Marty McFly – the name synonymous with zero shame, bad decisions, and questionable friendships. Dr. Emmett Brown – the name synonymous with crazy, but genius. What an interesting character combo. If my only friend was the town “scientist” who was much older than me, my parents wouldn’t have been so nonchalant about it. Anyways, I decided to rewatch the start of all our current reality let downs and I have so many questions and observations:

• Is the beginning a scene from Back to the Future or part of Captain Hook’s nightmare. Clocks everywhere, but there is a nice foreshadowing clock with the man hanging off the arm
• In 1955, Doc’s mantle featured pictures of 4 famous inventors, but his modern 1985 abode only retains Thomas Edison, Ben Franklin, and Albert Einstein … why?
• Does it bother no one else that the coffee pot is missing? The water would have spilled all over the floor
• I like my smores marshmallows burnt, but not as burnt as the toast Doc supposedly eats for breakfast
• It’s nice to see Doc is following top notch safety measures with a key hidden under the doormat
• Where’s the one place people usually look for missing things? Under the bed. And yet, that’s where the plutonium is being stored
• Where was the giant amp hidden? And how can Marty still hear anything after getting destroyed by a wave of sound? Don’t get me started on the damage to Doc’s place
• Doc’s warehouse is casually “hidden” by the Burger King. This is accurate. Had it been a Wendy’s, this would have been a poor location choice
• Pretty sure you can’t ride a skateboard behind a car. Just need to throw that out there
• The encouragement from the school principal is … lacking. Also, slacker isn’t really an insult, I’m not sure it ever was
• Only in high school would the excuse ‘you’re too darn loud’ be used to kick a band off stage
• You’re telling me that Jennifer casually chose the bench with a Zales Jewelers advertisement on it to tie her shoe in front of Marty? She’s here for the long game
• Was the crazy street lady really concerned with saving the clock tower or stopping public PDA?
• How far away does Marty live from the town that he needs multiple different illegal car hitches to get there and arrives at dusk? In 1955 it said 2 miles. And he had a skateboard so what are we looking at – a 30 min trip? Max?
• What does Marty do with his guitar during the day? Does it go in a music room? A locker? Doc’s place? He doesn’t have it at home, that’s for sure
• Biff is just lovely in the original, non-tampered with 1985. ‘Who’s going to pay for this beer spill?’ So he’s admitting to drinking and driving? Which was also illegal in 1985
• If Ralphie, from The Christmas Story, grew up, he would be George McFly
• What is the fashion sense in the McFly household? Dave is in wannabe golfer outfits, Linda is dressing like a country club housewife, and Marty is sporting suspenders and all denim
• I’m pretty sure Marty’s sleeping position is now a yoga pose
• A parked van with smoke coming out of it in the middle of the night raises zero questions
• OUTATIME – what a vanity plate! Instance #1 of great slogan placement
• How can Doc see anything with smoke filling the DeLorean?
• Poor Einstein. He’s like the space monkeys of time travel
• Wouldn’t you want to get out of the path of the car coming back into the present at a casual 88MPH so it doesn’t hit you?
• How did Doc and Marty meet, get acquainted, become friends, and decide to trust each other?
• The date examples of important moments in history are broad: the signing of the declaration of Independence, the birth of Christ, and of course, November 5, 1955
• Did anyone else notice that Doc was wearing a Hawaiian shirt underneath a jumpsuit with a radiation symbol on the back? Is Hawaii toxic? What is the purpose of this outfit?
• I’m not an expert on stealing things, but I would bet that admitting you stole something on camera is a good way to get caught
• Clearly plutonium must be handled with care, but Doc treats the yellow box full of samples a bit rough. Using his foot to open it, throwing things on it, etc. I’m concerned for his longevity
• Who are the terrorists? Where did they come from? Why are they after Doc? What is this scene?
• The terrorists have chosen a VW van as their assasination vehicle. Why? I have to believe you would want something with better handling and overall speed
• Why a rocket launcher? That feels a bit extreme for the situation. Which is unclear
• Marty has to know he has something on his head when exiting the DeLorean, right? He had to feel that
• Also, Marty drives away in the middle of the night, says one sentence, and is all of a sudden in the middle of the day a short distance from where he started
• Miller was clearly the beer sponsor. OG 1985 McFly’s had Miller Lite, but Hill Valley is sporting the Miller High Life truck since obviously, the Hill is higher
• Why does Marty walk through the town square backwards? That’s a good way to run into people
• Hill Valley town slogan: Please Drive Carefully! I’m dead – instance #2 of great slogan placement
• Glad to see that Biff picked up zero new insults in 30 years
• Imagine if you woke up and your mom, in her younger years, was hitting on you. No amount of therapy could fix that
• Poor Joey – behind bars the whole movie. At least he seemed to enjoy it at 2
• A nice foggy night is an ideal setting to be hunting for the hidden time travel in the middle of nowhere
• Did Marty always show up and get Doc on the time travel path? Or, was Doc just smart and actually invented the flux capacitor?
• How can a picture disappear? It’s a movie on time travel, not magic. The photo was already printed. Fake news
• Best introspective question from Doc: why are things so heavy in the future? Where do I even start with 2020
• ‘Make like a tree and get out of here’ – so, so close Biff. Just like with Lorraine
• George’s favorite TV show was Science Fiction Theater? Really?! What is that?
• ‘Lou, give me a milk. Chocolate’ since nothing says confidence like a glass of chocolate milk
• Lorraine has zero cares about Doc being in the room while flirting with Marty. Good for her. Ask for what you want, girl!
• What is teenage George’s haircut? Part combover, part lower bowl fade, part buzzed, part something else – I’m so confused
• Where is Marty getting his 1955 wardrobe from? 
• The police officer should be more concerned about what Doc is doing with his “weather experiment”
• Won’t people from 1955 recognize Marty in 1985? Namely, his mother, father, and Biff?
• The drama in George’s fight scene is too much to handle. Music, slow motion, evil laughter, a helpless woman, I mean, wow! And we get it again at the dance, my goodness
• If Marty was really that good of a guitar player, he would have a record deal in 1985
• Marty brings up a very specific, and clearly traumatizing, childhood memory to ask forgiveness for. 8 year old accidentally setting fire to the living room rug? Yes, bud, you should have been in trouble for that
• Are we just going to breeze over the fact that Doc supposedly had a permit for the car and the weather experiment cables? We never saw proof
• Great Scott! Absolutely iconic
• I’ve found that when you’re on a very strict time deadline, it’s not a good time to get in an argument with someone
• Will Doc connect the cable? Will Marty get the car started? Will it all work? My stress levels are low, but lots of good questions being asked here in the final scene
• Is the takeaway that DeLorean’s are unreliable machines? Or that you shouldn’t mess with the past?
• The cable can’t stand up to some wind but it can hold a ziplining Doc?
• Why does Marty keep stopping the car when he knows it won’t start up again? Has he learned nothing in almost 2 hours?
• Let’s think about sound. Specifically the sound the DeLorean makes as it disappears. So, no one in the neighborhood heard that and got concerned?
• A Match Made in Space – instance #3 of great slogan placement
• Poor Marty just can’t catch a break when he wants to kiss Jen
• So Doc went to 2015 and got a flying car. We’re living in 2021 and I have yet to see a flying car
• Did anyone else have date options that included going to the lake or traveling to the future in high school? Or did I just miss out?

Alright, jumping off my pedestal for now. If you know someone who would enjoy this post and want to share it with them, that would be awesome. Sharing is caring, after all. Don’t forget to subscribe to get these in your inbox twice weekly and follow TRP on Twitter for frequent musings. Thanks for reading!

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