Heroes (spoilers for #9 and #10)

[jack]

Do spoiler cuts fail for people reading feeds/lj2news? Do you have a preference for what to write instead?

I was glad I caught it yesterday, I didn't see it last week, so had to make the bbc1 showing or miss an episode.

Oh, I say. It all joins up, doesn't it? And I didn't know how many episodes there were, I thought that might be *it*, but it goes on. And now it feels like it's reached the tipping point, everyone's joined up and knows what they're doing.

The realisation of the cheerleader-on-the-steps painting was dramatic.

The backstory was good -- it filled in lots of things that I hadn't even wondered about, but cemented the whole well. Great to see about Syler!

Does "running two seconds slow" have an accepted meaning? Two seconds per day? Two seconds per year? I would have thought it meant *is* two seconds slow, as in, two seconds before real time, but that just means it's set wrong, and that's not a mechanical defect, so you can't hear it. Maybe watchmakers would know, but guys in hornrimmed glasses? He seemed to know what he meant.

Am I just ignorant of common usage, or does it just not make sense? If not, it's completely easy to ignore, so I can see how you'd write that, but it seems ironic to have a sentence that simple knowledge of common parlance can tell you is meaningless.

Comments

[pavanne.livejournal.com]

I expect it's one of those things that is just industry convention, and means 2s/hour or 2s/day or something. Since Gabriel is pretty wrapped up in his work at that point, he uses industry jargon without thinking that the other person might not precisely understand it.

For example I often refer to solar module factory capacity in 'MW', when in fact I mean "maximum possible MW production per year". I wouldn't do it first use in an official document, but might well use it in conversation without the 'per year'.

Also, I was pretty sure at that bit that Sylar's talent had something to do with time or accuracy (how else could you hear that a watch was even 2s/hour slow?), but that idea wasn't developed at all.

(Incidentially, if you read atreic's lj, there's a recent rant on another example of Presentation of Geeks in the Media. Admittedly in Heroes there are several geekish positive characters).

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Also, I was pretty sure at that bit that Sylar's talent had something to do with time or accuracy

Yeah. Though he seemed to take that other guy's power? And also sense where mutants are? I'm not sure how all that joins up.

Oooops, sorry

[pavanne.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, now I am actually watching it on DVD* and am only approximately at the same place as the BBC. So I will shut up now. I don't think I've given away too many spoilers.

*I hasten to add that I didn't buy or solicit it.

Re: Oooops, sorry

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, I had it coming, I did the same to Richard by accident :) I didn't see any real spoilers.

It's always an intriguing conundrum, when you realise you may have given something away, but pointing that out just draws attention to it and makes something clear that might have been misunderstood before.

I remember ages ago when I was watching Buffy on UK terrestrial, seeing a discussion on a forum where someone mentioned a character featured later in the series, and someone stopped them -- but what they said people who hadn't seen more had thought was a reference to a different character featured previously, so the correction was itself a spoiler, but the only way to stop the conversation going further :)

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

there's a recent rant on another example of Presentation of Geeks in the Media.

Oh yes! Though that didn't even occur to me here. Syler seemed odd but sympathetic, insofar as someone who's going to become a serial killer can be. Though maybe that just says something about me.

[pavanne.livejournal.com]

I found him quite sympathetic too, but I think that might just be 'person who focuses unusually on intellectual challenges feeling sympathy with character who is first encountered doing the same', rather than anything in the way he is presented.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

"): em tsuj ebyam ,yas I sA"

Wow, that was some typo!

Ahem. As I say, maybe it was just me :) But I think it's possible because he's a character rather than just a stereotype. In a short scene, you get an idea of who he is, why he is, his dress is a little odd, but different rather than inherently bad, he's emotional rather than just random.

And even if you do hate him, he seemed interesting. Not maybe as lovable as some villains seem to be, but you want to watch rather than just have it go away?

So I don't know. I guess, he's a bad guy, but written and cast well.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

I expect it's one of those things that is just industry convention,

I suppose so. Or rather, that makes sense, I expect it *is* but I had the impression HRG was supposed to understand it, both from our and Gabriel's perspective. But that might just have been an assumption, it went by very quickly.

If it is an accepted term, then it's probably reasonable to use it for one reason or the other. It just sounded like the sort of thing that someone says, sounding reasonable, without thinking about (like saying temperatures have gone up 10% :))