Mr. Monk Goes to Jail - S2-E16
Question: In the beginning how does the trustee know that he was poisoned? To me it looked like a seizure of some kind.
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Question: How come Wilson never deflates from the time Chuck opens the parcel to the time it falls off the raft and is swept away? A normal ball would go flat after a period of time, but 4 years on and Wilson is fully pumped. Does Chuck have a pump?
Answer: Look closely. In the later scenes, Wilson's entire top is gone, now filled with dirt and grass to give him the illusion of hair.
Thanks Brian.
Question: What is the source of that strange, echoing voice heard as Michael, in the hospital to visit his father, realises that all of Don Corleone's bodyguards are gone and even many of the staff seem to have abandoned the place (the better to facilitate Solozzo's second attempt on Don Corleone's life)? It sounds like a male voice almost chanting the words 'two-nine, two-nine, two-nine'.
Answer: It's a 45 (a small vinyl record that generally held one song per side...a "single") playing on a record player in the nurses' station. It is skipping, thus repeating the word "tonight" over and over. You can see it when Michael arrives at the desk; we also see a half-eaten sandwich.
Question: How many dead bodies are in the pool?
Question: John McClane's wife calls herself "Miss Gennero." Later in the movie her children are being interviewed on television - but how could Hans Gruber possibly know these are her children? And how does he connect her and the surname "McClane"?
Answer: He sees her reaction to seeing them on the news; he can tell she knows them, and from this, it's not a big leap to the conclusion that they are her children. Then, the reporter says to her daughter, "Your mommy and daddy...", but Holly has claimed to be single and her husband is not among the party guests, so he further deduces that she must be married to John McClane, or if nothing else that she's avoided mentioning her husband for a reason. A look at the downturned photograph on her desk confirms his suspicion.
Answer: In addition, with admittedly a bit of guessing, McClane himself admitted to Hans (during the moment they met up on the roof and Hans was pretending to be 'Bill Clay') that he 'got invited to the party by mistake', and that comes after Ellis mucked things up with his act of being McClane's old friend. On top of that, McClane also tells Al that he has kids and to find his wife over the radio, which the film previously confirmed the terrorists can also hear due to using the same radio type. So, Hans now knows McClane is married with kids, Ellis lied about being his friend, and someone else asked him to attend the party. Holly is the only party guest he knows has kids, so once the news program shows said kids, he can presumably fill in the last critical piece, more so with Holly's panicked reaction and glance at the photo she flipped down.
Question: At some point in season 3 it is discovered that Mrs McCluskey has been keeping her dead husband's body in the freezer so that she can keep drawing his pension. For a while the other residents of the lane ostracize her because they believe she has murdered her husband. When she explains the reason why she kept him in the freezer everyone just accepts it and it is never mentioned again. However, pension fraud is a major crime. Why was she not arrested?
Question: Why can't Michael take Tommy with him at the racetrack with Gina and her dad instead of taking him to the Kiddie Zone?
Answer: Because Michael's family hates Gina's. They see her as a spoiled brat and not a good influence on Michael. He knew if he took Tommy with him, he would tell the family about not going to Disneyland but to the racetrack.
Question: Would finding the button during the initial investigation (or even at the end) really have been enough to overcome all the evidence against her? It validates her innocence and the morality of the escape in the eyes of the viewer, just not sure if finding a button would lead investigators/prosecutors to say "yep, we found a button. She's definitely innocent."
Answer: It wouldn't have been that simple to say, "We found the button, she's innocent." It would however validate her story and reopen her case. Investigating further the cops may have found further evidence of her innocence.
Question: Why was Aragorn so reluctant to claim the throne? While in the novel he is proud to be destined to rule Gondor and Arnor.
Answer: Probably for multiple reasons. For the movie, having Aragorn struggle against his own desires and an inherited destiny makes for a more conflicted, intriguing, and three-dimensional character rather than the stereotypical power-obsessed trope. Being king is an immense responsibility and a heavy burden. Personal wants and freedom are sacrificed to serve others. Not every ruler craves power and oftentimes were born into an unwanted, pre-destined path. Aragorn was raised in Rivendell, unaware he was the heir, nor was he groomed to become king.
Question: Why was Commissioner Hurst shocked to find out that Commandant Lassard would be helping with the crime wave? They had been friends for a long time, and Hurst knows that Lassard would never do such a thing, so it seems out of character for Hurst to think so.
Answer: Because they found jewelry from the last crime in his office. That's why he was shocked. They may be friends, but he knows he can't ignore evidence even for a friend.
The Misfortune Cookie - S1-E35
Question: At the end of the episode, Harry receives a fortune cookie that says, "You're dead." How did Harry die?
Answer: Poisoned food, heart attack from eating too much food, or he slipped in the shower. The list is endless.
Question: When daylight appears in the house, Maddie, Colin and Jason reach the front door but stop when Colin says something wasn't right. What did Colin see that made him realise something was wrong?
Answer: A sense that it was too easy to just open the door and leave. Evil is a sore loser and will always have a trick up their sleeve to win.
If you pay attention, you can hear bugs and insects that are night creatures making noise.
On a Very Special Episode... - S1-E5
Question: The intro sequence for this episode seems most closely based on Growing Pains, with a dash of Family Ties, but the painting being coloured in really reminds me of something else, I assume another TV show, but can't place it. Any inspiration?
Chosen answer: The living painting is taken straight from the Family Ties intro.
Ah, that makes sense - I first saw this one on Youtube, which at a guess was the first season or an early version? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPRdtO6UKD0. But yeah, this is exactly right: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip1szfz9nZ8.
Answer: I noticed that too and although I can't think of any sitcom starting like that it does remind me strongly of Bob Ross "The Joy of Painting" intro, which was from the 80's as well.
Question: When Tony gets busted for money laundering, he says "$200,000 more and we ought to take a leak." This line triggers the bust when the cops arrest him. Is this really what he said and why is this statement so significant to the investigation? (01:59:20)
Answer: That's the cop's signal for the task force to move in and make the arrest.
Question: What was in the envelope he put on the mantel just before he left. It was already gone when his friend and maid ran to see him leave?
Answer: Earlier in the movie, Mrs. Watchit hands an envelope to Philby with a note inside to inform everyone that if George doesn't show up at 8:00, then they can start dinner without him. This is what he most likely left on the mantle before he started his journey through time.
Question: In Nick's case, why is nothing shown happening to Jackie at the end? I mean, if it wasn't for her kicking out Chase and Andy, so that she could have the house party (while her parents are on vacation), they wouldn't have ended up at the laundromat where Chase dies.
Answer: There are not enough jail cells or funding for them to waste time and money charging people for crimes who are an indirect puzzle piece as opposed to being the person who directly committed the crime. While Nick is not a cop, he knows enough about solving crimes to know the law comes down to who is directly responsible. The law doesn't put much focus on who you could put some of the blame on indirectly, hypothetically speaking. No one in law enforcement is going to waste their resources charging Jackie. Particularly when all her lawyers would need to say is, by law, she didn't commit a crime.
Question: Depending on child labor laws just how did they get the young Diana actress to do her own stunts?
Answer: Lily Aspell, (young Diana), performed many of her own stunts. She is naturally athletic and was already an expert equestrian rider (her parents and uncle are professional jockeys). Stunts are carefully coordinated, and she would never have been allowed to do anything dangerous. Stunt doubles perform the more dangerous action scenes. Often, CGI superimposes an actor's face over a stunt double's body. Safety harnesses and suspension cables are used and later removed digitally. Actors also perform many scenes in front of a "green screen" and special effects are added later to look like an extreme environment. I once observed a movie scene being shot. What looked like a wild car chase in the move was actually filmed with the vehicles driven at slow speed. The action was sped up during the editing process.
Question: Dan Aykroyd tricks the Russians into revealing themselves by saying something in Russian. What does he say specifically?
Question: If Barbara had a dog named Muffy then how come she didn't speak about it the whole film? Didn't she even think about wanting her dog back if she decides to stay with the kidnappers?
Answer: So she's more concerned about her own life than the life of the dog. Or since she believes that her husband "worships the ground I walk on," she probably takes for granted that her husband will take care of the dog. Or she does talk about it but it's not important to the plot.
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Answer: The trustee may be knowledgeable about the symptoms and physical characteristics of being poisoned as opposed to a seizure.
raywest ★