…….but of course if that happened you wouldn’t have got to the climatic Nuclear countdown scene!

The other plot hole that I see is that Orlov was high ranking spy who had knowledge of who the other spies were and what the Russians were planning.
Now firstly would such a high ranking spy with all that he knew risk capture or even revealing his identity by walking into the CIA interrogation room………I think NOT!
Secondly…….surely Salt would have tried to get information out of Orlov rather than kill him outright?

But what was she planning to do in the White House exactly? Tell the president the purpose of the whole scheme? She didn’t know there would be other sleepers, right? Or was that her intent, to make sure nothing bad happened?

1. Chenkov/Salt is a Russian double agent who has now gained a position in the CIA.

2. Salt is ordered by the CIA to Marry Mike as he basically has a free pass into North Korea and this of course is good for the Spy games.

3. Salt is captured by the North Korean’s and only rescued because of the efforts of her husband.

4. Salt returns to the U.S. and then Orlov shows up and outs her.

5. Orlov outed her because Winter suggested he do so thinking they lost her loyalty in NK.

6. Salt is genuinely worried about Mike and asks Winter to have him protected not know Winter’s true allegiances.

7. Winter instead has Mike picked up… this will keep Evelyn from reaching him and escaping and also provide her with more reason to complete her mission of assassinating the Russian President.

8. Salt Paralyzes the Russian pres. in order to gain trust with the Russian’s and get back to Mike.

9. The Russians kill Mike… There is nothing she can do but watch… if she tries to stop it… guns were drawn and she is either dead or she will not be trusted with the information of Day X.

10. Once she is told the plan which is they will secure the U.S. nuclear weapons she kills Orlov and the other Agents.

11. She meets up with her contact… the contact blows himself up forcing the president to retreat to the underground bunker… reason for this is so that Winter will be completely locked in an underground bunker with the President and full control of the Nukes.

12. Winter makes sure everyone knows Salt is on the premises… this secures his way out at the end… no one will suspect him.

13. Winter Kills everyone in the bunker… and in the Director’s cut he even kills the president.. I think this may be where the only plot hole comes in…. just because of the difference in the versions.

14. Salt kills Winter for revenge as he tells her that he had Mike picked up which ultimately lead to his death… and also because in the Director’s cut there aren’t any witnesses as the president is dead.

15. Yes, Salt jumps out of the plane to escape… but the even bigger reason is that she wants revenge on EVERY sleeper agent in the U.S. She tells Peabody there are more than they can handle still out there. He let’s her go so she can go exact her revenge and also because he now believes she is innocent and doesn’t deserve what is in store for her…

It doens’t matter whether or not you are a big fan of Angelina Jolie, or whether or not the scene is explained later in the movie. If the plot of a movie is not logical, we get distracted and cannot enojoy it fully.

1) The main problem is that why Orlov would do such a thing that would make assassination less likely to succeed, especialy when he is the one who elaborately infiltratred the sleepers. What’s the point of making Salt a mole and waiting for 30 years?

However, I have to admit that this was a necessary hole. If Orlov had told Salt to kill the Russian president privately and seceretly, there would have been no disbelief suspense about Salt’s identity in the first half of the movie. We would’ve known Salt as a Russian agent up front. The North Korean episode at the opening was importnat in this regard because it portrayed Salt as a faithful CIA agent.

> 2) You’ll notice how Salt does not kill a single American in the whole film, even in the bunker at the end. She injures and disables only. The Russians she kills.

Are you sure about this? She used fireamrs occasinally to make her way. I remember a scene where she shot a security officer through a chest of another officer. It looked very brutal.

3) I didn’t get distracted about this. As a matter of fact, I was worried about Ted Winter getting away from what he had done if he managed to kill Salt. He was prepareing a knife. I didn’t think about the president very well.

The thing that bothered me the most is what Emily wrote. I thought, when Salt killed Orlov and his guys, we settled with the whose-side-is-she-on-America-or-Russia suspense for good. Now she’s on the American side, for sure. Then she got along with no problem with the Russian guy with a scar and went to White House together. No revenge or whatsoever for this guy. I really didnt’ get this part. Is this another whose-side-is-she-on suspense? Did the moviemakers really think that they could fool the audience again? Or was she trying to sabotage the evel plot? But, she didn’t know Ted, too, was a mole.

I’m not a fan of Angelina Jolie and plot holes in films bug me, however in this case:

1) Salt was outed intentionally because they thought she was no longer trustworthy. That is explained by Liev’s character in the bunker. She can either regain their trust (which she did) or simply fail/be captured/killed. Either way a win for them.

2) Their suspicions were correct, Salt was no longer trustworthy. She really did fall in love with her husband and was only pretending to complete the mission to attempt to get him back. You’ll notice how Salt does not kill a single American in the whole film, even in the bunker at the end. She injures and disables only. The Russians she kills.

3) The president was knocked unconscious, and yes, upon regaining consciousness he certainly could have confirmed Liev’s status as a genuine bad guy, having witnessed him kill all the bunker personnel, reveal his true name and declare his intention to launch missiles. Yet somebody prevented him – there was only one person around to do that, Salt of course. However, Salt is not aware of what the president may or may not have witnessed, so it would not be wise of her to presume she is going to be exonerated, especially since she actually is a Russian sleeper agent, just one who’s allegiance has changed.

Not for a second am I suggesting any of these things are plausible, in fact they may well border on preposterous, however technically they are covered in the film and therefore do not qualify as plot holes.

Anyway I think the “I blow your cover to obligate you to carry on with the mission” is the worst strategy ever.