Out of Time - S2-E7
Question: Whatever happened to Caitlin?
Chosen answer: Caitlin was left in the possible future (where the virus had been released) when Peter teleported out. Then, when Hiro zapped the virus out of existance, that future became impossible, so that timeline became void. Basically, when that future ceased to exist, so did Caitlin, and since her parents seem to be dead (please correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a while seen I saw S2) and Elle killed her brother, there are no next of kin to raise awkward questions.
Question: What exactly have The Company been doing with Adam during his thirty year incarceration? Experimentation of some sort?
Chosen answer: I don't think they experimented on him. He was too dangerous to have constant visit from anyone. So they just kept him locked up.
Question: What was Bob Bishop hoping to gain by keeping Peter in containment? Was it to simply stop him from causing any further harm to himself and other people? Also, he must have known it would be a risk putting him in a cell next to Adam Monroe? Furthermore, was Angela Petrelli aware of Peter's incarceration? What would she have made of it?
Chosen answer: Angela Petrelli was not the company leader, Bob was. So its safe to asume the Angela didn't know about Peter's incarceration. As for the plan, well i think it's pretty much the same as Adam Monroe, keep him locked up forever without powers. And no, I don't think they figured it was risky to put him next to Adam, as the cells are supposed to be sealed tightly.
Question: I don't understand why Adam Monroe wanted to release The Shanti Virus? doesn't he realise the just how dangerous it would have been?
Chosen answer: Yes, of course he does. That's the point. He wants to do something to stop humanity going through the same cycle of death and destruction that gets played out every so often. By releasing the Shanti virus, he'll wipe out the vast majority of the human race, dropping the demand for Earth's diminishing resources to a manageable level and allowing the survivors to start over with a relatively clean slate.
Question: At the end of the episode, Sylar injected himself with a cure to rid himself of the Shanti virus. Upon injecting himself he used his telekinesis to summon a tin can to him. My question is, how was he able to retain his telekinesis when the Shanti virus completely removed all of his acquired powers?
Chosen answer: Sylar is supposed to be able to copy powers through empathic mimicry, as we see him do with Elle's electrical abilities. If he does that, then it appears that the powers genuinely become innate to him, as if they were his from the start, whereas if he takes them in his usual way, they don't - he has access to them, but they don't become innate and thus can be erased by the Shanti virus. When Gabriel killed Brian Davis to take his telekinetic ability, he felt terrible guilt over having done so and thus his empathic mimicry kicked in, making the telekinesis an ability which the Shanti virus couldn't remove. This is also why the Company could only detect his telekinesis when examining him, despite the fact that he possessed many other abilities at the time.
Question: Exactly why did The Company create and experiemnt with a dangerous and life-threatening disease such as The Shanti Virus? Surely they must have known the risks?
Chosen answer: They didn't create it - it first manifested in Shanti Suresh. Their original reason for experimenting on it was probably to find a cure, just as real-world virus labs experiment on highly contagious viruses with that aim in mind. However, the effect of blocking access to powers was clearly of use to the Company in dealing with powered individuals, so their experiments also produced alternative strains of the virus, including the one used on Sylar and Niki Sanders that removed their abilities. These experiments may also have resulted in the ability negation pills given to Peter Petrelli during his time as a "guest" of the Company between seasons one and two. While the risks are obviously considerable, careful security precautions can be set up to guard against accidental release. Somebody insane enough to wish to release one intentionally is, of course, another matter entirely...
Question: How DID Sylar contract The Shanti Virus? Did The Company somehow infect him with it?
Chosen answer: Yes, he was intentionally infected by the Company to remove his powers and make him easier to handle.
Chosen answer: Because he's an idiot. From the story point of view, they needed the vault to actually be physically open so that the release of the virus would be a credible threat. Unfortunately, this required that Peter conveniently forget that he could simply walk through The Wall and use his telekinesis to tear the door open instead. Peter's increasingly large arsenal of abilities, where he ended up having pretty much any ability required for any situation, led to a situation where it became necessary to either have Peter apparently forget that he had a given power, as with the vault door scene, or become naively trusting, as with his refusal to scan Adam's mind to confirm his good intent. This problem, which simply made Peter look increasingly dumb as the show progressed, may well have been a key factor in the decision to severely reduce his ability during season three.
Tailkinker ★