I’d love to say that time has flown since the last new “Heroes” episode, but who am I trying to kid? I’ve been waiting for this with bated breath. Basically, what I’m saying is that every Monday night since March 4th has been a waste of time. Finally, however, Mondays are worth living for again…well, for the next five weeks, anyway. And although the episode-beginning conversation between HRG and Eric Roberts was a little too melodramatic for my tastes, just about everything else within this week’s “Heroes” was spot-on.
The deceptively casual nature of the chat between Nathan and Mr. Linderman belied just how serious the discussion was. Mr. Linderman’s power to create life from lifelessness seems to arguably be one of the most powerful of all; how ironic, then, that it should be in the hands of the man who seems to be the most ethically…or, at least, morally…challenged. (It’s amazing how chilling the phrase “acceptable losses” can be when uttered in a certain context.) Linderman’s interest in Micah can’t be a good thing…and it’s clear that Nikica agrees. I wouldn’t want to be in that shapeshifter’s shoes when Miss Split Personality gets a hold of her.
The escape orchestrated by HRG with Matt and Ted was inspired, with HRG relaying instructions to Matt, who was clearly wayyyyyy out of his intellectual depth. And I wasn’t paying close enough attention, I admit it, but…was the diner where they were grabbing a meal the same one where Charlie used to work?
The battle between Peter vs. Sylar was short but sufficiently harsh. Gosh, it sure was nice of Mohinder to deliver Peter’s dead body to his mother, wasn’t it? There wasn’t much in the way of real suspense with the whole Peter-is-dead bit, of course, but when Nathan started crying, all I could think was, “If his tears are real, they ain’t for his brother; they’re because he just lost the Presidency.” Am I cynical? I don’t think so. But back to Peter. Didn’t you love the graphic sound effect when Claire pulled the piece of glass out of his skull.? Nice. And speaking of Claire, her newly discovered grandma sure turned into a hard-ass out of nowhere, didn’t she? I mean, Jesus, in the first episode, she seemed like a woman lost, and now look at her! The conversation between Claire and Nathan, meanwhile, was about as depressing as they come. Thanks, Dad! Good to meet you, too!
Isaac vs. Sylar was kind of a one-sided fight, but it must be said that Sylar’s nailing Isaac to the floor with paintbrushes was grotesquely inspired. The realization that Sylar’s now able to fortell the future, unfortunately, means that the grand finale is going to be particularly nasty.
And as long as we’re talking about finales, Future Hiro showing up only in the last seconds of this episode was just cruel…but at least next week looks like it’s all about the future.
The three best lines of the night:
1) “I know this man.” “Good! If you see him, tell him I want my sword back!” – Nathan and Mr. Linderman, respectively
2) “Oh, my God! You’re middle management!” – Matt Parkman
3) “He’s no longer with the company.” – Thompson
In closing, can I just ask, “NBC, are you effing kidding me? You pulled ‘Studio 60’ for ‘The Real Wedding Crashers’? You can’t find ANYTHING better than this piece of crap to follow ‘Heroes’ with?!?”
