In Passengers, how would it have been possible for anyone to return?

Question

In Passengers, we are told that they are unable to reenter hibernation BUT we are also told that

Aurora was planning to spend one year on Homestead II before going back to earth with the ship.

This is presumably the same journey in reverse and therefore the crew and all returning passengers would have needed to re-enter hibernation.

Homestead II is a new colony, therefore the means to re-enter hibernation MUST be carried on the ship with them - both the instructions and the material (drugs, equipment etc).

My question is:

How do we resolve this - Jim and Aurora cannot reenter hibernation now, but when the ship arrives they will be able to put the whole crew back under after only a year.

It seems like a massive plot hole to me?

Answer 1

There would be enough technology and expertise on Homestead II.

The same question was asked on another SE site a few weeks ago, and the accepted answer there argues convincingly that there may have been people asleep aboard the Avalon with the knowledge and tech necessary to put someone into hibernation.

Recall how at one point in the movie Jim tries to find out about hibernation technology so that he can get his own pod working again, but the information was proprietary and he couldn't access it. Doubtless there were people on the ship who could - perhaps not Gus, but somebody. Or if not on the ship, then on Homestead II.

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In the original screenplay (though not necessarily in the final movie, which ended up quite different), it was made clear that there were already colonists on Homestead II before the arrival of the Avalon:

But in the script, the ship is actually landing on Homestead II, and we see the scene from the perspective of the colonists gathering to watch the new citizens arrive. The doors open and… Children of all ages and adults in smaller numbers exit.

So even if the technology required to put someone into hibernation didn't exist on board the Avalon, it might have been already existing on the destination planet.

Answer 2

The very short answer is that, at least according to the original script, Homestead II is already well under way in terms of colonisation efforts. The earlier colonists have built thriving cities with an eclectic mixture of frontier and modern technology.

VIDEO INSTRUCTOR: And none is more beautiful than Homestead II, the Jewel of the Occupied Worlds.

ONE HOUR LATER - Jim sits wearily, chin propped on his hand. The Video Instructor chatters on. Inspiring footage of Homestead II.

VIDEO INSTRUCTOR: ...thriving job markets in mining, farming and manufacturing. An explosion in the cultural arts. And if you long for the life less civilized, you can apply for a pioneer permit and seek your fortune in the wild.

Jim's skills as a engineer will be put to good use and they likely have medical technology that rivals that of Earth. On top of that, as a Homestead colony they would have unfettered access to the "proprietary" technology that the Homestead company uses to put people into hibernation.

WORKSTATION: Hibernation technology is proprietary. The following articles deal with the subject on a theoretical level.

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As to the issue of whether someone on the crew can put people into hibernation, since we know that the Jim and Aurora can't be returned to hibernation despite finally gaining access to the crew (with Gus's wristband and crew access codes) it stands to reason that no-one in the crew possesses the ability and/or the ship lacks the technology needed to put someone into hibernation without docking at a colony world.