Hey again. I read over some old threads, and yes I'm still missing a
few episodes (getting them now!), but I wanted to review what the
consensus is on the Haitian's suppression ability and limitations.

From what I read before, it was considered to be selective, and so
could suppress one person's abilities or all nearby persons'
abilities. Am I right so far?

I believe it was also stated that it only affects abilities that can
be turned on and off. IOTW, Claire's regeneration can't be turned off.
But then again, how would we know since it is selective, and he would
never have wanted to turn that off?

Still on track? Well...

I think it's more limited than that. I think it only works on mental
abilities. TK, mind reading, and the like. It's actually in line with
the other side of his ability, then, which also affects only the mind.

Here is my main example: the Haitian could have gotten closer to Ted
Sprague in "The Company Man" episode from season 1, when he was
allowed to rescue Claire and her mom. He was only a few feet away when
cutting the duct tape on them. Then, if he was able, he could have
neutralized him from being able to meltdown.

If he could do so, why was that not in HRG's plan? That would have
fixed the whole mess.

From this scene, and the other Haitian scenes, I think it is most
likely that he can't stop physical abilities...just mental ones. Nate
flew away, and someone said they let him (or they weren't trying very
hard) but I do not think so. They definitely wanted to tag him. When
they failed, they looked disappointed.

Don't get me wrong...with his mind erasing ability (seems to knock you
out), he could have taken Nate down even though he can't really
suppress the flying. But he didn't get a chance. And his ability
suppression couldn't affect the flying.

-Aaron

In article
<62d53a91-443f-4bd5-839d-9cc397c55790@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com>,
Aaron <aaronsan@msn.com> wrote:

> Hey again. I read over some old threads, and yes I'm still missing a
> few episodes (getting them now!), but I wanted to review what the
> consensus is on the Haitian's suppression ability and limitations.
>
> From what I read before, it was considered to be selective, and so
> could suppress one person's abilities or all nearby persons'
> abilities. Am I right so far?
>
> I believe it was also stated that it only affects abilities that can
> be turned on and off. IOTW, Claire's regeneration can't be turned off.
> But then again, how would we know since it is selective, and he would
> never have wanted to turn that off?
>
> Still on track? Well...
>
> I think it's more limited than that. I think it only works on mental
> abilities. TK, mind reading, and the like. It's actually in line with
> the other side of his ability, then, which also affects only the mind.
>
> Here is my main example: the Haitian could have gotten closer to Ted
> Sprague in "The Company Man" episode from season 1, when he was
> allowed to rescue Claire and her mom. He was only a few feet away when
> cutting the duct tape on them. Then, if he was able, he could have
> neutralized him from being able to meltdown.
>
> If he could do so, why was that not in HRG's plan? That would have
> fixed the whole mess.
>

The problem with this analysis is that it assumes that the people in
Heroes are logical. The main reason for not using the Haitian in the
way that you describe here to solve the problem is that it's not as
dramatic as the way that they did resolve it. Plus it fails to reveal
that Claire has powers and thus needs to be brought back to the company.

In other words, the simple solution does not move the story on.
So my feeling here is that your position may indeed be correct but the
rationalization behind it is not convincing to me. For another example
see the last episode of "Generations".

dick

"Aaron" <aaronsan@msn.com> wrote in message
news:62d53a91-443f-4bd5-839d-9cc397c55790@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com...

> Here is my main example: the Haitian could have gotten closer to Ted
> Sprague in "The Company Man" episode from season 1, when he was
> allowed to rescue Claire and her mom. He was only a few feet away when
> cutting the duct tape on them. Then, if he was able, he could have
> neutralized him from being able to meltdown.
>
> If he could do so, why was that not in HRG's plan? That would have
> fixed the whole mess.

I could be wrong (not the best memory in the world) but didn't he also have
a gun? I know Parkman had a gun, since he was the one who shot Claire, but
it seems to me that Ted had one too, and stopping him from melting down at
the point in which the Haitian was there would not have prevented him from
shooting someone. Why they didn't use the Haitian to suppress his powers
when he did melt down is another question, and I wonder if it could be that
he can only stop them from activating powers, and once the power is active,
he can't do anything about it.

On Dec 29 2007, 10:00 pm, "Dragonlady" <dragonlady
spambloc...@cableone.net> wrote:
> "Aaron" <aaron...@msn.com> wrote in message
>
> news:62d53a91-443f-4bd5-839d-9cc397c55790@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
>
> > Here is my main example: the Haitian could have gotten closer to Ted
> > Sprague in "The Company Man" episode from season 1, when he was
> > allowed to rescue Claire and her mom. He was only a few feet away when
> > cutting the duct tape on them. Then, if he was able, he could have
> > neutralized him from being able to meltdown.
>
> > If he could do so, why was that not in HRG's plan? That would have
> > fixed the whole mess.
>
> I could be wrong (not the best memory in the world) but didn't he also have
> a gun? I know Parkman had a gun, since he was the one who shot Claire, but
> it seems to me that Ted had one too, and stopping him from melting down at
> the point in which the Haitian was there would not have prevented him from
> shooting someone.

He should have, but it wasn't handy...he wasn't holding it, he was
playing with fire instead (playing with his ability). The Haitian
could totally have gotten to him.

> Why they didn't use the Haitian to suppress his powers
> when he did melt down is another question, and I wonder if it could be that
> he can only stop them from activating powers, and once the power is active,
> he can't do anything about it.

But Parkman's mind reading power was active, but the Haitian shut it
down (in the bar, and later when Parkman was staking out the paper
company).

No, I think it was more that he couldn't get close enough,
either...and they didn't know how much time before he blew. Claire was
the only one with a chance at that point.

-Aaron