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.

The Twilight Zone (1959)

A Nice Place to Visit - S1-E28

Question: Rocky and Pip are leaving the flat. Rocky has already told the "girls" to wait in the other room. Right before they leave, Rocky goes back to the room the girls are in, pushes the door open, says he'll be back in a few minutes, and then gets a strange, quizzical look on his face, as if he's confused about something. A moment later, when he and Pip leave, as he reaches the door, he still has the same quizzical look on his face. Any idea why he gives this look? I thought it might be an editing error.

Answer: Pip had basically told Rocky that they were the only two real people in the place, and the girls were like props in a movie (as Rocky put it). I took his look of confusion as "What does Pip mean? These girls aren't real?" And as he was leaving, he couldn't shake the thought and was confused again. But there's also a part of me that thinks since the girls weren't involved in Rocky's story at the time, they were just sitting there doing nothing, just waiting, and Ricky found their lack of movement weird. And when leaving, he thinks "Did I see what I think I saw?" But that is just my thought, knowing what the twist is.

Bishop73

The Suicide Squad (2021)

Question: Why aren't Katana, Deadshot, and Killer Croc in this?

Answer: It's a combination of various reasons. Will Smith wasn't available to reprise his Deadshot role, so there was a shift in the story. King Shark was intended to be in the first film, but the CGI was too extensive, so they went with Killer Croc. In this film, they took the opportunity to bring in King Shark as the "monster" character. But, this film isn't really a sequel or reboot. Basically, this is a new storyline with new characters, and many of the previous characters are just not in the film, with no exposition on what happened to them, and they may not even be part of this film's "universe." The fact that some of the actors play the same character in both films only serves to muddle the concept of this film not really being a part of the previous film's continuity.

Bishop73

Married... with Children (1987)

My Mom, the Mom - S3-E12

Question: When Al, Bud, and Steve are discussing the window that Bud broke, why does Steve say "I guess the lesson is mine to learn"?

Answer: When it comes to Bundys, anything that can be broken, will be broken.

Married... with Children (1987)

Show generally

Question: In which season and episode did Al Bundy recite his poem, "Ode to Jack Lord"? My friends and I were discussing the new Hawaii Five-0 series and why it is no good, Al Bundy's poem was brought up (because we all love Jack Lord) and none of us know when it was aired.

Answer: I believe it's S06E11, Al Bundy, Shoe Dick. He gets a job working for a P.I., being the janitor. Before starting, he recites his "Ode to Jack Lord" poem.

ALF (1986)

Keepin' the Faith - S1-E5

Question: When Al is holding a stack of towels, the Tanners say that he is "carrying towels through the damp." What does that mean?

Answer: Mr Tanner actually asks Alf, "Why are you carrying our towels through the den?" The streaming subtitles are wrong when it substitutes "damp" for "den" twice. It's possible the error originated from the VHS or DVD, which occurs often.

Super Grover ★

Yes, I was re-watching episodes, and I heard "den" the next time. Thank you for answering, though.

The Number 23 (2007)

Question: Why did Agatha pick the book off the shelf in the bookstore over other books?

Answer: A guess: it matched the colour of the walls that she had chosen (red). It's also shown sitting on the shelf, facing outwards, making it more obvious.

Grease (1978)

Question: I had a Grease Novelbook in 1979 (a book version with movie pictures and most of the script from the full movie popular shortly after the movie's release) and in that, during the end of the pep rally scene (before Frenchie's house where Sandy is crying and talking with Frenchie about Danny), the line Frenchie says ("The only man a girl can depend on is her daddy") has the added line "if he doesn't drink." I then noticed the movie didn't have that last line added. Did the play version ever have that line in it?

Answer: The original Broadway show (early-mid 70s) did not have those lines, and it didn't have that early pep rally scene. Also, in the Broadway play, the sleepover pajama party scene was at Marty's house, not Frenchy's. For the film version of Grease (1978), there were many changes, omissions, and additions. As for the book versions (novelization, storybook, fotobook) based on the 1978 film, there can also be some minor discrepancies between them and the film, regarding deleted dialogue or production photos from cut scenes.

Super Grover ★

The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)

Question: How was it possible for the hostage to livestream the event, have the laptop open, and even though the hijackers were walking up and down the carriage, no one noticed this?

Paulspurs

Answer: The hijackers did notice it. There's a scene where they notice it: look at the girl on the screen and then laugh. They get kicks from toying with people, which is why they didn't smash the laptop and just let the guy keep using it.

You're probably right.

Married... with Children (1987)

The D'Arcy Files - S8-E20

Question: Jefferson doesn't know who the vice president was during Eisenhower's presidency. Why does this convince Al that Jefferson is a real American?

Answer: The joke being that Americans don't know their own history, whereas foreigners do. When applying for US citizenship (naturalization), non-exempt applicants have to take a civics test that tests the person's knowledge of US government and history.

Bishop73

Answer: Although the vice presidency is the second-highest U.S. office, it is also a relatively non-powerful one. Few VPs were notable or distinctive while in office, and most are forgotten once their term ended unless they later assumed the presidency, such as Teddy Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, and Lyndon Johnson. A few VPs who became president, such as Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur, John Tyler, and Millard Fillmore, are barely remembered for holding either office.

raywest ★

Titanic (1997)

Question: When Jack and Rose encounter Thomas Andrews in the smoking room, he gives Rose a life jacket and says, "Good luck to you, Rose." Does he not really care whether Jack lives or dies? Why not wish them both good luck?

Answer: She's the one he has a relationship with, and she's the one he's talking to. Jack isn't part of the conversation, so Mr Andrews addresses Rose alone because she's the one who's listening to him.

Answer: Would add to the other accurate answer that Andrews would have little concern about Jack because he is a male third-class passenger. It's unlikely he knew about Jack and Rose's romance. Andrews also knows there are not enough lifeboats, and women and the first-class passengers will get top priority in leaving the ship. He would consider Jack's fate already sealed, while Rose can be saved.

raywest ★

I believe he also only had the one life jacket that was his own, and being a gentleman, he gave it to the lady, Rose, as an act of etiquette.

Ssiscool ★

The Ring (2002)

Question: In the end of the movie, when Aiden's dad was picking him up and taking him to the car, who was the black figure in the room staring out the window at 1 hour and 36 minutes into the movie? (01:36:44)

Answer: It's presumably one of the officers we saw in the previous scene since they've been through a relatively traumatic event. It's likely they were given a ride to pick up their son. (Alternately, it's also entirely possible that it's a crew member who got caught in the shot since they're out of focus in the background.)

TedStixon

My Girl (1991)

Question: Is it ever said how Vada's mother died? Harry mentions she met Vada and lived a couple of days after her birth.

Answer: She still died due to complications from childbirth, despite living another couple of days. Hence why Vada believes that she "killed" her mother. Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII, also died from complications, but she lived for two weeks after.

To add an additional example to your accurate answer, a condition like postpartum pre-eclampsia (extreme hypertension) can occur from a few days to six weeks after giving birth and is sometimes fatal.

raywest ★

Titanic (1997)

Question: Why did Mr Guggenheim and the other guy, who was with him, just sit in the grand staircase waiting for the water? I can understand Captain Smith locking himself in the wheelhouse (captain goes down with the ship), but why Mr Guggenheim? Was he a person of any particular importance, or had he just given up on trying to get into a lifeboat?

Answer: This happened in real life. Benjamin Guggenheim (a member of the prominent Guggenheim mining family; his brother, Solomon, founded the Guggenheim Museum in New York) assisted with the loading of women and children into the lifeboats and helped maintain order. He realized there wouldn't be enough space for himself and many others, and that the ship would inevitably sink, so once the lifeboats had gone, he dressed in his finest, made himself a drink, and accepted his fate. His line about being "prepared to go down like a gentleman" is reportedly accurate, as well. The other man is (or at least, in reality, was) his secretary, Victor Giglio.

Also, during a crisis, some people take a "business as usual" approach. They cling to a last shred of hope that everything will be all right, somehow, so they want to behave as normally as possible. I think it's one reason why the band kept playing music.

Kickin' It (2011)

Show generally

Question: Did Leo Howard actually do all the skateboarding tricks that are in the show or were they stunt doubles?

Answer: Stunt doubles.

The Karate Kid (2010)

Question: The park scene. When Cheng and Mei Ying were arguing...what were they saying?

Answer: I only heard this part: Meiying: What are you doing! Cheng: If your father knows, he would be very mad. Meiying: So what? You're not even my father.

The Karate Kid (2010)

Question: Can you please tell me which type of kung fu Cheng used? I really like his style with his footwork (the spins he makes after punching or kicking, I think it's because of changing to the dominating side). If it's a mix of more styles, would you please name them if you recognize any of them?

chengZ

Answer: Cheng uses a type of Chinese kung fu called "Wushu." This is a modern Chinese martial art with a training program, incorporating mixed martial arts exercises from famous traditional martial arts such as Shaolin, Wudang, Nga Mi, Khong Dong, Wing Chun, and Tai Chi.

Commando (1985)

Question: Is it really possible for a man, even one as strong as John is implied to be in the movie, in a weakened condition, to throw a steel pipe with such force as to penetrate all the way through a large man and into the wall of something behind? The only time I've heard of anything remotely like that happening is in tornado and cat 5 hurricane winds (hurricane Andrew was powerful enough to blow timber planks through the trunks of pine trees).

Answer: No, that is not realistically possible. It is not a steel pipe since Matrix simply rips it off, breaking it. It's made of some sort of plastic like PVC. That is definitely not hard or sharp enough to penetrate a body, nor the boiler behind him. Even if it was, you'd need a whole lot more force than a human can produce from that distance to fully penetrate a person.

lionhead

The Incredible Hulk (1978)

Answer: The Hulk is accused of killing Dr. David Banner and Dr. Elenia Marks. After the lab explodes, McGee sees the Hulk emerge carrying the body of Dr. Marks, so he assumed the creature is guilty. It was McGee who caused the explosion. After following the trail of evidence of the Hulk to the lab, he hides when David and Elania arrive. In a darkened storage closet, he knocks over a bottle of flammable liquid. He confronts them, then is forced to leave by Banner, who says, "Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." When Banner reenters the lab, it explodes, caused by the Hulk when it went on a rampage trashing the lab, causing many electrical systems to catch fire, thus igniting the flammable liquid.

Answer: The phrase "Incredible Hulk" is coined by Jack McGee in one of his tabloid articles. He's trying to find proof of the Hulk because no one takes his story seriously, so probably nobody takes his name for the creature seriously either.

Captain Defenestrator

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

Question: Maybe I missed some dialogue, but why exactly did Voller think the fissure they were flying towards would take him to his desired date in 1939? I get that the dial detects fissures in time, but why would he think that particular fissure was the one he needed to travel through?

Phaneron ★

Answer: There is a bit of dialogue en route to the airport when Voller sets the instrument that says, "the first hand sets the destination," as in the time you want to travel back to. This would make the device completely absurd in principle if true (that's why I wanted to mark it as a plot hole/stupidity). Since it's supposed not to open portals but just detect them, it can't be that there are infinite portals for every moment in time you can choose to go back to (and they even close). The sky, while vast, is not infinite. We then find out that it is a trick since it is set to actually bring you to just one destination, but they don't know it yet.

Sammo ★

Answer: We're supposed to accept that the dials are pointing to the rift in the sky, which is what makes this plot decision so ridiculous. There's no common reference point (magnetism wouldn't be discovered until and used in compasses for another 2,000 years), and the dial is 2-dimensional. Thus, you could turn your body 90 degrees and aim it down, and there's no indication from the movie that the dial would in any way turn to face the previous rift.

I think, technically, the fact that there's no common reference point is addressed when Voller mentions that the coordinates given are 'Alexandrine coordinates'... which I think might be another anachronism since all I can think it means is the ones used by Ptolemy in his Geography, which was hundreds of years after Archimedes' time. The dial is 2-dimensional, but there are 3 hands. It can be argued that when all 3 align, it does show that the direction you are headed is definitely correct, including the height you are pointing at. I definitely think it's entirely implausible, but the way the unknown mechanism works, attuned to something that does not exist such as time rifts, is kind of a lesser problem. Even if it is supposed to work by some mathematical principle, and then acts as some dowser rod.

Sammo ★

Not true. The Chinese were using compasses around 200 BC, and Vikings are believed to have had them as well.

Answer: As they approach the rift, all three of the dial's hands are suddenly pointing towards it. If that is no clear indicator, then what is?

Daniel4646

The dial pointing towards it only indicates that they are heading towards the fissure. How does that give Voller any certainty that this is the exact fissure he needs to travel through in order to reach his desired destination, especially considering it ended up not being the one he needed? Were there coordinates in Basil's diary that indicated where the exact fissure would open? I only recall the date of August 20 (?), 1939 being written down.

Phaneron ★

Only the time is written in the diary (the date you mention is next to August 20, 1969, which would be then supposedly when the finale of the movie takes place). For the coordinates, you need to have the device, which, apparently, allows you also to input with firsthand your desired destination. Voller couldn't know that to concoct his plan, though, since he did not have the diaries at the beginning of the movie.

Sammo ★

The Warriors (1979)

Answer: Fox witnessed Luthor shoot Cyrus. Chances are, during their trip home before Fox was killed, he mentioned it to Swan and the other warriors.

Gavin Jackson

There is no evidence that Fox told anyone about the shooting. The Warriors don't learn that they were accused of it until they encounter The Lizzies. To restate what the other person said in an earlier comment, Swan would have tried to call off the hit had he known they were framed by the Rogues.

Answer: The first person to falsely accuse you of shooting someone is very likely the one who did it.

Captain Defenestrator

There is nothing in the conversation that would allow Swan to know Luther actually did it. If he knew earlier, he would have gone to the Riff's himself.

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