Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: Why wouldn't the self-destruct system have a stop button? Presumably if you wanted to abort the procedure it should be instant and not have to go through all the rigmarole of trying to shut it down.

Answer: The Nostromo is powered by a nuclear reactor. The self-destruct system simply shuts down the cooling towers, causing the reactor to gradually rise in temperature until it reaches critical mass. The cooling system can be turned back on within the first 5 minutes but after that, the reactor is so hot the cooling liquid will evaporate once it comes into contact with the system. Ripley tries turning the cooling towers back on, and she does so right before the 5 minute failsafe timer is up, but the system was still too hot to cool the reactor. This is why Ripley curses at MUTHUR, she made it back in time but a meltdown is still inevitable. Apparently the 5 minute failsafe timer is not exact to the second and Ripley actually had slightly less than 5 minutes.

BaconIsMyBFF

I believe she just barely misses the cutoff, rather than making it but still having it be ineffective. She curses Mother out of frustration, and perhaps fury at the computer's cold indifference to her fate.

Answer: It's pretty typical in movies that in a self-destruct situation, once it's started, it is impossible to stop, for whatever reason. It's about plotting and maintaining the tension to keep the audience on the edge of their seats to see if the hero can survive. Considering how corrupt the company was, they'd expend little effort into proper safety procedures.

raywest

Answer: No, it's just an extra.

LorgSkyegon

Question: When John Q and his wife were in the meeting discussing the surgery, Rebecca Payne mentions that they had a little over $1,000 in savings. At the beginning of the movie, his wife's car was repossessed because he couldn't make the payments. Why didn't they use the money in the savings to pay for the car loan to avoid repossession?

Answer: Using the $1000 would only delay their car being repossessed, and they may be much further behind than that in their payments. In that case, their savings would be completely depleted and they'd still have no car.

raywest

Answer: Their mission is to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and civilizations. He knew they wouldn't just fly away. Besides any expedition would require a leader, a scientist and a medical doctor.

Question: Why do Adam and Barbara always hide when Otho, Charles and Delia enter the attic? The only person who can see them is Lydia.

Answer: Probably a combination of habit and uncertainty. They don't know what the rules are of being seen since at least one person can see them, so to be cautious in case something changes they still hide.

jimba

Question: When Casey's parents are coming up the front walkway, they talk about how great the plants look. Then Casey's mother says, "I said you could send it back." What is she talking about?

Answer: When they were talking about the flowers, Casey's dad said they had a strong smell. He probably complained about the smell (or something else) when they bought/planted them and she's just reminding him she told him they could take the flowers back to wherever they bought them from.

Bishop73

Question: At the end, the audience were all naked in the "Yes" seminar. Why did they attend it undressed?

Bunch Son

Answer: They had donated all their clothes to the clothing drive for the homeless. After all, they couldn't say no.

Brian Katcher

Question: When Jo and Bill are in the car with Melissa in the back, Melissa is confused as to why they're chasing another storm given Jo and Bill nearly got killed in the previous tornado. Yet wouldn't Melissa already know they were chasing another tornado given they were driving as part of a 'pack' and there was another Dorothy in back of the truck? (00:34:45)

Answer: She's confused, scared, and her thinking is unclear. She wrongly assumes she knows how Bill will react. She does not really know the person Bill is, as he had put his storm chasing life behind him. Once he is thrown back in his old environment with Jo, which is where he really wants to be, Bill reverts to his old self.

raywest

Question: Lipton the Justice Department official tells Rollie Tyler, "I really admired your stuff, ever since 'Vermin from Venus.'" Rollie's female assistant responds, "That's the one that got him deported from Australia." My question is how could Rollie have been deported from Australia, when he was born, raised and lived his whole life there? Where would he have been deported to?

Rollie55

Answer: It was most likely a joke, the movie was so horrible it gave Rollie a bad reputation and probably got him blacklisted.

Basic Lupine Urology - S3-E17

Question: When Troy and Abed are showing the yam to a lady she tells them that their yam was about to bloom, and that it was stepped on. I don't understand how she couldn't tell that it had been boiled? If she can tell that it was about to bloom, it doesn't make sense that she couldn't see that it had been in hot water. Of course, she wouldn't be at Greendale (I assume she is at Greendale but I could be wrong) if she was that good at something.

Answer: It was part of the plot that when the boiled yam was dropped it looked like it was stepped on (which it never was). So there was no way to tell the difference between the flesh being soft because it was boiled or because it was stepped on (in the show that is, I don't know if one could tell the difference in real life). Plus, the rest of the yam wasn't boiled, so there was no evidence the yam was sitting in boiling water.

Bishop73

Question: It is stated that it was originally Fear who was supposed to get lost in the mind with Joy rather than Sadness. After Riley quits hockey, while Anger and Disgust are frustrated by the disaster without Joy at Headquarters, Fear tries to abandon Headquarters through the same tube Joy and Sadness get sucked into. Is that a reference to the early concept of him getting lost with Joy?

Question: How would Markowski have known the details of a medal that only the First-Person Shooter would ever be able to obtain? As Calhoun says, their only job is to help the FPS reach the top, so they can get a medal. The NPCs never get it.

quinnnmallory

Answer: As NPCs in the game, they have knowledge of the game itself, like how NPCs in some games give out quests even though they don't go on the quest itself.

LorgSkyegon

Question: When Doc comes back at the end, it's to say goodbye to Marty, but what's stopping him from just staying in 1985 with Clara and their two sons? I mean, before Clara turned up at the train in 1885, Doc was all set to go to 1985 with Marty, and then when Clara showed up, Doc said that they'd have to bring her too because there wasn't much time left before the train ran out of track, and he couldn't just let her perish. So why doesn't he just stay in 1985 - that's where he was going to go before Clara turned up, and now that he has her, and a family, why not just settle down in 1985?

Heather Benton

Answer: Because like Doc Brown, Clara has a thirst for adventure. An Old West lady being offered the chance to go back and forth in time. Also, to go to the final frontier, outer space. Besides traveling for them is like a vacation. They could settle in 1985 anytime they wanted.

Answer: Doc was never content living in the modern world. Once he met Clara, he'd found a time and place where he fit in. Also, Clara and the two boys do not belong in the 1980s. They are people of the 19th century and likely want to stay there.

raywest

Answer: Doc actually explains in Back to the Future: The Game. I recommend playing that as it continues where part 3 left off. Doc actually tells Marty that he wanted him to live his life without the complications of time travel. So he left and moved to another time period. I don't want to spoil the rest of the game if you haven't played it but it gets into most of your question in the game definitely should give it a playthrough.

Question: Why is Jennings drunk and worried about the situation? Is he just upset? I can't understand why the other maid said she would do anything he asked.

dannydandan8888

Answer: Jennings' drinking problem stems from his having been a World War I conscientious objector, for which he was imprisoned. He has kept this secret and is worried the police investigation will uncover his past and jeopardize his job. The maid, Dorothy, is secretly in love with Jennings and wants to protect him.

raywest

Answer: Because Nuclear Man is made from pure radioactivity, he only used Superman's DNA as a construct into a human form. Like a horse and a donkey mating and creating a mule.

Question: What does the bad guy mean when he says "How the hell do they know that I've got gas"?

Answer: The idiots left a note for the 'gas man', explaining why they were running out on their delinquent heating bill. The hit man, who suffers from chronic stomach gas, thinks the note is for him, and that Lloyd and Harry are highly skilled professionals who have him under surveillance and know even minute details about his health.

Brian Katcher

Question: What happened at the end of the movie to the man who had been shot in the leg by the private detective?

Answer: When Mitch McDeere gets off the elevated train, when he's leaving Mud Island, a guy with a limp, wearing an overcoat (with faux fur), follows him. That's the guy. Mitch had never seen him before, so he gives him a weird look when he accidentally bumps into him. The guy with the limp was likely in the hospital while the security staff were doing their shakedown of Mitch.

pizzaazzip

Answer: It's not shown, but presumably he received medical attention and recovered from his injuries.

raywest

Harry and the Madam - S2-E8

Question: At the end of the episode, the military shows up and asks for all the evidence as it was a matter of national security. It's quite obvious that Harry called the military and was stalling for time until they could show up and get the evidence. Why did Harry call the military? I seriously doubt that it had anything to do with national security. I believe it was because he was actually trying to let Irene off the hook.

Answer: It's possible when Harry called the military, he implied that the book contained sensitive information, seeing as how many government and military officials were part of the client list.

I thought it was because he developed feelings for the madam and couldn't bring himself to turn her in.

Answer: He wasn't necessarily trying to let Irene off the hook. He still found her guilty. He was trying to get the diary out of evidence, but he had no legal standing to do so. It had nothing to do with military officials listed, but the fact that at least one of them talked about the military's equipment (the bombers). Harry called the military in hopes they could remove the diary from evidence. The major briefly reviewed the diary and classified it temporarily as "Secret", meaning that the court could no longer introduce the diary as evidence, which would have made the contents public (since there's no confidentiality laws between prostitutes and their clients).

Bishop73

Star-Crossed - June 15, 1972 - S1-E3

Question: Al tells Sam that he's there to prevent the professor and his undergraduate student from having a shotgun wedding and ruining both their lives. That implies she got pregnant. Sam succeeds in keeping them apart. Um, does that mean he prevented someone from being born?

Brian Katcher

Answer: He means he's there to prevent there ever being the need for a shotgun wedding-that is, to stop the affair before there is a possibility of the girl getting pregnant.

raywest

Which would erase the child from history. That's my point.

Brian Katcher

Not if there was never any pregnancy to begin with. There was only the chance of one.

raywest

Answer: Not necessarily; it could also mean that someone such as Jamie Lee's (the student) father discovered that the professor was having a sexual relationship with her and coerced the two into getting married.

zendaddy621

This doesn't answer the question. You just described what a shotgun wedding is.

Bishop73

I think their point is that the "shotgun" aspect might not be due to a pregnancy, simply a forced attempt to legitimise an otherwise scandalous relationship.

My point was that a "shotgun wedding" doesn't always happen because an unmarried girl becomes pregnant; it can also happen because someone "stole her virtue", i.e had sex with her without being married or at least engaged to her. There's no reason to believe that Jamie Lee was, or would become, pregnant as a result of the affair or subsequent marriage.

zendaddy621

The term "shotgun wedding" means a forced marriage due to unexpected pregnancy. It's sometimes even used when the woman is pregnant but it's planned or the wedding isn't "forced." In common colloquialism (especially in the 80's when the script was written), it doesn't refer to a force marriage just because of premarital sex (which the term "make an honest woman" is used for).

Bishop73

No, in the 1926 Sinclair Lewis novel 'Elmer Gantry', they talk about shotgun weddings, when a groom is forced to marry a woman because he took her virginity. Obviously, the term usually refers to a pregnant bride, but I see zendaddys point.

Brian Katcher

Question: I'm looking for the name of an actor - near the end of the film his character brings Dirk and Dirk's friend to the house of a drug dealer who he tries to rob and gets killed in the process.

Answer: If you mean "Todd Parker", it's Thomas Jane (The Punisher). If it's "Reed Rothchild", John C. Reilly (Chicago).

It's Todd - Reed gets away with his life and later on is in some racy magic act.

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