# Heroes 4/30 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 30, 2007, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217 "2007-04-30T21:42:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/141 "2007-05-03T16:40:30Z")
I thought the Haitian was stopped by the time the elevator doors opened. Therefore, either Peter or Hiro could either stop time and stroll past the guards, or teleport to the right room. But if they did that, then why not stop time and teleport again? Because that’d be way too easy a way to defeat Sylar? ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/142 "2007-05-03T16:56:18Z")
The Haitian stopping Peter or Hiro if they got too close didn’t make sense, anyway. They _stop time_. If the Haitian is limited by range, they can stop time _anywhere_ and he’ll be stopped, too. If he’s _not_ limited by range, then why can they use their powers anywhere? They should’ve (1) stopped time, (2) walked up the stairs, (3) put a gun up against the time-stopped Haitian’s head, (4) started time and pulled the trigger. Should’ve done him in just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/143 "2007-05-03T18:34:42Z")
We can imagine that the Haitian’s ability works even when time is stopped, or some such, so that if they stopped time and then walked into his range, they’d suddenly lose their ability to keep time stopped. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/144 "2007-05-03T21:00:38Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] We can imagine that the Haitian’s ability works even when time is stopped, or some such, so that if they stopped time and then walked into his range, they’d suddenly lose their ability to keep time stopped. [/QUOTE] Which isn’t at all how the Haitian’s ability has been shown to work. Matt was able to slip his TP through the Haitian’s blocking, a bit. And HRG and the Haitian needed special goggles to see the Invisible Twins fighting on the rooftop, instead of his mere presence simply stopping their invisibility – and he was standing close enough to Peter and Claude that they could be tasered (reasonably the equivalent distance to “if we’re on the same floor with him, he’ll block our powers”). So he apparently has to be focusing on blocking powers, and he’s limited by range (and even then, maybe it’s not absolutely blocked). ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/145 "2007-05-03T23:24:58Z")
One other thing I just thought of… (I’ve got to get a DVR) When Nathan first met Linderman, I understood Linderman to be saying that Nathan would be Vice-President (“one heartbeat away from the presidency”, IIRC). In this episode was Nathan the Prez or Vice-Prez? Forgetting that earlier episode, I kinda assummed he was President. But was it ever specified? [QUOTE=Indistinguishable] We can imagine that the Haitian’s ability works even when time is stopped, or some such, so that if they stopped time and then walked into his range, they’d suddenly lose their ability to keep time stopped. [/QUOTE] Hiro’s stopping of time seems to work more like flipping a switch than holding waterhose crimped shut. (One might wonder what would happen if Hiro slipped and hit his head and died while he had time stopped.) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/146 "2007-05-03T23:33:14Z")
[QUOTE=Rucksinator] One other thing I just thought of… (I’ve got to get a DVR) When Nathan first met Linderman, I understood Linderman to be saying that Nathan would be Vice-President (“one heartbeat away from the presidency”, IIRC). In this episode was Nathan the Prez or Vice-Prez? Forgetting that earlier episode, I kinda assummed he was President. But was it ever specified? Hiro’s stopping of time seems to work more like flipping a switch than holding waterhose crimped shut. (One might wonder what would happen if Hiro slipped and hit his head and died while he had time stopped.) [/QUOTE] He was the president. It was five years in the future. His fame propels him to become VP. Then anything can happen. Thats what they mean by a heartbeat away. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/147 "2007-05-04T10:31:59Z")
[QUOTE=Rucksinator] Hiro’s stopping of time seems to work more like flipping a switch than holding waterhose crimped shut. (One might wonder what would happen if Hiro slipped and hit his head and died while he had time stopped.) [/QUOTE] On that, I don’t think that Hiro stops time for everyone else. I think that he speeds up his own personal time. So if he died in fasttime, it wouldn’t affect anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/148 "2007-05-04T16:46:51Z")
[QUOTE=Paintcharge] Has anyone figured out how Hiro, Peter and Ando got past Parkman and his buddies at the top of the elevator. We see Parkman, gun drawn, go into the elevator and it’s empty. Next scene is Hiro 2.0 walking into the interrogation room to save Hiro 1.0. Did Peter go invisible and kick butt? What about the elevator door closing dramatically on Hiro 2.0 on his way up to see Parkman? I’ve watched it twice and I still can’t figure out what happened there. [/QUOTE] That reminds me. They have a little talk mentioning how they’d be powerless up there because of the Haitian. Then they share a little understanding nod, as if they had some plan to cancel his effect, or take him out. Of course, Mohinder ended up doing the job for them, but they didn’t know that, right? So what was their plan? Was it just a plot hole? ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/149 "2007-05-04T16:58:36Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] He was the president. It was five years in the future. His fame propels him to become VP. Then anything can happen. Thats what they mean by a heartbeat away. [/QUOTE] Right, the show is taking place in the fall of 2006. Nathan wins the election and becomes a senator. In 2008, his popularity in the post-bomb country leads to him being chosen as someone’s running mate and so he gets elected VP. In 2011, whoever was elected president must have died, leaving Nathan the president in Future Hiro’s time. He was also literally a “heartbeat away from the presidency” because it was the life of the former president keeping him out of the Oval Office after he was elected. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/150 "2007-05-04T17:10:28Z")
[QUOTE=CaerieD] Right, the show is taking place in the fall of 2006. Nathan wins the election and becomes a senator. [/QUOTE] Actually, wasn’t he running for the House of Representatives, not the Senate? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/151 "2007-05-04T17:45:00Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn] Actually, wasn’t he running for the House of Representatives, not the Senate? [/QUOTE] Yes he was. Is. Has been will be. Whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/152 "2007-05-04T18:12:04Z")
A casting spoiler I found out: We are going to see Sylars mommy and she will be played by Ellen “Suddenly Seymour” Green. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/153 "2007-05-04T18:19:40Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn] Actually, wasn’t he running for the House of Representatives, not the Senate? [/QUOTE] You’re right, of course. But…uh…I was right about the years! ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/154 "2007-05-04T18:20:46Z")
One thing i don’t get is why Peter didn’t just rip Evil Parkman to pieces after he shot future Hiro rather than just slam the door in his face. He just saw his friend get shot in the back, he can stop time. Parkman shouldn’t have lived more than a couple seconds after that. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/155 "2007-05-04T18:27:24Z")
[QUOTE=DigitalC] One thing i don’t get is why Peter didn’t just rip Evil Parkman to pieces after he shot future Hiro rather than just slam the door in his face. He just saw his friend get shot in the back, he can stop time. Parkman shouldn’t have lived more than a couple seconds after that. [/QUOTE] That is an excellent point. Or, let’s take it even further: The Haitian is dead at this point, so Peter has access to the full _arsenal_ of his abilities. Why waste time talking? Freeze time, obliterate Parkman, and teleport the whole group out of there. And when Syler reveals himself, why not stop time _then_, too? Mainly because they’ve written themselves into the corner that I’d been worrying about since Peter’s powers were first revealed. They’ve got a demi-god on their hands. When you can do anything, where’s the tension? And so to keep the tension they have to have Peter conveniently “forget” things he could do with his powers. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/156 "2007-05-05T05:24:51Z")
[QUOTE=Wile E] I think Sylar doesn’t really need to kill others to get their abilites, he just does it because he’s batshit crazy, which means his actual ability is more like Peter’s. Peter’s is more passive (he just absorbs it, sometimes without even being aware of the power) and Sylar has to think about the power in order to get it. He may actually steal the power from the original person instead of just copying it which would render them powerless if he didn’t kill them in the first place. Claude hinted that he once knew someone else like Peter and I have another theory that this person saved his life when Bennet tried to kill him, using Claude’s own invisibility power. It couldn’t have been Sylar since he’d only been doing this for 6 months. It just stands to reason that abilites are not a one-time, one-person deal. [/QUOTE] :eek: sylar’s mother? ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/157 "2007-05-05T05:29:30Z")
[QUOTE=SCSimmons] The bomb going off does not necessitate the consequent deaths of three million people … Not when there are Heroes there to save them! [/QUOTE] How can a bomb go off and not kill three milliom people? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/158 "2007-05-05T12:49:35Z")
They could evacuate the city first? ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/159 "2007-05-05T18:51:52Z")
[QUOTE=ouryL] How can a bomb go off and not kill three milliom people? :dubious: [/QUOTE] Oh, completely impossible, given the resources the heroes have available. If _only_ they had some means to quickly fly the bomb very very high or very very far away from the three million people. Alas, I just don’t see how that would be possible. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217/160 "2007-05-05T20:49:21Z")
The bomb could be phased out! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-4-30/402217.md?page=9)