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: Why did Thade kill the two apes that were with him after they showed him the trail left by Leo's pod?

Answer: To prevent anyone else from learning that Leo came from space. After Pericles' ship crashed, there was a prophecy of a second coming of Semos, the founder of Ape civilization. Thade wants to kill all humans, so if anyone found out, it would be considered a sign and the council might consider making peace with the humans.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: Wallace's briefcase has a sticker upon it saying: Blackpool, Bognor and Beaconsfield. To what do they refer?

Bunch

Chosen answer: Bognor Regis and Blackpool are seaside towns, so presumably, those are places Wallace and Gromit have been on holiday in the past. Beaconsfield is an inside joke: It's where the National Film and Television School is located and a number of scenes were filmed there.

Question: Who is the old man wearing a red hat and holding a shovel in Wallace's allotment? He felll into Wallace's basement when Gromit opens the allotment doors.

Bunch

Chosen answer: He is a garden gnome, an ornament some people have in their front or back garden.

Heather Benton

Question: Near the end, when Nux flips the War Rig, the Doof Wagon smashes into it and the guitar is flung forward. What happened to the Doof Warrior that was playing the guitar?

Answer: Presumably he is killed. He is attached to the truck with bungee cords and has no protection from the force of impact in the crash, which is sufficient to break the rig into pieces. There is no way he could have survived the crash.

Question: Is it realistic that Mars vehicles like Mark's rover or in some scenes his handcart would use rubber tyres? No Mars rover before used them and I would think they could not stand the low Martian atmosphere and temperature differences.

MSpotter

Chosen answer: Whatever was used before on Mars is irrelevant as to date, only robotic vehicles have been used. As this is depicting how humans would live and function on Mars, the vehicles would be designed quite differently. Presumably, the "rubber" tires have been specially manufactured to withstand Martian conditions. Mostly likely they would be solid and not have an inner tube filled with air or some other gas that is affected by the atmosphere.

raywest

Chosen answer: No one can explain how time travel works. If by committing suicide Barry's mom survived, then there would be no Flash nor Eobard Thawne. So Eddie wouldn't commit suicide in the first place, because nothing would have happened.

Answer: The show explains in another episode that The Speed Force leaves copies of characters that no longer exist in the past to avoid paradoxes such as this example.

Question: The Collector was already a holder of the Aether (reality stone). Once the Orb destroyed the majority of his place, where do you think he hid the Aether?

Answer: It's unlikely that the place on Knowhere is the only location he has. He could easily have moved it to another.

Greg Dwyer

Question: Where did Star Lord get AA batteries for his Walkman?

Answer: Likely he didn't, but instead was able to use an alternate power source that he found or was introduced to during his time in outer space.

Phaneron

Question: If the MAV could be blown over by a storm of sufficient force, wasn't it very risky dropping the Ares IV Mav five years in advance of the mission?

Answer: The crew (and mission control) are in constant contact with the previously dropped MAV and would have aborted the mission and continued back to Earth had the MAV become inoperable before their arrival. Weir states this explicitly early in the book.

Answer: Yes, it is very risky unless the new Ares MAV is in an area with much calmer weather patterns.

Question: How much money and work was required to build the cube? I know that only one actual cube was built. I'm asking this about the actual cube built in real life; not the in-universe cube.

Knever

Chosen answer: The cube cost approximately $20,000 (Canadian) to build.

Dra9onBorn117

Question: How exactly was Semos able to organize a rebellion against the humans, since he was just an ordinary ape who was trained for whatever assignment he would be needed for?

Answer: The dialogue recorded by one of the survivors of the Oberon tells that the apes, particularly Semos are much smarter than they had ever realized. He was not ordinary, he was the offspring of two chimps that had been genetically modified for increased intelligence. Semos had intelligence near or equal to humans.

Grumpy Scot

Question: In the original Superman television series, Superman created a duplicate of himself so that he could be in two places at once. However, as one went to pull the bars out of the wall, he had to have the other help, as the strength of one was half that of the original. That said, how is it that both Clark and Evil Superman have the same strength of the whole being after being split?

Movie Nut

Chosen answer: The effects of Red Kryptonite on Superman are always random and unpredictable. In the comics, the effect lasts 24 hours, however, for a film, they last as long as the writer needs them to. This time, it copied all of his powers as well to make the Evil Superman.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: Is Tommy supposed to be the "next" Jason? I'm really confused by the ending.

Answer: Yes, originally Tommy was going to be the new Jason. But the makers decided to go in a different direction for part 6.

Question: How did they do the trick where Mary takes the lamp and all of the other things out of her bag?

Answer: A false bottom in the bag and a hole in the table with a false background under it so we can't see the person handing the items up through the bag.

Captain Defenestrator

Dear Dad - S1-E12

Question: A number of times it is mentioned that the outfit is unarmed, yet several times, Frank has a rifle, or a pistol, and once Klinger had a grenade, and the guards and Klinger, while on sentry duty, has a rifle. Was this standard, or is this a mistake?

Answer: Even an Army field hospital would have SOME weapons for self-defense if the enemy attacked. What's meant is that it's not a combat outfit, and therefore wouldn't have enough weapons to actually attack anyone. (It's also mentioned a few times that the Officer of the Watch is supposed to carry a pistol at all times, but Hawkeye refuses to do it when he's in charge and Colonels Blake and Potter don't enforce the rule).

Captain Defenestrator

Answer: The Geneva Convention allows even doctors to carry a sidearm to be used in their self defense or the defense of their patients, however it is rare to do so.

stiiggy

Answer: As an old medical unit staffer, my experience is that med units have combat units assigned to defend them. Usually it was marines.

Answer: My old doctor (now deceased) served in Korea during the War. He was required to carry a sidearm anytime he was not in the hospital.

Question: What song was played in the beginning of the movie?

Kendollaz

Business Guy - S8-E9

Question: In the episode, Peter threatens to fire Lois, and she responds with "you wouldn't" and Peter then replies with "Oh really, does the name Lacey Chabert mean anything to you?" which in turn makes Lois go wide eyed and reply with "OK, I'll behave" and Peter then goes on to add "Yes you will" Can anyone explain this joke if it is a joke to comprehend?

Answer: Lacey Chabert was the actress who originally voiced Meg in early episodes. She left of her own accord due to being in school and other acting work; Seth MacFarlane has stated there was no tension with her leaving, but it makes for a handy joke for the show.

Jon Sandys

The Mouse - S4-E20

Question: The old man that comes in with his wife that can't breathe, the one that the head nurse tries to counsel and tempts him with a cup of coffee. I believe he is Alfred Hitchcock, though his name is not listed anywhere. Alfred Hitchcock is known for his cameo appearances in his own shows and in other shows. Can someone confirm that this is him? This is driving me nuts... It is toward the end of the episode, but I cannot give you times.

Answer: I believe you are speaking of the old man, Mr. Wilson. He's played by J. Pat O'Malley.

Bishop73

Correct, it was J. Pat O'Malley...he also played the grandfather with his grandson when their rocket exploded, and also played "Old Bill" in the episode with Ann Prentiss, where Gage saves the little girl from the burning tree house, and her mother falls in love with him.

Answer: She's a collector.

MasterOfAll

Question: Why didn't Jarvis alert Tony immediately that Selvig was in his building assembling the machine on the balcony to open the portal?

Gary Stewart

Chosen answer: Jarvis only has access to Tony through certain methods. The Iron Man helmet has speakers for Jarvis to speak through and buildings Jarvis is installed in as well. It's likely Jarvis warned Tony through other means, but either A) Tony figured it out by the time he got the message or B) In all the chaos of the attack on the Hellicarrier, Tony didn't see it.

Brad

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