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: How exactly does the Voight-Kampff test work?
Chosen answer: It measures a number of involuntary physical responses, like heart-rate, breathing, eye movement and pupil dilation in response to questions designed to provoke an emotional response. By examining the intensity of these responses over a series of different questions, the subject's empathy and emotional response levels can be measured, allowing those running the test to determine the true nature of the test subject.
Question: Why are obsolete programs given the choice of deletion or exile? Why aren't they just instantly deleted?
Chosen answer: All programs are destined for deletion, however a quick witted program would realise their time is up and try and make an escape (exile). The programs aren't given a choice, the programs make a choice.
Question: What was report 30185 and why wasn't Mitchell permitted to read it?
Chosen answer: Report 30185 is a joke report referring to the time when SG-1 go back in time to 1969 in the episode '1969'. The joke is that Colonel O'Neil knocked up a hippie and made sure Mitchel was taken care of throughout his life, like how he got into the 302 program while his buddy, a better pilot, did not.
Answer: This answer is incorrect, because after Mitchell said, I'm being parked on a Samantha, in a very serious tone, said seriously we can't tell you about 30185.
To clarify this entry, what Mitchell asked is "Oh, I'm being punk'd, aren't I?" The joke in the scene was 30185 was too classified for Mitchell to know, but then they turn around and tell Vala. O'Neill isn't really Mitchell's father, they were joking around. But then Samantha does honestly say they can't tell them about 30185. From there we never learn what it is.
Question: What did Mrs.Loomis mean when she said she had a make over? Did she mean plastic surgery?
Answer: Sidney did eventually recognise Mrs Loomis. So it's also likely that she changed her hair. Style and or colour. She also could have put on weight or lost it accordingly. Plastic surgery is expensive so it's possible that she could not afford it. That being typed, a nose job is not entirely out of the question. Or any number of facial adjustments.
She is implied to have some kind of money, as Mickey says she paid for his college tuition.
Chosen answer: Yes, she had plastic surgery to disguise herself so she could get close to Sidney.
Question: Why did Stu commit the murders with Billy? What was his reason?
Answer: I've known people who are influenced by a "leader" friend. They don't make many decisions for themselves. Stu seems to have latched onto Billy at some point, and is willing to join him in the murders. There are real-life cases in which murderers had associates who obeyed them.
Chosen answer: Billy told Stu they were going to be famous as the sole survivors of the massacre. He believed Billy and went along with it, wanting fame.
Question: Who is Tony?
Answer: Tony was a god-sent to change the course of history, which ultimately saved Danny and his mother in the 80s compared to the 20s when both of them were finally killed and eaten by Jack. Tony appeared in Danny's life when he started reading alphabets and his main message was 'REDRUM'. This was critical in the movie, as its mirror image 'MURDER' saved Wendy's life in the 80s.
Question: What exactly is that 'goo' The Master secretes? How is he able to generate it?
Chosen answer: There is nothing in the story to suggest what the "goo" is so we can only summarize that this is simply the remains of the master after his execution. Why he would become "slime" is debatable but as the air of Skaro created the Dalek Race, it is fair to assume that a prolonged exposure also mutated the Master's body in some way.
Last of the Time Lords (3) - S3-E13
Question: Why did The Doctor disable Jack's vortex manipulator?
Chosen answer: To stop him from traveling around Time and Space and causing trouble, he even says it as he is disabling it.
Question: Where did Sam get his piece of the Allspark? There was only one piece left - Optimus pulled it from Megatron's chest after he died and I'm assuming that is the piece that is under heavy guard at the military base, so where did Sam get his?
Answer: It was stuck in his sweater/hooded top. He makes mention of it on the phone with Mikeila. Obviously he hadn't worn it since the events of the first film. It dropped out when he was getting ready to pack it in his bag.
Question: How was The Master able to survive his extermination?
Chosen answer: A very good question - It is suggested by Paul McGann during the introduction that "rules mean nothing" to the Master. Assuming this to be the case, that would suggest that outside of Galifrey where a Time Lord's life is absolute, The Master would be able to "alter and cheat" time.
Hide and Q - S1-E10
Question: What was the reason behind Q giving Riker the power of the Q?
Chosen answer: Q is a rather nasty entity hell-bent on proving that the human race are NOT the nice guys they make out to be. Q and Riker simply don't like each other and Q gives Riker the power of Q to prove a point...that power corrupts. And it almost does to Riker who uses his Q power to help, then to squander. Riker finally realizes that he's being corrupted by the power and gives it up, showing Q that he can't be swayed to the dark side.
The Sound of Drums (2) - S3-E12
Question: Why was Lucy so willing to go along with The Master's plan of murder and world domination?
Chosen answer: Because he'd driven her insane by showing her the future and humanity's fate. (There's also the possibility that she might be The Rani in human form, but that's all speculation right now.)
Question: Are the ghosts real, or does Jack just imagine them?
Answer: Both Kubrick and King stated there were ghosts in interviews so as they are essentially the creators I would say there are.
In all fairness, Kubrick, unlike King, leaves the existence of ghosts somewhat questionable. The whole thing can just as well be just Jack succumbing to cabin fever: he loathes his family, and the long isolation just pushes him over the brink. Wendy witnesses the ghosts, too, yes, but she could also be suffering from cabin fever, not to mention the stress of her husband finally going insane, and trying to murder her and her child. In short, the whole existence of ghosts is a lot more ambiguous in the movie.
Question: Why DOES The Doctor give advice and information to people? surely, being a Time Lord he knows the risks of changing the future?
Chosen answer: A good question, and one that is posed by the characters themselves several times. It is feasible that the doctor having already been to that time already is aware of what may happen to them, and as he is at this point also able to travel to parallel points in time, may have also seen what may happen if they change events - which is presumably for the better.
Question: What caused Freddy Krueger to kill originally before his death?
Chosen answer: Freddy's mother was working in an insane asylum where she was locked in a room and raped repeatedly by inmates. Growing up, Freddy was teased for being the son of 100 maniacs and was beaten by his step-father. He killed animals before he started murdering the children of Elm St. His backstory is revealed over the course of several sequels.
Question: Are General Grievous and Asajj Ventress the same rank, or is one above the other?
Answer: Grievous is general of the Separatist army. Ventress technically has no rank, being Dooku's personal assassin/enforcer/aide. In terms of personal power within the Seperatist movement, both are probably about equal, but, in rank terms, the Seperatist forces would obey Grievous over Ventress.
Last of the Time Lords (3) - S3-E13
Question: Who took The Masters' ring at the end of the episode?
Chosen answer: This is unanswered. Hopefully, during the Christmas special of 2009, it will be answered, as it brings back the Master.
Answer: A member of a cult the Master set up to get himself resurrected, as shown in "The End of Time."
The Sound of Drums (2) - S3-E12
Question: How does staring into time vortex cause the constant drumming in The Master's head? Also, why does it cause it?
Chosen answer: As revealed in "The End of Time" it was the President of the Time Lords who put the drumming back in time into the Master's head.
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Chosen answer: The details are never made particularly clear, except that the ship was, at some unspecified point, stolen by Kryten's rogue nanobots while the crew were away from the ship on Starbug. A short online comic produced by the BBC suggests that this happened directly after the events of the fifth series' final episode "Back To Reality", that the crew returned from their encounter with the despair squid to find Red Dwarf missing, although events in the recent revival, "Back to Earth" appear to contradict that.
Tailkinker ★