in this episode, we see matt's first encounter with his power, but he isn't quite aware of what it is.

but six months later, when he is at the sylar crime scene, he "hears" the little girls thoughts and acts as if he has never had this before.

are we to believe that he never used his power in between these times? or is it just another writer error.

I didn't get the impression at the Sylar crime scene that Matt had never sensed others' thoughts before, but that this was the first time he'd ever been able to focus on them, make out distinct words and actually use that power to do something. Which is why I don't think it's a writer error -- I think the implication was that Matt's ability came to him slowly, that even now he doesn't have a lot of control over it, and that it took him a long time to understand what was really happening.

Think about it: How often do you think you've heard your friend say something he didn't? Or told yourself you were imagining a whisper or something like that? I would guess that telepathy -- particularly at a very low or occasional level -- would be an easy power to not realize you had at first. It's not like poor Nathan, who apparently found out he could fly when he started hovering over his car; now THAT'S hard to miss.

It could be a writer error. They have some kinda weird team-based ad hoc scene writing thing going on or something, at least I read that somewhere. That can definitely introduce error.

Still, as the followup poster said, you'd think telepathy could easily be mis-interepreted for a long time, especially if it happens only sporadically (read: for writer convenience) for a while. I need to re-watch the episode but I dont think Matt was making direct eye contact when he mentally "heard" her say he was her hero. He was kinda looking down toward the floor in a self-pity type thing, wasnt he? So, if he wasnt watching her lips move, and it only happened once or twice over 6 months, I could see him having no idea.

Lewis

Matt was staring in front of him and he felt Janice's head on his shoulder. I think it's perfectly clear that he thought she whispered it in his ear. That can happen for some time, but not too much. You've got to wonder about it after a while.

But when a voice of a total stranger is calling you for help, it's obvious.

I don't think this is an error, at all.
However, I liked the "Matt is in another timeline" theory because I thought he is the only one who was introduced in a way that you might think this is his very first time that his power is used.

What I do find strange, though...why doesn't he accidentally use it while taking the test? I'd think that he hears the thoughts of the other testtakers if he hears Janice's thoughts... that might be an oversight for real.

Yeah, he said he knows the answers...it's just understanding the questions that mess him up.

On a related note, do you think they will still let him take the test with someone just asking him the questions now that he punched the guy porking his wife?

It wasn't a vocal test. Even if he heard the right answers, his dyslexia may have made it difficult for him to answer the questions correctly or effectively.

The time gap bugs me a bit too. As for the other characters, Nathan flies, but not for another 6 months when Peter jumped? Claire heals fast but a no point is it clear when she figured out her power. At the time of the videotape she clearly knows about it and wants it documented. The six month gap is just confusing.

Yes, sure, I know that. But if he heard voices he wouldn't be surprised any more, right? Which means he didn't hear anything. Or else he thought people were whispering the answers to each other.
Or else, nobody thought about that.

I think that Matt's power became evident during the discussion with his wife because she was thinking the thought [/i]at[i] him. Then when there's a scared little girl hiding in a crawl space, she's thinking thoughts at the whole world, strongly, hoping that someone will save her, or that she'll be left alone from the bad man. Just a theory

We don't know that Nathan hasn't flown since then. He's been very close-mouthed about his power, didn't even want Peter to know about it. So maybe he's been testing it out for awhile and just didn't tell anybody. Remember when he was with Nikki in Las Vegas, he said something like, "Wouldn't it be great to be able to fly out across the desert?" And he indicated he wasn't talking about flying in a plane. This leads me to believe he's spent some time enjoying his power.

I really don't think so...I don't believe he enjoyed that power after what it "did" to his wife. The flying over the desert thing was foreshadowing, because one episode later he's flying over the desert.

I didn't exactly understand what you just said, but no, he didn't say that after he was taken by HRG. He said it the night before when he was with Niki.


Looks like it. But they will never be able to explain why all of them at once, approximately.
I guess.
Because why just them? There are other heroes who have their powers for a lot longer. The 6 months alone don't make any sense. Not the topic, though.

Didn't Nathan say the desert thing after he did do to get away from HRG.
Obiviously the point of the episode was to show when they 1st became aware of their powers.
Nathan flew to safety
Peter had an empathic dream
Claires wound healed (but not as quickly as before, it takes practice to control the skill)
Sylar was "born"
Matt heard/felt his wifes thoughts

Besides all of them experienced an emotional high?

Niki's had her power for a while, Jessica had just been 'hiding' from Niki up until recently. Up until 6 months ago, there was no reason for Jessica to even emerge... her father at the AA meeting brought Jessica out. Since that meeting, Jessica's done what she's had to to protect Niki.

Nathan freaked out.. he really didn't want to crash the car.. he wished he wasn't there. Thus, he flew upwards. He's got guilt associated with it, too. His wife's in a wheelchair, and he can fly. He might've tested it a few months later to be sure he wasn't crazy...

Claire... I dunno. HRG knew about her 'condition', and went to visit Chandra to find out what he knew.

Matt was doubting himself and needed a boost.

Eden has had her powers for some time.

The real, main focus, of "6 months ago" seemed to be on Jessica, Nathan, HRG, Eden, Hiro/Charlie, and Sylar. More or less the secondary characters in the story, but ones that impact the main characters.

At least, those are my thoughts on the whole ep.

i don't think it's a writer's error, I just think he may not have realized it, or shrugged it off as impossible, or thinking that he might be crazy so he wouldn't bring attention to it.