# No Ordinary Family



## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 6, 2010)

The pacing is uneven at times, and some of the characters' actions are a bit contrived, but after 2 episodes, I'd have to say it's an interesting take on a Fantastic Four-ish dynamic.

We have a Dad who is a classic low-power brick, Mom can run about 700mph, the daughter is a telepath and the son seems to be a math/science super-whiz.  And we have also seen that there are others out there- a teleporting bank robber and a powerful Teke.

We even have a developing sinister conspiracy.

So far, so good enough to keep watching...


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## Thornir Alekeg (Oct 6, 2010)

I DVRed last night episode, so I haven't seen it yet, but after the pilot I'm willing to keep going.  I realize pilots are often not that strong, but I do hope they manage to avoid being a predictible show full of the standard supers cliches.


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## wolff96 (Oct 6, 2010)

I liked the pilot and they toned down some of the really annoying (to me, YMMV) factors of the pilot in the second episode.

Namely, they ditched the narration and made the daughter less of a whiny "I'm so PURE!" stereotype, which made it more watchable to me.

Definitely agree on the pacing, though.  

It amuses me that the powers are seemingly based on personality...  except for dad.  Mom needs more time, Daughter wants to know why people are laughing at her, Son is sick of being dumb...  and Dad wants to keep the family together so he becomes a brick?  Latent shades of wanting to be a hero or get bad guys off the street, I guess.  

And I love that, just for once, when the powers are revealed the friends don't disbelieve -- they express how COOL it is!  That would be my exact reaction (probably along with jealousy, if I'm honest) so I don't know why we don't see it more often in movies/comic books.


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## Thornir Alekeg (Oct 6, 2010)

wolff96 said:


> It amuses me that the powers are seemingly based on personality...  except for dad.  Mom needs more time, Daughter wants to know why people are laughing at her, Son is sick of being dumb...  and Dad wants to keep the family together so he becomes a brick?  Latent shades of wanting to be a hero or get bad guys off the street, I guess.



 Dad was also mentioned as moping around and he is the one sensitive to what is going on in his family, so another interpretation could be that he is "soft," in which case a brick could make sense.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 6, 2010)

1) I love some of the more "realistic" physics things they're doing, as well as acknowledging issues about why certain things that SHOULD be happening aren't.

2)  I would SO be the buddy w/the secret lair idea...

3)  I like that there have already been developments that are not your typical rosy Hollywood style writing.  The show has already shown a little grit...and light comedy.

4)  I saw the brick thing as the wish-fulfillment of an emasculated man.  His wife is the primary breadwinner; he works in a male-dominated environment with a female boss...and is told that he can't participate in the action because he's not a real cop.  Heck, even his artistic skills get heckled.

You know, with that psychological element to the manifestation of powers, there may be as much Wild Cards in this series as FF.


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## drothgery (Oct 6, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> 3)  I like that there have already been developments that are not your typical rosy Hollywood style writing.  The show has already shown a little grit...and light comedy.




I'm a little worried that they may forget that a little grit is useful, but a lot can kill a show that's supposed be fun (see: Heroes, one of many problems with), so when 



Spoiler



the mom's employer seems to be a stereotypical shady megacorp who seems to be using the Powells as test subjects


 and 



Spoiler



the evil TK apparently killed the dad's boss, who seemed like an interesting character


, I'm concerned.


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## John Crichton (Oct 7, 2010)

Really fun show so far. 

Color me entertained and tuning in weekly.


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## megamania (Oct 7, 2010)

I'm curious about it.   Glad its not a live action Invisibles.


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## dravot (Oct 7, 2010)

My six year old wanted to watch it, but the language and some of the content was highly inappropriate, and for no appreciable gain.


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## Janx (Oct 8, 2010)

I think the brick is going to have a problem when Dexter finds out where Rita went...

It did seem abrupt that they killed his boss so soon.  Maybe they'll use that as a catalyst for him to become a cop, but I doubt it.


It also seemed lame that the adults got physical powers (read need stunt doubles) and the kids got mental powers (read nothing visibly interesting about them to bring them into super-hero situations).

Not that they couldn't be used in a scene to thwart crime or something, but by making them have mental powers, they are basically non-combatants.    Very PG.


It's also surprising that he doesn't have a disguise or mask.  That should have been obvious from the beginning.


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## Umbran (Oct 8, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> 1) I love some of the more "realistic" physics things they're doing, as well as acknowledging issues about why certain things that SHOULD be happening aren't.




Yes, but some of their other science is horrible.  All the more horrible for begin so thoroughly avoidable!

When looking at a chromatograph, you aren't looking through a microscope at a slide!

"Glucosamine levels"?  Um, folks, the word you want is glucose.  You stuck the "amine" on there for show, and you figured nobody would wince at it?  Come on!


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 8, 2010)

I don't remember which bit of technobabble included it, and I'm not saying they didn't misuse it, but "glucosamine" _is_ a real substance found within the systems of living beings.


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## Umbran (Oct 8, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> I don't remember which bit of technobabble included it, and I'm not saying they didn't misuse it, but "glucosamine" _is_ a real substance found within the systems of living beings.




Yes, it is.  It helps keep your joints in good shape.  But the techobabble was about burning calories, not wearing away the cartilage in her knees, so they used the term inappropriately.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 8, 2010)

Yep- that's a fumble, all right.

Oh why do so few sci-fi scriptwriters pay attention to the technical advisors?


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## Gog (Oct 9, 2010)

Look they are going to get the science/technobabble wrong on occasion, I'm ok with that mainly because it appears they are at least trying to do it right.


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## Umbran (Oct 9, 2010)

Gog said:


> Look they are going to get the science/technobabble wrong on occasion, I'm ok with that mainly because it appears they are at least trying to do it right.




Dude, we know they'll get the science wrong occasionally.  It is a superhero show, for cryin' out loud.  Most of what they do is wrong science.  That I can swallow.

The issue is with science for which there is _no good reason_ for it to be wrong!   Chromatography is something they would do to that water, and if her running is at least partly fueled by her own metabolism, then yes, she'd have to watch her blood sugar when putting out major effort.  

But then they go and use the wrong word and equipment?  Completely avoidable!


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## LightPhoenix (Oct 9, 2010)

Umbran said:


> The issue is with science for which there is _no good reason_ for it to be wrong!   Chromatography is something they would do to that water, and if her running is at least partly fueled by her own metabolism, then yes, she'd have to watch her blood sugar when putting out major effort.




I winced at that as well, more so because my specialty is (microbial) molecular biology techniques such as chromatography.  Obviously they just thought it sounded like "color" and ran with it.  That said, the microscope _would_ be the first piece of equipment I would use; long-lasting phosphorescence in water would most likely be caused by a microbe of some kind.

I'm (kind of) okay on the hand-wave for her powers affecting her; I lump it in with magic.  Realistically she'd need to stock up on calories _before_ running/regenerating/whatever.

I think at this point it's relatively clear the company is the one who gave them powers, by accident or on purpose.

I'm enjoying the show well enough, and I hope that it gets picked up.  I like the lighter tone, though I hope the rest of the family gets involved in the plot soon.


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## Jdvn1 (Oct 22, 2010)

So far, I'm enjoying the show. It's interesting to see the extent of the son's powers, so far.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 22, 2010)

I'm an only child, so I'm not quite getting why the son seems to be preferring the pity of his parents due to their not knowing he has a power as opposed to their help & understanding about dealing with his power.

Or that his sister is keeping that secret.


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## John Crichton (Oct 22, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> I'm an only child, so I'm not quite getting why the son seems to be preferring the pity of his parents due to their not knowing he has a power as opposed to their help & understanding about dealing with his power.
> 
> Or that his sister is keeping that secret.



It's not pity, it's pride he wants them to feel for him.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 22, 2010)

And somehow believes that they'll be less proud of him if his successes are sue to his power?

What did they DO to him to mess him up like that?


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## John Crichton (Oct 22, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> And somehow believes that they'll be less proud of him if his successes are sue to his power?
> 
> What did they DO to him to mess him up like that?



He's a kid that's had difficulties in school and has never stood out doing anything.  These things happen.

Also, he's a teenager.  Not a ton of rational thinking going on at that age.  Sounds pretty normal to me.


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## Umbran (Oct 22, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> And somehow believes that they'll be less proud of him if his successes are sue to his power?
> 
> What did they DO to him to mess him up like that?




He isn't messed up.  He, like many kids with good parents, wants his parents to be proud of him.

He doesn't feel the powers are really part of himself.  They are external.  If he gets good grades, there's nothing to be proud about - they aren't a result of effort, so he didn't earn them and they don't represent an achievement on his part.

Basically, it's like he's cheating - being given the answers by something else.


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## Vyvyan Basterd (Oct 22, 2010)

Umbran said:


> He isn't messed up.  He, like many kids with good parents, wants his parents to be proud of him.




I disagree. The writers of this show seem to exhibit a mean streak towards all of the characters. I know this is to over-dramatize the story, but it seems way over the top at times. The cops are really hard on the dad, always putting him down. The rivalries at the science lab seem really caustic. And when their son starts achieving they put him down. "Football, REALLY?!?" And the teacher who believes he's cheating is way over the top too. The characters in this show are pouring out negativity in bucketloads. I like the show overall, but this aspect really sticks out to me.


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## Umbran (Oct 22, 2010)

Vyvyan Basterd said:


> I disagree.




Well, allow me to rephrase slightly - he's not particularly "messed up" for a teenager that's been struggling with a learning disability for years.



> The writers of this show seem to exhibit a mean streak towards all of the characters.




How many non-comedies can you name where this isn't the case?

While he's not working on this show, Joss Wheadon has a basic tenet which seems to me to be mostly true throughout fiction - stable relationships are boring.  While he was originally speaking about romantic relationships, it holds in general.  The relationship could be between a character and a romantic partner, a coworker, or themselves.


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## Insight (Oct 22, 2010)

Umbran said:


> How many non-comedies can you name where this isn't the case?
> 
> While he's not working on this show, Joss Wheadon has a basic tenet which seems to me to be mostly true throughout fiction - stable relationships are boring.  While he was originally speaking about romantic relationships, it holds in general.  The relationship could be between a character and a romantic partner, a coworker, or themselves.




When you write drama (or really, anything), you have to create _conflict_.  That doesn't happen when everyone gets along.


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## Fast Learner (Oct 23, 2010)

The thing about the kid plotline that most irritates me is how he never says to his math teacher, "I'm not cheating, ask me anything." That would be perfectly normal for a kid trying to prove himself.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 23, 2010)

Bingo!


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## Jdvn1 (Oct 24, 2010)

Fast Learner said:


> The thing about the kid plotline that most irritates me is how he never says to his math teacher, "I'm not cheating, ask me anything." That would be perfectly normal for a kid trying to prove himself.



I get the kid is really in over his head--he may be a genius, but he's still acts as irrationally as kids do.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 24, 2010)

When I was a kid (younger than the kid in the show), I was accused of plagiarism for a short story I wrote. _ My *first* reaction was to protest._  That didn't work.  I asked the teach what I could do to prove my innocence and didn't get a good answer.  The next reaction was to go to my parents to get them to go to bat for me.  They did, showing it was consistent with other things I had done at that time and before.*

Now, admittedly, this kid doesn't have a body of work to do that with, but he's got a better solution available to him.  The fact remains if he simply told the teacher to give him a problem, any problem, as a pop quiz- even at that very moment- he'd be able to solve it.

Wash, rinse, repeat enough times to prove he can't possibly be cheating, and suddenly he's got a teacher on his side to mentor him a bit, as opposed to a stereotypical hard-ass teach who is "out to get him."

If the teacher didn't agree to the challenge, the next reaction- OK, MY next reaction- would be to get the parents to ask for that kind of test, under any reasonable conditions the teacher wished to impose.

This teacher is going to be hell on him because he's acting illogically- based on my experience in a similar situation.






* This happened to me more than once, FWIW, and I always stepped up to the challenge.  And I'm no alpha male: I hate speaking up in class, and I was a perpetual bullying victim so its not like I had a high self esteem.  But I wasn't about to let anyone accuse me of being a cheat or denigrate my work in any way.


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## Fast Learner (Oct 24, 2010)

Mind you, I think the teacher is a bad guy with his eye out for kids with superpowers, but that shouldn't affect the kid's response.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 24, 2010)

That sounds a little too "Heroes"-style paranoid for this show.

I'm not saying you're wrong, just that I don't agree, and that I'd be disappointed if that was where the writers were driving this story arc.


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## Diamond Cross (Oct 24, 2010)

If this is a Whedon show I expect the girl to sometime develop dark hair and dark veins in her face.

And of course there'll be a reason to break the family up. Must have angst for the sake of angst without any real reason for the angst you know.

But I wonder what the heck is up with that one teacher and why does he have it in for this family?


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## Gog (Oct 25, 2010)

Fast Learner said:


> Mind you, I think the teacher is a bad guy with his eye out for kids with superpowers, but that shouldn't affect the kid's response.




He did just that when the teacher called him on his first A. The kid answered some question on the board.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 25, 2010)

Gog said:


> He did just that when the teacher called him on his first A. The kid answered some question on the board.




Yeah, and he should have asked for another problem...that's what I'd have done.

Of course, if he IS an evil teacher, my path would just get him noticed faster.


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## Vyvyan Basterd (Oct 25, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Wash, rinse, repeat enough times to prove he can't possibly be cheating




They covered that angle already. When the parents came in for the meeting with the teacher and principle(?), the teacher mentioned that their son might be abusing "attention-focusing" drugs to cheat. He seems out to get the kid no matter what. This could be a variation of the teacher feeling threatened by the student's knowledge.

But he could be a "bad guy." He was phoning someone when he saw the kid playing football. I assume it was the principle in the later parental meeting, but why phone instead of walking into her office?


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## Vyvyan Basterd (Oct 25, 2010)

Umbran said:


> While he's not working on this show, Joss Wheadon




Is he involved? I don't see him credited anywhere on IMDB related to this show.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 25, 2010)

Vyvyan Basterd said:


> They covered that angle already. When the parents came in for the meeting with the teacher and principle(?), the teacher mentioned that their son might be abusing "attention-focusing" drugs to cheat. He seems out to get the kid no matter what. This could be a variation of the teacher feeling threatened by the student's knowledge.
> 
> But he could be a "bad guy." He was phoning someone when he saw the kid playing football. I assume it was the principle in the later parental meeting, but why phone instead of walking into her office?




The teacher- or the writers- are full 'o' crap: attention focusing drugs help people with ADD/ADHD calm down and focus- they don't give you knowledge from out of the void.


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## Vyvyan Basterd (Oct 25, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> The teacher- or the writers- are full 'o' crap: attention focusing drugs help people with ADD/ADHD calm down and focus- they don't give you knowledge from out of the void.




I completely agree. But in the NoOrdinaryFamily'verse this seems to be true because the principle nodded in conjunction with the teacher. It may be crap in the real world, but whoever wrote that stinker set a precedent for the show. Hopefully it's just a matter of the characters grasping at straws to explain the unexplainable.


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## Crothian (Oct 25, 2010)

The teacher is just looking for a plausible explanation.  Kids don't just go from boarder line remedial level to genius over night.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 25, 2010)

> It may be crap in the real world, but whoever wrote that stinker set a precedent for the show. Hopefully it's just a matter of the characters grasping at straws to explain the unexplainable.




I hope so too.  Otherwise, this show is going to piss me off like some other recent sci-fi shows.  _Sanctuary_ had a plotline resolve by having a being cancel out a tsunami by creating a counter-tsunami- anyone who ever dropped a couple of rocks in a still pond knows better than that.



> Kids don't just go from boarder line remedial level to genius over night.




Two years ago, I'd have agreed with that statement without reservation.

A year and a half ago, however, Discovery aired a documentary about some of the world's smartest living humans, like the guy who learned Icelandic in a week.

A German guy depicted had been an average student for most of his life, then something _clicked_: not only is he a Math whiz, he can speak multiple languages...forward and backwards (they played an unintelligible portion of his interview backwards, revealing it to be slightly accented English in reverse).

Perhaps he was the inspiration for the kid's character.


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## John Crichton (Oct 26, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Two years ago, I'd have agreed with that statement without reservation.



I still do.  The examples you brought up don't dispel the notion at all.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 26, 2010)

John Crichton said:


> I still do.  The examples you brought up don't dispel the notion at all.




How so?  The German went from mediocre/average student to being an internationally recognized math & linguistic genius.

(The other guy I mentioned only because he was the centerpiece of the show.)

Edit: Daniel Tammet is the name od the one who learned Icelandic...still searching for the German.

Edit #2: he's Rüdiger Gamm, and didn't show any superior mental abilities until age 21.


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## John Crichton (Oct 26, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> How so?  The German went from mediocre/average student to being an internationally recognized math & linguistic genius.



Because it proves nothing and we don't know the whole story.  Also, those situations are absolutely the exception especially in the case of the kid showing mastery of multiple advanced sciences.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 26, 2010)

John Crichton said:


> Because it proves nothing and we don't know the whole story.




Proves nothing?  This is a RW person who went from nondescript, average student to math/language genius at age 21.  What more story do you need?



> *Wired Magazine*
> In Germany, a young man named Rüdiger Gamm, who is not autistic and did poorly at math in school, has trained himself to divide prime numbers to the 60th decimal point, calculate fifth roots, and raise numbers to the ninth power in his head - skills previously thought to be the lofty province of math geniuses and savants like the calculating twins.
> 
> People typically use short-term memory to solve math problems, but PET scans show that Gamm has recruited areas of his long-term episodic memory - the neurological archive of his life story - to perform his lightning calculations. Brian Butterworth of the Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience in London compares what Gamm is doing to the way "computers extend the capacity of RAM by using swap space on the hard drive to create a larger 'virtual memory.'"



And that's just a RW guy without any superwhatzit altering his brain.



> Also, those situations are absolutely the exception especially in the case of the kid showing mastery of multiple advanced sciences.



I don't get what you're driving at- I'm comparing very rare RW "beautiful minds" with one in fiction who exhibits some similar abilities.


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## John Crichton (Oct 26, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Proves nothing?  This is a RW person who went from nondescript, average student to math/language genius at age 21.  What more story do you need?
> 
> 
> And that's just a RW guy without any superwhatzit altering his brain.
> ...



And I'm saying they aren't the same and only similar on the surface.  Awesome memory is indeed awesome.  That's not what JJ can do.  It's barely a fraction.  People can lift some pretty awesome weights as well.  But not nearly as much as what Jim can do.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 26, 2010)

First of all, Rüdiger isn't memorizing, he's calculating.

Secondly, the main reason I brought him up wasn't to say that he- or other RW geniuses, savants or synesthetes- are just like the kid in terms of capabilities, but to illustrate that the change from mundane to magnificent can happen in the RW and with alarming speed.

Rüdiger's transformation was not literally overnight, but it did happen in months.  

And Tannet's feat of achieving fluency in one of the world's toughest languages is no mean feat either.  That wasn't memorization either: he participated in an unscripted live interview to prove his mastery.  How many out there sti can't pronounce Eyjafjallajökull despite months of practice?


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## Crothian (Oct 26, 2010)

Even still if this happened no teacher is first going to to think "Wow, we have another Rüdiger!"  If you hear hoof beats think horses not zebras and the horses say the kid is cheating.


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## John Crichton (Oct 26, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> First of all... sti can't pronounce Eyjafjallajökull despite months of practice?



Yes, those feats are impressive.  No, they are not common in the slightest bit.  Yes, they are a small fraction of what JJ can do which is the same thing as an impressive feat of strength.

So it still stands very true that one doesn't go from struggling student to genius overnight.  A statement that you don't agree with that I still do.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 26, 2010)

Crothian said:


> Even still if this happened no teacher is first going to to think "Wow, we have another Rüdiger!"  If you hear hoof beats think horses not zebras and the horses say the kid is cheating.




Which is why if accused of cheating, I, at least, would _insist_ on being given a chance to prove I'm not a cheat.  And parents who believe in their kid's _honesty_ would ask for the same (especially parents who are living as not just zebras, but winged zebracorns).  A pop quiz covering math the teacher had and had not taught would be a pretty good indicator- barring continued idiocy over "attention-focusing" drugs- that he's not cheating.



> So it still stands very true that one doesn't go from struggling student to genius overnight. A statement that you don't agree with that I still do.




It seems we have a failure to communicate.

Rüdiger's case of incredible transformation within what was seemingly an impossible timespan is a documented RW fact (one which I suggested may be an inspiration for the son's character).

This being so, his abilities are far more within the realm of possibilities than anyone else in the family, and if tested, would more likely be seen as the latest example of redefining what is possible for humanity at the upper extreme of the bell curve.

IOW, unlike the rest of his family, if the full extent of his abilities WERE revealed, he'd more likely be compared to people like Rüdiger or Tannet than his Mom to Usain Bolt, his Dad to Mark Henry, and his sister to anything but "a freak.". This is because we have exemplars who seem to be able to do similar feats to what he does; nobody on Earth runs 40mph, much less 400mph+; nobody jumps for miles; nobody reads minds (sis would definitely be able to claim the Randi Prize).


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## John Crichton (Oct 26, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> It seems we have a failure to communicate.



It's possible.  Then again, I've simply said I disagree with your interpretation of the family's powers compared to anything that exists in the real world.


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## Crothian (Oct 26, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Which is why if accused of cheating, I, at least, would _insist_ on being given a chance to prove I'm not a cheat.




But he is not you.  Nor is he an adult.  I'd do it to, but when I was 13 or how ever old the character was I'm not sure I would have.  He's not one to speak up and challenge authority as they established in the first few episodes.  He's slowly breaking out of that and I like that the show is showing character growth but not drastic character growth.


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## Insight (Oct 26, 2010)

I think the teacher is just out to get JJ.  He doesn't seem to allow for _any_ possibility that JJ _isn't_ cheating.  The teacher seems very two-dimensional to me.  I'd like to see the writers explore the cause of the teacher's dislike of JJ and/or his reasons for deep distrust of people in general.  At the very least, it would make more sense to the audience, who only see the teacher as a cheap foil for JJ at this point.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 27, 2010)

Crothian said:


> But he is not you.  Nor is he an adult.  I'd do it to, but when I was 13 or how ever old the character was I'm not sure I would have.  He's not one to speak up and challenge authority as they established in the first few episodes.  He's slowly breaking out of that and I like that the show is showing character growth but not drastic character growth.




I know he's not me and that people differ.  However, that plagiarism accusation leveled at me?  That happened when I was in 5th grade.  

And no, I was no pet nor frequent volunteer of any kind.  I did and still do hate to volunteer in class, nor am I one to clash with authority.

But I *REALLY* hate being accused of dishonesty.



> It's possible. Then again, I've simply said I disagree with your interpretation of the family's powers compared to anything that exists in the real world.




Really, I think it's just JJ's where we're clashing.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 28, 2010)

Latest episode, not too shabby.  RW consequences for screwing up with telepathy, JJs powers broadened and revealed (along with other secrets), mom gets extra bossy with hubby & son.


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## Umbran (Nov 2, 2010)

I think I'm an episode behind or so - just watched "No Ordinary Vigilante" last night.

My basic thought?  Boring.  

The concept of this series has merit, and I feel the actors (Mom and Dad, certainly) have the chops.  But the writing is weak.  I'm left feeling like this show desperately needs a JMS or Joss Wheadon behind it - someone with a deep understanding of the pacing of the genre.


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## ShadowX (Nov 2, 2010)

I agree with Umbran.  As much as the premise and the adult characters interest me, the pacing is infuriatingly slow.  It basically comes down to them milking the origin story.  The baddies need to come into play now.  It also wouldn't be bad if the Dad accomplished something useful with his powers more often.  He manages to bungle most of his operations.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 11, 2010)

I don't think of this show as a purely superheroic show.  It's one part supers, to be sure, but it's also American drama/sitcom as well.

Think of it as a superheroic version of _Joan of Arcadia._


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## fba827 (Nov 11, 2010)

Umbran said:


> I think I'm an episode behind or so - just watched "No Ordinary Vigilante" last night.
> 
> My basic thought?  Boring.
> 
> The concept of this series has merit, and I feel the actors (Mom and Dad, certainly) have the chops.  But the writing is weak.  I'm left feeling like this show desperately needs a JMS or Joss Wheadon behind it - someone with a deep understanding of the pacing of the genre.






ShadowX said:


> I agree with Umbran.  As much as the premise and the adult characters interest me, the pacing is infuriatingly slow.  It basically comes down to them milking the origin story.  The baddies need to come into play now.  It also wouldn't be bad if the Dad accomplished something useful with his powers more often.  He manages to bungle most of his operations.






Dannyalcatraz said:


> I don't think of this show as a purely superheroic show.  It's one part supers, to be sure, but it's also American drama/sitcom as well.
> 
> Think of it as a superheroic version of _Joan of Arcadia._





As odd a statement as this is, I have to say it anyway:

If I thought of this as a superhero show, I'd find it lacking.  But when I approach the show with the idea that it is a family show and they just happen to have super powers, suddenly, I like it a lot more.

So, for me, I think it's about perspective and expectations.  It's not a superhero show (as pointed out above, the writing and pacing aren't crisp enough for an action-y superhero romp; but as a family drama, sure, i can enjoy it for it's silliness rather than feel cheated and deconstructing it).


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## John Crichton (Nov 16, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> I don't think of this show as a purely superheroic show.  It's one part supers, to be sure, but it's also American drama/sitcom as well.
> 
> Think of it as a superheroic version of _Joan of Arcadia._



Not a bad comparison!

Although JoA was better.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 16, 2010)

John Crichton said:


> Not a bad comparison!
> 
> Although JoA was better.




Well, you had Joe Mantegna AND God in the show, and that will get you an edge.


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## Asmo (Nov 18, 2010)

Latest episode wasn´t all that bad.

Asmo


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 24, 2010)

Straight AND homoerotic "unintentional" double entendres; adult hypocrisy in the face of JJ's actions, Daphne trapped by her desires...

I liked this episode!


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## Diamond Cross (Nov 24, 2010)

Well, the wife's boss seems to be behind the powers thing, but it's still ambiguous as to what his real motives is. Or if he's a good or bad guy or an anti-hero.

I hope they do the reveal before the end of the season.

And I'm still too used to Julie Benz as Darla from the BTVS and Angel shows.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 24, 2010)

One thing, though...I bet the writers never read Larry Niven's "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex" essay...otherwise, they might have had her stocking up on the lipstick!


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## Diamond Cross (Nov 24, 2010)

One thing I've been wondering about Michael Chiklis for a long time is does he shave his head or is he naturally bald?


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## DumbPaladin (Dec 1, 2010)

Diamond Cross said:


> I hope they do the reveal before the end of the season.
> 
> And I'm still too used to Julie Benz as Darla from the BTVS and Angel shows.





I keep expecting her to go totally evil and snap Michael Chiklis' neck.  It's also very odd to see the 7th Heaven dad be some uber-evil conglomerate guru.

I'm getting a little tired of how stupid a lot of the decisions are by the heroes, while the villains seem to more or less make pretty good decisions.  There's also way too much bad stuff that would be prevented if some of the characters (particularly the daughter) didn't lie or keep things secret quite so often.  You'd think after all this time, they'd have figured out that usually leads to very bad things happening to them ... but no.

There's really nothing else on against it I want to watch, but if something shows up, I'm so gone ...


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## Diamond Cross (Dec 1, 2010)

> I'm getting a little tired of how stupid a lot of the decisions are by  the heroes, while the villains seem to more or less make pretty good  decisions.




Except for one thing, these are people who are very inexperienced with dealing with these kinds of situations as well as dealing with their superhuman abilities.

Not every hero can be as crazy prepared as Batman nor be God Mode MAry Sue like Superman or Batman either.


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## fba827 (Dec 1, 2010)

maybe i missed something, but when mom's assistant came to the house to check on the kids and had a date with her, did she mention her dates name (first and last? or just first) ?


If it was first and last name, I would think JJ might think it odd that the date has the same name as the fake name he used online.  Though, if just first name was said, then okay, it's not as coincidental...


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## fba827 (Dec 1, 2010)

Diamond Cross said:


> One thing I've been wondering about Michael Chiklis for a long time is does he shave his head or is he naturally bald?




Thinking back to when he starred in The Commish, his hair was fairly thin/thinning on the top while he still had hair around (from his ears to behind his head).

Also, there was one scene in Ordinary Family where it looked like a tiny bit of stubble starting to grow in around his head, but not on top.

So my guess is, he is bald on the top and whatever hair grows in the back of his head is shaved.

But that's all  guess based on poor non-specific observations.


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## Villano (Dec 1, 2010)

Diamond Cross said:


> One thing I've been wondering about Michael Chiklis for a long time is does he shave his head or is he naturally bald?





Chiklis claims that he shaved his head for a play when he was younger and then applied greasepaint without putting powder on his head first.  Supposedly, after doing this for a long period of time, it killed the hair follicles.

However, iirc, a doctor once said that greasepaint probably wouldn't do that.  Most likely, he was going bald at the time but didn't notice because he was shaving his head.


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## DumbPaladin (Dec 2, 2010)

fba827 said:


> maybe i missed something, but when mom's assistant came to the house to check on the kids and had a date with her, did she mention her dates name (first and last? or just first) ?
> 
> 
> If it was first and last name, I would think JJ might think it odd that the date has the same name as the fake name he used online.  Though, if just first name was said, then okay, it's not as coincidental...





I JUST realized that last nihgt ... no, in fact, they did introduce him as Will, because Daphne remembered that was his name whens he told JJ that she couldn't read his mind ... why she wouldn't tell the assistant that, is another one of those "dumb decisions they'll all come to regret" ... grr.

And you're right, JJ being a "genius" should have figured out something is up with the assistant finding a guy via the website who just HAPPENS to have the same name as the fake profile he created.


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## John Crichton (Dec 2, 2010)

DumbPaladin said:


> And you're right, JJ being a "genius" should have figured out something is up with the assistant finding a guy via the website who just HAPPENS to have the same name as the fake profile he created.



The power he got was for memory and all that.  Not common sense or giving a damn.


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## John Crichton (Dec 13, 2010)

Re-watched Star Trek.  Saw a familiar face.

Guess who played young James Kirk?


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