Heroes: "Strange Attractors" 10/26 - Grading & Discussion

[Temis the Vorta]

I guess I really am the only one who doesnt like the Head-Sylar torturing Matt storyline. I guess fat people with low self esteem deserve to be punished.

I'm hanging on in the hopes Matt can figure his way out of the dilemma. He got into it just cuz he felt sorry for Angela and now he is probably going to die. Talk about unfair! But it's reasonably clever writing to get him into such a jam, and really clever writing could get him out of it. Poor Matt, he's probably doomed...

 

[startrekwatcher]

I guess I really am the only one who doesnt like the Head-Sylar torturing Matt storyline. I guess fat people with low self esteem deserve to be punished.

You're not alone. I find it dull. We saw this sort of story much better in season one with Niki/Jessica. Strange thing is that I used to like Matt but now he is pathetic to the point where I'm actively rooting for his exit. It also didn't help that not an hour later on the CW I saw a McDonald's commercial with Greg playing gameshow host spinning a wheel for money.

In the second episode of the season I thought we might be building a storyline where he comes unhinged and started using his mind control but that fizzled.

 

[DevilEyes]

won't claire always be a virgin... she heals....

Um, no, she would not. A virgin is someone who has never had sex. Not someone who has their hymen intact. The two aren't even that connected as the popular myth would have it. Some girls' hymens can be torn easily, even from things like gymnastics or tampons, while others are stretchier and more durable and can survive penetration by penis. So the existence of the hymen doesn't really prove anything about virginity.

(Of course there's also that issue, isn't it absurd to consider a woman a virgin if her vagina hasn't been penetated, but she has had anal or oral sex...)

 

[Yoda]

won't claire always be a virgin... she heals....

Um, no, she would not. A virgin is someone who has never had sex. Not someone who has their hymen intact. The two aren't even that connected as the popular myth would have it. Some girls' hymens can be torn easily, even from things like gymnastics or tampons, while others are stretchier and more durable and can survive penetration by penis. So the existence of the hymen doesn't really prove anything about virginity.

(Of course there's also that issue, isn't it absurd to consider a woman a virgin if her vagina hasn't been penetated, but she has had anal or oral sex...)

<bubba>Well that depends on what your defintion of "is" is...</bubba>

 

[diftorhehsmusma]

Matt should already be in DC, frantically trying to locate the missing Senator Petrelli.

or someone should! it is hard to conceive of why it has been days and days and no one, not his family or his coworkers, has apparently started to wonder where the hell senator patrelli has gone.

I don't buy the idea that Matt absorbed Sylar's consciousness. It should be buried inside "Nathan"'s brain.

it makes no logical sense but to present the "logical" picture, that Matt's Sylar is just his own guilty conscience playing havok with his mind, is too confusing for the audience. So the writers are hinging the story on two absurdities: that Nathan "really" is in Sylar's body and that Sylar "really" is now in control of Matt. But this is far from the worst nonsense they've pulled since it's in the service of trying to make things easier on the audience, rather than just writing crap that confuses and annoys the audience, which is the usual drill.

come on, the way they are presenting it makes much less sense. all parkman did was imprint sylar with nathan's mentality, like grafted it on. how now does he supposedly have full-fledged sylar inside his own mind? if the framework upon which 'nathan' was grafted is elsewhere, how is 'nylar' functional at all? nathan is not really there, just someone who believes he is nathan. so, really, they are trying to tell us that sylar is in two places at once.

for me it is much simpler to believe that parkman is slowly losing his mind. it would make sense that perhaps he got a strong impression of sylar's personality and now his guilty subconscious is using it to torture him. i'd like to believe they are presenting it to us this way so they can do a dramatic reveal later. but sadly, that is not how this show historically works. <sigh>

What bothers me about that plotline is how dorky poor Nathan/Sylar looks in the striped-shirt-porkpie-hat getup. Who wears that? I can't wait for Matt/Sylar to arrive at the carnival and be aghast how his body is being dressed up. He'll probably slaughter everyone just for that.

heh, pretty sure that's quinto's own hat! http://zacharyquintoshat.blogspot.com/ seriously, that outfit is pretty much how the man walks around in real life. course, sylar doesn't ever dress that way, and yeah, the character would prolly not be very happy with it.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

come on, the way they are presenting it makes much less sense. all parkman did was imprint sylar with nathan's mentality, like grafted it on. how now does he supposedly have full-fledged sylar inside his own mind? if the framework upon which 'nathan' was grafted is elsewhere, how is 'nylar' functional at all? nathan is not really there, just someone who believes he is nathan. so, really, they are trying to tell us that sylar is in two places at once.

I'm just gonna respond to this piece!

Heroes loves ripping off comic book tropes, and this one is not without precedent. When Professor Xavier mind-wiped Magneto at the end of the Fatal Attractions crossover, Magneto's malevolent personality bounced around inside Xavier's head. It eventually became its own entity, separate from Xavier: Onslaught.

So, I can buy it at least in terms of "comic book logic," which is about the only kind of logic this show ever attempts.

 

[diftorhehsmusma]

"comic book logic," which is about the only kind of logic this show ever attempts.

but it makes me sad, it could be so much fun if they'd just play it straight, just for a little while.

i guess i haven't read enough comic books. but thanks for the heads-up.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Yeah, that's the whole problem with the superpowers as a metaphor for alienation. They can't be miserable people just because they're miserable people, they have to be miserable specifically because of their powers. Matt can't just be crazy--he must be crazy because his powers made him so. Likewise, Sylar has frequently chalked up his lust for murder as a side effect of his ability's need to understand how the abilities of others work. He can't just be a crazed psycho, no, it has to be his power's fault!

 

[Tom]

Something tells me there is a reset of some sort coming.. If they want to continue with Nathan they would have to reset somewhere, otherwise its in inconceivable Carnie Sylar would just go back to being Nathan again.

 

[melancholymecha]

unless

Spoiler

Adrian Pasdar is the actor who got fired. Its either him or Grunberg(Matt).

 

[Davros]

I am likeing Claire's new roommate more and more.

 

[startrekwatcher]

melancholymecha, where did you read this?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Temis the Friendly Ghost
Matt should already be in DC, frantically trying to locate the missing Senator Petrelli.

or someone should!

I'm gonna be peeved if they return to Peter's plotline and we find that he doesn't even know big bro is missing. If one of my siblings just up and vanished, I think I'd know within 24 hrs, tops, regardless of what other distractions happened to be in my life at that time. And it's not like I call them every day!

come on, the way they are presenting it makes much less sense. all parkman did was imprint sylar with nathan's mentality, like grafted it on. how now does he supposedly have full-fledged sylar inside his own mind?

The audience - most of whom don't spend nearly the amount of time we do hashing this over - would be confused. This is the level at which they'd analyze the situation, and not much deeper:

You have Sylar acting mean and fully aware of himself as Sylar. That's "real Sylar."

You have Sylar acting like a wuss and claming his name is Nathan. That's "fake Sylar."

The fact that the reverse is actually more likely to be true doesn't matter. Logic is less important than the gut-level impact of the audience seeing a character acting like himself vs. not acting like himself. Nuances of metaphysics are beyond 90% of the population, and I'm sure I'm being overly generous there. Plenty of people would probably even buy the idea that Nathan can be resurrected if fake Sylar would only shapeshift himself back into Adrian Pasdar's handsome face.

And remember, the rules are what the writers say, regardless of what nonsense it might be, or how poorly they've set up or sold the concept. Maybe Matt does have the heretofore unrealized power to swap people's minds around. Future Peter had it, and presumably he got it from someone.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Senator Petrelli's gotta have the worst voting record in Congress by now.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Senator Petrelli's gotta have the worst voting record in Congress by now.

I am going to be very peeved if the writers never have Sylar masquerading as Nathan and voting on health care! (How would he vote, anyway? He doesn't strike me as the teabagger type.)

for me it is much simpler to believe that parkman is slowly losing his mind. it would make sense that perhaps he got a strong impression of sylar's personality and now his guilty subconscious is using it to torture him. i'd like to believe they are presenting it to us this way so they can do a dramatic reveal later. but sadly, that is not how this show historically works. <sigh>

That's waaaay too much psychology for this show! The fight between Matt and Sylar is literal, because the writers have that little faith in their audience, and I can't criticize them too badly for that, because I really do think that depending on the audience to be smart and pay attention is dangerous in a mainstream show. Just look at how many people found Lost confusing and bailed on it, when I've been able to follow along reasonably well and see that it makes a hell of a lot more sense than Heroes ever will.

 

[melancholymecha]

melancholymecha, where did you read this?

its all over various heroes forums-

Spoiler

its total speculation of course, but according to that Kristin spoiler hound reporter, a major male character is going to die on the show soon & this actor supposedly found out he was fired by reading the script. Greg Grunburg confirmed it in his twitter account.

 

[DarthPipes]

Sylar has the best health care plan in the world.

 

[diftorhehsmusma]

I really do think that depending on the audience to be smart and pay attention is dangerous in a mainstream show.

i can't say you're wrong, but it makes me soooooooo sad.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I really do think that depending on the audience to be smart and pay attention is dangerous in a mainstream show.

i can't say you're wrong, but it makes me soooooooo sad.

Watch cable! Your intelligence won't be insulted so often.

 

[diftorhehsmusma]

i do. the only other show i am following currently is 'mad men.' i was right on that before i knew it would be cool or any of that. i like it for how it doesn't pander to much of anyone. and it takes effort to follow and figure out what the hell the characters are up to.

but 'heroes' is fun, and i just wish they would not make it so shallow sometimes. also, it's hard to me to believe that so many people are really so stupid. i know it's prolly true, but it's hard to accept.