12/16/2008

Heroes 3.13 - When They Said to Choose A Side, It Made You Want To Hide: First things first: Hayden Panetierre is not a great actress. When her time on “Heroes” has finally come to a conclusion, I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that she ends up doing the straight-to-video or TV-movie circuit for the remainder of her career. I’ve been wrong before on guessing people’s ultimate career fates, but having watched the scenes tonight where Claire and Sylar are battling over the intercom, I’m feeling pretty good about this one. With precious few exceptions, she just can’t seem to deliver a menacing line without making it sound like the height of cliche…which it is, of course. But a better actress could’ve made it sound cool, while her delivery just made me groan.

I was way disappointed with how little action we got out of HRG’s plan to release the villains to serve as chum. In the end, it basically just felt like an excuse to break out the Puppet Master again…not that there’s anything wrong with that. But even that didn’t pay off. You knew the showdown between Sylar and the Puppet Master was going to turn out poorly for the latter, but I was hoping for at least a little more action than just Sylar asking, “You think you can control me?” Bam, Puppet Master’s strings are cut. Boring.

Sorry to see Claire’s biological mom go, as I kind of liked her, but once she got that shot of adrenaline, I figured she wasn’t long for this world, and I was right.

Finally, Tracy breaks out her powers again…and, subsequently, Knox breaks into a whole bunch of little pieces. It was a nice and shocking moment, to be sure. We really only got one other Tracy moment that’s worth discussing, but it was arguably the best scene of the episode: her encounter with Hiro. First, Tracy’s David Spade impression made me laugh (”And you are…?”), then she called Hiro “Pikachu,” which earned a giggle, but then Hiro offering an apology followed by a sock in the face was almost as funny as Daphne’s expression thereafter.

Speaking of Daphne, when she said, “And you were there, and you were there,” all I could think was, “Hello, ‘Wizard of Oz’ reference,” and the same went for “A Few Good Men” when Sylar screamed, “Tell me the truth!” Was this intentional? Were there more unabashed line thefts that I missed…?

Who doesn’t enjoy the opportunity to see George Takei wielding a sword again? There wasn’t really much to that scene, except to get a good laugh out of the father/son battle and to finally show the moment where the formula was torn in half, but, again, it’s George Takei wielding a sword.

Overall, I was really only “meh” about this episode. The scenes with Nathan and Peter were just more brotherly bickering, the conversation between Sylar and Mama Petrelli had limited emotional heft, given that we knew full well that she wasn’t his mother, and the whole subplot about Ando developing his time-travel-related ability was just plain ridiculous. Frankly, I’m glad to see PrimaTech finally go up in smoke; it’s about time we got more of a look at the heroes and villains outside of the same world they’ve always been centered around.

Then again, maybe I’m just tired.

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12/9/2008

Heroes 3.12 - This House Is Just A Broken Home, Left All Alone: Pretty ballsy of Nathan to blow into Papa Petrelli’s office and talk shit tonight, wasn’t it? And, yet, he was right: he does have the power…politically speaking…to help make Papa’s plan a reality. Of course, if he thinks Papa isn’t going to blow his mind if he makes a wrong move, he’s ridiculously naive. I continue to be interested in the militaristic side of Nathan’s storyline, but I have to say that this idea of having a super-powered fighting force seems like a really bad idea to me. Even if Papa’s people do have control over who gets what abilities, it only takes one strong bastard to figure out how to use his powers and the element of surprise to take control of the operation. But maybe that’s just me. Unrelated question: how utterly useless a character is Tracy these days? Why give her that awesome power if we’re not even going to get to see her use it?

Mama Petrelli’s cool delivery never fails to entertain me, especially tonight, when she calmly and carefully laid out the method by which her son should kill her husband. I appreciate Peter’s insistence that he has to be the one to take out his father, but you’d think he’d at least be willing to accept the help of the Haitian. But, noooooooo, it’s gotta be his responsibility…

Despite our readers’ suspicions to the contrary, Elle sure looked pretty damned dead to me when the episode began, and when Sylar covered her in gasoline and set her ablaze…well, if she isn’t dead, she’s at least going to be extra crispy. It was, of course, nice to see the unequivocally evil Sylar return, but the highlight had to be when Sue Landers’ co-workers burst in on him while he was in mid-attack. “Cake…?” Nice. The moment in the elevator was pretty funny, too. (”Huh. It does kind of tingle.”)

The bit with Claire and Hiro chattering back and forth to each other with neither knowing what the other was saying was pretty funny, but you’d think Claire had never seen a time-travel movie before. Doesn’t even the ditziest cheerleader know that you can’t change your own past without causing a paradox? Apparently not, since she promptly went to go hang out with her mom and…herself. The scene with Claire and HRG was cheesy, particularly with HRG’s smirk when he repeated, “Claire bear,” but Jack Coleman’s intensity was as solid as ever, and - surprise! - Hayden Panitierre actually pulled off a solid performance, so it was a hell of a lot better than it could’ve been.

“Where is train station? I must use toilet. More waffles please.” Funny how, when Hiro had that reaction about the chance to see his mother, I realized that we hadn’t really seen his mother before. (I guess I just got so caught up in the excitement of Sulu playing his father that I didn’t really think about it.) So she had a terminal disease and she was a healer…? Hell of a family, these Nakamuras. When Mr. Nakamura made the comment about having Noah bring back the baby and the missus said that she’d rather keep it in the family, I figured, “Okay, it must be Hiro’s sister,” who I remembered that we had seen before, back when Hiro had to step up to bat at the company in the wake of his father’s demise. Unlike Claire and HRG, the scene between Hiro and his mother was both well-performed and well-written, particularly the moment when he said, “I remember how much I miss you.” Which of us wouldn’t take the opportunity to go back in time and visit with a deceased relative if we knew it wouldn’t change anything? And what a sweet concept, to know that he was able to go back to see his mother and tell her everything he would accomplish long after her death.

You know, I forgot to mention last week how amused I was that the Comic Book Guys finally brought up the point I’d wondered about earlier in the season, about who the hell’s been handling “9th Wonder” since Isaac bit the big one. Now Ando, Matt, and Daphne are on the trail of the bike messenger who swiped Isaac’s sketchbook…and, man, don’t ever try to ride your bike to safety when you’re being chased by a speedster. The contents of the sketch book, however, made my head hurt. So, what, are the sketches within the book changing as events occur in the past? I understand time is fluid, but it’s hard even for an experienced sci-fi guy such as myself to wrap my head around some of this stuff.

So after following Hiro and Claire back through time, Arthur Petrelli had the catalyst, which meant that he could perfect the formula and give people powers…and because of that, Ando found himself thinking that maybe he, too, could acquire the ability to travel through time and thereby save Hiro from his position as a flagpole hanger-on? Ow. OW. My head. Of course, it doesn’t hurt nearly as much as Papa’s probably does. I liked the way they tied the whole story up, with Sylar’s new abilities allowing him to confirm that Papa was lying about his parentage; I have to admit that I didn’t really think about that when he stole the lie-detector ability - though I’m probably the only one - so I was surprised to see him appear to (briefly) stop the bullet from striking Papa. And, hey, Sylar, way to totally harsh Peter’s buzz with that last comment, you dick.

Is it this end of Papa Petrelli? Did the catalyst leave him and enter Peter…? We shall see.

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12/2/2008

Heroes 3.11 - Hope Will Fall Tonight with Broken Wings: Sylar and Elle had a bad case of coitus interruptus, huh? Well, if you’re gonna be shooting up HRG’s little girl, you’ve got to be willing to pay the price. The cat-and-mouse game between HRG and Sylar and Elle was pretty cool, particularly when Sylar threw the money at the guy in the drugstore in the most pitiful attempt ever at buying time, but, wow, I totally did not expect HRG to slit his throat like that.

Claire, meanwhile, was having trouble dealing with her gunshot wound because her body is reacting to infection as if she’s never been sick before…which, given that her healing abilities would’ve kept her in top-notch condition, makes sense. But, wow, I didn’t quite expect her condition to go into as much of a tailspin as it did, nor did I expect them to actually kill her. Granted, it’s not like you didn’t know that both she and Sylar were gonna come back when the eclipse ended, but even so, I was impressed with the way they took both storylines to the edge like that.

I wouldn’t have thought that Peter and Brother Voodoo would make a good team, but I liked Peter’s comment about wanting to prove to his father that he could be a hero even without his powers. Hey, that’s what Papa gets for shrugging off his son just because he wanted to be a nurse! You know, I was actually more intrigued by this storyline than anyone else’s, possibly because it seemed so unlike anything else that’s gone on before, what with the Haitian general and everything; with Pete turning into a gun-toting Rambo and Brother Voodoo cracking heads and then going all apeshit on his brother, I was not disappointed. Nathan’s change in attitude was an unexpected one, but it’s a fascinating one which has a lot of potential.

Mohinder’s stuck in the lab, trying to figure out the connection between the eclipse and the loss of the abilities of the heroes and villains. The good news is that he’s under the watchful eye of Flint, who’s about as much of a dumb lackey as you could hope for, and although he might still be a tough guy even without his powers, he proves to be no match for Mohinder. Well, actually, it looked pretty close there for a second; at first punch, I wasn’t entirely sure that Mohinder’s attack plan was going to succeed. But, hey, he pulled it out, and that’s what counts. Surely I’m not the only one who cringed, however, when he picked up that post-it with Maya’s name and address on it. Thank goodness for the small blessing that his “curse” came back before she had a chance to drag the episode down. I also appreciated the fact that Mohinder’s fly-ish tendencies are downplayed when he’s in the lab.

Daphne has cerebral palsy? Well, that kicks it up a notch beyond John Locke just being handicapped by virtue of an accident. I don’t blame her for being convinced that Papa Petrelli is behind their loss of powers, but her insistence on considering herself a villain is one that you knew immediately was going to be a short-term belief.

The sequences with Hiro and Ando in the comic shop were a little hit and miss at times, but Breckin Meyer’s fascination with the way the plot of the comic mirrored real life was funny, and when Seth Green gave his uplifting speech to inspire Hiro to come out of the bathroom, my inner fanboy cheered. (Best day ever, indeed.) But my outer fanboy cheered when they figured out how to set Hiro on the path to get his memory back. I’m tired of 10-year-old Hiro. That novelty pretty much wore off after the bowling alley scenes…but I did laugh out loud when he popped into HRG’s living room, said, “Bad man,” and vanished, taking Sylar with him.

So is HRG serious about Sylar not being a Petrelli by blood? Hard to say. You can certainly see the family resemblance in the powers of Sylar and Papa, but lord knows Papa is a manipulator. The final discussion between Elle and Sylar was a creepy one, and given the dark turns throughout the episode, I knew damned well that Elle’s time was at an end. As for the final scene with Hiro and Claire, fucking TiVo tried to get me again, but I had the foresight to record “My Own Worst Enemy” tonight as well, thereby saving me from wanting to kick in the TV. I guess this little adventure will teach Claire why her dad is the way he is, but I still don’t really understand why this trip to the past will help Hiro regain his memories.

Best episode of the season to date? Very possibly. At the very least, it’s certainly good enough for me to say that those of you who evacuated the show a few episodes back should consider returning.

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11/25/2008

Heroes 3.10 - The People with the Answers Won’t Tell the People with the Questions the Answers: When a music geek is handed an episode with a title like “The Eclipse,” you’re given a lot of different choices for lyrical references as the title of your blog entry. Should I go with Pink Floyd (All that you slight, everyone you fight…), or should I go with Bonnie Tyler (Once upon a time, there was love in my life…)? Instead, I went with a relative obscurity - a line from the closing track of the Beta Band’s Hot Shots II - but given the way the series has been going, it seemed rather appropriate.

Let’s split this week’s blog into two parts, shall we?

Before the Eclipse:

Arthur has just been a sketching fool since taking on the power of poor Usutu, but, wow, he’s really let his people skills drop off. Really, though, can you blame him? Thanks to his new abilities, he knows what’s coming…and, yet, he can’t seem to do a damned thing to change it.

The relationship between Sylar and Elle turned darker this week than I expected. I mean, I know I made a comment a few weeks ago about how Sylar’s so freaking wishy-washy that he’ll probably switch sides half a dozen more times before the end of the season, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that he left his touchy-feely side behind, but I just didn’t expect Elle to be the one who turned him. She’s a complex character, that one. (Her throwaway description of HRG as “Glasses himself” was hilarious.)

Mohinder really just isn’t a very good scientist, is he? “I, uh, didn’t think the eclipse had anything to do with it,” he mutters. Whoops. From there, it was back to “Return of the Fly,” unfortunately.

Matt and Daphne’s quest to find Hiro turned out to be a short one when he and Ando turned up, courtesy of their comic book intel. I loved the interplay between Ando and Daphne, not to mention Hiro and the turtle, but I’m wondering how long this whole back-and-forth thing between Matt and Daphne is going to go on. That said, once the boys followed Daphne to Lawrence, Kansas, I had to laugh at Hiro’s exclamation: “Holy crap!”

I’m sure no-one really thought that Claire was going to listen to Mama Petrelli and lay low (if Claire even thinks she knows how to spell “subtle,” I’m sure it involves two Ts and no B), but leave it to Mama to team her up with HRG. Not that he’s ever been much better at keeping Claire in line than anyone else, but the idea of him finally using his knowledge as an agent to give her some decent physical training was a long time coming.

Speaking of Mrs. Petrelli, her retort to Tracy’s comment, “No rest for the wicked,” was classic Mama. As for her boys Nathan and Peter, we didn’t really get to see them do much except embark on a trip to find our man Brother Voodoo…and, as the eclipse began, to fall out of the sky and into a convenient body of water.

After the Eclipse:

Mohinder really got a lucky break with the eclipse, huh? Well, at least as far as his unfortunate transformation, anyway. Now, of course, he’s stuck under the watchful eye of the ever-belligerent Flint.

It was pretty funny to watch Matt trying to use his abilities, but not as funny as listening to Daphne’s dad’s reaction. (”Why are you turning your head sideways? What’s your problem, son?”) I immediately started getting interested when Daphne told her father that “it’s happening again,” and the reveal at the end was definitely unexpected. Clearly, the best bit about the trip to Kansas, however, was the trip to the comic shop…and on a Wednesday, no less. I don’t know what the writers of “Heroes” have against Red Hulk, but this is twice now that they’ve used him as a punchline; maybe they’ll go three for three in “The Eclipse, Pt. 2,” when we get more Seth Green / Breckin Meyer action.

All credit to Nathan: his point about Brother Voodoo’s abilities was a valid one. But, man, he sure descended into the role of the dickish big brother like nobody’s business. (”You read the map right. Congratulations.”) So, what, did Nathan’s common courtesy vanish along with his ability to fly? But, seriously, it was a pleasant change to see the brothers get the chance to bicker back and forth again like they did in the first season of the show. The subplot involving the Haitian militia seemed like it was going to be a bit much, but when Nathan got punched in the face by the commander who’d gotten intel from Papa Petrelli, I changed my tune.

I’m not entirely sure why Claire didn’t realize that her powers were gone long before she found herself on the business end of Elle’s gun. Surely the first time she hit the wall with that 2×4 post-eclipse, she would’ve felt the impact all through her body. Maybe the writers of “Heroes” don’t exert themselves enough physically to know that…? I had some issues with this segment which extended beyond that one, though, the biggest one being this: if Claire is so freaking important, then why did HRG hide her within driving distance of his normal residence? Oh, well, at least it was good fun to see him beat the shit out of Sylar.

And as long as we’re on the topic of people getting the shit beat out of them, that’s exactly what I’d like to do to the folks at TiVo…or possibly the programmers at NBC. All I know is that I put my daughter to bed tonight, so I couldn’t watch the show live, and when I went to watch it on TiVo, I was watching the climactic conversation between Sylar and Elle…and it cut off. Fortunately, Jason Zingale happened to catch it live and was able to fill me in, but, DAMN, I was PISSED! I was actually interested in seeing the “Next time on ‘Heroes’” for a change!

Anyway, tonight’s episode was a good one, and I’m looking forward to seeing Pt. 2…but, clearly, I’ll have to watch that one live.

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11/18/2008

Heroes 3.9 - It’s Coming…But Is It Something Good? (Could Be! Who Knows?): Aaaaaaaand we’re back in the present again. But was it worth the trip?

Well, as goofy as they were, I have to admit that I enjoyed the breeziness of the segments with Hiro and Ando, though to do so required me to set aside my uncertainty about what the hell had happened to Hiro in the first place. I mean, we’ve seen Brother Voodoo make with the mind wipe maneuver, but based on the way Hiro was screaming, I figured Papa Petrelli was all but ripping his brain to shreds, and when he announced that he thought that he was 10 years old, my presumption was that Papa had wiped out everything he’d known prior to that age. But given Ando’s conviction that he can trigger Hiro’s memories to return, I guess we’re supposed to presume that Papa now has the ability to inflict hysterical post-traumatic amnesia…? Well, fair enough, then. It’s not like it’s the most ridiculous conceit I’ve had to buy into with this series. The scenes in the bowling alley were silly fun, and as a geek of the highest order, Hiro’s rant about the changes in comic books was very much of the “it’s funny ’cause it’s true” variety for me.

I will grant you that the electricity effects in the Elle and Sylar sequences were pretty cool, but I just don’t understand why they’re forcing this pairing down our throats, especially when the only purpose seems to be to make Sylar into a kinder, gentler, touchy-feely version of himself. His villainy was one of the few consistent highlights during those interminable Maya and Alejandro scenes in the second season; I can’t imagine that any of us really want to see him start to chill out, even if he does end up continuing to work on the side of the villains.

I did, however, love the tension of the Nathan / Papa encounter; it was good to see Adrian Pasdar and Robert Forster square off again. (Their scenes in the flashback episode were a lot of fun.) I didn’t really think that Nathan would go over to the dark side, as it were…but, then, I didn’t forsee Tracy selling out Nathan, either. Is it a fake-out? Is she trying to work both sides of the fence? If so, she’s playing with fire…which is a little ironic, given her abilities. As for Peter and Claire and their close encounters with Feary and Firey, they were entertaining enough, but it felt mostly like filler, just to keep them in the episode until the grand finale.

Now, having said that, the last fifteen minutes of the episode were pretty damned good. Daphne was already the weak link in Papa Petrelli’s chain, given her growing fondness for Matt Parkman, but her uncertainty about Papa’s actions toward Mama clearly proved to be the last straw. When Matt dived into Mama’s head to try and free her from the effects of Papa’s powers, his mental experiences were very creepy and well-directed, and the end result - Daphne finally admitting her feelings for Matt, and Arthur acknowledging that he still had enough love left in his heart for Angela to release her from his grasp - was sweet stuff. Then you had the punch-up of a reunion between Matt and Peter, Ando failing to convince Hiro that “9th Wonder” reveals the future in every issue (say, who the hell’s drawing it these days?), and Mama Petrelli’s speech that led to Claire’s realization that she’s the catalyst. Even the brief appearance by Mohinder was interesting, serving to paint him further into this new direction as Papa Petrelli’s very own Mengele.

Next week begins the two-parter where the eclipse returns and, if the preview is any indication, the powers of the heroes and the villains bid adieu. Obviously, it won’t last…but the mere fact that it puts them on a level playing field has my curiosity piqued.

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