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: In various online posts, I often see the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) referred to as a T-800. However, I never heard that model used in either of the first two films, unless I missed something. I do remember in part two the terminator refers to himself as a Cyberdyne Systems model 101. So where did the T-800 name come from?

Kyle G.

Answer: In a Terminator 2 deleted scene the term is on the HUD of the terminator. The terminator itself is a series 800, an upgrade to the 600 series mentioned by Kyle Reese in Terminator 1, which only had rubber skin. The Arnold Schwarzenegger type of skin is the Model 101. In flashforwards in Terminator 1 you see a T-800 Model 102 infiltrate a rebel base, which looks different. Several types of terminator can wear the same skin Model. So there can also be a T-850 Model 101 (as seen in Terminator 3).

lionhead

Question: If Tommy and Lindsey both had babysitters why couldn't they go trick or treating?

Rob245

Answer: Tommy was in an astronaut costume so it kind of implies he went trick or treating earlier.

My friends and I dressed up a lot to get into the spirit of Halloween and not go trick or treating so doesn't really imply anything.

lartaker1975

Answer: Who said they weren't allowed to go trick or treating? They both seemed more interested in the movies than anything else.

lartaker1975

Question: I could swear when I saw it it had a different ending. The one I saw at the end Jeff Bridges dies in the car. And Clint Eastwood pushes him out of the car and leaves him on the side of the road, then drives away. But I can't find anything on that. Has anyone else seen that version?

Answer: You must be thinking of another movie, because as far as I know there is no different ending.

I totally agree with your answer. Sometimes movies do film alternate endings that may be used in different markets (i.e. Europe or Asia). Also, alternate endings are sometimes filmed after a test audience reacts negatively to the original one and they may show up in the DVD or director's cut. I didn't find any indication that another version was ever filmed for this movie.

raywest

I concur - I can't find any evidence of this alternate ending existing beyond some people claiming it does. Like other examples (Wizard of Oz ending with a shot of the shoes under Dorothy's bed, etc.) I suspect this is just a false memory, although no doubt some will argue that, trouble is there's no way to prove a negative.

You are absolutely correct. Just watched this film again for the first time since the 70's. Thunderbolt leaves Lightfoot sitting (respectfully) by the roadside before driving off! Hope you come across this comment one day.

Answer: I remember the scene of pushing Jeff Bridges out of the car as well. I recently watched the movie on Cable, and Eastwood just kept on driving with Bridges (dead) slumped in his seat. I could have sworn he pushed him out in some alternate version.

Answer: I saw the film on VHS tape 30 years ago and the ending on the tape had Clint Eastwood throwing Jeff Bridge off the cliff.

Answer: Mandela effect.

Answer: The one thrown out of the car was red pushing his friend out of the trunk of the car after he was shot Clint saw his friend die, and he drove off with him still in the car.

Answer: I did a little research on this. According to Wikipedia, the Old Man was based on MCA Inc. CEO Lew Wasserman, who was considered to be a powerful and intimidating individual. I suspect the character was left unnamed to generally represent the cold, ruthless, detached nature of corporate America.

raywest

Answer: Holloway could have continued voicing Winnie the Pooh, but by that time he was in his 80s and felt he could no longer effectively use his voice for the character as he once did. He chose to retire from the role.

raywest

Question: Why was Chico so brutally murdered?

Answer: Mort, while in his psychotic persona as Shooter, and with no memory of his actions, killed Chico. It then appeared as if "Shooter", who did not actually exist, was threatening Mort and sending him an extreme warning.

raywest

Florida's Homecoming: The Wedding - S6-E3

Question: At Thelma's wedding, Michael is singing "You And I" from O'Bryan. But this episode is from 1978 and the song came out in 1983 (5 years later). Did Ralph Carter (Michael) originate that song before O'Bryan made it famous?

Answer: "You and I (We Can Conquer the World) " is a song written and performed by Stevie Wonder in 1972. O'Bryan just did a cover of the song.

Bishop73

Question: There's something I was wondering about Galvatron. Joshua Joyce said he modelled Galvantron after Optimus Prime. If that's true then why did he end up looking like Megatron?

Answer: They were using the remains of Megatron as a template, and didn't realise that his programming had taken over the project and influencing the look of the final project.

Garlonuss

Chapter Nine: The Gate - S2-E9

Question: Why does Dustin make a weird noise when he talks about his teeth? One time is from season 1 and the second time from Season 2 chapter 9. He also refers his teeth as pearls.

Bunch Son

Chosen answer: The actor (Gaten Matarazzo) and the character (Dustin) have cleidocranial dysplasia, which delays or prevents growth of the front teeth. It appears Dustin got prosthodontics by season 2 (he seems to not have them again in season 3 and implies Suzie prefers kissing without them), and he's extremely proud of his new teeth, calling them irresistible 'pearls' and making a 'sexy' growling, purring sound (based on a Wookiee growl) when they're mentioned.

Sierra1

Arthur, Spooner - S5-E1

Question: The elderly man in Carrie's overnight team, George, says that the firm is trying to force him to retire. Why don't they fire him?

Answer: Because he didn't do anything wrong. If they fired him simply for being older, he'd have excellent grounds for a wrongful termination suit. Much easier to 'convince' him to retire.

Brian Katcher

I know he didn't do anything wrong, but I thought New York was an "at-will employment" state, meaning that a company can simply terminate someone's employment at will.

Answer: To fire someone you need a reason and simply being older is not a reason. They could be sued for wrongful dismissal. If he retires the company doesn't get sued.

Ssiscool

Yes, but New York is an "at-will employment" state, so a company can terminate employment at any time, without needing to give a good explanation. Unfair but it happens.

Even in at-will States, employers and employees can still enter into binding contracts that would protect an employee from being terminated without cause. These contracts may have retirement policies as well, should an employee want to retire with any benefits offered. And, what others were saying, barring any contract, terminating someone without reason is one thing, but for an illegal reasons (age discrimination) is another matter which could result in a lawsuit.

Bishop73

Question: At 12:07 is it the shower or the toilet that makes a weird draining noise? Almost what does he look at that makes him vomit? (00:12:07)

Answer: The "draining noises" are Big Momma taking a dump. Big Momma didn't flush either so I'm assuming he took a look at her stools and what he saw made him feel sick.

Question: How did Paul die? Was his body dissolved by lahar? And did this lahar contain any acidic substances from volcanic activity?

Answer: Paul got stuck on the bridge that was being washed away by the rampaging river after the dam broke. His van didn't have enough power to make the jump across the bridge like the Humvees did, as a result he got washed away and presumably drowned due to the force of the water.

Question: When riding through the village Bond remarks "this is the work of Muhjadeens." What actions does he refer to?

Answer: Bond is referring to an attack on the Soviet military. There are damaged military vehicles and the bodies of Soviet soldiers lying around, so the village appears to have been recently "liberated" from the Soviets by the mujahideen, although with significant collateral damage to the village itself.

Sierra1

Question: How did they get the 20mm cannon? Did they buy it legitimately, or obtain it by deception?

Answer: Since the crate was labelled machine parts, I'm guessing fraudulently.

My Best Fiend's Wedding - S6-E7

Question: How does Ella realise Amenadiel is an angel? Either I missed something or else there's just a few leaps of calculation missed, because it seems like she goes from "frog falls from the sky", to "Amenadiel says he'd feel if something was wrong, but backtracks", to her big whiteboard putting everything together, and then knowing she's at a "demon wedding." Just feels quite rushed.

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: She has been keeping that whiteboard for probably the duration of the series. She has been piecing together clues the whole time. It was more obvious with "God" when she was fishing for info and mentioned the best hugs ever. I feel it was intentional to just spring the whole "I knew it!" in the last episode (s). I personally was hoping she would get a better sense of "closure" as she was really the only main character not in on the deal.

kayelbe

Question: Couldn't they move dinosaurs to Isla Sorna?

Answer: There are probably many reasons they didn't. There was extensive debate on whether dinosaurs should be allowed to exist as they had naturally gone extinct and artificially brought back to life, nor were they true dinosaurs. They are basically "invasive" species that affect the island's ecosystem. The costs and resources to move the animals would be enormous with no clear source on how to fund it. Also, Isla Sorna and Isla Nublar are not owned or governed by the United States, so the U.S. government's involvement would be restricted and controlled. Another factor, dumping a large amount of dinosaurs onto an island that is already populated by other dinosaurs would have further severe ecological consequences. As seen, private enterprises might finance the relocation, but they would do it for profit.

raywest

Question: When the character was at the cafe and the truck was there, but he didn't know who the driver was, why didn't he just go and wait by the truck, smash the windshield, fill the gas tank with sugar or water, slash the tyres?

Answer: At that point in the film, the protagonist David Mann is ready to confront the truck driver. When he sees the old Peterbilt truck outside, David mistakenly assumes the truck driver has already entered the diner, so he confronts a likely suspect that he sees at the counter (but he has misidentified the man). The misidentified man takes offense and punches David out. By the time he recovers his senses, David sees the old Peterbilt truck leaving the parking lot. Which means the actual homicidal truck driver never entered the diner in the first place and was waiting outside the whole time. If David had first gone outside to the Peterbilt, there was a good chance the waiting homicidal truck driver would have killed him right there, and the story would have abruptly ended. So, David's misidentification of the truck driver allowed the film to move ahead into its next act.

Charles Austin Miller

Yes, I get why the filmmakers did that, but I still think it is a plot hole. If the Dennis Weaver character was afraid of getting killed by the truck driver, I doubt he would have confronted him in the cafe.

Answer: What happened to the answer that was given. Koba hated humans, he wanted the others apes to believe it was the people who wanted to massacre them. Also, Koba thought Caesar was weak and foolish for wanting to make peace with the humans.

Question: Maybe someone with agricultural expertise can answer this. Ray's entire cornfield is large and obviously worth a lot of money. How much would the small section of corn that he plowed under for the baseball field have been worth in comparison to the rest of the crop once sold?

raywest

Chosen answer: In modern times (say, over the last 10 years) corn crops yield about $240 in profit per acre. In the mid-to-late 1980s (when this movie was made) the profit yield was far less, maybe only $150 or less profit per acre. Today, most farms produce about 1100 acres of corn per season; but, back then, most farms produced around 600 acres per season. Of course, these are all just average figures. So, let's say Ray had an average Iowa farm of 600 cultivated acres in 1989, expecting to profit $150 per acre. Optimistically, Ray would profit about $90,000 on his total crop. Meanwhile, the acreage of a large baseball field (with 90-foot baselines) is only about 5 acres. Which means Ray plowed under only about $750 worth of his crop profits to open up land area for the baseball field. It doesn't sound like much of a sacrifice at all, in terms of corn. Ray could still potentially profit $89,250 on his remaining crop (assuming he had the farm hands and heavy equipment to harvest it).

Charles Austin Miller

Thanks! The plot seemed a bit far-fetched by implying that he would go completely bankrupt because he sacrificed five acres to build a baseball field. And it appeared that not all of those five acres near the house were previously being used for growing corn. Factoring in the other incidental building costs would be a different consideration, however.

raywest

Yeah, the 5 acres of corn was not a bank-breaker. My impression was that Ray probably cut down the corn himself at no great loss; but he then mortgaged his farm to have that one small piece of the cornfield leveled and professionally developed with ballpark-quality turf, baselines, stadium lighting and fencing, et cetera, not to mention the bleachers and professional-grade field equipment...all of which would total, what, a half-million bucks (or more) in the 1980s? Ray's brother-in-law rightly thought it was an insane risk that would result in bank foreclosure.

Charles Austin Miller

I just watched it again. It's mentioned they paid for building the field using all their savings, so presumably nothing more is owed. Another year passes and there is another crop of corn to be harvested, but the bank is threatening to foreclose.

raywest

Maybe it's a plot hole or a deleted scene; because, if the bank was threatening foreclosure, then a mortgage of some kind existed somewhere.

Charles Austin Miller

He did spend a lot to build the field, and those profit margin numbers are best-case, no?

Yeah, all the figures I provided were just averages for the year 1989; but the figures do demonstrate that cutting down 5 acres of corn didn't significantly impact Ray's profit on the whole crop. It wasn't cutting down the corn that cost him money (as the original question inquired); rather, it was developing the cleared 5 acres into a level, professional-standard baseball field that cost him a ton of money.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: It's from s06e23, "The One With The Ring." Chandler and Phoebe are at a jewelry store and Phoebe tried to run after a guy while still holding store property, which caused the door to lock and the metal gate to come down.

Bishop73

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