Heroes: Spoilers up to #14 "Distractions" (BBC3 yesterday)

[jack]

* It's still cool. I've stopped watching every episode twice, though that means I pay more attention when I do :) I'm still a week ahead so I can miss one.

* I withdraw some of my earlier comments, some things make more sense than I saw at the time.

* What powers has Syler shown? Strong telekinesis, but what else has he actually used? Was there some way of disappearing?

* Unsurprisingly, I like seeing Claude :) Again, it's a good example of how a power isn't just a power, but reflects someone's whole personality.

* Obviously learning to use things at will is vital training. It hadn't occurred to me before, I'm too used to stories where being taught about your magic is just a black box, you're good at it or not, have a wise mentor or not, and *trying* to understand it is never considered, else the author has to make it's use halfway consistent.

* So Peter can actually absorb powers permanently? That could be extremely powerful if he could do it reliably. And worryingly similar to Syler -- how are their
powers connected?

* Like radiation-man and fire-woman. They're obviously related, but woman's fire is a lot cleaner. Are they very similar powers, one under control, and one not, or just both fire-related powers?

* I like the Haitian more and more. When I first saw him I assumed he damped other people's powers. Then we see he sucks memories out of people. But now, does that give him some immunity to non-mental powers? When he and Bennett ran in, it seemed to suggest he might stop Syler blowing them all up.

Comments

[pavanne.livejournal.com]

he has just worked out how to eat people's brains and steal theirs?

LOL, nicely put. I had the impression that that's what he did, but that counted as his power (maybe in a "not sure if it's supernatural or not" sort of way like Nikki was). I didn't think just anyone could do that, Chandra found him, so he must have had some sort of potential? I suppose maybe "having a power" is genetic, but "what it is" is developed in your life, so in theory you might consciously learn how to do something else?

I think androidkiller, in his (?) anonymous comment, may hit the nail on the head. Either he figured out that eating people's brains would give him their power, or he does just inspect their brain and duplicate it. Sylar should probably consider getting Peter's brain next, to save time and mess in his collection schedule.
Does that mean Charlie would have shown up negative on Chandra's tests, as well - because it's another psychological one?

Oh, I just assumed it was variable onset, and might be triggered by something specific. The little Indian boy was doing something as a kid. Hiro's and Isaac's powers seem to require some set up, so can't manifest until then. Nikki's was *caused* by something in her childhood.

The Indian boy is doing something as a kid, but it might easily have started six months ago - they are all different ages, afaict. And while Nikki's insanity was caused by something in her childhood, that isn't evidence that her powers were. It started bothering her six months ago, so perhaps the onset of the super-strength is interacting with her psychological problems, but it doesn't imply that her psychological problems cause the super-strength.

It looks as if Clare's adopted father reacted very quickly to events of six months ago, if it did come out of nowhere. Maybe powers fall into two categories: automatic (Clare, firewoman, maybe invisible man, Peter and Sylar, the Haitian, Nicky's husband) and triggered (nuclear man, Hiro, Isaac, Eden, Nathan, the mindreading cop, Charlie, Nicky, telekinesis man, Indian kid). That first category is longer than I expected it to be, if you include the possibles.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Sylar should probably consider getting Peter's brain next, to save time and mess in his collection schedule.

Ooh, meta-meta-powers :)

The Indian boy is doing something as a kid, but it might easily have started six months ago

Hm. I think I managed to completely and totally miss "started six months ago" thing.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Wait, stupid question, *did* everything start to kick off six months ago? I feel like I've missed something. It's something like that, but from what I remember of the six months ago episode everyone had some powers, that might have just manifested, or might have been happening occasionally for ages, but only really get noticed when the events of the main narrative make them obvious. Of course, I've been avoiding any on-line discussions as I expect spoilers for the rest of the series -- even a brief look at wikipedia gave me some -- so there's a lot I don't know.

[(Anonymous)]

Um, I missed the first few episodes, so may be misinterpreting.

In 'Six Months Ago', Charlie noted that she'd *lately* been remembering things. I assumed that Hiro, Nathan, Peter and Isaac were quite new to their powers by the confusion they displayed. Nicky and Clare could just be coincidence, and some of the others could have been triggered by Mohinder's dad's investigation.

I have at least one more example of a 'recently triggered' power from further watching, but also a number of counterexamples.

[pavanne.livejournal.com]

That was me!