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RSS'Heroes: Fugitives' premiere rounds up the usual suspects
Watching the first episode of Heroes' new volume, "Fugitives," you can sort of see where the show wants to take things for the rest of the season. It feels like there may be some coherent thought behind it. But it's awfully hard to trust the show at this point, so to say I'm optimistic would be overstating things by a good margin.
Children will speak of these spoilers for generations. Or maybe not. But here goes.
A few months have passed since the show last reset itself the world was saved again, and several of our characters are more or less happy to be living regular lives. Peter is an overly empathetic paramedic, Claire is looking at colleges (with Angela's help) and Tracy is back to her political consulting career. Matt and Daphne are living together, and she's still using her powers, but only to get her courier job done faster, while he struggles to be "normal" while working a low-level security job. Hiro, meanwhile, is trying to get Ando to embrace his newfound abilities, and while Ando isn't into the superhero lifestyle (or the GPS chip Hiro injects into his arm), he does dig the motorcycle that comes with it.
Nathan, however, is moving ahead with his plan to imprison all the people with abilities (except himself, of course) because -- well, because that's what this arc says he's doing. And here's the first, and biggest, problem still plaguing Heroes. When we first met Nathan he was a guy very much interested in the trappings of power, and had that been a consistent kind of characterization throughout the show's three seasons, I might buy into his maneuverings here, seeing as he apparently has carte blanche from the White House to run a covert operation.
But Nathan has gone back and forth so many times about what he wants from life and how he thinks about the other people like him should be treated that this latest incarnation doesn't hold any weight. This story arc is about superpowered people being hunted and locked up, so that must mean Nathan's drunk on the political juice he's been given.
His main instrument in this program is Zeljko Ivanek, who's known here as The Hunter and will presumably get more to do than grunt out a few quasi-menacing lines later on. Ivanek is some kind of super-bad hero tracker who has a full complement of goons at his disposal (one of whom may be somehow power-resistant, based on Tracy's failed attempts to freeze the guy) and the air of a guy who really believes in what he's doing. He makes quick work of her, Hiro, Peter, Parkman and several others, who are masked and shackled and led to a plane that will take them to points unknown.
Also assisting in this effort: HRG, who like Nathan has become a character that does whatever the plot tells him to. I'm all but certain that we'll learn over the course of these episodes that he's doing what he's doing to protect Claire, and that he'll become disillusioned with the process and eventually start working against it, and for a supposedly smart guy he really ought to recognize this pattern he has.
For some reason, though, neither he nor Hunter thinks it would be a good idea to be there personally when the goons bring in Sylar, who I'm sure you're not surprised to see survived the Primatech explosion. That is a spectacularly bad idea -- the goons' zappers and ropes have little effect on him, and as we leave him the finger of death is going to work on one of them, trying to find out who set him up to be ambushed at the taxidermy business his (supposed) father owns. You'd think the guy who's tangled with Sylar so many times before and the guy who is presented as the model of cold efficiency would have considered that.
Also, HRG should have given better orders to the guards on the cargo plane, starting with "Hey, guard those guys." Claire's entry into the hold and her freeing of Peter and the others was laughably easy -- and could have been prevented had a guard or two actually been in the general vicinity of the prisoners. But that would have prevented the fight scene aboard the plane and Peter freezing the fuselage (more on that in a moment) and precipitating the crash we'll have to wait until next week to see.
Other bits and pieces from the "Fugitives" premiere:
- Are we to understand that Peter can only absorb one ability at a time now? That was my read on it during the plane fight, when he touched Tracy and looked surprised both that the super-strength he borrowed from Mohinder was gone and then that he was freezing the plane. It would also explain why he didn't just fly away when the plane broke apart. That's all well and good -- maybe injecting the formula didn't quite give Peter back the power he had before -- but as my buddy Alan Sepinwall noted when we were discussing the episode today, at least some passing mention of the rule change would have been nice.
- I think I could, in some circumstances, be interested in the Parkman storyline. The scenes before he was kidnapped were pretty strong, and the notion of watching someone with abilities struggling not to use them and live a "normal" life is an intriguing one (also, it's nice to see a good actor like Greg Grunberg get to use his his chops). I was even OK with the reappearance of Usutu and Parkman's new role as future painter/prophet, because the same themes of reluctance could have played out there. Now that he's been kidnapped, though, I'm not sure that will be a road we get to travel much.
- The first Hiro-Ando scene, with Hiro trying to sell his friend on the coolness of his lair and his new costume -- "Children will speak of your crime-fighting skills for generations." "Right after they stop laughing at the way I'm dressed." -- was kind of fun, I must admit. Hiro's abiding belief in superheroes and their righteous missions still has the power to charm me at least a little. I admit, though, that I was guessing his password would be "Charlie" and not "Ando."
- I'll also give Heroes credit for not treating Sylar being alive as some big surprise (I haven't paid much attention to promos, so I didn't notice whether Zachary Quinto was featured in them). The scene with his not-father the watchmaker also was a pretty good one; I suppose the question now becomes who Samson Gray is or was and what his connection to the larger story is.
What are your thoughts on the start of the "Fugitives" arc? Are you willing to give Heroes one more chance, or is it too far gone for you?
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Zap2it Twitter Talk 
I was a defender of the last volume, but today's episode just sucked, plain and simple. The cheerleader needed to work on her acting years ago, but now its just too painful to listen to her. I think she thinks she's Jack Bauer's daughter, but the whisper thing only works if you really are a bad***, and Claire, you are not. It doesnt help that the guy who plays Peter is also a bad actor.
I agree with everything you said about how ridiculous some of these storylines are. Dont the guards have peripheral vision?
I'll keep watching, but if it doesnt improve, I may have to quit cold turkey, a la 24 and Grey's Anatomy.
I felt like tonight's episode was a halfway decent step in the right direction, but the reviewer nailed it: it will be a while before I can trust this show again.
Anybody else think shades of Lost when the plane started going down? If Greg Grunberg gets eaten by a smoke monster next week, we'll know where our plucky csstaways landed!
God help me, I'm still firmly in the pocket of "Heroes". I admit, they've had more than a fair chance to convince us to stay with them, and I would not begrudge viewers if they left. But I won't, because despite how preposterous the show gets sometimes (alot), I still like to watch these characters.
Things I like:
- No wasted time on useless exposition/recapping about the 1st half of the season, (which probably would've been a buncha clips, accompanied by a voiceover of Mohinder spouting some philosophical mumbo-jumbo). I worry that Nathan's sudden transformation into Donald Rumsfeld might confuse new viewers, though.
- OMG, they have normal jobs again! Claire's picking colleges, Peter's a paramedic, Matt's still a cop and Daphne delivers things.
- Hiro & Ando's Fortress of Solitude. Nice.
- Zeljko Ivanek. Terrific actor, loved his turn on "Damages." I can only hope they give him some real dialogue, so far he hasn't said anything except boring government thug stuff.
Things I don't like:
- More prophetic paintings. UGH! WTF do the writers keep falling back on this?
- Angela's evil again. Well, that's misleading, did anyone ever think Angela stopped being evil? Show of hands? Ya, didn't think so.
- Hiro without powers. It's interesting to see this storyline play out, how he's going to cope (until they write in a way for him to miraculously get his powers back, which you KNOW they will). But in the meantime, I miss Hiro's time-stopping.
Things I'm confused about:
- HRG; what is his deal? I know they want us to think he's bad now, but I think he has a hidden agenda, he's probably a double agent. I hope so, anyway, or else he's a big of a chump as Nathan has become :(
- The ending of tonight's episode just wasn't very dramatic to me; um, hello? Peter can fly! But if he can only take 1 power at a time now (making him what, Rogue?), it would have been nice if they mentioned this through SOME kind of exposition.
I believe that we as viewers are learning about Peter's Powers just as he is. No Exposition is needed right now, since I'm sure the "Powers That Be" don't want to spoonfeed the harcore fans that are left.
Yeah, gotta agree with you, here. I too am taking the "approach with caution" route for this volume.
In the mean-time, can the cheerleader cut her hair already? I am tired of seeing Hayden Panettiere run around in that hideous wig. (And I'm sure she's tired of wearing it.)
Seriously... Clenched jaw acting, or an ugly rug... One or the other! We shouldn't be subjected to them both at the same time!! =)
Decent start to the new season. I liked the emphasis on action, and those scenes were well executed. I'm getting kind of tired of Sylar, though. Good character, but they should give him a rest.
For their faults, the producers do know their movies: The scene with HRG & Mohinder featured the "Come with me if you want to live" tagline from T2 and the fake getaway was right out of "Marathon Man". I'll be nice and call it a homage.
Yes, the clenched-jaw acting and bad hair was pretty heartbreaking. I know Hayden's a better actress than that.
How come Matt and Daphne never kiss normally?
You can tell a man writes this. Ali Larter barely wears any clothing.
So, are Peter and Mohinder best pals now?
Nathan will fail.
I agree with the hang-in-there opinions; Lost (probably the best show on TV right now) had a terrible sop****re slump, and Heroes is doing a lot of floundering around, but I think (hope!) it'll get back on track and be as good as the complete Season 1. (Ok, I know, it's Season 3 technically, but season 2 was interrupted and really screwed things up)
Needs a bit more exposition (e.g., what's with Nathan and HRG?) but "all may be revealed in the fullness of time" as they say in the civil service
Call me hesitantly optimistic as well. I think the new direction is interesting enough to keep me watching, and with Bryan Fuller back on-board, hopefully it will stay logical. Though I did tire of some characters showing no growth or intelligence, even after all they've been through, I'll keep watching.
But am I the only one who thinks this might become too much like the recently canceled "Prison Break" now? Hopefully we'll be introduced to the other people with powers on the plane and the writers can eliminate some of the less-interesting and pretty unnecessary characters (Tracy, Mohinder, I'm looking at you guys).
I agree that both Nathan and HRG seem a bit wishy washy with what their real goal is, or at least I know that's the perception. However, I do see consistency with HRG's character. He will do ANYTHING TO SAVE CLAIRE. Anything. And if that means being bad, so be it, if it means being a regular dad, so be it. He is consistently in the mix so that he can keep Claire safe and sometimes the mix is rotten, but other times it's calm enough so he can just be a dad.
As far as Nathan goes.. Well.. Kind of weak sauce there. First he's a total dillhole, then he catches religion and sees the light, then he wants everyone to have power because it's awesome and liberating and will make the world a better place, then he wants all special people locked up. I'm not quite sure what his damage is, but at least there's never a dull moment around him, right? I think perhaps Angela's own pattern of manipulation and deceit has transferred to her son. I have to say though, the story would have a little more kick if there was an additional villain. A human political figure doing the hunt-and-trap operation. It would mean Nathan taking a step back and perhaps he'd get trapped behind Peter and Hiro's shadow like he did in the first season.
Hiro's storyline, once again, totally interesting and I hope his perpetual innocence and faith in human goodness keeps people into this season.
Also, Parkman is turning into an interesting fellow, but I'd really like to know how his precog power has anything to do with his mind reading ability. I don't get it.. How does he have the precog again? Because the creepy African guy came back from the dead to tell him he has it?
Mohinder is getting some of his value back. I'm glad he'll switch away from the science side and more towards being "one of them". Now he'll seem like the professor off Gilligan's island instead of science guy that gets his *** kicked all the time. Connecting him with them will give them all that added intelligence they kind of need because Claire is so... non-leader.
I totally don't believe her as a BAMF. I like that she's not ditzy cheerleader, but I don't believe her as a bad***. I would prefer that she be more.. innocent in her rendering aid to the other heroes. I'd want her to be a little more like Hiro, to be frank. I would want her to smell something wasn't right and try to do the honorable and least aggressive way out of it. I'd want her to keep her femininity.
I'm looking forward to seeing Hiro get his ability back and see if they can take out Nathan entirely. His storyline is a bit played out to me.. But.. where will they go from here? Once you tackle the U.S. Government... where do you have to GO?! Who can threaten you then?!