Heroes, Ep. 16: UnexpectedWhew! Well, one thing’s for sure: Heroes hasn’t lost its A-game yet. Just when I was worried the show was devolving into The Wacky Adventures of Hiro and Ando, the show served up one hell of an episode, with two new heroes, secondary heroes coming to the forefront, and Stan Lee as a bus driver!
The episode opened with Ted Sprague (radioactive man) sitting in his hovel in Nevada, when Hana Gitelman, a.k.a. Internet Chatroom Girl, appearing to him. Claire’s mom suddenly knows who she is again. Isaac meets up with Bennet and his trusty Haitian, and gets a giant gun for his troubles. Sylar and Mohinder meet Dale Smither, who boasts one of the coolest abilities we’ve seen yet. Bennet attacks Claude, and Peter throws Claude and himself off a building. And then… somebody flies. Matt’s wife found out he stole the diamonds. Claude freaks out and abandons Peter, because he says HRG and the Haitian were the very people he’s been trying to escape for so long. Simone meets Nathan and threatens to go public with Peter’s disappearance. Ando is shot. Hiro is told he should drop Ando as a partner and ride solo. Ted and Hana confront Matt and tell him about the marks on their necks. Bennet and Claire have a serious (and public) fight. Sylar kills Dale, and then can’t deal with the power he’s absorbed. Hiro dumps Ando. Matt and Ted show up at Bennet’s house with guns. Isaac paints an angry Peter, who is standing right behind him. He tries to shoot him, but Peter turns himself invisible… and Isaac shoots Simone instead. And then… somebody dies.
Fave moments:
-Ted’s online moniker is TeddyBear616. How weird is THAT?
-Sylar melting Dale’s wrench, and she looks on in awe: “Damn… that was my best wrench.”
-the cemetery ground around Ted dying as he vowed to get back at them for killing his wife
-Sylar unable to deal with his new powers – I loved the exaggerated sound effects that made everything sound so harsh and loud.
-Bennet calling Claire “Claire Bear”! Even in the heat of the moment, I laughed out loud at that one.
-Finally, somebody flew, somebody... no wait, it doesn't work in the past tense. "Somebody flied, somebody died." Grammar be damned. Anyway, at least we don't have to listen to this mantra anymore.
Worst moments:
-When Bennet hands Isaac the gun, Isaac asks, “What do you expect me to do with this?” Bennet’s response: “Save the world.” CHEEEEEESE.
Worst moments:
-When Bennet hands Isaac the gun, Isaac asks, “What do you expect me to do with this?” Bennet’s response: “Save the world.” CHEEEEEESE.
-When Sylar is moving in on Dale, she looks up at him and says, "What's that sound in your heart," and he says in a sinister tone, "Murder..." Oh come ON! Next thing the writers will be giving him a handlebar mustache that he can fondle while talking, just to make his evilness that much more obvious. Who writes stuff like that?!
Did You Notice?:
-we finally see the impact of the Suresh phone call from the point of the view of the callee, and we see why Matt (and all of the others Suresh has called) have avoided calling him back.
-Simone tried to give Isaac back his key; if he had taken it back, she wouldn’t be dead now.
-there was definitely a perverse connection drawn between Hiro/Ando and Mohinder/Sylar. Just like Ando and Hiro always talk about their destinies, now Sylar is telling Mohinder that it’s their destiny to be together, as if parodying them. The gaming commission guy tells Hiro he should just work alone, because working with a partner could be hazardous. Sylar is the perfect example of that.
Did You Notice?:
-we finally see the impact of the Suresh phone call from the point of the view of the callee, and we see why Matt (and all of the others Suresh has called) have avoided calling him back.
-Simone tried to give Isaac back his key; if he had taken it back, she wouldn’t be dead now.
-there was definitely a perverse connection drawn between Hiro/Ando and Mohinder/Sylar. Just like Ando and Hiro always talk about their destinies, now Sylar is telling Mohinder that it’s their destiny to be together, as if parodying them. The gaming commission guy tells Hiro he should just work alone, because working with a partner could be hazardous. Sylar is the perfect example of that.
-during the scene in the garage, half of the screen was out of focus, like the director was trying to convey the confused emotions going on in that scene. Dale was uncomfortable, Sylar was excited, Mohinder was confused, and suddenly half the screen went soft-focus on us
-Claude talks about their abilities like they evolve, or as if the heroes are part of the evolutionary process, the same way the Sureshes have referred to it
-Bennet shot Claude with the same zapper that the Initiative used to zap Spike before capturing him and calling him Hostile 17
-people who showed the marks on their necks this week: Claude, Ted, Matt, Hana, Isaac,
-those who don’t have the marks: Niki, Peter, Sylar
-not sure if they have the marks: Claire (doubt it, since her dad wouldn’t need to track her…yet), Nathan (doubt it again)
-Hiro seemed to stop the bullet because he truly cared about the outcome. Losing Ando means he loses part of his emotional connection to his “mee-shon.” Only because of his desperate need for them NOT to be shot was he able to stop the bullet. Hiro’s power is rooted in his caring. Maybe after Charlie died, he lost part of his caring, and therefore couldn’t access his powers.
-apparently doctor/patient confidentiality at the hospital where Claire’s mom is only applies to if you DON’T say something deemed clinically insane
-when Sylar and Mohinder pull up to the garage after Sylar's de-skulled Dale, there is rap music playing in the car, as if Sylar took Dale’s advice
-Sylar is a REALLY good actor. Notice how shocked he acts at the motel when Mohinder tells him about his father, and then again at the garage when Mohinder mentions Sylar did this, and Sylar looks around like he’s genuinely afraid. Is he really a great actor (i.e. did he suck the abilities out of Judi Dench when we weren’t looking) or is he going bananas?
Questions:
-who is tracking everyone? Is Bennet tracking the whereabouts of the people with the marks on their necks? If so, why didn’t he know they were on their way to his house?
-Claude talks about their abilities like they evolve, or as if the heroes are part of the evolutionary process, the same way the Sureshes have referred to it
-Bennet shot Claude with the same zapper that the Initiative used to zap Spike before capturing him and calling him Hostile 17
-people who showed the marks on their necks this week: Claude, Ted, Matt, Hana, Isaac,
-those who don’t have the marks: Niki, Peter, Sylar
-not sure if they have the marks: Claire (doubt it, since her dad wouldn’t need to track her…yet), Nathan (doubt it again)
-Hiro seemed to stop the bullet because he truly cared about the outcome. Losing Ando means he loses part of his emotional connection to his “mee-shon.” Only because of his desperate need for them NOT to be shot was he able to stop the bullet. Hiro’s power is rooted in his caring. Maybe after Charlie died, he lost part of his caring, and therefore couldn’t access his powers.
-apparently doctor/patient confidentiality at the hospital where Claire’s mom is only applies to if you DON’T say something deemed clinically insane
-when Sylar and Mohinder pull up to the garage after Sylar's de-skulled Dale, there is rap music playing in the car, as if Sylar took Dale’s advice
-Sylar is a REALLY good actor. Notice how shocked he acts at the motel when Mohinder tells him about his father, and then again at the garage when Mohinder mentions Sylar did this, and Sylar looks around like he’s genuinely afraid. Is he really a great actor (i.e. did he suck the abilities out of Judi Dench when we weren’t looking) or is he going bananas?
Questions:
-who is tracking everyone? Is Bennet tracking the whereabouts of the people with the marks on their necks? If so, why didn’t he know they were on their way to his house?
-maybe my suggestion that Peter will develop a dark side wasn't wrong. I was simply suggesting he'd have something dark within himself to fight against, but now I'm thinking it's starting to take over. He looked seriously evil when he was in Isaac's place.
Lost connections:
Lost connections:
As a couple of people mentioned in my blog last night, there was a great line that was definitely put in there for Lost fans (and yes, I did catch it and it made me laugh out loud). When Simone is threatening to take all of this public, and tell the world about their powers, Nathan says, “If people knew what we were capable of … they’d round us all up and stick us in a lab on an island in the middle of the ocean.” Hmm… so does that mean Kate used to be Claire Bennet? Desmond was Isaac, minus the heroin and paints? Charlie was the heroin side of Isaac, without the precognitive and painting abilities?
Also mentioned was the Gannon car rental. I forgot to mention this one last week. When Claire is ditching school to go see her mom, she has a flyer for the Gannon car rental company. This is a fictional company used on Lost, and Hurley held the same flyer in the airport (Claire first, Hurley second):
Also mentioned was the Gannon car rental. I forgot to mention this one last week. When Claire is ditching school to go see her mom, she has a flyer for the Gannon car rental company. This is a fictional company used on Lost, and Hurley held the same flyer in the airport (Claire first, Hurley second):
And don’t forget: every person on the island, it seems, has daddy issues (Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Claire, Walt, Sayid, Charlie, etc.) and Claire’s got some serious ones right now.
So what did you think of the ep?
Next week: Company Man. By the photos, Claire looks a lot younger and has her arms around her Daddy Bear. Does this mean, like another TV show, that Heroes will be using flashbacks??
So what did you think of the ep?
Next week: Company Man. By the photos, Claire looks a lot younger and has her arms around her Daddy Bear. Does this mean, like another TV show, that Heroes will be using flashbacks??
I was thinking that Hiro's powers manifested because of the stress of the moment, the same way that Peter was able to take control of his powers when he needed to stop the zapper, to fly, etc. But caring is nice too.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Gannon connection, maybe they just have a lazy props department. ;)
Loved the episode Nikki, I think it was much better than the last two, faster paced, agree with your assessment.
ReplyDeleteI really don't get how Mohinder can be such a dunce! I mean Dale told them that she had bad headaches before she learned to control her powers and then all of a sudden she's dead and Sylar has headaches...like...DUH...LOL. What is the significance of the Ipod with the music playing next to her dead body? I hope that Sylar will have too many powers too soon and he goes bonkers!
Too bad about Simone, but she hasn't been doing much lately! I guess Peter and Isaac are going to be enemies now!
Are we rid of the "Someone flies, someone dies" now? I think that is the worst catch phrase of the season!
I hope we don't lose Claude, he was a lot of fun!
re: props ... two different networks -- lost is on ABC and heroes is on NBC. doesn't matter! whatever the reason, it caused me to giggle out loud!
ReplyDelete-during the scene in the garage, half of the screen was out of focus, like the director was trying to convey the confused emotions going on in that scene. Dale was uncomfortable, Sylar was excited, Mohinder was confused, and suddenly half the screen went soft-focus on us
thank god someone else noticed this, too! i thought my eyes were going wonky on me! i even went so far as to play with the buttons on my remote to try and change the sharpness/clarity! then i realised it all tied in to the scene and what was going on. very clever. :-)
I thought the rap music was playing outside the car, not in the car. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was the same song playing straight through, and it seemed really faint in the car (so we're hearing this entire scene from Sylar's POH -- point of hearing), and gets louder when he gets OUT of the car, because the music is actually coming from the iPod headphones. So Mohinder can't hear anything.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I don't think Mohinder is a dunce, Roland. The fact is that WE know it's Sylar, but he doesn't have a stinking clue. He'll probably start catching on in the next couple of episodes -- maybe through a phone conversation, which Sylar overhears, and then tries to kill him for, except Mohinder manages to escape somehow, and maybe HE gets his superpowers too! Mohinder's got to have something, man. Maybe he can run really fast.
Wow Nikki, you really don't like characters with your namesake, do you?
ReplyDeleteI was sadder over Hiro cut Ando loose than over Simone dying.
A note on TeddyBear616. 616 is the name of the default reality in Marvel Comics. As in Spider-Man takes place on Earth 616. I doubt this is a coinicidence. Also, according to some translations of the Bible, 616 is the number of the Beast instead of 666.
Oh, and Roland, I don't think Sylar can go bonkers, seeing how he's already there.
Btw, I'm watching the 24 DVDs. I'm in Season 3, which has Sylar in it. I keep waiting for him to eat somebody's brain :-)
I was so relieved to see that this episode made a return to the ones we know and love. I have to agree with your assessment of Peter - I've been wondering for a while if he would have to battle with his own powers and perhaps a tendency towards evil. Best part of the episode? No Nikki!!
ReplyDeleteJeremy: good point on the stress of the moment. That's kind of what I was trying to say, but did a poor job of it. That when he's pushed suddenly to really care about it (in this case, the sudden stress that he doesn't want to get shot and doesn't want Ando shot again) he does something about it.
ReplyDeleteRoland: I was wondering at the end of the episode why Mohinder wasn't a little suspicious of Sylar, too, but maybe he thought this was a side effect of Sylar's powers, since he still thinks he's the other kid.
Chapatikid: Wow, good catch! The music was so loud I was thinking it was in the car and wondering why Mohinder wasn't thinking Sylar's sudden musical tastes were a little coincidental. Duh... sometimes I think MY brain just turns off. Hmm... maybe that's MY power. Total brain deadness.
Brian: Re hating Nik(k)is. Man, I've never thought of that before. I hope it's not a thing. Do you think it's a thing? Eek... There was a Nikki introduced into season 7 of Buffy, and I LOVED her. So it's only the new Nik(k)is who are so irritating.
That 616 explanation was great, thanks!
I'd forgotten Sylar was on 24! Isn't it funny when you see someone you totally relate to another show, and you keep waiting for them to be crazy or funny or whatever they are on the other show?
Danielle: I agree, I was so relieved that this ep delivered. :)