Best sci-fi TV questions of all time

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Red Dwarf picture

Kryten - S2-E1

Question: When Holly is saying about how he has changed music he says that because of the 2 new notes he's made instruments would be bigger. "Triangles will have four sides. Piano keyboards the length of zebra crossings. Course, women will have to be banned from playing the cello." I don't understand the joke about the cello part. Could someone please tell me what he means?

Answer: The cello is a large four-stringed instrument, which, when it is played, stands vertically on the floor between the player's legs (assuming they are seated). If it is to grow as large as the other instuments mentioned will, it would require a rather unseemly lack of femininity to be able to encompass it with the legs.

Rooster of Doom

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The Twilight Zone picture

Deaths-Head Revisited - S3-E9

Question: When Becker is reading the list of indictments to Lutze, what were indictments four and five? Lutze was screaming so loudly I couldn't hear them.

Answer: #4: That he did personally murder at least 14 (Jews). The last word I couldn't quite hear because of the screams, but I hear an "-oz" sound at the end, so it's an educated guess. #5: That he did sign and put into effect specific orders calling for the gassing and cremating of one million human beings.

Bishop73

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The X-Files picture

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Question: In a vast majority of the episodes, whenever Mulder and Scully investigate some mysterious or paranormal phenomenon, Mulder believes that some unknown force is responsible but Scully always has a rational explanation for what is happening. In other episodes, when Scully herself is caught up in something mysterious, she is the believer but Mulder is the skeptic. In those episodes, why would Mulder be skeptical about an unexplained phenomenon considering that he a was witness to his own sisters abduction and he saw many strange things that defied explanation while working for the F.B.I.?

Answer: As he stated many times throughout the series, Mulder needed Scully to be sober and skeptical. Whenever Scully's skepticism wavered and she started questioning her own rationality, Mulder would try to restore her sense of skepticism, because he needed her to be clear-thinking.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: A variety of reasons. Just because Scully saw something unusual does not mean that it was. Mulder always needs concrete proof before he'll believe there's some otherworldly explanation for unexplained phenomena. He's too experienced to take a novice's explanation as fact. It is also a plot by device by the writers to switch the tables on the characters to make it more interesting and to let viewers see another side of their relationship.

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Daredevil picture

Reunion - S3-E11

Question: The burial vault which Matt and Karen hide in has the name "Edmond Cleary Cass" on the front of it, shown pretty. Does that name have any significance to the show or Marvel?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: After some research, I can say that no, Cass is not a character of Marvel, nor is he present in the Netflix show. As far as I can tell, it's either a real person, or a random name chosen for the coffin, most likely the former. In another season of Daredevil, the show utilized a real cemetery displaying real names in the tombstones.

Answer: I did a little research too. Interestingly enough I found a Friar named "Edmund Cass" who as far as I could tell is still alive and well. I wonder if that was just a coincidence.

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Counterpart picture

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Question: Why are the computers in the office on "our" side so outdated? Phones aren't, and we see computers elsewhere that are modern. People get visas to come through into the world as a whole, so they'll see technological differences there - why keep the office so behind the times?

Jon Sandys

Answer: Great question, this bothered me too. Throughout the series, both sides take extraordinary measures to protect their technologies, but several times allow people to enter on official visas with unsupervised access. This is a plot mistake.

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Fireball XL5 picture

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Question: In various episodes, Steve Zodiac, Venus and Matt use odd slang, such as "tootie" and "tooties" and "toot," usually in a demeaning or disparaging way. Venus says, "I'm a tootie!" when she forgets to make the coffee, for example, and Steve says "I'm a tootie!" when he forgets to press a certain button or something. In at least one episode, Matt is called "a cheating old toot." I gather that saying "toot" or "tootie" is like saying "fool" or "doofus" or something similar. Is this slang that producer Gerry Anderson just arbitrarily dreamed up? Or is it part of an English dialect that I've never heard elsewhere?

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: Been living in the UK, man and boy, for 70 years and "tootie" is not a word we have ever used. So why Gerry Anderson uses it is a complete mystery.

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Answer: Yes. Many things that would have been in the sixth season would have had Norman Osborne returning from limbo and reclaiming the title of the Green Goblin, Richard Fisk, the son of "The Kingpin" Wilson Fisk would return as a crime lord known as "The Rose", Ghost Rider would have appeared to help Spider-Man stop Dormammu from returning to Earth and Madame Web and Spider-Man would rescue Mary Jane from limbo.

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Answer: Kirk was getting his physical and Dr. McCoy probably turned off communications, because if he hadn't, Kirk would have left and headed straight for the bridge, leaving McCoy irritated.

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Answer: Worf: Curzon's name is an honored one among my people. Dax: (in Klingon) Yeah, but I'm a lot better looking than he was.

Sierra1

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Titans picture

Nightwing - S2-E13

Question: So Dick breaks out of prison...and then stays out with no problem? They know his name, who he is, that he's escaped, now he's just hanging out as usual? Did I miss something?

Jon Sandys

Answer: He was granted a full pardon.

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Henry Danger picture

Opposite Universe - S2-E13

Question: Why does Henry freak out when he realises that Opposite Piper and Henry's dad are going to be eliminated? When the opposites are eliminated, does that mean that the real versions will be eliminated too?

Answer: No.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation picture

Skin of Evil - S1-E23

Question: Near the end when they are in the holodeck for the memorial ceremony for Lt. Yar, Dr. Crusher's uniform is green and seconds later it is blue. After watching it several times, it does not appear to be a trick of the light. What happened here? Why would she have on a green uniform in the first place?

con8iv

Chosen answer: The uniform does indeed change colour. It may be due to the need for a green screen in part, or perhaps some lighting altering our perception. That being said, it certainly looks green at the start, blue thereafter.

The show has been done in HD now and not sure if they fix this problem.

Dan23

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Star Trek: Picard picture

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Question: How do the "door transporters" outside Starfleet work? People just seem to walk straight into them and vanish, a) faster than normal transporters, and b) without any indication they're controlling where they're going. There's no sign saying where each door connects to, are people just hoping for the best?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: My guess is that they go to 1 place and they can't chose where to go. Like a highway without exits, you just end up where the highway stops.

lionhead

Answer: I assume they get sent directly from those 'Doors' to a Central Transporter hub, from there they can request to be beamed to their desired destination.

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Power Rangers Zeo picture

Instrument of Destruction - S1-E12

Question: Throughout the entire Power Rangers series, Skull has shown to scream in fear whenever confronted by a terrifying monster or a group of them. In this episode, how was Skull, who was dressed up as the Phantom Pianist at the time, able to keep his fear in check when the Cogs came to get him?

The question was how was Skull able to keep his fear in check when the Cogs came to get him. Not what episode it happened in.

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Answer: The initial number is 0101100101 = 357. When reflected in a mirror, however, it reads 1010011010 = 666 (the number of the Beast). It is a parody of The Shining, where the words Red Rum are seen as the word murder in the mirror.

Sierra1

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Stargate: Atlantis picture

Hot Zone - S1-E13

Question: The protective suits Teyla & Sheppard put on to keep them from getting infected have a "helmet" piece that does not appear to have an airtight seal; the bottom of the hood just sort of lies on top of the body suit (it's not even tucked in). Is there some way they would be protected from the airborne virus even with what appears to be a very viable opening?

Answer: Those are actually suits that protect from hazardous chemicals. They are cheaper for the prop department and look nearly the same as biohazard suits. A real biohazard suit would indeed have a helmet that seals to the neck.

Grumpy Scot

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Chosen answer: Because he's an idiot. From the story point of view, they needed the vault to actually be physically open so that the release of the virus would be a credible threat. Unfortunately, this required that Peter conveniently forget that he could simply walk through The Wall and use his telekinesis to tear the door open instead. Peter's increasingly large arsenal of abilities, where he ended up having pretty much any ability required for any situation, led to a situation where it became necessary to either have Peter apparently forget that he had a given power, as with the vault door scene, or become naively trusting, as with his refusal to scan Adam's mind to confirm his good intent. This problem, which simply made Peter look increasingly dumb as the show progressed, may well have been a key factor in the decision to severely reduce his ability during season three.

Tailkinker

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Chosen answer: He simply survived the crash without much explanation of exactly how. However, he hid from everyone after the crash to find out his truth, so everyone just thought he died. (This is common is comics where someone is presumed dead or in a situation "no one could survive" and then later shows up alive and the how isn't explained).

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Answer: Probably to save on costs of filming the same scene. In the reused shots they have always morphed so you can't see the actors. They just have to pay them to do voice-overs rather than the entire scene.

Ssiscool

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Supergirl picture

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Question: Does Kat ever wise up again to Kara's secret? That and why did she (Flockhart) leave the show only to come back?

Rob245

Answer: Yes, s02e22. As Kara leaves her office, she said "go get them, Supergirl" to herself. After season 1, the show switched from a CBS production to a CW production and filming moved from L.A. to Vancouver. Flockhart isn't really a fan of traveling to shoot, and didn't want to be away from her family for so long.

Bishop73

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