Did anyone else notice when Matt was "passing out" no one seemed to notice? Not even a glance in his direction.

Yeah I noticed, and did you notice that Matt couldn't hear the thoughts of the one black man he looked at?

Yeah... the "not hearing thoughts" part was creepy... But passing out in a bar? That happens so many times, it gets old and no one looks...

Man, what kind of bars do you hang out in?

The black man is Sylar! He has to be. He made Matt collapse and he blocked Matt from hearing his thoughts. Not to mention the fact that he had that symbol around his neck. The same symbol that is in Isaac's apartment and keeps repeating on the computer that the professor retrieved from his dad.

The collapse was in slow motion, and human reaction time in a bar is terrible. You can see the barkeep in the background watch Matt collapse.

The mysterious black man is not Sylar. The previews for next week depict Matt in a government lab. For Matt to be abducted by a serial killer, saved, then abducted by the government it would take at least two episodes. Sylar doesn't work for the government nor is he HRG, because he has the MO of an addictive serial killer and you hear his voice on Suresh's answering machine.

The genetic symbol does not move the plot. It's an easter egg.

Except for the fact that all the available screenshots plainly depict Sylar as a white guy.

all i know that black dude who had nothing in his head was creepy as anything. going from the veritable cacophony of thoughts, laced with humor (the guy thinkin the girl likes him) to the silence and the chilling stare was a brilliant directing move.

Yeah, aside from the plot development aspect, I thought the rest of that scene really was quite funny. I'm sure there are other people on this board besides myself who have worked in bars in the past and I think the thoughts Matt was picking up are pretty much spot on for a lot of your average bars (at least the non-20 something night clubby type places).

You've got the disgruntled homophobe guy in the ****** marriage.

Middle age singles/divorcees/unfaithfuls desparately trying to hook up.

Depressed people subsumed with perceptions of their own insignificance.

Topped off by the cynical barkeep who doesn't really want to be your friend.

Yep, bars sure are exciting places!

Oh yeah, and the occasional mysterious superpowered types, you'll get that too!

I think he could read his thoughts, the guy just probably overwhelmed him with thoughts he couldn't handle, putting him into a traumatic state. Notice he had a smirk on his face, he looked as though he was just waiting for him to read what he had to say or 'think'.

I was under the impression that the man in the bar was D.L. and the reason Matt couldn't hear his thoughts was because he was also a super powered person and that in some way blocks out Matt's power.

Under this theory, however, the preview for next week's episode is a bit confusing, as it would establish some connection between D.L. and HRG, who at this point is the last person I would expect to have a super powered person working with him. It seems to me, however, that HRG isn't really there (perhaps Matt's powers working in odd ways.) Any ideas?

He's not DL. Different actors. Check imdb.com
Seems to be the most common mistake people have about the last episode.

Actually I just watched it again. The woman beside Matt that had the suicidal thoughts looked right at him. Everyone else had probably seen people pass out in the bar before so no big. Sort of how we treat car alarms today.

I figure that the black guy slipped Matt a mickey somehow in order to capture him and bring him before Horn-rim glasses guy. The black guy and horn-rim glasses guy are most likely working for a covert U.S. agency put in charge of addressing the potential threat these "supers" could possible pose to the nation's security. That is why Matt is captured for study so the government agency can find out exactly what makes "supers" tick and find a way to stop them if they turn into a threat.

The only thing I wondered about the Bar scene is why when Matt hears thoughts, They repeat themselves like an ECHO...The woman says, "what if i just dissapear, just dissapear" That was weird

yea i think the black guy is sylar but i also think it is the gurl from las vegas's run away husband and the lil kids dad!

Is there a concensus on HOW Matt passed out?

Something in his drink?

Too many thoughts to process?

The Mysterious Man blocking him (causing pain)?

The Mysterious Man in the bar is not D.L. Hawkins but another character linked to HRG. It is possible that he also has hero-like qualities. Perhaps, he has mental abilities not yet discussed or revealed in the show. Personally, I think he is the anti-hero's (HRG's) anti-side-kick!

Heroes - Patient Zero

The Alternative One

Uh, unless Sylar works with HRG (which seems extremely highly unlikely) because we saw that in the preview for next week, that isn't him. Also, the enhanced screencaps that have been posted are clearly of a white guy.
Also, he is NOT DL, Micah's father, DL will be played by Leonard Roberts, whose picture is currently featured on the Heroes mainpage. He is also credited for the role on IMDB for around six or seven episodes already.
Sorry...

This is not to say that the guy in the bar didn't do anything to Matt, he did, we don't know what, we do know he is working with HRG. It isn't hard to drug someone in a bar, even if you don't 'slip them a mickey finn'

MOst likely paying the bartender off.

The bartender just wanted him to take the drink.

Would just take a large sum of money and a decent song and dance.
"he a deadbeat dad, bachelor party et. al"

While rewatching - it would have had to be the bartender who slipped him a Mickey.

The drink never leaves Matt's hands. He only takes a couple sips.

I lean more toward MBG (Who, I believe has been proven here to neither be Sylar, nor DL) using his powers to fry him. Matt couldn't read his thoughts, so he can most likely block them... very strong mental powers.. enough to maybe give Matt a major brain freeze? I don't know quite how to word what I am thinking... but cause the effect of being drugged, without actually doing so?

The guy is definitely working for/with HRG, in the preview for Ep. 4 I believe it is it shows nathan? about 1 foot off the ground with no shirt on and a black guy and a guy who looks alot like HRG are standing in front of him HRG with a gun pulled on him.

Also it shows matt on a table with both HRG and MBG staring over him.

I'm sure the MBG took Matt down with his mind. This is classic comic book stuff. A more powerful or at least more in control telepath takes you down mentally when you try to read his mind. He has the power to block off his thoughts and shut you down at the same time.

I agree that it's an old-school comic book type of situation. In old issues of the X-men, Professor Xavier was always getting into some sort of telepathic mind battle, whether it was with the Dark Phoenix or some other powerful telepath.

lol, brain freeze... i love the way this is how we describe Matt's event...

beer + guy who can block mind reading powers = useless mindreading brain (yes, my mind is wandering in different directions today)

There's two reasons that go hand in hand as to why no one got up to do anything about Matt passing out.

1. It's a bar, I assume it happens a lot that people just get drunk off their a** and pass out, only to have some bouncers toss him out on the street shortly there after.

2. It was in slow motion so the time that actually passed may have only been about 10 seconds. Not enough time for anyone to give a damn, get up, and help this potentially drunk guy.

I tought the black guy was Sylar too... but now after reading some posts in here I'm not so sure. Whoever he is, he was able to block Matt so he has powers too. I hope they're cooler than Pootietang's!

A good guess is that the Mysterious Man (as noted in the credits) in the bar was probably another telepath. A telepath would be able to easily sheild their own thoughts, especially from another telepath. Keep in mind, Matt Parkman is a fledgling telepath so he already lacks the skills to delve deep and even bypass someone shielding their thoughts.

Remember how Professor X could make people stop and/or do whatever he wanted using his thoughts. If the Mysterious Man is indeed a powerful telepath, he could easily cause everyone in the bar to "ignore" Matt Parkman, especially when he passes out.

A powerful telepath could easily cause someone to pass out as well. So while pounding his beer, standing up, and then falling over might appear to the audience as if Parkman can't hold his liquor, I wager the Mysterious Man just punched his lights out with a psychic smack to the back of his head.

With a beard.

As i've shown before:

When i saw that. I totally thought that black guy was sylar, if someone can get a screen shot, he has a necklace that has an S on it. I wonder what that is...

viola!

I'm trying to do a screen shot of the guy but i seem to be having problems but he has the emblem that almost all the heroes are drawing the half of a double helix it's on prof Suresh's book, in the computer program, Sylar drew it on his map, Peter drew it in the hospital, Matt was standing by it in the pool using the hose and some rubber ballons, Clair had it drawn on her geometry book...

And MBG had it as necklace

My guess is that Matt simply over did using his powers - it was too much too soon for him, and caused him to pass out.

As for MBG, I doubt he is another telepath. But if he works with HRG as it appears, it seems very plausible he knows there are people out there with talents like mind reading. It's not impossible to think he has learned to protect his thoughts from a neophyte telepath like Matt, or perhaps has some device designed to screen/shield his thoughts. I just don't think two telepaths would simultaneously appear in the story personally.

Time will tell.