Question: When Declan was in prison, and the FBI director asked him what his deal with the Jackal was, he replied, "That's between me and him." What was that conflict between the two? Did they really know each other from something in the past? Or was he simply just trying to convince the director that he had seen him when he hadn't, just to get out of prison?
Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more
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Question: If only the Resolution was able to do galactic travel, then how was Fortuna able to do the same?
Answer: The Fortuna didn't have an Alien Engine. The cover story was the Fortuna was to explore Alpha Centauri but it was exploring the rift. The rift is what the Alien Engine creates and explains how the Fortuna was able to travel to a distant planet (what you call "galactic travel").
Question: During dinner at Christian's parent's place, what was Mia saying in French? It can be kind of hard to hear but in grey it actually showed the conversation.
Answer: She says "ugh. Seattle baseball".
Question: Why didn't Nick and his cop buddy lock down the warehouse after they discovered the tunnel to the prison? They could have waited for Clyde to return to nab him and shut him down.
Answer: Clyde was already in the process of bombing City Hall when they discovered his warehouse. They deduced that if Clyde realises they are onto him, then he will detonate the bomb early, so they decide to let Clyde return to his cell and trap him while he is under the impression that his plan is going to go off without a hitch.
Question: I know that Susan was originally supposed to survive and kill the last shark but the test audience greatly disapproved of this. Why did the test audience hate the original ending? And why is this ending unavailable to watch?
Answer: They viewed her as a villain because it was her research that backfired and caused all of the chaos, even though none of it was intentional and it was a mistake. But audiences can be ruthless and unforgiving at times. However, the ending did feel like a cheap cop-out that created more plot holes. And many do feel she should have survived and completed her character arc. I don't know why they never offered the ending as a bonus feature on the DVD, but fans started a petition on the Change site calling for Warner to release the original ending. Thomas Jane is on board as well, as he's promoting it on his Instagram account. So that's probably the best way to get Warner's attention if you want to see the original ending.
Answer: Audiences viewed Susan as a villain of sorts, because all the mayhem and deaths in the film are a direct result of her breaching protocol, so they decided to rewrite the ending to have her die. As for why it's unavailable to view, perhaps the filmmakers didn't think people would be interested in seeing it.
Question: Aren't Cyclops and Havok brothers? This is never acknowledged and they act like strangers.
Answer: They are indeed brothers, as is revealed in the episode Orphan's End. They were separated in their youth after their parents were abducted, which is why neither is aware of the other.
Question: Charlie complains that he can't tell anyone his dad is Santa, and he tells Lucy she can't reveal that either. Why though? In the third movie Scott tried to keep Carol's parents from finding out the truth, but he eventually relents as they are his family, and he doesn't want to keep secrets from them. Can't Charlie be allowed to do the same with Danielle if it makes him feel better? Sure she might not believe him at first, but he could show her the snow globe like he did with Carol.
Answer: This falls in with the theme of believing is seeing. Santa's Christmas magic works because children do not need to see him in order to believe there is a Santa. By telling people, it defeats that purpose. If people know something is real, there is no need for belief as it is a fact. The Christmas magic will disappear. By the third movie, Carol is Scott's wife and Mrs. Claus. Her parents share a much greater bond than Danielle has to Charlie. Carol may fight with her parents, but they stay her parents and part of Scott's extended family. Danielle is a just a friend/girlfriend. A fight/break up could have catastrophic consequences. Telling her isn't worth risking the secret of Santa Claus and the magic of Christmas.
True, but then that logic completely falls apart with the third movie as Jack Frost decided to just open the north pole to the public to profit from Christmas and the magic didn't disappear then. And like you said, it does fall in the theme of believing is seeing, but Charlie also tells Lucy that most people stop believing when they get older but people like him, Lucy, and the rest of the family get to believe forever since they know he exists. Not so much fact, but more people can believe.
Question: What was the point of Mort accusing himself as Shooter for stealing the story? Did Mort write the story the first time during a breakdown also contributing why the story is written under Shooter's name; so, he didn't even realise originally wrote the story? How did Mort just find a copy of the manifesto lying around his house? And why would Morts alter ego want reconciliation years after Morts copy was published? Was it because of Amy's affair triggering the breakdown thus releasing Shooter?
Answer: Shooter was an alter ego created by Mort. When he catches his wife cheating, he had brought a gun to kill them. But doesn't end up doing it. Thus, Morts psychosis breaks. Shooter emerges. Notice how Mort is always taking naps. That's when Shooter takes over and does the deeds that Mort couldn't. You hear shooter say he took the cowards way out. But at the end, the accent gone, and he's all confident and happy again. Cause Shooter did what Mort couldn't do. Finishing the story was more about fulfilling his obligation towards killing the two.
Question: Why are Czechoslovak border guards speaking Russian? The Soviet Red Army would not be guarding the border with West Germany.
Answer: In 1981 Czechoslovakia was part of the Warsaw Pact and thus under the Iron Curtain. The Soviet Union would not fully allow the satellite states to do their own border security, so Soviet guards were placed.
Question: After the probe goes through the stargate General West discusses the possibility of a reconnaissance team but one officer says to get back they need to dial home. My query is, couldn't they just open the stargate again from their end? Instead of having to dial home to activate the stargate? Also, while on the alien planet, presumably they use satellite phones to communicate, how are they get the satellite signals for the phones to work without satellites?
Answer: The wormhole is a one way gate. So when the gate is opened from one side, you can't go through from the other side. You have to open the stargate from your own location in order to travel.
Question: How does Richard find out what happened if Anthony was dead all along?
Answer: Because the gang did not expect Anthony to hang himself. They told him that he couldn't move from where they left him. I presume that the drunken/drugged up gang will have been laughing and telling everyone what they had just done to Anthony. Then later they would hear the tragic turn of events and try to keep it quiet. But it would be too late then and people would talk about their involvement.
Question: When Fletcher gets pulled over, he admits to the various offences he committed while driving. When the cop asks if that was all, Fletcher says no, that he had unpaid parking tickets and suddenly his hand shoots to the glove apartment, opening it and numerous tickets fall out. How could Fletcher have got away with not paying all of those tickets, since cops keep copies of the tickets they write out and even give a person until a certain date to pay them?
Answer: Plenty of people don't pay, or forget to pay, their parking tickets, and depending on how fast Fletcher accumulated them, they can definitely pile up before he had his license suspended or otherwise faced consequences. It's not the police's responsibility to track down or receive the fines, so each successive cop leaving a ticket would have no reason to do anything (until it reached the point where Fletcher's license was revoked, which would show up in the system).
Question: In the first movie, Kevin's mom says there are 15 people in the house. In the 2nd movie, the two moms count 7 each which is 14. Who was removed in the 2nd movie?
Answer: Heather McCallister wasn't in Home Alone 2. She's the daughter of Rob McCallister whom everyone was visiting in Paris. Heather was in college in the US and tagged along with everyone. When everyone is going to Miami, Rob's family is still in Paris (Heather is either with them in Paris or still at school).
Question: Why did Optimus kill Megatron after Megatron offered a truce?
Answer: Megatron is a cruel, violent, evil despot and there is absolutely no chance he would follow through on his word. There is no doubt he would betray Optimus (or anyone else, for that matter) the moment the opportunity arose. All of this is exasperated by the fact that Megatron is also extremely powerful and an immensely skilled fighter. He is, in short, much too dangerous to be kept alive.
Question: When this episode first aired, Sam torments Rebecca about her incarcerated boyfriend by constantly playing Bobby Fuller's 'I Fought the Law.' When I watched the rerun on Hulu, however, the song was replaced with another song, and a lyric search shows it doesn't even seem to be an actual song ever recorded by anyone. Why is this?
Answer: Various films / shows have run into licensing issues in the streaming era for songs they used when first broadcast. I think it's even happened with DVDs, but less often. The license expires or didn't cover non-broadcast use, and it's easier / cheaper to use different music. The Charmed theme tune is a famous example - Netflix's version is completely different from the original.
Question: Why did Scott visit the young girl's house as Santa Claus twice?
Answer: Why wouldn't Santa Claus visit the same house and the same children each Christmas season? Little Sarah obviously believed in Santa Claus and expects him every year, like many children do. Sarah believed in Santa so much she left him food for the reindeer, and cookies and milk for him, and later, soy milk because she remembered that Santa told her he was watching his fats. Santa will visit each Christmas as often as he can, provided people believe in him.
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Answer: Declan Mulqueen's former lover, Isabella Zancona, is a former militant member of the ETA, a Basque separatist group. While in Libya, the Jackal wounded Isabella, causing her to miscarry her and Mulqueen's unborn child. Mulqueen wanted revenge.
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