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.

Show generally

Question: So I'm not sure if I understand. Up until Leo was found to be a white lighter, Piper froze him several times. Sorry if this has been addressed before, but was Leo faking being frozen?

Answer: Only witches, or half/part witches eg. Chris, cannot be frozen (if I recall correctly) so, no, Leo was not faking. But that's just my opinion.

Alan Keddie

Answer: Piper can choose specifically not to freeze him if she is freezing other things.

Answer: I've been wondering this forever because he only freezes sometimes and I know she can control who gets frozen but he stopped freezing once they knew he is a white-lighter.

Question: How did Hannibal manage to make it onto a commercial airplane at the end of the movie? Even if he had a fake ID, wouldn't being on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list make it virtually impossible for him to get through a high security place like an airport, where the feds would likely instruct security staff to stop anyone that even remotely resembles him? The fact that he cut off his own hand at the end of the film would make him easier to spot, as the FBI would definitely share that new detail about him.

Phaneron

Answer: As seen in the first film and in this one, Lecter demonstrates an almost supernatural ability for eluding the law and seemingly being in two places at once. This film was made in the year 2000, before airport security became extremely tight in late 2001. At that time (before 9/11), it was still possible to enter an airport's main concourse through the baggage claim or even from the tarmac without passing through rigorous security. As ingenious as Lecter was, he could have accessed the airport in a number of ways back then. Relieving another passenger of his boarding pass and identification would be no problem for Lecter, either (simply leave the passenger's body in an airport toilet and assume his identity). For the most part, it was Lecter's calm, self-confident charm that allowed him to slither through society always ten steps ahead of the law.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: Perhaps he bribed his way through security onto the plane. Or maybe he murdered anyone who even remotely challenged him. He was probably wearing a disguise. It's possible that he had been planning this whole thing for an unspecified amount of time. And don't forget: he is a genius. And determined. He wouldn't let a little thing like protocol get in the way of his escape.

Alan Keddie

Answer: There is an assumption that he cut his hand off in the end. Ask yourself this for a very graphic movie why did they not show the chopped of hand. You just hear the chop but no sound from Lecter and only an emotional reaction from Starling. It is only alluded to and even if he did happen to chop it off he would be in so much pain as he acknowledged this was going to hurt he would not have been able to escape without help from Starling.

Question: Trivial perhaps, but this is a court drama. Isn't the pronunciation of "Oh yez" by the court deputy, announcing the judge, actually pronounced "Oh yay"? In the movie, the deputy uses a strange pronunciation of "O yee", which I've never heard. My late husband was a court deputy, and he was corrected his first day in court. (He pronounced it, wrongly, "O yez" (rhyming with Pez, the candy). We're from the South, and the movie is a Southern court drama. Thoughts?

Moviewatcher

Answer: I would classify it as a "character mistake." The court deputy (or the actor playing him) just pronounces it differently and wrongly.

raywest

Thank you, I think I would have to classify it, then, as a directorial mistake, and interesting that no one else, cast or crew, noticed it.

Moviewatcher

Question: After returning to Rome upon completion of the knights mission to rescue Alecto why did the little boy remove the ring from Marius' hand?

Answer: I believe he did it to remember him. I believe we are to assume after rescuing the boy and when he took care of him, he became a father figure to him.

Answer: He took the ring from Dagonet's hand, not Marius. Dagonet pulled the boy from the pit he was in at the dungeons of Marius' estate and protected him thereafter. Any articles of Marius would belong to his son, Alecto.

Question: I first saw the movie in a cinema when it was first released. I'm quite sure I saw a scene which was later edited out, perhaps to accommodate the ratio of television screens. Before the attack various soldiers stop to listen to a strange sound echoing over the hills - "like a train" someone says. After we hear the sound twice my memory is that the movie cut to a panoramic view of thousands of Zulu warriors running across the veld, banging their shields with their spears, on their way to Rorke's Drift. This is what was causing the "train" sound, a phenomenon that is not explained subsequently anywhere in the edited version of the film. The dramatic effect of the shot, panning across what looks like thousands of armed Zulus, was riveting and served to emphasise the impossible odds faced by the British. Am I the only one who recalls this scene?

Answer: Absolutely correct. This exact scene is in my DVD of Zulu. They may have changes when the TV version aired, but this definitely in the original.

stiiggy

Question: In the original film, the Discovery's onboard computer states: "I am a HAL 9000 Computer, Production Number 3. I became operational at the HAL plant in Urbana, Illinois, on the 12th of January, 1992." So, "HAL" was a manufacturer identification prefix (standing for Heuristically-programmed ALgorithmic Computers), "9000" was its model number, and "No.3" was its production lineage. In this sequel, however, Dr. Chandra is chatting with one of HAL's earth-based twin computers which has a feminine voice and is called "SAL"; but how can they arbitrarily change its manufacturer identification prefix? Being produced by the HAL plant in Urbana, Illinois, and being identical to the computer aboard the Discovery, the twin's name should have a different production number, but it should still be called "HAL," should it not?

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: The most likely reason the name was changed was probably a literary one. It makes it easier for the audience to differentiate SAL from HAL, showing how they are two distinct computers playing different roles in the film. It may also just be a feminine nickname being that SAL has a female voice.

raywest

I thought perhaps "SAL" was a nickname, also, until I saw that the computer's maker nameplate reads "SAL 9000" (visible in close-ups of SAL's glowing eye).

Charles Austin Miller

Question: Why did Pinocchio kick Rumpelstiltskin out of the library when Rumpelstiltskin offers to make him a real boy?

Answer: He knew that Rumpelstiltskin wasn't actually going to make him a real boy which made him angry so he threw him out.

Question: In the very end of the movie Will Turner's father is on the black Pearl. How did he end up there when just a few minutes before that he was steering the Flying Dutchman for his son?

Stevie Knudsen

Answer: Bootstrap Bill Turner was not back on the Black Pearl at the end. He is only on the Flying Dutchman. It appears you're confusing him with another actor in the ending scene who bears a slight resemblance to Stellan Skarsgard, the actor who portrays Bootstrap.

raywest

Question: On the helicarrier, when everyone is having an argument Steve says to Stark, "I have seen the footage." What footage is he referring to?

Answer: Probably referring to moments caught on camera where Iron Man was in action, like at the F1 race track when he was attacked by Vanko.

lionhead

Answer: It could be carefully selected bits of Tony at his worst moments, like when he was a hard drinking irresponsible party animal.

LadyNightthorn

Question: Why did Ripper bite Vernon's leg? Did he think he was inflating Marge, or was Harry using his magic to control the dog into doing it?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Ripper is just a mean dog and badly raised by Marge (who is a dog breeder).

lionhead

Answer: That, and he was also instinctively protecting his awful mistress.

Plus some dogs are just nasty and bite for the sake of it.

Ssiscool

Question: Why was De Niro angry at Waingro after the truck operation at the beginning of the movie?

Silver Bullet

Chosen answer: Because he wasn't supposed to kill anyone. Killing the guards, especially for no reason at all, drew much more heat on McCauley and his crew. It also proved that Waingro was a dangerous loose cannon and not the calm professional the rest of the crew were. Waingro was a huge liability.

BaconIsMyBFF

Cardassians - S2-E5

Question: Why did the businessman, Zolan, make the false accusations of Rugal being abused by his adopted parents?

Answer: I think he was working for Gul Dukat, since he disappeared after making the accusations. Dukat wanted Rugal's father to be embarrassed one day, when it was discovered that his son was being raised by Bajorans.

Question: Why couldn't the ministry just book the Quidditch world cup to be held in Hogsmeade or something? Due to what Harry and Arthur are saying on pages 66-67 about trying to get there without the muggles noticing? I remember Hermione saying that Hogsmeade is the only non muggle place in Britain so you can't get a much better place.

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: It's doubtful that Hogsmeade has the room for a full Quidditch pitch and thousands of campsites, especially without disrupting what's already going on there.

Greg Dwyer

Show generally

Question: How come Chloe didn't tell the other group what happened when she was kidnapped and held by Alves after she been rescued? She told the group on her cell phone that she will talk about it later but she never did.

adamtrainman@aol.com

Answer: My assumption would be a simple "it's not important" explanation. It's one of those typical selfless things in film where the characters don't provide specific information as to not make other characters worry about them, in addition to her intelligence background she may have just thought it would distract them from their main goal. Nothing really "happened" to her that would really drive plot development either, as she was quickly rescued from the situation. A similar example would be when Chloe called right after the speech she gave, Jamie doesn't tell her that Jackson was shot, just that he was hurt and that he'll be OK. We can assume that she just doesn't want Chloe to worry about him.

Season 6 generally

Question: The fifth season begins at the end of the first year of the second legislature, and the sixth begins at the end of the third year of the legislature. Has it really been two years in season five? Another thing that doesn't add up to this time jump is Doug's career in Congress. In episode 5x09 (end of the first year of term of the second legislature) Doug wants the support of the White House to run for Congress (following the chronology of the series, the next year would be the Congressional elections, and therefore that's where Doug is going to run because it's the most logical thing to do and it doesn't say anything to make us think otherwise) in the mid-term elections that are held the following year, but in season 6 and 7 we see Doug running for Congress along with the presidential elections. A script failure due to wanting to make a time jump from season five to season six? If someone would explain it to me, I would be very grateful.

Eduardo Sánchez Rodríguez

Answer: Just because Doug wanted to run next year doesn't mean the election was the same year. It's not unheard of for a politician to spend months campaigning before an election.

Captain Defenestrator

The Birnam Wood - S6-E2

Question: Can someone please explain to me the chronology of episode 2 of season six? I don't understand some things, there are scenes that seem to come before others (I'm guided because I see characters wearing the same clothes "supposedly" on different days, or things like that, that I don't understand). If someone explains it to me, I'd appreciate it, please.

Eduardo Sánchez Rodríguez

The Birnam Wood - S6-E2

Question: When C.J. gives the press conference announcing that after lunch the committees would meet to discuss the proposed topics, why do all the members leave in totally different clothes than just before? If it's supposed to be the same day, why would they change their clothes? The president also quickly changed his clothes to meet with the Palestinian president and the Israeli PM. Does anyone know why the costume change in that scene is still the same day? Or could it be a scene error?

Eduardo Sánchez Rodríguez

Answer: There are a couple of press conferences in this episode, so I'm not sure which you're referring to. The final press conference is at Camp David, which is in the woods, so some of the reporters may have changed from wearing suits at the White House to more fitting clothes for outdoors at the summit. It wouldn't also necessarily be the same group of reporters. Some of the faces would stay the same, but reporters get switched out as they go post their stories and others come to replace them, so they rotate.

Captain Defenestrator

Answer: Even when leaders are "cut off from the outside world," there's typically some way to get hold of them. A secure line unknown to the general public, a couriered message, somebody just got in a car and drove there; there would still be ways.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: Anakin's mom says the Republic doesn't exist on Tatooine. Why not?

Answer: It's in the Outer Rim territories. It's far enough away from the central government that they can't really have an effective government. In addition, it's in Hutt-controlled space.

Greg Dwyer

Why not send people to take control of Tatooine, and the outer rim territories away from the hutts?

The Republic has the task of running an entire galaxy, which is billions and billions of planets and solar systems. Sending troops into the Outer Rim, against heavily armed gangsters and with little to no communication, enough resources or backup, would be a terrible plan. At least the Hutts keep things running smoothly and don't let the planets go into anarchy.

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