Heroes 3.01 and 3.02

[selenak]

As someone who actually enjoyed season 2, there were a number of things I was not happy with relating especially to it.

1) Killing Bob. He was the most interesting new character of s2, and not just because of the Noah 'n Claire contrast/parallels there were playing with him and Elle, but in himself. I am not happy with a universe where Sylar lives and Bob is dead, let me tell you that. But then, Sylar's continued survival is one of my least favourite things about Heroes since the end of s1 anyway, independent from who else lives or dies, so perhaps I should say: I'd rather have HRG killed than Bob. I know I'm pretty alone in that.

(The only good result of Bob's death: Angela leading the company. That, I'm looking forward to watch. Also, thanks, show, for clearing up her power. Take that, Charles Deveaux theory believers. I told you so.)

2) Mohinder exchanging his great Spy Who Came In From The Cold storyline in favour of a(nother) remake of The Fly. Kring, I'm with you on liking David Cronenberg, but you could have fanboyed him another way. This is so not what I was hoping for, and I can't see anything of interest in in Fly!Mohinder. Or I should say Spider!Mohinder, I suppose. Mind you, the idea in general of a "normal" character achieving superpowers through a serum/radioactive incident/ accident/whatever is completely in comicverse tradition, and they could do something interesting with it, but not by Sendil R. polishing up his Jeff Goldblum impression. BTW, if we're talking Marvelverse, does this make Mohinder Hank Pym?

On the other hand, aside from having hitting the sheets with Mohinder immediately, Maya was written and acted better than last season, and her storyline this season doesn't seem to be about needing control of her powers (so Sylar was good for something, I suppose), which makes me hope that after two versions with Niki and one with Moya, the writers are finally done with that as far as female characters are concerned. There was some discussion last season whether the twins would have been better or worse if Alejandro had been the one with the lethal power and Maya the one counteracting it, and there were arguments for both sides. But if they're setting up Maya as the rational one to Mohinder's crazy, we'll see whether it works out better. As far as Maya is concerned. I'm still more than annoyed that an entire season of character development and ties for Mohinder are thrown away in favour of Fly!Mo.

Okay, on to things I feel mixed about, and things I enjoyed. Matt doesn't have much to do, and I have no idea why Future!Peter teleported him to Africa, but what Matt there is is good; firstly, I'm happy that he figures out the Peter = assassin bit very fast (and without the aide of dreams, like Angela had), and secondly, I appreciate the riff on the Wise Black Man cliché with our new character at the end, who is absolutely familiar with cell phones. And the turtle fake-out was a treat for a Discworld fan, especially given the nature of Nathan's crazy. (Well, it was if you've read Small Gods...)

Claire I was happy with. She immediately wanted to rescue Nathan, she did her damn best when chased by Sylar, managing to knock him down twice (and without being trained in martial arts), and she angrily verbalized exactly what viewers had complained about, the victimhood; I hope she sticks with her resolution of wanting to learn how to fight. Plus the not feeling anything reliably freaks me out on her behalf; it did when happened to Owen Harper in Torchwood, it does now. Lastly, I'm happy Meredith is back, since I do want more of the character, and I'm looking forward to seeing her with Claire. And Sandra. And all three together.

(Future!Claire: I wonder whether she was working for the Company, or someone else - Nathan? Given that SOMETHING happened with Nathan in the timeline currently wiped out by Future!Peter, and it wasn't getting shot, and it wasn't something good - or on her own behalf. I wonder whether she'll take over after Angela, or did take over in that timeline.)

I actually figured out Future!Peter had replaced Present!Peter when Matt found him in the bathroom, because having two Peters chase each other and disappearing from the tv viewers sight is a set-up for an identity switch if there ever was one. So Peter telling Claire not to come wasn't a surprise. All the scenes between Future!Peter and Angela were very good; I found it fascinating that she makes the distinction between "my son" (= Present!Peter, and Present!Peter only) and Future!Peter, who gets the hardcore tongue lashing treatment that previously only Nathan (in Four Months Later, for example) received; but then he, like Nathan then, messed with her plans.

And now for the big one: those Petrellis. Congratulations to everyone who nine months ago said that the assassin walked like Milo Ventimiglia and therefore had to be one version of Peter. Now there were about a hundred ways someone with accumulated superpowers could stop someone else from speaking, I'll grant you, but the Petrellis being the Petrellis and always this side of Greek Tragedy, I could buy Future!Peter would go for the quasi fratricide instead. Also, I think Kring & Co. wanted to reintroduce tension into the relationship between Peter and Nathan, and between world savings and love declarations putting an end to the earlier reasons, they needed something drastic to do that. More on this in a minute when I get to Nathan, but first let me finish Peter(s): the obvious parallel is to Hiro and Ando, because even when Present!Peter gets out of Francis Capra's body, I doubt Nathan is going to be very thrilled with him, never mind the shooting isn't Present!Peter's fault. That would be my explanation for Nathan not asking about Present!Peter, btw. Hearing your brother was ready to kill you ( to save the 'verse, sure, but still) can do that to you, even if you're not in a questionable mental state yourself. Lastly, I found it interesting that Future!Peter tells Angela and later Nathan, but doesn't tell Claire the truth; an attempt not to mess up the timeline(s) any further with Claire or the difference in relationships?

The other thing done to make relations between Nathan and Peter tense again would be Nathan getting back into politics and coming to the conclusion that his repeated almost-deaths and resurrections mean he has a destiny. As opposed to what happened to Mohinder, I don't see this as wiping out one season of character development, since Nathan remembers the whole 0.07% very clearly, plus he really needs to get active again, back into his professional life, and being a lawyer just isn't enough of a contrast to the superpowers part of his existence. So I approve. Of course, he doesn't go back into politics, he has a religious experience first. (Has someone been watching Battlestar Galactica, writers? If so, who was it that decided Linderman would be Nathan's Head!Six, because that was inspired?) They're playing this as creepy so far, and since I doubt the Cylon God was involved, I suspect either of two things:

a) Nathan's resurrection-plus-ensuing God talk and visions of the very dead Linderman are a belated aftereffect of Adam's blood and thus finally the drawback to Adam's blood being used to revive people we've all been waiting for. There has to be one, both for Doylist and Watsonian reasons; the writers need one because otherwise there is no reason to fear for anyone in the show again, because Adam aside, Claire would donate quite freely, and there had to be a reason why the Elders didn't use Adam's blood on themselves all those decades. Even if what is happening with Nathan has nothing to do with the blood, my guess is something really nasty happened back in the day when Adam's blood was used on someone. Claire's blood might or might not have similar drawbacks; we'll find out via Noah and Sylar, I suppose.

b) A not yet revealed party is responsible for both Nathan's resurrection, the "God has a message" speech and his subsequent Linderman sightings. Not Maury, since Maury is in a coma, and Linderman is definitely dead (he couldn't have healed himself without a brain, and D.L. took care of that one, plus his body was found), so it can't be the real him. Hmmm. Whoever it is should know Nathan, and probably didn't pick Linderman as an avater by accident. Hmmmm.

In case I haven't mentioned it so far: I'm actually not displeased by all of this. Somewhat creeped out, but not displeased. If he is to have a continuing purpose on the show, Nathan needs to have goals other than Peter, and while "Nathan and Peter move to Canada" makes for very enjoyable fanfic, it's not a workeable tv storyline. And I originally fell for him because he was an ambiguous character. And I love my family dynamics best if there is tension, frankly; it makes the emotional intensity along with it all the more riveting. That's why I love Nothing To Hide to bits.

Speaking of Nothing to Hide: okay, colour me seriously surprised. I was wondering whether they'd let Niki get out of the burning house as Jessica, with her Niki identity wiped out, or something like that, which I wouldn't have liked, but I haven't expected an actual new character played by Ali Larter. So, Tracey Strauss: since surprise!siblings (*spits but will say more in a moment*) seem to be a theme, I'm speculating that she is the real Jessica Sanders. Not Niki's alter ego but the twin sister who was supposedly killed by dear old dad. Now we know Linderman had Niki under surveillance from childhood onwards. You could easily suggest a scenario where Hal Sanders beats Jessica almost do death and she's dying in a hospital in Las Vegas, and Linderman heals her and spirits her away, to be used in the future, while letting Hal, Niki and everyone else believe she's dead. Real!Jessica gets the Haitian treatment and some fake memories to boot and a new identity, and presto, Tracey. Who has her own ability, not superstrength, which means she's definitely not Niki Sanders creating yet another persona, even if Niki had somehow gotten out of the burning house and had somehow managed to lead a double life with the Senator.

Speaking of whom: Bruce Boxleitner actually does look like Bill Clinton. I couldn't see it when londonkds said this about Sheridan, but now I can. Huh. Hello there, Bruce, long time, no see. So far, credible politician. Heroes does that thing again where Ali Laters is introduced in a sexualized manner, see also series pilot, but on the other hand, they give her the speech to make it clear she didn't get the job because she's screwing the senator, and he takes her seriously. We'll see; Tracey has potential, whether or not she is the original Jessica. Nathan wanting her on his staff is I think due to a mixture of not quite believing her when she denies being Niki, and wanting to keep an eye on her (usually when Niki is not in Niki mode, she's dangerous), and yes, his thing for blondes, though I doubt he'll make a move first. I predict a scene where she addresses the matter of that Linderman-made porn pretty son, though.

Lastly: Hiro and Ando. On the minus side, I am displeased both Kaito and the show forgot Kimiko is supposed to succeed Kaito, not Hiro. You know, the actual business woman? Grrrr. Arggh. Also, at first I wondered whether Hiro like Mohinder would get an entire season of character development taken away, but no. His reaction to that glimpse of himself and Ando is very much one of someone with the Kensei experience behind him. Pre-Kensei Hiro would not automatically have assumed Ando was the villain there (in fact, my guess is Hiro was in that timeline, which is why Ando killed him, and both he and we will find out as much later in the season), but post-Kensei Hiro does. Daphne - Catwoman indeed - is a very timely antagonist, btw; not just in technical terms (as Hiro needs someone other than Peter to be able to (almost) counteract his ability) but in character terms, being, like good villains tend to be, a similar-just-one-step-further version of the hero. She's gleefully selfish so far, and Hiro without Ando (or someone else to care for) very soon could be; hence the need for Ando.

Also, they're cute together. What?

And now, I suppose, I have to - well. You know, ever since joking about Sylar as the third Summers brother with cadesama in season 1 I was sometimes afraid they'd go there. So I'm not totally surprised. Plus, you know, since they decided to keep Sylar on the show AND to give him his powers back, they needed some justification why he shouldn't just endlessly repeat his serial killer career and not kill every superhero he meets. Given Sylar's mommy issues, this particular choice of retcon makes some kind of psychological sense, because it does give Angela a temporary upper hand with Sylar. She just fulfilled his dream (as told to Chandra in Six Months Ago). But I can't see it last. (And will never give up the hope we'll get rid of Sylar ONE DAY.) The worst about this, though? The Sylar pairings which were written anyway just gained possible new popularity by the 'cesters.