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.

Show generally

Question: I've noticed in the last two seasons that certain jokes and gags are ruined because the characters explain the whole point of them. Why do the writers feel that their humour needs to be explained?

Answer: It's a meta joke. The "explaining the joke" is itself a joke, usually about how the family guy writers themselves recognise their reliance on certain types of humour.

Gary O'Reilly

Chosen answer: Freddy's mother was working in an insane asylum where she was locked in a room and raped repeatedly by inmates. Growing up, Freddy was teased for being the son of 100 maniacs and was beaten by his step-father. He killed animals before he started murdering the children of Elm St. His backstory is revealed over the course of several sequels.

Shannon Jackson

Show generally

Question: Was Series 2 shortened? Series 1 had 12 episodes vs 10 for Series 2. Also some of the subplots in Series 2 didn't really go anywhere and were tied up abruptly, e.g. Tyman killing his brother.

Answer: The show became too costly to produce so they ended the season early to save money.

Shannon Jackson

Question: When Michael & Hannah begin their affair Michael is 15 years old - in the courtroom scenes, the judge states that Hannah is now 43 years old and also states that the events at Auschwitz took place 20 years prior, which would've made her 23 at the time of Auschwitz and possibly around 23 when she left Michael - meaning that when they had the affair she was only about 7 years his senior. Therefore, when she's 43 in court, that makes him 36 years old when he's at university watching the court proceedings - but surely that's too old for what the film is trying to portray? It seems like he's in his 20's when he's at uni. I don't get it. Surely they couldn't have gotten their timelines so incorrect?

ljpom1

Answer: It is confusing in the movie because it seems like she went from the ticket taking job to the SS job after refusing the office job promotion, which would require literacy. When actually her SS job was prior to the ticket taker job. Was muddled in the movie.

Chosen answer: Where do you figure she was 23 when she left Michael? She had been working at the dispatch office for several years before she meet Michael (as indicated in the scene where her boss promotes her for her long service) -- so this is years after she was at Auschwitz. So she was in her mid-30s when she began the one-year affair with 15-year-old Michael. Then, while at university about 8 years later (when she is in her early 40s), he attends her trial. The timeline is fine.

MovieFan612

Question: In order for Cypher to speak to Agent Smith he must first, for want of a better word, 'plug' into the Matrix in order to accomplish this. My question is, how was he able to achieve this without his crew members finding out or seeing him 'plug' in to the Matrix?

Socks1000

Chosen answer: In the scene when Neo can't sleep and talks to Cypher, Cypher appears startled and quickly switches off the monitors. This seems to imply he is setting up some kind of "automatic" Matrix connection that will allow him to jack into the Matrix without an operator while the rest of the crew sleep.

Sierra1

Chosen answer: Seraph previously worked for the Merovingian, but left him to protect the Oracle, thus the Merovingian considers that Seraph has betrayed him.

Sierra1

Question: When Korben speaks to Finger, they state that Finger was in his unit: "...sat beside you for over a thousand missions. I know how you drive." Two questions: Who does the voice of Finger, and does that not negate the 3rd reason why Korben was chosen for the mission, that no one else in his unit survived?

TheBurts

Chosen answer: 1. IMDB doesn't list anyone in the credits for the role of Finger. 2. Military members often serve in more than one unit over the course of their careers. I was in for four years and was with two different units and Korben was in for much longer. Finger and Korben could have been in a unit together then one of them transfered to a different unit later on.

Shannon Jackson

Answer: Finger is an uncredited voice performance by Vin Diesel.

This has never been confirmed, and is speculation at best. Also, while Finger sounds vaguely like Vin Diesel, the voices are different enough that it's unlikely to be him.

Question: Why are Girls Aloud credited with being on the soundtrack, when that isn't their version of "Jump" which the Prime Minister listens to?

Josman

Chosen answer: Irrelevant when it comes to soundtracks, Girls Aloud released a version of Jump to coincide with the movie's release and the video for the song featured scenes from the movie, hence its inclusion.

GalahadFairlight

Question: After discovering the slaughter of the apprentice Jedi at the Jedi Council, why do Yoda and Obi-Wan decide to fight Palpatine and Anakin separately? Palpatine was ready at hand, at the Senate, while Anakin was in distant Mustafar. Stategically, it seems to me this would be their best option - Yoda loses the fight to Palpatine but not for much, managing to survive and flee; he most likely would have been able to win had Obi-Wan fought along. Then, Anakin would have certainly been defeated - the loss of his master impacting on him. If I understood it all correctly, this would have saved the Republic and allowed them to rebuild the Jedi Order from scratch (but not made any sense with IV, V, VI, which is why they didn't do it). But is there any in-plot explanation?

Answer: It boils down to the element of surprise. The clone troopers have shown that they're entirely capable of dealing with Jedi by that point - if either Palpatine or Anakin is able to surround themselves with a large and alerted clone trooper force, then Yoda and Kenobi will have no chance to get near them and that's game over. With Anakin seperated from his master, they're vulnerable, but if both Jedi attacked one target, the other would be alerted to the fact that Yoda and Kenobi had survived Order 66 and could take steps to protect themselves and unleash the military to hunt down their adversaries. By dividing their strength and attacking their targets simultaneously, Yoda gives them their best shot of taking out the Sith for good.

Tailkinker

Question: Is the Mouth of Sauron capable of seeing through his helmet? The design visibly does not incorporate eye holes, yet he nevertheless is able to accurately throw Frodo's mithril shirt at Gandalf and then recognizes Aragorn even though Aragorn does nothing to give away his identity, both conceivably would not be possible without keen eyesight.

Answer: We know very little about the Mouth of Sauron as he's portrayed in the film. While he's human in the book, his cinematic incarnation is of indeterminate species, so it's hard to say what he might or might not be capable of. The book version of the character is described as being a powerful sorceror - if the same holds true of the film Mouth, then possession of such strong magic could readily explain his ability to identify those around him and operate easily without eyesight.

Tailkinker

Question: At the start when the agent gets shot at the concert, what is the name of the band and the song that they are singing?

Answer: Rammstein - Feuer Frei! Look for it on YouTube.

Shannon Jackson

Question: When Maddie leaves Abe's bedroom (after they shared a quick kiss), he rushes back out and calls her. Why does he call her back? If he wanted to say something to her, why not say it when she was in the room?

Answer: Because he apparently had to work the courage up to say whatever it is he wanted to say. He was conflicted in his feelings for Maddie. He's a priest and isn't supposed to 'want' her the way he does. Catholic priests take a vow of chastity and he was trying to deal with his feelings as a man and his vows as a priest.

Shannon Jackson

Question: When the final battle scene is over, Megatron is badly injured and vulnerable. Is there a reason why Optimus Prime doesn't finish him off, other than leaving room for another sequel?

Answer: Prime's priority is the Fallen. Megatron's a lesser threat at the time; Prime's focus elsewhere gives him time to get clear of the situation once the Fallen is eliminated. Plus, as you say, it does leave things open for a sequel.

Tailkinker

Doomsday (2) - S2-E16

Question: Why wasn't Pete sucked into the Void when he came back to rescue Rose? Also, how did he even know when and where to teleport to, or that she even needed saving at all?

Socks1000

Chosen answer: He was only there for a fraction of a second, so the Void didn't have a chance to drag him in. As for knowing when and where, it's one of those last-second rescues that fiction revels in. Improbable, but dramatically satisfying.

Tailkinker

Question: When using the trap, why is it inadvisable to look directly into it?

Socks1000

Chosen answer: It is so bright, it may damage your eyes.

William Bergquist

Chosen answer: Her motives are never explained. One possibility would be curiosity, a simple experiment in human infant physiology. Another, perhaps more likely one from her subsequent look of apparent distress is that it was, in an odd way, an act of mercy, giving an innocent baby a swift death, rather than leaving it to die in the nuclear fire or of radiation poisoning afterwards.

Tailkinker

Question: You'll have to forgive my ignorance regarding a comment made by Matt Farrell. He said that it took FEMA five days to get water to the Superdome. What exactly was he talking about?

Socks1000

Chosen answer: In 2005, Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city of New Orleans, with many of the residents temporarily housed in the Superdome. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) was highly criticized for their response (or lack of), including how long it took to supply the Superdome with adequate water and food. Matt's pointing out to John how the government isn't nearly as capable of responding to disaster as people think.

OneHappyHusky

Chosen answer: It's never actually mentioned on the show, though in the 'Continuum' universe, she says she's been with Ba'al for 50 years.

MoonFaery

Question: What exactly happened to the Ghostbusters between the first film and this film? Why was a restraining order taken out against them?

Socks1000

Chosen answer: After the initial high of saving the city from Gozer wore off, they were blamed for the danger in the first place and sued out of business. The restraining order was additional insult to injury.

Captain Defenestrator

Chosen answer: Warlock is his computer name just like Keanu Reeves' character in The Matrix is called Neo even though his "real" name is Thomas Anderson.

Shannon Jackson

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