I don’t mind nicknames, especially if they’re clever. “Papa Sulu” is just obvious. I’ll continue to refer to Claire’s boyfriend as “not-Zach”, to express my annoyance at his not being Zach. “Mystery Sock” was just mystifying. So is “Sark”, for that matter. What does the villain from Tron have to do with this show?
I really don’t see the big deal with the nicknames at all. Not sure why they’re so offensive to everyone and why everyone else is defending them so sternly. They’re convenient and you can figure it out if you read the whole thread. As far as “Smallville” goes, that just seems to agitate fans of the show Smallville. I have never liked the character of Superman and I think the show, Smallville, went far down hill so to me it is a fitting nickname for a character that I dislike. Really though, who cares. I say use whatever you please if it gets your point across.
Anyways, I was wondering if Monica can only “learn” things that she sees on television. So far, she has gained both of her talents from tv shows. I have also been wondering what the shelf life is on her newly acquired talents. Is it permanent or does it only last for a limited time. My guess, for now, is that her learning is temporary.
I am enjoying the “Peter in Ireland” storyline and I am looking forward to us getting back there. My only, very minor, complaint is that it feels too much like a separate show to me as opposed to the “Hiro in Time” storyline which still feels intimately connected to the main storyline.
GuanoLad thanks for the picture. That will likely prove extremely helpful over the course of this season.
Now that I have Papa Sulu Papa Sulu going through my head to the tune of Rock Me Amadeus, everybody else must as well.
I almost said something about that in my previous response because that was the first thing I got jumped for this season and it wasn’t even intended as a nickname. The actor who plays Kensei (or however it’s spelled) played, on and off for five seasons, Julian Sark on Alias. When I recognized him I posted something like “Mmm, Sark. Sarky goodness.” Which provoked howls, howls of outrage. Sorry if I overestimated the crossover fan base between two sci fi shows in making my one line reference.
Sorry, no. Every time I open this thread, I get (from the Simpsons musical Street Car): “You can al-ways depend on the kind-ness of strangers…”
Not to interrupt the superbly fascinating continuing discussion of the merits or lack thereof of character nicknames, but i have a mild spoiler.
Maybe this has been brought up before, but Heroes producer/director Greg Beeman has a blog where he recaps the shows, and reveals behind-the scenes tidbits. Interesting reading.
Stuff from past episodes:
Claire’s toe was not supposed to grow back, but she was supposed to be able to reattach it. It looked horrible in post, and turned out to be easier to show it regrowing.
Candice and Sylar were supposed to have a multi-episode story arc, but then the actress got a lead on Reaper, so they killed her off.
Beeman seems to have no clue on how leaden the pace was in the opening episodes.
And upcoming:
That’s it for this week. Next week Micah and Monica explore what the heck is happening to Monica, Matt and Nathan meet “The Nightmare Man,” Peter resumes his adventures in Ireland… And a new super baddie enters the fray!!!
Drop me, Papa Sulu.
A throwaway comment like that is fine, especially since Greg Grunberg was also in Alias. (See, I do know something about that show, despite my only watching it for 1/2 a season.) But others picked it up and continue to use it, which is just confusing. No one refers to Parkman by his character’s name on Alias, why do it for Kensei?
And to further my own personal confusion: “Kensei” means “sword saint”. It’s also one of the character classes you can choose in the video game Baldur’s Gate 2. The villain’s very distinctive voice in that game was provided by David Warner, who also played - yup, you guessed it - Sark on Tron.
Maybe this season would be better if Hiro got digitized into the cyber Tron world and fought Sark with a frisbee rather than running around feudal Japan trying to help Sark with a sword.
Which also features Dr. Zaius Dr. Zaius- it’s one of those weird coincidences that can only be explained by Mohinder (who I’m nicknaming “Vidvana McDreamy”).
Oh yeah, and the reason we didn’t see any of Kensei’s fight with the 90 angry Ronin is that the entire castle and the approaching samurai were all CGI.
hope you’re not blaming me for this.
I really hope you’re not blaming me for this.
No, this song is from A Fish Called Selma.
It’s all your fault, Otto. Curse you! 
I love that Sylar is back and how they are re-including him to the show. Also I loved the ticking clock sounds when he realized that the twins had powers. Could his powers be coming back? I hope so.
I’m excited to meet the Nightmare Man.