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: Why did Sam insist on going to the library? Laura suggests they should just go back to the apartment, and Sam says, "They have to get higher," but the library doesn't appear to be very high at all. At this point, none of them know about the freezing temperatures, so you can't even say that he knew there were loads of books to burn for heat.

Answer: It's a library and people wouldn't know there are books. The place was a huge open auditorium-type building. People were running amok; it was the one place people could gather with room to spare.

Question: In Pleasure Island, why did the curse take so long for Pinocchio and Lampwick to start feeling its effects after the other boys were already donkeys?

Answer: The other boys pigged out on all the sweets and other sugary substances. Lampwick smoked only cigars and drank beer. Plus, Pinocchio was a wooden puppet, not a real boy.

Return - S1-E4

Question: Gus was shot in the same leg with two arrows. Why would he need to have both legs removed?

Answer: They didn't have antibiotics to prevent infections from setting in. No sterilized equipment. No clean rooms to work in. Everything was dirty.

Question: Even if David captured Nick, what makes him think that Nick would ever work for him? It's been established that he doesn't have a family and doesn't really have any friends, so it's not like David could threaten him into compliance.

Answer: He didn't need him, just his body to experiment on. If the circumstances could be duplicated, he could create an army of intelligence agents.

Question: How did MI6 and the British Crown not notice something was awry when they knighted Gustav Graves (the fact he didn't exist until fourteen months ago)?

Answer: He set up his identity years in advance. Through computers, he set up a birth certificate, social security number, family, and childhood history. He remained anonymous until he struck diamonds and revealed himself to the world with his new face.

Question: After Ernest's funeral, why do Helen and Madeline mock the eulogy?

Answer: They still consider him a pathetic loser. They believe the only thing that counts is youth and beauty. He helped people, opened clinics, got married, had children, and grandchildren. They considered that a wasted life, especially when the priest said he achieved immortality by being remembered. They laughed at that. They believe true immortality is living forever.

Question: If Derek values his career to Susan, then why did he ask her to marry him in the first place?

Answer: Image. A good-looking man. A beautiful woman at his side. It would look good in the news.

Question: If it was just a tumour that made him think more, how did he get telekinesis?

Answer: Yes, that's a form of ESP. When your brain cells are heightened, so is your intuition.

Answer: Certain parts of the brain, emotions, personality traits and learning abilities can be amplified with specific stimulation. It's believed that this can happen with psychic abilities: premonition, telekinesis and pyrokinesis. Ever get a "feeling" you're being followed or "know" that someone is lying to you?

You're describing intuition, not psychic abilities.

Let's Did Lunch - S2-E10

Question: Al says that with his wood-sniffing ability (identifying by the scent), he could be lost in a forest at night-time and find his way to safety. I might be missing something, but how would identifying the trees help someone find their way?

Answer: He couldn't. It's just a hyperbolic boast, not meant to be taken seriously.

raywest

Question: Why didn't the Mariners' boat sink? At the start of the film, he tells the drifter that the hull is busted and the hole's so big there's room to breathe. Later on, after the atoll, he states to Helen that his boat is tore up and it's taking on water. Not once do we see him pumping water out of the boat, nor do we see any water inside the boat until after the smokers burn it.

Answer: 1. He's lying to the drifter so he doesn't have to explain how he was down there so long. 2. He certainly had time to fix it between the escape from the atoll and the Smoker attack.

LorgSkyegon

To fix his boat after escaping from the Atoll attack, Mariner said he needed resin.

Question: After David got in the ship, he spent the majority of his time trying to find his way back to his family. Why at the end, when he arrives at the house, does he get back in the ship and leave after he spent ages looking for them?

Answer: Because he realised that he is never going to fit in here in the future. As well, there's a good chance he wouldn't see them again because the government would keep him prisoner.

LorgSkyegon

Question: The term highway robbery was used by the sheep herder; was highway a word at the time?

Answer: Yes, it existed then. The word "highway" originates from the Old English heahweg, a compound of high and way. The "high" referred to many early major roads, especially ones built by the Romans, which were physically elevated mounds of dirt to protect them from flooding. The common term was transported to the American colonies. Over time, it evolved, with "high" meaning "main" or "major," as in "high street" or "high road." "Highway" became a general term for a major public route.

raywest

Question: Even after D'Artagnan, Athos and Porthos learn that Aramis is the leader of the Jesuits, why does D'Artagnan still believe that Louis can become a better king considering that Louis was responsible for the death of Raoul?

Answer: D' Artagnan was a crown loyalist and the plan was treason. He was sworn to protect the king and the state, and believed Louis, who was raised to sit the throne, could be guided and influenced into being a better ruler. He doubted Philippe could competently and convincingly assume his twin's identity. D' Artagnan would also be torn between how it would affect the queen (their son, Louis, would be imprisoned like Philippe had been) and what was best for the kingdom, vs what had been done to his comrade's son.

raywest

Show generally

Question: What was the episode where Dan was discovered to be covered in phosphorus after Roz shut the lights off?

Answer: This sounds like "Dan the Walking Timebomb," from Season 5, Episode 12.

raywest

No. It isn't this. The episode has Roz with a package, and she tells Dan not to open it. At the end of the episode, she has Christine turn off the lights in the courtroom, and when she uses a UV light, Dan is covered in phosphorus material, and he then asks if it's hot in the courtroom.

Question: When Arthur tells Merlin that he's been made a squire, why does Merlin get mad at him for this achievement?

Answer: Because Merlin believed becoming a squire would distract Arthur from his studies while also placing him under Sir Kay's influence.

raywest

Question: Before Maitland shot Axel in the arm, he didn't even know that he was there. Why didn't Maitland take a few more seconds to line up a head shot and kill Axel?

Answer: This could be a character mistake, but it's really about movie plotting. Otherwise, what would happen if Axel was killed? That would be the end of the movie.

raywest

Answer: None. She's just bluffing and being hyperbolic to assert her point.

raywest

Answer: When I saw this, I thought that it was just a subtle Ally McBeal reference. The guy, David E. Kelley, was the one responsible for giving us the aforementioned telly show.

ChristmasJonesfan

Question: Why do Miss Peregrine and the children wear the same outfits every day? Don't they have other clothes?

Answer: Most likely it's the movie's choice to avoid confusion and provide continuity. The premise is they are reliving the same day over and over. The characters changing clothes might cause to the audience to assume the time frame has changed.

raywest

Question: Considering how relatively small the island is and how big the bees are, what kind of plants and/or flowers would have enough pollen to supply the hive to produce the honey? (01:02:00)

Answer: Since that is never shown, any answer would be speculation.

raywest

Question: Why did they have to build a raft when doing the work to re-float the pirate ship? The small boat that came ashore to fill their water casks wasn't damaged and could have been used. (01:10:00)

Answer: A raft would provide a bigger, flatter and more stable surface area for transporting necessary equipment and people than a smaller rowboat.

raywest