Ramblings from the Marginalized

This article may contain spoilers for the graphic novel Watchmen

Watchmen is a graphic novel that was produced in the mid 1980's. It portrays a world where super heroes are common people who have decided to wear a funny suit and exact vigilante justice.

It is an alternate time line where Richard Nixon still holds the White House. The war in Vietnam was won by the Americans and the threat of nuclear war is always on the horizon. In this dark and gritty world the super heroes who used to prowl the streets have been outlawed. Only those who work for the government are allowed to remain.

Who Watches the Watchmen?" Those four words have become synonymous with the dark and gritty side of super heroes.

That quote has become so well known that many movies, comics and TV Shows often sneak it into their production in the form of graffiti on a wall.

What follows now are three cases where the Watchmen graphic novel clearly influenced movies and TV shows.

1. The Incredibles movie - The movie was clearly written by someone familiar with the graphic novel. There are so many things that were borrowed from the Watchmen that I will only list a few:

• Outlawing of super heroes - In the movie super heroes become outlawed due to rising issues of collateral damage caused by the activity of supers. In the Watchmen the Keene Act is passed to put a stop to vigilante justice and masked heroes.
• Capes kill heroes - In the movie Mr. Incredible asks about having a cape for his costume. He is then given a lecture on how capes kill. In the novel one of the former members of the Minute Men dies because his cape got stuck in a revolving door.
• Someone is killing supers - In the movie Syndrome is indeed behind a plot to kill off all of the supers so that he (a super only due to high-tech gadgets) will finally be given his proper respect. In the novel Rorschach is looking into a plot to kill all masks (his word for costumed heroes).

2. Lost TV show - When the writing team behind the Watchmen began their work they had a problem. They needed to do a 12 issue comic book but they only had six issues of content. What did they do? They added in flashbacks and other things that were used to build the piece out to twelve issues. Does that sound familiar?

Lost, without the flashbacks, would have been over in one or two seasons. Clearly the producers of Lost were influenced by the production of the Watchmen.

3. Heroes TV Show - The plot of season one of Heroes is very similar to what we found out was going on in the Watchmen. In both cases a plot was being hatched to devastate New York City in an effort to heal the world and bring about a lasting peace.

Unlike the TV show, in the novel New York City is devastated and the heroes keep quiet about it. They keep quiet not because they agree with what has happened but because they know that bringing the story public would only make things worse.

Another correlation is that Sylar was a Watchmaker. The only character in Watchmen who had real super powers was also a Watchmaker. Both characters also have a casual disregard for human life.

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Wow!

That's about all I can say after watching the season three finale of Lost tonight.

So many interesting things happened tonight that I just don't know where to begin. So I will begin with the items that confuse me.

It appears that the Jack "flashback" was actually a "flash forward". OK, I can accept that except for the fact that during it Jack kept referring to his father as if he were still alive.

My wife made the comment of, "maybe they never crashed?" I thought about that option but it did not explain why Oceanic gave Jack that "golden ticket" which he uses all the time to fly all over the world.

Who was the funeral for? The casket looked kind of small, could it have been Walt? It had to be someone from the Losties group because why else would Jack wonder why Kate never showed up at the funeral home?

I have to wonder if the last two seasons (16 shows does not a season make, they took two seasons worth of shows and broke it over three years) will be full of these "flash forwards" in the same way the first three seasons had the flashbacks. In a way it turns the flash forwards into the show (present time) and the time on the island becomes the flashback.

Why did Locke kill Naomi? Why not just shoot the satellite phone? Why did he not kill Jack?

Locke knows more about the island now. I think he is supplanting Ben as the leader of the others. Ben knows this, that is why he tried to kill Locke in the previous episode.

What about Penny not knowing anything about the freighter? If she did not know anything how did Naomi get the picture of Desmond and Penny? How did Penny have the same frequency as the Dharma station? Could she be a part of Dharma or the others?

Yes, many things were answered and we now know that the Losties will be getting off of the island, we just do not yet know how everything happens.

Oh yeah, if you DVRed the episode you probably lost the last few minutes. I was watching my DVR and the record lite turned off before the whole show ended. Sorry, should have stayed up and watched it!

Finally, why is Jack so desperate to get back to the island?

PS: What is up with Jacks, "I had some glue on my face and fell on the floor in a barbershop" beard? That thing was worse than the fake beard Mr. Friendly wore at the end of season one!

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Heroes season one (book one) has come to a close and I hate to say it but I was disappointed in how it ended. Nothing was truly resolved and it was a lame episode.

Let's see if I can break it down real fast:

• Ando tried to kill Sylar and gets rescued by Hiro.
• Bennet and Parkman do not kill Molly.
• Nikki knocks out the illusion girl and saves Micah.
• Peter goes nuclear way up high in the sky. Why Nathan had to fly him up there (don't know if he died or not) is unclear to me as can fly on his own.
• Sylar gets stabbed but is not dead, evidenced by the blood trail to the man hole cover. I did not see the markings on the manhole cover but, if it is a telco manhole it only leads to a small room. Not just a small room but a small room that may be filled with poisonous gas.
• After the cops and EMT folks arrive no one seems even the least bit concerned with what happened to Sylar. No one!
• Hiro finds himself in 17th century Japan.

That is the quick breakdown.

I can't help but wonder something. If Peter had the chance to meet Linderman before Linderman's death could he have absorbed the power to heal?

What about Peter's visit with Charles Deveaux? Was that some sort of dream or what? It could not have been time travel because Bennet found Peter on the street and "woke him up" during the sequence.

All in all I was not impressed with the way the season ended. I found it lame.

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Sylar, the evil boogeyman of the Heroes TV show is a very complex character. Born Gabriel Gray, he is a watchmaker from Queens, New York who always hoped to be "special" but never knew how special he was until he met Chandra Suresh.

It was during his first meeting with Chandra Suresh that he was disapointed to find that he had no special power. Disapointed in his lack of confirmed power he steals the contact information for another "special" person from Chandra Suresh's notes.

When Brian Davis arrives at Gabriel's shop and asks to have his power "fixed" Gabriel kills him. Though we do not know it yet, Sylar removes and eats his brain. Through this process Sylar gains the telekinetic power that Davis had. Sylar then returns to Suresh and shows off his amazing power.

Sylar and Suresh work together for a time until something happens and they break off their relationship. Shortly after this Sylar kills Suresh, setting in motion the events that lead to Suresh's sons trip to New York City to take over where his father left off.

Armed with a list of names Sylar sets off on a country-wide murder spree. Seeking out other "special" people to kill and steal their powers; Sylar becomes a serial killer.

Sylar's current known powers and where they came from:
• Telekinesis (Brian Davis)
• Freezing (unknown)
• Eidetic memory (Charlie Andrews)
• Molecular manipulation (Zane Taylor)
• Enhanced hearing (Dale Smither)
• Precognition (Isaac Mendez)
• Radiation manipulation (Ted Sprague)

Sylar may have other powers as well but those powers have not been properly revealed yet. Also, in the episode "Five Years Gone" it was revealed that Sylar had stolen the phasing power from D.L. Hawkins, flight from Nathan Petrelli, regeneration from Claire Bennet and illusion from Candice Wilmer. That future, however, is not set.

After watching "Landslide" last night it apears that Sylar may have killed one other Hero: Claude Rains who has the power of invisibility. I say this because after Sylar talks to agent Audrey Hanson when she captures Ted Sprague he suddenly vanishes. That scene somewhat surprised me because I figured Agent Hanson would have recognized the man she spent so long chasing.

The character of Sylar is intriguing because in the episode "The Hard Part" we find out that he never wanted to be "special" and that it was his mother who constantly pushed him. He has seen his future (being the bomb) and he is suddenly filled with guilt and dread for what he has become. It is at this point that he turns to his mother and asks her to stop pushing him. She replies that she will never stop pushing him because she thinks he is good enough to be President. Little does she know what the future holds in store for her son.

What is also interesting about Sylar is that he is the one main character with powers who has normal parents. All of the other main characters of whom we have met their parents all have parents with some sort of abilities.

Sylar is clearly an evil man. It is quite possible that he could have worked with Suresh in the past in such a way as to not have to kill people to take their powers. Because he draws the power from their DNA it is possible that he may only need a genetic sample to absorb the powers of others. Peter Patrelli is the good to Sylar's evil but, you need to ask yourself a few questions.

• If Sylar had Peter's power and vice versa would he have become the monster he is?
• What of Peter, would he have ever gone down the road that Sylar walked if he had Sylar's power?

• If Suresh had never contacted his "patient zero" would Sylar have discovered his power on his own?

The first season is almost over and I have been hearing rumors of a spin-off show being produced that deals with the history of the heroes. I know I am intrigued to find out about the people from the "Linderman Generation" and what happened to split them into two camps. Either way I will be buying the seaon one box set when it is released and watching the season ender episode next Monday.

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I like Heroes, a lot. Sometimes though, I need more. The show only airs one night a week so where do you go for more Heroes? Why you go on the web of course!

Try out some of these Handy links to feed your Heroes addiction!

• 30+ chapter graphic novel on the NBC site.
• 9th Wonders the semi-official fan site/forum.
• Hiro's blog.
• Hana Geitelman's blog.
• Vote Petrelli.
• Suresh's wiki
• Linderman's casino's site If you get deep enough here (you might need the passcode, I think it's Vietnam) you can see some of Issac's paintings.
• Primatech Paper everyone's favorite paper company.

There is also a number of MySpace pages out there too. I don't particulalry understand why people who would not want to be found would have MySpace pages but...

• Claire Bennet
• Zach
• Samantha

I hope some of these links will help you feed your Heroes addiction!

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I missed the Lost episode last Wednesday because my DVR decided not to record it. Even though I have the show set to tape every episode it failed to record last week. Last night I watched both episodes at once and boy have things gotten interesting!

We found out a few things about the island and it looks like we will find out even more things next week. No questions were really answered but a few new questions did pop-up.

Spoiler Warning

Early on a lot of fans speculated that the survivors were all dead and living in some sort of purgatory. The producers came out and debunked that theory. After watching last nights show we learned that Locke’s dad came to the island after being injured in an auto accident. While on his way to the hospital he seems to have died and then woken up on the island.

We also found out that Locke’s dad is the same Tom Sawyer that Sawyer has been looking to kill since he was a kid. If memory serves me right Sawyer killed Jack’s dad in Sydney after mistaking him for the man that destroyed his family. Well, he was actually setup to kill Jack’s dad by someone else but, that is old news.

The woman who parachuted in was saved by the one-eyed man. Can no one stay dead on this island? When she became coherent she began telling the Losties that the wreckage of the Oceanic flight 815 was found and everyone died.

Now, I’ve never heard of anyone jumping out of a helicopter with a parachute before. Wouldn’t the blades kill you? Perhaps she is also dead now?

Ben is almost fully recovered now. He told Locke that just being near him made the healing speed up. Is Locke some sort of focal point for healing on the island now? With him in the camp of the "Others" will the Losties find their powers of healing diminish?

The producers have stated that they want to end the show at some point, probably in the fourth season. It looks to me as if a lot of the early questions about the island are about to be answered before season three ends. Will there be a season four?

What about Desmond? He tried to leave the island and no matter which way he sailed he always came back.

What about the one-eyed man being alive again? Did the woman he shot also come back to life? Could that explain why she told him to kill her?

A few weeks ago I thought everything was leading in one specific direction, now I’m just as Lost as I was during season one!

What the heck is going on?

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I was watching Heroes last night and a very interesting paradox was introduced. If you do not watch the TV show Heroes than some parts of this discussion may not have any meaning to you.

A common theme in Science Fiction is that of the time paradox. If you go back in time and kill your grandfather, do you cease to exist? Does your ceasing to exist then cancel out the act of killing your grandfather? Do you then end up in a perpetual time loop paradox? Last night’s Heroes episode introduced a question along those lines.

In an early episode in season one Peter Petrelli was visited by “future” Hiro with a message:

“Save the cheerleader, save the world.”

Peter used this information to save the cheerleader, Claire Bennet, from the evil Sylar.

Sylar is the evil man on the show who steals the powers of other heroes by cutting their heads open and doing something with their brains.

Recently, on the show, “present” Hiro and Ando arrived in the future and met up with “future” Hiro, who explained that he had tried to kill Sylar in the past but failed. His failure was due to Sylar having gotten to the cheerleader and possessing her powers of regeneration. “Future” Hiro went to explain how he went back in time to warn Peter Petrelli about the cheerleader.

At this point “present” Hiro tells “future” Hiro that the cheerleader was saved.

About this time everything still makes some amount of sense. It breaks down later on when we find out that the cheerleader is still alive in this timeline where “future” Hiro failed to kill Sylar.

The key problem here is that if, when “future” Hiro tried to kill Sylar, Sylar did have the cheerleader’s powers then he should still have those powers and Claire should be dead in this time line. It’s one thing to tell the audience that this future is an alternate time line, making it so Claire is alive makes it part of the true time line and causes our paradox.

If Claire is alive, why did Sylar not die when Hiro attacked him?

One possible reason for the paradox is that “present” Hiro has not yet attempted to kill Sylar. Because of this those actions are currently in a state of flux. It may be that, because of his time-shifting/travel powers Hiro (future and present) is somehow an entity that lives outside of the time-stream continuum.

Another interesting point is that of the comic book that shows Hiro in the future and the good doctor killing the Haitian. This leads me to believe that Hiro was supposed to go in the future and see the world that happens when he fails, to give him the impetus to actually kill Sylar.

With that said, we encounter the problem of “future” Hiro being surprised by the appearance of “present” Hiro. If these two people were one and the same then “future” Hiro would already know that his past self would appear in the future and that they would meet.

So, we have a big fat paradox with a few loose ropes (not strings) hanging around. All of this leads me to believe that “future” Hiro’s meddling in the past has pushed him outside of the time line at hand. Because of this he does not remember the actions that “present” Hiro is taking because he never took them! In fact, “future” Hiro could be said to be a visitor from an alternate dimension, a dimension where Claire dies at the hands of Sylar.

Hiro's time paradox problems were also evident went he attempted to go back in time to save the waitress Charlie from begin killed by Sylar.

We know Hiro went back in time and met her on her birthday because Ando found the photograph. We also know that Hiro and Charlie spent a lot of time together yet... Why did she not recognize him when he and Ando showed up in the Dinner?

We will have to wait until the last few episodes conclude to see just what happens. I’ll be watching, will you?

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