Heroes 11/27 - "Six Months Ago" (spoilers)

[levdrakon]

@astro

Re Sylar do we have any hard evidence that he has anything, but strong telekeneisis, and the abiity to “read” how super hero brains are different?

The problem with telekinesis is you can theoretically do all sorts of damn things. He can leap tall buildings, but that could be the TK. He seems strong but again, that could be the TK. Take a few rounds in the chest? Could be the TK.

Peter was able to tackle him off the roof though. Sylar didn’t seem to get hurt from the fall but it seems if you can break his concentration you’ve got an in.

@Ethilrist

@lilflower

How did this episode explain why they need to save the cheerleader?

Well, that’s one power you really don’t want Syler to have…

I’m not convinced preventing Sylar from becoming “indestructible” is what saves the world. Claire has weaknesses. You throw her into a wall hard enough it takes at least a few moments for her healing power to kick in. During that time, you jab a stick into the right part of her brain and she can’t heal. I’d imagine if during that time you cut her head off and kept the head separate from the body she’d be “dead” until someone put the head back on the body.

@crazyjoe

@Ethilrist

The circumstances under which Claire came to be orphaned are suspicious in the extreme. Bennett and his wife had been unable to conceive and wanted a child badly. He went to talk to Claire’s parents about their powers, and they ended up dead. What an amazing coincidence.

I am perfectly willing to believe that Bennett may be a ruthless, powermongering killer, rather than Charles Xavier.

Conversely, he was one of many people who was investigating the strange mutations, found out about Claire’s parents, but was too late to save them from <spooky music> some evil force </spooky music> but WAS able to save their daughter. He then adopted her to protect her.

Here’s my WAG: 16 years ago AED was just some government schlep. Maybe a cop, maybe FBI, maybe an IRS accountant dweeb. He encountered a super powered couple and things went badly. Either there were cops around, Claire’s parents used their powers and ended up getting shot, or maybe they died as a result of their own powers.

We know Radiation Hippy is basically a decent dude, but he was inadvertently killing everyone and everything around him.

Telépacop might have freaked out and put a bullet in his own brain if he couldn’t keep other people’s thoughts out of his head. But AED had Haitian Dude take him in and “go deep.”

So however it happened, AED was there when things with Claire’s birth parents went horribly south so he adopted Claire and dedicated himself to investigating super powered folks and along the way found Haitian Dude and decided to help super powered types learn to manage their powers so bad things like what happened to Claire’s parents don’t happen again.

The thing about AED is, he usually takes you in, runs some tests and has Haitian Dude erase your memory of it. In the case of Eden, he decides to recruit you.

This seems to leave him still in the Ambiguously Evil category to me. We still don’t know exactly what his intentions are regarding super-types. He met with Papa Suresh but remained quiet about the fact he’s already known about and been investigating super beings for 16 years. He pretended to simply be a concerned father who was just told about his own daughter’s potential superness. Then he sent Eden to NY to get Claire’s name off Suresh’s list. Who knows what else Eden was sent to NY to do. “Voice” Papa Suresh into giving up his research? Maybe, maybe not. Still leaves Mr. Bennett ambiguously evil.

[simster]

we don’t know that he’s been investigating them for 16 years… we only know that he’s had Clair for that long.

We know that 'while she was young" she had a medical problem.

We do not know anything about how AED ‘adopted’ Clair, or anything ‘real’ about her parents… the (assumed) fake parents were there (by AED) to give Clair some closure… probably to keep her from pursuing them on her own… but for what pourpose we don’t truly know yet.

Could be that it was only ‘way’ after AED adopted Clair that the super stuff started happening, and that his having adopted her is all coincidence…

[Otto]

@Sam Stone

Well sure, I suppose that’s possible, but I think it’s a stretch to say some other random stranger just happened to give a waitress in Texas a Japanese phraseboook. I think the writers intended to make that connection from the beginning.

Charlie had been planning a trip for a while, to the point of having picked out what cities she would visit in what order. Since Tokyo was third on her list, I don’t have issue at all with the idea that someone she knew would give her a Japanese phrasebook.

[HazelNutCoffee]

@levdrakon

In some weird twist, time itself ripped Hiro back to the present the moment he realized he couldn’t save Charlie, nor change the past.

Charlie knew she couldn’t really let on she already knew Hiro when he shows up at the diner the first time. She’s a hero by allowing herself to be killed, on schedule.

Good episode.

I like this explanation best, but it doesn’t seem to fit with no one else recognizing him at the diner. Although it would explain how she got the Japanese phrasebook.

[Carnick]

@Otto

And who the hell is “Scott”? (His name is Ted)

Scott, Ted, Radioactive Man, same diff.

As far as nicknames go, I’ve always liked Mystery Sock for Isaac (try saying “Mr. Isaac” in a Hiro voice).

Isaac’s probably going to be the one to be offed. Or Matt. They have the least character progression, but I’m hoping it’s Niki.

[Otto]

@levdrakon

Charlie knew she couldn’t really let on she already knew Hiro when he shows up at the diner the first time. She’s a hero by allowing herself to be killed, on schedule.

My feeling is that Hiro’s travels somehow took him out of the original timestream so that he was never at the diner the first time. There’s not enough information on-screen yet to know exactly what the answer is or if the creators intended for there to be a specific answer. But with all due respect I hope you’re wrong because if you’re right that would suck. The noble sacrifice is all well and good but if Charlie indeed allowed herself to be killed then she allowed herself to be killed for nothing. There was nothing stated anywhere on-screen indicating that she had to die to preserve the timestream or keep Hiro safe or any other reason. Her “first” death was senseless and her “second” death, if she could have avoided it, was even less senseless than senseless.

[El_Perro_Fumando]

@Carnick

Scott, Ted, Radioactive Man, same diff.

As far as nicknames go, I’ve always liked Mystery Sock for Isaac (try saying “Mr. Isaac” in a Hiro voice).

Isaac’s probably going to be the one to be offed. Or Matt. They have the least character progression, but I’m hoping it’s Niki.

Mystery Sock is probably the single greatest nickname in any of these Heroes threads. Too bad the angry, lurking masses will start yelling if the Prognostipainter got yet another nickname.

[Saltire]

Has everyone looked at the graphic novel chapter for the week? Sure seems like it’s written by totally different people than the show.

She gets mad at Matt for punching someone he shouldn’t have, but she can handle having gunned down someone on a train platform like that?

[levdrakon]

Yeah, this weeks web comic is pretty lame. That doesn’t appear to fit into any back story we’re aware of.

[Rhiannon8404]

@Carnick

Isaac’s probably going to be the one to be offed. Or Matt. They have the least character progression, but I’m hoping it’s Niki.

I think you’re right. My money’s on Isaac. He seems to have worn out his usefulness. He can’t paint if he’s not high and we have have Eden shooting him up all the time.

Personally, I’m hoping it’s Niki, too. I like DL and Micah, but I could totally do without Niki/Jessica. I was really hoping she was dead in the episode where DL made off with Micah. She is totally unlike any of the other heroes. We don’t even really know what her true power is. In a show with lots of loose ends and storylines, I’d like to see hers tidied up fast or ended.

[Otto]

@Rhiannon8404

She is totally unlike any of the other heroes.

Yeah, god forbid we should have a hero who’s any different than any of the other heroes…

Seriously am not understanding all the Niki/ikiN hate. Usually this board goes absolutely insane over hot chicks who kick ass.

[Otto]

@Otto

…different than…

Different from.

[Carnick]

@Otto

Yeah, god forbid we should have a hero who’s any different than any of the other heroes…

Seriously am not understanding all the Niki/ikiN hate. Usually this board goes absolutely insane over hot chicks who kick ass.

Her story is the most cliche and worn out. Single mom of an annoyingly precocious child that needed to borrow money from the mob for his private schooling? Ugh. Barf. I’m also tired of that stupid look at me I’m an artistic director double personality in the mirror crap. The first time we saw the image it was okay, but the tenth time? Get over it already, we get it!

Plus the actress has a constant bitchface and the character is constantly whining.

[Revenant_Threshold]

@levdrakon

I’m not convinced preventing Sylar from becoming “indestructible” is what saves the world. Claire has weaknesses. You throw her into a wall hard enough it takes at least a few moments for her healing power to kick in. During that time, you jab a stick into the right part of her brain and she can’t heal. I’d imagine if during that time you cut her head off and kept the head separate from the body she’d be “dead” until someone put the head back on the body.

If Sylar’s innate power is “fixing stuff”, it’s possible that he can upgrade people’s powers - he certainly seemed to have better control of his telekinesis than the original owner did, and there didn’t seem to be that much time for him to learn. Maybe with Claire’s power he could better himself to the point where he’s capable of much better healing than she is?

[Oslo_Ostragoth]

@El Perro Fumando

Mystery Sock is probably the single greatest nickname in any of these Heroes threads. Too bad the angry, lurking masses will start yelling if the Prognostipainter got yet another nickname.

LMAO I agree with “Mystery Sock”. Hell, let’s use them all. And don’t forget that he was called “Precog” in the Eden-AED phone call.
From Hiro’s blog: {{{(>.<)}}}
What could be better?

[DrDeth]

@El Perro Fumando

Mystery Sock is probably the single greatest nickname in any of these Heroes threads. Too bad the angry, lurking masses will start yelling if the Prognostipainter got yet another nickname.

Hey, I have no problem at all with discussing possible “super character names” for the various characters. It’s just when those names get used out of context so that someone has to remember them ALL from a whole week back- well let’s just say some of us aren’t that big of fanboys.

Of course, possibly another reason why some of us don’t like them is the endless discussion of *what the nicknames should be * (ala TWOP), as opposed to recaps and discussion of the plot and characters.

What I got from Hiro & Charlie, is that he realized that even if he did change the past- which he had discovered was dangerous- that it wouldn’t do any good. Charlie would die anyway. However, I am not so sure Charlie was still murdered. Sure, we see her with blood dripping from her head- but that’s exactly how we’d expect TV to show a burst brain anurism.

I am also not sure that Sylar can absorb more powers.

A small nitpick- Peter doesn’t absorb powers, he copies them. Those whose power’s he has “borrowed” seem to still have the use of them while he is borrowing.

BTW, Heroes is whaaaaay better than BSG- it’s at least original.

[kurilla]

@Rhiannon8404

I think you’re right. My money’s on Isaac. He seems to have worn out his usefulness. He can’t paint if he’s not high and we have have Eden shooting him up all the time.

The Hubby pointed out the strongest piece of (admittedly circumstantial) evidence that Isaac is the one who bites it: In this episode, he was the only hero/powered main character who didn’t get backstory. None. Heck, even Eden and the Haitian got backstory. Isaac didn’t.

The other thing is, if he’s kept around, the show will probably degenerate into, “Oh, look, Isaac saw another disaster – better go check it out!” Which is even worse, IMO, that having outlived his usefulness.

Fun watching the first few episodes again last night, though.

[USCDiver]

The problem with Isaac dying is I don’t think he’s written 9th Wonders Issue #14 yet. And that has to happen at some point.

[Loach]

@DrDeth

What I got from Hiro & Charlie, is that he realized that even if he did change the past- which he had discovered was dangerous- that it wouldn’t do any good. Charlie would die anyway. However, I am not so sure Charlie was still murdered. Sure, we see her with blood dripping from her head- but that’s exactly how we’d expect TV to show a burst brain anurism.

I am also not sure that Sylar can absorb more powers.

Sylar can absolutely absorb more powers, why else would he keep eating brains? Just conjecture but at some point he is going to scoop out Ted and gain his powers too. That is what the NYC explosion is all about.

:rolleyes: Even on a comicbook TV show they wouldn’t show a burst aneurism taking off the top of someones head. We see blood dripping down both sides of her head. She got scooped.
No way Issac is dead. Just like the Niki is dead theories that I had to keep protesting a couple of weeks ago, I have to put my foot down here too. No way they are killing off Issac. He is too prominently displayed on the website and all promotional materials. They consider him one of the major characters and one of the main stars of the show. They are not going to kill him off before they have even done much with the character. This show is not that twisty. The Haitian is going to die. There is no conflict if Sylar is locked up. He needs to escape. The Haitian is standing in his way. The Haitian dies. It is always much more likely to kill off the character with no lines than one of the stars. This show has shown over and over that the most like course is the one they will take. The show is really not that complex.

[cantara]

I haven’t bothered to figure out the timeline, but keep in mind that Hiro discovered Isaacs body when he did his first jump to New York. He was 2 weeks into the future, as he discovered in his phone call to Ando.

Hmmm…as I think about it, we don’t know that it was Isaac, do we? It was just a body with the empty melon rind…or maybe I wasn’t paying attention…