Heroes: LizardsI was watching the film Flags of Our Fathers today on TMN (a gory film, but beautifully done) and in the final moments, the voiceover says that people are not heroes, and they don't want to be heroes. We create heroes and turn otherwise ordinary people into heroes because it's something WE need. I thought that sentiment applied to this show better than anything I've heard recently.
Last night's Heroes was even better than the week before. In the premiere, Hiro realized that maybe some of his heroes weren't what they're cracked up to be, and like that sentiment, Hiro needed Kensei to be a great warrior because it allowed him to maintain a belief in heroes on general. This week, Hiro becomes Kensei and makes him the hero that his father always told him he was. And we discover that Kensei seems to have the same power that Claire has. I loved the Hiro storyline this week.
Speaking of Claire, I know that she heals, but does she not feel pain? Wouldn't sticking her hand in boiling water feel like she'd stuck her hand in boiling water? Wouldn't cutting off her toe feel like she'd just cut off her toe? Or does she have a lessened pain response? Healing aside, if sticking your hand in boiling water would feel like it, I think you'd use a collander, like her mom suggests.
Angela Petrelli almost meets her maker, and she's accosted by someone we can't even see. Could this be the storied bogeyman that Molly mentioned?
Peter's still being held captive by the foitin' oirish leprechauns and their terrible accents. The lead guy found Peter in "da turd row" last week, and now is pissed that he couldn't find his treasure in the carton. (Presumably he was looking for his pink hearts, yellow moons, blue diamonds, and purple horseshoes.) I'm dying to find out what's in the box that the guy threatened to throw in the fire...
Loved the scene of Angela screaming for Matt to get out of her head.
The Haitian was back (I'm not sure if they thought we were supposed to be surprised to see him in Port-au-Prince, but I was assuming that's who they meant), and I love that he and HRG are reunited.
Overall, a strong episode. Thoughts?
Loved it, and all for very predictable reasons. I think my favourite moment in the premiere was HRG doing the kung fu grip on his asshole manager -- totally predictable, and yet deeply satisfying. And seeing the smile on his face as he shakes hands with the Haitian was just as satisfying for reasons I haven't yet figured out.
ReplyDeleteOne wonders how difficult it is to get ahold of actors with, you know, REAL Irish accents. Colin Farrell isn't working much these days, right? Or seriously, could we at least set these scenes in the port of Portland? Or San Diego? It would be less embarassing. If it were New Jersey, for that matter, I think viewers would accept the mob angle more readily, esp. if they could spring for James Galdofini to make a cameo. Peter P. saving Meadow from potential rape would certainly get the heroes on the inside track.
I chatted with some students of mine who are Heroes fans, mind you, and the female contingent noticed little else besides Peter P's bare chest. Who knew Jess was so cut?
i'm still not loving it, but i liked it better than last week. i agree, the scene with angela shouting at matt to get out of her head was awesome.
ReplyDeleteThe lead guy found Peter in "da turd row" last week, and now is pissed that he couldn't find his treasure in the carton. (Presumably he was looking for his pink hearts, yellow moons, blue diamonds, and purple horseshoes.) I
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! so painful to listen to. so. painful.
I really liked the scene where the Haitan reunited with Bennet.
ReplyDeleteAbout Clair, I think she feels pain, but she's developing a pretty high tolerance for it after all her self-mutilations (sp?). One wonders about her psyche though--she's like the cutter that can't be cut.
As a comic geek, I will add that Wolverine, the most famous charater with Claire's power (as if you didn't know that much), does in fact feel pain. Even when he pops his claws.
On a related note, those where some bad@$$ scisors Claire was using if they can cut through bone (or can most scissor do this? I'm not about to experiment to find out).
Also, Mr. Muggles was really cute watching the dog show tape.
Some thoughts on Peter, did the Haitan wipe his memory? Did he get the lightning power from one of the Irish thugs, or did he absorb them before he was put in the box. Maybe he got them from Sylar (I doubt that though as if Sylar had such an offensive power we'd probably would have scene it by now).
Oh, and inside the box is a Peter's Lucky Charms.
Thought on Kensei. Is he related to Claire? And is her new friend related to Nathan? Or are these unrelated characters with the same manifestation?
My son called with a pre-wedding problem during Heroes. Argh.
ReplyDeleteThings I missed, while trying to pay attention with one eye, according to your post:
The Haitian reuniting with HRG
Much of the faux Irish stuff
Hensai healing
I did get to see Claire cut off her toe. Lucky me :/
Also, literary geek note: the oirish pub was called "Wandering Rocks Pub" ... "Wandering Rocks" being the tenth chapter of Ulysses by James Joyce.
ReplyDeleteWhich makes it the most authentically Irish thing in all those scenes.
Maybe I just don't pay attention to accents in general, but I didn't think the Irish accents were horrible...I mean we have the British (Kensei?), Japanese, and now Latino accents, why not attempt some Irish?
ReplyDeleteAnd yes I must agree that as a female viewer I was VERY distracted with Peter's shirt off, I don't recall much else about that scene :)
What about the tag team of Black Death and her twin the ever healing Aspirin? We finally see that they need to stay together or a bunch of people get off'd.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of new shows, which I wasn't... what about Pushing Daisies? I think I found my show of the season. The best quote "A hug can turn your day around, it's like an emotional Heimlich. Someone puts their arms around you, and they give you a squeeze and all your fear and anxiety comes shooting out of your mouth, and you can breathe again." I would compare this to the great Wonderfalls and pretty much all Tim Burton films with a voice-over.
I agree with you on the pain thing. When Peter was getting beat up, he seemed to feel pain, even though he had no marks after all of that b/c of the healing ability he picked up from Claire.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking EXACTLY what you thought: didn't sticking her hand in the water hurt???
However, "Heroes" is not known for its consistency. They go more for the 'cool' scenes that will get a good gut reaction, not logic.
Did you see that this week's "Heroes" was down 15% from last week? I thought that was interesting.
The big problem for me right now is that there is not a BIG storyline driving this yet...last year was all focused on the nuclear explosion. This year seems to be a lot more stories that have no connection to each other. I'm assuming its going to be this "Heroes" virus, but I don't really know. Do you???