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: Okay, I'm pretty sure I see Estaban in every episode, so why isn't he introduced in the title song? And his name (Adrian R'Mante) sounds like he's Spanish and so does his accent. Is this true?

Answer: Esteban isn't in every episode of Suite Life. According to the episode count, he's only appeared in 39 episodes out of 88 whereas the twins and Moseby are the only characters to have appeared in all 88 episodes. With regards to Adrian R'Mante, the actor is American and the accent is part of the acting.

Neil Jones

Question: After the Joker cuts a man's face for the first time, he brings some kind of stick out and breaks it into thirds. Then he throws it at the ground and states something about "tryouts". I didn't really understand that scene, can someone please explain it?

Answer: He tells Gambol's three henchmen that there's an opening in his organisation. However, there's only one opening, so he's giving them the opportunity to prove themselves. Whichever one is left alive gets to join - he breaks the pool cue to give them a weapon to use against each other.

Tailkinker

Question: When the joker is caught by the police he does not talk to any of his henchmen regarding a revision of plans. Then how can the Joker have planned all along that Dent and Rachel get kidnapped and rigged to explosives - before unsuccessfully trying to kill Dent with a bazooka? Had Batman's tumbler not hindered the missile's trajectory it would have hit the side of the van, killing Dent - ruining the plan involving Dent and Rachel and the explosives. Furthermore the Joker thought Dent was Batman so he could not have anticipated the tumbler would take the hit from the bazooka and allow his master-plan to live on. And the Joker's plan to get caught also came down to Gordon, whom the Joker's plan could not have taken into account because he was believed dead. Everything in Joker's plan seems meticulously planned (i.e. knowing that police will call in a helicopter and that it will fly by exactly where henchmen are posted with wire-guns etc.) - but how can his plan be so flawless that it takes every implausible twist of events into account? Had these implausible twists not happened (so that everything is as it seems and Gordon is really dead, Dent is the Batman; Joker fires the bazooka into van killing Dent alias Batman) then isn't Joker's further plan completely ruined?

Answer: He's anticipating, covering his options ahead of time. He knows that the police have access to helicopters, so he positions his henchmen along the route to take one down. He knows that he could get captured, so he arranges things to ensure his escape in that eventuality; kidnapping Dent and Rachel to distract the cops and sneaking the bomb in to allow him to break out. He doesn't need to contact his people to say that there's a change of plan, because his henchmen already have orders how to proceed in particular situations. None of this is implausible, none of this somehow relies on impossible foreknowledge. It's purely and simply the Joker anticipating possible outcomes (of which there are few variations - largely just success or failure) and planning ahead what to do if they occur.

Tailkinker

The joker wanted Dent dead, plain and simple. He organized several scenarios to make that happen.

Question: During Dooku's meeting with the other Separatists on Geonosis, why does one of the Separatists say, "The techno-union army," and then stop and make that weird noise?

Answer: If I remember correctly, the Separatist in question is of a species whose vocal functions are incapable of making any sound resembling what we would call "human" speech. He wears a device that translates his sounds into a more discernible language. It needed an adjustment at this point, and you can even see him reach up and turn a knob.

Phixius

Show generally

Question: Why does everyone laugh at Cody for having the superhero initials BM in the super hero episode?

Answer: BM is a common abbreviation for bowel movement.

Grumpy Scot

Question: During the end credits when they are fighting the school kids, and they do the slow motion kick with the doves/pigeons flying, are they paying tribute to John Woo or Charlie's Angels?

Answer: It was John Woo's trademark long before a Charlie's Angels film was made.

GalahadFairlight

Question: Why are Rick and Evie the ones requested to return the Eye? I know the General needs the Eye to revive the Emperor, but why have 2 mummy experts bring it? After all, he's raising a mummy emperor and army, wouldn't he be worried the O'Connells would interfere? Or is he wanting to get all 3 (parents and son) together so they can all be killed?

Answer: He needed Evie's skill with ancient languages. She was one of the few people in the world who could translate what was written on the Eye accurately, and who could be easily persuaded to travel to Shanghai.

Twotall

Question: Is Buddy left handed or right handed? I'm just asking this because during the movie he acts left handed and then he acts right handed.

Answer: I can think of two possibilities: (1) he suffers from cross-dominance, where he uses one hand for certain tasks and the oppostie hand for others, or (2) he's ambidextrous (which is a rare variant of cross-dominance), which means he can perform tasks using either hand with equal adeptness.

Cubs Fan

I have cross-dominance. Never knew what it was called, thanks.

Answer: Maybe they reverse the image occasionally to make the scene 'work' better. Or to make Buddy appear ambidextrous?

Question: Does Batman ever read the letter that Rachel leaves him with Alfred? I know that Alfred reads it and later burns it, but I seem to recall a brief scene where Batman is seen reading the letter. Am confused.

Answer: Alfred leaves it on Bruce's breakfast tray, then upon hearing Bruce's insistence that Rachel was going to wait for him, Alfred retrieved the letter before Bruce could read it and summarily burned it.

Phixius

Hot Zone - S1-E13

Question: The protective suits Teyla & Sheppard put on to keep them from getting infected have a "helmet" piece that does not appear to have an airtight seal; the bottom of the hood just sort of lies on top of the body suit (it's not even tucked in). Is there some way they would be protected from the airborne virus even with what appears to be a very viable opening?

Answer: Those are actually suits that protect from hazardous chemicals. They are cheaper for the prop department and look nearly the same as biohazard suits. A real biohazard suit would indeed have a helmet that seals to the neck.

Grumpy Scot

Question: One thing I never got is why Marty is so shocked that the Cubs won the World Series in 2015. He was then going to say something like "It's just that Miami..." but stops and asks another question. Was it ever said anywhere what he was going to say about Miami? That always perplexed me.

Carl Missouri

Chosen answer: The Cubs aren't exactly known as World Series contenders. Put it down to bad luck, but over 100 years, they only have one World Series championship. The last time they won the Series was in 1908, and the last time they were even IN the Series was in 1945. Being a Cubs fan myself, Marty's reaction isn't that much of a stretch. The Miami reference is because they didn't have a baseball team in 1985, which is all Marty knows of course. Since the movie was made, however, Miami has acquired an MLB team called the Miami Marlins (formerly the Florida Marlins).

Cubs Fan

Question: At the very end of the movie what does Ramon say to the camera? This occurs in the "closing circle frame" that closes out the movie, just before the credits start rolling.

Answer: The only "closing circle frame" with Ramon is at the very end of the movie, AFTER the credits are through. At that point, he says 'Gracias'.

Brenda Elzin

The submitter is talking about before the credits and after the last word of the last song, the camera zooms in to Mumble, Gloria, and Ramon. He is slightly behind them but he "mouths" something. It's unclear what.

Question: Batman is able to deduce the fingerprint from the the bullet hole in the wall. How is it that the Joker knows that Batman has this ability? As soon as the fingerprint is identified, (which ends up not being Joker's real identity; random thug?) he is able to set up a window shade to go off like clockwork? Designed to get police snipers to shoot at the window. Was it set up by the Joker? If so, was it an intended trap for Batman? How did he expect Batman to find the room with the tied up cops without prior knowledge of Batman's abilities?

Answer: The whole thing's a distraction, not for Batman, but for the Gotham City Police Department. Something to get the attention of all the snipers, while the Joker's standing right there, directly in front of the mayor with his henchmen and a load of rifles. Point the attention of the authorities elsewhere for a moment and it gives him the chance to kill the mayor and escape cleanly (which he does). There's nothing to suggest that he expected Batman to locate it. If he had, he undoubtedly would have set up something more interesting for Batman to find rather than just a bunch of tied-up cops, who, as we see, are able to tell Bruce exactly what the Joker's up to. Given his plan to assassinate the mayor, the Joker wouldn't have left people who could spoil his plan anywhere that he expected them to be found.

Tailkinker

Question: Everyone says how Batman/Bruce Wayne has a darkness to him, but I can't really understand how, seeing how he is trying to do the right thing and save people. Can someone please explain this to me.

Answer: Let's see... There's the trauma of witnessing his parents' murder. There's the guilt he felt with feeling partly responsible for their deaths (if he hadn't gotten scared at the opera, they wouldn't have been in that alley). There's the anger that he never got to exact justice on Joe Chill (someone else took him out before he did). There's the fact he actually *planned* to commit the murder of Joe Chill. And that's all *before* he's Batman. Since donning the suit, he works outside the law, using questionable (and often illegal) methods to do the "right thing" (breaking and entering, assault and battery, destruction, torture, etc.)

JC Fernandez

Question: Just before the Emperor is raised, why does the General demand that Evie O'Connell translate what's written on the Eye? She is (or at least was) an Egyptian expert. Both the General and his female aide are there - couldn't one of them read it?

Answer: First, it's ancient Chinese, probably unreadable to someone who speaks modern day Chinese (and possibly a different dialect as well). Also, Evie was an Egyptian expert, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have other areas of expertise.

SexyIrishLeprechaun

Question: Just how does Batman's grapple gun work? In Batman Begins, Fox says, 'It's magnetic' so I assume it can attach to anything metal. But the magnet would have to be extremely strong to support the weight of Batman, which begs the question how does it then detach from what he's fired it on? Also, where does he keep all the wire for it, and how does it have the magic ability to wrap its self around the Joker's ankle, when he's been thrown off the building and Batman shoots it at him?

Answer: The gun fires using compressed carbon dioxide as a propellant. The cable is wrapped in a coil around a motorized turbine within the gun. The pulley system in Batman's belt buckle allows him to reel himself in hands-free and still maintain equilibrium. There is a four-pronged grapple at the end of the cable. This is what is magnetized, creating an attraction between it and the monofilament cable. This ensures that the grapple will attach itself to the cable for a secure hold. This is why the magnet itself does not need to be especially strong to support any amount of weight. It also explains the relative ease with which it can be detached and its seemingly "magical" ability to wrap itself around various objects.

Phixius

Chosen answer: No. Gerard Butler plays Alex Rover because Nim imagines him looking like her father. Alexandra Rover sees him like that merely for the sake of consistency within the film.

Phixius

Question: At the beginning of the movie, what does Joker say to the man in the bank? I think it's something like, "I believe whoever doesn't kill you simply makes you stranger," but I cant really remember.

Answer: You got it almost exactly right. He says "I believe, whatever doesn't kill you, simply makes you... stranger".

Twotall

Question: Bullets can't penetrate him, he can't even shave with a razor (has to use his fingernails), yet he can get drunk. How?

Answer: Because the two are not even close to being related. Being bulletproof and being able to digest food\water\liquor are completely different.

Rlvlk

Question: Who are "them" or "they"? When Mary explains to Hancock all the times in history they have been attacked she always says "And we were attacked by them" or "When they came". Why were they being attacked? Could it have anything to do with the fact that at the time they would have been a couple in history where interacial relationships would have been frowned upon, or were they being attacked by some higher power entity?

Answer: The implication is that people like the bad guy in this movie always seek out and target higher power beings like them, so eventually someone will always come after them.

Jon Sandys

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.