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: In the final race, Lightning stops at the finish line and gives up the win to help The King. I don't get why. If he wanted the win and the Dinoco sponsorship, then why not win, then go help him. Sure, he was being a good sportsman, but even in football, you can win, cheer, and then go congratulate the team and say good game. He would have been praised either way.

Answer: It was about choosing personal character and integrity over fame and monetary reward. Lightning McQueen knew that if he won, the ensuing glory and adulation could be shallow and fleeting, as it had been for Doc. McQueen was already selfish and arrogant, and he realised winning the championship would have made him worse. He instead makes a sacrifice to help someone else, stays loyal to his less-glamorous Rust-Eze sponsor, who always supported him, and knows who his true friends are so that, moving forward, he can build a more meaningful life.

raywest

That Hope Is You, Part 2 - S3-E13

Question: At the very end of the episode, why does the Discovery warp instead of using the spore drive? Dilithium is still in short supply, everyone's desperate for it, seems daft to warp places which takes time, rather than jumping directly from place to place.

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: Discovery had plenty of dilithium from before the Burn, and the implication seems to be that the dilithium planet in the Verubin Nebula has essentially ended the galaxy's shortage, although it will take time to mine and distribute it. That said, I suspect the reason Discovery warps at this point is to test out its new warp drive system, replacing the warp core which was ejected inside the Viridian.

Sierra1

Question: What does the Environmental Protection Agency billboard say before they paint it black?

Answer: It's never shown or suggested what the billboard used to say - it looks like the whole thing (including the mention of the EPA) was mocked up, printed and pasted up over an existing or blank billboard by Project Mayhem.

Sierra1

Question: When Costigan finds out that Costello is an FBI informant, why doesn't Costigan speak privately with Costello and reveal to him (Costello) about being an undercover cop in order to get Costello to tell him (Costigan) who the moles are in the police department? Then he (Costigan) can inform Dignam and Queenan, so they can have the moles (Sullivan (and Barrigan)) arrested. If Costello is an FBI informant and Costigan is an undercover cop then they are on the same side, so theoretically they can trust each other.

Answer: Just because Costello is an FBI informant does not mean he is a nice guy. Costello would probably kill Costigan if he knew he was a cop. They are not on the same side at all. Costello also benefits greatly from having Sullivan as a police officer that is loyal to him, so he would never roll over on him.

oldbaldyone

They aren't FBI informants either. They are Boston State Trooper undercover agents.

Question: Just want to make sure... so the bank and the insurance were both used by Dylan's dad? And that's why they took their money because they didn't pay for the dad's death? Correct me please.

Answer: No they took the money to impress their fans and to reveal the bad guys.

Answer: They both ripped off Thaddeus. It was part of the frame.

Question: When Miranda was confined in her cell and Rachel was throwing her from wall-to-wall, the guards found out through the camera monitor thinking she was trying to kill herself. But the time when Miranda escaped and went to Chloe's cell, looked through the glass and noticed the Anima Sola tattoo (sheriff Ryan's chest tattoo)...how was that not captured on tape? I know Chloe was not the main character/story, but that bothered me since she was supposedly getting abused by "the devil" in the institution. Either a security cam inside the cell like Miranda's, or a security cam out in the hall to see the sheriff walking in and out of Chloe's cell.

Answer: The Sheriff either had another accomplice or bribed someone to look the other way. Miranda's husband was his partner, he may have given him access codes or cards to get in and out without being seen.

Question: Why wasn't Jason recovered after Tommy drowned him at the end of part 6?

Answer: Jason was dead at the end of Part 6, the girl used her E.S.P. powers to bring him back to life.

Answer: Any answer is pure speculation, but my personal theory is that people just decided to turn their heads and look the other way. It seemed like Jason was finally dead at the end of part six, so authorities just decided to leave him where he was to rot. At least that's my theory.

TedStixon

Answer: Depending on how old the scan picture is, it's possible for a "hidden twin" to exist. If the scan is from early in the pregnancy then its more likely. (I will add it's been about 10 years since I watched the last season of Friends so I could be wrong).

Ssiscool

Question: How did the T-800 figure out that John's foster parents were dead?

Answer: He tested the T-1000 by asking him about the barking dog. The dog's actual name is Max, so the T-800 asks "What's wrong with Wolfie? I can hear him barking." When the T-1000 answers that "Wolfie is just fine", The T-800 knows that the T-1000 has killed Todd and Janelle. There's actually a deleted scene (reincorporated into the Director's Cut) where the T-1000 then goes outside, kills the dog, and checks the tag to find out if he was duped.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: Grant is secretly investigating the case and already knows that Carson Dyle is not dead, and has probably figured out how Reggie (Hepburn) knew that fact or else it doesn't matter overall to his investigation.

raywest

Question: I understand that Sullivan killed Barrigan at the end of the movie because there needed to be someone dead other than Costigan that Sullivan could pin as the mole in order to evade being caught. But why couldn't Sullivan keep Barrigan alive and then both of them pin Trooper Brown, who Barrigan had killed just a second beforehand, as the mole?

Answer: At this point, Costello is dead, Queenan is dead, Billy is dead and so is Officer Brown. The only person who could tie Sullivan to Costello is Barrigan. I believe it was a matter of tying loose ends and ensuring his "fresh" start.

Answer: It is unlikely that Trooper Brown would be believable as a member of the Irish Mob, considering the fact that he is African American.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: I do not remember seeing Bill and Ted dressed as women (was that actually them?) get in the telephone booth to go get their wives. Was this explained somewhere?

Answer: That was their wives' future selves I believe.

Question: Why did the bank people open the safe in the beginning of the movie? I get that they were trying to demonstrate the safety of the vault, but how does opening it do that? Feels like something written just to help the story move on.

Answer: You answered your own question. It was written that way to serve the plot line, even if it was illogical.

raywest

Question: When the T-1000 is impersonating Janelle, why did he act concerned? When he first meets Janelle and Todd and asks about John, they both look annoyed and even sound angry. Why didn't the T-1000 act this way too after his observation of how they reacted?

Answer: The T-1000 is trying to lure John home, or get him to reveal his location, so why would it act angry? It acts concerned so John will let his guard down. This, of course, backfires, because it acts TOO nice and tips John off.

And is why the T800 confirms his parents are dead by asking about the dog.

Ssiscool

Question: After Alex trades seats with Christa and Blake, Tod complains: "Because of you I have to sit here and watch fucking Stuart Little." What does he mean by this exactly? I know about the movie Stuart Little but I don't see what it has to do with anything.

Answer: Tod was sitting next to Blake and hoping to make some sort of move on her, or at least chat/flirt with her. Since Alex agreed to switch seats, Tod has to sit next to Alex and is saying now he has to watch the in-flight movie, instead of trying to score with Blake.

Bishop73

Question: Would anyone happen to know what song is playing in the background on the radio beside the intelligence officer sitting at the bar when Martin Sheen enters the Generals trailer and is being interviewed by Harrison Ford for the first time?

Answer: It's not any specific song; it's just the kind of generic piano music you'd hear at dinner at a high-class restaurant of the era. Think of scenes in movies, films, etc. set or made in the '50s and '60s, where the characters go to a nice dinner and there's someone at the piano playing unobtrusive music to accompany the food/conversation.

Question: Since it was so cold on the return journey to Earth, why didn't the astronauts wear their full space suits they wore on lift-off to keep warm? The just seem to be wearing their lightweight flight overalls.

stiiggy

Answer: Because they need to be able to move quickly through the confined space of the module, and the full suits would be far too bulky in an emergency.

The older Apollo missions all splashed down with full suits and helmet on. Just the launch suits, not the much bulkier EVA (moon walk) suits.

stiiggy

Answer: According to Jim Lovell in a later interview about the mission, the crew considered putting on their space suits but in addition to them being too bulky, there was concern the suits would make them perspire too much, thus making them wet and even colder. It wasn't quite as cold as depicted in the movie, it was always above freezing, and there were no icy windows or frozen hot dogs.

raywest

According to Lovell in his book, there actually were frozen hot dogs.

Answer: In addition, since they have to leave the ship after landing, the suit filling with water would be very dangerous.

LorgSkyegon

The launch abort mode was for an ocean landing, so they would have been just as vulnerable at the start of the mission. I get your line of thinking though.

stiiggy

Answer: Don't remember the source (the actual movie or one of many books) but I do remember there were only two moon suits on board (the CMP, Swigert, doesn't land on the moon). I believe they decided to suffer together. I misread the question, but the option for wearing the Lunar EVA suits was considered. IIRC, they did actually wear the boots at one point.

kayelbe

Question: I recently submitted a "mistake" which revealed my own misunderstanding. The package that Chuck eventually delivers to Bettina had been sent to her partner in Moscow, which COULD explain its presence on a westbound trans-Pacific flight. Still, would a package sent from Memphis to Moscow be routed through southeast Asia? It would be shorter, and therefore faster, would it not, to send it across the Atlantic?

bobcarr1689

Answer: There are two packages sent by Bettina Peterson. The first we see goes to Russia to a man also named Peterson. The second never reaches its destination but we don't know where exactly it was being sent. That second package must have been going somewhere that required it being routed through Malaysia.

BaconIsMyBFF

Agree with your answer, but something else occurred to me. Bettina appears to be sending out packages via FedEx fairly regularly. She is an artist, and may sell her work internationally. While she does create large-scale wing sculptures, she may also do smaller types of metal artwork, jewelry, etc. We assume she was only mailing packages to her cheating husband, but she could have been sending something to a customer in Southeast Asia.

raywest

I found an earlier version of the script that explains this. After rescue, FedEx looked at the husband's records, which indicate he had moved from Russia to Kuala Lumpur. The package on the plane was being sent from the lady in Texas to there. The FedEx people could not locate a current address for the now ex-husband, so Tom returned it to the sender address in Texas.

Question: Tommy mentions something about ace degenerate - what was he talking about?

Answer: Tommy was saying Johnny was the number one, or best in the group, degenerate. Meaning if there was something bad or wrong to do or get into, Johnny would have been the first to do it or lead the way. Tommy offered Johnny a beer and Johnny refused. At this point, they're not even seniors in high school, so they're engaging in illegal underaged drinking (degenerate behavior). Tommy says it in an affectionate/positive way though, like he his proud to be degenerate.

Bishop73

Question: How did Cal manage to get into a lifeboat with the child that wasn't his? All the crew seem to know who he is so shouldn't have been fooled into thinking the child was his?

Answer: Not every crew member would have known him. He was in first class, the crew were lower deck officers, and there was so much confusion about, that nobody was paying close attention to who he was, just that he was a man with a baby.

Answer: While they probably did know that to be the case, they had to consider the possibility the child had already lost their parents. By refusing Cal onto the boat, they could easily have been sentencing the child to death. At least with an adult the child stands a chance of survival. Hence the hesitation by the guard. Let Cal in with a child that's not his and save the child or refuse him and the child and let them fight for survival. In that guard's position I know what I would do.

Ssiscool

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.