'''Fridge subpages are Administrivia/SpoilersOff subpages, as per policy. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Fridge Horror ]]

* Even supposing the Thing didn't create the flying saucer it landed in, it has the ability to create a new one, so there could be Things all over the universe.
** Well, the common theory is that Things get smarter mostly by assimilating knowledge from their victims, and WordOfGod is that the [[Film/TheThing2011 2011 film]] was originally supposed to prove that the Thing was picked up as a biological specimen by an entirely different alien race. So, only the Things descended from the first Thing to crash on Earth would know how to build spacecraft; it's equally as likely that "Thingworld" has been quarantined -- or sterilized -- to avoid just such an outbreak.
** The implication I got was that this thing was a virus spreading across the entire universe.
** Luckily, since the last thing arrived 100,000 years ago, they're probably dead, at least near Earth.
* The Thing lets out a whole assortment of sound, including ones of animals and perhaps extraterrestrial life even when it's a dog or a human. Considering that the Thing [[CruelAndUnusualDeath needs its victims to be alive]] in order to assimilate them, [[AndIMustScream who's to say that it doesn't absorb their victims completely, even when their victims are killed]]?
* Originally this troper thought Window's lack of action against the Palmer!thing was just Windows being TooDumbToLive -- specifically, as the Thing continues its rampage in front of him, he simply stands there, not using his flamethrower. But then something occurred to me: has he crossed his DespairEventHorizon??
** He could just be absolutely out of his mind in sheer terror... people so affected tend to freeze.
** The scene in the kennel - the crew pauses as the dog!thing starts twisting and changing. The sheer ''wrongness'' of it, an actual '''Thing That Should Not Be''' stuns them for a second.
* Imagine the people who finally DO come and check up on Outpost 31. What the ''hell'' happened here?? It would be next to impossible to piece it all together.
** They may even find pieces of the Blair-Thing and [[HereWeGoAgain take it back to the lab]]...
*** We already know how those rescuers will react: it'll be the same way that Mac and Copper reacted to when they arrived at the Norweigan base, finding it a mess and destroyed, confused about what the hell could have happened there.
*** Even worse thought: [=MacReady=] made a recording and hid it. Now, if it somehow survived the blast, and someone found it, and listened to it, what are they going to think? The idea of a shape-shifting alien would be so mind-boggling that people would assume [[CassandraTruth MacReady went nuts, made the recording]] and killed everyone.
*** That's assuming that the tape survived the massive explosion and all of the fire.
* Finding out that Norris and Palmer were both Things put some of their earlier actions in a very different and horrific light, and shows just how much of a manipulator the Thing is.
** Norris (who is a Thing) rejects the idea of leadership supposedly because he's not up to the job. It's actually more than likely because he wants to remain in the background as one of the least suspected people. And when [=MacReady=] takes charge, framing him later is a good way to divide the humans quicker while remaining unsuspected.
** Palmer repeatedly antagonizes Windows for no reason, even implying he could be an imitation, but there's no evidence to suggest these men were on bad terms beforehand. As an imitation himself, he's likely trying to make him angry and confrontational on purpose in order to sow distrust, as Windows had recently tried to steal a shotgun.
** When [=MacReady=] is accused of being an imitation, watch Norris and Palmer closely and listen to what they say: they both encourage the idea that [=MacReady=] isn't human. Palmer says the Thing could've gotten to him at anytime and suggests they open the door to burn [=MacReady=], and after he breaks into the building, Norris immediately states that they now have no choice but to kill him. They're very subtly trying to manipulate the others into murdering Mac and whittle down their numbers quicker. If they had succeeded, they may have tried this trick again later until there was nobody left to stop them. And because the team are already so paranoid, it's likely nobody would've realised until it was too late.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Fridge Logic ]]

* In the scene when Bennings runs to Childs, saying that "Mac wants the flamethrower", Childs replies with FlatWhat. Childs might just be figuratively saying what an awkward request it is. A fire alarm sounds in the background, the one which Mac turned on. Therefore, Childs up until this point has had a reason to think there is a fire somewhere, so his reaction is more like "What the hell does Mac need flamethrower for in the fire?".

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Fridge Brilliance ]]

* [=MacReady=]'s chess game in the beginning is a good analogy of the final battle. The AI moves in with the queen for the kill. However, [=MacReady=] could have actually captured the queen to both avoid check and instead put the AI in check, but the computer declares checkmate anyway. He bested The Thing's ultimate attack, but he still loses. His response? Destroy the computer... if I have to lose, you lose too.
* Norris and Palmer immediately move in to extinguish the fires on the Dog-Thing after it drops to the floor, and we later learn it needs to burn for a while to make sure every cell is dead. They both turn out to be Things later on, so perhaps they were trying to save as much of their kin as they could without letting it look ''too'' suspicious.
** Why does Palmer utterly refuse to be alone with Windows as the group split up into teams, despite the apt opportunity for a clear assimilation? Well, after the stunt Windows try to pull with a shotgun, ''everyone'' became a lot more wary of him, putting him on the bottom of assimilation priorities for the thing, no wonder he wanted to pick anyone else instead.
* Why was Nauls never targeted by the Thing until the end? Because he's the chef, and as Fuchs point out, the kitchen would have been an all too obvious and too high-risk gamble, of a way to infect the rest with. The chef essentially became a low-priority target by default.
** Also, chefs suffer minor kitchen accidents fairly often, many of which involve sharp utensils and/or scalding-hot liquids or metal. Cooking is probably the ''worst'' activity for a Thing to engage in, if it's trying to avoid being outed by screaming blood-drops.
* The alien is shown to be [[ItCanThink intelligent]] and only reveals itself when threatened, so it's likely the creature deliberately chooses to make itself as [[EvilIsVisceral viscerally]] [[BodyHorror horrifying]] as possible in order to frighten off attackers.
* The clues that Childs is a thing at the end:
** When Childs is standing guard by the door, there's a dark blue parka to his right, hanging with the others. He's wearing a parka that has a lighter shade of blue. Later, when he's missing from the room, so is the dark blue parka. Indeed, he's wearing it when we next see him. Why did he change parkas? Remember... The Thing can't digest ''cloth.''
** Pay attention to the breaths of both Childs and [=MacReady=] : the latter breath is visible with steam, while the former is totally invisible...
*** While this is regularly cited as a clue, there are actually a couple of moments during the final conversation where Childs' breath is indeed visible. Additionally, the Bennings-Thing's breath was visible when it was caught out in the cold, so there's no indication that visible breath is exclusive to humans.
** Childs immediately takes a pull from the bottle of scotch when [=MacReady=] offered it. Sure, it could be a natural [[INeedAFreakingDrink reaction]] to all they went through, but consider... Childs is ''easily'' the most paranoid guy on base. And he obviously doesn't like or trust [=MacReady=] ''and'' he knows saliva is a vector the creature uses to infect. The fact he never hesitates before taking the scotch is very strange.
*** A bottle of Scotch that [=MacReady=] used to make Molotov cocktails. There's a chance that it contains gasoline and not alcohol, which would immediatly be spit by a real human. Since Childs drink it without reacting, it would be a big clue that he, indeed, is not human
** [=MacReady=]'s baleful laugh at the end indicates that he has a pretty good idea that Childs is indeed the thing. But he can't do anything about it.

* Why does Blair have an unused noose in his shack? The Thing doesn't understand human context, as much as it tries to pretend it does. Blair tied the noose and was ready to hang himself as he was being assimilated. However, when the thing takes over his body, it does not dispose of the noose because it doesn't understand what it would mean to another human.
* When the crew find [=MacReady=]‘s torn up jacket, everyone is convinced that he’s become the thing, but there’s a huge clue to indicate that he hasn’t! Earlier in the film, [=MacReady=] mentions that the name tag on the longjohns were torn off to avoid suspicion. If [=MacReady=] was a thing, he would never have left such an obvious name tag out in the open for anyone to find.
----