Announcing Alien: The Blueprints from Titan Books!

[SM]

That's my understanding.

[Xenomrph]

Either way, problem solved.

[Local Trouble]

Either way, problem solved.

Then what did they need the coolant for?  Ripley specifically said it was for the air support system.  Why would that even be an issue if the shuttles are already equipped to accommodate three passengers in hypersleep?

It undermines a huge part of why the third act of the movie played out the way it did.

[SM]

Maybe one of them was out of order.

[Local Trouble]

Why not?  It works for the unseen and unmentioned second shuttle.

[Xenomrph]

Either way, problem solved.

Then what did they need the coolant for?  Ripley specifically said it was for the air support system.  Why would that even be an issue if the shuttles are already equipped to accommodate three passengers in hypersleep?

It undermines a huge part of why the third act of the movie played out the way it did.

Perhaps the shuttle needed to be tanked up before use? The Narcissus/Salmacis weren't primarily escape shuttles, they were also short-range excursion craft. It could be that the Narcissus wasn't prepped for launch, and grabbing a bunch of coolant would have been necessary no matter how many people were going to use it.

[Local Trouble]

Perhaps the shuttle needed to be tanked up before use? The Narcissus/Salmacis weren't primarily escape shuttles, they were also short-range excursion craft. It could be that the Narcissus wasn't prepped for launch, and grabbing a bunch of coolant would have been necessary no matter how many people were going to use it.

That doesn't work either since Ripley left it all behind and had no trouble using the shuttle without it.

[SM]

Indeed.  The original escape-craft had only one pod.

[SiL]

It feels like a solution to a problem that didn't really exist.

... like only having one shuttle, honestly.

[Xenomrph]

Perhaps the shuttle needed to be tanked up before use? The Narcissus/Salmacis weren't primarily escape shuttles, they were also short-range excursion craft. It could be that the Narcissus wasn't prepped for launch, and grabbing a bunch of coolant would have been necessary no matter how many people were going to use it.

That doesn't work either since Ripley left it all behind and had no trouble using the shuttle without it.

Ripley left it all behind because there was a killer space monster on the ship and she didn't have a choice now that all her friends were dead. They thought they had the luxury of tanking up the shuttle and fully prepping it, and it got two of them killed; now with Ripley by herself, she just takes her chances because it's better than definite rape-murder at the hands of the Alien.

[SiL]

She still could've taken some bottles. She didn't even try.

The fact the shuttle kept her alive just fine for 57 years kind'a speaks volumes that it wasn't necessary "no matter how many people".

[Xenomrph]

She still could've taken some bottles. She didn't even try.

Of course she didn't try, there was a killer rape-monster on the loose and the last people who stopped to grab bottles of stuff got murdered.

The fact the shuttle kept her alive just fine for 57 years kind'a speaks volumes that it wasn't necessary "no matter how many people".

Perhaps the bottles only matter for when you're out of stasis?

[SiL]

Perhaps the bottles only matter for when you're out of stasis?

That's literally the plot of them getting the coolant. If there weren't three of them they wouldn't need it, because with two or less they'd be in stasis.

Which is what I said, they wouldn't need coolant "no matter how many", since clearly they didn't need extra for one and presumably wouldn't have for two. It's just because there were only two beds but three people.

Which is why adding a third bed is silly.

[Xenomrph]

That's what I mean, perhaps the bottles matter even for one person because Ripley (or whoever) might have to wake up and operate the ship while conscious at some point, but then Ripley bails on that plan because she doesn't really have a choice and rolling the dice in the shuttle (or even eventually suffocating because of no air) is better than whatever the Alien might do to her.

I'm just tossing around retroactive explanations in light of the knowledge that there's a third bed. Graham might chime in with his own thoughts; ultimately I'm pretty okay with the existence of a third bed.

[SiL]

I'll just stick to the film