In this section of the Colossus Movie Guide for Bullet Train, we answer questions you have about the movie. If you’re curious about plot explanations, meanings, themes, lessons, motifs, symbols, or just confused by something, ask and we’ll do our best to answer.

Cast

• Ladybug – Brad Pitt
• Lemon – Brian Tyree Henry
• Tangerine – Aaron Taylor-Johnson
• The Prince – Joey King
• The Elder – Hiroyuki Sanada
• The Father (Yuichi Kimura) – Andrew Koji
• White Death – Michael Shannon
• The Wolf – Bad Bunny (Benito A. Martinez Ocasio)
• The Horney – Zazie Beetz
• Maria Beetle – Sandra Bullock
• Kayda Izumi, concession girl – Karen Fukuhara
• Passenger – Channing Tatum
• Carver – Ryen Reynolds
• Director – David Leitch
• Original novel Maria Beetle by – Kōtarō Isaka

Bullet Train | Questions and Answers

The mid-credits scene of Bullet Train

During the final conflict, Lemon realized he had been shot. It’s kind of a trope in action movies for a wounded character to sacrifice themself so the hero or someone else can survive. So Lemon seemingly embodies that trope. He tackles a mob goon off the train in order to save Ladybug. We think there’s no way the two would survive the fall to the water below. But, tropes be damned, the mid-credit scene reveals Lemon survived. And that he’s the one who drove the tangerine truck that hit The Prince and saved Ladybug, The Father, and The Elder (a moment that gets back to what I was saying about luck being tied to relationships). 

So if you were wondering why Lemon jumped off the train: he just assumed he was mortally wounded and wanted to go out like a tough guy. But then he survived because he landed in a river rather than hitting the ground. 

Was that a Godfather reference?

I feel like The Prince getting hit by a tangerine truck might be a reference to The Godfather. Famously, Godfather features oranges in multiple scenes where characters die. Whether they’re in a bowl on a table. Or a character walks by a market. Or another passes a billboard featuring an orange. The connection between oranges and the reaper has become the stuff of legend. Funny enough, it probably wasn’t even intentional by Francis Ford Coppola but just a lucky thing and someone noticed it, promoted it, and people fell in love with it. 

Maybe it’s completely unintentional that a tangerine is a type of orange and you have a truck of them roll over The Prince. Obviously, it’s the name of Lemon’s partner/brother. So Lemon driving a tangerine truck makes it this spiritual, symbolic thing where it’s like he and his brother are working together again and getting revenge on The Prince. That’s beyond doubt. 

Were Lemon and Tangerine actually brothers?

There’s no direct confirmation that they were truly related. But we have the flashback to them as children and they’re definitely close. So either they’re just best friends who have supported each other throughout their lives or they really are family. Either way, they sound like brothers to me. 

Why was the snake on the train?

The Hornet was the one who stole the boomslang snake from the Tokyo zoo and brought it on the train. It seems the use of boomslang venom is one of her calling cards. It’s what she used to poison everyone at The Wolf’s wedding. It would seem whenever she needs more venom that she procures a boomslang. Since she was hired by White Death to be in Japan, she used the opportunity to steal the boomslang. 

What question do you have?

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