Question: Was it ever established how long Howard spent on the International Space Station? I ask because some story arcs that begin with one season's finale pick up immediately where the last season left off (S4-S5), but others take place more or less in real time, such as when the guys went on a scientific expedition to the Arctic Circle. So did Howard actually spend three months on the ISS, or was there a "time jump"?
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: This question is for those who have read the books. Voldemort never learned that his mother bewitched his father into marrying her - he thinks that his father abandoned him and his mother after learning that she was a witch. Has J.K. Rowling ever stated why she never wrote him learning the truth, or what his reaction would have been?
Answer: I think the problem would be the lack of people who actually would know about it would be amazingly small. Dumbledore tracked his family history down because of his middle name. His mother died young and Voldemort killed his own father so nobody would have been able to give him the answer. Not that he likely would have believed it or cared anyway.
Answer: J.K. Rowling has stated however that if Merope Gaunt had lived and raised Tom Riddle Jr. with love, he might not have become the evil wizard that everybody would fear.
This is not an answer. The question is about Voldemort never learning about his mother's deception - that she bewitched his father into marrying her. He falsely believed that his father abandoned him and his mother.
Question: After going through the first storm they lose track of the incoming plane they set the barricade up for. The after a minute the plane lands and the pilot is brought in by stretcher. The commander looks at the young inexperienced pilot like something was wrong. Why did the director choose to do that? I think the pilot aged but they took it out of the movie for time or something else. Any ideas?
Answer: First, he had a look of concern for the young pilot under his command. Second, he is also confused as to what exactly happened. They believe it was a first strike weapon, that the world was ending.
Question: What did Batman mean when he said to Bane "Then you have my permission to die"? I know he was repeating what Bane said to him earlier, but does that mean he was going to kill him?
Chosen answer: It was probably on his mind. Not sure if he would have actually done it, but he needed Bane to tell him where the trigger was, after that maybe he guessed Bane would die anyway, having failed his mission. It could be either that Batman kills him indirectly, he commits suicide or he gets the death penalty. (Also, plausibly, he could have been hinting that Bane will inevitably die of natural causes after a long, dissatisfying life in prison, a reversal of how Bane attempted to defeat Batman in the same fashion).
Question: What accent did Sweeney have? It sounded like he was from a foreign country but moved to America when he was young.
Chosen answer: It's Avery Brooks' natural Indiana accent.
Question: How do Dent and Gordon find out that Lau was the one who took the mob's funds? And also how do they find out that Lau transferred the funds to Hong Kong?
Chosen answer: Probably when Lau confessed to everything after Batman, acting above the law, kidnapped him from Hong Kong and brought him back to Gotham.
Question: In the ballroom scene a haunting waltz is being played. What's the music?
Answer: Beautiful Love by Victor Young.
Question: At the end of the movie, what does Chip mean when he says "Somebody has to kill the babysitter"?
Answer: Earlier in the movie during a flashback of the Cable Guy's childhood, when his Mom was going out she called the television "Mr. Babysitter". He means he's going to disrupt the television signal to give all the boys and girls whose parents use television as a babysitter a chance.
Question: Since this is set years after the "Pocky-clipse" (as called by the kids), while Max and a lot of others have long hair, why do they mostly not show any facial hair? Given there are some knives and razors, but it would seem that shaving wouldn't be high on the list of survival.
Chosen answer: Actually grooming would be somewhat important, if only for general comfort. Unruly facial hair can be quite uncomfortable and gets dirty easily. It is entirely plausible that men would regularly shave if they had a means to even in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Question: What was Basil referring to with his response of "I'm sorry it wasn't wide enough for you - a lot of the English cars have steering wheels" to Mr Hamilton's remarks about the M5 motorway?
Chosen answer: Mr Hamilton referred to the M5 as a "little backstreet". In response Basil sarcastically apologises for it being narrow, despite being a multi-lane motorway, and makes a comment about cars in the UK having steering wheels because American roads are often built straight.
Question: If the military and Morgan Freeman create an area of containment and quarantine, stopping anyone who tried to escape, how did they stop all the animals with the red virus patches from spreading the parasite?
Chosen answer: Morgan Freeman had men around the "blue zone" as he called the quarantine. They killed any animals that left the zone.
Question: What happened to Jimmy's brother in the movie?
Answer: It's never fully revealed, it seems David and his brother were playing, probably doing something that requires parental supervisor and was unable to save him. Again, probably David was the older one and his father believed he should have known better.
Question: When R2D2 is stunned by the Jawas and falls over, did Kenny baker do the stunt? Me and my brother have argued about this for years.
Chosen answer: Most likely, not. The 'costume' Kenny Baker wore had what look like hoses running from the center body to the feet of R2 (to conceal his legs). Looking at the scene in question, those hoses cannot be seen. On that note, it looks like a third leg (and not the center one shown elsewhere) is visible behind R2 and probably used to push him over.
Question: The Impulse engine on the back of the Dorsal section is lit during orbits, which is normal. However, should that engine not be lit, like the ones on the back of the saucer, when it is in Warp?
Chosen answer: There's no reason for the impulse engines to be active when the ship is at warp speed. Within the show, warp is an entirely different method of propulsion (i.e. Warping space around the ship) and doesn't require thrust, which is what the impulse engines provide.
Question: Is Blunted Jaguar Paw's brother? Jaguar Paw refers to him as brother and it seems they are brothers, but Flint Sky does not refer to him as his son.
Answer: Jaguar Paw calls him father just before his throat is cut.
He calls Flint Sky Father because we know that relationship by the time he is killed.
Question: I want to know how the scene with the Nazis dumping the man in the wheelchair off the balcony was done. How did the man/stuntman manage to survive this fall?
Chosen answer: In the scene, we see the old man being lifted in his wheelchair. Then, there is a cut-away to the family watching from across the street. Then we see someone being dumped from the chair and falling, but we never see him hit the ground. My guess from watching the scene is that the stunt person fell into a cushion which was removed in post-production. Generally, when confronted with a question such as this, I like to refer it to someone who would be in the know - in this case, the stunt team on the film. I looked up that team on IMDb.com, and searched for the individuals on Facebook. Of the twenty or so stunt people and coordinators, I could only find three with unique profiles that made me think I might have the correct individuals: Janusz Kadlubowski, Stella Kuczynska and Zbigniew Modej. I posed your question to them. However, given that I am not connected on Facebook to any of them, I have no idea if or when they would see my message and respond. I will update this answer if I receive further information.
Question: When Barry refers to the stop sign in his room he says "The stop sign where she wanted to go left and I wanted to go right, so I got nervous, went straight." As he was talking about Lainey, soon after Murray says "Well, let's get in the damn car. And bring the stop sign. We got to put it back. It's a serious crime." Is Barry's quote some kind of sexual innuendo, or is it that he actually, accidentally drove into it because of Lainey?
Answer: Not a sexual innuendo at all. Barry drove into it because he couldn't make a decision to either go his way or Lainey's way.
Question: Philadelphia City Hall is a massive building with thick walls. Right after their arguments in the Kendall case Hanks and Washington are seen in the elevator using their cell phones. Cell phones didn't get great reception in 1993 anyway, so would they have worked at all in an elevator inside a massive building?
Chosen answer: Probably not. But occasionally phones have worked in places they shouldn't. a signal gets through, somehow. In the movies, anything is possible as long as it moves the plot along.
Timeslides - S3-E5
Question: At The End of this episode we see Rimmer accidentally create a reality in which he is alive. He then kills himself by punching boxes full of explosives shortly after. So why, in future episodes, do the other guys still claim that Rimmer died in the explosion that killed all Red Dwarf staff? Wouldn't they remember it as Rimmer killing himself in this new way instead?
Chosen answer: Although Rimmer is dying a different way in this episode, the crew were not paying attention to his death. When Lister, the Cat and Kryten are brought back due to Rimmer changing the timeline, they are too puzzled to pay attention to anything that is going, so they did not notice that Rimmer was alive. After the explosion that kills Rimmer, the Cat asks Lister "What was he saying?" to which Lister shrugs his shoulders, implying that he did not know. Assumedly, Holly would have brought Rimmer back as a hologram once again shortly afterwards and the crew probably wouldn't have known that he was alive after changing the timeline.
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Chosen answer: Howard went up on Expedition 31 and came back on 32. If the BBT universe holds to the same schedule as the real one, he would have been up there for approximately two months.