# Heroes 10/9 - "One Giant Leap" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2006, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856 "2006-10-09T23:22:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/121 "2006-10-10T23:26:00Z")
[QUOTE=Archergal] Did anybody else think that the accident wouldn’t have happened if Hiro hadn’t told his buddy to stop the truck? His buddy ran out, the truck swerved to avoid him, and that’s what put it on track to hit the girl with the red bow. Or am I totally mistaken?? [/QUOTE] Actually that’s how I figured they were going to deal with the deus ex machina nature of Hiro’s abilities. Yeah, he can time travel but he can’t do anything about it; he’d cause the situations that he was trying to change. The problem is that Hiro’s changed history by contacting his sidekick. Unless someone mindscrews his buddy so that he thinks Hiro’s been missing for five weeks, drops him back in Tokyo, and gets him his job back Hiro has already demonstrated that history can be changed. Knocking out Hiro’s power works only as long as it never comes back. Ever. And you know three seasons down the road some lazy writing will have a shocking cliffhanger that Hiro’s abilities return and he uses them. A lack of fine control wouldn’t really be a fix because it just leaves the deus ex machina in place until the writer decides to use it. “Oh no! Major Character that is important to the plot just died! I hope my powers take me to the right time to save him! And if they don’t I can try over and over forever until they do!” And as I mentioned in my first post on this, it’s not just that his powers are bad ones to write for, he’s also the only person on the show who is happy about having abilities. Liking your powers are an express train to sudden dramatic death in post-modern super-hero comics. Since it is very likely New York City will be destroyed in the first or second episode of the November sweeps (if they’re keeping close to the timescale, which they may not be) I’m going to say that Hiro is dead on the November 6th episode. Either his death will be the cliffhanger or the destruction of New York will be. If his death is the cliffhanger then New York being destroyed by an out of control Syler is the cliff hanger the following week. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/122 "2006-10-10T23:43:00Z")
[QUOTE=Just Some Guy] … he’s also the only person on the show who is happy about having abilities. Liking your powers are an express train to sudden dramatic death in post-modern super-hero comics. … [/QUOTE] Not true, Murse likes his powers too, however he just doesn’t understand them yet. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/123 "2006-10-10T23:47:27Z")
[QUOTE=Just Some Guy] Actually that’s how I figured they were going to deal with the deus ex machina nature of Hiro’s abilities. Yeah, he can time travel but he can’t do anything about it; he’d cause the situations that he was trying to change. [/quote] But he didn’t cause a situation he was trying to change. He caused a situation he was trying to experience. It wasn’t that the comic book showed the little girl dying and that he wanted to change that and save her. The comic book showed him saving her. > [@](#): > > The problem is that Hiro’s changed history by contacting his sidekick. Unless someone mindscrews his buddy so that he thinks Hiro’s been missing for five weeks, drops him back in Tokyo, and gets him his job back Hiro has already demonstrated that history can be changed. But that’s my point: has it really been changed? Isaac already painted Hiro escaping the destruction, returning to Japan and teaming up with his friend. In a way, Hiro’s so-called changing the future was pre-determined. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/124 "2006-10-11T00:10:51Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > This gets back to what I said before- did they remove the stick last because of sloppy writing? Or did dad purposely have it done last as part of a test of her regenerative abilities? He may even have seen this as an opportunity to harvest organs and tissue for transplant to see if her ability is granted to the recipients. But why would he want her to wake up in the middle of it? Why put her through the trauma when you could just remove the stick after you’ve sewn her up? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/125 "2006-10-11T00:16:42Z")
Perhaps she would not regenerate with the stick in place. Why did she stay dead until it was removed? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/126 "2006-10-11T00:34:59Z")
[QUOTE=DocCathode] Perhaps she would not regenerate with the stick in place. Why did she stay dead until it was removed? [/QUOTE] I’m guessing if you jam a sharp pointy object into the brain stem, it halts the regeneration process. Perhaps it’s that part of the brain which creates these abilities, and that’s the part of the brain which Sylar is out collecting. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/127 "2006-10-11T00:38:50Z")
[QUOTE=DocCathode] Perhaps she would not regenerate with the stick in place. Why did she stay dead until it was removed? [/QUOTE] Yeah, but wouldn’t you want to, you know, close the skin flaps and such? Even just put a sheet over the mess to spare her the sight? Seems like to me if someone deliberately woke her up, they wanted her to be shocked and horrified by what she saw. Why? Claire already knows about her powers, so she didn’t need a drastic wake-up call. She wasn’t tied down, so apparently no one was intending to keep her prisoner and experiment on her. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/128 "2006-10-11T00:42:49Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] Seems like to me if someone deliberately woke her up, they wanted her to be shocked and horrified by what she saw. Why? [/QUOTE] That does not rule out dad, the government spook. If he really wanted to test her abilities, why sew up the incisions or repair anything else? Why shock her? It could be sadism, or he could feel his daughter has betrayed him by being superhuman. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/129 "2006-10-11T01:29:43Z")
[QUOTE=Tupug Anachi] Scorecard? Damn, I think this calls for a spreadsheet. 😛 … [/QUOTE] How 'bout [this](http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/bedgyro/Heroes_Chart.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/130 "2006-10-11T01:49:32Z")
I’m wondering how Clair is going to handle her return from the dead. After all, her body was presumably identified, her family notified, the boyfriend questioned, and things have progressed enough that she’s flayed out on the autopsy table. I can’t see her popping back into geometry class with “Sorry, I was out a few days. Can I have some more time to turn in my homework?” I am also noticing the glyphs, but I only saw two, one in Papa Suresh’s DNA program and one on Bar Man’s necklace. And the Psychic Cop has fainted in the bar, so we don’t know what’s going on with that. I’m confused…after Niki went to Grandma’s (and I’m not sure of the purpose of that visit) she told Micah they were going home and would stop for ice cream along the way. But Niki was running away because the two thugs were found murdered in her garage and she didn’t want their boss to come after her. Why would she go back? Japanese office workers must get a lot of time off with a moment’s notice…Hiro was “missing” for two days, then he took Ando with him on a road trip to the States. 😉 And can we assume that Ando knows enough English to successfully drive American roads from California to Las Vegas? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/131 "2006-10-11T02:07:16Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] I’m wondering how Clair is going to handle her return from the dead. After all, her body was presumably identified, her family notified, the boyfriend questioned, and things have progressed enough that she’s flayed out on the autopsy table. [/QUOTE] I think someone asked above – are we sure she’s in a regular morgue? Also stated above, there’s no reason to flay her if she had a stick in her brain. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/132 "2006-10-11T02:13:14Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] I am also noticing the glyphs, but I only saw two, one in Papa Suresh’s DNA program and one on Bar Man’s necklace. And the Psychic Cop has fainted in the bar, so we don’t know what’s going on with that. [/quote] It’s also on the cover of the “Activating Evolution” book, by Chandra Suresh. > [@](#): > > Japanese office workers must get a lot of time off with a moment’s notice…Hiro was “missing” for two days, then he took Ando with him on a road trip to the States. 😉 And can we assume that Ando knows enough English to successfully drive American roads from California to Las Vegas? Well, Ando did say to him “We have work to do. If you still work here.” And Ando and Hiro are apparently reading the English part of the comic book. And I’ve got a dumb question: are Syler and Evil Dad two different people? I’m a little unclear on this. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/133 "2006-10-11T02:18:44Z")
[QUOTE=Archergal] It’s also on the cover of the “Activating Evolution” book, by Chandra Suresh. … [/QUOTE] The book title just clicked with me. _Activating_ Evolution; does this mean something was done to cause the “mutations”? It would explain the references to a “patient zero”. If this was just random evolutionary changes then there wouldn’t be a patient zero. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/134 "2006-10-11T02:18:56Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] I’m confused…after Niki went to Grandma’s (and I’m not sure of the purpose of that visit) she told Micah they were going home and would stop for ice cream along the way. But Niki was running away because the two thugs were found murdered in her garage and she didn’t want their boss to come after her. Why would she go back? [/QUOTE] The only thing I can come up with is that by “home” she meant wherever they were living before Las Vegas. Which doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me. The visit to Granny didn’t make a lot of sense to me either. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/135 "2006-10-11T02:20:32Z")
[QUOTE=Archergal] And I’ve got a dumb question: are Syler and Evil Dad two different people? I’m a little unclear on this. [/QUOTE] We don’t know. My feeling is yes, they’re different people. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/136 "2006-10-11T02:35:00Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] We don’t know. My feeling is yes, they’re different people. [/QUOTE] I don’t think he’s evil dad, but I think we’ve seen him/her. I’m betting he/she is possibly the cute macaroni & cheese girl with Mohinder. ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/137 "2006-10-11T04:46:32Z")
[QUOTE=Just Some Guy] …Liking your powers are an express train to sudden dramatic death in post-modern super-hero comics. Since it is very likely New York City will be destroyed in the first or second episode of the November sweeps (if they’re keeping close to the timescale, which they may not be) I’m going to say that Hiro is dead on the November 6th episode. Either his death will be the cliffhanger or the destruction of New York will be. If his death is the cliffhanger then New York being destroyed by an out of control Syler is the cliff hanger the following week. [/QUOTE] You almost have it right. New York will be destroyed because of Hiro and Hiro will go back and save it, at the cost of his own life. That’s the new age of comics…failure , then redemption thru death. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/138 "2006-10-11T04:52:41Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] I’m wondering how Clair is going to handle her return from the dead. After all, her body was presumably identified, her family notified, the boyfriend questioned, and things have progressed enough that she’s flayed out on the autopsy table. I can’t see her popping back into geometry class with “Sorry, I was out a few days. Can I have some more time to turn in my homework?” [/QUOTE] My guess is she’s going to realize she wasn’t just splayed out in a regular morgue. Something really mysterious is going on and she’ll have no choice but to begin finding out what. No doubt, this will lead her to New York. I wonder if camera-boy will accompany her? He actually seems really nice, and too good looking to just be the geek she won’t talk to in public. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/139 "2006-10-11T05:19:02Z")
[QUOTE=astro] I don’t think he’s evil dad, but I think we’ve seen him/her. I’m betting he/she is possibly the cute macaroni & cheese girl with Mohinder. [/QUOTE] You think Sylar is Eden? They may be connected somehow but not the same person. Or she could just be a neighbor who really wants to help. But she’s definitely not the actual killer. And the guy in the bar who psychicop couldn’t read - _that_ was Sylar, I’ll bet. And he couldn’t be read because he could block the reader. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856/140 "2006-10-11T05:29:52Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] I’m confused…after Niki went to Grandma’s (and I’m not sure of the purpose of that visit) she told Micah they were going home and would stop for ice cream along the way. But Niki was running away because the two thugs were found murdered in her garage and she didn’t want their boss to come after her. Why would she go back? [/QUOTE] My guess is that since the bodies and evidence are gone, there’s no longer a reason for her _not_ to go back. The boss knows that the guys went to look for her, but she’s the only one who knows they’re dead. Plus, now she probably has more faith in her ability to take care of herself if the boss _does_ come after her. So why give up a perfectly good house, Micah’s school and his friends, etc.? Plus, her car is still at that house. > [@](#): > > And can we assume that Ando knows enough English to successfully drive American roads from California to Las Vegas? In addition to **Archergal** ’s point about Hiro and Ando being able to read English, Hiro (whose name, I just realized, is pronounced “hero”) had just enough English to get around NY by himself the first time. I think that Japanese adults know a lot more English than American adults know of Japanese. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-10-9-one-giant-leap/375856.md?page=8)