Well, we got the big reveal/introduction. Here's hoping he lives up to the hype.

Well, he certainly looks creepy enough in that picture to live up to my expectations. He has a completely terrifying smile. That was my first thought, before I had any idea who he was.

I thought he looked like the most adorable grandpa until Molly freaked out.

I could have sworn that the actor playing Bad Daddy Parkman played Greg's father on Felicity as well. Does anybody know if that's true?


ETA:
After digging around, it's true. The actor in the photo played GG's dad on Felicity. Kinda cool!

I propose two possible new thread titles, both on the same theme...

1... 2... Daddy's Coming For You... - Pa Parkman

or

A Nightmare On South Street - Pa Parkman

Seriously, if my kid was as dim as Matt, I'd play his ass just like that. And I'd smirk as I walked away, too.

This man is one scary motherfucker.

Playing up on Matt's abandonment issues, pretending to be remorseful, pretending to bond with his boy, and then trapping him in his freaking nightmares?

And that smirky face when he walked out of the apartment...dude is ice cold. Hope Matt blows him away.

What? It'll be very therapuetic for him.

Well, I was pretty much impressed. The "Don't shoot, I'm a harmless fat old guy!" to "Yeah, I leave you punching each other in your own nightmares" transition could have been a bit smoother, but still good.

this guy freaked me the hell out. He's manipulative, psychotic... god, it's awesome.

My conclusion is that his power is NOT really an extension or development of Matt's telepathy. Pa is lying about that.

Obviously he DOES have some capacity to tap into people's minds. But I think its a fairly automatic process to toss back their worst nightmare at them. I think its entirely possible that he doesn't even KNOW specifically what he's sending back their way, other than the fact that its nasty.

I could be wrong. It's just that's how I'D write him (then again I had ideas on Bob, and so far those are holding up, so maybe my guesses aren't that bad).

My feelings are exactly the same as yours, Francie Nolan.

I think he was lying about the telepathy, too. I really like how he had a strong grasp on it nonetheless and was able to hide his thoughts from Matt. I guess it's too early to tell if that block is a part of his powers or a part of his extensive history with powers.

Mr. Parkman's certainly a great villain. He's gotten five minutes of screen time and I'm already scared of him.



I vote for that one.

Ha! Love the Nightmare on South Street title.



I'm with you, MoreRidonkulus. I think he was just lying too.
I wonder in what ways his power differs from Candace's. It seems pretty similar, are we seeing a repeat power again maybe?


Whatever, this dude is an ice cold psychotic bastard. Good times. lol

To me the most chilling thing about Parkman Sr. was that he never expressed one ounce of remorse over his decision to trap Molly in a coma. He rationalized and putzed around it, but stood by that decision. And it was really brilliantly done by the actor because I couldn't decide whether it was "scared old man protecting himself" or "evil fucking sociopath" until he walked out of the apartment. Only now in retrospect do I realize, Nathan really should have just blown Maury's head off when he had the chance.

Candice never clearly knew what was inside people's heads, I think. She could guess, and did, but it seemed like she was limited to things she knew about.

Pa Parkman, I think, isn't even building an illusion as much as a delusion. It's like he's specifically digging out one thing--their biggest fear--and shoving them inside it. So in a way he's more limited than Candice, because she could make an illusion about ANYTHING. Then again, it seems like he can incapacitate someone pretty effortlessly, and heck, maybe even kill pretty easily (if he can scare people to death).

Basically I think he's Freddy Krueger.

But is he more limited in his power or is he just so fucking psychotic that he only uses it in the worst way?

If he's Heroes version of Freddy Krueger, then I'd say its both. His power is limited to a dream state (even if it can be a "waking dream" its still a dream), and its all about presenting people with their fears, but the very fact that he HAS this power has probably twisted the guy's mind as well.

And if you have a nightmare power how WOULD you use it any other way?

The only benevolent use I can think of for a nightmare power is to help people get rid of phobias- spiders, heights, whatever. Anyway, Maury's smile as he walked away from Matt and Nathan was brilliant, as was the filming of the dual nightmares. Well done, whoever directed this episode.

Well, Pa really creeped me out that's for sure. I also don't believe that his power is in anyway related to Matt's, other than that they're both mental powers, rather than physical powers.

I actually believe they are the same power. The fact that Matt was able to break them free of the nightmare AND that he was able to project his thoughts into someone else's mind for the first time seemed to indicate that his powers are far more far reaching than we'd initially seen. If he can project thoughts into peoples minds and read peoples minds... who's to say the next step isn't exactly what Daddy Parkman is now doing?

Needless to say, the possibility that Matt might one day become like his father, even if he isn't evil, also creeps me out. I'd like to think they're separate powers as Pa seems to be able to trap people in a mental dream reality that's projected onto the real world and Matt can stop it because he can actually hear what's in people's heads and therefore sort of mentally shake someone away from their dream.

The Nightmare Man is fracking scary. Of course, I loved him.

What a creepy ass mother--...Not only with what he can do but, as pointed out by another poster, his lack of remorse for his own son...

I really liked this new villain too, much more than Elle. He was a much more disturbing and effective psycho than she was. I'm actually interested in finding out more about his character. The only mystery with Elle is "who's her Daddy?"

The great thing about Papa Parkman (that name is so much better than Papa Suresh, by the way), is that he gets more and more creepy the more I think about him. During the episode, I didn't actually think he was that bad. A little sick, maybe, but not exactly frightening. Now, several days later, I'm terrified of the man. Just... blurg. Creepy man, he is.

I think what made him so effective as a villain is that in appearance he seems so harmless. I totally didn't see what he was going to do to Nathan and Matt coming. And being able to trap someone in their own nightmare is just so horrible, even thinking about it gives me shivers.

But what's really scary is that despite his obvious evil streak and badass power. There is another super out there who even he is scared of!

I think it was awesome that he could make the nightmare experiences so visceral that Nathan and Matt were actually fighting each other without realizing it. I've had dreams where I was falling and when I woke up it felt like I had just landed and hit the bed at the end of the fall. Insane. And kickass.

Over in the Sylar thread someone was hypothesizing that Papa Parkman could be someone who might be able to put Sylar in his place or give us more insight into his motivations and actual thoughts. Imagine the depth we can get from other characters based on what their nightmares are.

I would love to see what the worst nightmares would be for a lot of the main characters.

If there's one purpose I want to see the Nightmare Man put to before the season is over, it's gotta be this. Sylar's perpetually manipulating everyone and deluding himself, so it's hard to tell what's really going on in his head (and even harder to get him to acknowledge it). And while he might be vulnerable at the moment without his powers, he's never actually had to face someone who's bigger and badder. Giving Sylar a trip to nightmare-land courtesy of Daddy Parkman is just too perfect a chance for character development to pass up.

So far Maury's shaping up to be an awesome villain, and he's even more awesome for all the character development potential that his power brings to the table.

Does anyone else think, now they know about Matt's evil daddy and his connection to the inner circle, that Matt's streak of crappy luck has less to do with random chance and more to do with having a powerful, well-connected sadist for a father? Well, maybe not the dyslexia, since I can't figure out how anyone would arrange for a learning disability, but a lot of it could have been set up, no?

Hey, maybe that is Matt's nightmare? Being afraid that Daddy left because he was 'stupid'??

Actually his dyslexia kind of did appear his nightmare with the guard speaking several lines backwards.

I think it's pretty intriguing to look at Maury Parkman, and then to look at what an asshole Matt Parkman became in "Five Years Gone" - suddenly that transition from nice schlubby cop to jackbooted fascisto makes a little more sense.

It's kind of a creepy commentary that characters with the power to look into other people's minds end up being some of the most sadistic, soul-deadened people on the show.

For sure. I think it could provide some good characterization for them. But I would hope they reserve it for the main heroes. I don't really care about Sylar's worst fear. He's so played out. We have new villains now and it should be their time to shine. Plus at least with Pa Parkman I know random characters with potential won't be killed to prop him. Or at least not to the degree they do with Sylar.

Actually, what makes this guy scary (to me, anyway) is that, in addition to his creepy power, I don't know what's true about him and what's not. How much of what he told Matt in the apartment was true? Or was it all lies?

Do BDP and Matt have the same power, and he's simply developed his ability much further than Matt has? Does BDP have more facets to his mental abilities than Matt? Or was he lying, and they have related - but completely different - powers?

I'm not sure that there is. I mean, was Papa Parkman really afraid for his life, or was he lying again? Is he in danger from the Elder-Killer, or is he the one behind the deaths? He has a picture of Bob with the S-symbol on it. What is that all about?

I'm not sure there is either. That evil grin as he left the apartment definitely has me doubting that he's being hunted by some big bad. I really think he's the big bad. Although with us only 5 episodes in I wouldn't be surprised to be proven wrong on that.



I think the suggestion is there in the episode that Matt's powers might be exactly what Maury says they are... it's starts off as reading minds and becomes so much more. I might have doubted him except for the leap Matt takes in this episode when he projects his thoughts into Nathan's mind and breaks out of the Nightmare. I took that as a suggestion that Maury might have been telling the truth... if only about that one thing.

This is actually half the reason I think it would be so effective for Sylar to run into Daddy Parkman. If Sylar's going to be developed as a character in his own right rather than just a neutered villain, he needs a reality check that he's not the biggest Big Bad around. Getting nightmare-pwned would put him in his place, and would let Daddy Parkman further solidify his own Big Bad status. What better way to show off your villainy by effortlessly laying a complete and utter smack-down on the last guy who had the job?



If it turns out he's a key player in knocking off the other elder heroes, isn't that exactly what IS happening? (Yeah, not as messy as Sylar, but still. If Maury IS somehow involved in the badness going down so far this season, I doubt the body count he leaves behind will be insignificant, or won't include some really unfortunate deaths.)

I'm not sure, though; it's that turn of phrase, "reality check". If he's got the Intuitive Aptitude going -- well, it might not be any use against laser beams or sonic blasts or whatever, but I'd guess it's probably going to give him a good idea of when he's facing an induced hallucination. (I mean, if Matt frickin' Parkman can eventually figure out what's going on, Sylar should be able to analyze the heck out of the situation with his original power.)

Unless, of course, you mean that he gets pwned while powerless, which, coming back around, I think even Matt frickin' Parkman could manage at this point.)

Depends on whether Sylar has his IA or not, which depends on what's up with his powers disappearing (if he has the virus, his IA should be broken too). And even if he DOES have his IA, or is just sharp enough to catch on, knowing it's a hallucination wouldn't necessarily mean he could DO anything about it, or that it wouldn't affect him. It seems like Daddy Parkman can lock people's minds down pretty thoroughly when he wants to. Matt might have only managed to break free because of his power, or because Maury only intended it to be a temporary distraction anyway (if he wanted to take Matt and Nathan out he could have put them in a coma like Molly, or killed them himself while they were busy tripping out). Molly seems to be well aware that she's "just" having nightmares, but she's still not able to escape from it, and it doesn't mean what she sees affects her any less.



Sylar's a lot more vulnerable at the moment, but he's still not a pushover, and still seems to see his situation as a temporary inconvenience on the road back to regaining his Big Bad status. IMO, the only real chance of getting to him is to cut through all his mental defenses and psychosis and self-delusions, and hit him right where it hurts. Hence why Daddy Parkman would be the best one for the job.

This is going to sound weird, but during this week's episode, when Arthur 'thanked' Maury for his 'sacrifices' by killing him, I realized that I was going to miss Big Bad Daddy Parkman, and I don't even know why. Maybe it was because the actor is so good, maybe it's because this means no more amusing projections of Linderman - though Arthur isn't using them anymore now that he's completely recovered - or maybe because he actually turned out to care about his son.

Whatever the reason, I did feel a pang when he died, and another one when Matt found out.

I concur! And I'm glad Matt got to know that his father did care for him. But I had a feeling Arthur was gonna do away with Daddy Parkman - he's not one for sharing.

Let's raise a glass to Maurice "Maury" Parkman - he was flawed and messed up, but you loved your son and we love your son, so somewhere in that messed up jerk of a man once stood a man with dignity. We're sorry the madness turned you evil - but you went down swinging. You share the fault with your son - you're a little to trusting of those you feel you've helped, but the look who you trusted. You we're human - welcome to the big wall of Heroes death - we have jackets. See you in flashbacks my friend.

Mazel Tov! :)

The strange part about his death was that it was so quick and sudden, it was like it was a last minute decision made by the writer. I mean we saw Maurice as one of the four main villains on the wall in Africa, now he's dead.

I thought that was Arthur on the wall. And I think that was the point, to have his death so quick and sudden. It shows Arthur, his temperament, and that he's not one for helping those other than himself. He was using Maury and when he didn't need him anymore he did a way with him. It looked as if he expected Maury to act in such a way, or even a test of how far he'd follow. As soon as Arthur was walking again I didn't see Maury lasting very long.

Wasn't there four guys on the wall? I knew Knox and Arthur were there, I thought I saw Maury and somebody else too (don't remember who, Sylar I think).

Picture Here

Arthur Sylar
Knox Flint

Ah thanks, though now looking at that picture, I don't think that looks like Sylar at all. But at this point, who else could it be?

I like that now we've got Matt using the same power in the opposite way, and to great effect. Instead of finding what most frightened Knox and paralyzing him with terror, he figured out what Knox wanted and showed it to him so he'd go away. That's just neat, and coming right after Maury's death, it was almost like a passing of the torch.