Heroes 2.10 Truths and Consequences

[selenak]

Still busy, still short review, still out of tune with fandom at large, I bet.



Because I loved Mohinder's unrepentant "Well, tough" attitude towards Noah Bennet after he resurrected him. Especially after reading all the bashing last week. "You have nobody to blame but yourself." Because, you know, it's true. (Incidentally, since Bob delivers the fake ashes and since Mohinder has the blood to resurrect Noah first and then try it out on the virus, I'm assuming the Noah body snatching and resurrection was with Bob's full knowledge. I'm curious whether or not Bob told Mohinder first that this was plan B in case Noah got violent, or after Mohinder shot.) There were other factors as well, but mostly Noah chose the path that led him to a Company cell.

Loved Mohinder's attitude towards Bob as well, and may I say, for everyone screaming about his "stupidity" re: working with the Company for real, here we see he took the trouble of a little research and found out how the virus got into being to begin with (i.e. whose fault that was - theirs), and then does something about it, something constructive, such as getting Bob to tell him where the various samples are, as opposed to, you know, shooting the guy "so my family will be safe". I continue to marvel that this season made me into a Mohinder partisan, but it has. Go, Mohinder's storyline. Which is why as opposed to 99% of fandom I'm actually a bit disappointed about the impending Mohinder/Sylar reunion, because you know, we've tread this ground before. Double Agent!Mohinder is way more interesting than last year's Mohinder, and I still think they should have killed Sylar off in last season's finale. I'd rather have his volume 2 storyline end with Company scenes than in yet another Sylar showdown. Is it too much to hope that at least this one will end with Sylar really really dead? (Killed by Maya, Mohinder or himself, I don't care, just as long as there is no more Sylar.)

Bob was again extermely interesting this week, manipulative with Elle, apparantly honestly interested in stopping the virus with Mohinder (and hey, the story he told Nathan re: Adam and Adam's motivations gets verified elsewhere), and chancing it out with the grieving Bennet clan. Sandra was great in that scene, and I think her shooting Bob was a genuine probability. He didn't have to deliver the "ashes" in person (presumably he has enough flunkies who could have done that for him). And of course we don't know yet why he went to the trouble to resurrect Noah to begin with (I doubt it was just to indulge Mohinder).

Speaking of Elle, Claire had her best scene this episode with her, and I hope that's an omen for things to come, because their interaction has sparks, no pun intended, and besides, I'm really curious whether Claire is angry and vengeful enough to go further in her threat to tell the public about the specials.

I made a bit of fun of Peter in wee_warrior's lj for his out of sight, of of mind attitude towards girlfriends a few days ago, and hereby apologize. Mind you, I know fandom and it's going to complain about this, but I think Peter being shown to a) attempt one more time to retrieve Caitlin from the virus-ridden future and b) being concerned with saving her later on was the right narrative choice, because it is completely his responsibility that she is in this situation. Now I don't find Caitlin a very interesting character, either, but to just ignore her and forget about her would have made Peter look very callous, so I'm glad this didn't happen. Moreover, given that he got a graphic illustration that the virus will wipe out 93% of the population (and got told Nathan died in the first wave), I'm not surprised he puts "stop the virus" before any family reunions.

Of course, he's currently travelling with Ras Al'Gul. Am feeling a bit smug that I put my money on Adam being eviler than the Company when everyone else wanted the reverse to be true. My reason for this, btw, was admittedly reverse shallow one: I didn't want a division where Good Looking Adam is just misunderstood whereas paunchy balding and middle aged Bob is evil (tm). Anyway, I was wondering how Hiro would find out that Takezo Kensei is now Adam Monroe, and just where to find Adam, and hadn't bet on that time trip, which was a neat flashback to Ye Olde Days. I loved the consistency of Kaito being all for locking up Adam, but not of getting rid for the virus for good or for parting ways with the others, because we know he didn't do that for many years to come. Most intriguing was Victoria's observation that Adam had allies among the twelve re: virus. Obvious suspects would be Linderman and Maury, but I'm wondering whether or not Angela was one back then (but not now) and that's why she got away with wounds but wasn't killed yet currently.

Current day Victoria certainly doesn't trust anyone named Petrelli (which is interesting, considering Angela's determination to keep her secret from Matt last week, but then again Victoria also makes the "you look like her" observation to Peter, in which she sounds ambiguous). Peter at this point trusts Adam over her, for which he'll undoubtedly get bashed, but Adam has the "healed Nathan, was fellow prisoner" advantage, and I think given Peter's reaction to Adam shooting Victoria, he's actually suspicious by now. But again, destroying the virus takes precedence.

I loved Niki's reunion with Micah and Monica deciding to get his father's medal back for him. Yes, she gets captured, but give the girl a break - she's not immune to bullets, is she?

So, predictions:

- Depending on whether Mohinder is at the airport of New Orleans or in New York (I didn't get that, will have to rewatch), he'll deliver the antibodies to Niki first before turning back in the first case, or will turn around immediately in the second, but I hope in either case, he'll remember he's living with a cop and will call Matt about the Sylar-has-Molly situation immediately

- Micah will get his Fantastic Four minus One team-up, as Niki will save Monica

- Hiro's attack on Peter will be stopped by Peter zapping Hiro, which in turn will break the time freeze, at which point a Hiro-Kensei/Adam encounter won't be the only one to happen, because I'm pretty convinced this will be the point where Nathan shows up

- why is Nathan in Odessa? Because Bob by now has to know about Victoria's death (complete with photo, thank you, Adam) and can deduce Adam has teamed up with Peter and will go after his old goal, the virus. Which makes getting Nathan to Odessa the smart thing to do, because that at the very least will rob Adam of his multi-super-powered ally

- either Peter or Claire or Adam will consume the fatal strand of the virus, because of the emphasis on the regenerators this season, and I'm thinking Alien III and Ripley pregnant with the Alien flinging herself into the fire

- oh, and Noah B. will rejoin the Company, concluding that the way to REALLY get safety is to get to the top spot himself.

And again, as opposed to the majority of fandom who hopes Sylar will kill Maya, I hope Maya will kill Sylar. Or someone else can kill Sylar. As long as someone does.

Comments

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Well, from a Doylist perspective it was of course a loophole to cover for Hayden (and Milo), but I was talking in Watsonian terms!

And that is such a constant cause of consternation for her! Her boys having some obvious leverage against them certainly doesn't please her, and the idea that they team up against her? Horrific.

I think the Angela manipulation that made me smile the most in s1 was her statement to Claire when Claire was looking at the first of the wedding photo series: "My two boys, getting along for a change". Oh, Angela.

Also, oh, wedding photographer. I still want to know what he/she was thinking with this series:









Either completely outside the Company and playing pretend that he can live a normal life, or co-director with Nathan. Perhaps Noah manages the field agents and Nathan does more general administration and policy work?

Would make sense. Personal training with Noah would be every agents dream/nightmare, Jack and Adrian would get their wish of sharing scenes, and we'd have nice tense discussions of how to proceed.

[cadesama.livejournal.com]

I think the Angela manipulation that made me smile the most in s1 was her statement to Claire when Claire was looking at the first of the wedding photo series: "My two boys, getting along for a change". Oh, Angela.

I actually snorted outloud the first time I heard that. She only gets away with being so blatant because Claire doesn't know any better and is already receptive to Peter=Good, Nathan=Bad rhetoric.

Mm, pretty pictures. But, yeah, the fact that the pictures get progressively more intimate as they go is just bizarre. Those are seriously bride/groom poses! The first one isn't crazy, but in a series?! The only rational assumption I can make is that there are 300 million pictures of everyone at Nathan's wedding, and Angela putting only the Peter-Nathan ones up around the house is a passive-aggressive swipe at Heidi. Of course, that doesn't explain why Peter and Nathan do it too. Oh, Petrellis.

Would make sense. Personal training with Noah would be every agents dream/nightmare, Jack and Adrian would get their wish of sharing scenes, and we'd have nice tense discussions of how to proceed.

I think a partnership between them would either end in world domination or murder, though. Probably murder.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

She only gets away with being so blatant because Claire doesn't know any better and is already receptive to Peter=Good, Nathan=Bad rhetoric.

Yes, she would have been far more subtle had Claire actually been in contact with them for a longer time. But things being as they are, she can go for the blatant approach.

The first one isn't crazy, but in a series?!

The series is indeed the crazy. I mean, I know wedding photos, and of course the entire family gets photographed, not just groom and bride. But I never ever encountered a case where the groom and his brother (or sister, for that matter) got more than one photo, let alone photos that look less posed and more intimate by the minute. I can only conclude the photographer thought after the first one which is standard, Hm, pretty, hey, let's make another one, and then found herself unable to stop because she wanted to see how far they were going to take this.

a passive-aggressive swipe at Heidi: I could Angela doing that. Mind you, nothing is stopping Heidi from putting up her own photos, but apparantly she didn't. Maybe she was waiting to see whether Nathan would on his own, as a kind of test? (Which he plainly failed.)

Of course, that doesn't explain why Peter and Nathan do it, too.

Peter has another more recent photo of Nathan and himself in his apartment that he looks at in The Fix (that one is taken in Nathan's campaign office, but is if possible more intimate, as they have both arms around each other), plus the photo of thet two of them as children (well, teenager in Nathan's case) we see in the deleted scene from 6MA, plus one wedding photo. Since it's his apartment and he doesn't live with anyone there, this might be less of a problem, but I still wonder what potential girlfriends brought into the apartment made of that one. And Nathan has the wedding photo both at his office and at home BEFORE we get to the grand photo extravaganza of the Peter Shrine in s2. It's a minor miracle Heidi got along as well with Peter as she did.

I think a partnership between them would either end in world domination or murder, though. Probably murder.

'Tis true. Not before an inter-office war, though. With whom would Matt side, seeing that he worked with both? Mohinder has his unrequited crush thing on the Petrellis plus he and Noah now have their own issues, so he'd probably on Nathan's side. The Haitian, Angela notwithstanding, sides with Noah. Claude, recently returned, sides with Noah, too, because that old shooting incident is topped by the still raging desire to punch Nathan. Niki, if alive, is on Nathan's side, naturally. Note that I'm leaving Peter and his superpowers out of it entirely; he's engaged elsewhere. What about the rest?

[cadesama.livejournal.com]

I could Angela doing that. Mind you, nothing is stopping Heidi from putting up her own photos, but apparantly she didn't. Maybe she was waiting to see whether Nathan would on his own, as a kind of test? (Which he plainly failed.)

I don't know, it'd be pretty ballsy for Heidi to put up photos in her mother-in-law's house, since, apparently, they do live separately (Nathan, Heidi, and the boys in Hyde Park, Angela at the Gramercy Park house). But, yeah, I could see Heidi waiting to see if Nathan will even notice that she's absent in the picture. It wasn't until the third or so time I rewatched 4MA that I even noticed there was a picture of Heidi in Nathan's hospital room -- it was pushed that far back behind the wedding picture and one of Angela and the boys.

It's a minor miracle Heidi got along as well with Peter as she did.

He's just that charming? Actually, he probably does act as a mediator between her and Angela, so that's got to win him a lot of brownie points.

Note that I'm leaving Peter and his superpowers out of it entirely; he's engaged elsewhere. What about the rest?

Hiro falls on Nathan's side because Petrelli/Nakamura OTP! Monica is too busy FIGHTING CRIME to care about their inter office battles. Claire obviously sides with Noah, as long as Peter is out of the picture. If he's back in, that complicates things, and I think she' sit the round out. Elle might choose Team Noah, since he actually told her the truth about her father. Then again, that could be a major point against him, and Petrellis are prettier toys.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

But, yeah, I could see Heidi waiting to see if Nathan will even notice that she's absent in the picture.

And of course, being Nathan, he just doesn't. Not because he doesn't care for her, but he still doesn't notice. In futuresoon's long Petrelli backstory, there is a Heidi interlude in which she reflects that she once took all the photos of her family away, and he didn't notice, but of course when she put the photos of his family away, he'd notice immediately.

It wasn't until the third or so time I rewatched 4MA that I even noticed there was a picture of Heidi in Nathan's hospital room -- it was pushed that far back behind the wedding picture and one of Angela and the boys.

I didn't notice until the third time, either, but I did notice immediately it is a solo portrait whereas the other photos are of course of Petrellis together. Now Nathan is innocent of that selection, actually, considering he's in bed with third degree burns and on morphine more likely than not, so who made it, Angela again? Or did Heidi put them there directly from Nathan's office?


Hiro falls on Nathan's side because Petrelli/Nakamura OTP!

Naturally!

Monica is too busy FIGHTING CRIME to care about their inter office battles.

Monica is sensible like that.

Claire obviously sides with Noah, as long as Peter is out of the picture. If he's back in, that complicates things, and I think she' sit the round out.

Yes, that would be my guess for both scenarios.

Elle might choose Team Noah, since he actually told her the truth about her father. Then again, that could be a major point against him, and Petrellis are prettier toys.

It depends on the mood she's in? Or she might try to play double agent, assuring both teams of her cooperation. Plus of course she'd want to tease Claire by getting touchy-feely with either gentleman.

Randomly, because though it's old, it never fails to amuse when watched:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BANQbLMH7X8

PS Forgot to ask

[selenak.livejournal.com]

...so what about Matt, what do you think? Noah or Nathan?

Re: PS Forgot to ask

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

*wasn't asked* Nathan, totally. He doesn't hit Matt's inferior complex.

Re: PS Forgot to ask

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Good point, good point!

(Was v. amused that aycheb in his review of .07% recently wrote "Bennet let his contempt for schlubs showing in his interactions with Matt (very middle management, a true contender like Nathan Petrelli wouldn’t care)" and this on first time viewing and not knowing about future Nathan and Matt interaction.*g*)

Re: PS Forgot to ask

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

"Bennet let his contempt for schlubs showing in his interactions with Matt (very middle management, a true contender like Nathan Petrelli wouldn’t care)" and this on first time viewing and not knowing about future Nathan and Matt interaction.*g*)

Well observed! Angela, of course, uses extreme snobbery when dealing with the Parkmans, but that's probably more a class issue.

Re: PS Forgot to ask

[cadesama.livejournal.com]

Plus, Angela hates them. I don't think she likes at all that someone so venal as Maury has the kind of power he has (that should be reserved for her dynasty, damn it!), and I think her amused dislike of Matt probably just crossed over into hate.

Re: PS Forgot to ask

[cadesama.livejournal.com]

Nathan! Because he's actually sort of bonded with Nathan and Nathan doesn't make it his job to make Matt feel like an idiot. In fact, just the opposite, since making people feel good about themselves is always a politician's trick.