Junk Yard Dog plot holes

[Lost Knight]

I'll have to agree with Matthew on this one. And furthermore, the real "plot hole" of the episode, in my opinion, is the fact that K.I.T.T. can't possibly have any memories of anything that occurred before his destruction. Therefore, he shouldn't have any fear of the acid pit to conquer, among other things like Michael's history when he was telling KITT about when he was first shot in the face. Re-entering data and new features is one thing, but Bonnie can't re-enter memories.

[James_kr]

Ok I noticed a few things. When KITT is being rebuilt one of the members of the team puts the tv prop they used in Soul Survivor on the windsheild of the car and KITT is talking to michael through it and he can hardly speak. I thought that Michael gave that tv to the kid who "lived inside his computer" also why did bonnie say into a mic testing testing 1 2 3 i thought that was pretty funny. i noticed that the car never seamed to get any work done to it. also there was some sort of sheet over the drivers seat i thought that was clever for the blind driver so he could hide i think everything was destroyed except for some of kitts memory bank i agree they really should have just got another trans am.

[Knight Rocker]

OK, this has been brought up in another thread before but I think it's a good question: How can K.I.T.T.'s A.I. be replaced? If he was completely destroyed, wouldn't he have to be created from scratch, and thus have to re-learn and redevelop his personality? Unless his entire A.I. was stored on a back up hard drive or something, but I highly doubt that.

I have to believe that somehow the CPU survived. Otherwise, like you said, he would have been the KITT from season 1 again with his more machine like personality.

The CPU didn't survive however. When Michael asked Bonnie how long it would take to repair Kitt after she had stated that he was completely destroyed, she told him that it wasn't a case of repairing him, but rather recreating him. The idea behind his successful recreation seemed to be that Kitt's essence, for the lack of a better term, had remained contained within the car, even after the severe damage since he was integrated into all of his systems.

Matt

I'm curious, what's the difference between KITT's CPU and his essence? I always assumed, from watching Soul Survivor, that his essence was in his CPU.

This is a very interesting discussion, let's keep it going. Junkyard Dog is probably the episode that starts the best discussions.

[Matthew]

I take Kitt's CPU to be his heart and mind rather than his essence as it appears to regulate all of his operations Knight Racer. We saw in Soul Survivor that without the car, he needed the TV and the components installed within it to be able to operate, and more importantly communicate, yet he was nowhere near being himself without all of the systems that was normally integrated into. I view his extension into each system as being his essence, much like the human soul occupies all of our body, and not just our hearts and minds. This is why I believe they have so many wires hooked up to him in the beginning of the recreation as it appeared as though they were draining what remained of his essence from the remains of the car in hopes of integrating it into his recreated personality, which might also explain how he would remember his traumatic experience.

Matt

[HungarianKnight]

I take Kitt's CPU to be his heart and mind rather than his essence as it appears to regulate all of his operations Knight Racer. We saw in Soul Survivor that without the car, he needed the TV and the components installed within it to be able to operate, and more importantly communicate, yet he was nowhere near being himself without all of the systems that was normally integrated into. I view his extension into each system as being his essence, much like the human soul occupies all of our body, and not just our hearts and minds. This is why I believe they have so many wires hooked up to him in the beginning of the recreation as it appeared as though they were draining what remained of his essence from the remains of the car in hopes of integrating it into his recreated personality, which might also explain how he would remember his traumatic experience.

Matt

You may have a point here. Somewhere (possibly in a fanfic) I read that Kitt had his own neural net, which connected the car with the AI. If that's true, than some system "echo" of Kitt might be left in the neural systems which can be downloaded, reprogrammed, just like what they did to the dinosaur genes in Jurassic Park.

[Lost Knight]

This is why I believe they have so many wires hooked up to him in the beginning of the recreation as it appeared as though they were draining what remained of his essence from the remains of the car in hopes of integrating it into his recreated personality, which might also explain how he would remember his traumatic experience.

That's a really interesting theory. Never thought of it in that way. For my own peace of mind to explain the episode, I think I agree.

[FuzzieDice]

Think on technical terms here, and from what very little I know of AI brains (well, from my experiences using Ultra Hal Assistant from Zabaware, and A.L.I.C.E. bots), I came up with another possibility:

I'm sure Bonnie backed up KITT's memory banks (where his thoughts, programming, data and files that compose all the pattern matching, experiences, etc.). So the "shreds" of KITT's memory that were left (Bonnie did mention only "shreds" were left) may be the most recent (as it might be at the "top" of the memory stack, and not yet saved in the data files, but maybe in another part of the system like flash ram or a virtual RAM file). So that "shred" plus the backups, may be able to recreate KITT's personality and who he is.

However, what she meant by it might NOT be even though you can put the parts together, I can see what she is referring to.

For example in terms many of you would be able to relate to: You can take two identical PCs, built by the same company with the same brand components in them, etc. Yet use one for like 6 months as you normally do. Then stop using it and use the other for the other 6 months as you normally would. The two computers may not behave the same. For instance, one may (or may not) crash or cause errors that the other might.

Due to composition of the parts, chemical differences of the components right down to the chip level is why no two computers will work alike, no matter what. There never is such a thing as "PC Compatible" because every computer will behave differently.

Thus, while they can put all the parts of KITT together, these differences in composition of the parts may not cause the same exact type of KITT that was previous. He may even process slightly differently than before.

For example, using Ultra Hal Assistant, I seem to have more problems with it staying on topic, while someone else, using the exact same brain, they don't seem to have as much problems with it staying on topic.

However, in the end, KITT did seem basically the same as he had been, but you see that the story has a plot hole here too. That KITT should have been somehow slightly different (not in just his features but possibly his responses). He probably should have been a bit wiser, or better able at pattern-matching appropriate responses due to faster and better components than what was originally used.

[Knight2015]

I agree that the acid gutting out KITT completly and eating his windows, paint and poping the rear open is a bit overrated. I mean KITT can drive through hot lava pool with no problem and a cutting laser does nothing to his shell. Both these things have much more damaging effects then acid. And if the acid is so strong like it was portrayed, then would'nt that emit fumes strong enough to kill anyone from a distance, I mean they show Michael right at the pit of the acid with Fran as though he was conteplating weather to jump in to save KITT or something.

Respond if you agree or disagree

[Wizster]

I agree that the acid gutting out KITT completly and eating his windows, paint and poping the rear open is a bit overrated. I mean KITT can drive through hot lava pool with no problem and a cutting laser does nothing to his shell. Both these things have much more damaging effects then acid. And if the acid is so strong like it was portrayed, then would'nt that emit fumes strong enough to kill anyone from a distance, I mean they show Michael right at the pit of the acid with Fran as though he was conteplating weather to jump in to save KITT or something.

Respond if you agree or disagree

Just to say, maybe it's the length of time that would affect it? I haven't seen the episode for a while so can't remember if it was instant or not

[Matthew]

If we were to assume that Michael and Kitt raided the site at some point around midnight due to Fran's presence, Kitt would have been in the pit for at least six hours since daylight had fully set in by he was removed. However, given the fact that it was a winter night, the infiltration could have happened at any point from roughly 6pm onwards given the isolated location of the Junkyard, thus Kitt could have been in the pit for up to twelve hours.

Suddenly, the fact that he was gutted doesn't seem so far fetched in my opinion, although I will admit that there were obvious oversights which were probably made in a deliberate attempt to reduce restoration time. Since the t-tops and door windows were gone, I think it's safe to say that the windshield and trunk hatch should have gone too just as the side and fog lights should have really gone along with the scanner and rear lights. As for the key fob, if the tires can survive, then heck, who’s to say the key fob wasn't made of the same material.

Matt

[Lost Knight]

I meant to say earlier that I think the length of time in the acid pit made the difference in damage. I think that the shell mostly remained because it was the toughest part of K.I.T.T.'s body, whereas the acid crept into the interior from under the car, and thus the upholstery and dashboard weren't protected with the Molecular Bonded Shell. (Further proof of that is in "K.I.T.T.nap" where the seats were punctured by machine gun bullets.) Therefore, they were the first things to completely rot away.

Perhaps the windshield and trunk lids were able to remain because they were thicker pieces of glass and were able to survive a little longer. While every piece of glass was apparently MBS protected, I still have a feeling that the MBS has a different effect on glass than it does on metal. I think the strength of the MBS increases depending on the material it is bonded onto/into. Given another day or two, I'm sure the rest of KITT's shell would have further deteriorated as well, perhaps even to the point of disintigration. As for the wheels, as I've said before, since they weren't ordinary rubber they might have been able to survive the acid a little longer. But I have no doubt that the windshield, trunk and wheels would've been next to go.

[Matthew]

You actually have an excellent point regarding the windshield and trunk hatch because those windows are extremely discolored when Kitt is removed, rather than the clear glass that we'd expect to see. Perhaps an indication that those would have been eaten away in due course had Kitt not been removed from the pit when he was just as you suggest.

I'm also inclined to agree that the acid seeped in from his underside, although I'm more inclined to think that it was through his wheel arches where there would be obvious open areas around the steering mechanism, suspension and drive shafts. The front end alone would make Kitt himself vulnerable straight away, whilst his cabin would probably be the next on the list.

Matt

[FuzzieDice]

Something bothers me. In Return to Cadis, he had an aquatic synthesizer that allowed him to hydroplane and pretty much drive on water. While I know April took that out of KITT at the end of the show, why didn't she or Bonnie fix it and re-install it? It could have saved KITT from the acid pit, I think.

Oh well, they had to do something to make a story.

[James_kr]

KITT could have used his grappling hook and then he could have been saved or maybe he did and that's how he was pulled out of the acid pit.

[Akaihiryuu]

I'm not entirely sure the windows were actually "eaten away" by the acid. Remember that car door windows are held up by mechanisms inside the door. If the acid could get to the car's interior, it could easily get to the mechanisms holding the windows up. Corrode that away, and bang the window falls down into the door (and possibly breaks). Plus it stands to reason that the MBS was only on the outside of the window and not on the inside, so maybe it was possible to break it from the inside. Same goes with the t-tops, get rid of the seals holding them in and they're gone. My main concern about all this is the tires! The acid was supposedly that corrosive, yet the tires were intact.

[MLAM]

Well they needed something to wheel it out easy , just another plot hole.

Then again the rubber was renforced rubber of somesort, mentioned in Knight n Knerd when KITT's tires are melted by a lazer

[DJGM]

One thing I've often thought about regarding this episode ... why didn't KITT try to escape the forklift truck?

When the forklift truck lifts KITT off the ground, and starts making it's way towards the acid pit, instead of
shouting "MICHAEL, HELP ME!", KITT could've simply used Turbo Boost, to get off the forklift, and out of
danger. Or even Micro Jam, to kill the forklift truck's engine, making it stop before reaching the acid.

Or, KITT could've scanned that the forklift truck was approaching him, and quickly moved out of the way.

[Lost Knight]

One thing I've often thought about regarding this episode ... why didn't KITT try to escape the forklift truck?

When the forklift truck lifts KITT off the ground, and starts making it's way towards the acid pit, instead of
shouting "MICHAEL, HELP ME!", KITT could've simply used Turbo Boost, to get off the forklift, and out of
danger. Or even Micro Jam, to kill the forklift truck's engine, making it stop before reaching the acid.

Or, KITT could've scanned that the forklift truck was approaching him, and quickly moved out of the way.

This was brought up in the last discussion we had about the episode. Since K.I.T.T. was lifted off the ground, he couldn't use the Turbo Boost because his wheels had no ground to thrust off of. The same goes for the acid pit, as he was sinking in it and the acid was creeping in from his underside──again, nothing to thrust off of. I think the reason he didn't use Micro Jam was because he was caught by surprise and he was dumped in too quick before he could react. Why he didn't scan the forklift coming could be maybe because forklifts being there weren't out of the ordinary and it did randomly crash through the wall out of nowhere.

[Akaihiryuu]

Another thing I noticed...when they're pulling KITT out of the pit, you can clearly see the winch attached underneath the car (how did they possibly attach it?) and the car clearly full of acid. It shows the guys in hazard suits spraying it off with pressure sprayers, but it doesn't show how all of the acid actually gets out of the car. Most of the cleaning actually takes place off camera. When they're lifting the car onto the towtruck though, you can see stuff leaking out of the car at the rear end, so maybe it just ate a hole through the floor in that area. They got around most of the explanations for things by simply having the stuff that would require more expensive special effects or more explanation happen off camera. I also noticed a couple of things that were in the script but weren't in the episode. Michael was supposed to reach in and touch the remains of KITT's voice box, which was supposed to crumble. And also, KITT was supposed to break the forks off of the forklift at the end, which also doesn't happen. I guess not everything from the script made it into the episode. Since they obviously used a stock Firebird with the interior removed for the "pulling out of the pit" scene, making it look somewhat like KITT on the inside (having the voice box) would've probably cost more. Once you know, it's also very obvious that when you see the forklift driving up to the pit, it's a real forklift and a real Firebird, but the whole drop KITT into the pit and sinking scene is all done with miniatures. You can see the camera angle suddenly change and the forklift and car suddenly look a lot less real. It really stands out once you know that. Makes you wonder what this episode might've looked like in today's days of awesome special effects done cheaply with CG. If Knight Rider were made today, they'd probably film the characters against a green screen and have a mostly CG KITT.