Headscratchers / Paulie

• Where did Paulie's intelligence come from? Are all Blue-crowned conures that smart or is he some sort of mutant parrot?
  • I think in this case the MST3K Mantra is your friend (in short, we're not supposed to understand how it works).
• Why didn't Marie's father believe the cat tried to kill Paulie? That's not unusual behavior for cats. Okay, well I get him not believing that Paulie can talk, but still...
  • Face it, the father is just a jerk. In fact, that might be the reason why Marie moved away from the parents to her own house despite staying single.
  • The father was abrasive and paranoid from being a shell shocked veteran. His course of actions also give heavy vibes of being jealous that Marie was bonding through Paulie instead of him. What bird owner buys a cat and then leaves it within reaching distance of the bird after all?
  • I didn't get the impression that the father didn't believe the cat did it, but rather, that he didn't believe that the parrot said the cat did it.