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: What is written on the back of Kim's jean jacket?

Answer: It looks like it says "Doll Face."

Bishop73

Question: Two questions. 1. When Scott catches Santa on the roof, Santa falls down and vanishes. When Scott, as Santa is caught and arrested, how come he didn't vanish? 2. Is it ever explained why Santa, when he lands in Scott's yard, disappears?

Answer: To answer both questions, when the first Santa fell off the roof, he was killed and that is why his body vanished. Scott obviously did not die, so his body would not disappear just because he was arrested.

raywest

Question: At the very end, Arthur's body is being carried away on a barge, with three women standing above him. Are those three women the fates?

Answer: They were the Goddesses of Avalon. A group of women who each have a specific magical power. They were the makers of Excalibur, healed King Arthur's wounds from his first battle and took him to his final resting place, readying him for the day he would be needed again.

Most Arthurian myths attribute elves as making "Excalibur", and also "Clarent," King Arthur's other magical sword.

raywest

Answer: Or possibly they were attendants of Arthur, who would set the ship on fire, then have the option to die with their king, or to try to swim to shore. The Vikings did stuff like that. Why not imagine that the Brits did too?

Answer: Not the fates, but enchantress fairies. The Lady of Lake, who took back Excalibur at the end, was such a fairy.

raywest

Bonjour Jean-Luc - S6-E24

Question: Why is this the Season Finale episode instead of a Season premiere episode? When we watch the first episode, Crazy Love, Jean-Luc is already a part of the main storyline. This episode would've been great because it not only gently introduced Jean-Luc and the upcoming new salon, as well as telling the backstory. Did they ever explain what their reason for this was?

Question: Why was the name of the news station that April works at changed from Channel 6 to Channel 3?

Answer: Either April took a new job with a different TV station, or this is a movie inconsistency.

raywest

Question: When Lisa calls Chet Chip in the kitchen, was that planned or did Paxton ad lib his line?

Answer: I can't remember Chet's line, but Lisa says "Chip" so slowly and deliberately, it must have been scripted. When I heard it, I chuckled because I thought she was showing him how little he mattered to her by misstating his name.

Question: What made the aliens think erasing the parents' memories when their children were abducted would help with their test? Especially since there would be birth records, medical records, school records, etc.

Answer: The experiment's purpose was to test if the parental bond still existed after memories of their children were erased. The NSA agents were aiding the aliens on the pretense that it was "protecting" humankind. They are a powerful government agency and could delete various official records. Also, if the parents' memories were successfully erased and they never knew they had children, they would be unlikely to search for or come across their records. Those experiencing memories were treated as if they were mentally ill.

raywest

Answer: I looked online and while there are many references about Michael Elphick dubbing Robbie Coltrane's voice, there was no explanation about why. Interestingly, Lysette Anthony, who played Lyssa, also was dubbed over by American actress, Lindsey Crouse, because it was thought she had a more "mature-sounding" voice. Presumably, the filmmakers felt a different voice better fit the character Coltrane played.

raywest

Answer: They were inexperienced actors, it was their first movie roles and didn't have formal vocal teachings.Robbie was said to have a very gruff, deep and thick accent, while Lysette was too high pitched.

This was not Coltrane's first movie and Anthony had been in TV movies and miniseries.

Bishop73

Episode #1.2 - S1-E2

Question: How does Edith know that Mary and the Duke were in the men's quarters? I never saw her there. Only Bates sees them. Was she hiding? Bates wouldn't have told her.

Question: I just watched for the second time on Netflix and I have a question, How does Danny survive at the end of the film when the old man shoots Angel with a shotgun and Danny jumps in front of him to save his life? After the whole building blows up we see Danny lying on the bricks almost dying and in the next scene (a year later) he is fine. I have the feeling that there's a scene missing (like Netflix cut it out or something) otherwise I can't understand it.

Answer: There's no missing scene. He just managed to survive the gunshot. Simple as that. It's a comedy movie that's having some fun with action-film cliches. Character surviving gunshots and explosions that should have killed them fits right in with that theme. (Not to mention, even beyond the movie, it's not uncommon at all for people to survive gunshots like that in real life).

TedStixon

Show generally

Question: In what season/episode did the officers show a store owner how to hang clothes with coat hangers so they are difficult to steal? They alternated the coat hangers so each one pointed in the opposite direction. The would-be thief couldn't just garb the garments and run. Thank you.

Answer: Adding to the previous answer, this is S3xE10 "Public Affairs DR-14" of Dragnet. At timecode 00:18:40, Friday talks about the clothing hangers on the storeroom suit rack in Daltons.

Super Grover

Answer: That was a Dragnet when Friday and Bill educate store owners how to avoid crime. No empty milk crates that can be tossed through a window, nightlights left on inside etc. The clothing rack was outside a store.

One for the Road (3) - S11-E28

Question: When I streamed this episode, there were a couple of small scenes missing (Sam explaining that his cigars were a gift from Fidel Castro via Reggie Jackson; Sam kissing Rebecca goodbye). I know they used to cut scenes to cram in more commercials after the initial broadcast, but with a streaming service, you're not limited to a time slot. Why not air the whole thing?

Brian Katcher

Answer: They sometimes acquire episodes from syndicated reruns. The ones with the cut scenes. Sundance channel have some episodes of M.A.S.H. uncut.

Question: Weir makes a point of telling the reader the notes for the name "Adrian." Since he got the names from the movie Rocky, and since the theme song of that movie is "Eye of the Tiger", if I was Weir I would have made Adrian's name the first few notes (or the first few notes of the chorus) of that song. But I have no idea what "an A-below-middle-C major fifth, followed by an E-flat octave, and then a G-minor seventh" sounds like. Can anyone tell if these notes are from that song?

Aerinah

Question: What is wrong with Ricky's mother? She always seems so distant and not in the right frame of mind, emotional abuse also maybe?

Answer: Whilst we, the audience, are never told what exactly is wrong with Ricky's mom, it could, as the previous member said, be any number of reasons. Depression, from being abused. Trauma from a history of a loveless marriage to a homosexual man.

ChristmasJonesfan

Answer: Ricky's father is emotionally and physically abusive, and it's safe to say this is directed at his wife. A common response to abuse, especially sustained abuse over years of marriage, is to simply shut down, avoid engaging at all for fear of attracting attention/abuse. She also may be aware that her husband is (SPOILER ALERT) a closeted homosexual, which would be another motivation to be distant towards him.

Question: Were Katherine and Sebastian's parents even still together? And where were they? I'm guessing the movie was set in the summer and they were wealthy, so had taken off for a long holiday.

Answer: We the audience are never told one way or the other where the parents are. But according to Katherine, Sebastian's father is diddling the maid (or something). Meanwhile the mother, either one, is either, a) dead, b) in rehab or c) as you say on a permanent vacation.

ChristmasJonesfan

Question: Is Pedro actually Jake's biological son? I'm sure in the movie it mentions he wasn't and Agnes had him before meeting Jake.

Face Off - S4-E13

Question: Would Gus not die instantly from his injuries of that explosion? Instead, he has time to walk out, straighten his tie, traumatize the nurses, then die? Or is that all for the sake of good TV?

Answer: Definitely just for the sake of good TV; in reality, this would be instant death (or at least, very soon after, and no way one could just get up and walk). There's a featurette on the production of this scene, and Vince Gilligan addresses the liberties taken with reality here. He felt that since Gus was such an iconic character, he deserved an equally iconic death, hence the calm, cool, collected way he walks out of the room with half a face. Gilligan said he also wanted to briefly fake the audience out, as we see Gus walk out from his "unaffected" side first and assume he somehow survived the blast.

Answer: The 1st movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 Op. 13.

Bishop73

Question: Does anyone know the reason why Tarantino decided to show the events in this film out of order, with the sequence of Jules and Vincent trying to get the stolen briefcase back to Marcellus and the many mishaps they run across along the way shown at the end, even though chronologically that actually happens before Vincent takes Mia out for her birthday dinner, and before Butch's story where he tries to escape town with his father's watch?

Answer: Expanding upon the other answer, the scene in the diner between Vincent, Jules, Ringo, and Yolanda is the clear emotional and thematic climax of the film. Therefore, shuffling the linear progression of the film to put it at the end makes sense from a storytelling point of view. Ending it with Butch and Fabienne escaping (chronologically, the last event in the narrative) would not have worked as a final scene.

Answer: Tarantino felt that telling the stories in a nonlinear structure would make the narrative more engaging since it would keep the viewer on their toes. Basically because you have to really pay attention to what's happening and put it together in your head like a puzzle. I'd also personally elaborate that it changes the way you view certain scenes because it leaps back and forth in time. Ex. We eventually learn that Vincent is destined to die, so the way his scenes later in the film play out hits you in a different way then they would have if the film followed a traditional linear structure.

TedStixon

Question: If Violet knew that Roz was eavesdropping on some of the employees in the restroom, shouldn't she just confront her about it or let everyone aware that Roz was eavesdropping them and blab it on Hart?

Trainman

Answer: She does let people know, at least she warned Judy. But Roz is cagey (remember how she pulled her feet up so it looked like her stall was empty). As for confronting her, Roz was her supervisor and the boss' pet. If she told Hart that Violet was harassing her, it would go poorly for Violet.

Brian Katcher

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