Heroes: Deep Space Nine, or, Star Trek explains the Petrellis

[selenak]

This morning's epiphany, which only a Star Tre: Deep Space Nine fan who recently watched Heroes and contemplates the Petrelli family dynamic can have: the Petrellis are clearly Ferengi. I mean, Nathan = Quark, Peter = Rom, Angela = Ishka. Obviously. For non-DS9 watchers, Ishka openly prefers her younger son, who is the sweet, caring one, and has a somewhat frosty relationship with the older, which is partly due to her and Quark being far too much alike to get along well for longer than five minutes. She's also seemingly powerless and later becomes revealed as the power behind the throne. Meanwhile, Quark at first sight seems to be Mr. Exploitation who only bosses Rom around, but later on we see how deep the bond between the brothers is. There is also head kissing. And Quark is a deep believer in success, ruthlessness and Ferengi values, but has a secret romantic buried inside which stops him from making it to the top. And Rom starts out with an inferiority complex but comes into his own and accumulates more and more abilities. Oh, and the late Keldar, their dead father, wasn't all that. See where I'm getting here?

Since Hiro is a Star Trek fan and has had excellent scenes with both Petrelli brothers separately, I expect him to notice this as soon as he gets to observe the entire family together.

The only thing I'm not sure about is whether this makes Claire Nog? And who the hell is Odo?

More thoughts about the Petrellis, not related to Star Trek, caused by rewatching some episodes and reading a lot of fanfiction:



kangeiko recently posted some meta on how fanfiction tends to widen the age gap and make one character more, another less powerful than the on screen source actually presents. It's interesting that this happens as early as the not yet finished first season of a show when you go by some Heroes fanfiction. I'd also call it a blurring of the edges: Nathan comes across as far gentler and Peter as far more uncritical and adoring in fanfic. Of course, there have been on screen developments to go along with this as well - I don't think Nathan actually said something sharp to Peter after Peter's breakdown in Texas, for example - but it's still selective reading which makes for a different power dynamic than what is presented on screen. I'm thinking of the brunch episode in particular, which comes shortly after Nathan's press conference "my brother tried to commit suicide" stunt, and thus contains an unterstandably angry Peter. Who shows up chez Nathan anyway, because he wants Nathan to get that picture from Linderman for him, and when Nathan tries to shoo him away because there is a reporter around, goes into a full-fledged fraternal powerplay by sitting down in front of the reporter and engaging in barbed double talk. What sums up the Petrellis is that the moment the reporter goes after an actual weak spot of Nathan's by revealing the Las Vegas Niki intermezzo, Peter stops with the baiting and comes to the rescue. I also love the follow-up in Peter's apartment when Nathan is downright open (for Nathan) and Peter is still in full sarcasm mode. What I'm getting at: Peter might be the show's obvious candidate for the emo boy archetype, but he gives as good as he takes, and no matter what his mother says in the pilot, he definitely isn't seeing Nathan through rosy-coloured spectacles. (Note his utter lack of surprise that Nathan cheated on Heidi at all.) Moreover, he usually does get what he wants from Nathan; not before a lot of arguing, but he gets it. So, no, I don't really see him as the passive accepting character within the family. I'd position he also has the Petrelli ambition, just not expressed in the same way Nathan has: Peter jumps on the "I'm special" train as eagerly as Gabriel Gray does, and chucks his nurse existence for potential superherodom without hesitation. Now, of course he wants to save the cheerleader and save the world, but he wants to do that by being special, not by continuing as Peter Petrelli, nurse, which in turn was a way not to be Peter Petrelli, the next lawyer in the family.

Now, one can't watch this show very long without noticing the increasing amount of fraternal touching. Subtext fun for a part of the fans aside, I think what it does relate to is the give and take in the power dynamic as well. Because aside from obvious comfort situations in hospitals, they usually do it when they want something from the other. Again, look at the brunch episode where Nathan starts with the shoulder clasp to get Peter away from the reporter and Peter later, while making his "I dare you" speech containing the threat to fly right in front of the reporter, delivers said speech while locking Nathan in an full-fledged embrace. And Nathan usually couples later season attempts to tell Peter not to run of/get the Suresh therapy/stay around with attempts of a physical lock down as well. It strikes me that Angela Petrelli, otoh, does not appear to be a physical person at all, no matter whether with Peter or Nathan, and friendly or hostile situations (when she has the conversation about Claire with Nathan, they spend a good deal of it not looking at each other, and sit far apart), so I wonder where that kind of expressiveness comes from. Correlating to it, neither of her sons actually is seen making a demand of Angela, arguing with her (in the sense of wanting something from her) in the show so far. Whether they see her as too powerless or too powerful for that is arguable. We'll see whether the arrival of Claire (and presumably the revelation of Angela's working behind the scenes is) will change this aspect as well...

Comments

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

And who the hell is Odo?

Most definitely Claude. Of course he hasn't met Nathan yet, but I can absolutely see them having a relationship that is outward hostility and inner friendship.
And going with this analysis, would that make Meredith Quark's Klingon wife (I'm blanking out on her name)?

I find your thoughts on the brotherly relationship very intriguing. Sadly, I don't have to anything to respond yet. (It's early. :) )

[selenak.livejournal.com]

*slaps forehead* Of course! Claude is so Odo. And hey, with his snarking about "how can you not want to punch that face each time you see it?" to Peter when they're passing Nathan's election posters, they're off to a good start.*g*

Quark's Klingon wife was Grilka, but Meredith strikes me more as the Leeta type. (True, Leeta was married to Rom not Quark, but then if Claire is Nog, we're dealing with different paternity anyway.) However, I can see Heidi - Natima parallels (Natima was Quark's Cardassian lost love, and the parallels would be the feeling of guilt about the past - Quark used her id during the Occupation to make some profit).

[syredronning.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this great analysis of the Petrellis. I'm a big fan of them. Can't add much at this point, though :)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

You can always tell me where I can find icons...

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

It all works for me - with the mysterious forces behind the paper factory and lindemann as Bureau 39 (or whatever it was called) and Sylar as Gul Dukat (sorry, lousy at spelling alien names).

[selenak.livejournal.com]

with the mysterious forces behind the paper factory and lindemann as Bureau 39

You think they're the same then? Because I had the impression that Lindermann and Primatech work separately (hence Mr. Bennet and the Haitian trying to abduct Nathan which Lindermann's guys wouldn't have had to). However, I'd cast Primatech as the bureau, definitely... and Lindermann as a more sinister version of the Nagus.

Gul Dukat is the correct spelling, so you got it right. (Delenn's mentor on Babylon 5 is spelled Dukhat, but the Cardassian guy on DS9 is Dukat. A fan's life is not an easy one.)

[12-12-12.livejournal.com]

I can never get enough Petrelli meta. Damn. Now I wish I watched Star Trek.

I'd position he also has the Petrelli ambition, just not expressed in the same way Nathan has...

A very nice observation. In a way, I'd say that Peter has actually been *more* successful than Nathan in achieving *his* goals and *his* aims, and not just becoming the Next Petrelli Lawyer. Everyone assumes that Nathan is the independent one, the golden boy of the family, the one who Knows What He Is Doing. Whereas Peter is labelled as the drifter, the dreamer, the troublemaker in the family.

But Nathan doesn't even know what he really wants until it's pushed under his nose or until Peter points it out--and even when he does find something that he wants (Meredith, Claire, stopping the explosion) he almost always gives it up for the sake of the Plan that he's been groomed for since birth.

Whereas Peter flails around a lot, but, like you said--he usually *does* get what he wants (unlike Nathan). He doesn't want to be a lawyer--he doesn't have to be. He wants Linderman's painting--he gets it. He wants to go off and be a hero--well, that's what he does.

I think that's part of the reason why Nathan's a fatalist and Peter's not. Nathan's used to things in his life going the way they were planned, while he's powerless to stop it. Whereas Peter's used to making his own way, even if it means a lack of approval and love from his parents. So I definitely think that Peter's not as helpless as most people believe he is--especially when it comes to dealing with Nathan.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Now that the first season is over, I'm somewhat glad this still holds up in light of later eps.*g*

Whereas Peter flails around a lot, but, like you said--he usually *does* get what he wants (unlike Nathan).

I once said to cadesama that their onscreen dynamic in this regard can be shortened to this:

Peter: I want.
Nathan: You can't.
Argument: *ensues*
Peter: *does stuff, usually involving troublesome situation for self*
Nathan: *ends up doing what Peter wanted from him in the first place*

I think that's part of the reason why Nathan's a fatalist and Peter's not.

That, and it's part of the older/younger brother constellation. When Nathan says in .07% that we are formed by people's expectations of us, you can apply that to both brothers, in a different way. The expectations for Nathan were always rather high, from school grades, "most likely to", professional success, etc., and if Angela's comments to Peter in the pilot are anything to go buy, if you weren't IMPRESSIVE in that household all the time, the alternative was being ignored. Whereas apparantly nobody had many expectations of Peter, the younger, and this gave Peter the freedom to figure out what he wanted, and go for it.

However, Peter's independence is relative, no pun intended, just as Nathan's fatalism and conformity is. They each have limits. Peter spends a lot of the season trying to get Nathan to be with him in the whole exploration of superpowers deal, and I remember early viewers wondering about that (much as Claire does when she asks "why do you keep running back to him?" in The Hard Part), and he does rely to some extent on the older brother bailing him out of trouble mechanism, and both are symptoms of the same thing, which is spelled out for us textually in the finale in case we missed it so far: because he needs Nathan emotionally. Not so much for practical purposes (I love that Peter has no idea what exactly he expects Nathan to do when he shows up in the garage), he just needs him.

Conversely, Nathan's conformity, fatalism and staying on the pre-planned course, whether it's the normal career course or later the big plan course, break down each time when it comes to a "Peter or..." situation. So he does show up in the alley, he does say what Peter wants to hear on the rooftop, and so forth until the finale, though in Nathan's case, the episode where it is spelled out for us textually is earlier, in .07%, because he really can't do without Peter in his life.

So I definitely think that Peter's not as helpless as most people believe he is--especially when it comes to dealing with Nathan.

Oh no. Threatening to commit suicide a few hours after finding out his father, whom Nathan hero-worshipped, had done that, unless Nathan gives him what he wants? And again, the whole brunch scene deal? Peter is a Petrelli, too. ♥

[12-12-12.livejournal.com]

Peter's definitely a Petrelli--he's just...on the opposite end of the scale of Petrelliness from Angela, IMO.

Peter: I want.
Nathan: You can't.
Argument: *ensues*

LOL! I love that. And I love that they signalled the change in this dynamic after Peter "died" in 0.07%. Then it's no longer, "I want" and "You can't," but "You will" from Peter, and "I don't know if I can" from Nathan.

Peter spends a lot of the season trying to get Nathan to be with him in the whole exploration of superpowers deal, and I remember early viewers wondering about that (much as Claire does when she asks "why do you keep running back to him?" in The Hard Part)...he needs Nathan emotionally. Not so much for practical purposes (I love that Peter has no idea what exactly he expects Nathan to do when he shows up in the garage), he just needs him.

There's definitely a generational element in there, and I find it highly amusing (also realistic in terms of sibling/family interactions) that Claire finds Peter's emotional need of Nathan puzzling and frustrating, even though *she* has the exact same reaction to *Peter*. She has no idea exactly what she wants him to do--she just needs him to do *something* to fix it, because he's the older brother in her world-view and that's what he does.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Peter's definitely a Petrelli--he's just...on the opposite end of the scale of Petrelliness from Angela, IMO.

Absolutely. I really hope we get a flashback to Petrelli Senior next season so we can find out what he was like first hand (as opposed to via reports from other parties).

LOL! I love that. And I love that they signalled the change in this dynamic after Peter "died" in 0.07%. Then it's no longer, "I want" and "You can't," but "You will" from Peter, and "I don't know if I can" from Nathan.

True! That was a significant shift for them.

There's definitely a generational element in there, and I find it highly amusing (also realistic in terms of sibling/family interactions) that Claire finds Peter's emotional need of Nathan puzzling and frustrating, even though *she* has the exact same reaction to *Peter*. She has no idea exactly what she wants him to do--she just needs him to do *something* to fix it, because he's the older brother in her world-view and that's what he does.

Also true.*g* But then, we rarely can see ourselves in people we look up to...

[12-12-12.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. I really hope we get a flashback to Petrelli Senior next season so we can find out what he was like first hand (as opposed to via reports from other parties).

We need a Petrelli episode a la "Company Man." It could be called "Family Man" or "All in the Family," or "Ties that Bind" or...something.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I vote for Family, which has a nice Mafia double meaning anyway.*g* But, yes, so need an episode like that. cadesama has said we're going to get it!

[12-12-12.livejournal.com]

cadesama has said we're going to get it!

*head explodes* Really? Oh, please let it be true...I guess we'll start getting definite spoilers soon.

I just really liked the change of pace, where we focused on one small group of characters for the entire episode. Normally I like the crazy interweaving of all the different storylines that converge and diverge and converge again, but as a one-shot, the Company Man format was great.