Heroes 2.06
Oct. 30th, 2007 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakOr, 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!
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!
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no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 07:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 07:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 07:13 pm (UTC)It seems I'm the only one who liked it! Huh.
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Date: 2007-10-30 07:14 pm (UTC)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.
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Date: 2007-10-30 07:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 07:20 pm (UTC)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.
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Date: 2007-10-30 07:21 pm (UTC)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.
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Date: 2007-10-30 07:26 pm (UTC)(Mind you, I do see the problem if it's not such a stellar episode, like Kindred this year or Better Halves last year. But as I recall, Company Man, with zero Petrelli presence in any form, unless you count Claire, was rightly adored. Not that this episode was "Company Man", but I'd put it on a level with, say, "Collision" or "Landslide", who aren't favourite eps of mine but which I did enjoy a lot.
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Date: 2007-10-30 07:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 07:36 pm (UTC)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
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Date: 2007-10-30 07:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 07:49 pm (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 08:06 pm (UTC)It seems everyone gets a little more grey this season, which seems like a good idea.
Absolutely, and it's something they haven't done with Hiro yet. Well, Future!Hiro obviously had practice killing people, but present Hiro was around to disapprove and it was in a future dystopia with everyone after him. Whereas current Hiro discovering that yes, he has it in him not to do the right thing all the time, not because fate is against him but because he made some deliberate wrong choices, now that's new and interesting.
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.
One shudders to think what would have happened if Sandra had reacted to the big revelation by leaving him instead of forgiving, after all.... I'm not 100% kidding.
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.
Good point. And they very carefully avoided giving Claire any kind of "selfless" justification by letting Debbie, say, plan to do something horribly humiliating to one of the other kids. Though I doubt they'll carry the Heathers parallels as far as letting West do something to May, but I could see him, like JD, try to persuade Claire to do another risky stunt and react badly if she doesn't , especially if he finds out who her father is at the same time.
Niki: I just watched the two trailers, and
T
R
A
I
L
E
R
DL shows up in one of them, telling Niki something about "and at the end of the day, you'll kill everyone". Now since I don't believe DL is actually alive, this is either a flashback or a hallucination/dream. If it's a flashback, it doesn't make sense for Jessica to have it; Jessica doesn't care about DL, Niki does. If it's a hallucination, again, Niki is the one likely to hallucinate DL. Either way, I think it supports that we're dealing with Niki, not Jessica. If it is Niki, however, and she deliberately acted in a Jessican way, then she's up to something. (Other than solving her multiple personality problem.)
no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 08:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 08:14 pm (UTC)I also loved this episode. I think Peter got a step up from his "memory" loss. ^_^
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Date: 2007-10-30 08:27 pm (UTC)Company Man was brilliant because of it's focus. But these episodes are very UNfocussed. The way things are going now, it's like we are watching 2 different shows because there isn't enough time to get everyone into one episode. That is dragging down the pace incredibly. There just isn't that sense of forward momentum that there should be at this point in the season. I feel like they ALMOST achieved it last week, but lost it again in this episode.
So, that is a very long-winded explanation for why I didn't like last night's ep. Not just the lack of Nathan, but the focus on very slow plotlines, un-interesting characters, and poor writing.
However, I am not saying I don't love the show or I don't think it has the potential to be great again. From the spoilers I've read and the hints we've gotten, I think the payoff WILL be fabulous. I just think they've wasted a lot of screentime to get to this point in the story when we should have been there 2 or 3 episodes ago.
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Date: 2007-10-30 09:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 09:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 09:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-30 10:57 pm (UTC)I'm still too busy to do more than a quick skim of online stuff, but I loved this ep too. :D
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Date: 2007-10-30 11:55 pm (UTC)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*
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Date: 2007-10-30 11:58 pm (UTC)(PS. I've missed your posts. I hope RL lets you come back to LJ soon.)
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Date: 2007-10-31 02:13 am (UTC)And yeah, I'm crazy busy right now, but in a good way, so I'm not too stressed. And there'll be lots of good stuff to catch up on when I get back.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-31 05:06 am (UTC)