Maybe this question has already been debated but I lost sight of the answer.
Why was Bishop a bit weird when he answered (to Wierbowski ?) about the facehugger he was studying ?

You mean Spunkmeyer?

To make us suspicious about his motivations and loyalties, given Ash was corrupt in the first film.


In-universe reason?
Because he was a bit weird... Being artificial and all, his social skills wouldn't exactly be perfect.

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What bothers ME about that scene is why was Spunkmeyer there at all? He was delivering supplies to Bishop, but the dropship was really far away. Did Ferro make him walk? Is that why he was outside the dropship later, just before his death? Was he JUST THEN getting back?

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And what was the kit he gave Bishop? Stuff to take it off world?

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It was Bishop's lunch.
Dairylea Lunchables, and some yoghurt.

... But the yoghurt was a bit off.

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That would explain him throwing up all over the Queen!

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Genuine LOL.

Dairylea Lunchables- the USCM approved combat ration

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2nd Lt Jon "Jaylo" Lopez
A11/TQ1.0.72144E1
USCM Quality Assurance Division- Aerospace and Space Products- Earth
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Well the dropship was sitting on the landing pad of the colony, which would be just outside one of the locks. So Spunk and Ferro were free to go inside the colony itself, and the ship wasn't really "that" far away.

However the Atmosphere processor was a fair drive from the colony which is why the dropship was "far away" from our heroes when the dropship was needed.

EDIT... Wait I just remembered that the dropship took off just after dropping off the APC, so it "wasn't" sitting on the pad.

Now the question is: where were they when A) Spunk delivers the supplies, and B) when they were called for evac by Hicks?

Is there something in the film to suggest that the Dropship was given the ok to come back to the colony once Gorman declared the colony secure?



Kevin

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Gorman did say 'dust off on my clear and then stay on station'

So Kev you may be right that once the 'area was secured' he informed Ferro it was OK to return to the landing grid (which is where we see Spunkmeyer running into the dropship).

Now the landing grid would have been close to the colony but as we know the atmosphere processor was a drive away (on the other side I'm guessing).
You wouldn't want air traffic buzzing around that too closely.

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Maybe they have fold-up motorbikes on-board like ww2 para, or (and much more likely) Tactical Segways.

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AKA: Simon

Yes, Gorman says "Immediate Dust Off on my clear then stay on station..."

So my assumption is that the drop ship remains on air cover over watch whilst the Marines sweep the colony. Once the colony is declared clear the drop ship lands on the landing grid at the colony... Which is in plans...

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"Errr... Roger that's a 2-1-6..."

When Spunkmeyer was addressing Bishop he said 'nice pet you've got there', if I recall correctly he said it with a straight face. My thinking is that Bishop is fairly able to ascertain human emotion and intent by observation-but more subtle humor might not register. It's possible his programming is set that if a human says something that might be meant to be humorous but sounds serious, the android is to remain silent for a moment to give the human a chance to clarify what he or she is getting at instead of making a response that might be erroneous.

BTW-when you land a dropship on a colony that appears to have been invaded by something nasty-placing a
couple of sentry guns to guard the landing pad perimeter just might save you a lot of trouble!

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Both really good points John! I think your read on Bishop's blank stare makes sense. He's got a bit of an Asperger's quality when confronted with sarcasm/dry humor.

And yeah, Spunkmeyer should have put a sentry gun next to the Dropship. Would have made for a shorter film though... ;^)

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Not to nitpick, but the blank stare was "before" the "nice pet" comment.


And they should have just left the Dropship bay door "closed."


About the Sentry guns-

It would have made pefect sense, however they probably would have considered it overkill "at that time."

It's all business and protocol from the time Sarge starts his "Are you mean!" motivational speech, through the Dropship ride, to entering the colony, up until Sarge declares that "Whatever happened here I think we missed it." After that everyone has a "false alarm" attitude.

The colony seemed abandoned, and the man in charge (Gorman) said the colony was secure. Even hanging around operations (before discovering the colonists' personal transmitters) everyone acts like they are just waiting to be told "we're done here." You don't see anyone repairing the barracade or getting ready for an assault/setting up a perimeter before the first attack in the hive.

Everyone has a lackadaisical attitude about the mission until the shit hits the fan in the hive, then "Oops! We're f---ed!"


Kevin

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Kevin - Agreed - You're spot on. They've been told they're home and dry and they want to believe it...

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A02/TQ2.0.52141E1

"Errr... Roger that's a 2-1-6..."

Just got the DVD (Special Edition is my favorite) and watched the scene again, it starts off by Spunkmeyer asking him if he needed anything, then the blank stare which caused him to ask the question again. It may have been that Bishop was uncertain he was being addressed and it might have been someone else in the area who was being questioned (this was just prior to the rest of the squad leaving for the atmosphere processor). That's why Bishop turned to face him and waited for clarification, it's like someone saying 'hey John' behind me when I know there's two other guys with the same name nearby and I turn to look at the person to see if they are addressing myself or someone else. Nothing really odd if you think about it-but the scene was shot obviously to create suspicion early on in the movie to keep you guessing who the backstabber in the group really is.

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Now if Cameron had let Lance use his crazy contacts it would have been even stranger, but I'm glad they didn't go that route.

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There have been plenty of times when I've been in the field, and something breaks, or the mission changes, and then somebody needs some piece of equipment that wasn't brought out. More comm gear, extra batteries, vehicle parts, another engine for the boat... Someone always has to go back and get it. So in this case, I always figured there was some extra "stuff" on the dropship that Bishop needed for his work, and Spunkmeyer was the gopher.

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Maybe like everyone they need to compute the question. Maybe he was just in ore?

Or even better, maybe he was giving him this look!

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Sgt C. Kee-McParlin
A05/TQ1.0.02160E1

13th Regt. 1st Batt. 'Freebooters'

That must be bishops friendly "artificial feline". I always thought it was strange when bishop said that line during chow. What do you marines think? "I prefer the term artificial human myself" was he scorned by what burke said, or just trying to seem more human.

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Never trust a being who's blood is jizz.

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What I find even more strange is that Ferro and Spunkmeyer dont't take Bishop with them when they take off to evacuate the rest of the team. Hicks is talking about leaving the Planet and nuke the station from orbit. So I think the plan is that Ferro and Spunkmeyer would evacuate Hicks, Hudson, Gorman, Newt and Burke and then return directly to Sulaco. What about Bishop? It doesn't make much sense, but this unlogical detail might be necessary in the story, because otherwise Bishop would "die" with the pilots.

I don't think they would wait for Bishop if they got a mayday call. They could easily return to pick him up after the humans had been picked up.
For all we know, they may be trained to prioritise humans. After all, Bishop would be a piece of equipment in the eyes of the corp.

But all with all that said, I would of preferred a shot showing what Bishop was doing during the rescue. Ideally giving a bit of a "he's a robot, don't trust him" vibe.

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AKA: Simon

Maybe both---

Computers (and robots) don't get "offended" as they have no feelings. But Bishop finding the term "synthetic" offensive makes him that much more human. Although with Bishop, you don't really know if he was "truly" offended, or he is just mimicing the emotion as he is programmed to closely interact with humans.





Yes as Reaper mentioned, I think it was a case of getting the squad out of harm's way first, then swinging by the colony to pick up Bishop and then return to the Sulaco.


Kevin

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It is interesting to compare Bishop to Ash, and both Bishop and Ash to David. David was openly "artificial". He was cocky and downright arrogant. He enjoyed experimenting with the humans and it seemed he considered himself superior to people. Weyland said he was the closest thing to a son he ever had. David was there to make Weyland proud and give him what he wanted. Ash was a new model. An infiltrator. Ash hid his true form thanks to advanced behavioral programming. Ash was very much like David. He looked down on the crew of the Nostromo. He was not there to protect them, he was there to fulfill the mission. He lived for the company. He watched the facehugger infecting Kane and could hardly mask his enjoyment. When his secret was revealed and he knew his existence was about to end, he mocked Ripley and Parker. Bishop was the new model. He was made with the awareness of his kinds dark history. He was, at least according to Bishop, built with the Asimovian rules of not allowing humans to be harmed on his watch. It would seem that the company built a function into him where he would (unlike Ash and David) assimilate himself into the crew. He bonded with the Marines. He did the knife trick. He sat with them at mess. However, he was (like David and Ash) a research model. He could not help but be fascinated by the alien life form before him. But ultimately, he chose his crew.