Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: How can Michael possibly know how to drive a car if he's been locked away in an insane asylum since the age of six?

Answer: He observed Loomis enough times when he drove him to hearings over the years.

Rob245

Answer: He likely saw his parents drive before he killed his sister and remembered it. After all, in America 96% of people drive automatics which would be a lot easier to understand at that age than a manual (stick shift).

I'm not sure where you got your random 96% number. But that sounds like a figure from 2020 where less than 4% of vehicles sold are manual. This film takes place in 1978 (where Michael would have been 6 in 1963). Even in the late 90's, more than 25% of cars sold were manuals.

Bishop73

Question: Was Nick supposed to kill Laurel in Boston?

Answer: He was supposed to kill a politician's girlfriend, because the politician supported the IRA, a dangerous politician who never had to see bloodshed with his own eyes. Nick couldn't kill him because they have mutual friends and this might be risky for their own interests; turning friends against them. So he was assigned to kill the girlfriend as a warning. While I've not seen the Godfather; I believe it's similar to the whole waking up with your horse's head in your bed kind of warning.

Danny Duignan

Answer: No, he was going to assassinate someone in Boston but it wasn't Laurel. It was the girlfriend of a politician in Boston who was funding the IRA.

Answer: Sleazy Vance seduced Sara's friend Casey and claimed he used Hitch's services to meet her, even though Hitch had refused to work with him. Sara thought Hitch was a predator who helped men prey on vulnerable woman and dumped him.

Brian Katcher

Question: What was Justin Tarr's (Eddie) line? Outside Enrico's "Remember Sashu"? Was that the name?

Answer: I think so. Kind of a throwaway line probably to cement that he was an informant and trading in favors was expected. I always felt Bullitt's response, "I'll try." was pretty weak.

Answer: Soft Shoe - a fence, one who deals in " hot" or stolen merchandise.

Question: Professor Oberon (Bethany) is allergic to heat, sun, and sand. So why doesn't he die in the desert, like all the other characters do when they come in contact with their weaknesses?

Answer: He didn't die instantly because he didn't consume anything like Finbar did with the cake, his weakness to heat, sun, and sand is like the endurance he has and Finbar's strength and speed weakness it is simply a debuff on the character.

Answer: This is a question, not a plot hole. And Bethany wasn't Oberon until later. Fridge was Oberon.

Bishop73

Through the Valley of Shadows - S1-E2

Question: Spoiler alert! At the end of the first episode, Ian attacks Niko with a knife. In self defence, she round house kicks him into an electrical current that kills him. She was reacting out of self defence and he struck first. With that being the case, why in the second episode is she not explaining that to the rest of the crew? She simply says he was a threat to the crew and she killed him... Leaving out completely that it was self defense and he attacked first. Why? It started causing tension immediately with some of the crew ready to turn on her for murder. Why didn't she just tell them he attacked her first and she defended herself?

Quantom X

Answer: First, it should be pointed out that Ian didn't actually attack Niko. He had a knife, made a vague threat about not being as magnanimous as she was to him, and did raise the knife after approaching her, but she kicked him first. But the crew had already mutinied against her. The way I see if, she wanted to make sure the crew thinks she was willing to kill anyone who was a threat to the mission. Whereas if she claimed self defense she would either look weak or a look like a liar.

Bishop73

The crew members that followed Ian might not believe he would try to attack for no reason. She had no marks on her, so if she claimed he attacked her first, she would be lying. Most of the crew that was awake already mistrusted her, so claiming self defense at that moment wouldn't make them start trusting her.

Bishop73

Answer: This is a mistake and should be listed as such.

Voluble

If it can be verified as such, sure. It seems there was a conscious decision by the show makers to do this though.

Quantom X

Even if the writers deliberately turned the captain into an idiot, that doesn't stop it from being a mistake by making an extremely poor decision. There's absolutely no reason to make your crew distrust you when your actions were justified.

Voluble

A great point.

Quantom X

Question: Just before Doc shows his plan with the DeLorean and the train Marty checks the walkie-talkies and Doc confirms it that they work. How are they able to get the walkie-talkies to work in 1885? I'm thinking Doc invented something so Doc and Marty can communicate with each other with them.

Answer: Doc from 1955 told Marty "just in case, fresh batteries for your Walkie-Talkies."

Kevin l Habershaw

Answer: Given Doc's scientific ability (and some suspension of disbelief) it would be easy enough to rig up a makeshift battery that would last long enough. Or indeed they've just got lucky and the walkie-talkies' batteries still have enough life in them. They're not mobile phones, they don't need masts or any infrastructure, they just connect directly to each other.

Jon Sandys

Like you said, walkie-talkies work independently of any infrastructure, which is what I think the question was more about. However, the battery was invented way before 1885 with the first lead acid rechargeable battery being invented in 1859 with pasted electrode batteries being invented in the 1880's. So it's less about Doc rigging up a battery and just using what's already available or charging the batteries it came with (if we are assuming the batteries ran out of power).

Bishop73

The best batteries they had in those days were crude, wet batteries made out of earthenware and filled with sulphuric acid. They were cumbersome, dangerous and didn't have a lot of voltage or low current. Hardly suitable for a walkie-talkie that needs at least 9 volts. But I suppose it's possible Doc had some charged self-made batteries sitting at home to keep them going.

lionhead

Definitely not "crude", certainly not as advanced as today, but the lead acid battery is the same technology a lot of batteries use today. They even had electric vehicles prior to 1885. My point was Doc didn't have to invent technology that didn't exist (as opposed to what some say he would have to do to get an 80's camcorder to play on a 50's TV). They had rechargeable batteries back then so it wouldn't be a stretch that Doc could recharge the batteries he had.

Bishop73

Answer: 1955 Doc got him some new batteries ("Just in case, fresh batteries for your walkie talkie. Oh what about that floating device?") They only used them on the train so the batteries would still be charged. In regards to how they work, they don't rely on phone masts, satellites, WiFi etc as they send radio waves to each other and not to any sort of base station.

Question: How does Daniel go from barely knowing any karate at all to being able to defeat blackbelts and win a tournament in just a few months?

Answer: It's unlikely he could do that in real life, but the movie employs a suspension of disbelief and compresses time in order to tell the story.

raywest

Answer: The win seems implausible, but I think the special training / unique techniques learned from Miyagi were meant to get him a competitive edge or at least quickly bring Daniel to a level of skill that would otherwise have taken years to attain/master. At first, Daniel wasn't even aware the chores Miyagi gave him were designed to give him quick (automatic) reflexes that would enable him to block blows. The final "crane" kick was created for dramatic purposes, but gave an image of an earned victory.

KeyZOid

Question: Why would Ephrain not break bread with Avnar at the end of the film?

Answer: Avner had refused Ephraim's request that he return to Israel and Mossad. When Avner invited Ephraim to dinner to break bread, it was a symbolic gesture to make peace between them. Ephraim's refusal indicates they will never reconcile their differences.

raywest

Question: Why does Luke offer to sell the droids to Jabba the Hutt at the beginning? Would Luke actually have left C-3PO and R2-D2 with Jabba if Jabba had agreed to give Han back in exchange for them?

Answer: The Droids were his inside men. All part of his plan to free Han. Why do you think R2-D2 had the light saber hidden within him? C-3PO knew nothing of it.

Answer: In his hologram message, Luke offered the two droids to Jabba as a "gift" to show his supposed good faith before he arrives to bargain for Han. He was not offering to sell or exchange the droids for Han. Of course, Luke had no intention of giving up the droids and knew Jabba would never hand over Han. Luke's rescue included retrieving Han and the droids.

raywest

Question: When Luke finds R2-D2 after R2 runs away from Luke's home, and then R2 starts beeping something and C-3PO says, "There are several creatures headed from the southeast!" Why then does Luke go to take a closer look instead of simply getting the droids in his speeder and getting out of there?

Answer: Luke is focused on finding Obi Wan and delivering Princess Leia's recorded message, which has intrigued him. Also, Luke is young, adventurous, and rather rash; he's curious to know what he's up against and whether or not it's necessary to flee or stay and continue his mission. He has a Jedi Knight's nature, and they do not run at the first sign of danger.

raywest

Question: Why does Satipo follow Indy into the boobytrap-filled temple at the beginning of the film, if he's aware of the danger and is terrified to go in?

Answer: He was greedy and probably assumed Indy would disable all the boobytraps getting to the idol, thus clearing the way for him. As for Satipo acting afraid, he was probably faking it so Indy would not suspect that he intended to steal the idol and trap him inside the temple. It also deliberately misleads the audience as to his duplicity, making his betrayal an unexpected twist. He may actually have been afraid but was it was the price for obtaining what he wanted.

raywest

Question: What happened to the real Sean Fentress?

Answer: He died in the train bombing along with all the other passengers. If you're asking what happened to the real Sean Fentress in the alternate time line created at the end of the movie, Colter took over his body and continued to live the life that Fentress had been living.

Casual Person

Question: At the end of the last movie, "A New Beginning", Tommy was possessed by Jason (or perhaps he just went completely insane, who knows) and is about to kill Pam. Yet in this film he's (somewhat) normal and in control, and is going to cremate Jason's corpse. So, what happened in between?

Answer: Plotwise, we only see him stalk her with a knife. Most likely Tommy came back to his senses, or alternatively fought off the possession, and set the knife down. The realization of what he'd almost done prompted him to try to cremate Jason's remains, to rid himself of Jason's evil influence once and for all.

Jukka Nurmi

Answer: Tom McLoughlin decided to ignore Part 5 when he became director/writer of Part 6.

Rob245

Question: Right after Richard shaves his beard off, he runs into a cop who shows him his own photo, and he asks if Richard ever saw that face. Richard then says, "Every time I look in a mirror. Except the beard." Why would Richard say that? Isn't that him practically confessing he's the guy they're looking for?

Answer: He's being flagrant, so he'll be the last person the cop suspects. The officer is assuming his man will be nervous and would run like hell when he saw a cop. By being friendly and playing up his resemblance to the suspect, Richard looks like a guy who has no reason to be afraid.

Brian Katcher

Answer: Russian Beer Roulette. The scene is meant to be a recreation/tribute of "The Deer Hunter", where they slapped a lot. Instead of a revolver with one round in the chamber, one beer can is shaken up and put in with unshaken up ones so that the "loser" gets sprayed when opening the wrong one.

Bishop73

Question: Why does Babe throw Szell's diamonds away when he could've kept a few? Why would Szell be stupid enough to risk exposure when going to the diamond district of New York where somebody might recognize him?

Rob245

Answer: The diamonds were "blood money" that were stolen at the expense of many Jewish lives during the holocaust and also resulted in Babe's brother, "Doc" being murdered. For that reason, Babe would not want them, nor would he allow others to profit from them. Szell needed to risk being recognized in New York in order to retrieve the entire cache of diamonds from the bank safe deposit box after his brother, Klaus, was killed. Klaus would retrieve as many diamonds as Szell needed to sell to support himself in South America. Once Klaus was dead, no-one else could gain access to them for Szell, or if they could, probably would have stolen them.

raywest

Answer: The trustee may be knowledgeable about the symptoms and physical characteristics of being poisoned as opposed to a seizure.

raywest

Question: Could someone tell me when Gillian got her sunburn?

Answer: It wasn't shown on camera, but it happened the same night that Roy was also "sunburned." Jillian and other local residents had been going out after dark watching the UFOs as they were buzzing around the county.

raywest

Question: How come Wilson never deflates from the time Chuck opens the parcel to the time it falls off the raft and is swept away? A normal ball would go flat after a period of time, but 4 years on and Wilson is fully pumped. Does Chuck have a pump?

Paulspurs

Answer: Look closely. In the later scenes, Wilson's entire top is gone, now filled with dirt and grass to give him the illusion of hair.

Brian Katcher

Thanks Brian.

Paulspurs

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