Category: Heroes (Page 13 of 22)

So Claire’s back, but Kristen Bell’s nowhere to be found. Is there some sort of ruling that the two can’t appear in the same episode? And as long as we’re asking questions, did cheers get dumber since I was in high school? I mean, they were never Shakespeare to begin with, but are they really busting rhymes about planting trees now…? Claire is so prone to being swayed by peer pressure…or, specifically, the words of one cute boy…that it’s a wonder she hasn’t been captured and utilized by The Company by now. Her avenging angel is clearly a man who’s in love with his power, but despite her concerns about his plan to get her onto the cheerleading squad, you can’t argue with the results.

HRG and Brother Voodoo are off chillin’ in the Ukraine, and it’s like Starsky and Hutch reunited. HRG is back to his bad-ass ways…and, worse, he’s intimidating the man who trained him in the first place. You know the guy’s not screwing around when he’s threatening to have Brother Voodoo removed all of his most treasured memories…and he starts with the day the guy met his wife! I like the ongoing comparison between Claire and HRG and how neither of them are being truthful to the other. And speaking of a lack of honesty, did anyone really think that Ivan was being truthful when he said that the company had changed…? Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now, after that “oh, shit” moment when HRG popped a cap right into Ivan’s forehead. (“That’s a hell of a powerful gun,” said my wife, when Ivan went flying backwards after the shot.)

Mohinder’s really between a rock and a hard place when the fate of Monica’s abilities are placed in his hands, but the big revelation is that Bob (Stephen Tobolowsky) isn’t just a bad-ass; he’s a DICK. When Mohinder finally snapped, I think it was fair to say that no-one believed Bob’s sudden recanting of his earlier threats toward Mohinder; Tobolowsky’s just too damned good at playing a complete skeeve, and Nikki’s appearance at the end of the episode was suitably ominous.

Sylar’s trying to sway Maya over to the dark side, but Alejandro’s not having any of it. To watch Sylar seem to soak up Maya’s power, though, was to witness sheer evil bliss, and his speech to Alejandro was downright chilling.

Continue reading »

My Two Dads go their separate ways as Matt teams up with a new partner: Nathan. Still, Suresh made sure to give Matt what for before he hit the road. Matt’s dad seemed like he was gonna be a bit of a wuss, based on how he was acting once his son got the shotgun away from him, but he certainly proved to be a Nightmare Man before long, picking the worst fears out of the minds of both Matt and Nathan and forcing them to believe that they were living it. It took me a second to realize that, in addition, he was also forcing them to battle each other; that was pretty damned cool…and very comic-book-y. (I love it when they do stuff like that.)

Peter’s being stalked by Kristen Bell? Wowzers! And she’s clearly a bad-ass, what with her indifference to killing. Loved the shrug-off, “What’s the big deal?” So do you think her “sorry, Daddy” comment was being sarcastic, or will we really discover that she’s the daughter of another character…and, if so, who will it be?!? Dunno when she’ll finally find her target but…oh, geez, I guess I’ll restrain myself from making a joke about how there’s sure to be real electricity between them. I was glad to see that the opening of Peter’s so-called “memory box” didn’t result in a sudden influx of recollection, but I loved the way he channeled Isaac’s power. We just haven’t seen nearly enough eye-whites this season, dammit.

Monica’s dialogue with her co-worker couldn’t have been much more clichéd, but the horror on her face when she found that she couldn’t stop herself from playing piano, watching her fingers move faster and faster across the keys, was palpable, as was the excitement once she got the hang of her powers and did up the Double Dutch. I didn’t expect to see Mohinder pop up on her doorstep, though. I’m still disappointed that Nichelle Nichols is getting such a light load as Nana, though…but I’m led to understand – from Tim Kring himself, no less – that her character will come into her own eventually. Sooner than later would be preferable, however. (The fact that Nichols is scheduled to do a conference call on Thursday bodes well for the immediate future, methinks.)

The whole Hiro-in-feudal-Japan story has descended into boredom for me, and I don’t think it’s just because I didn’t find the whole leaving-scrolls-in-the-sword-for-Ando thing plausible. They really need to hurry up and bring him back to the present.

Says Stephen Tobolowsky, “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission.” Boy, if that’s not the official slogan for The Company, it damned well should be. Nikki sure as hell made a dramatic entrance, didn’t she? I’m understandably skeptical that they can really sure her of her Jessica side, but time will tell, I reckon.

The opening of this episode had the same general feel as the season premiere, where we got to see the Bennets as a semi-normal family unit…um, except for Claire’s little brother. Funny that he showed up later in the episode. I’d already written this in my blog entry before he showed up: “What’s the story on him? Did I miss when he was essentially written out of the show…? I’ve already forgotten if we’ve seen him at all this season, but if we did, it certainly wasn’t for more than about two seconds, given the lack of impact it made on me.” Of course, he still didn’t make any impact on me, but at least I can confirm that he’s definitely been on.

When Claire accepted the application for the cheerleading squad, I instantly thought, “Oh, geez, she’s just stupid enough to do that, isn’t she?” I have to admit, though, that there were moments in the scenes with Claire and FlyBoy that actually felt less fake than their previous one-on-one conversations…well, except for Claire’s lame lie that her dad’s just super protective. (Actually, Claire’s a pretty consistently crappy liar, based on the way she came up with that lame-ass going-to-the-library ruse…but at least she admitted it herself later in the episode.) Overall, though, the romance angle is way too schmaltzy for my liking; I know I’m always blaming network suits and their demographic studies, but, honest to God, I just sense that, over the summer, someone at NBC said, “You know, everyone already knows the whole ‘save the cheerleader, save the world’ line, so let’s make sure she’s front and center this season, too!” Thing is, I’m just not entirely sure that Hayden Pantierre is all that great an actress to warrant that much of the spotlight…but maybe that’s just me. Anyway, I think it’s safe to say that Claire’s totally gonna screw up across the board by being a cheerleader and dating FlyBoy…and almost certainly sooner than later.

Maya and Miguel meet Sylar, eh? I know Sylar’s powers are MIA, but my first thought when they came across him was, “Okay, what would be totally awesome is if Sylar killed Miguel, and then we had to deal with the repercussions of Maya without having her brother to help reign in her powers.” I laughed out loud when Sylar told them his name was Gabriel, but I wasn’t laughing at that look he shot at the camera as he drove away with his two new pals…or, for that matter, when it cut over to dead ol’ Derek, lying in a pool of blood.

Continue reading »