NBC's _Heroes_

[stumpy]

Enjoyed this epi.

A couple thoughts:
[spoiler]
Even if Sylar gets away from Peter, he has still seen the list and will remember it. So that part of the storyline is done. I would also argue that, with his algorithmic ability to figure out "how things work" he could probably come up with the program that generates the list. That would be too much advantage, IMO, for the plot, but I would believe it.

Anyone else wondering why Sylar didn't notice anything odd in Mohinder's heart rate when he gave him the mickey? aybe he doesn't have fine control of it yet, but its original owner used people's heart rates as a sort of lie detector.

BTW, as psyched as I am for the Sylar v. Peter smackdown, this intial encounter is a done deal: Peter finds the advantage, starts kicking Sylar's butt, and then Sylar flees (or possibly is KOed but isn't really dead). Why? If there are still five or six episides left to the season, it's too soon for this to be resolved.

The interesting part of the encounter, to me, is that Peter, at least in theory, gets all of Sylar's powers now. It may take a while to control them, but he should get them. Of course, that could play into the battle scene, since the hearing is a major distraction, at first. The question is: is the psychosis part of the bargain?

BTW, unless the TK works via line-of-sight, either Sylar or Peter can take someone down pretty easily. It doesn't take much to close off or lock open the aortic valves, which spells heart attack in short order. Also, pinching off the blood supply to the brain is also a knockout punch. Of course, Sylar may need to keep Peter alive to steal his power (since we don't know exactly how that works yet), but if he wanted to kill someone, a TK thrust to the brain will do.

How did Claire get to New York so fast? If she used a credit card to buy a ticket, then HRG's company knows where she is. Of course, the Haitian could have gotten her a credit card under the same alias as her passport, but that doesn't seem a likely action for someone trying to keep a teenager nearby and low profile.

So, the lab girl is an illusionist. And, she is evil. It's worth noting that she effectively has Claude's power. BTW, HRG should have had a clue something was up. The ringtone when the faux Mrs. HRG said the kennel was calling wasn't the doggy ringtone from before. And, anyway, he should have known that Mongul would do some additional checking up on him.

I agree totally with Conduit about Hiro's scene: I was screaming, "Just grab the sword, freeze time, and walk out!" But things turned out okay. I am glad Ando is back, though this plays into my speculation that he is working for someone (possibly Sulu) to keep an eye on Hiro.
[/spoiler]

[Mr. Hamrick]

Linderman = Malcolm McDowell = OMG, how can that not be cool.  McDowell is simply one of the best villain characters out there.  He's also one of my favorite actors.

Am I the only one who thinks that the "sides" are going to majorily shift again in the next few episodes?

[GhostMachine]

If Peter has Claire's powers, he shouldn't have a scar, should he?

The one storyline I really don't care about is Nikki\Jessica. Ali Larter is fairly hot and a good actress, but the whole plot stinks, and we really don't have any reason to really care about DL and Micah at all. I've got a great way to end the whole Nikki\Jessica thing if I was the writer, but I'm hoping that when its over, Jessica is dead and Nikki has her powers (ie, strength and fighting skills).

[spoiler]I don't want Sylar to escape. He's a whackjob and there's nothing you can really do with him beyond him running around killing other people with powers. The only way I'd want him to stick around is if they pull a major swerve with him killing Ted, thus being the one who blows up and destroys New York instead of Ted or Peter.

And I wish they'd give the Haitian a name, because I'm kinda sick of him being referred to as `Degauss' or `The Haitian', and he's important enough to the storyline for him to actually have a name.[/spoiler]

[stumpy]

Mr H., I think that sort of shake-up will be part of the story.
[spoiler]We already have a fair amount of side-switching, what with Niksica's back-and-forth, Isaac and possibly Matt being compromised, HRG and the Haitian turning coat, and even Nathan secretly being a semi-good guy all this time and now, apparently, deciding to give the dark side a real try.

Also, since it's clear that HRG's (former) company has no problem employing specials to do its work, there is no telling how many of them it may have on the payroll. There's plenty of potential there for alignment switches.

BTW, how is Nathan going to square his apparent good health with the fact that his FBI contacts have assumed room temperature? Will he be a double (or is it triple) agent, pretending to still be working for the feds while actually feeding them false info from Chef Linderman.
[/spoiler]

Also, GM, some possibilities relating to the scar were discussed an episode or two ago.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

How do you figure that last part Cat?

Because the actor who plays Matt said so.  What can I say, I'm pretty good at finding these things out.

Something to keep in mind about Sylar and other things:

Tim Kring has said that the current storylines will all be completed this season.  Finished.  Done.  That would include Sylar, I'm assuming.  Season 2 is supposed to be a completely separate story, with a different group of characters, although some will return.  Here's what I do know about who's coming back and who isn't:

[spoiler]
The actress playing Claire has been signed on for season 2.  Same with Peter.

Hiro will not be present, at least not for a long while.  He will make a time jump into the far past and stay there most of the season.  The most popular theory is that he is himself the great Japanese hero that is known for possessing the sword.

That's it.  Everyone else is open for not being a central character, although that doesn't mean that they will necessarily be dead, just not the focus of the story.
[/spoiler]

[detourne_me]

[spoiler]about the scar....  well since we think that peter can only access a power or two at a time,  maybe he will just try to kick sylars arse instead of healing up first, and because the regeneration is a bit delayed a scar may form.[/spoiler]

[stumpy]

Some other reflections:
[spoiler]We don't know what would happen if Ted were killed. The implication in the show has been that he is most dangerous when he is emotionally out of control. That's definitely why Matt kept trying to keep him calm last episode and that would easily explain why he started to meltdown when Mogul/The Recruiter/Thompson wounded him. If he had been killed, he might have just died. Of course, something worse might have happened, but we have no reason to believe it, aside maybe from Ted implying it, which is meaningless since 1) Ted doesn't know anyway and 2) he has every reason to want people to think it. As a counterpoint, Thompson implied that Ted was only going to be around long enough for the company to "find out what gives him his spark."


As an aside, tonight's episode was an example of why I ignore the previews and spoiler material that's out there. With people like the illusionist on the show, basically any scene can be put into a preview and it may be pure misdirection. That's true of any show, but especially in one like this. And, let's be totally clear, the writers and editors feel no obligation to make sure a scene from a preview ever winds up in an aired episode. Didn't someone mention a preview-derived scene where Lab Girl asks HRG "What's the mission?" But that scene was never even in this episode. (And, I thought I heard that something similar happened with Simone...)

Not that I am discouraging all the extra material - it can be fun. But, it's worth considering any factoid not only by asking "what do we think we know?" but also asking "how well do we think we know it?" The reliability of any info outside the show itself has to be given less credibility than whatever hits the air. Meanwhile, in the past I've seen interviews and panel talks with show cast and writers where they admit that the writers know the next several episodes and most of outline until the end of the season, assuming the network has bought the episodes. But, whatever they mention for next season is largely just brainstorming and subject to total revision until the season is in production. And the actors know even less. They have a knowledge horizon that is solid for the episodes where they've seen a script but very fuzzy past that. My point is, none of us should rely too much on that sort of thing because it's only slightly better than our own speculation.

NBC has been unusual in making the online comics canon (assuming that they have), and I think that's a great thing and I read them. But, there isn't really much revealed there that qualifies as advanced info on the aired episodes.[/spoiler]

[Mr. Hamrick]

I wasn't thinking so much relating to "The Company" or Linderman. 

[spoiler]
I think Degauss (which I believe is The Haitian's last name) is working with Mrs. Petrelli.  That's how he tracked Claire so fast.  How does Linderman know about Nathan's hidden daughter or being a special?  Again, Mrs. Petrelli seems to be a likely informant there.  I don't think Degauss is knowingly helping Linderman, though.  If he IS then that's one more question that I have about "what he told Claire earlier in the season".  I think Mrs. Petrelli is more of a player than has been let on.  Why?  I think Linderman might be connected to The Petrelli's in a way that seems painful and cliche to consider but likely given what he knows.

However, let's assume that Mrs. Petrelli and Linderman are not working together.  Then that means there is a fourth side with a seemingly vested interest in Claire at this point.  Now, suppose Nathan helps his mom out in the end and thus reunites himself with his daughter.
[/spoiler]

A few thoughts on the Sylar vs. Peter showdown
[spoiler]
I think the exploding man is going to be Sylar.  I'll do you one better.  I think there will be a three way showdown between those two and Ted.  Sylar should be careful what he wishes for when saying that he wants to know how Peter's power works.     
[/spoiler]

I put those in spoiler tags just in case someone hasn't scene the episode yet.

[Revenant]

[spoiler]So you think Sylar will succeed in stealing Peter's actual power of absorption?  Will Peter retain his other powers, i.e. regeneration?  I could see this happening.. Maybe Sylar gets a fraction of Peter's ability, only to run unto trouble with Ted.[/spoiler]

[Sevenforce]

[spoiler]Anyone spot the moving car in the New York apocalyptic scene? :P[/spoiler]

[Protomorph]

[spoiler]Anyone spot the moving car in the New York apocalyptic scene? :P[/spoiler]

I didn't think that was so odd, it's likely several months after the explosion.

[Gremlin]

Hamrick: Degauss has never been used in anything canon.  It's a fan term.

[Mr. Hamrick]

Hamrick: Degauss has never been used in anything canon.  It's a fan term.

Ah.  My bad. 

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

I didn't think that was so odd, it's likely several months after the explosion.

Five years, actually.

[Tortuga]

[spoiler]Anyone spot the moving car in the New York apocalyptic scene? :P[/spoiler]

I didn't think that was so odd, it's likely several months after the explosion.

There was also a moving crane lifting a beam on the building on the right.

[bredon7777]

I'll post more detailed thoughts on the past few episodes later- still trying to catch my breath! - but I did want to share some tidbits that Malcom McDowell spilled to EW

The title of the April 23 episode is ".07%" - the percentage of the population with super powers, perhaps?

And [spoiler]
He confirmed that Linderman has a power!

He wouldn't say what, though I have my suspicions- either its a mind influence thing like Maxwell Lord- or, and this would be my preference- a variation on the cool powers that Major Disaster got from Neron- the ability to see the consequences of his actions several steps ahead.
[/spoiler]

[Uncle Yuan]

One episode to go until I'm caught up!  Watching them online is dangerous with those cliff-hanger endings!  So easy to just click on the the next episode and forget about the homework . . .


Thoughts on Peter/Sylar - and since I'm new to the thread, apologies for reintroducing theories that may have already been introduced:
[spoiler] I think it's fairly evident that Sylar's base power ("to know how things work") is strong evidence that any hero could have any of these powers but for their own mental blocks.  Sylar is basically teaching himself new tricks by taking apart the brains of his victims.  It may be crude and traumatic, but I don't think he is doing anything that they all couldn't do given the proper skills/training/mind-set.

The irony of course is that Peter does this naturally.  He is what Sylar wants to be.  And what I believe everyone could be.[/spoiler]

[stumpy]

Hmm.
[spoiler]I'm not sure if I agree with the Peter/Sylar analysis. For one thing, it seems like all the heroes have one power or control area (and that might have a couple effects, like Hiro's does). It seems like if it was just an issue of mental blocks, some people would have gotten to more than one distinct power before hitting the wall, especially for the passive powers. So, I am not sure anyone could do what Sylar or Peter does. They are different in that the effect of their one power is to absorb (via different means) other powers. They are sort of that kid who always says he'd ask the genie for "a million more wishes".

Also, the "Primatech" scientist who was in charge of examining Sylar made it pretty clear that he thought Sylar was absorbing different DNA (and that it was driving him crazy). The science of that is a bit wonky, and obviously one doesn't need to dig through someone's brain to get their DNA, but it's what we've been told. I'm not sure we know Peter is doing the same thing at a distance, though it kinda seems that way.

BTW, I am not an adherent of the view that when someone says something on a show then it must be the writers telling us the way things are really happening. It's just what the characters think is going on or even what they want others to believe they think is going on. Characters can be speculating and they can just plain be wrong. But, in this case, the scientist character didn't seem to have any other motive and no scientist worth his lab coat would say something like that unless he could actually run tests and show different DNA. (Once again, we have to punt on the real world science of how that would happen.)


As an aside, a couple big issues remain unresolved regarding Peter and Sylar's power gathering, aside from the issue of whether Peter (or even Sylar) can really use more than one at once or if they are just switching quickly, Ultra Boy-style.

First, if gathering all the powers is driving Sylar crazy (or more crazy), will that happen to Peter as well? We did see Peter seem to get sick at the end of his trip to Odessa. I don't know if that was a cumulative effect of absorbing too many people's powers in short order, an effect of just absorbing all of Sylar's powers, or just some other problem.

Second, it's quite possible we've only seen a small sampling of Sylar's powers. Mohinder has mentioned that most of the people on his list are already dead, so that's quite a bit more than the handful we've seen so far. Of course, it's also possible that Sylar has encountered some duplicates or even that the absorption doesn't always work for him.[/spoiler]

[Uncle Yuan]

[spoiler]But remember, Sylar's first power was not to absorb other's power by eating their brains (or what ever) but to figure out how things work, or "how the pieces of the puzzle fit together."  My contention is that he is not absorbing or assuming other's powers when he kills people, but learning how to do them.

Actually, the more I think about it the more I'm beginning to think that killing them has nothing to do with it.  He just learns how to do it then kills them.  Because if someone else can do what he could then he wouldn't be "special."[/spoiler]

[stumpy]

[spoiler]

But remember, Sylar's first power was not to absorb other's power by eating their brains (or what ever) but to figure out how things work, or "how the pieces of the puzzle fit together."  My contention is that he is not absorbing or assuming other's powers when he kills people, but learning how to do them.

I actually like that theory, though I don't think it's the most likely. The notion that he figures out how things tick and how they are broken and that manifests itself in his being able to determine and overcome the psychological barriers his victims have would be a good way to work the plot. And, it would be in keeping with the notion that Sylar only had one power at the outset, instead of both the figuring-things-out power ("clockwork vision" as some have termed it) and the DNA absorption power. (And I don't see how those two things can just be different effects of the same power in the same way that Hiro's time slowing/stopping/reversing powers are.) So, I like that interpretation.

But it could also be - and I would think this is more likely - that Sylar referred to his first victim as broken because he was able to detect some abnormality in his DNA, just as he was able to determine the problem with Chandra's watch before he opened it up. How he actually incorporates his victims' DNA with his own hasn't been explained. (And, I am not hoping for much there...) Of course, I agree that he may well be learning how to manifest the powers instead of absorbing them in some more psuedo-scientific sense and I like that idea more. But the show has very strongly implied that he is changing his own DNA somehow when he mucks with the victims' brains, even to the point of Sylar himself saying he wanted to "sink [his] teeth" into the specials on Mohinder's list. (Some would say that indicates that he physically consumes the brains, which may be, but I don't think we have much indication yet that that is the literal process.) So, I can't get around the DNA modification power as part of his suite.
[/spoiler]

[Gremlin]

[spoiler]My personal thoughts are that, as Chandra has stated and Sylar reiterated, the basis for the power is "in the brain."  I think all the powers generated are psionic in nature, but each person manifests the abilities differently depending on their life experiences.  That's why Peter can draw on two seemingly unrelated abilities (power mimicry and telempathy).  Sylar sees how their brain (although it might be a new portion of the brain, like a new lobe or something...) "channels" the psychic energy, then reconfigures his own brain to channel it in an identical manner.  However, the way the energy is focused is so distinct from person to person, it's an element of their genetics instead of their psyches.  So their DNA will affect their psyches, of course, but it's fundamentally genetic in nature.  That also explains why incorporating so much foreign DNA into his body is driving him insane: because he's mucking around with his brain so much.[/spoiler]

[Uncle Yuan]

Gremlin:

[spoiler]What is the telempathy you claim Peter can manifest?  I have seen no sign of it in the show.  (And I've been plowing through the episodes on-line.  I've watched them all within about the last week and a half.)[/spoiler]

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

[spoiler]
I disagree with the notion that he has telempathy.

What he's likely referring to, is that he switches powers by feeling the personalities of those who use the powers. Not a separate ability, IMO.
[/spoiler]

[captainspud]

Major spoiler:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=9944

[stumpy]

And a major ad splurge for Honor Brigade!  :thumbup:

[spoiler]I can't recall any evidense that Peter has telempathy or even empathy (the ability to read emotions). All we know is that at least initially, when he is no longer near the person from whom he acquired the power, he needs to focus on how he felt about that person in order to use it.  I guess could be thought of as training with an empathic angle, which might have been what Claude mumbled about, but it's not what we usually think of as empathy.

Certainly there is a mental aspect to controlling the powers (at least the active ones), in the same way there is a mental aspect to controlling moving one's hand or anything else one might consciously do. I don't think that qualifies as psionic, although some of the specials have psionic powers like TK, thought-sensing, etc.[/spoiler]

[stumpy]

Shoot! I forgot that last week's was the last new episode for a while.

Does anyone know when this Stygian nightmare ends?

[GhostMachine]

Shoot! I forgot that last week's was the last new episode for a while.

Does anyone know when this Stygian nightmare ends?

If, by Stygian nightmare, you mean lack of new episodes.....April 23rd.  :blink: = what I'll be by then!

[stumpy]

Yeah, that's what I meant. Thanks, GM.

But, APRIL 23RD? That's practically the end of time! Yeesh.


I guess it's back to catching up on episodes of Day Break.

[Gremlin]

Ok, you guys are right.  Peter's empathy is more of his innate ability to connect with others.  While not a power in and of itself, it does funnel or channel his overall mimicry.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Yes, that is the right way to think of it.