then joined London’s prestigious private members’ haunt, The Hurlingham Club, to meet Kayla, who was a member.

“I don’t get it, why would you just not tell me?” Kayla fumed. “Were you ever going to tell me? Say that the way we met was one massive lie?”

Edward apologised and told Kayla he loved her. She shot back: “Leave me alone. You take another step towards me, I will scream so loud that every police officer in Albania will be crawling up your a***.”

Kayla then stormed off into the middle of the bushes. Minutes later, Julie and Luka returned and fixed the car. The pair and Edward climbed in and drove off, with Luka asking: “Where’s Kayla?” Edward replied: “Don’t.”

Would they really have sped off and left a lone young woman wandering around the Albanian wilderness in search of a random Uber?

Probably not. But when did we ever let a few plot holes get in the way of a good show, eh?

Read more: The Assassin on Prime Video: Ending explained, including what ‘Chantaines’ means and the identity of Edward’s dad

The Assassin is currently available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.