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: Colonel Dolarhyde mentions about having participated in the Battle of Antietam and losing men in the Cornfield. Did he fight for the Union or the Confederacy?

Answer: I was unable to find any reference about which side Dollarhyde fought for in the Civil War. It may have been deliberately left ambiguous to make his political alliances more neutral, and instead, focus on his personal character and how it evolves during the film.

raywest

Question: Why didn't Tina use her powers to revive her mother?

Answer: Maybe she was in too much shock to think about it at the time.

Rob245

Answer: Wayne Pygram appeared briefly in "Revenge", and with no dialogue. It was a cameo role, and he was cast because he resembled the late Peter Cushing, who played Tarkin in the original Star Wars trilogy. For the character's expanded role in "Rogue One", an actor was needed who not only had a similar physical appearance to Cushing but could emulate his voice, vocal inflections, facial expressions, mannerisms, etc. This was achieved by using a live actor combined with CGI. Actor Guy Henry was cast, presumably because he was best suited to recreate Cushing's role.

raywest

Question: What does the Predator say when he is in the slaughterhouse and looking at his hands in the gray/red vision?

Answer: Now you will die.

Question: Why does Violet keep changing hair and clothes color? This is supposed to help her hide?

Rob245

Answer: Because she has a superpower when her hair is violet.

Question: I know that scenes in this movie weren't filmed in chronological order. Which scene was the first one to be shot and which scene was the last one to be shot?

Answer: I only found general info, but the first scenes filmed were of the Titanic passengers boarding the ship. Also, early on was the scene of Jack sketching Rose in the nude. I'd guess the Titanic sinking was filmed at the end of the shoot.

raywest

Question: Why did the government want to control the populace by creating millions of clones of them?

Trainman

Answer: The government's intent was to create completely controllable and compliant clones to do whatever they wanted them to do. Their plan did not work out, however.

raywest

Question: Was it ever revealed in this film, or in either of the sequels, what crime Joey was actually in prison for?

Answer: In film, no (or at least not that I saw). But USA Today released a special "front page wrap" for Oct 22, 2015 with some changes to the movie prop. For example, they expanded the article of Marty Jr.'s arrest, which for the prop was just repeated paragraphs (as newspaper props often have). On the side of the paper under Newsline (which as far as I can tell wasn't part of the original movie prop) it says "Parole Denied Again for Joseph "Joey" Baines, 61, currently serving a 20 year term for racketeering at Folsom Prison. Baines, originally from Hill Valley, has spent some 2/3 of his life behind bars. This is his 12th consecutive parole hearing to end in denial." In the comic book "Back to the Future: Time Served", by Bob Gale, he writes that Joey wanted to join Biff's gang. Biff had Joey break into Doc Brown's mother's home to steal money from her. Joey was caught and arrested for stealing $85K. Since Joey refused to give up Biff, he got a longer sentence.

Bishop73

I'm with Cupid - S6-E7

Question: Why does Peggy think that Bobby would become a drug dealer if he had a pager? This episode first aired in 2002. Weren't pagers still common?

Answer: They were, but that wouldn't stop Peggy from buying into a stereotype.

Captain Defenestrator

Queasy Rider - S7-E13

Question: When Dale first tells Hank that he and Nancy go to couples' therapy, Hank says, "How could you?", as if he's mad about them going. Why?

Answer: Nancy is friends with Peggy, so she might tell Peggy about the couple's therapy, making Peggy want to go there with Hank.

Question: There is a running theory that Becky actually did not survive, and that her father was imagining reuniting with her was actually his brain reacting to him seeing her body, whether or not first responders were on scene. So, if Becky actually was rescued, how could the helicopter have gotten close enough to reach her without the satellite collapsing due to the helicopter's downwash or the propellers hitting the tower itself?

Answer: There's no indication that the ending is anything but real; the other twist in the film is heavily foreshadowed through dialogue, camera framing, and so on, none of which applies to the ending. A helicopter could have hovered above the tower and lowered a rescue basket/rope to Becky, as she's less than 100 feet from the very top. Given that the tower was probably constructed using a helicopter to position the final pieces of the structure (a common practice for communications towers of this height), there's no reason why it couldn't have held up. The tower itself is never shown to be weakened or compromised, only the ladder affixed to the outside.

Question: What's the music playing at the end of the basketball game when the Medfield Squirrels win?

Answer: "Get Down Tonight," originally released by KC and the Sunshine Band.

raywest

Answer: I've searched the Internet for any Star Wars references in this movie, and I didn't see anything listed. If there is something, fans usually spot and post things pretty quickly on different websites. There may well be some SW references that are so well hidden, that no-one's spotted them yet. I'd love to know if there is something. If I ever find anything, I'll update this, or hopefully someone else will spot something and post it.

raywest

Question: When Sue Ellen is shown heading to work, wouldn't she be headed into the city, since Kenny says they live in "the boonies"? But she is shown leaving the city, envying the group of teens in the car next to her, who appear to be headed to the beach (also leaving the city).

Answer: People in LA commute in all sorts of directions for work. And the freeway you see is the 405 in West LA (not the "city" - or Downtown where she worked). This freeway would not even be her direct route anyway. All just made up in the film.

Question: When Riley and Cole miss the hit on Hooker, and it's given to Salino, Cole's still looking. Wouldn't he see Hooker with Shaw?

Answer: If he did, it likely wouldn't matter. Neither he nor Salino know about the main plot, they're just on an assignment to kill the grifter who worked with Luther. Even if they saw Hooker with Gondorff, they'd have no reason to suspect anything or to report it to Lonnegan or anyone else; they're only interested in the hit.

Thanks – makes sense.

Chirp - S2-E7

Question: I tried looking for the title of the children's book mentioned in this episode (something about a big day for biscuit), but couldn't find it. Was it made up by the episode's writers or does it actually exist?

Answer: I'm not sure if it helps, but there's a children's book series about Biscuit, the little yellow puppy by Alyssa Satin Capucilli. They're books mostly for 3-6 year olds. There's a lot of books in the series and I'm not sure if there's one about a "big day", but it may have been said in the text of the book and not the title. There is a book called "Biscuit and the Great Fall Day." So maybe the line was flubbed or it was written by someone familiar with the Biscuit books and just assumed there must be one about a big day.

Bishop73

Answer: Yes and no. After the body dies, it loses about 1.5°C per hour until it reaches ambient temperature (i.e. the temperature where the body is found). But there are factors affecting the rate of loss, and one has to assume a starting temperature of 98.6°F. In this case, after factoring in the time from when the police were called to when the body temperature was checked, it would have been determined some time had passed, just not a lot, before Beth saw Moira standing over Megan. Really, what they were saying is Moira's story is believable: that she found her sister dead and picked up the hammer right as the garage door opened.

Bishop73

Question: How did the guy know Maddie couldn't access the neighbors' WiFi and call for help? Yes, it was password protected, but there was no way he could've known she didn't know the password. If I go round my friends, I have their WiFi password. If they come round mine, they have mine. It would make sense that at some point in time, the two neighbors would've shared their details with each other.

Answer: It was probably an assumption. I doubt most people know their neighbour's WiFi password. I don't know any of my neighbours' passwords, regardless of how well acquainted we are. That's different from friends who are visiting from some distance away from their home WiFi signal. Even if a neighbour is in your house with their own electronic device, they would still be close enough to their own Internet service to get a signal.

raywest

Show generally

Question: I vaguely remember one or two promo ads for this show, which quoted reviews by critics, basically saying that it was better than "The Simpsons" and a refreshing change. However, many sitcoms have come and gone throughout the run of "The Simpsons." Is there some reason why this particular show was being promoted as an alternative?

Answer: I wouldn't read into it too much. It's not uncommon for a few critics to really love a particular film or TV show and compare it to other works in their reviews. ("It's better than XXX!" or "The best show/movie of its genre since XXX!") And since it makes for a great piece of promotion, a lot of times commercials will use these quotes in advertisements as a way to get publicity. Again, something that happens all the time. I've seen plenty of commercials for different films, TV shows, video games, etc. like the one you're describing.

TedStixon

Answer: It's an obvious and typical advertising ploy designed to catch people's attention and entice them to tune into the show and see if reviewers' claims are true. New shows need good ratings early on to avoid cancellation.

raywest

Question: Why did Desmond's father show up to the hearing in his Great War uniform instead of a suit and tie?

Answer: Likely an act to support his son by showing his solidarity, patriotism, and his own war service. It also makes a visual statement to the audience about a father standing by his son.

raywest

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