Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: How are locomotives able to pull such long trains? Triple 777 pulls a 39 car train, which can weigh thousands of tons when the cars are loaded.

Answer: In the same way locomotives pull long trains in real life. Diesel engines are built to pull the weight. When it gets to a certain point you might need 2 engines.

Ssiscool

OK but what is the physics behind how locomotives are able to pull so much weight?

I'm not sure on the physics but a quick Google search comes up with: Trains are really heavy, but to move a train, you only have to overcome the friction between the wheels and the [axles]*. But since there are wheels, it's even easier to move it. Imagine a really heavy box. You'd have a very hard time lifting it, but you could shove it a few millimeters horizontally. [But instead of shoving it, you can make it roll!]* The same thing applies to a train. Now, since the train is so heavy, it takes a long time to get it moving, and to slow it down, due to [inertia].

Ssiscool

I'm not sure of the physics, either, but it is my (basic) understanding that having the wheels as well as the rails made of steel minimizes? the friction. [Living in the suburbs of the "Steel City" helped to know this!] I'd clarify your answer above by pointing out a train is comprised of numerous small cars - as opposed to being one very long car - so is somewhat easier to "get moving."

KeyZOid

Question: When Kevin was Lost In New York, why didn't he ever just talk to a police officer or go to a hospital so he could get back safe?

Answer: As he stated to himself when escaping the hotel, "I committed credit card fraud." He may have thought going to the police would result in him getting into a lot of trouble.

Phaneron

Answer: He told his mom he would go on his own vacation without any of them the night before they flew out, and since he had his dad's credit card, he saw this as an opportunity to have fun without any of them.

Turangaa_Maxx

Answer: Kevin may have developed a negative impression of and attitude toward the police from his encounter with Harry the previous Christmas when he was "home alone." Harry impersonated a police office in Kevin's home town. Kevin may have questioned police trustworthiness, or lack thereof, in NYC. Besides, Kevin knew his family was still on a plane destined to France or, once they reached their destination, they were too far away (i.e, not readily available) to collect him.

KeyZOid

Question: What is the "terrible accident" that happened to Felecie's mentor? Did it have anything to do with the woman she works for?

Answer: When she was younger she was an extremely famous talented dancer, one day she was doing a show and it was just her on stage. The stage engulfed in flames, and she was seriously injured and could no longer dance.

Answer: She fell while dancing.

Question: Whenever Medusa looks at somebody, they are immediately turned to stone. How come she couldn't turn the Djinn to stone?

Answer: It may be because they were non-human sorcerers, and it gave them protection from her.

raywest

Question: There are spells that can put injuries completely right, so why didn't Hermione or madam Pomfrey try that on Ron's leg?

Answer: Hermione wouldn't have wanted to try as she is still a young witch and having seen the results a bad spell can have on in their second year, she will have decided it's best for madam Pomfery to deal with it. As to why madam Pomfery didn't use a spell, that's not explained.

Ssiscool

Answer: Students would not be permitted to perform such an advanced spell on another student, and Hermione always followed the rules. This would also be very advanced magic, and is something Hermione, only a third-year student, probably would not have learned yet. As seen with Harry's arm in the Chamber of Secrets, more serious medical conditions cannot always be instantaneously healed with a spell. It can sometimes take hours, even days, to mend. This may be the case with Ron's leg.

raywest

Question: Why did Jor-El send the Codex to Earth along with Kal-El? Krypton was being destroyed, everyone on the planet was going to die and Zod and his followers were trapped in the Phantom Zone. There doesn't seem to be any need to send the Codex to Earth as Clark had no knowledge of it and even if he did, he wouldn't be able to use it.

Answer: When Jor-El stole the Codex, Zod and his followers were not yet sent to the Phantom Zone and Krypton had not begun its destruction. Jor-El was opposed to Zod's plan to use the Codex. Once Zod's rebellion against the council had begun, Jor-El stole the main Codex and hid it with Kal-El. While Jor-El knew Krypton would be destroyed, he didn't know when and wanted to prevent Zod from using the Codex as planned. Zod then killed Jor-El, the council regained control and ended the rebellion, and then sent Zod and his followers to the Phantom Zone (not knowing or believing Krypton was going to be destroyed).

Bishop73

Question: Why was the zombie twitching in the fountain and couldn't get out when he was only shot in the shoulder?

Answer: The bullet severed part of the spinal cord.

Question: How many miles from shore was the oil rig?

Answer: The nearest shoreline would be Louisiana's. It sat about 40 miles southeast from the tip of Louisiana's peninsula (where the Delta National Wildlife Refuge sits). To give it more context, it was also about 100 miles south of Dauphin Island, Alabama, which sits just south of Mobile, AL and the Mobile Bay.

Bishop73

Answer: Short version, because he's dead. Bruce only brought back everyone Thanos "snapped", and Vision was killed before that. Now, whether Shuri managed to finish her work before then, somehow "backing him up" or otherwise separating him from the mind stone, we don't know as yet - it may be they somehow revive him in a future film, or the upcoming WandaVision TV series. But for now, he's gone.

Jon Sandys

Answer: Technically vision wasn't "killed." He wasn't even alive. He's a robot. Maybe they could have used the mind stone they had to try to revive him, but Thanos ripped out a good chunk of his head already. And they needed to put the mind stone back anyway.

Vader47000

Answer: If you noticed Black Panther's sister had just one connection left with the gem, and who said she didn't download a copy of his Consciousness but didn't finish, due to the snap and the end battle.

Show generally

Question: In one episode, Delko is seen driving away from a deal gone wrong and Delko's informant is seen with him. Delko says that he doesn't feel good and passes out from blood loss causing the informant to call for 911. What episode is this and why was his informant arrested?

Question: Something that has always bothered me about this movie - Howard Stark discovered a new element when Tony was a child, but did not have the technology to create it. He hid the plans for it in the Expo. I'm fine with that. However, is it just me, or does it seem like an extreme coincidence that the element his father found is the exact element that can replace the Palladium Tony is already using and that is making him sick? It also seems as though Howard knew he wouldn't be around to make it, even though it is only 20 years in the future. Is there implied to be some time travel having happened here, in which Howard Stark learned that at some point, Tony would need an upgraded form of Palladium and that he would not be around long enough to make it?

oldbaldyone

Answer: While convenient for the plot, there is no indication Howard Stark has knowledge of the future from time travel, although he was a smart enough man to know technology would advance enough for the element to be synthesized and he knew his son was smart enough to understand what needed to be done to create and use the new element. Howard Stark's Arc Reactor wasn't fully clean running and Howard knew with the new element, the Arc Reactor would be as close as possible to sustaining clean energy similar to the Tesseract. I can not say for certain, but I believe Howard's reactor ran on Palladium as well, so he was aware of the dangers it presented, he was not aware Tony would build a mini-arc reactor to put in his chest. Howard put the blueprint in the 1974 expo with instructions for S.H.I.E.L.D. to give to Tony when ready. However, it should also be noted that Stark Industries shifted from trying to provide sustainable energy to weapons manufacturing which was part of the reason Tony never discovered his father's work earlier.

Bishop73

Answer: There's no clear answer to these questions. Perhaps Howard had some theoretical ideas of where Arc Reactor technology would have shortcomings. Also Howard possibly expected Tony would follow his father's thinking, despite their clashes. Probably the filmmakers didn't come up with more detail than that and it's just a plot contrivance to keep the story moving and give us a sense of connection without worrying too much about the details.

Question: Spoiler! Given Gamora is brought to 2019 from 2014 with no ill effects, presumably just spinning off a new timeline with no Gamora in it (or Thanos for that matter, making that new timeline pretty peaceful), why can't the Avengers just go and "retrieve" alternate-timeline versions of the other people they've lost? They don't seem too worried about the timelines that have branched off due to their actions, eg. Cap going back in time (a whole other issue), Loki stealing the Tesseract, etc. They could hop back to a day earlier and basically get their friends back.

Jon Sandys

Answer: They actually do have some concern for the alternate/branched off timelines - that's the whole reason Hulk proposes returning the stones (after they're done with them) to the point they were stolen from, so that those branched off timelines won't be royally screwed with a stone (or 2) missing from their timeline (i.e. The Ancient One telling Hulk that the sorcerers need the stone in order to combat the forces of darkness). Granted, some of the changes they've made they can't do much about - not without spending more time and further interfering (Loki escaping with the Tesseract in the alternate 2012 timeline, or the alternate 2014 timeline's Thanos and co. Traveling to main-timeline 2023 - leaving alt-2014 without a Thanos, which as you say, may not be too bad). With all that in mind, I think they would be hesitant to 'steal' their friends from the past because think about what they were doing just a few days ago... trying to figure out how to unsnap the 50% of the universe that Thanos dusted. If they take their friends, who were pretty integral to figuring out how to/and carrying out the undoing of that, they would be dooming that new alternate 2023 timeline to failure in their endeavors.

Since Thanos coming from the past didn't change 2023, I don't think taking their friends from the past would change anything either. They are constantly creating new time lines/universes. However, the only people they lost were Black Widow and Vision, and Hulk tried to bring Black Widow back and failed with the stones whilst Vision lived on the mind stone, which is gone (brought back to it's own timeline). So bringing those 2 back isn't going to be happening. Who else did they lose?

lionhead

Chosen answer: There's really no reason that they couldn't. Probably an oversight by the writers. I think an easy fix could maybe have been the Ancient One or Doctor Strange warning the heroes that continually altering the space-time continuum could potentially lead to paradoxes that threaten the existence of the multiverse and it's better to just let sleeping dogs lie. It would have been somewhat of a cop-out, but it would have at least addressed it.

Phaneron

Answer: That would be kidnapping. Also, you would be killing someone else who would need to take their spot. Either way someone dies. Are you going to keep going back and saving a fallen comrade?

DetectiveGadget85

Not kidnapping if they agree to it.

You assume they would agree to it. Why would they agree to it?

DetectiveGadget85

Because of their imminent death in their own timeline. If they get told they're going to die if they stay, but hop over to our timeline where they can still do some good, that may well persuade people. And yes it makes their timeline more uncertain, it's not guaranteed they'd choose to leave, but they may well be willing to. Regardless, "kidnapping" is a stretch.

Gamora - she's not going to die in her own timeline. Her timeline's Thanos is dead. He's not going to be there to throw her off the cliff. Black Widow - you have to explain to her that her being alive can kill countless others. If you remove her from anytime line she doesn't do the good that she has in the last Avengers movies and as a Shield agent or Hawkeye (or another Avenger) has to take her place for the soul stone. That's counter to her sacrifice. Vision - You remove him, you remove the mind stone from that timeline. Which isn't good. If you remove them from their timeline without telling them all of this, yes that would amount to kidnapping.

DetectiveGadget85

Question: At the beginning, why did Grindelwald let Spielman live by dropping a wand off the carriage and letting Spielman grasp that wand?

Bunch Son

Answer: From a story standpoint, Spielman is the only person who could've identified the blood pact as belonging to Grindelwald. Since he appears alongside Newt and the others at the end of the film, I think we're supposed to believe he was the one who identified it after the Niffler stole it from Grindelwald - meaning him surviving the escape sequence was written in so he could do that. From a character standpoint, Grindelwald likely wanted there to be a public account of how he'd escaped custody, so that people would be more in awe of his power than if no-one had lived to tell the tale.

Answer: There's no explanation about why he did this. It probably just amused him to watch Spielman frantically trying to save himself.

raywest

Question: At the beginning, President Picquery mentioned that they removed Grindelwald's tongue, but the tongue of Abernathy, who was disguised as Grindelwad, looks like a snake's. It doesn't look like it was cut off. Why is that?

Bunch Son

Answer: Grindelwald gave Abernathy the forked tongue after the escape sequence, as a reward for his loyal service and to replace the one Macusa had cut out.

Question: In the magazine, Spellbound which Queenie brought to Newt's house in London, the headline reads "Newt Towed." What does towed mean?

Bunch Son

Chosen answer: It's a simple misread, since the letters are so close together. It reads "Newt to wed," announcing his "engagement" to Leta.

Cubs Fan

Question: Newt and Tina visit the records room located at the French Ministry of Magic. As soon as they meet with Leta who came to see her family tree, the worker at the records room suddenly walks over to them with Matagots and attempts to attack them, including Leta. Why?

Bunch Son

Answer: Newt and Tina were in the archive room illegally. When Leta, who is a Ministry employee, happened to discover them there, she chose to help them escape, which was breaking the law.

raywest

Question: Why did Grindelwald let his acolytes steal the family tree of Leta Lestrange and place it at Pere Lachaise? What's the point? If he wanted Credence or Leta to read it, he could have simply given it to them, right?

Bunch Son

Answer: Grindelwald was using it to lure Credence to the Pere Lachaise where the rally was being held.

raywest

Question: Why does Nagini stand with Newt, Tina, Theseus, Jacob and aurors at the bridge of Hogwarts? I don't understand why she joins them without Credence who was her only friend at that time?

Bunch Son

Answer: She would stand with them to oppose Grindelwald and possibly hopes that Creedence can somehow be saved.

Question: How was the plane's explosion able to shatter the terminal windows from that distance?

Answer: It would depend on how powerful the explosion and the resulting shock wave was, though it appears to be a bit of stretch, plot wise.

Question: After they break down, and are being towed, who is driving the back RV?

Answer: Don.

No, he was driving Fitzgerald's RV.

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