Answered 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: One thing that always confused me is why was it necessary to jettison Discovery after it was used as a booster rocket? Why couldn't they just keep it attached to the Leonov as they made their escape?

Answer: If they didn't, any further manoeuvring would require much more fuel. They would be moving the mass of two ships.

Answer: They needed to lighten their load, to make it go faster. In Back to the Future Part III, after hijacking the train, the Doc and Marty unhooked the passenger cars to lighten the load.

Question: When Luke drops formula 86 into the Cress soup, why did the cook witch not turn into a mouse immediately? The Grand High Witch said that more than five doses causes an instant transformation into a mouse and Luke dumped the whole bottle in the soup which contained five hundred doses so the witch should have turned into a mouse immediately.

Answer: The potion was made for little children, not adults. It would have taken longer to go through their entire system.

Mama's Baby, Carlton's Maybe - S3-E5

Question: Cindy seemed fine with the Banks' wanting a paternity test, but Carlton later reveals that he is a virgin. So what exactly was Cindy planning to do? The test would reveal that Carlton was not her son's father, and she would need to admit to the Banks that she lied. Why stay there and wait for a negative test?

Answer: The major plot point was Carlton was willing to let his family believe he was the father rather than admit he was a virgin. As long as he kept lying about not being a virgin, Cindy wouldn't necessarily have to lie, she could just claim she wasn't sure and thought it was Carlton's.

Bishop73

Answer: Cindy was taking advantage of Carlton. He had liked her for years and his parents are wealthy. She wanted to persuade him to marry her and raise the child as his own, no matter what his parents said about the paternity test.

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.

Answer: The first actress, Cloris Leachman appeared in the TV movie which ended up being the pilot for the series. At the time, Leachman was already starring in her own TV series "Phyllis" (a spin off her role in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"). This was actually the 2nd TV movie meant to be a pilot and the first one wasn't picked up. It's unlikely she thought the show would be picked up. After season 1, in which Carolyn Jones played the role, ABC was slow to make a decision to pick up the series for season 2 and CBS picked up the series. When CBS picked up the series, they changed the time setting of the show and replaced all the actors, with the exception of Carter and Waggoner (with Waggoner playing a different role technically), resulting in Beatrice Straight being cast.

Bishop73

Answer: It is typical to recast non-regular cast members in a TV series, usually because they are no longer available or another actor was better suited for the part. Non-regular actors move on to other acting jobs during a series' run. Cloris Leachman, Carolyn Jones, and Beatrice Straight, who played Hippolyta, were well-known character actresses who were billed as "Guest Stars." Cloris Leachman was only in the show's pilot episode and was on the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Carolyn Jones played Hippolyta during Season 2, then was cast in the TV mini-series "Roots." Beatrice Straight played Hippolyta in the final season.

raywest

Question: What does the waitress call the sheriff in the cafe scene when she gives him the sandwich?

Answer: She says "diablo and doc" referring to the diablo sandwich and Dr. Pepper he ordered.

Bishop73

Question: When McClane gets out of the dump truck to try to lift the ramp up, he closes the door and then gives the door a push and stares at it briefly before running to the ramp. Does he recognise the logo on the door or something?

Answer: If you listen closely, just as he closes the door there is a slight "boom" sound which is more than likely Simon blowing the dam up with the bomb. He more than likely heard that noise and thought it was the trucks door when he closed it.

Answer: He appears to just be inspecting the damage he did to the door when he shot it up a few scenes earlier.

Phaneron

Question: What happened to Shane's mom? In one scene we learn that she died because she was sick but what did she have that caused her to die?

Answer: Just like Frank, Shane's mom never ate healthily. Instead, like Frank, she probably just ate whatever she wanted, so she most likely died from a heart attack from eating unhealthy foods or from obesity.

Question: What was Vincent's personal problem, and when he had it, why did he ask for fruit?

Answer: Probably diarrhoea, and he needs fruit for fibre. The "special..." he says he doesn't need to wear anymore might be diapers.

Answer: Most likely a sexual dysfunction, asking for fruit was a ploy to avoid answering any more personal questions.

Question: How did the diamond get inside of the skull?

Answer: The pirate was most likely holding it when he died. As centuries past and the body decomposed, it most likely fell into the body.

Question: Do any of the villains ever realise that Conan is the kid from the village that they raided in the beginning?

Answer: When Conan is captured after failing to kill Thulsa Doom, They ask why he wanted to kill him. Conan shouts, "You killed my mother! You killed my father! You killed my people, you took my father's sword!" Doom replied, "It must have been when I was younger." It meant nothing to him, a forgotten memory, completely meaningless to him.

Question: Johnny had not yet mastered his powers, so how did he know his heat shield would protect him and the little girl on the bridge?

Answer: He didn't, it was a instinct to protect the little girl and it was a reflex action that his powers turned on at that moment. When you are in a dangerous situation, you instinctively pray for a miracle to happen.

Question: At the end of the final chase scene when they're on the bridge, why do Briana and Reyes saying they can't outrun them and that they have no more room left? Couldn't they just keep driving on the bridges in hopes that they get away? Or when they do get off the bridge, just go through another chase?

Answer: So the thought would be that the bridge was really pretty damn long, they were already gaining on the cars that were pulling the heavy safe slowing them down significantly. It's not out of reason to easily assume that they would have been overtaken had the chase continued on the bridge. Dom and Brian were only even able to get away from all the cops initially by the help of Roman and Han and by making constant quick turns to get away from the straightaways.

Question: Why is Dr Nichols helping Dr Richard Kimble? Why would he give him money? Why would Nichols give Kimble an opportunity at the hospital to investigate the drug, when he himself is in on the conspiracy?

Answer: Two answers. One, Nichols pretends to support Kimble and say he is innocent (knowing he really is) and otherwise avoids interfering to divert suspicion away from himself. He presumes Kimble will be captured before he figures everything out. Secondly, it's a plot device so the audience believes he is Kimble's ally and will be unaware until the end that Nichols was involved in the conspiracy.

raywest

Question: How did the big, black vampire die? I know that he melted after Harvey Keitel ran him through with the shotgun, but I didn't see anything used that would actually "kill" a vampire. There was no holy water, crosses, etc. used on him.

Answer: Well Keitel turned the shotgun into a cross. So he touched the cross and melted.

lionhead

Question: What did Loki mean when he said he was burdened with glorious purpose?

Answer: He feels it is his birthright to be a ruler, so being a ruler would be the glorious purpose, and the drive to become one is his burden.

Phaneron

Question: How is this possible that Jim (the guy whose right arm was bitten off and eaten by shark) didn't bleed out to death?

Answer: Because the tourniquet that was applied slowed the blood loss substantially until the emergency paramedics arrived to help.

Ssiscool

Question: About 15 minutes in why does the view in the rear view mirror show the police car and a semi being driven from the right-hand side and the police car pulling off the left side of the road? I think this is a double negative. This is not what you will see in a car mirror. (01:15:50)

Answer: What is shown is what you would see in the rearview mirror. Being in the mirror, it's a reverse image. Think about if you were looking at the cars pulled over head on/facing the driver, the road and the driver would be on your right. Shots in the mirror though shows the road and the driver on your left, the reverse.

Bishop73

Question: When Johnny knocks down two pins, he says to mark it a strike. Stephanie says that he only hit two pins but Johnny retorts it's a technical strike because the Pink Ladies were late and to check the bowling rules. Was is it really a technical strike or was Johnny using it as an excuse to cheat?

Answer: If he's not making it up, then it would have to be very specific bylaw for whatever local bowling league they're in (or to which Johnny is referencing). Most rules state a player has until the 4th or 5th frame to show up and can still play. If a player doesn't show up by whatever designated frame, they simply aren't allowed to bowl, or the team could be disqualified. No extra points are awarded to the other team.

Bishop73

Question: Roughly how much time passes from Connie's wedding to the final scene when Neri closes the door on Kay?

Answer: Ten years.

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