Question: When Al is holding a stack of towels, the Tanners say that he is "carrying towels through the damp." What does that mean?
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Question: Why did Agatha pick the book off the shelf in the bookstore over other books?
Answer: A guess: it matched the colour of the walls that she had chosen (red). It's also shown sitting on the shelf, facing outwards, making it more obvious.
Question: I had a Grease Novelbook in 1979 (a book version with movie pictures and most of the script from the full movie popular shortly after the movie's release) and in that, during the end of the pep rally scene (before Frenchie's house where Sandy is crying and talking with Frenchie about Danny), the line Frenchie says ("The only man a girl can depend on is her daddy") has the added line "if he doesn't drink." I then noticed the movie didn't have that last line added. Did the play version ever have that line in it?
Answer: The original Broadway show (early-mid 70s) did not have those lines, and it didn't have that early pep rally scene. Also, in the Broadway play, the sleepover pajama party scene was at Marty's house, not Frenchy's. For the film version of Grease (1978), there were many changes, additions, and omissions, such as the exclusion of Marty's song "Freddy My Love." As for the book versions (novelization, storybook, fotobook) based on the 1978 film, there will also be some minor discrepancies between them and the film, regarding changed or deleted dialogue, or production photos from cut scenes.
Ok. That explains it. I also remember after the end of the "Sandra Dee" song in the novel book Rizzo said, "Don't sweat it - forget it," whereas in the movie she said, "Some people are just so touchy."
Question: How was it possible for the hostage to livestream the event, have the laptop open, and even though the hijackers were walking up and down the carriage, no one noticed this?
Answer: The hijackers did notice it. There's a scene where they notice it: look at the girl on the screen and then laugh. They get kicks from toying with people, which is why they didn't smash the laptop and just let the guy keep using it.
You're probably right.
Question: Jefferson doesn't know who the vice president was during Eisenhower's presidency. Why does this convince Al that Jefferson is a real American?
Answer: The joke being that Americans don't know their own history, whereas foreigners do. When applying for US citizenship (naturalization), non-exempt applicants have to take a civics test that tests the person's knowledge of US government and history.
Answer: Although the vice presidency is the second-highest U.S. office, it is also a relatively non-powerful one. Few VPs were notable or distinctive while in office, and most are forgotten once their term ended unless they later assumed the presidency, such as Teddy Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, and Lyndon Johnson. A few VPs who became president, such as Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur, John Tyler, and Millard Fillmore, are barely remembered for holding either office.
Question: When Jack and Rose encounter Thomas Andrews in the smoking room, he gives Rose a life jacket and says, "Good luck to you, Rose." Does he not really care whether Jack lives or dies? Why not wish them both good luck?
Answer: Would add to the other accurate answer that Andrews would have little concern about Jack because he is a male third-class passenger. It's unlikely he knew about Jack and Rose's romance. Andrews also knows there are not enough lifeboats, and women and the first-class passengers will get top priority in leaving the ship. He would consider Jack's fate already sealed, while Rose can be saved.
Question: In the end of the movie, when Aiden's dad was picking him up and taking him to the car, who was the black figure in the room staring out the window at 1 hour and 36 minutes into the movie? (01:36:44)
Answer: It's presumably one of the officers we saw in the previous scene since they've been through a relatively traumatic event. It's likely they were given a ride to pick up their son. (Alternately, it's also entirely possible that it's a crew member who got caught in the shot since they're out of focus in the background.)
Question: Is it ever said how Vada's mother died? Harry mentions she met Vada and lived a couple of days after her birth.
Answer: She still died due to complications from childbirth, despite living another couple of days. Hence why Vada believes that she "killed" her mother. Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII, also died from complications, but she lived for two weeks after.
Question: Why did Mr Guggenheim and the other guy, who was with him, just sit in the grand staircase waiting for the water? I can understand Captain Smith locking himself in the wheelhouse (captain goes down with the ship), but why Mr Guggenheim? Was he a person of any particular importance, or had he just given up on trying to get into a lifeboat?
Answer: This happened in real life. Benjamin Guggenheim (a member of the prominent Guggenheim mining family; his brother, Solomon, founded the Guggenheim Museum in New York) assisted with the loading of women and children into the lifeboats and helped maintain order. He realized there wouldn't be enough space for himself and many others, and that the ship would inevitably sink, so once the lifeboats had gone, he dressed in his finest, made himself a drink, and accepted his fate. His line about being "prepared to go down like a gentleman" is reportedly accurate, as well. The other man is (or at least, in reality, was) his secretary, Victor Giglio.
Also, during a crisis, some people take a "business as usual" approach. They cling to a last shred of hope that everything will be all right, somehow, so they want to behave as normally as possible. I think it's one reason why the band kept playing music.
Question: Did Leo Howard actually do all the skateboarding tricks that are in the show or were they stunt doubles?
Answer: Stunt doubles.
Question: Can you please tell me which type of kung fu Cheng used? I really like his style with his footwork (the spins he makes after punching or kicking, I think it's because of changing to the dominating side). If it's a mix of more styles, would you please name them if you recognize any of them?
Answer: Cheng uses a type of Chinese kung fu called "Wushu." This is a modern Chinese martial art with a training program, incorporating mixed martial arts exercises from famous traditional martial arts such as Shaolin, Wudang, Nga Mi, Khong Dong, Wing Chun, and Tai Chi.
Question: Is it really possible for a man, even one as strong as John is implied to be in the movie, in a weakened condition, to throw a steel pipe with such force as to penetrate all the way through a large man and into the wall of something behind? The only time I've heard of anything remotely like that happening is in tornado and cat 5 hurricane winds (hurricane Andrew was powerful enough to blow timber planks through the trunks of pine trees).
Answer: No, that is not realistically possible. It is not a steel pipe since Matrix simply rips it off, breaking it. It's made of some sort of plastic like PVC. That is definitely not hard or sharp enough to penetrate a body, nor the boiler behind him. Even if it was, you'd need a whole lot more force than a human can produce from that distance to fully penetrate a person.
Question: Why was the Hulk never called the Hulk, and who was he accused of killing?
Answer: The Hulk is accused of killing Dr. David Banner and Dr. Elenia Marks. After the lab explodes, McGee sees the Hulk emerge carrying the body of Dr. Marks, so he assumed the creature is guilty. It was McGee who caused the explosion. After following the trail of evidence of the Hulk to the lab, he hides when David and Elania arrive. In a darkened storage closet, he knocks over a bottle of flammable liquid. He confronts them, then is forced to leave by Banner, who says, "Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." When Banner reenters the lab, it explodes, caused by the Hulk when it went on a rampage trashing the lab, causing many electrical systems to catch fire, thus igniting the flammable liquid.
Answer: The phrase "Incredible Hulk" is coined by Jack McGee in one of his tabloid articles. He's trying to find proof of the Hulk because no one takes his story seriously, so probably nobody takes his name for the creature seriously either.
Question: Maybe I missed some dialogue, but why exactly did Voller think the fissure they were flying towards would take him to his desired date in 1939? I get that the dial detects fissures in time, but why would he think that particular fissure was the one he needed to travel through?
Answer: There is a bit of dialogue en route to the airport when Voller sets the instrument that says, "the first hand sets the destination," as in the time you want to travel back to. This would make the device completely absurd in principle if true (that's why I wanted to mark it as a plot hole/stupidity). Since it's supposed not to open portals but just detect them, it can't be that there are infinite portals for every moment in time you can choose to go back to (and they even close). The sky, while vast, is not infinite. We then find out that it is a trick since it is set to actually bring you to just one destination, but they don't know it yet.
Answer: We're supposed to accept that the dials are pointing to the rift in the sky, which is what makes this plot decision so ridiculous. There's no common reference point (magnetism wouldn't be discovered until and used in compasses for another 2,000 years), and the dial is 2-dimensional. Thus, you could turn your body 90 degrees and aim it down, and there's no indication from the movie that the dial would in any way turn to face the previous rift.
I think, technically, the fact that there's no common reference point is addressed when Voller mentions that the coordinates given are 'Alexandrine coordinates'... which I think might be another anachronism since all I can think it means is the ones used by Ptolemy in his Geography, which was hundreds of years after Archimedes' time. The dial is 2-dimensional, but there are 3 hands. It can be argued that when all 3 align, it does show that the direction you are headed is definitely correct, including the height you are pointing at. I definitely think it's entirely implausible, but the way the unknown mechanism works, attuned to something that does not exist such as time rifts, is kind of a lesser problem. Even if it is supposed to work by some mathematical principle, and then acts as some dowser rod.
Not true. The Chinese were using compasses around 200 BC, and Vikings are believed to have had them as well.
Answer: As they approach the rift, all three of the dial's hands are suddenly pointing towards it. If that is no clear indicator, then what is?
The dial pointing towards it only indicates that they are heading towards the fissure. How does that give Voller any certainty that this is the exact fissure he needs to travel through in order to reach his desired destination, especially considering it ended up not being the one he needed? Were there coordinates in Basil's diary that indicated where the exact fissure would open? I only recall the date of August 20 (?), 1939 being written down.
Only the time is written in the diary (the date you mention is next to August 20, 1969, which would be then supposedly when the finale of the movie takes place). For the coordinates, you need to have the device, which, apparently, allows you also to input with firsthand your desired destination. Voller couldn't know that to concoct his plan, though, since he did not have the diaries at the beginning of the movie.
Answer: Fox witnessed Luthor shoot Cyrus. Chances are, during their trip home before Fox was killed, he mentioned it to Swan and the other warriors.
There is no evidence that Fox told anyone about the shooting. The Warriors don't learn that they were accused of it until they encounter The Lizzies. To restate what the other person said in an earlier comment, Swan would have tried to call off the hit had he known they were framed by the Rogues.
Answer: The first person to falsely accuse you of shooting someone is very likely the one who did it.
There is nothing in the conversation that would allow Swan to know Luther actually did it. If he knew earlier, he would have gone to the Riff's himself.
Question: Why does everyone always call John Redcorn by his full name?
Answer: I don't think this has been explained in any episode. At some point, he most likely asked people to use his full name. Perhaps he wants to highlight the "Redcorn" at all times, out of pride for his family history.
Answer: John is a common enough name that they might know several other Johns that we've never met, so they're being specific.
Question: Why is Luanne being pursued for back rent that her parents owe? I know she is eighteen or nineteen years old, a legal adult, but that doesn't automatically make her responsible for paying family members' bills.
Answer: Luanne's parents are the kind of people who might have signed their daughter's name to the lease. A decent lawyer could get her out of it, but that's beyond the scope of this episode.
Also, she might have chosen to sign that lease if she was 18 at the time. Maybe her parents asked her to do it, and she didn't fully understand the responsibility.
Question: Why, in the beginning scene, would they be playing basketball on the rooftop with the hoop set up with no screen or rail to protect them and the ball from going over? The premise makes no sense. (00:00:01 - 00:01:53)
Answer: There is no in-film explanation for this nonsensical scene. It's a dilapidated hoop on a roof, so maybe we can assume there used to be safety netting there at some point, but it has since been removed or destroyed. The real-world answer is the filmmakers wanted the death to be a freak accident. It also had to be something Shep would be legally blamed for (the police thought Shep threw Nutso from the roof) and something that would make Shep feel immense guilt (he bet Nutso couldn't jump higher than he could). And of course, to make it topical to the plot of the film, it also had to occur during a basketball game. This is apparently the best they could come up with, and we are left with a classically ridiculous death scene that makes no sense at all.
Question: What song is Professor Lupin playing while everyone is learning Riddikulus?
Answer: "Hot Liquorice" (that's the correct spelling) by Dick Walter, though it seems somewhat intermixed with the film's soundtrack composed by John Williams.
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Answer: Mr Tanner actually asks Alf, "Why are you carrying our towels through the den?" The streaming subtitles are wrong when it substitutes "damp" for "den" twice. It's possible the error originated from the VHS or DVD, which occurs often.
Super Grover ★
Yes, I was re-watching episodes, and I heard "den" the next time. Thank you for answering, though.