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: Was Terry attracted to Ruby? There were a number of times when he acted weird, like staring at her when she got out the pool in her bikini, reaching over her to put her seatbelt on, etc. If he wanted her to trust him, why did he act like such a creep? Wouldn't it have just made her more suspicious?

Answer: My theory is that Terry deliberately acted like a creep to make Ruby uncomfortable around him. If she accused him of being inappropriate, he could deny it, making her look like the "troublemaker." She already has a history of being in trouble at school and sneaking to parties/raves. And he set her up for another accusation of plagiarism. He probably wanted to get rid of her because, unlike her brother, she was not fooled by him and Erin. He later points out that they only need one of the children in order to get the money.

You Only Move Twice - S8-E2

Question: After Smithers rejects the job offer from Globex, the associates speak to the "next most senior" employee at the plant - Homer. If I remember correctly, isn't Carl a supervisor over Homer?

Answer: "Next most senior" means Homer has worked at the plant longer than Carl, despite Carl's position as supervisor. Carl was simply promoted over employees that had been there longer (which isn't uncommon in the workplace).

Bishop73

It often happens because a more senior employee is not ideal, but they do just enough acceptable work that management will keep them around. Management doesn't want the hassle of the hiring process, and they might want to avoid unemployment pay or a possible lawsuit.

Question: Why didn't Obi-Wan and Yoda ever attack Vader together before Vader killed Obi-Wan? Why wait for Luke to grow up and then expect him to do it? Obi-Wan almost defeated the newly-turned Anakin by himself on Mustafar. He and Yoda could certainly defeat Vader together.

Answer: There is the emperor to consider. Yoda failed to defeat him; going at them both again is suicide. Vader only became stronger with the dark side. His fight made Yoda only weaker. If they both die, it's all really over. Luke was their only hope. A new hope.

lionhead

Question: On the front of the ship that rescues Tom Hanks, there is a symbol in white. What does that symbol mean?

Answer: I think you're referring to the symbol that looks like a "5" without the top line. It represents the fact the ship has a bulbous bow and its shape. That way tug boats bringing the ship on are aware, since it may be underwater and not visible.

Bishop73

Question: What was the game that Harlan and Marta were playing with the board and black and white pieces?

Answer: It's a game called "Go."

Bishop73

Question: This question applies to all Mario Kart games except Mario Kart 8 and leaving out that they're part of the Mario universe. What is the purpose of collecting gold coins? They can't be used to buy anything and even if a player doesn't have any and falls into a pit, Lakitu will still help the player out.

Answer: Absolutely nothing.

Answer: Across all games, collecting at least 10 coins gives a slight speed boost. In some games, collecting coins unlocks things.

LorgSkyegon

Show generally

Question: Loreli got pregnant at 16 and takes off for a long time. Why didn't Emily and Richard report her as a missing person? If not, go find her yourself. Or even just check up on her if she is safe wherever she is. They had money, also a private investigator maybe?

Answer: Most likely they made some attempts to locate Loreli, but the exact circumstances are unknown. Realistically, this is a plot device that drives the story between Loreli and her parents, so the details are deliberately vague.

raywest

Question: When Gilbert and Becky get ice creams, why does Becky suddenly want to trade cones with him?

Answer: She may have been allowed to have a sample of his ice cream, and decided that she liked it better than hers, so she traded.

Answer: From online sources, it appears her character's storyline had gone as far as the show wanted to take it after one season.

raywest

Thank you.

Rob245

Answer: Kruger said O'Toole was an unpleasant person, often was drunk on set, and was a "hellraiser." That pretty much fits O'Toole's history of drunken and wild behavior for most of his adult life.

raywest

Question: Was the ill-fated Rollercoaster in the film supposed to be a working one? The owner's angry reaction to its destruction suggested that it was, but if you look closely, there were gaps in the tracks and also where was the actual rollercoaster itself. This has always confused me.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: To me, in real life, it looks like a roller coaster was already set up for demolition because of its poor conditions, and the crew was able to film it for the movie. However, in-universe, the owner kept saying they were closed. It's possible they were closed to repair the roller coaster to make it work but now it's completely destroyed and beyond repair.

Bishop73

Question: After Cady claims to have written the Burn Book, Ms. Norbury doesn't believe that she wrote the whole thing alone. Why does Cady refuse to "talk about people behind their backs"? The other Plastics really did write it, and reporting them to a teacher is different than gossiping.

Answer: I think Cady was trying to end all of the catty behavior and bullying. If she told Ms. Norbury that the other Plastics wrote parts of the book, the "drama" would continue.

Answer: Yes. While making the movie, he was arrested for drunk driving.

Answer: To add to the other answer, this is from Wikipedia: Nolte had struggled with substance abuse for the majority of his adult life and had begun abusing alcohol at an early age. After remaining sober for nearly 10 years, he resumed drinking in the late 1990s. Following his 2002 arrest, he again stopped drinking.

raywest

Answer: Sorry for posting an off-topic comment, but why are so few questions and mistakes posted anymore?

In large part it's reduced traffic, sadly - I'm always running a bit of a backlog of submissions (about 200 currently), because life gets in the way, but some get auto-approved so there's often a trickle of new content regardless. Mainly though it's just that thanks to search algorithm updates the site's now getting half to a third of the traffic it was about a year ago. I think also there are just fewer mistakes being made! Going back a while a DVD would come out and people would spot a lot of relatively obvious things. Now so many get fixed with CGI before release, and with streaming being wholly digital, lots of things are fixed even after release.

Jon Sandys

Thanks for all your hard work.

Brian Katcher

You're welcome! I've got no intentions of abandoning it, whatever the traffic. Still enough regular and irregular visitors to keep it trundling along!

Jon Sandys

I second that! Jon does an amazing job.

raywest

Thanks! I've got no intentions of abandoning it, whatever the traffic. Still enough regular and irregular visitors to keep it trundling along!

Jon Sandys

I have to assume it's just down to 1) maybe less people are submitting, and 2) the site primarily being run by one guy (Jon), and I have to imagine that he probably doesn't have the time to constantly check the site and do updates. I've noticed that sometimes it can take a while for things I submit to be posted, but they usually are within a week or two. To be fair, there's also been in excess of 600 mistakes posted within the last month, and I have around 60 mistakes waiting to be approved (going through the "Chucky" movies and shows looking for mistakes), so it's still happening... just a bit slower than it used to be back in the day.

TedStixon

I don't think it's a problem with fewer submissions. I've submitted several questions that have not made it onto the site yet, and mistakes were that were finally posted after an unusually long time.

I know there have been volunteers who do a lot of work here, but maybe that has dropped off.

raywest

Have been wondering the same thing.

raywest

Answer: Regarding the movie question, there's no way of knowing what was in the case. It is a plot device called a "MacGuffin," a term coined by director Alfred Hitchcock. It doesn't actually matter what the object is but it just drives the story. It can be any type of object or device such as a "secret formula," "enemy war plans," "nuclear weapon," "treasure map," and so on that the characters are either searching for or protecting. There was never any intention to reveal what it was. Its purpose is to motivate the characters' actions and tell the story. Most likely it was intended to be McGuffin just to keep the audience thinking about the movie long after it ends.

raywest

Question: If Zaltar founded Argo City, why would he need permission to use the Omegahedron? Shouldn't he be allowed to use it when he wants?

Answer: The Omegaahedron is the power source for the whole city. It supplies the air, the dome that protects them, the lights, and the machines they need to survive.

Question: How could Fred have been trapped in the jack-in-the-box for so long? He could make himself appear whenever he wanted and could always appear someplace else, so shouldn't he have been able to appear outside of the toy after it was covered in duct tape?

Answer: When she trapped Fred in the box, she was closing off the part of her imagination. The part of the brain that stops believing in fairy tales and decides to grow up.

Question: How exactly do both the Terminator and Kyle find addresses? We are led to believe that is the reason for the phone books, but none of the addresses in the phone books match up to the addresses where either the first Sarah is killed, nor the apartment of our Sarah.

Answer: Gonna be totally honest... that might just be nothing more than a simple continuity error. They accidentally made a phonebook prop that didn't match up with the locations where they shot, and assumed most people wouldn't notice or care. (And to be even more honest, I never noticed it until I saw this question today.)

TedStixon

Answer: My two cents: The T-800 Terminator does indeed, rip out the page of a phonebook for the address, but remember, he was looking for any and all Sarah Connors, not a specific address. He did not know which Sarah would give birth to John Connor, so by process of elimination he began terminating any woman with the name Sarah Connor. He did plug the first Sarah Connor (a housewife), then went to kill the other Sarah Connors in the phone book.

Scott215

I already gave that answer, but apparently that's not what the question is asking.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: Both the T-800 and Kyle look up Sarah's address in the phonebook and it's Kyle who rips out a page. Neither uses a police computer; that's the T-1000 in Terminator 2.

But that doesn't answer the question (and it's already been mentioned) since the information in the phonebook appears wrong.

Bishop73

Answer: Kyle we are shown uses a police computer to find the addresses. The T800 just uses the phonebook as you mentioned. He rips the page out and takes it with him.

Ssiscool

Except 2 of the addresses in the phone book don't match. So how does the Terminator find them using the phonebook?

Bishop73

The Terminator is just blindly killing everyone in the phone book whose name is Sarah Connor (apparently a common name). Process of elimination. So, the day he arrives, unrelated women named Sarah Connor start dropping like flies, and the police believe it's the work of a serial killer. Our heroine Sarah Connor barely escapes this sweeping extermination by sheer luck and Kyle's intervention.

Charles Austin Miller

You just described the plot. Were you trying to answer the question? Because the question still stands. (As it is, it's either a mistake or plot hole in the film).

Bishop73

Perhaps I'm not getting the question. What is meant by "none of the addresses in the phone books match up"? Match up to what, the murder scene addresses? I wasn't aware that the murder scene addresses were prominently displayed.

Charles Austin Miller

Exactly. The addresses seen don't match. Specifically the first Sarah Connor's house number is "14239", but in the phonebook it is listed as "1823." And the real Sarah Connor lives in an apartment but the phonebook doesn't list an apartment number.

Bishop73

Perhaps though this all doesn't matter because phone books can quickly become outdated, the phone book he found could be over a year old. Someone moves but can still be listed in the phone book with their old address. He could have gone to the addresses but found someone else living there and then asked where the previous owner might be, and he was told (or he forced them). This might be how he found all the Sarah Connors.

lionhead

Are any of the Sarah's listed as living at 1823? I've not got access to the film right now to check.

Ssiscool

The first is listed as "1823." The second is "2816." The 3rd is "309." Although after reviewing the scene and thinking about it, for "309" (which is supposedly our Sarah J Connor), the full address isn't actually seen and the apartment number could have been listed.

Bishop73

Reese never uses a police computer; that's the T-1000 in Terminator 2. He rips out the page from the phonebook. The T800 also uses the phonebook but is never shown ripping out a page.

Answer: The Seal of the City of New York.

Question: After the first photon torpedo hit from Chang, when the bridge is shaken and everyone flies from their seats - so do the bridge seats, like office chairs with wheels. Shouldn't bridge equipment be bolted down to the floor? (01:33:22)

Answer: Sure, but it's a lot more fun to see them sliding around.

TonyPH

Question: Why did Rowena steal Isabella's cup? Was she in need of money or did she owe Fabian?

Answer: For poison, and she was in need of money.

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