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RSS'Heroes': Fathers, daughters and spineless bureaucrats
I don't remember a whole lot about Moira Kelly's character on The West Wing, but from what I do recall, I'm pretty sure Mandy Hampton stuck to her principles a little better than the government official she played this week on Heroes.
Spoilers will be served with a side of diner food.
Leave aside for the moment the fact that Danko the Hunter engineered Tracy's not-quite-escape and freezing of the unfortunate analyst as a show for Kelly's Abby Collins, the Homeland Security agent assigned to Nathan's round-'em-all-up (except me) program. Even if it hadn't been, how spineless is this character that she witnesses one (admittedly frightening) bad act by one person with powers and suddenly decides that hell yes, this is the kind of program the full weight of the U.S. government should get behind.
One minute she's all, "Hey, I know that woman, she's a lobbyist, and you're torturing her! How dare you! I'm shutting you down!" And then it's, "You'll have all the funding you need." Oof. Couldn't Nathan at least shown her a few pictures of Sylar carnage, maybe the aftermath of a Knox-Flint crime spree? You know, something, anything before the Tracy incident, so that we see Nathan trying to build his case and her complete reversal doesn't come completely out of nowhere? Because if all it takes is a single action by one person to convince her that hundreds or thousands of people are guilty by association, that's some flimsy, flimsy stuff right there.
(I know -- Heroes is not exactly synonymous with consistent character motivation. But Abby's reversal was even more absurd than some of the others we've seen.)
Now that that's out of my system, I suppose I should move on to the bulk of the episode ... Hiro's Indian wedding adventure. Kidding. We'll go with the Bennet family drama.
I will give the show due credit for having Claire say what we were probably all thinking when her dad starts going on about how dangerous the world and the people he works for are: "And now's the part where you tell me how everything you do, you do to protect me." It's a refrain we've heard, what, about a hundred times over these past 2 1/2 years? And just as we are, Claire is pretty well inured to Noah's spiel now that she knows just what he's doing.
It's not hard to agree with her, given that he's working for Nathan and Danko (at least ostensibly). She, on the other hand, is working with someone named "Rebel," who's sending her texts about the comic-shop employee who's about to be rounded up. If "Rebel" turns out to be Peter, I think someone will need to explain to him what living off the grid means. A better guess is that it's someone -- Angela, maybe -- who has a beef with Nathan.
Fed up with all the lying, Claire also tells Sandra what Noah is doing, which leads to a blowup of the you-promised-me-you-were-through-with-that variety and Noah packing his bags and bugging out for a while, with promises to Claire that he'll A) try to be more honest and B) will still be around. At least, until Peter and his boys slip him a mickey and cart him off for interrogation. Next week's show looks to be pretty Noah-centric, and while I'm not sure Heroes is capable of another "Company Man," the prospect of an episode with Jack Coleman front and center makes me at least a little hopeful.
Elsewhere tonight:
Sylar and Luke continue their search for Sylar's dad, which starts to feel like a bizarre combination of Midnight Run and Apt Pupil, with Luke alternately jazzing on the idea of a road trip and very interested in Sylar's dark arts, and Sylar mostly looking like he wants to tell Luke "Now here come two words for you: Shut the f*** up" but occasionally going all Obi-Wan and telling him how to use his ability.
The feds find them, and even though Luke saves Sylar's butt by causing enough of a distraction to allow Sylar to get away -- for which he repays Luke by leaving him behind. Or so it seems; as they're about to haul Luke away, commotion in the van indicates the bad guy is back, and he takes Luke and a laptop with him so he can figure out how Nathan and Co. are tracking him.
And in India, Hiro learns that he doesn't need his powers to be heroic. That's about all we need to say about that particular subplot, dontcha think?
A few notes:
- The episode was called "Building 26," which is probably not an homage to the building at NCR Corp. in Dayton, Ohio, where my dad worked. Some pretty amazing stuff went on there during World War II, but it had nothing to do with superheroes.
- Comic-book guy Alex, who can breathe underwater, is played by Justin Baldoni, who has apparently moved out of Ephram and Bright's apartment in Everwood.
- Liked the serial killer exchange between Luke and Sylar: "You've got a pattern, you pick specific victims, you keep mementos ..." "OK, technically I am a serial killer."
- Nathan, after finding out about Danko's stunt with Tracy: "Apologize to his bloodstain -- it's still warm." Really? 'Cause, you know, he looked pretty cold when we last saw him.
What did you think of "Building 26"? Was the Bennet portion of the episode enough to carry your through the Hiro and Sylar silliness?
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Zap2it Twitter Talk 
*Yawn*
This whole homeland security / heroes on the run storyline is sooooo boring. I am losing interest fast!
To make it worse, as with other shows, they have stopped broadcasting it in widescreen unless you have HD. Its lost its cinematic movie-like feel... and stuff keeps getting cut off. Tonight's episode was Chapter 3: "Building - Building What?? Oh, I read here "Building 26". Last week I could not read Claire's text messages. Talk about a way to suck out what little dramatic life this show has left - make it full screen and cut off a bunch of the picture!
Thankfully, I have HD :-)
I'm not going to reiterate the comments I made about the last two episodes you recapped, but I still hold fast to them. I'm going to root for Nathan's death until the end of the season. They've screwed the character so deep into the ground that that's the only option left.
I am annoyed by the treatment of Sandra, one of the best characters currently on the show. They've played her as being pretty wise to when her kids or Noah are lying to her, and at the time that they are MOST CERTAINLY hiding something, they wrote her as being completely blind to it. You're right, this show doesn't know how to be character consistent at all.
They're still moving in the right direction, but I think they need to realize that continuing to have the show be Claire, HRG, Nathan, and Hiro centric is BOOOORIIING. I am tired of all of those characters. They clearly realized there was no need to have the story center around Mohinder at all anymore (but haven't realized they need to get rid of him). It's time to take the next step.
At this point I just watch because it's mindless entertainment and I am curious to see what they'll do to make it better, since I'm sure they realize how far off the show is at this point. It's funny, it hasn't "jumped the shark" but somehow it seems like it's taken a nice slow stroll across the shark. Maybe it can still stop itself before it makes it to the other side.
This episode was a step back IMO. I mean Moira Kelly, was too quick to drop the torture line, I mean really have the producers been reading the pentagons manuals? First the jump suits and anti-periphery headsets and blinders, then trying to round up Sylar like they are the local dog pound, and now the T word. Let me guess next week, Parkman, Peter and Mohinder are gonna waterboard HRG.
The whole sidekick for Sylar is working, and part of me was hoping he would kill off the boy, but if he didn't kill him in the car when he kept lying then it was obvious to me he wasn't going to kill him.
With all that said, I thought Hiro and Ando had the best plots this week. Hiro needed to come down off his hero high horse and I thoroughly enjoyed watch Ando call him out on his b*tch***ness.
As for the REBEL, my guess is Micah, and here comes the 3rd Ali Lauter.
typo my b. The whole sidekick for Sylar isn't working.
This chapter is the worst since the second season. It is so deja vu. Heroes are being hunted... oh, didn't chapter one spent the first 25 weeks doing that story line? zzzzzz.
And the writing is so bad. I am quitting. There. Just deleted the Heroes season p*** on my TIVO.
From HEROES to ZEROS in one season. Perhaps it's time for all of us fans to admit that Season 1 was the fluke and Seasons 2 and 3 are really the true nature of the show. Disappointing.
I agree with most of the comments already written here. It's time for a complete reboot of the show and that means the permanent "retirement" of some central characters.
Oh, Heroes. Why do you try so hard to alienate us?
I'm here for YOU! I'm a fan, remember me? Why are you trying to get rid of me along with the average viewer?
I think we can save this relationship, but we have to make a few changes or else I'm leaving you:
- Stop making Hiro & Ando stories so f*cking stupid. He was a bad*** with a samurai sword once, lest ye forget.
- Get some new material. We're done with prophetic drawings and HRG's old "I'm trying to protect Claire by working for bad guys and lying to everyone" routine.
- Enough with the left field character motivation(s).
Solve these, and there may be hope for us yet. Otherwise, I'm going back to Jack Bauer and I'm taking the kids.
Well, I'm really wanting to like Heroes but episodes like this one make it difficult to to so. The Hiro/Ando storyline was so contrived (asinine might be a better term) that it cast a pall over the entire ep for me. An example of the bad writing that has plagued the series after the first season.
Enough with Claire and the daddy angst already. Her character hasn't really been interesting since season 1. If this show returns, it should clean house castwise and reboot the franchise.
I agree the homeland security angle is uninspired. It might have been fresh a few years ago, but now it's stale.
While I'm tired of Sylar, he actually had the best storyline tonight (best dialogue as well). I expect the kid will turn the tables on him at some point.
FWIW, I have HD and it didn't make this ep any better. HD only improves the picture quality, not the quality of the show itself.
Aren't heroes ususally poeple who help others in some way?
Good Call on Micah being "Rebel". I hope it is true, because the last thing we need is another new character. He/she would only get killed off within 5 episodes to make way for more horrificaly cliche storylines for a bunch of people whe seem to never learn.
For people who are supposed to be so highy evolved, they sure are stupid.