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Hazardous to Your Health - S5-E18
Question: This was one of my favourite episodes, and it wasn't actually until Season 5 when we found out exactly how much money Dylan had. But the question I always had was how it could have been fraud. Dylan and Kevin opened a joint account together at the end of Season 4, so wasn't that also now legally his money as well? Yes, he did withdraw it and fled the country, but wasn't it his money too?
Question: When the Mentors were discussing with the Tributes on how to sell their performances for the audiences, why did the shackled Reaper fake lunge at Dovecote?
Question: When Lucy Gray tells the peacekeepers to "give her a minute," why do they all back off and let her sing instead of carting her off to the train? The police basically take orders from her, and I'm pretty sure singing would have been classified as rebellious behavior. Was it because she had to have protection now that she was one of the chosen Tributes?
Answer: The Peacekeepers were likely a little subdued because a large crowd is watching and everything is being aired on live TV. They would not risk inciting a riot. The Peacekeepers are low-level Capitol servants, so they may be concerned about the repercussions to themselves if they are overly rough with a female tribute. Allowing her to sing also makes for better TV, and the Capitol is trying to increase viewership.
Question: When Felix Ravenstill was declared dead, why did Dr. Gaul think that the way to get back at the Districts was to kill off the remaining tributes in the "rainbow of destruction"? If you were chosen as a Tribute, you basically were already dead before actually dying. That's pretty much the essential nature of the Hunger Games. Wouldn't the government announcing a retaliatory missile strike have made much more sense?
Answer: Doing something unexpected and even more violent during the Games sends a warning but also adds a "shock value" that "thrills" Capitol viewers, keeping them engaged and increasing TV ratings. Launching a missile strike would be an extreme and counterproductive move that only causes extensive and expensive damage, disrupts the districts' productivity and adversely affecting Panem's commerce, directly hurting the Capitol and its citizens.
Question: Why doesn't the Green Goblin use his vaporising bombs against Spider-Man in the burning building, since he used one at the World Unity Festival?
Answer: You could make an argument that the Goblin didn't want to quickly kill Spider-Man, so he's toying with him by beating him, throwing the razor-bats at him, etc. Goblin is psychopathic and petty... he's absolutely go for the longer death after Spider-Man turned down his offer to team up. (But of course, the actual reason behind the scenes is that the vaporizing bomb was just meant to be a cool little one-off moment to show how much of a threat Goblin was. And it'd make the movie very boring if he kept using it, especially given how overpowered it was.)
Question: The following puzzles me: 1. Why don't the survivors try leaving on a boat and finding an island? 2. Why wouldn't the zombies just eat each other? 3. Why do they seem surprised when the zombies show up when they can smell their decaying smell? 4. Why do the zombies need to eat since they still walk around anyway? 5. Why can't the zombies climb ladders? 6. How can they feel hunger with their brains and nerve system gone?
Answer: Some of these questions address general zombie lore (or at least, post-Romero zombie lore) and are thus usually accepted that they just "are" a certain way. 1. That's easier said than done if you don't know how to operate a boat, which the average person does not. They're also in the middle of America, nowhere near the sea. 2. There is not a single example of zombie fiction in which the zombies consume one another; they always feed on living humans. No reason other than it wouldn't be scary if they just ate one another. 3. Can you tell the exact source/direction/distance of every smell, even a powerful one? 4. In all media, zombies are driven by primordial hunger for living flesh, which almost never serves any physiological purpose. 5. Lack of physical coordination. It's also why they can't run, swim, dance, etc. 6. Again, it's just how they "are" in the fictional world they inhabit.
I want to add that "finding an island" is not guaranteed anyway. They could end up getting lost at sea and dying of starvation or dehydration. And if they do find an island, they don't know what they will be dealing with: natives who became zombies, natives who don't want them there, unfamiliar plants that might be poisonous, etc. It makes more sense to "start over" where they are.
Question: Did the creators of the show draw inspiration from Taggert and Rosewood of Beverly Hills Cop to create Stottlemeyer and Disher? They seem to be like them to me.
Question: I remember in the commercials for this film, there was a shot of a catatonic beaver in a padded cell, in a straitjacket. What was the context?
Answer: His teacher wanted him to see a psychologist as he didn't seem to be hitting the mile markers other kids his age were. His parents imagined this when this was suggested as that used to be what seeing a psychologist meant back in the day. That if they found anything wrong, they would lock the person up in an asylum in a straight jacket. This was showing his parents' fear that he might end up there for seeing a psychologist.
Question: Joe gave Ed O'Neill the red book, which he placed by the window. It never was out of view, and Ed gave it back. Joe walked away and later finds it to have been replaced with a blank copy. When was it supposedly switched?
Question: Maybe I'm missing something here, but why does Dr. Serizawa kill himself at the end by cutting the oxygen cord to his diving suit after activating the oxygen destroyer? What does ending his life accomplish? It seems to me the mission to kill Godzilla still would have been successful if Serizawa had returned to the surface alive.
Answer: I don't remember if that line was in the KOTM American cut as well, but in the Japanese Gojira cut, Serizawa, as he is talking about why the capabilities of microoxygen and the Oxygen Destroyer horrify him, mentions that he fears that "perhaps one day he might have to create the Oxygen Destroyer again," and that horrified him. The reason he allowed himself to die didn't have anything to do with stopping Godzilla; it was to ensure that no-one, including himself, would be able to create the Oxygen Destroyer ever again. That was his entire arc in the movie. He has previous scenes in the movie where he explains why his discovery of microoxygen and its destructive capabilities horrified him, and before he went to unleash the Oxygen Destroyer for its first and final time, he had ensured to destroy all the research in his lab that could be used to recreate the Oxygen Destroyer. Finally, he allowed himself to die so that he would erase the possibility of himself recreating that weapon as well.
Question: Was Principal McGee only bluffing when she announced that the "pictures" of the mooners were "on their way to Washington" to simply scare the three into admitting? Or was she serious about that and therefore wanted to give those responsible a chance to come in?
Answer: It's definitely a bluff. I highly doubt the FBI can identify people by butt.
Question: When Luke says he can't kill his own father, Obi-Wan tells him, "Then the Emperor has already won." But if Luke actually did kill Darth Vader, he would be left to fight the Emperor by himself, or could even be influenced to switch sides. The Emperor does try this later, suggesting that Luke replace Vader. How would that be a triumph for Obi-Wan and Yoda?
Answer: Obi-Wan didn't think it would be an immediate victory or Luke would rush to then combat the Emperor. His reasoning is that eliminating Vader would weaken the Emperor's power by removing his main enforcer. Once Vader was gone, Obi-Wan and Luke would have to devise a strategy on how to defeat the Emperor. Leaving Vader alive leaves the Emperor's power intact. Obi-Wan trusts that the Emperor will never sway Luke to the Dark side. However, Luke is unable to face destroying his own father.
So, you think they wanted Luke to fight Vader alone again, defeat him, and they would deal with the Emperor later? Instead of Luke allowing Vader to "capture" him and take him to the Emperor?
Facing his father would be facing his fears. Facing his fears is what will keep Luke away from the dark side. That was the first step in beating the emperor. Luke is understood enough in the end that killing his father is not the answer, but he did manage to beat him. And that was the victory. Because that caused Anakin to turn back to the light side and kill the emperor. Obi-Wan and Yoda can't tell Luke everything he needs to do, some he has to do himself.
Question: Throughout the entire show, why is Harry's rank an ensign? Janeway has been seen promoting or demoting other crew members, so why doesn't she promote him?
Answer: In Season 7, Episode 19 "Author, Author," Harry's parents outright ask him why he hasn't yet been promoted. Harry replies, the ship is operating without a full complement of staff, and there is little opportunity for him to be promoted. This, however, was likely added to the script to address complaints fans and Garrett Wang himself had about the character never being promoted.
Question: How did the plane carrying Colonel Turner from England to Austria, going to pick up the group at the airfield, manage to do so in such a short time? It's almost 700 miles from London to Austria. At the time, the only place held by the British that was any closer would have been Malta. Planes were not that fast back then.
Question: How was membership passed down for the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies? How was the torch passed from the members in the first Grease to the eventual members in Grease 2?
Answer: It's never explained in the films how membership is gained, but from the tight bond between its members, we can assume they're friends prior to joining. So maybe it's just that - a group of friends who take up the mantle.
Good theory, but we know through dialogue at the bowling alley that there is a code to follow for both the T-Birds and Pink Ladies, so there must be initiation requirements.
Question: One thing I never understood about this movie was the scene when Tony and Tia were doing opposite things to the cooling system. Tony was trying to increase the temperature and Tia was trying to decrease it, and then all of a sudden it went down—how did Tia manage to overcome Tony's ability to increase the temperature?
Question: When the state police and national guard were called in to draw Rambo out into the open to capture him, why weren't the Marines or other active duty Green Berets called upon instead to deal with an unstable war veteran who was unpredictable and armed and dangerous? The government sent over Colonel Trautman, but he could have at least brought a group of special forces with him to help out in the hunt.
Answer: The answer is in Trautman's first appearance in the film: he is very adamant that the way to deal with Rambo is to deescalate the situation, not add more firepower/soldiers/hunters. It's likely the government considered sending special forces, but Trautman, who knows Rambo, would have declined for the same reason he explains to Teasle: the best thing to do is let Rambo escape, let him calm down, and apprehend him once he's no longer in "survival" mode.
Question: I'm not familiar with racing, so how would Amy giving Foh some water be an interference? She's technically a part of the team.
Question: Had Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan been able to both survive and defeat Maul, would this mean Sidious would not be able to manipulate Anakin anymore? Or would the Sith Lord have simply tried a different plan, besides emotional manipulation, to try to trick an Anakin trained under Qui-Gon into the dark side?
Answer: I don't think his plans would change. Qui-Gon is just another Jedi Master training Anakin, nothing much different because Obi-Wan was trained by him as well, after all. Plus, Qui-Gon much more believes Anakin is the chosen one, so he would probably allow Anakin a lot more than Obi-Wan would, including his relationships with Palpatine and Padme, which both are more important for Anakin's switch to the dark side.
I (not who submitted the question) wonder if Palpatine actually wanted Darth Maul to be killed by Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, or both. It seems like he mostly trained Maul to fight. Maul seemed to know little about the plotting, scheming, and political dealings. Dooku was capable in those areas, and was skilled at fighting. He was probably more useful while Palpatine waited to turn Anakin.
Not sure about that. I think he genuinely thought Darth Maul was properly trained to defeat Jedi. I don't think Palpatine planned ahead in terms of apprentices, except Anakin. But Darth Maul was before he knew Anakin. I don't think Sith are easy to find either, so Palpatine needed Maul for a lot of things more than just kill Jedi. It is too convenient however that every apprentice he had served his plans perfectly. Because I don't see Maul lead the separatists.
I was under the impression that Palpatine knew about Anakin ever since Shmi was chosen to be Anakin's mother. I might be wrong. This is an interesting discussion, though - I appreciate your response. Some think that Maul had limited use of the Force and was more of a trained assassin. But, if that were true, why call him a Sith apprentice? As you say, it's hard to imagine him being a Separatist leader.
I do not have any knowledge regarding any books written or other sources that might be considered canon, as have been mentioned in other comments here recently. My knowledge is purely the movies. As per the movies, Palpatine only learned of Anakin after the Battle of Naboo.
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Answer: Because he didn't like her, he realized she was just a rich person who saw him as a means to an end, and really didn't care if he survived. He wanted to give her a scare.
Brian Katcher