I Just watched the 3 Minute preview of episode 6 "the line", on the second scene Mohinder and Bob or discussing injecting Monica with a new stran of the Shonti virus. My question to you is why is Monica such a threat to the company? So far her powers manifested itsself as a copy cat power. She can do whatever she sees. during the weekly comentary on heroes.com Greg Beeman, stated that her power is ' photo recognition' or something like that. For the company to want to take her powers it must be more than just physical mimicry, because there are limits to what a 'normal' human can do. they're people within the company who has way more substantial powers. Is Monica's power more than just physical mimicry? Or is is more like Sylar's and Peter's, where if she witnesses a suoer power she can do that also. I mean if she can only do a flip and Bruce Lee kick, what's the big deal. There has to be more to it. What do you think?

if you saw it in the preview, it should be in the spoiler/speculation section of the boards

maybe she's a threat to the company in the future. Micah says she's like saint joan from the 9th wonders comic, maybe she is saint joan! the comic has painted the future before and in the cover on the front of it she looked like a bad ****** ninja. Plus her story kind of hints that she's gonna fight for the greater good

I don't see her as much of a threat to the company. She doesn't even know what the company is really.

Are those the iPod ear buds hanging?

I didn't think the company thought she was a threat, they just wanted to test out the new form of the virus. They were just useing her as a guinea pig, it wasn't personal.

Oh, and just so you know, her name isn't Monica Davis, it's Monica Dawson

She's probably wearing a dark colored hoodie. so that's most likely just the strings from it. Now that i see that shot, she may be St. Joan. The person in the drawing has a little umm "back" so that would fit Monica.

GOOD EYE!

Dude, if she went around pwning people in the black of night, dressed up as a bada$$ ninja that would be so awesome!

could she mimic peoples voices too? or only things thats she sees?
maybe when she becomes more adept in her power shell be able to mimic sounds too.

That would be insane. I do not think Monica poses any threat to anyone because she has the can choose to use her powers. If she learned how to make a bomb, she would choose to make one so she is of no threat to anyone. I think she is going to turn into Saint Joan as much as she takes about being somebody and doing things for the city.

Would she be able to mimic voices, if she sees how the vocal folds of someone produce it?

I saw it more as a test of Mohinder - if he injected her they got the virus tested and had his complete loyalty, if he refused they could back off and earn his trust with no problem.



A good "next step" for her ability ... eventually by tightened & relaxing different muscles she might be able to crudely mimic others' appearance as well ... or at least change her own.

OMG.

QFT.
What omg?

Oh my God

Muscle mimicry FTW

Right now she seems pretty limited considering she got her butt handed to her by those thugs. I definitely think that she needs some real training fast. Watching Rey Mysterio Jr. obviously isn't cutting it.

I actually think that she'd have been the perfect agent for the Company. They should have been more careful...

Well, Bob did give her that gizmo full of actions she could watch and mimic. Maybe he's paving the way ...

I thought this one time Bob might actually have been genuine. He seemed to suggest to Monica that she could use her power to help her community.

Yea I agree. I mean the company could have easily "Bag and tagged" her, and that would have been the end of it. She then would have been a part of the company, using her very suitable ability out in the field.

But, as mentioned above, Bob let her know that she could help her community (as she already was and wanted to) and let her stay in New Orleans. I thought I saw something genuine there, but then again he still is higher up in the company, and I doubt you get that far if your not very good at deceiving people about your demeanor.

It did seem a very uncharateristically nice, no strings attached, thing to do for Bob!

Linderman was a Mendez collector. So I wonder if the Company already knows about St Joan and the important part she will play in the future.

Makes you wonder why he was willing to play silly buggers with Mohinder about taking Monica's power. Maybe it was a test - for both of them.

I was thinking that Mohinder's "north-facing moral compass" was impetus for Bob to change his thinking where Monica was concerned. Monica is not dangerous, loves her ability and wants to make the world a better place. And other than needing a guinea pig (which they can get elsewhere), Monica wasn't that important. And Bob needed Mo's trust and assistance. Not to mention that Niki was being treated at the same time. Monica's ability would be great for a Company agent. However, I am not sure that she would be. So far, I find her to be one of the characters on the white side of morally grey and should wouldn't participate other than to take out someone dangerous. Though, I guess that's how they indocrinate you. Like Micah, she is a little naive. Though, I think recent events with Niki, regardless of whether she lives, will be a wake-up call for Monica and maybe Micah. In the same thinking of Hiro's dad - we have the powers of gods, but we are not gods.

Taskmaster! I finally remembered the name of the Marvel villian that has the same ability as Monica. I'm not sure what that has to do with the price of tea in China, but oh well. I'm a big fan of Monica and I can't wait to see St. Joan play larger role in the series!

There's always a string attached. I'm not sure what the string is, but you know Bob has one somewhere.

I don't think he did this time.

I think he saw that Monica was never going to be a Company Girl, so he released her back into the wild where she could do the most good.

Possible, certainly. But it doesn't sound like the Company's MO. (IMHO anyway.)

Pretty sure there's a string attached- they just haven't told us what it is yet. Oh well...

Maybe Bob's just curious as to how the first SuperHero copes?

He must know about St Joan. And now he's given Monica a big push in that direction.

PS. Contrary to the title of this thread, isn't Monica's surname Dawson?

Possible. I don't necessarily agree, especially since the Company seems to exist to keep the existence of Specials "under wraps," but it's definitely possible



I never caught that. Someone got confused. (The character is Monica Dawson. The actress is Dana Davis.)

I guess this is what I'm trying to understand.

Had the Company already studied muscle mimics so they did not need to study Monica?

Was she just a test for Mohinder?

Are they curious about St Joan?

They just let her go - hardly typical Company behaviour.

This one I'm almost willing to guarantee. I think they were trying to find out just how far eMoh would go.


And we keep coming back to that. If an animal acts in a way contrary to its normal behaviour, the observer can usually find a cause. (A lion passing on a kill. An animal refusing to drink from a water source.)

But, in releasing Monica (apparently "free and clear"), the Company is acting completely opposite from normal...

Wait... maybe not...

They have released some who were not of immediate use (Parkman comes immediately to mind), but only if they had a way to track them so they could be grabbed if they become useful. Could that thing Bob gave Monica have a way for them to track her?

I guess they don't really need to track her as they know where she lives. Maybe Nana has a part to play? Certainly the device could be a tracker - bit of a risk considering Micah's around, though.

Was the Haitian with the Company when they took Monica in? I guess not as they left her with her memory.

Maybe Bob knows he will need St Joan in the future and so doesn't want to ****** her off?

I think that Bob somehow new a bit more about her at the end. Could it be that at after the talk with Mohinder he consultated someone (Maybe Angela?) and got to know more about the future of some sort? The reason why I think this is a possibility is because his words to her when he visited her at home and gave her the player and the other stuff and said "look around you, this places needs a little amazing". It sounded as if he would tell her: this place is falling apart, do something about it, I know you can and I know you will!
So he were rather pulling her in the st joan direction after all? Not sure but it looked a bit like it at the end.

I think Bob definitely knows about St Joan - hardly surprising, as the Company has most of Isaac's paintings.

And I think Bob was doing all he can to push Monica in that direction.

It makes me wonder how much Bob knows about St Joan and what she will do in the future.

OK I AGREE WITH THE EVENTUALLY BEING ABLE 2 MIMIC VOICES THATS ALL MUCELE MOVEMENT NE WAYS BUT AS FAR AS CHANGING HER APIRANCE NO THATS NOT HER POWER BUT I WONDER IF SHE SAW NIKI DO HER SUPPER STRENGTH THING COULD SHE COPPY IT AND GET SUPPER STRENGTH? OR COULD SHE COPY OTHER MUCLE BASED POWERS LIKE SUPPER SPEED IF SHE SAW IT?? KINDA LIKE PETER BUT ONLY WITH MUSCLE BASED ABILITYS????

Monica can only mimic movements capable of someone of her size and strength. The writers said this in an interview around the time the character was introduced. You can read the interview here. Excerpt:

This confuses me, because some of the things she was doing, the kickflip and backwards somersaults are using specific muscles that must first be built up through usage. So to me, its not just learning sign language by watching it, which would be totally skill orientated. What she did was essentially show explosive muscle contraction with muscles that should have been too 'soft'. So the power is not just in her head, but also in some "elasticity" in her muscles. This, to me, says that she could potentially come very close to mimicing superhuman feats.

Monica has more than adept body shape for doing back flips, etc. I even saw a fat dude on Beauty and the Geek do a pretty impressive backwards somersault.

Well, she's a muscle mimic - so presumably her muscles are the key. But they can only mimic actions that fall within her capabilities as a young woman. So she can't fly, be superstrong or anything that is a super power. But anything ordinary mortals can do she can copy if she sees it.

yeah, but my stomach, lower back, and triceps haven't been developed through years of building up to be able to generate the force/snap nessecary for those moves, and I would assume Monica's weren't either. So if her undeveloped 'quads' were able to mimic/adapt enough to let her spring up the guard-rail of a building, why can't her undeveloped shoulders then mimic Lennox Lewis's right cross, allowing her to hit hard? In other words, if Monica watched the hardest hitting lightweight female champ, then the male heavyweight champ, wouldn't her ability allow her to hit harder than the female lightweight?

I think she could probably only punch using her her own strength. But her muscles could replicate the action perfectly.

Having said that, her fingers were dancing over that keyboard pretty darn quick. But I think that was because she was immediately an expert in playing (because she had seen it) rather than any superspeed ability.

I hope her ability allows her to compete with true superhumans. I Love Monica. Her and Micah have the best attitudes on the series!

I love Monica too.

It was so good to see a good fenale Hero who loved her power.

And I think the fact that her body can do whatever she wants it to, yet she is limited by her own human restrictions, would make for very interesting and innovative battles with other Heroes.

I fully agree MrsGoogly,
however the writers obviously don't.
With other words another great character will get wasted for nothing with the excuse that "she doesn't fit to the villains plot" even it was planned before to have her on the center stage (vs knox) as st joan fighting the villains.
I really hope that she will just leave the town or something instead of getting killed.
However.. since in heroes almost everyone that had to go either got a memory wipe or got killed (mostly rather killed...), my hopes aren't THAT high.
In my opinion, she got cut so the sucky sylar has more to do and get her center stage instead.

Okay guys, let's be realistic about this. Monica got cut because, unlike the only S2 characters that remain, she was tied to...none...of the main cast. She had a bare link with Moh, but that was it.

What could she do against any superpowered villain? Or hero?

She couldn't get close enough to Peter or Sylar to be a threat. Any attempt she made to hurt someone like Nathan would be ludicrous. Seriously, how could she believably attack a flying man? She might've posed a threat to someone like Niki- until the first punch connected. Elle would nail her from the other side of the room.

Monica was a great character with an awesome power. But she also has more limitations regarding her power than almost any other character. She can do anything she sees, provided it's possible for a normal human to accomplish. That's it.

I think Monica could probably easily take Niki - she's much ore agile, and has many more moves. As long as Niki did not touch her she could easily take her down - Niki is just superstrong, she has no real fighting moves. Also, Monica is agile enough to be a good adversary to Elle.

Aside from Matt and Maury, there are few Heroes who can compete with Peter or Sylar, power-wise.

Depending on Nana's past - she could be linked to the Company if the writers so wished - Monica is linked to Niki and Micah. She's also sort of linked to Bob and Mohinder - at least, the Company know of her, and maybe St Joan as well. And it would be quite refreshing not to have a Hero caught up or linked with the nightmare of the Petrelli Family.

I don't think they'll kill Monica off. St Joan has already appeared in the virus version of the future, and Isaac painted her. Isaac's paintings always come true - so if Monica is St Joan she should be safe for now. I guess Tracy might take Micah away, leaving Monica to becone St Joan off screen, and we only hear of her through other characters, on TV, on the news etc.

Hopefully she'll be back in S4.

St. Joan has a dagger and crossbow. Surely her using these weapons would make her deadly to all evolved humans except regens. The crossbow could even be used on Nathan.

Our dear synch again...
You understand the term hero? You read that she actually was knoxs counter?

Why in the world should she go against nathan or peter?

Other than that if nathan takes up as fast as he usually did, almost no one could hold him back.

Except if elle makes it in time to blast him down which isn't that accurate because in wests case he had claire on his hands and couldn't fly very fast because of this, hiro by stopping time, the haitian by disabling him and sylar maybe holding him back if he reacts fast enough. Peter wouldn't harm him anyway but rather fly with him away.

Nikki is family to monica and saved monicas life, why would monica go against her? Even if, she would have good chances against nikki with the agility she showed already. Remember Candice? She might got punched unconsious but even in a physical combat with her own real weight she gave nikki a good beating before she went down (even she wouldn't need to actually but thats another story).

Monica was connected to the company already through bob and mo and there is no reason why they couldn't get her fast to make her help them. It would even add to the story if she could look through this the real intentions of the company and turn against them together with the others.

It would had indeed gave her many possibilities by helping the heroes.
She has a great ability that would help a lot and she at least doesn't need 1000s of fx to make her scenes as she already stated since her scenes are more physical.

No way she would ever come against Nathan, etc. Its more about seeing what she would do if presented with a flyer. Also you need to remember that even if Elle did catch West due to the speed hes flying at. Monica has a crossbow because she has obviously mimicked some archery clip and would probably have a dead aim. So if she did come up against someone that flys, then she would be a lot more precise and quick than Elle.

Anyways, I think its fair to assume that Monica is tasked by the company to bring in a villian or two due to her kris being in the vault. They probably give her the kris. But this could this imply the company know who St. Joan is also?

Because any hero can be a villain.


Tell me, did you not understand what I was saying?
Monica's ability is awesome. What it is not however, is a believable match to anything else on the show. She couldn't combat anyone. As I said, Sylar would have her pinned against the wall so fast it's not funny. And her ability wouldn't allow her to break free of that.
I don't know anything about the Villains in this arch, nor do I want to. I've avoided those spoilers. But, unless she's countering someone with a completely physical ability (and something that doesn't enhance speed/strength), Monica doesn't have the ability to win in a fight with them.


Hmm...yes...connected through Bob. There's a strong, firm, connection to the plot. If you'll read what I said, you'll note that I was discussing characters being strongly tied to season 1 characters. Further, to S1 characters considered important and returning.
Who was Monica connected to? Niki. And Mohinder. Not exactly a strong tie to the series.


And, if you'll notice, I deliberately didn't quote anyone. I didn't reference anyone. I didn't do this to start a debate. I simply pointed out why it was logical (as even Dana Davis commented) for Monica not to have a real story this season.
Her main story with Knox is part of the deleted footage from a season 2 that never happened. When the story we rewritten after the strike, that piece obviously didn't fit.

Why don't we all assume that the writers (who are, after all, paid for this) might just know what they're doing?

I just hope they let her become St Joan this season - offscreen if neccessary - and bring her back in S4.