Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: Just wondering out loud. Since Marty showed Doc the drawing of a flux capacitor in 1955, I think this would have caused some infinite loop in the universe. I'll explain it better. Wouldn't Marty have destroyed the universe because he showed Doc the time machine in 1955, meaning Doc wouldn't have had the machine tested out in 1985 because the design was already "completed" in 1955? Meaning Marty never would have gone back in time in the first place to show Doc the time machine, meaning that Doc would test it out in 1985. Meaning that Marty would have gone back to 1955 and showed Doc the time machine, meaning Doc wouldn't have tested it out in 1985, meaning Marty wouldn't have gone back in time and showed Doc the time machine, etc.

Answer: Jeez, take a deep breath already. Yes, as a result of Marty's jaunt back in time, Doc now knows more about the design of the time machine, but that doesn't mean that he has the capability to build it in 1955. He needs all sorts of high-tech equipment, plus, let's not forget, some plutonium from somewhere. Regardless of his additional knowledge of the systems, it may simply be impossible to build until 1985. You also have to consider that Doc's not stupid - he knows that he completes the time machine in 1985, starting the whole thing off. He's not going to risk a temporal disruption by completing it early.

Tailkinker

Question: If Stryker was capturing mutants and put their powers in Weapon X1, how come he only used 4 powers (Wolverine, Cyclops, Wraith and Deadpool)? He could have used Emma Frost's powers to turn into a diamond, Bradley Bolt's power of telekinesis, Blob's strength, and Agent Zero's skill with weapons. If he used those powers he could win against Wolverine and Sabertooth.

Answer: Stryker makes it clear that they've been experimenting to see which abilities can be successfully combined. They can't just throw in every power going, only those that can work in combination.

Tailkinker

Answer: Stryker released weapon XI even though the scientist said the bonding wasn't complete, hence the lines still drawn on him and how crude he looked. They may have been adding those powers at a later stage in the bonding.

Question: Why does Sabertooth look so different in this movie than he does in X-men 1? Even in the comics and the cartoon that was on in the early 90's, he was always shown to be at least 7 feet tall and at least 400 lbs, and in the comics and 1st movie he was very animalistic looking; here he looks like a human with a bad manicure and small fangs. Does anyone know why this is?

Answer: It's quarter of a century earlier - his appearance could easily have changed in that time. It's been shown that mutant powers can evolve over time - Victor may simply have gradually changed to a more animalistic appearance as the years have passed. Longer hair and a bigger beard would cover most of the changes.

Tailkinker

Question: When they discover they have no gasoline for the DeLorean, they go through all sorts of trouble to get it up to 88mph. Now it's obvious things fade away and into existence in this movie, as it did with the newspapers and matchbook. Wouldn't it have made more sense to go to the mine where the time machine was buried and write on the wood, "Bring can of gas"? Wouldn't a can of gas then materialize in the trunk of the DeLorean and they could go home?

Carl Missouri

Chosen answer: There's already been enough meddling with the timeline without deliberately resorting to that sort of thing. If they can get the car up to speed with the stuff they've got available to them in that time period, it's the safest option to take.

Tailkinker

Question: After Puss spits out his hairball, Shrek asks what they should do with Puss. Donkey starts babbling about some guy named Bob. What's he saying, and what's the joke in this?

Answer: Donkey says, "we should take his sword and neuter him right here. Give him the Bob Barker treatment". This refers to a former game show host who is an animal rights activist who is dedicated to informing people to spay or neuter their pets so as to keep the pet population down.

I literally came here for that answer.

Company Man - S1-E17

Question: I don't understand the motives behind The Company, i.e. Kaito Nakamura and Angela Petrelli, giving Claire Bennet to Noah Bennet to look after. Why couldn't Angela or her biological father Nathan look after her? Also, why did Kaito order Noah to hand Claire over when her ability manifests? I thought the whole point was that she would be looked after and not experimented on?

SeekerOfAnswers

Chosen answer: 1) Seeing as how Nathan was the prominent son of the Petrelli family it probably would not do well for it to be public knowledge that he has fathered an illegitimate child. As Nathan's mother and a founder of The Company, Angela Petrelli certainly would have a say. 2) The Company would probably want Claire when her powers manifest to determine their scope and potential danger, possibly even attempt to recruit her a la the "One of Us, One of Them" policy.

Question: Does anyone know, what is the last word of the quote used on the back of the packaging?

ZillayHuma

Chosen answer: The quote reads: "Terrific entertainment fueled with endless invention." --Roger Ebert, "Ebert & Roeper"

Jean G

Chosen answer: Basically, yes. Using others to further his agenda and ultimately restore his health and allow him to establish a powerbase.

Tailkinker

Run! - S1-E15

Question: Hope the showgirl locks Hiro in a small closet. He makes several unsuccessful attempts to escape by running and charging towards the door. Why doesn't he simply teleport out? Surely a lot simpler and a lot less painful?

PermanentTennantOfThePast

Chosen answer: Hiro's powers are still quite unreliable, and a locked closet door isn't a huge obstacle. Since Hiro knows he needs to rescue Ando, it's probably safer to try and bash the door down than risk teleporting to the wrong place or time.

Question: We see Biff groan in pain as he returns to 2015 with the stolen DeLorean. In a deleted scene we actually see Biff fade away as he is erased from existence by his actions. I assume this is because an alternate Biff now exists (or could have been killed) and so he is erased from time. If this happens to Biff, why doesn't this happen to Marty, Doc, and Jennifer? They too are replaced by alternate versions of themselves when they return and even before they return to 1985a. 1985a Biff even says in the film that Marty was in school in Switzerland, and Doc has been committed, so they too should fade away as Biff did, shouldn't they? I would say "time" was giving them time enough to correct things like in the 1st movie, but Biff faded away almost a soon as he arrived back in 2015a.

Carl Missouri

Answer: I read somewhere the reason Biff faded away was Lorraine shot him in the alternate timeline for murdering her husband, George.

I hadn't heard that one, could be in a novelization or something. This is entirely my own speculation with nothing official to support it; however, it could be that because Doc and Marty are trying to correct the timeline, he and his siblings' removal from history happens gradually, as they get closer or further from the act of their trying to set things right. Biff doesn't know or care and is actively trying to change history, so the moment he returns to 2015, he vanishes all at once.

Captain Defenestrator

If you have the DVD or Blu-ray, watch the deleted scene of Biff vanishing and turn on the commentary. It will confirm that Biff was murdered, which is why he was erased from existence.

Chosen answer: Biff faded away because he completely changed his own past. When Marty, Doc, and Jennifer return to 1985, they're returning to the alternate timeline that Biff created. They still exist and remember their own history because without it, Biff's timeline couldn't exist and a paradox would be created.

Captain Defenestrator

Answer: The comics answer this question. In 1986 in the alternate timeline, Biff forced the committed Doc Brown to send him forward in time to get more sports results, but Doc tricked him and sent him back to 1884 instead, where he was shot by his own great-grandfather Buford. When he reappeared in his current time (that's how the time machine worked in this timeline), he was dead. Old Biff faded from existence because Biff never grew up to become Old Biff (because he was dead), so Old Biff no longer existed.

Powerless - S2-E11

Question: At the end of the episode, Sylar injected himself with a cure to rid himself of the Shanti virus. Upon injecting himself he used his telekinesis to summon a tin can to him. My question is, how was he able to retain his telekinesis when the Shanti virus completely removed all of his acquired powers?

TheOccasionalMetalHead

Chosen answer: Sylar is supposed to be able to copy powers through empathic mimicry, as we see him do with Elle's electrical abilities. If he does that, then it appears that the powers genuinely become innate to him, as if they were his from the start, whereas if he takes them in his usual way, they don't - he has access to them, but they don't become innate and thus can be erased by the Shanti virus. When Gabriel killed Brian Davis to take his telekinetic ability, he felt terrible guilt over having done so and thus his empathic mimicry kicked in, making the telekinesis an ability which the Shanti virus couldn't remove. This is also why the Company could only detect his telekinesis when examining him, despite the fact that he possessed many other abilities at the time.

Tailkinker

Question: Why would Agent Zero shoot the drink, then the old people who took care of Wolverine? He could just shoot both of them as they are closer enough to kill with 2 shots.

rockmandrum

Chosen answer: His first shot went through the woman and broke the glass.

SexyIrishLeprechaun

Season 3 generally

Question: Maury objects quite heavily at the idea of Arthur giving the order to murder his son, Matt. Why is this? In season 2, Maury is shown to use his telepathy on Matt in a harmful way, not to mention the fact he abandoned him when he was quite young.

TheOccasionalMetalHead

Chosen answer: There's something of a difference between Maury using his powers against Matt to take him out of the equation and actually killing him. Maury is prepared to work against his son if necessary, but doesn't want to see him dead.

Tailkinker

Question: What ever happened to Bernard? He is non-existent in this movie and nobody seems to notice.

Answer: David Krumholtz (Benard) is busy on his show "Numb3rs" on CBS and is committed to that so he didn't return for The Santa Clause 3. I guess they could have explained his absence, but the filmakers decided not to. They simply promoted Curtis since he was in the 2nd movie.

Carl Missouri

Answer: He was on another show at the time, but was also 28 years old. And while he pushes the limits of being the childlike elf in the first two movies, he was most likely too old for the role in the third.

Chosen answer: Logan only agreed to the procedure so that he'd be able to take down Victor. As Stryker is actually working with Victor, he obviously doesn't want Logan killing Victor off, so he orders his memory erased so that he doesn't remember the details. Plus, with no memory of why he left and subsequent events, it might be possible to bring Logan back into the fold, giving him another mutant agent to further his agenda.

Tailkinker

Fallout - S1-E11

Question: Sylar informs Mr. Bennet that as soon as he gets out of containment he's going to collect one more ability from his daughter. To my knowledge they have never met before so this would be the first time they've actually met each other face to face. How does Sylar know Claire Bennet is Mr. Bennet's daughter?

TheOccasionalMetalHead

Chosen answer: It is stated in "Six Months Ago" that Claire was on the list that Chandra had, which Sylar had access to.

Repo_Man

Chosen answer: Charles Deveaux had super powers. It could very well be his powers made it possible for Peter to communicate with him.

lionhead

Question: What was the point of bringing the Elves to the Battle of Helm's Deep? I don't mean in terms of the action of the film - I mean, why would the filmmakers add in something that is completely off the book? Legolas and Gimli frequently comment in the books that they wish their kinsmen would come to help them. Legolas then says that war is raging on their lands, and they will not come. Why have them come in the film?

padfootrocksmysocks

Chosen answer: It's to show that the other races aren't just sitting back and letting the race of Men fight the battles. They could, of course, simply have had Legolas and Gimli saying that their people are fighting elsewhere, much as the books do, but it's more interesting and emphatic to actually show that the elves are participating in the battle against evil, even if it represents a change.

Tailkinker

Question: Exactly why did The Terminator raid the police station and kill all those cops? Wouldn't it have been more prudent to wait until Sarah was released, make sure she was unprotected and then kill her?

TheContentAtHeart

Chosen answer: From his point of view, she was already unprotected. At least, unprotected enough for him to make an attempt on her life. The police can't stop him and concerns for his own safety do not enter his calculations. But he was programmed with one goal in mind: Kill Sarah Connor. When he sees an opportunity to do so, he takes it. He knew where she was. To wait would be to risk losing that information.

Garlonuss

Chosen answer: Logan is sitting in a bar in Japan, drinking. The bartender asks him if he's drinking to forget. Logan replies that he's drinking to remember.

Tailkinker

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