Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: At one point in the film Doc pulls out a case of "emergency money" he's collected from different time periods. When did he have the time to go to all those time periods? Marty went to 1955 and after getting back Doc went to 2015 before coming straight back again to get Marty to go to the future, so when did Doc have the time to go collecting all that money?

jbrbbt

Answer: He wouldn't have to travel to the specific time periods to get past money; he could have found ways to procure it in the present (from collectors, museums, banks, etc.) before ever time traveling in the first place.

Answer: He didn't just visit 2015 and came straight back. He had visited more places and spend some time travelling before returning to Marty. He collected all the money in those visits.

lionhead

Near the end of the first movie, when Marty asks Doc how far ahead he's going, Doc responds that he's going thirty years into the future.

Answer: Doc Brown is a resourceful man. Seeing how the bills in his emergency case are pretty crisp and not knowing how many travels he really made, it is only safe to say that he must have found a way to get his hands on those bills. Though his masquerade and "adding of 30 or 40 years to his life" by way of treatment in a rejuvenation clinic may not have been born out of vanity.

Question: When Eli pushes his sword into the main hijacker in the road (the one whose hand he cut off), it looks like he whispers something into his ear. The hijacker had just asked Eli who he was. Anyone have any ideas?

Answer: He prays for him.

Question: When Jason Nesmith travels through outer space in the gelatin spacesuit, he is in a very special room with a retracting ceiling so that he may travel at great speed directly into space. However, later on the remainder of the crew is also set to launch in what we are led to believe is the same fashion, however they are set to launch inside of an indoor space with a ceiling and roof. If this mode of transport can travel through solid matter, why would Nesmith's chamber bother to retract the roof?

Answer: In the theatrical release that scene was made even more spectacular by widening the aspect ratio, so in reality it only exists to cause the audience the same overwhelming emotion Nesmith must have felt with the reality of actual alien space technology crashing in on him. As for the fiction. Maybe the Thermians were showing off? Then again, since that technology also is based on "historical documents" (there barely is any generic thermian technology in the movie) maybe opening the ceiling was a "better safe than sorry" approach?

Question: Why does Costner change the shotgun shells when the shell in the gun looked intact?

Answer: He did not bring the shotgun from Peter's. It was on the Weyboy's porch and the shells in the shotgun had been shot. He put fresh shotgun shells in.

Question: What was that stuff fairy godmother had Harold put in one of the teacups?

Answer: Love potion, to make Fiona fall for Prince Charming.

Brian Katcher

Uh, why wouldn't making Fiona take a love potion to make her fall for Prince Charming be interfering with Fiona's free will?

Answer: Love potion. If she drank it, she would fall in love with the first person she kisses.

LlamaDude

Question: After Harry and Marv are taken away, how would Kevin have been able to get the tar off the steps in the basement? The other traps are quite easy but to remove tar would be nearly impossible.

Answer: Remember his neighbour takes him home so maybe he helped with the cleaning. He may have also helped with the tar on the steps as well, but they just didn't show it.

Answer: There's no reason that Kevin would be the one removing this, not could he. At some point, his family would know about him protecting the house. His parents would have the steps professionally cleaned or replaced.

raywest

There is no evidence to suggest that Kevin ever told his family about the wet bandits.

Considering the police were involved at the end, as well as the next-door-neighbor, and the two burglars were arrested in the house across the street, it's highly unlikely the parents would not, at some point, know what happened and Kevin's involvement. Kevin is a witness to the criminal activity. Also, the parents would also question why the steps were covered in tar.

raywest

Question: Why did the Baroness kill Estella's adoptive mother? Why not just give her money and whatever help she needed?

Rob245

Answer: The Baroness probably thought that if she gave Estella's adoptive mother money and help that time, she would keep asking for more and more money under threat of revealing the secret that the Baroness was the girl's real mother. Killing her meant one less person who knew her secret and could hold it over her.

Sierra1

Question: In the gas station scene, how was the gas station attendant killed? It wouldn't have been the tow truck. Even if it was, it would have destroyed the whole building to get to him.

Trainman

Answer: He died of his injuries after being run over by the tow truck.

Question: How and why does the glass on the pinball machine shatter all by itself?

Answer: The Pinball Machine overloaded at speed.

Question: When Declan was in prison, and the FBI director asked him what his deal with the Jackal was, he replied, "That's between me and him." What was that conflict between the two? Did they really know each other from something in the past? Or was he simply just trying to convince the director that he had seen him when he hadn't, just to get out of prison?

Answer: Declan Mulqueen's former lover, Isabella Zancona, is a former militant member of the ETA, a Basque separatist group. While in Libya, the Jackal wounded Isabella, causing her to miscarry her and Mulqueen's unborn child. Mulqueen wanted revenge.

raywest

Ninety-Seven - S2-E10

Question: If only the Resolution was able to do galactic travel, then how was Fortuna able to do the same?

Answer: The Fortuna didn't have an Alien Engine. The cover story was the Fortuna was to explore Alpha Centauri but it was exploring the rift. The rift is what the Alien Engine creates and explains how the Fortuna was able to travel to a distant planet (what you call "galactic travel").

Bishop73

Kisangani - S9-E22

Question: After Carter was told the translation he tried to save his brother for a long time. What did the guy with the gun say to Carter that wasn't translated?

Answer: God bless you.

Question: During dinner at Christian's parent's place, what was Mia saying in French? It can be kind of hard to hear but in grey it actually showed the conversation.

Answer: She says "ugh. Seattle baseball".

Question: Why didn't Nick and his cop buddy lock down the warehouse after they discovered the tunnel to the prison? They could have waited for Clyde to return to nab him and shut him down.

Answer: Clyde was already in the process of bombing City Hall when they discovered his warehouse. They deduced that if Clyde realises they are onto him, then he will detonate the bomb early, so they decide to let Clyde return to his cell and trap him while he is under the impression that his plan is going to go off without a hitch.

Phaneron

Question: I know that Susan was originally supposed to survive and kill the last shark but the test audience greatly disapproved of this. Why did the test audience hate the original ending? And why is this ending unavailable to watch?

Answer: They viewed her as a villain because it was her research that backfired and caused all of the chaos, even though none of it was intentional and it was a mistake. But audiences can be ruthless and unforgiving at times. However, the ending did feel like a cheap cop-out that created more plot holes. And many do feel she should have survived and completed her character arc. I don't know why they never offered the ending as a bonus feature on the DVD, but fans started a petition on the Change site calling for Warner to release the original ending. Thomas Jane is on board as well, as he's promoting it on his Instagram account. So that's probably the best way to get Warner's attention if you want to see the original ending.

Answer: Audiences viewed Susan as a villain of sorts, because all the mayhem and deaths in the film are a direct result of her breaching protocol, so they decided to rewrite the ending to have her die. As for why it's unavailable to view, perhaps the filmmakers didn't think people would be interested in seeing it.

Phaneron

Answer: They are indeed brothers, as is revealed in the episode Orphan's End. They were separated in their youth after their parents were abducted, which is why neither is aware of the other.

Phaneron

Question: Charlie complains that he can't tell anyone his dad is Santa, and he tells Lucy she can't reveal that either. Why though? In the third movie Scott tried to keep Carol's parents from finding out the truth, but he eventually relents as they are his family, and he doesn't want to keep secrets from them. Can't Charlie be allowed to do the same with Danielle if it makes him feel better? Sure she might not believe him at first, but he could show her the snow globe like he did with Carol.

Answer: This falls in with the theme of believing is seeing. Santa's Christmas magic works because children do not need to see him in order to believe there is a Santa. By telling people, it defeats that purpose. If people know something is real, there is no need for belief as it is a fact. The Christmas magic will disappear. By the third movie, Carol is Scott's wife and Mrs. Claus. Her parents share a much greater bond than Danielle has to Charlie. Carol may fight with her parents, but they stay her parents and part of Scott's extended family. Danielle is a just a friend/girlfriend. A fight/break up could have catastrophic consequences. Telling her isn't worth risking the secret of Santa Claus and the magic of Christmas.

Invader_Gir

True, but then that logic completely falls apart with the third movie as Jack Frost decided to just open the north pole to the public to profit from Christmas and the magic didn't disappear then. And like you said, it does fall in the theme of believing is seeing, but Charlie also tells Lucy that most people stop believing when they get older but people like him, Lucy, and the rest of the family get to believe forever since they know he exists. Not so much fact, but more people can believe.

Question: What was the point of Mort accusing himself as Shooter for stealing the story? Did Mort write the story the first time during a breakdown also contributing why the story is written under Shooter's name; so, he didn't even realise originally wrote the story? How did Mort just find a copy of the manifesto lying around his house? And why would Morts alter ego want reconciliation years after Morts copy was published? Was it because of Amy's affair triggering the breakdown thus releasing Shooter?

Answer: Shooter was an alter ego created by Mort. When he catches his wife cheating, he had brought a gun to kill them. But doesn't end up doing it. Thus, Morts psychosis breaks. Shooter emerges. Notice how Mort is always taking naps. That's when Shooter takes over and does the deeds that Mort couldn't. You hear shooter say he took the cowards way out. But at the end, the accent gone, and he's all confident and happy again. Cause Shooter did what Mort couldn't do. Finishing the story was more about fulfilling his obligation towards killing the two.

Question: Why are Czechoslovak border guards speaking Russian? The Soviet Red Army would not be guarding the border with West Germany.

Answer: In 1981 Czechoslovakia was part of the Warsaw Pact and thus under the Iron Curtain. The Soviet Union would not fully allow the satellite states to do their own border security, so Soviet guards were placed.

lionhead

Question: After the probe goes through the stargate General West discusses the possibility of a reconnaissance team but one officer says to get back they need to dial home. My query is, couldn't they just open the stargate again from their end? Instead of having to dial home to activate the stargate? Also, while on the alien planet, presumably they use satellite phones to communicate, how are they get the satellite signals for the phones to work without satellites?

Answer: The wormhole is a one way gate. So when the gate is opened from one side, you can't go through from the other side. You have to open the stargate from your own location in order to travel.

lionhead

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