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: When Melanie Mitchell is talking with Gary Oldman before takeoff, she says that the plane is bullet resistant. If so, how is it so easily shot up when the MiGs attack?

Answer: It's bullet resistant to small arms fire (eg. 9mm), so Secret Service agents can fire within the aircraft without causing depressurisation. Fighter jet weapons are significantly more powerful - 23mm or even 30mm shells.

Question: For such and advanced species, wouldn't Klatu's people know that "reducing Earth to a burnt out cinder" (for its warlike ways) would also punish those billions of innocents who have no say in the policies of their governments or military? Wouldn't it be more effective to police the earth and neutralize any weaponry that we shot into space?

Answer: They said, how they handle their earth problems is no concern to them, it's only if they bring it to outer space and other worlds, they would take drastic measures to ensure that did not happen.

Show generally

Question: Now that season 3 is out, has there been any updates about why Alara was written off, or why Halston Sage left the show, near the beginning of season 2? In 2019, she seemed to indicated her leaving wasn't her choice and it was what was best for the show. But, the fact that they replaced her character with another female Xelayan makes it seem like they weren't really making any changes. And with a 4th season unlikely, are there any rumors Sage will return in season 3?

Bishop73

Answer: No official reason has been given. Halston Sage has only stated in an interview that leaving the show was not her choice. It is considered that her possible return is "open ended", and while there has been no official announcement, she did make a reappearance at the end of Season 2.

raywest

Question: When Eddie is around the human characters, there are quite a few of them who make fun of his brother's death. Even some of the cops think it's funny too. The only one that seems sympathetic and to be concerned about is his girlfriend. Why do they think it's funny that a human died from a falling piano?

Answer: When did a human, let alone a cop, make fun of his brother's death? They made fun of Eddie for becoming a drunk, but not for losing his brother.

Brian Katcher

Question: In regards to the Black Panthers meeting, why were Jenny and her boyfriend (at the time) hanging around with them? Also, why didn't they (the Black Panthers at the meeting) step in when she was getting hit and abused by him?

Answer: Jenny and her boyfriend were radical, anti-government activists, whose goals were aligned with the Panthers'. As to why they didn't intervene, Forrest reacted before anyone else could, and sadly, people tend to look away when they see a woman being abused.

Brian Katcher

Show generally

Question: I read that Ross was originally supposed to stay married to Emily, but the actress did not want to live in the USA at that time. Why not re-cast the role, since she isn't one of the main six?

Answer: Emily was slated to appear in more episodes, but it wasn't intended that she and Ross would remain married. Emily was written out sooner than originally planned because actress Helen Baxendale (Emily) was pregnant. In her last appearances, to hide her pregnancy, she is shown in a close-up from the shoulders up or is sitting in bed and covered by a blanket while talking to Ross on the phone. As she was not supposed to have a long run on the show, it would have been impractical to cast a new actress for such a short period.

raywest

Question: What are the Slayers? They have the bodies of men, but when they die something escapes into the sand from their "head." A parasite? A collection of tentacles?

Erik M.

Answer: The Slayers are small, tentacled alien creatures that control durable metallic bodies. If the shell body sustains enough damage, the worm-like creature will abandon the metal frame and burrow underground. It would seem without the metal bodies the creatures are vulnerable if not entirely defenseless.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Luke gets everyone together at Jabba's palace in order to rescue Han Solo. Why didn't Luke just get a bunch of Rebel fighters to storm the palace? They had the fleet available, so they could have easily overpowered Jabba and his guards without having to resort to risking all of his friends in an overly complicated rescue attempt, and they wouldn't have had to bother with the whole sarlac pit fight at all.

jbrbbt

Answer: The fleet was getting ready for the final battle to destroy the new Death Star. Rescuing Han was a personal rescue mission for Luke and Leia. As far as the fleet was concerned Han was a causality of war. Quote "The sacrificing of one individual to save millions is the corner stone of any civilisation."

Question: Couldn't the ragdolls have run away? Why did they have to fight the machine when they could have simply left?

Answer: The machines could have followed them anywhere, the only way to be free is to destroy them.

Question: What did the chess set look like in the movie? I seem to remember that it was oversized.

Answer: What chess set?

MovieFan612

Question: How come while everyone else was looking worried, Hermione was smiling when Hagrid brought Buckbeak out to show the class?

Answer: Hermione has probably read about Hippogriffs already. Maybe she is excited about seeing one. And she is probably trying to keep a positive attitude for Hagrid, who is a new teacher.

Question: Why does Joanna tell Peter that she got fired from Chotchkie's? She quit. She told her manager that she didn't need her job and walked away.

Answer: She never said she quit though. She did say she didn't need the job, but only walked away from her manager while he was talking to her. She would have been fired for flipping him and customers off (and her attitude), which Brian kind of makes fun of her for later.

Bishop73

Question: It's stated by Vader in the previous film how much he wanted to capture Luke for the Emperor by using the carbonite freezer. Boba Fett knew this. So why didn't Boba Fett take Luke into his custody to take him back to Vader instead of letting Jabba kill him with the sarlac pit?

jbrbbt

Answer: Boba did attempt to grapple Luke with his whipcord.

kayelbe

Answer: Luke was a Jedi Master. He knew taking him wouldn't easy. Bobo Fett went after thugs, aliens he knew would be easy to catch. Besides, the bounty he received would have made him wealthy, plus he stayed with Jabba, which means he was on his payroll.

Answer: Doing this would require Boba Fett to either convince Jabba to give Luke to him (not likely) or he'd have to steal Luke from him and ruin their business relationship. Also Boba Fett and Darth Vader never appeared particularly chummy with each other and Fett has personally witnessed Vader totally screw Lando over in their own deal, so from multiple angles any operation to take Luke in for himself and claim a reward from the Empire is likely more trouble than it's worth.

TonyPH

Question: After getting on to the subway to go home, how did Neil Page have the wherewithal to return to the subway station to look for Dell?

Answer: The answer is shown in the film itself. Neil was having flashbacks about his moments with Del and his last thought shown was Del saying "I haven't been home in years." Neil suspected at that moment something was wrong with Del's situation so Neil went back to check on Del and he was right as Del admitted to him that he was homeless.

Question: At end of movie when Harmonica is bringing Cheyenne back to Sweetwater, do you think he changed his mind to stay or is he just dropping off the body?

Answer: He wasn't bringing Cheyenne back, he merely stopped to take one last look before leaving.

Question: Right before Bob brings the Joker the pictures of Knox and Vicki Vale, what are the pictures of the creepy smiling guy in the other room supposed to be of, one of which is him lying on top of a coffin?

Answer: The military nerve gas is Symlex, he stole it because it leaves the victims smiling, like him.

Answer: The Joker had somehow obtained CIA files about DDID nerve gas. The picture is of a dead man, presumably a soldier, killed by the gas. He's not on a coffin though, it looks like sandbags. He's smiling because of the effects of the gas contorted his facial muscles that way, much like how the Joker's Smylex leaves its victims with a big grin.

Bishop73

Question: Can somebody explain this skim business to me? Cause it sounds like they're stealing from their own casinos - what's the point?

Answer: They're not stealing from themselves. The mafia owners are routinely withholding (skimming) a percentage of their casino profits and moving the money out of state before it is officially counted and reported to the government for tax purposes. It is basic tax fraud.

raywest

Question: How did the pages of the magazine go missing? It did not seem like he switched to Shooter in between.

Answer: Mort removed the pages without realizing it. He believed Shooter had somehow got hold of the package, opened it, and tore out the pages before he picked it up at the post office. It wasn't shown on-camera that it was Mort who did that, as that would have spoiled the "big reveal" at the end of the movie. The audience is seeing it from Mort's perspective.

raywest

Question: When Strange is surgically removing the bullet from the patient's brain, why did he ask the one doctor to cover his wristwatch?

raywest

Answer: I took it to mean Dr. Strange could hear the watch ticking, and he wanted complete silence.

Bishop73

Answer: Perhaps to also protect the watch from getting blood-stained.

KeyZOid

That's quite a blood spray you would need to reach him.

lionhead

Chosen answer: The watch was reflecting light into his eyes.

lionhead

That makes sense, as the light would distract him while performing a delicate procedure.

raywest

Question: How could Richie get the gypsy's dogs to eat the strychnine laced food? Shouldn't the dogs have been able to smell it?

Answer: I believe strychnine is odorless, so a dog would not be able to smell it. At the same time, it apparently has a bitter taste, which would question why a dog would ingest it - but some dogs tend to "swallow" or gulp food without chewing it, so may not notice the strychnine's bitter taste.

KeyZOid

Answer: That doesn't mean the dog wouldn't eat it. Some dogs will eat almost anything, often voraciously, and it is not unusual for dogs to be poisoned in this manner.

raywest

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