# What is a show/movie theory that you came up with? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 18, 2020, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922 "2020-09-18T15:12:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/41 "2020-09-19T20:03:36Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > James Bond is largely a distraction. He’s the “blunt instrument” they send in to fuck shit up and tell his targets just how pissed Her Majesty is at the target. Although skilled at spycraft his main job is to perform the coup de grace after all the useful intel has been extracted. > He uses his real name and calls attention to himself so that the bad guys are consumed with dealing with the real threat that he poses, > Meanwhile the REAL spies are doing the real intelligence work on the mission and are far less likely to be noticed. If anything, 007 will get the credit/blame. Good one. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/42 "2020-09-19T21:31:27Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > > [@gdave](#): > > > > Speak of Doctor Who: Gallifreyans/Time Lords are humans. > > Remember Sophie Aldred? Her character, definitely a human, was supposed to go to Gallifrey to attend the Prydonian academy and train to be a Time Lord, but the episodes were never produced. Still, it proves the show’s producers considered it canonical that a human _could_ study to be a Time Lord, just like a Gallifreyan. I don’t actually remember that - I didn’t watch much during the Sylvester McCoy era. Like all long-running sci-fi series, Doctor Who has a _lot_ of internal inconsistencies. What a “Time Lord” is has been one of those. In the NuWho era, though, they seem to pretty consistently use “Time Lord” to mean The Doctor’s species, not just his title - the references to “Time Lord DNA”, for example. So, Ace “becoming” a Time Lord could be an indication of sloppy/inconsistent usage of the term. Or, it could indicate that The Doctor and at least some other Gallifreyans are aware that humans can biologically become Time Lords, perhaps through space magic Time Lord science and direct exposure to the Time Vortex - because Gallifreyans themselves are, in fact, humans, altered by their exposure to the Time Vortex. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/43 "2020-09-19T21:41:08Z")
The theory of a friend of mine who was a big fan of _The Prisoner_ - Number Six is actually in charge of the Village, but he may not consciously be aware of it. In the intro, Number Six asks Number Two, “Who is Number One?” Number Two’s answer is, “You are Number Six.” The intent seems to be that Number Two is cutting off that line of inquiry by reminding The Prisoner that he’s a number, not a man, and numbers don’t ask questions or get answers. But, my friend pointed out, you can also parse that response as “You are, Number Six” - that is, “Who is Number One?” “You are.” My extension of that insight: _The Prisoner_ is deeply weird, and the finale is weirder than that, but it makes a surprising amount of sense if Number Six is (cinematically) schizophrenic. A lot of the weirdness makes sense as a conflict between aspects of The Prisoner’s psyche fighting each other through the mechanism of the Village, and The Prisoner is an unreliable narrator. It makes even more sense if _nothing_ we see objectively exists, and the Village is entirely in The Prisoner’s mind, and we’re seeing an inside look at his struggle for sanity. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/44 "2020-09-19T22:00:19Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > it makes a surprising amount of sense if Number Six is (cinematically) schizophrenic. A lot of the weirdness makes sense as a conflict between aspects of The Prisoner’s psyche fighting each other through the mechanism of the Village, I think this is probably the best explanation. It allows for him to confront himself at the climax of the final show. Another good play on words was in the comic book sequel, where Number Two said that he wanted everyone in The Village to be “In Formation.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/45 "2020-09-19T22:17:21Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > > [@gdave](#): > > > > it makes a surprising amount of sense if Number Six is (cinematically) schizophrenic. A lot of the weirdness makes sense as a conflict between aspects of The Prisoner’s psyche fighting each other through the mechanism of the Village, > > I think this is probably the best explanation. It allows for him to confront himself at the climax of the final show. But we don’t really need to allow for him to confront himself then; they _already_ had him confront himself, in SCHIZOID MAN; it was, you know, the whole point of SCHIZOID MAN. _“You know, you really do bear a remarkable resemblance – remarkable – your job, Number 12, will be to impersonate him. Take his sense of reality away. Once he begins to doubt his own identity, he’ll crack.”_ Prior to this episode, they’d tried it once and failed; and they’d also tried making it look like he’s free to go (which also failed) and making it look like he’s now in charge (which also failed); as far as I can tell, there’s nothing stopping them from simply trying all three again in rapid succession for the finale. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/46 "2020-09-19T22:58:23Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > James Bond is largely a distraction. Perhaps that is why the producers chose a Scottish actor for the first Bond, so that the audience would be thinking of him as Agent MacGuffin. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/47 "2020-09-19T23:05:38Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > But we don’t really need to allow for him to confront himself then; they _already_ had him confront himself, in SCHIZOID MAN; it was, you know, the whole point of SCHIZOID MAN Except that the duplicate is a fake in S.M. A guy named Curtis who lost his girlfriend/wife Susan. The idea of S.M. was to fake him out so he _thinks_ he’s confronting himself. (And brilliantly done: one of the rare sustained “triple-think” episodes in TV, ever!) In Fall Out, he really (?) does confront himself (?) Maybe. Best explanation available, anyway. (The Village, in some ways, is so nice a place, part of me would want to stay there. That part is theirs to use…) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/48 "2020-09-19T23:08:12Z")
Three for Doctor Who fans. 1. On Leela’s home planet, a race of warriors and a race of scientists are locked in a perpetual war. Obviously, it must be Skaro. 2. Sarn and Karn are the same planet, at different points in history. 3. In _Snakedance_ , the Federation saved the people from the Mara 500 years ago. This was actually Jim Kirk. The ancient record of the event [clearly shows a pictogram](http://gallifreybase.com/gb/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F6B0YEqo.jpg&hash=ac6c1f8226540f73de4f4be5951095ba) representing the Enterprise. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/49 "2020-09-19T23:19:25Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > > But we don’t really need to allow for him to confront himself then; they _already_ had him confront himself, in SCHIZOID MAN; it was, you know, the whole point of SCHIZOID MAN > > Except that the duplicate is a fake in S.M. A guy named Curtis who lost his girlfriend/wife Susan. The idea of S.M. was to fake him out so he _thinks_ he’s confronting himself. (And brilliantly done: one of the rare sustained “triple-think” episodes in TV, ever!) > > In Fall Out, he really (?) does confront himself (?) Maybe. Well, yes, I agree that, with two question marks, we can say he maybe confronts himself. But since we already grant that they decided _once_ to fake him out so that he thinks he’s confronting himself, can’t we agree — er, with two question marks — that he’s getting Faked Out To Think He’s Confronting Himself a second time, _maybe?_ ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/50 "2020-09-19T23:19:54Z")
Harry Potter and the Dresden Files are in the same universe. Both refer to large magical wars that occurred some time before the books started. Both reference a much larger magical world than what each of their stories cover. Both have very powerful and important magic that is hidden from the mundane world. Any discrepancies are because the two Harries (just a coincidence) are both unreliable narrators. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/51 "2020-09-19T23:54:25Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > he’s getting Faked Out To Think He’s Confronting Himself a second time, _maybe?_ Capital-D Dunno! Maybe. The surrealism is intense. I love the President’s speech (which, IIRC, the actor himself had to write, pretty much at the last minute.) It’s the only thing in that episode that makes sense! (When I first watched the show, original US airing in the sixties, I thought, all the way through, that The Butler was Number One. I’m still willing to look at that as a viable theory…) ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/52 "2020-09-20T00:00:36Z")
In THE SIMPSONS Mr. Burns not remembering Homer or not understanding Homers competency isn’t because he’s a doddering old fool but Mr. Burns knows exactly that Homer is an idiot and fully plans on using him as a scapegoat if anything were to go wrong since he is suppose to be the Safety Inspector despite not having a college degree, which is why Burns always has him as part of his zany schemes so he’s the obvious fall guy. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/53 "2020-09-20T00:54:30Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > It makes even more sense if _nothing_ we see objectively exists, and the Village is entirely in The Prisoner’s mind, and we’re seeing an inside look at his struggle for sanity. I’m not a fan of that one. It’s too _easy_, too obvious. Despite the impossible tech (What is Rover, exactly? machine or being?) I prefer that the Village is what it seems to be, more or less. I also happen to think it’s run by Number 6’s side. eta: I would say that 6 is the Villiage’s most important “guest” they’ve had.The biggest fish. Which is why he gets so much personal attention. And 6 did actually answer Number 2’s biggest question: why did you resign. He told them precisely in The Girl Who Was Death, they were just too stupid to realize. As he knew would be the case. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/54 "2020-09-20T00:57:11Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > It makes even more sense if _nothing_ we see objectively exists, and the Village is entirely in The Prisoner’s mind, and we’re seeing an inside look at his struggle for sanity. Did you see the [2009 miniseries remake of The Prisoner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner_(2009_miniseries))? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/55 "2020-09-20T01:00:40Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Did you see the [2009 miniseries remake of The Prisoner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner_(2009_miniseries))? Enjoyed that’n. Didn’t actually understand it, but I liked it. I think they actually did reveal what was going on, but I couldn’t follow it. Something about simultaneous events _in_ The Village and _outside_ in the (laughingly so-called) Real World? But it was a pleasant bit of nostalgia and a puzzler withal. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/56 "2020-09-20T01:35:11Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > [@gdave](#): > > > > It makes even more sense if _nothing_ we see objectively exists, and the Village is entirely in The Prisoner’s mind, and we’re seeing an inside look at his struggle for sanity. > > Did you see the [2009 miniseries remake of The Prisoner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner_(2009_miniseries))? I did not. For that matter, my friend, who came up with the “You are, Number Six,” was the big fan of the original series. I’ve seen it, but I’m probably more familiar with the _GURPS The Prisoner_ RPG sourcebook than I am with the actual series. ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/57 "2020-09-20T01:35:52Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > In THE SIMPSONS Mr. Burns not remembering Homer or not understanding Homers competency isn’t because he’s a doddering old fool but Mr. Burns knows exactly that Homer is an idiot and fully plans on using him as a scapegoat if anything were to go wrong since he is suppose to be the Safety Inspector despite not having a college degree, which is why Burns always has him as part of his zany schemes so he’s the obvious fall guy. Ha! Fun theory, and it makes a lot of sense. I’ll stick with the standard interpretation that Mr. Burns - with his class bias and his sociopathic tendencies - views his rank-and-file employees as interchangeable sub-human drones, and thus can’t be bothered to view them as real, individual persons. ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/58 "2020-09-20T01:38:04Z")
Deckard is a replicant! I thought that up all on my own… ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/59 "2020-09-20T02:19:18Z")
In _The Empire Strikes Back_, there is a mysterious reference Yoda makes to “another” who could be called upon should Luke fail. Once _Return Of The Jedi_ came about, it was retrofitted to be Leia as Luke’s sister, but that wasn’t the original plan George and co had cooked up. In the animated TV series _The Clone Wars_, we are introduced to Anakin Skywalker’s own Padawan Learner Ahsoka Tano, whose storyline takes her from being a loyal Jedi learner, involving herself deeply in the battle for the Republic, then losing her faith in the Jedi’s ways as it fell apart around her, and she leaves the Jedi Order to eventually become a lone insurgent, instrumental in the formation of the Rebellion against the Empire. This character was not just made up on a whim by showrunner Dave Filoni, she was suggested and developed by George Lucas himself. I believe the “other” that George originally had in mind was planned to be Anakin’s former apprentice, who had left the Jedi Order, and had hidden herself away, a secretive but powerful Force wielder who had unique insight into Anakin’s vulnerabilities which nobody else had. i.e. Ahsoka Tano. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922/60 "2020-09-20T02:49:57Z")
Here’s one for both Solo and Star Wars… One of the reason that Han’s so cynical and dismissive about the Rebellion is that the one he ended up bankrolling with his cargo was just _A_ rebellion, not _The_ Rebellion™ and it got put down hard and fast. The trauma along with the loss of a major payday caused him to say “fuck that.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-show-movie-theory-that-you-came-up-with/920922.md?page=4)