Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

These are questions relating to specific titles. General questions for movies and TV shows are here. Members get e-mailed when any of their questions are answered.

Question: Why did Eddie Quist give Chris his rifle back before transforming? Is it because he wanted to die, or because he (wrongfully) thought the gun would have no effect on him?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: The reason Eddie gave Chris back his rifle before transforming was probably because he thought the gun was loaded with normal bullets. Regular bullets (at least in this movie) do not kill werewolves. This is shown in an earlier scene with Eddie and Karen White when he confronts her about the police raid in the porno theater. The police shoot him down and it was thought that Eddie was dead. However, later it is shown that Eddie had escaped from the morgue. Also, right before transforming, Eddie digs the bullet out of his head. It was likely that Eddie was taunting Chris by daring him to shoot him, thinking that the gun would have no effect on him. What Eddie didn't know was that Chris had loaded the rifle with silver bullets, which are deadly to werewolves. If you look closely, you can see the shock on Eddie's face when Chris shoots him in the throat.

Question: SPOILERS: After young Joe shot himself, shouldn't he have disappeared? Seeming as the whole reason he's at the farm is because of old Joe, but if old Joe never existed to set certain events in motion in the first place, I don't see why young Joe's body would have just stayed there after he shot himself.

gobylo

Chosen answer: Because he still went to the farm. His body was there. He killed himself there. Plus since we don't know how the events would occur with real time travel (if possible), speculation about this can't be made.

shortdanzr

Chosen answer: It's not. The lizard in question places its own eggs in existing bird's nests.

Garlonuss

Chosen answer: Nope. It was deliberately left vague.

Brad

Question: I don't understand the connection between "the section" and the human trafficking/child porn network that was mentioned throughout the films. It is my understanding that the section was simply a secret covenant that leaks political secrets. But, some members seem to be involved in human trafficking and child porn (and where sexual predators and sadists themselves) but I don't see what part the section had in it. Can someone explain?

lionhead

Chosen answer: The section had no direct involvement in human trafficking, but were willing to overlook Zala's activities in it because he had been useful to them and they wanted to keep their relationship with him secret. As was mentioned, the authorities took little interest in pursuing this type of crime because the victims are generally young women who have little or no family ties or other connections and they are often written off as willing prostitutes. They are simply considered too unimportant to be bothered with.

raywest

Question: Are Colonel Mustard's parents dead or not? During the blackmail discussion scene in the study, Mustard says he lost his mummy and daddy in the war. Later, Mustard says Mr. Boddy threatened to send the pictures of him and Yvette in Flagrante Delicto to his parents.

Chosen answer: They're still alive. When he says it earlier, he's trying to explain away his money from black marketeering during the war.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: What happened to Radagast? One minute he's running away from the Orcs, but then the Orc is standing on a stone and then Radagast disappears for the rest of the movie.

Casual Person

Chosen answer: We are never told, but given his confidence in his rabbits and the fact that he is a wizard of equal power to Gandalf (even if he has gone a bit odd), we can presume he escapes. Radagast doesn't appear in the book, his presence was pretty much invented for the movie, however he does appear very briefly in the first book of the Lord of the Rings (though not in the movie), so as far as the overall story goes, he must survive.

roboc

Question: Where did Kim learn how to drive stick-shift? Is her dad that paranoid to prepare her for driving a stick-shift car?

lionhead

Chosen answer: Hardly paranoia, as such, more just giving Kim options. Kim has a noted interest in travelling abroad; cars in Europe are far more likely to be manual transmission than in the automatic-dominated US, and thus, by teaching her to drive a manual car, Mills may have made it easier for her to, say, drive a hire car on her travels. Manual transmission cars also tend to get better fuel mileage, are usually less expensive, certainly give you more control and are, in my opinion at least, more fun to drive, so there are some practicalities involved as well. Really the question is why wouldn't anybody at least learn how to drive a manual car, even if they usually end up driving an automatic.

Tailkinker

Question: It is stated that Merida is a tomboy. What exactly made her a tomboy in the first place? Can someone also please point out her tomboy behaviors just so I can get a better idea?

Answer: Nothing "makes" a tom boy, it's something they're born with. Some girls, myself included, from earliest childhood, just prefer engaging in sports or other physical activities and like exploring and being outdoors. Merida shows she is a tom boy because she easily adapts to using the bow and arrow and also likes being in the outdoors, hunts, and can use a weapon to defend herself, rather than relying on someone else to protect her. She is a natural-born leader.

raywest

Chosen answer: It's not so much that they're necessarily competing (indeed, the Doctor would be appalled to think that they were), it's really just that Amy has, at this point in the series, rather conflicted feelings about the Doctor and Rory. While on the verge of marrying the dependable everyman Rory, she feels an attraction to the Doctor, his exciting life and offbeat ways. As a result of this episode, she comes to realise that she does truly love Rory.

Tailkinker

Chosen answer: It is explained in the last episode of the series that the crack in Amy's wall is like a hole in time that's following her around, sucking in people and erasing their entire existence. When this happens, as it does with Rory mid season, Amy and everyone else who knew the person forgets all about them and their mind just sort of fills in the blanks in their past that that person would have filled. This is what happened to Amy's parents, they were erased from time before the Doctor met her, that's why he takes such an interest in her - she's the girl who doesn't make sense living all alone in such a big house. The events of the final episode set things right and restore her parents to existence along with everyone else the crack swallowed.

roboc

Does that mean the four clerics who were erased are also restored?

Question: The Hobbit trilogy takes place 60 years before Lord Of The Rings, and it is shown that Bilbo takes the Ring from Gollum and escapes the Misty Mountains with it. What exactly has Gollum been doing for the past 60 years?

Casual Person

Chosen answer: It took Gollum a few years to summon up the courage to leave his cave to try to find Bilbo, but, unsurprisingly, he found that the trail had gone cold. Wandering in the hope of picking up the scent, he ended up on the edge of Mordor, where he encountered Shelob and became her servant, spying on her behalf, luring food into her lair and so forth. Eventually, captured by Sauron's forces, he gave up the names of Baggins and the Shire under torture, alerting Sauron to the existence and potential significance of Hobbits. He was freed, only to be captured again, this time by Gandalf and Aragorn who wanted to question him about the Ring before placing him in elven custody in Mirkwood. Escaping from there, Gollum hid out in Moria where he first picked up the trail of the Fellowship.

Tailkinker

Show generally

Question: If Monk is afraid of germs, then why does he keep touching things that could possibly have germs on them like parking meters or books?

Answer: Notice also that in the opening credits scene when he is touching parking meters her also wipes his hand on his clothes each time he does it.

Answer: That's the thing about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It's not something rational. He just has to touch things like that. It's not something he can rationally think through. However, since part of his disorder includes an obsession with cleanliness, he also has an assistant walk around handing him wipes periodically. It's like when he gets a cold and uses both a humidifier (because that's what you use when you're congested) and a dehumidifier (to counteract the effects of the humidifier). He may spout rationalizations after he does something, but his compulsions exist outside of any rational thought whatever.

Garlonuss

Question: This may seem like an obvious one, but why wouldn't Alice just let herself get bitten by a zombie to get her powers back? (Preferably, an answer more intelligent than, "for plot purposes").

Friso94

Chosen answer: She wasn't cured of the disease. The virus has already merged with her DNA. They simply suppressed her extra-human abilities. She's still immune, but getting reinfected would do nothing for her.

Garlonuss

Question: Why is Gollum surprised when Frodo reveals to him that he intends to destroy the Ring? Didn't he know that since he was leading Frodo and Sam to Mordor that that was their goal?

Mueller

Chosen answer: Actually no, he didn't. He had no idea what they were planning to do in Mordor, and he didn't really care. Gollum is obsessed with one thing and one thing only, getting the ring back. He agrees to lead Frodo, partly because he's scared of the ring and is compelled to obey its current owner, but mostly because he's waiting for a chance to get it back. Maybe a sane person would have questioned Frodo's motives and realised his intention, but Gollum is hardly sane, is he?

roboc

Question: Why does this movie have so many differences than the book? Why don't they want to follow the actual story line according to the book?

dinieland

Chosen answer: Any book-to-film adaptation will require changes, because what works on the page will not always work cinematically, for any number of reasons. Given the length of some books (the Order of the Phoenix clocks in at well over 700 pages), there's no realistic way that everything could possibly be fitted into the length of a movie, and thus it regularly becomes necessary to eject certain subplots entirely, condense certain events, combine characters or whatever else might be necessary to tell the basic story successfully within a two hour timeframe. As a result, many cinematic adaptations can contain significant deviations from the original book, but ultimately tell what amounts to the same core story. This happens with most of the Potter films, particularly those based on the longer books, but ultimately the main storyline remains intact, even if they take a slightly different route along the way.

Tailkinker

Chosen answer: Amongst the many complaints people have about Jar-Jar is that he seems to be portraying an old stereotype of an ignorant black person. Lisa is probably commenting on this.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: Who was Jamie's maid of honor at the wedding? I was reading some discussion on imdb and the comments seem to indicate that it was Belinda since neither she nor Dean's girlfriend were seen sitting in the pews with Dean, Eric et al. One shot does briefly show a blonde girl holding the bouquet of flowers.

Answer: Belinda was Jamie's Maid of Honor.

raywest

Answer: It was the drama teacher.

Answer: I think it is Landon's dad's new wife.

Question: When the Duke says that he "cannot" ask Lady Bess to leave his home (after the Duchess discovers their affair), does he simply not want to or is there some reason that he feels he cannot?

Answer: He is ignoring the Duchess' request by saying that he cannot ask her to leave. He does not want her to go, nor does Lady Bess wish to leave.

raywest

Question: Just a question and an observation: When does Lymangood find out what JAFO means? He didn't know when he got into Blue Thunder for the first (and last) time: "When are you going to tell me what JAFO means?" 1. They find out about the evil plot. 2. Lymangood gets the tape after they land. 3. He leaves a recording for Frank inside Blue Thunder using "Big Brother", the cabin recorder. 4. He drops the tape off at a drive-in movie dumpster. 5. He calls and leave a voice-mail for Murphy. 6. He goes home and is attacked. So when was he told what JAFO means? Also, someone had a sense of humor about naming the Special helicopter. It was to be used in project THOR (Tactical Helicopter Offensive Response, the "proposed use of military helicopters to quell disorder"). Thor is the god of thunder in Norse mythology. Did they name the helicopter Blue "Thunder" because it was going to be used in Project THOR? It would have been nice to connect the two references in the movie.

Excelsior

Chosen answer: There was plenty of time from Lymangood asks what Jafo means to when he gets killed. For all we know it could have been weeks. It was only a simply question really. As for any connection between blue thunder and Thor, it could have been an in-joke, but only the filmmakers really know.

Gavin Jackson

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