Back to the Future Part II (1989) - 30 questions

Question: Where are Dave and Linda McFly in the alternate 1985? They don't seem to live with Biff and Lorraine, and they are too old to be packed off to boarding school (like Marty), so where exactly are they? Biff mentions them when threatening Lorraine into staying so its not like they've been rubbed out like George was.

Answer: It's never stated in the film where they are. Biff makes a reference to having Dave's probation revoked if Lorraine leaves him, so Dave has apparently run into trouble with the law. He does appear in a deleted scene, where he has become an alcoholic and appears to be homeless with little contact with his family, likely because of his dislike of Biff, as he appears pleased to see Marty. No scenes with Linda were filmed, as Wendy Jo Sperber was pregnant at the time of filming, although scriptwriter and producer Bob Gale has stated that, had they included Linda in the alternate 1985 scenes, she would likely have become a prostitute, which would tie into Biff's threat to have her thrown in jail.

Question: When Old Biff arrives back in 2015, after going to 1955 to give his younger self the almanac, he is in pain due to being shot by Lorraine in the alternate past he created, which causes him in turn to fade from existence in 2015. But once Doc and Marty have changed the timeline back to the original 1985 etc, would Old Biff still exist in 2015, or was his fading from existence permanent when it happened?

Answer: He'd have come back into existance. The only reason Marty's fading in the first movie was so critical was because Marty himself was the only one who could fix the timeline. So if he faded before he fixed it he'd have stayed faded because there was no one else who would have been "in the know" to bring him back.

Question: Does anyone know why Marty takes a book of matches off of Biff's desk when Biff isn't looking? I know that the matches come in handy at the end of the film when he burns the sports almanac, but what was his original reason for swiping the matches? Unless he knew beforehand that he was going to have to burn the almanac.

Answer: It seemed more like a reflex action than a deliberate decision. Marty saw Biff's name on the matchbook cover, causing him to pick it up for a closer look, then just stuffed it into his pocket. As you pointed out, they came in handy later.

Question: Why does Doc suddenly change his ideas (about time travel and not learning too much of your own future) in Part 2? In Part 1, he was determined not to learn too much about his own future, despite Marty trying to warn him that his life depended on it. But in Part 2, suddenly it's okay to bring Marty to the future and give him enough information to try to change the course of destiny for his son. Also, wouldn't it have just been easier to warn Marty about the accident he was going to have that caused his life to go so wrong to begin with? One would have to think that if Marty becomes successful and lives out an entirely different life, then maybe his son doesn't turn into such a wimp.

Answer: Marty's saving his life with the note made him realize that some events are worth tampering with. He wasn't aware that Marty's entire life had taken a wrong turn, he'd just read that his son goes to prison after the robbery and takes action on that one thing.

Question: Can anyone explain why Crispin Glover was almost completely edited out of this film? True, his character wasn't that important, but even in 2015 (when he was hanging upside down after throwing out his back), his character was played by another actor.

Answer: Crispin Glover is not in the BTTF sequels (except where footage from the first film was recycled). There are some contradictions as to the whys depending on who you talk to (salary dispute, Glover uninterested in reprising the role, Zemeckis uninterested in working with Glover again, etc.).

Question: In 1955, after Biff gets knocked out by George, there is one man who repeatedly mentions that Biff might have had his wallet stolen. In this movie, we have seen many past, present, and future versions of people. I was just wondering if this man is also seen in 1985 or 2015?

Answer: According to the actor's page on imdb.com, Wesley Mann's appearance as the "CPR kid" is his only role in the entire trilogy. He could be in another time period in an uncredited role, but it's more likely than not that his only appearance is in 1955.

Question: I LOVE these movies and have seen them over 100 times. But one thing I never understood was when Doc was struck by lightening in 1955 and got sent back 1885 wouldn't the Delorean be there with him?

Answer: Of course it did. You're not thinking fourth dimensionally :-) Doc and the DeLorean were sent back to 1885. Doc then placed the DeLorean in the abandoned mine for Marty to retrieve in 1955. Marty then used the repaired DeLorean to travel back to 1885. So technically, during Marty's time in 1885 (and ONLY during Marty's time), there are TWO DeLoreans, the one in the abandoned mine and the one in Doc's workshop.

Question: Marty prevents the bad 1985 by burning the sports almanac in 1955. However this alone won't prevent Old Biff from taking the almanac from 2015 to 1955. Indeed it raises the possibility that OB will remember having lost the almanac as a young man and choose to travel back to a date other than 12.11.55 to hand it over. I can think of three possible resolutions to this problem: (1) Marty makes a note of the date and time, then burns the almanac as a 47-year-old before Old Biff gets it; (2) Marty informs the 1950s Doc of what is to happen and he resolves to make the DeLorean more secure and/or not to throw the almanac in the bin; (3) Doc travels to 2015 in the steam locomotive and burns the almanac. Any other ideas?

Answer: I don't think it works like that. Old Biff came from a timeline that no longer exists, wiped out in favour of a timeline where his younger self becomes hugely rich because of the almanac, which is then ultimately replaced with a timeline where Marty wasn't involved in the car crash and he, and his children, are presumably more successful. In this new timeline, Marty and Doc would never have been to 2015 to try to sort out Marty's wayward children, Marty would never have bought the almanac, the old Biff of that timeline would never have learned about the time machine, and so would never have the idea of taking the discarded almanac back to his younger self, much less changing his date of arrival to try to prevent the theft. Doc and Marty have nothing to worry about.

Question: We see Biff groan in pain as he returns to 2015 with the stolen DeLorean. In a deleted scene we actually see Biff fade away as he is erased from existence by his actions. I assume this is because an alternate Biff now exists (or could have been killed) and so he is erased from time. If this happens to Biff, why doesn't this happen to Marty, Doc, and Jennifer? They too are replaced by alternate versions of themselves when they return and even before they return to 1985a. 1985a Biff even says in the film that Marty was in school in Switzerland, and Doc has been committed, so they too should fade away as Biff did, shouldn't they? I would say "time" was giving them time enough to correct things like in the 1st movie, but Biff faded away almost a soon as he arrived back in 2015a.

Answer: Biff faded away because he completely changed his own past. When Marty, Doc, and Jennifer return to 1985, they're returning to the alternate timeline that Biff created. They still exist and remember their own history because without it, Biff's timeline couldn't exist and a paradox would be created.

Question: When Marty is exploring 2015, who is the man who talks about the Cubs winning the World Series? He looks like a younger actor wearing 'older' make-up, suggesting that he has played another character somewhere within the trilogy.

Answer: He's an older version of Terry, the auto mechanic who fixed Biff's car in 1955 (and charges him "300 bucks"). Originally the scene with old Terry was longer and made his appearance more relevant, but the scene was trimmed for time.

Question: When the old Biff gives the Sports Almanac to his younger self, he cautions him that in the future, a teenage kid and an old man claiming to be a scientist will ask him about that book. The old Biff surely knew who they were; why didn't he give his younger self their names, Marty McFly and Doctor Emmet Brown?

Answer: Old Biff did not count on his young version to be able to remember names. He knew what he was like at that age, and knows that young Biff with his short attention span and hotheaded nature would not be prone to remember much details, so he leaves them out.

Question: One thing I never got is why Marty is so shocked that the Cubs won the World Series in 2015. He was then going to say something like "It's just that Miami..." but stops and asks another question. Was it ever said anywhere what he was going to say about Miami? That always perplexed me.

Answer: The Cubs aren't exactly known as World Series contenders. Put it down to bad luck, but over 100 years, they only have one World Series championship. The last time they won the Series was in 1908, and the last time they were even IN the Series was in 1945. Being a Cubs fan myself, Marty's reaction isn't that much of a stretch.

Question: Why was Doc sent back to 1885 with the lightning if he was not going at 88 mph??

Answer: It's never really explained - all we can assume is that the lightning strike caused everything to go a bit haywire.

Question: When Marty is playing the guitar after he get fired in the future, Jennifer is trying to sneak out and while he's playing, she stops and turns around to look at Marty. Why does she do this? It made no sense, she could have been caught. Was he playing their "special" song or something?

Answer: It is because Marty used to be a very good guitar player. After his accident something happened to where he couldn't play very well anymore. Jennifer stops in shock that he is playing so horribly now. She is used to him playing the guitar greatly.

Question: In BTTF III, the 1955 Doc is worried about sending Marty back to a "populated area" in 1855, so he insists on using the drive-in, which is way out of town. However, in BTTF II Doc repeatedly travels back and forth from 1985 to 2015 to 1985 in plain view of any number of onlookers. What could've caused Doc to stop caring if people saw his time machine appear and disappear into and out of thin air?

Answer: In 1985 and 2015 people would not have noticed a DeLorean on the streets, as they are used to seeing cars. By going to 1885, there was the added risk of people seeing a car decades before it was common, which would attract a great deal of attention and jeopardy to the time line.

Question: Just before eating the hydrated pizza, Marty says, "I missed that completely," and then nobody seems to want to take a bite. What did he mean by that, and why did nobody want to eat the pizza?

Answer: Bits and pieces were cut out of the dinner scene. When Marty says that, he's referring to a cut scene where Lorraine mentions that Uncle Joey was turned down for parole again. As for the pizza, no one does take a bite but it seems for reasonable enough reasons. Marty Sr appeared as if he was letting the pizza cool off, Marty Jr was trying to get fruit from the overhead fruit holder, and the daughter was answering the phone.

Question: Can anyone tell me why the role of Jennifer was recast?

Answer: Claudia Wells, the actress who played Jennifer in the first film, dropped out of acting shortly after the film was made, apparently for unspecified medical reasons, only returning to acting in 1996. As such, she was simply not available to play the part.

Question: How did Marty get by Biff's security downstairs when he confronts him in the hot-tub?

Answer: Marty lives there, so security just let him in. The reason they captured him and devlivered him to Biff the first time they saw him was that he was supposed to be in a boarding school overseas. The security guys knew Biff would want an explanation about why he came back home. Alternatively he was dropped off on the roof by Doc.

Question: In the scene where Marty's recently purchased sports almanac drops out of its plastic bag, Doc says that he did not invent the time machine for financial gain. In Back to the Future's first Twin Pines Mall scene, Doc says that he'll get to see who wins the next 25 World Series. Can we assume Doc would not have tried to profit from knowing those results in advance?

Answer: It seems that, yes, we can assume that. Doc's very clear on the dangers of meddling with the timeline - it's fair to say that he's intelligent enough not to risk it.

Question: When Marty came back to 1985 in the first movie, some things had changed. The name of the mall for example went from two Pines Mall to Lone Pine Mall. How come then when Biff comes back to 2015 after stealing the DeLorean, everything seems the same? Wouldn't they notice everything was different when they were flying over Hill Valley to go back, like Biff's casino perhaps?

Answer: When Marty returns to 1985, he leaves 1955 after those changes have been made, so he's now in a timeline where the effects of those changes exist. When old Biff went back, he simply gave his younger self the almanac, then returned to 2015 before the younger Biff did anything with it, i.e. before any changes had been made. Old Biff therefore returned to his original unchanged timeline - the timeline split caused by young Biff using the almanac came after his departure, so he didn't enter the altered timestream.