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'Heroes': Sitting around waiting to save the world
Man, of all the times to hit a lull ...
To be fair to Heroes, it's probably best if these last three episodes are taken as parts of a larger whole, and even stop-New York-from-blowing-up finales have to start somewhere. But as we've become conditioned to this show being one where Things Happen just about every week, tonight's episode felt like a bit of a letdown.
"The Hard Part" seemed chiefly concerned with getting all of its various players to New York for the big throwdown that's to come. And while in a couple of cases the episode offered little nuggets of character information to savor, as a whole the moving of various pieces around didn't make for the most ripping yarn.
One of those things, to be sure, was the idea that Sylar has some sort of moral compass, whacked out though it may be. He seemed genuinely upset -- for a while, anyway -- at the idea that he might be responsible for killing a bunch of innocent people, even if his reasoning was beyond suspect (he had nothing to "gain" from slaughtering people without powers).
That remorseful streak also contributed to Hiro's lost opportunity to kill Sylar. Hiro's and Ando's divergent reactions to their trip into the future made for some interesting interaction, with Hiro despondent over the man he becomes in that future and Ando more than eager to take down Sylar before Sylar kills him.
Even armed with that last piece of knowledge, Hiro hesitates. And whether it's because his powers aren't fully honed yet or Sylar's are too great, the bad guy breaks free from frozen time before Hiro can bring his blade down. Oh, and freezes and breaks Hiro's sword too. That can't be good.
Everyone else, meanwhile, was tied up in one way or another with Linderman (how powerful is he? So powerful he doesn't have to appear in the episode to be arguably its most important figure). Ted and Parkman and HRG arrive in New York with the intent of shutting down Linderman's "tracking system" -- surprise! It's the little girl. D.L. and Jessica discover he's been tracking them for years, while shape-shifting Candice has Micah holed up in New York on an errand to (presumably) rig the election in Nathan's favor. Nathan, in turn, seeks reassurance he's doing the right thing, and gets it in the form of HRG's old colleague Thompson (the returning Eric Roberts).
Mama Petrelli also rather forcefully takes her place in Linderman's circle as well, channeling Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate as she explains that she's been in on the let's-level-Manhattan scheme from the get-go and exhorting Nathan to act "presidential" after it happens. Her speech about destiny and faith at episode's end was the best moment of the hour for me.
Finally, Peter makes a contingency plan with Claire in the event that it is him who's set to explode, telling her to shoot him in the back of the head if it comes to that. And, given the final image of his glowing hands after he encounters Ted, that may just be a possibility.
Left completely unaddressed is just how little Molly will be able to stop Sylar, unless that star she drew for Suresh has some serious mojo. Other than her role as tracking device and the fact that she has the same virus that killed Mohinder's sister, in fact, we know next to nothing about her. Absent that knowledge, it's pretty hard to invest in her as a character.
But hey, at least everyone's either in New York or on the way there. That should lead to more exciting material next week, right?
Did tonight's Heroes feel a little slow to you too? Or was it a necessary evil?
It felt slow enough to me that after it had been on for 40 minutes, I made a phone call and talked for the rest of the show. I just couldn't get into it tonight. But it's TiVoed, so I will blip through it later.
tricia | May 7, 2007 8:24:24 PM | #I agree with Rick that this was essentially the first lull in the series thus far.
It seemed like we were waiting the entire episode for something to happen and aside from Sylar breaking Hiro's sword, nothing did.
About the only other thing of significance (at least to me) was Micah recognizing that it wasn't Nikki who was with him in NY - that bothered me last week, since he was able to tell Nikki and Jessica apart, but seemingly couldn't tell that it wasn't either of them but in fact Candace. Obviously, he was able to deduce it wasn't Nikki/Jessica which I was happy with.
From the preview that I saw (Canadian, not NBC's), it looks like there will be a lot more action in next week's episode.
Rishi | May 7, 2007 8:38:19 PM | #"Did tonight's Heroes feel a little slow to you too? Or was it a necessary evil?"
Is "both" an option? There was a definite drag factor in this episode, but in order to set up what is coming, I don't know a way to get around it. I'm just hoping the tedious part is behind us now.
Liz | May 8, 2007 12:08:36 AM | #A lull after last week's action-packed ep is kind of a let down, but not unexpected. I kind of liked the scenes with Sylar & his mum, with the horror twist, especially at the end. Overall, the ep had an even darker tone than usual and mainly tried to add some dimension to the villain of the piece. Good if not great, it advanced the plot.
Random thoughts: Rena Sofer displayed the ability to appear in two primetime shows playing opposite each other ... Liked the "Kirby Plaza" reference ... Ma Petrelli seems to be coming to the forefront as a dominant character -- good move imo.
Prof Pretorius | May 8, 2007 12:19:41 AM | #Yawn.
Really that's Molly's super important power? She can find people? Really? That's how you plan to stop Sylar? She can find him, so then you all can kill him?
Really. Sylar who has tk, superhearing, freezing powers, melty powers, clairvoyance, etc etc.. finding him is the big solution to him?
Yeah.. no. Finding him is a step, however it will result in Molly's head being cracked open like a coconut. Not Impressed.
Fortunately the heroes have their own ideas for stopping Sylar.
Francesca | May 8, 2007 1:46:15 AM | #Molly can stop Sylar, not by her power but by the virus she carries. It counteracts powers (neutralizing them) and (presumably) kills its host (we don't really know that Suresh's sister is dead). If they can infect Sylar with Molly's virus, he would be powerless.
Tony P | May 8, 2007 4:27:03 AM | #Anyone else wondered if the Petrellis could actually be Linderman's?
Anson | May 8, 2007 4:37:45 AM | #I think Tony P might be onto something. The only problem is that Suresh just gave her the antibodies to fight the Virus. So I think we can shoot that idea out the window. The episode itself today was quite boring. No real big discoveries or interesting fight scenes. Anyone know how Sylar broke free from Hiro's time freeze?
Dipesh Patel | May 8, 2007 4:49:54 AM | #Not exactly sure how Sylar broke from the time freeze, but could it be possible that Hiro accidentally started time again? Maybe he was focusing too much on killing Sylar and lost focus on stopping time.
Kevin | May 8, 2007 5:08:32 AM | #Disagree.
The Hiro/Ando/Sylar thread was enough for me. First he hears them. Then the scene with his mother. The sword!!
DL/Niki running into the lion's den in search of Mikah. The new paintings were pretty sweet too.
You don't need 42 minutes of sword fights and healing cheerleaders to be entertained. Do you? If so, might was well just watch Season 5 of 24 on DVD.
Brett | May 8, 2007 5:46:17 AM | #Molly mentioned to Mohinder that he was worse at drawing blood than the other doctors, so perhaps they've been stockpiling her blood. Of course, if that's the case, and in the future Molly has been found and hidden by HRG, wouldn't Mohinder have the cure he and Nathan/Sylar were arguing about?
Branwen | May 8, 2007 6:28:06 AM | #It didn't feel boring to me at all. It was a great ep for character development. Sylar's in particular. I almost fell sorry for him.And we got a lot of information nuggets throughout the episode (Mama Petrelli, Jessica following Nikki's plea, Clair's not leaving for Paris,Suresh as an anti-virus and more) I enjoyed it.
Tatyana | May 8, 2007 6:46:49 AM | #quite slow and not much to discuss, so i will loosely say my favourite quote of the night - Claire to Peter - "i dont think my destiny is to shoot you in the head. the universe can not be that lame"
Simon | May 8, 2007 6:57:33 AM | #Don't care for Molly? Sylar KILLED her parents in the second episode. I think you should have a little feeling towards the girl.
Jen | May 8, 2007 6:57:58 AM | #I wonder if Syler is related to Peter (and -not- Nathan) by blood. And what about the others on Mohinder's Map. (up at NBC.com!)
So how long until Molly's life is inevitably threatened? (simialr to Linderman and Nathan/Peter's father's Vietnam War dillema in the comics.)
pakopako | May 8, 2007 7:23:53 AM | #It was slower than usual, but hardly boring. There was much character development and little important "fill-ins" going on. And those scenes with Sylar and his mother - very creepy. With that music it was almost like old horror movies from the 1950s and 1960s. We also got to see Clare and her father reunite, and the heroes are starting to learn more about the other heroes.
I think Tony P is on to something as well. And if Molly's virus can stop people's powers, does that mean that only Mohinder's antibodies can bring them back? Maybe in the future, they did not have the "cure" because something happened in the past that prevented it.
Every episode does not have to be frenetic. Sometimes you need to have an episode where things just start to come together slowly.
Sue | May 8, 2007 7:35:17 AM | #Sylar had no special power to break free of frozen time. Notice that Hiro touched Sylar with his sword! It was Hiro himself who unwittingly brought Sylar into unfrozen time... simply by touching him... even with an object that Hiro was also touching... in much the same way that Hiro is able to time travel with Ando... simply by touching him.
Just my two cents.
Neil S | May 8, 2007 8:07:33 AM | #The cure was only a cure for the virus, not for their powers.
Greg | May 8, 2007 8:23:46 AM | #I thought it was a good episode, but I'm used to the glacial pace of 'Lost', so the fact that 'Heroes' took a break from monumental events and focused a little more on the characters was not a bad thing for me. I have faith in the showrunners that they know what they're doing.
In many ways, 'Heroes' seems to be the mirror image of 'Lost'. Instead of being set on a remote island, it takes place all over the world. Instead of giving lots of character information which feels like filler and doesn't seem to be related to the arc of the story, 'Heroes' gives us just enough character information that we feel invested in them, but keeps events moving, and gives completion to its foreshadowed events in a timely manner. Am I the only one who had long since ceased to care about Sawyer's daddy issues by the time he offed Locke's dad? Note to Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof: watch 'Heroes'.
And I agree with Simon that Claire's "universe can't be that lame" line was the best of the episode.
Siansonea | May 8, 2007 8:46:48 AM | #I get sooooo sick and tired of people ripping "Lost." Enough already!! The show is in it's 3rd season. If you're going to compare "Heroes" with "Lost" then it better be with the first season of "Lost" and not it's 3rd season!!! With that side by side comparison, "Lost" IMO wins by a landslide.
That being said, I think "Heroes" is a fabulous show, and although I agree "The Hard Part" wasn't a strong episode, I look at it as being the calm before the storm. I have no doubt it's going to finish great. I'm looking forward to it!!
Gregory | May 8, 2007 9:12:50 AM | #I enjoyed this episode. It was really helpful to finally understand why Sylar is so angry and driven and why he feels the need to take everyone else's powers.
I did have a hard time understanding how Claire and Nathan's wife never seemed to bump into each other - is that house so very big that even Nathan's other children don't at least hear her?
Also, whatever happened to the invisible man? Surely he has a greater role than to teach Peter how to control his multiple powers.
I can't wait for next week's eopisode and more to be revealed!
KCS | May 8, 2007 9:25:14 AM | #Hiro touching Silar and breaking the time freeze doesn't hold up. When he saved that little girl from the car explosion, he had moved her and a couple others I think and time stood still.
Ken | May 8, 2007 9:55:13 AM | #Why doesn't the theory hold up? The difference between the two events was that when Hiro rescued the girl from the car explosion, he wasn't afraid. When he encoutered Sylar, he was terrified (wouldn't you be?). Who are we to say what kind of effects his emotional state can have on his abilities? Just take a look at how Peter finally controlled his abilities.
Neil S | May 8, 2007 10:02:14 AM | #Oh, and let's not forget how losing Charlie affected Hiro and his abilities.
Neil S | May 8, 2007 10:05:19 AM | #Speaking of Charlie - shouldn't Sylar have her memory? If so, why freak out about the lost list. If he read it, doens't he remember it? At least the 32 or so people already found?
Brett | May 8, 2007 10:12:10 AM | #
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