When Cohle and Hart enter Cohle's apartment, Cohle places his notebook on the counter. In the next shot, Cohle walks over to the bed and drops the notebook on the bed. In the next shot, the notebook is back on the counter.
The American flag hanging against the wall in the police station is displayed incorrectly with the blue field in the upper right corner. Later, the flag is shown properly displayed with the blue field in the upper left corner.
When Rust is driving to the truck stop area, he is driving an automatic car and the shift lever is up in the park position.
The murder investigation was commenced on January 3, 1995. The scene depicting Marty's first visit to Rust's apartment occurred about two months early. During the visit, there is a shot showing a number of homicide and serial killer books. One book is called "Serial Killers" which was not published until June 15, 1995. A second book "The Encyclopedia of Forensic Science" by Brian Lane was not published until 2005. A third book, and the most prominently place one, called "Practical Homicide Investigation" 4th edition was not published until 2006.
While driving, they show a billboard for a missing girl. The number shown to call has a 337 area code. While the 337 area code is a valid area code for southwestern Louisiana, it wasn't a commissioned area code until 1999. The scene was to have taken place in 1995.
When Marty's wife wakes up in the morning there is an IKEA Kusiner blue mesh basket in the living room. This item was not available in 1995, the year the scene was supposed to be set in.
Major Ken Quesada holds up a copy of The Daily Advertiser from 1995, but the masthead simulates the design of the paper from 1997-2013. The masthead featured on the paper in 1995 would have been in an Old English typface.
It is supposed to be 1995 when Cohle was at the truck stop bar talking to the sex workers and asking for Quaaludes, but Quaaludes (methaqualone) ceased production in 1985.