Matt Parkman

Matt Parkman
Portrayed by	Greg Grunberg
First appearance	Don't Look Back
In-story stats
Known ability	Telepathy
Gender
Age	35
Residence	Matt Parkman's home
Occupation	LAPD police officer
Significant other	Janice Parkman (wife)

Matt Parkman is a police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. He would like to become a detective, but has flunked the test three times. He discovers he has the ability to hear thoughts.

Character History

Don't Look Back

Matt is helping to secure a crime scene, a suspected serial killing/abduction, when he begins to "hear" the thoughts of the missing girl, Molly Walker. He locates her in a secret room under the stairs, and immediately draws suspicion from the investigating FBI agents. When he mentions the name "Sylar", which he picked up from the agents' thoughts, Audrey Hanson arrests him on the spot.

One Giant Leap

After proving his ability by reading Audrey's mind in the interrogation room, he is offered a position to assist in the investigation. Things turn dangerous when a man who appears to be Sylar shows up. Stopping the mysterious man harming Molly Walker in the building, Matt tries to comfort the girl while Audrey gives chase. Ultimately, the man escapes, but not before displaying apparent telekinesis and almost forcing Audrey to shoot herself in the head. Matt shoots the suspect, knocking him down. The suspect soon stands back up and disappears. Later, he came home to his wife, Janice, with whom he is in couple's counseling. Though he apologizes for missing the day's session and tries to tell her about his amazing day, she is still upset with him and doesn't want to hear it. Janice also comments about how, when she got promoted, he seemed to resent her for it. Matt tells her he didn't mean to, but she just further shuts off to him. Hearing Janice think she wants him to leave, Matt responds "I will" verbally and then storms out.

At a bar, Matt hears most, if not all, the thoughts of the various patrons. However, when he comes across a patron whose mind he cannot read, he begins to hear the other voices fade out. The mysterious other man sits and stares at Matt until Matt finally collapses on the floor, unconscious.

Collision

Matt wakes up strapped to a table in a laboratory to find Mr. Bennet and the mysterious man standing over him. Bennet tells him he doesn't work for any agency and that he knows Matt is telepathic, but that his abilities won't work with the mystery man present. Nevertheless, Matt is able to pick Claire's name out of Bennet's thoughts, and Bennet instructs the man to "go deep and clean him out."

Hiros

Matt wakes up on the couch at home. His wife Janice has been frantically searching for him. He believes he merely got drunk and passed out, but she tells him he's been missing for a full day. Matt reads her mind to assuage her anger, telling her he knows how frustrated she's been with him. He uses his powers to plan the perfect date. Later that night, he leaves to pick up some ice cream and talks a would-be convenience store robber into setting down his gun and leaving. Immediately afterwards, he is overwhelmed by the thoughts of the other shoppers, who are panicking at the sight of the gun, and passes out.

Nothing to Hide

Matt says everything has been going well at home and seems to want to confess to his wife about his power. However, Janice thinks she has been "found out" and Matt grows distressed and leaves. Audrey Hanson arrives later at the police force and says they have found another murder victim that she believes to be the work of Sylar. When they arrive at the morgue, Matt is skeptical that it was Sylar. However they find a finger print belonging to Theodore Sprague and go to investigate his place of residence. After investigating a burnt up and radiation filled home, Matt says they should check out the hospital for Theodore's wife who is undergoing chemotherapy. After arriving, Matt defuses a tough situation by reading the wife's mind in coma and communicating to her husband. He calls his wife, who hes been avoiding her calls all day, and leaves a heart filled voice mail while his wife listens. Back at the station, his partner informs him that he'll be able to retake the detective test in interview form so his dyslexia won't be an excuse for failure anymore. Then, reading his partner's mind, Matt finds out it was him whose sleeping with his wife. Matt punches his partner in rage and is pulled out of the locker room.

Notes

• According to an interview with Greg Grunberg, the reason Matt keeps failing the detective exam is that he's dyslexic.