(S01E10) Like Hiro, we're headed six months into the past. We see some characters showing up in unexpected locations. We get answers. We get lots of answers, in fact, proving once again a show doesn't need to keeps its audience wholly in the dark to sustain interest. Hurray for Tim Kring.
Even though Eden making portly Officer Parkman eat donuts wasn't very nice, it's interesting to see how she was brought into HRG's sphere, and to have it explained how it is that she's not running the entire world. The silent guy can prevent powers from working, and then HRG was able to offer Eden a opportunity: someplace to belong and a purpose. He's good at that, but I wonder what really would have happened to Eden if she'd turned down the offer. Would he have let her walk away like he said?
It seems a great many important events in the character's backgrounds happened exactly six months ago. Peter got his nursing license, and brother Nathan's wife was crippled in a car accident. The accident wasn't Nathan's fault, as we've been led to believe. Nathan seems like a more ethical, stand-up guy at this point in his life. Maybe it's his wife's loss of her legs, along with other events related to his father's dealings with organized crime, that turned Nathan into the Machiavellian cynic we know presently. 
Claire becomes a cheerleader. From the looks of it, it's a good thing she will get her ability soon, because the kid is clumsy. I don't know how she survived that long without the ability, seeing as she's always crashing through panes of glass and things.
Now we know that Jessica was Niki's sister who died about age twelve. She shielded Niki from childhood abuse by taking over when the abuse happened. Niki's in AA, not to much of a surprise there, even she, the "protected" sister, is plenty screwed up, as we've seen for ten episodes already. It adds to the understanding of how damaged Jessica is. Niki/Jessica is still the one "heroic" character that I can't see being able to help other people. Jessica seems to far gone and irrational for that. Although, maybe it will take someone as ruthless and single-minded as Jessica to finish off Sylar one day.
Speaking of Syalr, Mohinder's father Chandra is going about his hero hunting when he meets Gabriel, a watchmaker who he thinks may have an ability. He also happens to be one of the few characters besides Hiro who is actually anxious to have and develop an ability. Well, wouldn't you know it. Gabrial "Sylar" can't understand how his first victim, a telekinesis guy, is scared of his own ability. The guy says he fears he might hurt somebody with his ability. That's a reasonable fear to have, but Sylar's not interested in moral conundrums. Making him a watchmaker is an interesting choice, he's mechanistic in his world view to say the least.
Chandra inadvertently causes the death of numerous heroes when he started putting his list together. If he hadn't sought out Gabriel, then Gabriel might never have become Sylar. Chandra also exposed himself to HRG when he contacted him about Claire's ability. It was great to seem them connect as fathers. Week by week HRG becomes more and more nuanced as a character, a far cry from the X-Files knockoff villain of the premiere. 
Hiro bounces around Midland/Odessa having a difficult time proving to Charlie the waitress that he is from the future, even though she's got her own memory ability and witnesses a bunch of demonstrations by Hiro that ought to at least convince her something very strange is going down. Anyhow, this was the most affecting storyline of the episode. Hiro and Charlie fall in love, but some things can't be prevented, even when you can bend space and time. Hiro returns to the present, sadder and wiser. We know from that famous scene, with future Hiro and Peter on the subway, that Hiro is going to change a lot (assuming it really was Hiro visiting Peter, which I think it was) but now we see some of pain that that metamorphosis will entail. It's a hard path for the heroes, getting harder, not easier, as it goes along, making the show increasingly more fun, and more compelling, to watch.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
11-28-2006 @ 9:43AM
David said...
well said about getting answers...one of the things I really like about this show is that I still feel the writers/creators have their Original idea fully worked out. I used to feel that way about Lost, but now it seems more and more like they are making things up as they go along (their official podcasts only seem to further emphasize that), but everything on Heroes so far has been purposeful and worked together in the long run.
It's great to see a show with BOTH questions and answers at the same time, where both are significant and satisfying
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11-28-2006 @ 9:43AM
Rick said...
Sylar's power seems to be absorbing the powers of whoever he kills. Or is he doing something a la Hannibal Lecter with the brain to get the power?
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11-28-2006 @ 9:44AM
Chris W said...
I thought this episode was fantastic. We're exactly where we left off last week, but with so much more information and context. I'm surprises at how much got explained (kind of) in this episode, and consistently impressed by the seemless transitions between character stories.
So how exactly does Gabriel 'Sylar' take Heroes' power? I like that they made him a watchmaker with a severe inferiority complex. It would explain why he methodically and sociopathically kills to get more power. Does anyone think he had an ability all along? Suresh's tests showed he did not, but I'm tempted to think that his ability to sense when things are broken is a bit more than family intuition.
And it's too bad about Charlie, but like you said we have a wiser Hiro on our hands.
I have a theory about Jessiki. Nikki never had any powers, but Jessica did. Jessica was able to project herself in other people, like possessing them, and had extraordinary strength. When her father killed her (probably because she was freakish and he's a little unhinged too), she leapt into sister Nikki to protect her. Now, a power struggle ensues. I don't know if that's it, but it's a thought. Either that or they just always had a weird psychic twin connection and the super strength is a side effect...
As for HRG, it seems that he was assembling/collecting genetic targets independently from Dr. Suresh (Eden, the Haitian). Now he wants Claire off of Suresh's list, but to what end? Does HRG have a similar 'save the world' stance or is purely a matter of keeping the world safe from mutants? Also, I guess it's kind of clear now that the Haitian is a super-power black hole. If he's in the room, someone with powers cannot use them.
I've been reading the graphic novel on NBC's site, and I highly recommend it as a companion to the show. It gives you so much more insight about each character it's about. Last week's was about Eden and how she "suggested" that her step-mom drop dead.
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11-28-2006 @ 9:44AM
Tim Carr said...
I started watching this show with the fear that they would make it a cheesy superhero series. Every week I am surprised by how well written the show is, and how much the story draws me in. This week, when the flashbacks began, I cringed a little, waiting for the "Lost" vibe to hit, but it never came. Way to go, Kring! You actually answered some questions, without emptying your hand and showing us all you have in hold. Once again, I was glued to that mind-numbing boob-tube, and once again, I'll be lined up next week to see what you have to offer. Keep 'em comin'!!
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11-28-2006 @ 9:44AM
Doug said...
"Great Scott!" Anyone catch the Back to the Future Reference when Hiro realized he was back six months
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11-28-2006 @ 9:44AM
Will said...
What a great episode! It's nice to see a show that actually answers some of the questions it presents.
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11-28-2006 @ 9:45AM
Evan Schans said...
Can the Haitian stop all powers or just certain powers?
He wasn't able to stop Nathan from flying away a few episodes ago.
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11-28-2006 @ 9:45AM
hellfried said...
what i would like to know is how the haitian got involved with HRG. this liaison seem to suggest that HRG is ahead of chandra in seeking out superhumans.
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11-28-2006 @ 9:45AM
John Howard said...
I love Heroes, but it would be nice if people could appreciate it without bashing Lost at the same time. They're two completely different shows. And Heroes didn't really answer that many questions last night, it just fleshed out things we already knew and showed us things in the past that affect what is going on now (which is what Lost does with the flashbacks, but then, the people whining about Lost not answering anything are usually the same ones who say they skip the flashbacks). We did find out what happened to Hiro, but now there's a new question about why his power doesn't always work.
I love Heroes, I just dread the day in a couple of years when I can't read anything about it online because all the same people who whine about Lost will be whining about it by then. I'm not sure why people who are upset with Lost would even bother watching a show like Heroes, when they're obviously going to be bitching about the same things. I would think CSI or Law and Order would be a better show for them, since they answer all the questions every week.
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11-28-2006 @ 9:45AM
Jamus said...
My guess is that the Hatian has a very limited range for his ability to dampen the abilities of others. My only guess is that they thought Nathan did not have enough control of his powers to fly off (since he tried to CLIMB over the fence instead of flying over it) and they were caught off guard when he went supersonic out of there.
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11-28-2006 @ 9:48AM
Lou said...
Great Show!!! Love it, Love it, Love it. Sylar obviously absorbs the powers by eating the brains of his victims. The way I see it right now, the show will end with Hiro stopping time to cut out Sylar´s brain with his Samurai sword.
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11-28-2006 @ 9:52AM
Jason said...
Do you think that Sylar will take on the same brain aneurism that Charlie had? Could this kill have sealed his doom?
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11-28-2006 @ 10:01AM
La-di-dah said...
Sad moment with Nathan helplessly hovering while his wife crashed. Now I get the look that passes between them a few episodes ago at the Sunday brunch when his wife said something to the effect that things would have been worse had Nathan not been driving. If only. (Also explains his blase reaction to the fact that he could fly). I can now accept why his character is the way he is, and might actually see a little hope/light in him now.
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11-28-2006 @ 10:15AM
Navstar said...
So the enemy of the world... the great destroyer of the heroes, Sylar... is really Tori Spelling's gay best friend from So NoTORIous?! I can't help but giggle every time I see Sylar now. Why not cast WIllie Garson -- oooh threatening!! Whudever...
And did anyone else notice how good the show was without Mohinder? I was hoping the show would be entirely free from him, but alas his dour little head popped up at the last five minutes. And of course, we always have to endure his melodramic narration.
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11-28-2006 @ 10:22AM
Chris W said...
I just thought about that Jason. Didn't Suresh say something about these mutations being like cancers? If Sylar gets a bad brain, will it affect him?
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11-28-2006 @ 10:32AM
rvkey said...
I got the impression that when Dr. Suresh was testing Sylar, something about his graph let Dr. Suresh know that Sylar would be evil. He seemed to have this strange look on his face like he was shocked by the results. Therefore Dr. Suresh chose not to tell Sylar what his special power was. I don't remember.. Who was supposed to be responsible for killing Dr. Suresh? HRG or Sylar? And how does Dr. Suresh know that these certain people may have special abilities. Has he ever said how he could pinponit one particular person? And I also thought that Jessica had somehow entered Nikki's body when she died. That it's not just that she's got a split personality but that Jessica has actually possessed her sister. But for what? Only to protect her or does she have her own agenda? I loved the Back to the Future reference. Oh, and have we seen what causes the "scar" on Peter that future Hiro talks about on the subway yet? Was it from his fight with Sylar? Can't tell.
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11-28-2006 @ 11:14AM
Amy said...
AWESOME show last night - best yet! I had thought that going back 6 months was going to further complicate things - they do give us a lot of characters & storylines to keep up with as it is (not to mention all of the interruptions I have to deal with - step-kid, dog, cats, husband ... somebody always wants food, dammit!) - but instead it made everything SO much clearer. Does anybody else think that all of the heroes might be "broken" in some way? Like Charlie with the brain aneurism?
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11-28-2006 @ 11:14AM
Murphy said...
We won't miss you :)
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11-28-2006 @ 11:14AM
Quito said...
I think what they were driving at is that Sylar had a power all along, it just didn't seem to manifest itself overtly because he was so used to using it. His power basically seems to be the ability to sense how everything works, to find a weakness or flaw so he can do something about it. He had been using it all his life without knowing it, constantly knowing what is wrong with a watch and how to fix it. But it applied to other things as well.
The ability probably didn't show up during Suresh's tests because he was so used to using it on a basic level that his mind wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary for him. But when he confronts the man with telekenesis, he suddenly has a flash of his power he didn't realize he had. He can sense how the body works, and how the mind works. Using this ability he knew exactly what part of the man's mind was working differently than it should be, giving hiim his powers. Sylar then knew how to take that part and use it, like a watch, taking a piece from one watch and inputting it into his own to have it function on a higher level. Of course it gets messy for the first watch.
With this in mind, it would seem that Sylar would know how how to 'absorb' Charlie's abilities without her blood clot. That is unless it was her clot that was giving her powers. So that should be interesting to see pan out.
As for Niki/Jessica, I kind of see her as a "Hulk" like character - mild mannered on one side, and a ruthless monster with the strength to rip people in half on the other. She'll either try and harness her power and use her strength for good, or become a monsterous nuisance like her big green counterpart.
The only thing that bothers me really is watching abrupt change. It has bothered me throughout the series seeing how certain characters change so quickly, but even seeing some of the seeds planted 6 months ago still seems too brief a turnaround. The character that bothered me most before was Mohinder, but now its probably Sylar. I'm not bashing his origin, in fact I like it for the most part, but seeing him turn on a dime with a few days provcation at most seems wrong. Had he been a tortured character it would be more believeable, or even if he had become tortured over the course of 6 months, but it happens so instantaneously that its out of place.
LOVE just about everything else. I really loved getting into Hiro and Charlie's story. Is Hiro depowered? Or so upset that he can't use his powers? Or choosing not to use his powers?
I'm psyched for the next episode and the second half of the season next year!
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11-28-2006 @ 11:40AM
Heroes HQ said...
If Sylar steals other heroes' powers by removing bits of their brain, how does he get those into his own brain?
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