Heroes Season [Volume] 2 (#28)---10/22/07-'Flight or Fight'

[Dire Bare]

You know, that plot synopsis isn't very accurate to the episode.

Does anyone else think Matt Parkman has really boring nightmares?

I'm sure that Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, and Hal Jordan have some pretty amazing dreams with the things they've seen . . . .

But this is a show about normal people who develop powers. Parkman having dreams about feeling helpless, useless, abandoning his family, becoming like his father . . . I'm totally there.

What's he supposed to dream about? Alien invaders?

Nathan's dream is a bit more on the interesting side to be sure, but then again he DID fly his brother into the stratosphere, watch him explode like a nuclear bomb, and then somehow survive. That kind of experience would bring a guy some crazy dreams!

Maybe by the time Parkman is done dealing with his dad, The Nightmare Man, he'll have some crazy stuff to dream about too . . .

 

[Dire Bare]

I still think, as far-fetched as it sounds, that Jessica wasn't a personality of Nikki's, except insofar as she jumped out of her own body when her father killed her, and into Nikki's.

Peter then absorbed her power to do that, and jumped into Nathan at the time of his death-by-hellstorm.
Somehow, Nathan is not burned to a crisp, but feels that he should be, and that mixed with bits and pieces of Peter's psyche are what drives him to try and off the Old Heroes.

Maybe with Peter's psyche came a weaker version of his empathic mimicry?

The dreams for each man, Nate and Matt, are cobbled together from insecurities that the elder Parkman found when he went rummaging around in their brains.

Most of us agreed, last season, that what each hero can do is a matter of their personality combined with their circumstances. What if, at its most basic level, there is only one power, and they all have it to some extent? Most only get so far, like with the illusion girl, or Nathan's flight or D.L.'s phasing. BUT, anyone could learn to do just about anything any of the others could do, if they could just get their heads around a concept from their point of view?

Welcome to higher humanity! Welcome to transcending yourself!

Just some thoughts that I found interesting.

Why souljumping when Multiple Personality Disorder is so much simpler and fits the facts better? Occam's Razor and all that . . .

Besides, for me, something wacky like souljumping is a bit too comic-booky (yeah, I know this is a supers show). Having super-powered heroes who are flawed in the same way normal people can be flawed is a big part of this show, and I find it much more interesting!

I have a feeling we'll find out one way or another by the end of the season.

My half-baked theory is that Nikki WAS cured at the end of Season 1, but that the Company is actually working on returning her to her schizoid state that Lnderman was able to manipulate so well last season.

 

[LightPhoenix]

One interesting point is the development of Parkman's powers. He's not confined to ESP and he has the potential to become a full telepath. With training and time, Matt Parkman could become Professor X.

Unwittingly, last night Maury Parkman provided to his son the key to Telepathic Projection. It was Matt learning to SEND a telepathic thought which permitted Nathan the ability to snap out of the dreamstate.

See, what I took from that is that Matt's father was lying about his ability. Matt and Peter, after the feedback subsided, were able to have a telepathic conversation. The feedback was intentional, to trick Matt, which fits the whole con man image.

Also, I thought Matt telepathically projected earlier in the season... I'll have to double-check but I thought he did it with Angela unknowingly.

 

[fba827]

Also, I thought Matt telepathically projected earlier in the season... I'll have to double-check but I thought he did it with Angela unknowingly.

If you're thinking of the interrogation a couple episodes ago ...

I think that went something like

Angela had thought something (but didn't say it) only to have Matt comment on it verbally. She then thought "Are you reading my mind? Get out of my head" (or something like that). And Matt gave her a stare and she gave a cold stare back (pretty much Matt confirmed nonverbally what she was thinking).
Then Angela just thought "just drop it parkman" for him to "hear"

Plus, since she knows Maury she may have realized it was his son or realized that he had some power and deduced the mental abilities.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Oh, and I loved that Monica was watching Bruce Lee. What a great... gamer-y thing, I guess. Very cool.

First thing I thought was that her boyfriend is really gonna enjoy watching pr0n with her.

This was the best episode of the season so far, but it comes with a serious red flag:

I am going to be VERY pissed if, at any point in the series, the continuity is undone by having ANYTHING that we have been led to believe, turn out to be "all a nightmare."

 

[Steel_Wind]

See, what I took from that is that Matt's father was lying about his ability. Matt and Peter, after the feedback subsided, were able to have a telepathic conversation. The feedback was intentional, to trick Matt, which fits the whole con man image.

Also, I thought Matt telepathically projected earlier in the season... I'll have to double-check but I thought he did it with Angela unknowingly.

No. The feedback was not "intentional", in the sense that he could decide whether ESP would cause feedback or not. However, the feedback was certainly a known and predictable consequence of simultaneous ESP use and Maury clearly knew this (which means there is probably at least one other person with Maury's power other than Matt - as it is likely that Maury knew about feedback from past experience. We know that one other person who is a telepath - at the least - is Peter Petrelli. Whether there is another telepath other than Peter, Maury and Matt is unclear at this time).

The "trick" was to cause the feedback to occur so that MAtt would no longer attempt to read his mind at all. Maury then unfolds his quick little escape plan and off he goes.

The viewers know that this feedback will manifest when ESP is used simultaneously between target minds at the same time. We saw this phenomenon of painful feedback between Matt and Peter in season #1 after Homecoming when Matt interogates Peter.

Matt's Father did not lie about the ability. It clearly does become "so much more" when a Hero's telepathic power is mastered. But Maury is a master telepath - and Matt isn't ...yet.

Matt had not projected before his "breakthrough" with Nathan. This was a key discovery by Matt and will - I predict - lead him to a new path of development of his power and to the rescue of Molly from the nightmare she is trapped in.

The fact that Maury would do this to his own son is quite a remarkable step for a villain to take. For all he knew - Nathan could have killed Matt. Maury didn't care.

Maury Parkman is a bastard who is going to get killed. Who will eventually kill him and serve him up his just desserts remains to be seen - but I think it will be Maya.

 

[Taelorn76]

Actually, the crispy figure Nathan keeps seeing in mirrors seems to alternate between a crispy Peter and a crispy Nathan. Or at least, that's what I'm seeing.

See for me every time I've seen the crispy one it's always looked like Nathan, never Peter.

 

[Taelorn76]

No. The feedback was not "intentional", in the sense that he could decide whether ESP would cause feedback or not. However, the feedback was certainly a known and predictable consequence of simultaneous ESP use and Maury clearly knew this (which means there is probably at least one other person with Maury's power other than Matt - as it is likely that Maury knew about feedback from past experience. We know that one other person who is a telepath - at the least - is Peter Petrelli. Whether there is another telepath other than Peter, Maury and Matt is unclear at this time).

The "trick" was to cause the feedback to occur so that MAtt would no longer attempt to read his mind at all. Maury then unfolds his quick little escape plan and off he goes.

The viewers know that this feedback will manifest when ESP is used simultaneously between target minds at the same time. We saw this phenomenon of painful feedback between Matt and Peter in season #1 after Homecoming when Matt interogates Peter.

Matt's Father did not lie about the ability. It clearly does become "so much more" when a Hero's telepathic power is mastered. But Maury is a master telepath - and Matt isn't ...yet.

Matt had not projected before his "breakthrough" with Nathan. This was a key discovery by Matt and will - I predict - lead him to a new path of development of his power and to the rescue of Molly from the nightmare she is trapped in.

The fact that Maury would do this to his own son is quite a remarkable step for a villain to take. For all he knew - Nathan could have killed Matt. Maury didn't care.

Maury Parkman is a bastard who is going to get killed. Who will eventually kill him and serve him up his just deserts remains to be seen - but I think it will be Maya.

The other telepath could be Candice, I think that was her name, the illusionist girl. She was doing the same thing that Parkman's dad did to them. They both project an illusion that is physicly real

 

[Steel_Wind]

The other telepath could be Candice, I think that was her name, the illusionist girl. She was doing the same thing that Parkman's dad did to them. They both project an illusion that is physicly real

I suppose that the powers are similar, but I think Maury's is a little different. He creates an entire dream world which interacts with and is adapted on the fly by the target's mind. This is quite different from Candace's (now Sylar's power). That power is a mental illusion totally under the control of the creator of the illusion; moreover, it is a waking illusion which co-exists and integrates with the real world. It selectively overrides part of the real "awake" world in a way that Maury's does not.

A distinction with a difference. It does not appear that Candace could telpathically read minds or project a thought, as such. Her power of illusion was more continuous and, depending on your point of view, more subtle.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I suppose that the powers are similar, but I think Maury's is a little different. He creates an entire dream world which interacts with and is adapted on the fly by the target's mind. This is quite different from Candace's (now Sylar's power). That power is a mental illusion totally under the control of the creator of the illusion; moreover, it is a waking illusion which co-exists and integrates with the real world. It selectively overrides part of the real "awake" world in a way that Maury's does not.

See, I don't think Maury exhibited telepathy at all. Mental illusion/nightmares, yes. However, as the episode is very deliberate to point out, Maury (oof, bad name) can't be trusted. All we know is that he creates nightmares, and detect being scried. While him being a telepath is possible, it isn't certain. Also, Matt should know he can read minds through the feedback, since he read Peter's.

(Side thought: if Peter does acquire emotions along with powers, does that mean he'll act stupid whenever he reads minds? )

I'm not saying it isn't possible, I'm just saying it's a theory that has no conclusive proof other than a known liar and con man saying it to escape being caught for attacking the other elder heroes.

I also think that Matt's father being a telepath is a particularly hamfisted device, even for Heroes. I think the parallels between him and his father were rather aptly drawn over the last couple of episodes without them having the same power. I personally hope it isn't the case, just to make it a little more "real."