(S01E17) Damn, this is good TV. Heroes has raised the bar for itself again. That's my review, thanks for stopping by, I look forward to reading your comments.
Seriously though, I don't know where to start. The show this week focuses on one main story: the life and career of that "company man," Mr. Bennet, the man with a hidden first name, aka HRG. He is, as we knew, mysterious, calculating, and deceptive. He's also intelligent, conflicted, and loving. Jack Coleman, who plays this character teasing out all his layered glory, deserves an Emmy based on this episode alone.
We get glimpses of Mr. Bennet (back in his pre- horn-rimmed days) at key points throughout his career for the company. Even in first meeting with his new boss (Eric Roberts), Bennet espoused the philosophy he has held through the series. People are "fragile teacups" he says, and they don't want to know "what is happening to our species." Here he's a bright, fresh-faced young idealist, and in the ensuing scenes we watched that idealism chipped away. He's ordered to kill his partner, he's uncomfortable, but, still a true believer, he does it. Or believes he has done it, anyway. We know that Claude survived; that is something HRG didn't learn until last episode.
That's shocker number one: Claude was an agent, not a victim, of the company, at least at one time, until he could no longer tolerate its treatment of, as he says, his "own kind." And it is a company, it appears. Some sort of international consortium of the very rich and power. Which brings us to surprise number two. Now if you saw this one coming, you are a real life Matt Parkman, and should immediately call the James Randi Educational Foundation and collect your million dollars because Hiro Nakamura's father is not just some tradition-bound tycoon who doesn't understand his son, as he initially appeared. He is behind the "company." When he gives
orders, they get obeyed. He orders Bennet to adopt Claire. Don't get too close, he warns Bennet, because if she manifests any abilities Bennet is supposed to give her over to the company. This pivotal incident happens on the roof of the Deveaux building in New York City.
This begs [raises] the question, is Hiro really Nakamura's son? Or was he adopted in the manner that Claire was? A few weeks ago Hiro stood up to his father, saying he wasn't going to go home and run the family business, but would stay in the U.S. and pursue his personal destiny. But it that what really happened? Tonight, I think, we saw the real Kaito Nakamura. So to what extent is Hiro being manipulated by a father who knows more than he lets on?
Matt and Ted end up in custody at the paper company. What happened to Wireless, by the way? She recruited the boys, then (wisely perhaps) didn't go with them on the recon to the Bennet house.
Incidentally, I liked how the episode started back before the conclusion of last week's. We got to see how Matt and Ted got themselves into the situation of taking the Bennet's hostage. Matt doesn't seem like the type to do that, and this episode did a great job of showing how events just spiraled out of control. Ted's best line: "I'm not gonna nuke the dog!"
Looks like Matt could be on tap to be HRG's new partner now. At least Eric Roberts' character said someone with Matt's abilities would make an ideal partner. We will see if Matt's curiosity, not to mention his need to find a place to fit in in the world, leads him to working with the company, at least tacitly. He wouldn't be the first. The Haitian, Eden, and Claude were all recruited at one time or another. The Haitian also appears to be part of some other organization, or maybe there's a fifth column at the company. 
When HRG makes his sacrifice at the bridge (the same bridge he took Claude to for that attempted assassination) he tells the Haitian to "go deep" in order to erase any memory of his role in Claire's escape. How deep, we'll have to wait and see, but HRG will probably be very distressed not knowing how or why the Haitian and Claire disappeared. This means he, of all people, will most likely be trying the hardest to find Claire in the coming months. I don't think the Haitian would erase all memory of Claire's existence (though I guess he might), but even so, there would be too much evidence that she existed at her high school, etc. I don't know how Claire's mom and brother were handled. Did the Haitian also delete their memories of what they saw and learned today? Can't wait.
Yep, Heroes gets better and better.
Update: Added screen cap of the woman seen at Primatech who is supposedly going to "help clean up the mess."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
2-26-2007 @ 10:46PM
Bill said...
I got that impression that the girl who was looking after Parkman was going to be Bennett's new partner. And that girl appeared to be the lovely Missy Peregrym, who I really hope is a regular cast member now.
Great episode, I agree.
http://popculturejunk.blogspot.com/
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2-26-2007 @ 10:58PM
Michael Canfield said...
Bill, I just watched the relevant scene again. Your take seems to make more sense than mine. Also, I added a screen cap of the woman seen at the facility to fuel more speculation. Yes, I too, hope she's a regular.
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2-26-2007 @ 11:04PM
tozmervo said...
This episode blew my mind. When Takei turned around holding baby Claire... well, I haven't squealed like that since the rooftop at the end of Veronica Mars S2.
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2-26-2007 @ 11:10PM
tozmervo said...
I also want to throw in HUGE props for the costume/fx department. When Claire walked out of the house - holy GOD that was freaky! Remind me not to get nuked any time soon!
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2-26-2007 @ 11:14PM
Rafita said...
Does HRG knows Hiro is Nakamura's son? I recall Eden telling him something about Hiro.
BTW That was a cute little Hiro.
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2-26-2007 @ 11:18PM
Eddie said...
The reason Hana isn't at the Bennet house with Parkman and Sprague is explained in last week's graphic novel, "The Path of the Righteous":
http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/novels/downloads/Heroes_novel_021.pdf
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2-26-2007 @ 11:20PM
Carissa said...
Best. Episode. Yet.
This is what I always hope to see from Lost. I was stunned to see so much happen in the first 15 minutes, let alone the next 45.
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2-26-2007 @ 11:20PM
Michael Canfield said...
Rafita,
I remember Eden telling HRG about discovering a guy who could "bend time and space" (and HRG responding by saying, "Cool!" but I don't think Eden ever identified Hiro by name.
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2-26-2007 @ 11:38PM
RedStarRevolution said...
Words cannot describe my love for this show. The only thing I look forward to more on a weekly basis is Lost.
Little bummed to see no Petrelli clan, or the Artist, or Nikki/Jessica, but all in all, great delve into the character of HRG, his past, the Company, and its relation to the Heroes.
Things are shaping up nicely for this show, I just hope Tim Kring can keep it up...
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2-26-2007 @ 11:39PM
RedStarRevolution said...
Also, Claire coming out of the house all nuked up, then healing as she walked across the lawn...I'll just quote Peter Griffin, that was freakin' sweet.
Amazing effects this episode, not just Claire, but Ted as well. After he was shot and started to meltdown...wow.
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2-26-2007 @ 11:48PM
Rafita said...
Michael Canfield, thank you she should have emailed HRG every little information to HRG, specialy names, after all she was a spy.
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2-26-2007 @ 11:59PM
Michael Canfield said...
R: what I mean is, I don't think Eden knew Hiro's name either. Only that there was a person out there, who she learned about from either Mohinder or the Artist, I don't remember which, who could bend time & space...
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2-27-2007 @ 12:06AM
Jon said...
Amazing episode. The only nitpick I have is that the entire Bennett family (sans Claire) and Parkman are walking dead after the amount of radiation they absorbed. Still it was awesome. This show is was Lost should be. Now that was a flashback.
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2-27-2007 @ 12:06AM
Rodney said...
"We know that Claude survived; something HRG didn't learn until last episode." Improperly used semi-colon. This should be a comma. Anything after a semi-colon should be a complete sentence.
"This begs the question..."
No, it doesn't: http://begthequestion.info/
"erase any memory of his roll in Claire's escape..." You mean his "role." Unless they stopped at a diner and I just missed it.
"Did the Haitian also deleted their memories...": "delete," not "deleted."
Wow, you guys really need to hire a copyeditor!
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2-27-2007 @ 12:13AM
La-di-dah said...
Hiro's dad! Wow. What about the Petrelli father? Who's Claude hiding? Did anyone else see a REVIVED Simone in the previews for next week?
By the way, I really thought this episode was going to be a downer because it was concentrating on one family again, but the Bennett-family-under-siege ROCKED. New found respect for HRG and Jack Coleman, and you just know he's going to turn into an SOB again because he got his memory wiped.
(Can I turn into Hiro, so I can jump to next Monday?) Kring, please!!!!
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2-27-2007 @ 12:13AM
La-di-dah said...
The way he told Haitian to shoot him makes me suspicious that HRG orchestrated shooting Claude in a way that his wounds were also not fatal. Might he have saved Claude afterall?
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2-27-2007 @ 12:18AM
Dusty said...
Rodney - This is a B L O G....relax.
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2-27-2007 @ 1:13AM
Jdog said...
Best episode of the best show ever! Lost gets pwned by Heroes every frakin week. And (speakin of frakin) Battlestar Galactica better watch it's heels.
It's all there -- deep, well rounded/written characters that pull you in and give you an emotional connection through an intriguing, fun, intelligent, consistent story without a hint of condscention.
The final scene with Claire and HRG on the bridge ... Claire getting toasted and then walking out of the house, the surprise reveals of Claude and Nakamur'as invovlement -- it had me on the edge of my seat, my jaw hanging open and my eyes welling up ... hadn't had that sort of reaction since end of season 1 / start of season 2 of Lost
Only quible is with Eric Roberts. Never much cared for him as an actor. Plus his hairstyle is alarmingly bad. It's like he has a racoon on his head.
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2-27-2007 @ 1:16AM
Rodney said...
Dusty:
1) If AOL owns it, which they seem to do, and if TV Squad sends people with press passes to industry press events, and if any of these people are paid anything, as I believe they may be, then it's no longer REALLY a blog, is it? I mean, it takes the shape of a blog, but is it a blog? If the writers get paid and call themselves journalists, which I've seen them do here more than once, is it really so odd to imagine that they might want a copyeditor or at least proofreader? Or are you suggesting that their audience, other than me and and a few others, at best don't care and at worst don't know any better?
2) Are poor grammar, typos, misspellings, etc., OK on blogs? If you were putting your name on something, wouldn't you want it to be clear and correct?
I am a copyeditor, so perhaps this is just an occupational hazard, but it amazes me to see people who call themselves writers have such a cavalier attitude toward the language.
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2-27-2007 @ 1:38AM
Halkj said...
wow.
exhilirated
enthralled
entertained
there is some BIG TIME action going down next week,
AND WE GET TO KNOW WHO LINDERMAN IS.
is it me or did he look like colonel sanders?
wtf is mohinder going to do with sylar? doing tests/injections?
SIMONE IS BACK!!..... ='''[
wtf she is mutant too?
Are you kidding me petrelli the elder lays the smackdown on nikki.
some questions:
Do we know if nathan petrelli has something more than flying abilities? super strength??
is nikki really superpowerful? for all i know she could be turning into a green goblin because the camera doesnt show her doing stuff.
the haitian is confirmed to not be able to stop physical powers, mostly those that are controlled by the brain.
There is surely a counter to Sylar, and i've been thinking, do you think DL will play any role in this? for all we know he can turn ghost/intangible on us meaning that sylar's existing powers are useless on him.
WTF is Hiro's father's involvement in this? He probably knows his son is special, but why not do something with him?
HRG and that company ran a lot of tests on sylar, what exactly did they find out about him?
What power do you think that mutant girl who was in the room w/ the tranquilized ted and HRG and the big boss has? she might play some interesting role?
TO TOP IT OFF, NOT TO MENTION THE AWESOME FANTASMIC FOUR COMMERCIAL FEATURING THE SILVER SURFER.
Sorry,
i'll curb my enthusiasm.
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