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.

Ship in a Bottle - S6-E12

Question: How is Moriarty's simulation able to fool Data? Throughout the show Data is shown to have vastly superior senses to humans. Additionally, spatial tricks and forced perspective would be ineffective on him since he doesn't see the same way humans see. In another episode, Data is able to discern the incredibly slow movement of an object caught in time. It seems unlikely he would be unable to tell his surroundings were computer generated.

Answer: The programme was specifically written to be able to fool Data. As such, additional processing power may have been given to the holodeck projectors to ensure that even Data's more advanced senses were fooled. Additionally, it was never suggested that Data could tell the difference between holograms on the holodeck and real life.

Question: Why did anyone believe Sam killed Alan? Nobody saw it happen and everybody knew Sam loved him. What made anyone believe that Sam killed his own son?

adamtrainman@aol.com

Answer: People believe the craziest things. I don't think it was widely believed Sam killed Alan, but that he ran away from home. Through the passed time stories pop up about murder and hiding Alan behind the walls of the house. It was just a rumour.

lionhead

Answer: The only mention of the rumor we hear is from the exterminator in 1995. Maybe he just made it up to try to spook Judy and Peter, or he heard a rumor that got distorted over time and didn't question it himself.

Actually Sarah also mentions the same rumor.

Answer: I think it was a way to solve the mystery of the town. All kinds of theories are created.

Even though Sarah Whittle was the only witness to Alan's disappearance.

Trainman

Question: Two questions: One, wouldn't Hades had been able to figure out that Hercules wasn't a mortal, not only by his obvious strength, but also by not dying immediately from every monster he faced? Wasn't the point of Hercules turning mortal was so his strength would be gone? Second, when Hercules makes the deal with Hades towards the end, all Hades had to do to take away his strength was basically just to touch him with the handshake. If it was that easy to take away his strength, why didn't he try this years ago?

Answer: Just because Herc still had his godly strength doesn't mean he wasn't mortal, he was still able to be killed, which is why he started to die when he went to rescue Megs soul. Hades thought that his monsters were strong enough to kill him but he was wrong. Herc had to give is strength up willingly with Hades deal in order to lose it.

Answer: Other heroes of Greek mythology have beaten monsters and not been divine. Doesn't mean that it's always a god. As for the second point, Hercules willingly gave up his strength as part of a bargain.

Greg Dwyer

The Siege of the North (Part 2) - S1-E20

Question: When Aang is told by Roku that he must ask questions of the centipede monster, why can't Roku ask the centipede monster the questions, then relay the answers to Aang? Roku is already in the spirit world, and would have course have much more experience in these matters. Aang is already taking on enormous burdens simply by knowing his full identity at 12 instead of, as they say several times, 16, then having to train by going on this enormous journey.

dizzyd

Answer: As the Avatar, Aang's main function is to be the bridge between the spirit world and human world. Roku, being a former Avatar knows that Aang has to learn how to interact with spirits. He's certainly under a heavy burden but that's mainly his fault for running away from his responsibilities in the first place. Difficult or not, this is simply a lesson Aang must learn.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Did Tom Everett Scott and Julie Delpy actually do all those bungee jumping scenes themselves, jumping off the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty, or was it stunt people, or was it all staged and filmed in a studio?

Answer: The scenes are done in a studio with greenscreen effects.

Thank you so much for your answer.

Question: At the very end there is a girl scrolling through Facebook or something of the friends who went to the cabin when she sees Karen's death pictures. Where the heck did these pictures come from?

Answer: She was shown taking pictures of herself when she was rotting in the outhouse.

Yeah, but why?

The 5 Wood - S4-E5

Question: The Davids and the Greens get kicked out of their country club. But in later seasons they all end up going to the same the country club as most of the cast again. Marty, Norm, Marty's cousin... How do they all end up at the same country club again? Is it the same club and they got back in?

Question: When they are driving to the pub, in the overcrowded car, Shaun's stepfather comments that the speed limit is "20 miles per hour." Shouldn't it be kilometers per hour. I'm American but the United Kingdom obviously uses the metric system.

Greggpath

Answer: The UK doesn't "obviously" use metric. We still uses miles for all road signs, but metric for most weights and measures. You buy pints in a pub, not a half litre. It's an odd mish-mash. Car speedometers have kph on them, but in a smaller font - mph is dominant.

You learn something new everyday! Thanks for the information.

Question: In the scene with the hotel clerk, where someone (presumably Linus) calls and informs him that Julia Roberts is coming, why does the clerk roll his eyes and say "we are happy she would consider us again", or something to that effect, and then announces in Italian to the other two clerks that "Julia Roberts is coming" Is this a reference to another movie Julia was in or did she have an incident in Rome in the past?

Answer: It had always been a rumour that Julia Roberts likes to have a big deal made of her being somewhere. It is actually the opposite, so they poked fun at it.

Question: Why does Mrs. Weasley buy some dress robes for Harry and get old ones for Ron? If she's buying clothes for Harry (a famous child) over someone from her own family, couldn't that give Ron the impression that she cares more for Harry than her own family?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Keep in mind that when his parents died, Harry was left a moderately large inheritance. If memory serves, Mrs. Weasley mentions stopping at his Gringotts vault to get some money on his behalf for school supplies. So while Ron's dress robes may be a little shabby and secondhand, given how tight his family's expenses are, Harry's are nicer because his wealth allows him more wiggle room. Who Molly cares about more, or Ron's inference thereof, has got nothing to do with it.

Cubs Fan

Answer: I agree with what Cubs Fan said, and I want to point out that Mrs. Weasley knows what Harry's life with the Dursleys is like. She probably wanted to buy him dress robes because he is treated badly at home. Ron almost never gets new clothes because his family is poor. Harry almost never gets them because the Dursleys choose to make him wear Dudley's old clothes. They deliberately spoil Dudley and neglect Harry.

Question: After leaving the cave (1st time - Jack's on the Pearl bargaining with Barbossa), why does the Pearl attack the ship which Will and Elizabeth are on? Okay they were after the medallion but why did Will and Elizabeth escape from them? Why not go back, lift the curse and everyone could go home happily...? I understand that they couldn't trust the pirates, but why? This time there was no reason of mistrust. What else could they want from him and her except the medallion? And why do they hold it back? It'd be much easier to give it to them and go home. Of course, Jack is an exception because he wants the Pearl from them. But Will and Elizabeth?

Answer: Because they still need Will's blood to lift the curse, and at that point, he doesn't know that yet. He only realises it when he is talking to Elizabeth aboard the Interceptor, and on the island, he is just concerned with saving her. As for why he wouldn't just give in, well, it's still likely the pirates would kill Will, because he now knows the location of the island where they store all their treasure.

Friso94

Question: Why would Kiddo sneak up, ninja-style, on Budd when she had confronted all the other opponents face-to-face? He seemed the least formidable and it didn't seem to match with her other warrior battles.

pambula88

Answer: She approached each foe in a manner appropriate to the situation. Budd was in a trailer surrounded by open land and total visibility, and he also knew she was coming, so sneaking up, quietly and unobtrusively, made sense. The real question is why, after taking so many precautions and being so quiet, she flung the door open and charged in as noisily and vulnerably as possible.

Question: During the scene when Roberta is reading the newspaper about her mother's death, the printed article mentions that the truck driver who killed her mom was named Peter. Are we to believe that this is "Crazy Pete"?

Answer: There are two different men named Peter. In the shot of the newspaper while Roberta is reading the article, it states that the driver of the pickup truck was Peter Norris (00:41:35). Then Sam finds the article about 12 year old Jonathan Simms and his mother, Beverly Ann, so we know that "Crazy Pete" is Peter Simms (00:43:00).

Super Grover

Answer: We are never even told that Crazy Pete is even the old mans real name. It was probably just a random person who killed Roberta's mother.

Question: During "The Phantom of The Opera", when the Phantom takes Christine to his lair using the mirror passageway to his lair, it was well lit up with candles but when Meg discovers the passageway, it is dark and filled with rats. Were the candlabras just in Christine's imagination or were they real?

Answer: Almost assuredly real. The candelabras were in the Phantom's control to make appear or disappear. He brought them forward to light their entrance into the lair. However, it was generally in his best interests to keep the passageway dark and shadowy. The rats were always there, regardless. But, as rats are won't to do, scurried away from light and human movement.

Michael Albert

Question: Why does Darth Vader's mask need to alter his vision (there are digital symbols and a red shade to the lenses)? I had a classmate who had been burned in a fire, including his face, but he could see normally.

Answer: Anakin Skywalker's eyes were fine, the mask visor just gives him extras probably like heat vision and a HUD. Since he was wearing the mask, he might as well wear a visor with technology that enhances his vision.

lionhead

He had become Darth Vader before the fight with Obi-Wan on Mustafar. He is no longer Anakin Skywalker when he first receives the mask.

Answer: They never mention what ultimately happens to his parents. However it's mentioned they "searched high and low" for George and never found him. The animation even shows all the passengers calling out for George, to suggest they also aided in the search.

Bishop73

Question: Why did Jack pull into the weigh station when Earl told him not to?

Answer: It would have been suspicious if he didn't do it.

Answer: Drive by an inspection station that is open and let me know how far you got before being stopped. Unless you have preclearance you must go through scale.

Answer: At this point in the movie, Jack did not know who was giving Red their location. He suspected it to be Earl, so he went the opposite way that Earl told him because he assumed they would have run into Red if he took 85 like Earl said.

Question: After Willy takes Sam's wallet, why did Sam attack him? The scene happened so fast I can't figure out why.

Answer: Willy struck Molly (knocking her to the ground) when she tried to intervene, thus making Sam attack him in response. This fight led to Sam getting shot.

Answer: Four days later.

Greg Dwyer

Question: Where is the director's commentary on these movies? I've looked several times on YouTube, but no luck.

Answer: Directors commentary would be on the Extended Editions of the films, not the Theatrical releases.

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.