Heroes 2.06

[selenak]

Or, the one where everyone goes (even more) ambigous.



Well, save for Monica, who remains sweet and nice. (I don't mean that sarcastically; it's a good thing to be, and Monica is clearly getting the spot Hiro had last season up to Six Months Ago, i.e. the innocent simply enjoying the power in a non megalomaniac way.) Otherwise, morally grey reigned. First and foremost with Noah Bennet, of course, whose use of the Haitian to torture his former teacher was chilling (and chillingly effective), ending in murder. Writers of Heroes, I hereby apologize again for suspecting that post-Company Man, you wanted me to forget all about questionable actions by our Mr. B. and wanted to make him an unambiguous White Hat. Also for suspecting you took the Jack Bristow rather than the Michael from Lost way of narration when it comes to actions by fathers for their children. Here we see Noah going from telling Mohinder to inject Monica with the virus for the sake of maintaining his cover to torture to murder of what is essentially his older double, a man who did questionable things for the Company and loves his family. No more or less evil than our Mr. Bennet. And why does he do this? I don't think "to keep my family/Claire safe" covers it anymore; that's part of it, but not all of it. "Bringing the Company down" is another part; but the urgency of the quest for the paintings didn't start until Noah saw himself dead on one.

"You'll be in hell." "I know." Indeed. The road to hell, as we all know, is made by good intentions, and a great many people are on their way there this episode. One more thing about Noah: lying to Claire and Sandra about the whole trip gets yet another reason - in addition to not wanting them to know about the painting (which, you know, would have given Claire a far better reason to listen to her father re: dating than a "don't do it" did), he doesn't want them to know what he does; that torture and murder aren't a thing of the past, and not because he's ordered to by a Company superior.

Meanwhile, Claire is discovering the morally grey zones herself, and not by observing them in other people. Of course, this is the girl who reacted to Brody the date rapist last season by using her car and her invulnerability to try and kill him by crashing both of them, but there is a difference between that action and what she does here, urged on by West. Brody had harmed her, had harmed other girls, and was likely to do in the future. Debbie might be obnoxious, bitchy and what not, but she had not harmed Claire; she was simply in her way to a safe alibi. She was inconvenient. And so she was removed. I dare say this in miniature is how Angela and the rest of the Elders drifted from superheroing to those various activities ominously referred to by Kaito, Angela, Linderman, Bob et al. And suddenly the West romance seems to serve another purpose than "complicate Claire's relationship with her father" and "give Claire a love interest". We had various examples of specials finding each other by now, but in none of them happened what happened to the Elders as a result. It just might to Claire.

The Maya y Alejandro plus Sylar story thread looks like it's heading a similar way. Maya already used her power deliberately to break Alejandro out of jail, but back then she let him save everyone she had harmed instantly. Now, encouraged by Sylar, she uses it without giving the people who tried to stop them from entering the US that reprieve, and thus deliberately kills them. Sylar sketches out two possible futures - either Mohinder cures him, and he kills both twins, stealing their powers, or he remains uncured and uses Maya as his personal killing tool. Which probably means neither way will happen, at least not how he envisions it. My current guess it that upon arrival in New York, he'll be frustrasted by his favourite geneticist, and will go for option b), killing Alejandro. Which, however, will then result in Maya going fury on him. (What is it with Sylar killing one co-dependent sibling of a pair in alternate time lines?)

Mohinder, for his part, is discovering more of the joys of the double agent life. As in 5YG, he balks at the very moment of the injection (but doesn't kill anyone else instead). The Company getting the idea they could use the virus - to which they have the cure via Mohinder - in order to control specials is no big surprise; what is a surprise is that Bob doesn't go for the obvious blackmail option via Molly, or simply takes Mohinder prisoner. (He can't kill Mohinder as long as they can't replicate the cure, but nobody said anything about Mohinder walking around free in order to provide blood.) Instead, he comes forth with interesting hints about some dangerous special named "Adam", whom we hear more of in another plot thread, and gives Mohinder what is fastly becoming the traditional speech each of the Elders has to recite at least once. (Made shady choices in my past, check, regret some of those, check, but they were necessary, check, now we're all in trouble, and you, young person, are needed, check.) It's an interesting juxtaposition the other Horned Rimmed Glasses wearer being far more ruthless in getting what he wants in Odessa, Ukraine, and further muddies the waters. Not that it means we can trust Bob one bit, but it furthers the impression he's not the moustache twirling evil type but a human being.

Last year's naif, Hiro, started to lose his innocence when he lost Charlie and couldn't save her. The moment of finite loss, the kiss he never could take, is replayed here and continued differently. Hiro stabbed Sylar, but not easily, and after giving him a chance when he saw a possiblity that Sylar might repent; Future!Hiro's actions aside, "our" Hiro never did anything morally grey - right until he remained in the past instead of leaving when he could have, after he made Kensei defeat the angry Ronin. He knew he wasn't supposed to remain there, but did it anyway; in this episode, he goes one step further, and by kissing Yaeko after wishing the space-time-continuum to hell invokes the wrath every geek should know about as it promptly strikes back. The road to hell indeed. I suspect Hiro will be able to fix the thing with the guns, but Yaeko will die (because alas the show is like that), and Kensei will continue the road from trickster to villain, with the interlude as hero and Hiro telling him all these tales about who he is supposed to be, a legend, only magnifying his ambitions. Am more sure than ever we're going to see Kensei in the present soon.

As "Adam?" Adam is the first man, and Kensei might have been the first special to manifest for all we know. Also, I'd be suprised if they introduce another new character, and "Adam" obviously is important, given that Bob mentions him and Peter finds a message from him. (If Kensei is "Adam", though, then he was roleplaying for Peter, because Peter's Adam writes as if the Company's dubious nature was something he only just discovered.) Leaving aside the Kensei = Adam? speculation, that message confirms a guess I mentioned in my comments to last week's review - just what Peter did between the explosion and arriving sans memory in Ireland. I think that like Mohinder and Niki, he made a deal with the Company, and that he did so for the same reason Mohinder did - to save someone he loved. Nathan, of course, who after the explosion must have been dying. If there was anyone with a list of specials, one or more of whom might have healing abilities, it would have been the Company. (Remember, Peter didn't know Linderman himself had healing power, and even so, powers, as we get demonstrated this season, are not unique and confined to just one individual.) I think the Company delivered, Nathan was healed, and Peter had to do something for them in exchange for Nathan's life. Whatever that something was brought him in contact with Elle (since he has absorbed her ability) and "Adam", and led to the current amnesiac situation.

Which leads me to the most unexpected plot twist of the episode. Now I was wondering whether we'd ever see Peter use Hiro's time travel ability, but I was wondering about him travelling in the past, not in the future. That was awesome. And very cleverly done by the show. Empty New York is familiar to us, it's the New York Peter saw repeatedly in his visions, before the explosion, so we think he's having another vision, until it's clear Caitlin is seeing the same thing. And then it's time for another stunner. So, the future. And New York evacuated. (Does that city ever get a break?) Currently, several possibilities are on the offer:

a) Maya's ability, used by either herself or Sylar.

b) The virus, which mutated and now affects non-specials as well.

c) The explosion, back on schedule though not via Peter.

c) is least likely, but I list it anyway to be thorough. Incidentally, a fourth possibility - that the future Peter and Caitlin went to is the one now made AU, from 5YG - I considered and discarded, because the paper Peter finds says "evacuation", and nobody got evacuated in the 5YG timeline. I think it's the virus, most likely.

As to people Peter and Caitlin will encounter in that future, my current guesses are: Claire (due to her natural immunity), Kensei (whether or not he's Adam, and same reason), Mohinder (because someone is going to have to infodump the reason for the catastrophe on Peter, and Mohinder is our exposition guy) and Nathan, with Nathan being the last encounter, and probably the one they'll give us just before Peter ends up in the present again, because the show is mean like that, and I don't think Peter will have his amnesia problem solved before encountering Nathan in the present.

Anyway, I loved all the storylines this week, and am looking forward to the next one!

Comments

[syredronning.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this episode commentary; I didn't feel any squee about this episode at all, so reading it damped a bit of my fannish depression *G*

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I've just started to catch up with my flist and see other people didn't like it (which proves it's good not to check your flist before seeing an episode even when you're not on the road), but I did, for all the reasons named. *shrugs* That happens. It happened to me a lot during the last two seasons of BTVS, for example.

[elyssadc.livejournal.com]

Huh. I agree. I hated this episode immensely and now...not so much. Thanks!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

*is still busy reading through flist*

It seems I'm the only one who liked it! Huh.

[elyssadc.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I think most of that might have to do with the fact that our (somewhat mutual) corner of fandom skews so heavily toward the Petrelli love. Any ep with no Nathan is gonna be a really hard ep for me, and apparently many others, not to hate.

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

I liked it. Haven't had time to talk about it (or necessarily much to say), but yeah, I think it's MUCH better than my flist seems to think.

[12-12-12.livejournal.com]

*waves hand*

I'm still too busy to do more than a quick skim of online stuff, but I loved this ep too. :D

[kathyh]

I'm glad you liked it because I was quite surprised to see people hating it all over the place. I thought it did a good job of opening up some plotlines which I was finding rather dull - Maya & Alejandro, Peter & Caitlin - and scattered moral ambiguity all over the place. Even West is starting to seem more interesting as he leads Claire into more dubious areas.

Not that it means we can trust Bob one bit, but it furthers the impression he's not the moustache twirling evil type but a human being.

I got the impression he actually meant what he was saying, which is always more fascinating than pure evil.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Firstly: You have a Heroes icon! Of Nathan and Angela! Yay!

Secondly: double yay, for being someone else who liked the episode (and all the moral ambiguity) as I did. I was starting to feel like the lone ranger here.

One more reason why I think they really are greying up Bob rather than just letting him be persuasive towards Mohinder: because Bob is marked for murder sooner or later. If he dies as a blacker than black villain, there is no emotional effect.

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

We do seem to have caught a lot of similar vibes and elements again this week. *g* Good call on Hiro already having started to lose his innocence back with Charlie; I initially thought it was his frustration at not being able to be with Yaeko that finally got the better of him.

I'm beginning to like Bob, in a strange way. Not that I think he is trustworthy, but his evil is a lot closer to Charles' than to Linderman's version. And he makes a great foil for Mohinder and a good parallel/contrast to Bennet (more fodder for the Elle's Daddy = Bob theory).

Do you think the woman meeting with Mohinder in the end was Niki with more self-esteem, or did they actually bring Jessica back?

Concerning Claire and West, the prank made me think of Heathers immediately - are you familiar with that movie? If the parallels are intentional, West is definitely meant to be somewhat of a loose canon.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Good call on Hiro already having started to lose his innocence back with Charlie; I initially thought it was his frustration at not being able to be with Yaeko that finally got the better of him.

I think the way they filmed the kiss left it in no doubt that the call back to Charlie was intended. Back then, Hiro started to lose his innocence, he started to accept that sometimes, a happy ending is not possible. But he was still trying for the best, and he was trying to save Charlie for her sake, not for himself. This time, he had that all too human impulse of selfishness and wanted to take his moment of happiness instead of losing it again, and bang, karma strikes.

I'm beginning to like Bob, in a strange way. Not that I think he is trustworthy, but his evil is a lot closer to Charles' than to Linderman's version.

Yes. I do appreciate he's not a James Bondian supervillain, and as you say, that way he's a great parallel and contrast to Bennet. Thompson last season was simply evil, and no attempt was made to make him anything more. Not so with Bob.

(BTW: Claude, Thompson, Ivan - work with Noah Bennet, get shot when you part ways?)

Claire and West as Veronica and JD: that didn't strike until you said it, but now it does, because yes, I did see the film. And Debbie makes a good Heather I, plus with the high school setting I can't believe they're not familiar with the movie. So yes, parallel.

Niki or Jessica: actually, that final scene made me believe cadesama is right, that she's playing the Company. (And also Mohinder, but for different reasons.)

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

(Btw, did my review seem so negative? I know I had that somewhat misleading snarky header comment at first, but I actually liked this one better than last week's.)

This time, he had that all too human impulse of selfishness and wanted to take his moment of happiness instead of losing it again, and bang, karma strikes.

I'm so glad they played it that way. It seems everyone gets a little more grey this season, which seems like a good idea.

(BTW: Claude, Thompson, Ivan - work with Noah Bennet, get shot when you part ways?)

It's Bennet's control issues. Clearly, he doesn't take kindly to the mere thought of getting abandoned, so he has to act first and usually lethal, as well.

Claire and West as Veronica and JD: that didn't strike until you said it, but now it does, because yes, I did see the film. And Debbie makes a good Heather I, plus with the high school setting I can't believe they're not familiar with the movie.

Not to mention that May, the other cheerleader who was boosting Claire, had little hints of Heather II (III? Shannen Doherty's character) to me. As if she was only waiting for someone to remove Debbie, so that she could take over, or at least install a ruler more to her liking. (Mini-Angelas unite?)

actually, that final scene made me believe [info]cadesama is right, that she's playing the Company. (And also Mohinder, but for different reasons.)

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you guys are right, since I can't make heads or tails of that story arc.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

All I can say is that last week I was seriously considering dropping Heroes from my schedule, because the plot wasn't engaging me. Now it is.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Should we wear a badge saying I liked The Line?

[syredronning.livejournal.com]

I think that's the great thing about Heroes - it has so many story lines and characters that everyone can pick favorites. Last week's episode had me on the edge of my seat. This one didn't. But I'm happy to read that someone else was captured by this week's ep. :))))

[damedbx.livejournal.com]

WOW! you just summed it all up for me! you also brought some interesting insights of what might or might not happen in the upcoming episodes! i really enjoyed this. it really opened up my mind to some new possibilities! XD

I also loved this episode. I think Peter got a step up from his "memory" loss. ^_^

[kernezelda]

I liked the ep well enough - it entertained me, and that's more than enough for my sensibly low expectations. :)

[ladyaeryn.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed the episode too. But then, I usually seem to be in the minority, so that may not mean anything. ;) I'm starting to feel like the storylines are finally moving closer together.

And poor New York, indeed. ;) I'm pretty sure I saw "medevac" or some similar term on Peter's flyer, which would rule out the explosion completely. Of course my brain went immediately to the virus, but I hadn't considered Maya.

Your reactions always give me lots to ponder. *rereads*

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

I didn't have strong feelings about this ep, but you make some great points. The contrast between Bob and Noah is really interesting. And I do give this show credit for not taking the easy way out, morally speaking, in a lot of situations.

[cadesama.livejournal.com]

Sadly, my opinion was largely colored by the still continuing argument I'm having with an offline friend over whether having Pete teleport to NYC and find the evacuation notice is an obnoxious rehash of Hiro seeing the explosion on November 8th. He thinks it is, and I think it's an obvious parallel, but not a rip off since a) the virus epidemic likely can't be pinned down to a single date and b) the rules of time travel state that you have to immediately establish what year the characters are in. And if you have time travelers on your show, you need to get used to them time traveling. Currently, the argument is taking place in text messages, with increasingly rude emoticons. ;)

I suspect Hiro will be able to fix the thing with the guns, but Yaeko will die (because alas the show is like that),

I truly hope she doesn't. I suspect Caitlin will be ousted from Peter's storyline somehow next ep, and two girlfriend deaths in one episode is just... gory. I'd rather see Hiro acknowledge his own selfishness and the damage he's done to the time line, and get the hell out of dodge before he makes things worse. I am amused, though, that Hiro being a little selfish (which, okay, even a little misuse of his power has huge ramifications) and Claire playing a mean prank are pretty much the limits of how evil those two can be. I really doubt we'll ever see worse behavior from them. Well, not this season, at least.

. I think that like Mohinder and Niki, he made a deal with the Company, and that he did so for the same reason Mohinder did - to save someone he loved. Nathan, of course, who after the explosion must have been dying.

That's the essence of the theory (http://cadesama.livejournal.com/178119.html#cutid1) (now non spoilery, because we're past the episodes I was using spoilers from) I whipped up around episode three. I love that that so many people have thought of this. I really want it to happen, and the more people clue into it, the more like it is that it's not a bizarre hallucination and really will happen.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

He thinks it is, and I think it's an obvious parallel, but not a rip off since a) the virus epidemic likely can't be pinned down to a single date and b) the rules of time travel state that you have to immediately establish what year the characters are in. And if you have time travelers on your show, you need to get used to them time traveling.

I'm with you there, but then, I'm a genre girl. I expect shows/films/comics to tell me when we are if there's time travel. And I still think the way the transition was filmed was inspired, because it was a direct contrast to Hiro's first jump and really had me believe it was another vision right until Caitlin reacted to the sight. I'm really glad I wasn't spoiled for this because it was a "wow" moment for me.

I suspect Caitlin will be ousted from Peter's storyline somehow next ep, and two girlfriend deaths in one episode is just... gory.

I used to think Caitlin would be save from being killed off because of the Simone precedent (date Peter Petrelli, sign your death warrant? Is this like "work with HRG, get shot by him"?) and would simply split up, but now I've seen the two trailers for the next episode, and considering they're in a future with the virus rampant among normals and specials alike apparantly, and Caitlin doesn't have regenerative abilities... yeah. I think it's likely she'll die.

On second thought, Charlie's death should contribute to Yaeko's survival chances, plus if at least the pattern of the Kensei stories Hiro heard as a child still holds, then the Princess survives; it's Kensei whose heart gets given to the dragon instead.

Theory: I hadn't read it before because of the spoiler thing, and congratulate you on your likely prescience!

[cadesama.livejournal.com]

I'm with you there, but then, I'm a genre girl. I expect shows/films/comics to tell me when we are if there's time travel.

That's the thing. He's a genre fan too. And despite my repeated explanations that the date Peter has is virtually useless in terms of a time line for the plot, he insists on seeing it that way. And complaining about how you don't need to have a Big Bad. Uh, since when? All serialized shows have major villains/disasters to be confronted over the season.

Another problem is that I think the two of us differ on what elements we consider essential to the show. I think the time travel and prophecies as framing devices are pretty important. Complaining about them is like complaining about the visions on Angel -- missing the entire structure of the show, bud. They are obviously going to move away from these devices some, but I still think they are mythologically important to the show.

and Caitlin doesn't have regenerative abilities... yeah. I think it's likely she'll die.

Either she'll die, or Peter will accidentally jump away, horrifically mirroring Hiro jumping away from Charlie. I tend to think she'll out right die, so that she can have a scene passing on her revenge mission to him though, just to complicate matters with Elle even further.

On second thought, Charlie's death should contribute to Yaeko's survival chances, plus if at least the pattern of the Kensei stories Hiro heard as a child still holds, then the Princess survives; it's Kensei whose heart gets given to the dragon instead.

Yep. Plus, I think it's important, character wise, for Hiro to willingly give Yaeko up. Peter's problem isn't the romance with Caitlin, it's that he 's not willing to take responsibility for himself, and that leads to explosions, people get electrocuted, and (probably) his girlfriend dying. Hiro is simply where he should not being, kissing a woman he should have met. Once he's starts thinking fourth dimensionally he'll remember that Yaeko was dead from his perspective to be begin with, and that he never should have interfered.

Theory: I hadn't read it before because of the spoiler thing, and congratulate you on your likely prescience!

\o/ Now, hopefully the execution will be as cool as I think it can be...

[12-12-12.livejournal.com]

And I still think the way the transition was filmed was inspired, because it was a direct contrast to Hiro's first jump and really had me believe it was another vision right until Caitlin reacted to the sight. I'm really glad I wasn't spoiled for this because it was a "wow" moment for me.

I thought that shot was awesome and eerie and wonderfully atmospheric. And it made me wish I had the willpower to resist spoilers. :)

[12-12-12.livejournal.com]

I truly hope she doesn't. I suspect Caitlin will be ousted from Peter's storyline somehow next ep, and two girlfriend deaths in one episode is just... gory.

Hmm. To be honest, the Peter/Caitlin was the one part of this episode that I did *not* enjoy, and I would like her to go away now, please. :-) I know your arguments about this not being the Big Ship of Destiny and more a Friendship/Comfort thing are very sensible, but...in order to be entertained by a ship, I need it to be pretty. And have zing. And zap. And sparks. *cough*

Yes, I am just that shallow. And Peter/Caitlin really isn't doing it for me. I think Milo and Hayden's chemistry may have ruined me forever. Heh.

I wouldn't mind so much, but I'm getting worried that Peter will spend most of his time interacting with Caitlin in next week's ep instead of meeting up with existing cast members, and that would annoy me muchly.

[cadesama.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm getting a bit bored myself. Not so much of Peter/Caitlin (we really barely got any of them in The Line), but of Milo not interacting with better actors. I love the guy, but he needs better people to play off of than he's been given. Which is part of why I'm very, very much looking forward to him hooking up with Adam.

I do think that next week is primarily going to be Peter with just Caitlin, since they are in the future together, but it's also going to be the end of Peter's stint of denial and isolation. And I always look forward to a good apocalypse.