I Have a Sword!
Last night’s episode of Heroes had plenty of revelations, as usual. D.L. is back (known to Buffy fans as Forrest, that annoying sidekick to Riley, the even more annoying man-who-could-never-replace-Angel; he’s a much better character in Heroes) and with him he brings a little surprise of his own. I LOVED the scene where he jumped out of the wall suddenly, to grab the Bufficized Niki and surprise us all. But did he kill her?! Or did he only affect one half of her? Could Well-Adjusted-But Meek Niki be OK but Dementor Niki be destroyed? I don’t think it’ll be that easy. I also don’t think they’ll get rid of Niki – she’s just far too intriguing.

So how did Niki and D.L. first come together? Were they put together by some scientists who needed two genetic mutants to breed? What kind of powers does Micah have? (Presumably the abilities only show themselves when the people hit puberty, like most legends – werewolves, vampire slayers, etc.) Could he be the true culmination of Suresh’s vision? Is D.L. really the bad guy Niki thought he was, or was he set up by Buffiki, and if so, then she doesn’t appear to be working in Niki’s best interests after all.

Claire met her biological parents… or did she? I’m thinking Mr. Horn-Rimmed Glasses has probably hired some people to pose as her parents. If they really are her parents, then it would seem she wasn’t born with those powers. Glasses Man didn’t pick her out to be his adoptive daughter because he knew she was a mutant and he wanted to study her; he picked her out because she was normal and maybe he wanted to turn her INTO a mutant. When the mother tells the story about how Claire underwent genetic testing when she was little, I took it to mean he took her to a lab (sans mommy) and turned her into the person she is now. He remains a mysterious person, and I’m still not clear on whether he’s a good guy or bad.

The one instinct I was right on, though, was annoying, perky little Eden McCain. I KNEW she was bad news. No one just hangs with some old guy and gets to know that much about his SECRET experiments and research. Besides, her name is an anagram for “Cad Nice Men,” and she certainly has been a cad to nice(ish) men. Then again, it’s also an anagram for Canned Mice, so maybe that theory doesn’t cut it.

I’m annoyed with how inconsistent Mohinder’s character is. One minute he believes in what his father is doing enough to go halfway around the world to seek out the answers, yet the moment he’s face-to-face with one of the mutants his father had researched and spoken about for so many years (the same type of person Mohinder’s talking about in the opening scene of the series when he explains that people can evolve to a new level), he calls them a liar, refuses to listen to them or follow them to find out where they’re going, leaves them, and goes back to Perkyville to complain to Eden that Peter’s full of crap. Huh?? It doesn’t make any sense, and I find his character to be a real disappointment.

Peter gives his message to Hiro, which sends Hiro and Ando into ecstasies about how much of a hero Hiro will eventually become. While Hiro muses on how he has a sword (a hilarious scene) they back out and bump into the guys from the casino. I found that scene far too contrived, a way to just bring them back to the room where Buffiki will eventually show up (presumably) like some crazed banshee. The casino scene was originally a funny demonstration of Hiro’s powers being used for “evil” (complete with a little homage to Rainman in their matching suits) but it turned into a dragged-out storyline. I did like, however, Hiro’s crisis of conscience when he realizes that maybe his powers can help make them some money, but he’s inept when it comes to helping people. A true hero can only be filled with sadness (see Buffy, Angel, Batman, Superman, etc.) and this is the beginning of Hiro’s true character building.

The episode didn’t have any Nathan or Matt, and the latter was missed. I hope they go back to his story next week. So far episodes are listed up to November 13, and then maybe they’re planning on breaking for the Christmas hiatus. Sigh. It’s going to be a boring December.