Heroes (TV series)/Headscratchers/Emma

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Emma... Just Emma

They killed off all the new characters from Season 3, nominally because the show had become too bloated (again). And now, because it worked so well before, here we are with another new person with powers - Emma, the deaf medical clerk.

Unlike other new characters like Daphne, Emma isn't likeable. She's anti-social, iconoclastic and generally not a sympathetic character at all. What is worse is that her power isn't really a super power; it's an actual medical condition - Sound to color synesthesia. - and it is more of an annoyance than a wonder.

Think about it. Her "power" is seeing sound as colored lights. How does that help the world? How does that aid you in a fight? How does that even help you attract a crowd playing a cello in Central Park when YOU are the only one who can see the amazing lightshow you create? You know what that makes you in the superhero community? An even more useless and annoying version of Dazzler.

• And I don't even want to think about how insulting this is to the deaf community. It would be like having a woman who can't walk and having her superpower be related to running. Oh wait...
• First, aren't you being a tad harsh on the character. She has only appeared in one episode, yet you have already labbled her as anti-social (at best she is non-social, and she has a rather good excuse for that), iconoclastic (what religious images or cherished beliefs has she destroyed?), and generally not a sympathatic character (how can you know what she generally is from one episode). We should wait to criticize this character. Second, her power seems somewhat different than normal sound-color synesthesia. From my knowledge, synethesia is the result of a cross of different brain functions, so a person hearing something will also see the color. She cannot hear, so she should not be able to see the color of sound, yet she does. Beyond that, we have yet to learn the limit of and complete effects of her ability, so saying that it is useless is premature. Furthermore, the fact that she did gather a crowd could be evidence of her ability having greater uses. I would also like to point out that according to the wikipedia acticle you linked to, most synesthetes feel that their synesthesia is anywhere from neutral to pleasant, so it does not seem to be "more of an annoyance than a wonder."

Emma's sudden musical ability

In retrospect, I'm a bit offset by Emma being able to pick up a cello and piano and play well enough to impress others, for a small reason. This rubs bigger because I don't get how being able to see sound in color would allow for that. Anyone else feel that way?

• Bugs me a tad as well, but it could be that her playing well is a coincidence. The way I see it, she's just playing to make pretty colors. That they have some sort of meaning or variation beyond the red and blue we see. Then again, I don't recall if how often she closed her eyes while playing the cello in the park...
• Her power seems to be something more than just seeing sounds - there was that scene where playing a violin caused some sort of shockwave that cracked the wall, I'm no musician but I'm fairly sure that's not normal. Her power may allow her to not only see sounds but also manipulate them, which would explain the musical ability.
• As I recall, her mother (the other doctor) told her that she needed to get over someone who had died. The way she said it, it sounded as if Emma was blaming herself, so I wondered if she had lost her hearing in an accident of some kind (the one that killed the guy) and she was a musician beforehand.

Emma

What the hell? She runs into Lauren trying to steal medical supplies, Lauren confesses to being Noah's partner, but then Emma refuses to believe Samuel would shoot at his own people. Hello? McFly? The woman you're treating for a gunshot wound is his partner. Why would he shoot his partner?

• • Why would Samuel shoot his own family? Emma either believes the woman she just met who is supposed to be an accomplice to murdering specials, or the nice man who understands her feelings about having abilities and gave her a cello and a place to be herself.
    • Lauren was not the first person to warn Emma about Samuel. Peter repeatedly tried to do the same. Then Claire did. When not one, but several people go out of their way to warn you that the person you're throwing your lot in with is dangerous, perhaps you should at least hear them out?