Line #6 Fridge/GalaxyQuest


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12	!!FridgeBrilliance:
13	* The Thermians in human form walk weirdly, with their arms thrust out and down. Seeing their true form makes you realize there's more limbs (tentacles), and they all extend downward naturally.
14	* The Omega-13 is on the ship, but nobody knows what it does, because the show was canceled too early. The Thermians themselves aren't certain, building it exactly as they could without any certainty as to its purpose, only that it could be used by Sarris for great evil. Sarris doesn't know, but wants it because the Thermians are willing to die to keep it from him. Cast and crew don't know. How is it, then, that it works exactly as a fan describes in his own conjecture? Nesmith initially believes the Thermians are doing an exceptionally well-done fanvid. He's impressed, but not surprised -- he's seen it before, if not done this well. The Thermians can't tell reality from fiction even on obvious sets, like Gilligan's Island. The fan who described the Omega-13's function wasn't right because he had better insight into the show, since the Thermians took everything at face value. He was right because the Thermians watched fanvids, believed them a continuation of the original "historical document" due to fans' attention to detail, and followed the designs of the fans. Or else they thought along the same lines as the human fans: the Omega Thirteen is either a [[DoomsdayDevice bomb that destroys the entire universe in thirteen seconds]] or a [[TimeMachine thirteen-second time jump to the past]]. Since [[AnthropicPrinciple the universe isn't destroyed]], it must be the second option.
15	** An alternative to the fanvids was that they got the Galaxy Quest equivalents of one of the Technical Manuals of Star Trek, be they Fandom made or official.
16	* What did the Thermians think of shows that had canned laughter, or even a live studio audience? They must think it's the documentary makers laughing. Wow. The people filming Gilligan and co. are bastards.
17	** We ''know'' they're bastards, because they didn't take everybody ([[ButtMonkey except Gilligan]]) home when they left the island.
18	* In the scene where the actors are taking the shuttle down to the alien planet, Fred can be seen eating one of those Kraft cheese and breadstick snack packs. Granted, the Thermians can synthesize human food, but this seems like a rather esoteric choice. But a deleted scene in the movie reveals that Fred is high on marijuana the entire time. So, he probably carries snacks around with him all the time in case he gets the munchies when out and about.
19	* The Thermians modeled their entire civilization around the television show "Galaxy Quest," including their hero-worship. However, since the crew of the NSEA Protector are humans, the Thermians do not seem to believe that their own species is capable of great acts of courage or heroism, which is why they enlist Nesmith to oversee their negotiations. By the end, however, not only does Mathesar have Nesmith’s recognition as a great commander, but with new "historical documents" coming out (the show has been revived), the Thermians are finally able to watch and mimic the brave exploits of one of their own - Laliari. Representation is important, kids!
20	* The intro to the rebooted ''Galaxy Quest'' show is much less action-y than the original, showing the crew doing day-to-day activities on the ship and almost coming across as a {{Reconstruction}}. The cast is taking their roles much more seriously because if the Thermians read them as "historical documents", some other species might do the same (and of course, the Thermians are still watching somewhere out there, too).
21	* It's mentioned several times how useless Gwen's character's purpose on the show - to talk to/repeat the computer - is. However, having the computer programmed to recognize and respond to only one voice on the ship would ensure that no accidental commands are followed, especially when things got chaotic on the bridge (i.e. during the flight through the minefield or the final battle between the Protector and Sarris).
22	* From one of the deleted scenes: Thermian engineers ask Sgt. Chen/Fred Kwan for assistance in explaining some unusual readings on their instruments. Rather than actually do anything, Fred simply asks some questions of the Thermians, who, in turn, identify the problem and solution for themselves. Fred Kwan actually taught the aliens critical thinking skills!
23	** This is an example of a real-world practice called [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging rubber duck debugging]].
24	* Alexander delivering his catchphrase with utmost sincerity runs deeper than avenging a fan. He's witnessed elements of a dated sci-fi show existing in the real world, even down to contrived elements such as beryllium spheres being mined and manufactured almost purely for their convenience. To Alexander, the idea that there's a Thor expy named Grabthar or a multi-sun planet named Worvan existing out there in the universe wouldn't be out of the question.
25	** More simply, he's finally realizing and embracing the fact that Dr. Lazarus isn't just a silly RubberForeheadAlien on a stupid sci-fi show; he's a beloved character in a story that's important to and betters the lives of the people who love it. Dr. Lazarus is no less important or culturally relevant than Hamlet or [=Macbeth=], and is just as worthy of his acting talents.
26	*** Leading on from that, Alexander laments how he used to play Shakesperean roles, i.e. roles of culture. However, back in his day, Shakespeare's works were also seen as schlocky crowd-pleasers, even if well-crafted ones, with religious plays seen as the proper forms of art. Alexander's role on a cheap sci-fi show embodying RubberForeheadAliens of the highest order may be seen as cheap now, but his coveted 'proper' roles were not so different once, and Dr. Lazarus is no less worthy of this immortalisation.
27	* The Thermians are convinced that the crew of the Protector are used to dealing with aliens, so why bother disguising as humans? They're cosplayers!
28	** Alternately, since they never had a successful test of the Digital Conveyor, due to it being designed to work only with human anatomy, and despite the benefit multiple limbs would have in operating the ship, they man the bridge only while wearing disguises, they likely assumed that all technology on Earth, much like that on the Protector, could only be effectively used ''by'' humans.
29	* Why did the Thermians have a flying limousine to transport Jason Nesmith to the Protector? It was probably just a Thermian ship with an appearance generator - the same tech the Thermians use to disguise themselves!
30	** Or, more simply, their prime hero asked them to transport him in a limousine and they did as asked.
31	* The actors keep using "safe" swear words (heck/darn/shoot, etc.) during their adventure even though they're not on the TV show. Seems they're so ingrained using them, they don't swear in their real lives, either.
32	* After the cast lands in the star port, they are greeted by three Thermians in their natural form, waving bizarre instruments around them. What are they doing there? They're ''medics!'' They're just checking on the actors to make sure that they are healthy after their trip. Why are they in their natural form? More limbs to work with, of course!
33	* Alexander is never seen without his head prosthetic on. He just can't escape his role.
34	* Activating the Omega-13, which ''might'' be a bomb capable of destroying the universe, just to try to save his friends from being killed seems like a massively selfish move on the part of Nesmith. Except, he's also trying to save ''all of Earth.'' The Protector II made it from the outer system to Earth in a matter of minutes, meaning it's moving at a substantial percentage of the speed of light. The mass of even a ''tiny'' ship colliding with the Earth at 10 percent lightspeed would be an extinction level event.
35	* Mathesar going from hearing the brutal truth "We lied", to believing that the heroes used deception themselves (if for a good cause), is believable for two reasons. 1) It's quite common for someone with a long-held belief to have difficulty being able to change it so suddenly and will tend to rationalize things to themselves in the process. 2) Jason's anguished apology wasn't taken by Mathesar as "I'm so sorry we're not who you thought we were" (as Jason most definitely intended it as), but rather "Mathesar, I feel terrible that I'm lying to you ''right now''". As in, the words Jason's saying right then are the deception, rather than say, everything prior to that point; he likely thought that the Commander was secretly hinting that it's a deception, as part of a ploy to save them, which he used as his rationalization.
36	** Alternatively, the Thermians are incredibly simple creatures. Not stupid by any means, just simple. Their problem with 'deception' was Sarris used it to hurt and exploit them, which upset them greatly, and as they said themselves, they were afraid their heroes would 'share traits in common with Sarris'. They weren't ''against'' the concept of fiction, merely fiction being used to hurt people. When they learn the truth, it hurts because they were lied to... but they overcome it quickly by understanding it was a fiction intended for fun, not for cruelty or manipulation. When Mathesar and the rest of the crew arrive on the bridge in the finale, Mathesar laughs at how unbelievably clever the special effects were. He's almost ecstatic at how utterly ingenious it was. They're simple creatures, and once they realised that 'lying' could be done for harmless fun, they were okay with it.
37	* The way the Thermians act in their human form seems incredibly off-kilter to how humans actually behave, with monotone voices and stiff movements... until you realise they're probably emulating what they saw in episodes of 'Galaxy Quest'. The way the Thermians behave is ''exactly'' what you'd expect in an old cheap sci-fi show or movie. Hell, in a dose of meta, even ''William Shatner'' became infamous for his clumsy, over-the-top acting. In essence, the Thermians are just trying to look human as much as possible, and their only source is a sci-fi show from the '80s that probably couldn't afford any good extras.
38	** Definitely a case of YMMV. Nobody human, not even the worst actor or extra in sci-fi history, not even in the cheesiest sci-fi show or movie, ever acted ''remotely'' as bizarre as the Thermians do, let alone ''exactly.'' They are multi-tentacled aliens projecting a humanoid appearance; of course they're going to be stiff, shuffle-y, and strange. Despite their valiant efforts, their attempts to mimic human behavior look alien because...well, they're ''aliens.''
39	* Why is there a planet conveniently behind the Tothian Minefield that just happens to have replacement Beryllium spheres? Because the minefield was probably placed there to deny access to the planet in the first place. It's not a stretch to assume that some alien faction during the War of 12185 dropped a minefield to cut off an energy production facility from the other faction(s).
40	* Why does the Digital Conveyer turn the pig lizard (and presumably the non-human Thermians) inside out? Because the Conveyer assumes that the creature being transported is a human. The fate of the pig lizard was essentially the result of the computer being given all of the parts of a non-human being, trying to rebuild it as a human, and ultimately failing because it can't find anything it is expecting to find in a human body. On the flip side, the Gorignak is transported successfully because it is treated as inorganic matter, not as a human life form.
41	* When the revival series intro is shown:
42	** We see that Guy has received a PromotionToOpeningTitles. In particular, we see that his role is as the Chief of Security, which makes sense given that Guy's role during the movie's plot was primarily to keep an eye out for threats to the crew's lives (and in particular his own life), which is basically what a security chief would be responsible for.
43	** Additionally, Guy's character was a RedShirt. Red Shirts in Star Trek were almost always starship security officers, who wore red in the original series, so Guy just got a promotion.
44	** Every one of the actors breaks character to acknowledge the camera ''except'' Jason, showing how he's no longer hogging the spotlight.
45	* The Omega-13 resets further than 13 seconds when finally used, but that might not be an editing mistake. If the Omega-13 works like everything else on the ship, it might be following the trope of dramatic timing, setting Jason back in the past with just enough time to gain his bearings and spring into action.
46	* After Jason uses the Omega, he shocks his crewmates by seeming to punch Fred for no reason. So why was Mathezar ready for the reveal that Fred was Sarris, when everyone else thought he was nuts? Mathezar likely believes that Commander Taggart always has a good reason for taking even irrational actions, as in the show he'd probably turn out to be onto something the others were not.
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48	!!FridgeHorror:
49	* We sure hope no one was in the parking lot or the part of the building the ship crashed into at the end.
50	** There were; you can see several people at the convention running for their lives as the ship crashed in to the stage. Let's just hope they're all okay!
51	* The Thermians probably thought the ''Series/GilligansIsland'' episodes were ApocalypticLogs, since you'd think they'd have been rescued by the camera crew had they really been lost.
52	** Unless they were also lost.
53	** As documentaries are made after the fact, they likely assumed that the filmmakers had chosen to omit the slow death of the castaways due to malnutrition and/or advanced age, as being too upsetting for the viewers. Since the laugh track gets no reactions within the show, they probably theorized it was some odd natural sound that happened somewhat randomly. Because, after all, who would laugh at the castaways?
54	** Apparently, the Thermians never saw the two TV movies that had them rescued and choosing to move back to the island and open a resort.
55	* Mathesar is horrified to find out that his heroes have lied to him and the Thermians about the show's true nature, but after the climax is apparently of a mind that they were actually lying to Sarris about being actors. He now thinks lying is something that can occasionally be used for good, but doesn't understand that Jason's white lies (made when he thought everything was fine) led to cataclysmic consequences anyway. He definitely doesn't seem to get that any benefits of Jason's deceit were entirely accidental.
56	* It's implied the Thermians tested the digitizer unsuccessfully, since it functions only for the species for which it is designed (humans). Given [[BodyHorror what happened to the pig-lizard]], there is the distinct possibility that at least one unfortunate Thermian [[TeleporterAccident suffered the same fate]].
57	* In the scene where the crew activated the Omega-13, Sarris shoots Jason before revealing that he disguised himself as Fred. Given that appearance generators are used by Thermians, it's likely that he took this device off of the corpse of the Thermian captain he tortured to death... Or he murdered some Thermian crewman shortly after teleporting aboard.
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59	!!FridgeLogic:
60	On the [[Headscratchers/GalaxyQuest headscratchers]] page.

Context Fridge / GalaxyQuest