Sexism in Heroes

[SFEley]

Let me just say that last night's episode "Company Man" had none of the previous concerns I've had about the show, as well as being best episode, story-wise of the season yet.

I agree.

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A SPOILIN' WE WILL GO...

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A SPOILIN' WE WILL GO...

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HI HO (Kevin Spacey is the bad guy) A SPOILIN' WE WILL GO


I dug it too, though I had some quibbles about the pacing (the middle was awfully padded out in order to fit those flashbacks in) and "fake suspense."  Whatever Exploding Boy was doing near the end, it sure took a really long time, and it couldn't have been real radiation or Bennett and his entire family will be dead very soon anyway.  I was too distracted by the cheesiness of that whole scene to appreciate the drama.  Still, the end of the episode more than made up for everything else. 

I'm guessing Bennett is probably finished as a major antagonist here, which is a shame since he had so much going on.  "The Company" will have to find someone to replace him -- I just hope it isn't his boss, the guy who dresses and carries himself like a 1970s action hero, and that said boss doesn't get too much more screen time.  For some reason I found that guy instantly and powerfully grating.

[ClintMemo]

I'm guessing Bennett is probably finished as a major antagonist here, which is a shame since he had so much going on.  "The Company" will have to find someone to replace him -- I just hope it isn't his boss, the guy who dresses and carries himself like a 1970s action hero, and that said boss doesn't get too much more screen time.  For some reason I found that guy instantly and powerfully grating.

I'm not so sure.  Since the Haitian wiped his memory, he has no idea what happened to Claire. He also has no partner. Didn't the boss mention something about making Matt his new partner? I think that could lead to some interesting stuff with Matt trying to balance between staying alive and keeping Bennett from finding Claire and everyone else.

Also, I think the scene where Matt ends up shooting Claire was really well done.

[SFEley]

I'm not so sure.  Since the Haitian wiped his memory, he has no idea what happened to Claire.

It was ambiguous, but my interpretation of his instructions -- "Go deep!" -- as well as the final flashback and the force of his goodbye was that his intent was to not remember Claire at all.

Which, if I'm right, makes for a far more tragic ending than if he'd simply forgotten the last two days or something.  It's really an end to his character at that point, because it'd ruin the punch to spend lots of screen time having everyone try to remind him he has a daughter.  He can't be on screen much after an ending like that, if at all.

And yeah, I think they'd go there.  I really do.

[tsanders]

I'm not so sure.  Since the Haitian wiped his memory, he has no idea what happened to Claire.

It was ambiguous, but my interpretation of his instructions -- "Go deep!" -- as well as the final flashback and the force of his goodbye was that his intent was to not remember Claire at all.

Which, if I'm right, makes for a far more tragic ending than if he'd simply forgotten the last two days or something.  It's really an end to his character at that point, because it'd ruin the punch to spend lots of screen time having everyone try to remind him he has a daughter.  He can't be on screen much after an ending like that, if at all.

And yeah, I think they'd go there.  I really do.

I hadn't read it as making him forget Claire, but if it's true . . . then I'm not sure I agree with you that he'd be gone. If you assume the Haitian wipes Lyle and Claire's mom offscreen (although there's a whole 'nother "wouldn't wiping her kill her" topic), then who's going to remind him has a daughter?

If the Haitian truly wiped everything about Claire then wouldn't HRG just be able to go back to his job - which would be hunting Claire down?

Having said all that, he said more than "Go deep" didn't he? Something like "Go deep - anything that would lead them to her.", so I just assumed he was going to wipe any leads, not take Claire away altogether. (And could he even do that? That's a pretty massive edit of fifteen years right there. We don't much about the limits of his powers, but making somebody selected forget a child entirely sounds really complicated.)

My take on it was that Matt and HRG were going to be partners and working together on the "inside" of the organzation. That doesn't seem very stable long-term but could provide some interesting development for the few episodes it will take for that to fall apart.

[ClintMemo]

I'm not so sure.  Since the Haitian wiped his memory, he has no idea what happened to Claire.

It was ambiguous, but my interpretation of his instructions -- "Go deep!" -- as well as the final flashback and the force of his goodbye was that his intent was to not remember Claire at all.

Which, if I'm right, makes for a far more tragic ending than if he'd simply forgotten the last two days or something.  It's really an end to his character at that point, because it'd ruin the punch to spend lots of screen time having everyone try to remind him he has a daughter.  He can't be on screen much after an ending like that, if at all.

And yeah, I think they'd go there.  I really do.

I don't think they could realistically wipe Claire from his memory. In order to succeed, they would have to wipe her from the memory of everyone that knew her and all the evidence that she ever existed and there is just no way to do that.  Wouldn't there be flocks of kids at school wondering where she went?  I think they were going to wipe his knowledge of her powers, that he loved her, that he tried to save her, and everything that happened that day.  That would give him plausible deniability and the perfect cover story - "The Hatian was hiding her, he shot me and took her."

[slic]

And how selective are the Haitan's powers?  Can he make someone forget part of a memory?  How would you remove a person who was part of a conversation, for example?

If the memory wipe was all of Claire, would he remember his wife and family?  And as ClintMemo mentioned, what about all the people who knew her?

[JaredAxelrod]

  For some reason I found that guy instantly and powerfully grating.

That's becuase it's Eric Roberts.

Who doesn't find him instantly and powerfully grating?

[SFEley]

If the memory wipe was all of Claire, would he remember his wife and family?  And as ClintMemo mentioned, what about all the people who knew her?

I wasn't thinking that Haitian Guy would go on a systematic Nowhere Man-style erasure campaign of Claire or anything.  Just that he would wipe Claire from Glasses Guy's (sorry, but I will always think of Bennett as Glasses Guy) memory, so that when he was later interrogated he could legitimately say, "No, I can't tell you anything about Claire's habits or personality or where she'd run to.  My wife says I have a daughter and I have to believe her, and it's bloody obvious what happened to me, but I honestly know nothing about her.  Can I go outside for my anxiety attack now?  Thank you."

But since I'm the only person who seems to have come to this conclusion, I have to assume it wasn't what the screenwriters meant to convey.  Alas.  I really think the show in my head was stronger.  >8->

[ClintMemo]

If the memory wipe was all of Claire, would he remember his wife and family?  And as ClintMemo mentioned, what about all the people who knew her?

I wasn't thinking that Haitian Guy would go on a systematic Nowhere Man-style erasure campaign of Claire or anything.  Just that he would wipe Claire from Glasses Guy's (sorry, but I will always think of Bennett as Glasses Guy) memory, so that when he was later interrogated he could legitimately say, "No, I can't tell you anything about Claire's habits or personality or where she'd run to.  My wife says I have a daughter and I have to believe her, and it's bloody obvious what happened to me, but I honestly know nothing about her.  Can I go outside for my anxiety attack now?  Thank you."

But since I'm the only person who seems to have come to this conclusion, I have to assume it wasn't what the screenwriters meant to convey.  Alas.  I really think the show in my head was stronger.  >8->

I hadn't thought of that scenario, but it would work.