It’s Heroes! Hooray!
By Lisa Fary
Look at Claire, all doing stuff!
She’s defying her elders, running around New York trying to thwart a conspiracy, kicking a driver’s head through a window, stowing away on a plane! And she initiated a daring air rescue that didn’t involve her getting shot, falling, or otherwise getting broken in order to dramatically demonstrate her healing ability.
Thank you, Claire, for reaching for awesome and being the bad ass I always knew you could be.
Mohinder didn’t get all sciency! No colored liquids in beakers and tubes! No babble about catalysts! The mad scientist track didn’t work for him, not only because he lacks the initiative to run his own outfit, but because he’s a lousy scientist. He’s much better as an insightful cabbie who dabbles in science. And, since he’s no longer the only bearer of arcane knowledge, perhaps we will no longer have to suffer his voice overs and he can find a new way to be relevant.
Daphne was only on screen for a couple minutes, but made it clear that she’s already sick of Matt Parkman’s crap. She asserted herself with Matt (did Daphne and Claire take a seminar during the break?), who continues to be the whiny bitch in the relationship. Better be careful, Matt. You’ll drive her away, just like you drove your one true love, Mohinder, away.
Peter didn’t once get his scrunchy “I can’t believe this is happening!” face! Has he finally learned not to trust based on blood? He even hesitated – and rightfully so – when Nathan asked for a hug. I was sure (Peter probably was, too) that Nathan would take the opportunity to taze him.
Hiro and Ando took our advice to go on patrol! They have a lair and GPS implants and everything! Hiro obviously read up on Birds of Prey during the break and has taken up the Oracle role, but Ando breaks ranks and goes to test the babe-magnetism of his new Ando-cycle (please have a rocket engine or turn into a jet ski or something! PLEASE!). Because what newly minted superhero with a lightning bolt on his jacket wouldn’t? Hiro first tested his powers by teleporting into a women’s bathroom; Ando has been through a lot and deserves to have an indiscretion.
And no one got all emo about the situation and how much it sucks to be different. They actually took action. You know, like heroes are supposed to do.
Seriously, I had forgotten what it felt like not to hate on Heroes. I’d read bad things about this ep and fully expected to groan and play MST3K with it again. There were a few groan-worthy lines, but for the most part, this felt like Heroes again, rather than a rehash of everything it’s done before.
It feels good to like something!
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Lisa Fary’s early exposure to classic Battlestar Galactica in 1979 is largely responsible for her lifelong interest in science fiction and her childhood ambition of being an intergalactic space cowgirl. She thinks diagramming sentences is a fun alternative to Sudoku.
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I thought this episode was pretty good as well…although I wasn't 100% on board because of the way the first half of Season 3 went.
One thing I always liked about S1 of Heroes were moments in their regular lives (that shed more light on their personalities than all that emo talking of S2 and the first half of S3). I really liked that Peter was an EMT and that he was working so hard to save that guy's life. I also got kind of choked up when Hiro's password ended up being Ando. (I'm SO cheesy…)
And I usually don't like references back to S1, but I did like that little joke Mohinder and Peter shared in the taxi.
Okay, all of that is proving that I'm really corny.
But I'm glad Claire is stepping up now. I find that I can take people trying to control her as long as she immediately revolts against it.
There were still some wtf moments, but considerably less, so I'm hopeful. DON'T MESS THIS UP, HEROES.
I'm totally on board for this being potentially great move for Heroes and it could lead to a return to form, but I am worried that they are still pushing the plot forward too fast. They could have had some fun with the crime fighting and what not and develop their lives a little. Each character could have had their own little story that they got yanked out of, even if they were all finished being abducted by the end of the second ep, but instead their stories got sacrificed for the larger story arc, which is something they didn't do in season one so quickly. Either way, I liked it.
PS I thought about the plight of the ladies of BSG and I suppose you are right.
I love the idea that they're all going to be working together in some sort of Survivor-like scenario (too bad Ando's not ther)! It was a bit of a slow-started, though, and I was worried for a minute there that this half of the season was just going to be a colossal X-Men "Days of Future Past" rip-off. Seriously, I was waiting for the Sentinels to show up any second! But that end totally rocked! (Although I did want to remind Peter that, hello, he can fly and he should have Claire's power again, so being sucked out of the plane shouldn't be a big deal for him.)
Now if only Claude would come back ….
I didn't get the clinging for dear life, either. He was being needlessly dramatic!
I have to admit, I mostly enjoyed the episode. Claire is finally standing up to the parental figures trying to keep her in a glass box. Peter is back to helping people and restarting his power collection. Hiro and Ando are starting to enjoy their new lives. (Birds of Prey FTW!) Tracy has cut ties with Nathan (thank goodness). Nathan and Angela are retaking their rightful places as the de facto villains. Noah is up to… something? And Mohinder has finally gained a measure of acceptance, maybe even contentment, with his "normal" existence.
The only bit that really made me go "Bwuh?" was the new Sylar storyline. Okay, I get it; his origins are mysterious. Will anyone purported to be his biological parent(s) ever actually turn out to be the one(s)? Will his uncle/father be able to explain anything? Do I really care anymore? (Not terribly, now that his absorption power can't be chalked up to the Petrelli gene pool, which actually made a bit of sense.)
The more I see Tracy, the more I like her. Sure, she's an opportunist, but she owns it, makes her own decisions, and is clearly not pining for the Flying Senator. Noah. . . I don't know about him. I suppose he's on board with this plan either to A) protect Claire Bear from the family or B) take the Flying Senator down from the inside, A-Team style.
The thing that really bothered me about the ep was that Tracy is a brilliant woman, yet is constantly having to whore herself out to the men she works for. It's a bad message. She is good enough to do her job without having sex with every man she works for.