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Heroes: Fight or Flight

Posted Oct 23rd 2007 7:03AM by Varun Lella
Filed under: OpEd, Heroes, Episode Reviews

Heroes Episode 5
(S02E05) "The moment you trust them with what you care about most, they'll have you." - HRG

For some reason I feel a little short changed by this episode of Heroes. Yes, there were plenty of twists and turns and moments of... "Wait! What the heck just happened," but I still feel that not enough progressed in the storylines I care about (mainly Hiro, Peter, HRG, and Sylar). There was just enough to make this episode not a waste of a Monday -- as if I had something better to do.

Let's just hope this is the set up for an amazing week to follow, but for now I present you with the next installment of HEROES REVIEWWWWWWWWWWWCAP (you are supposed to insert booming, echoing voice there).

Hiro (via Ando)
So, hopefully I wasn't the only one who got extremely excited at the possibility of returning to Hiro after a painful week away. However, my hopes for Hiro were thwarted by less than five minutes of screen time -- most of which was Ando awkwardly staring at what I could only assume was a document restoration expert. I do appreciate bringing in Ando, and his scrolls that Hiro has been handing him, but I feel there could have been so much more.

So the basic update on Hiro's story is that things are going as planned and the trio of Kensei, Yaeko, and Mr. Nakamura are at their final task of defeating White Beard and rescuing Yaeko's father. Hopefully the writers -- and money-saving line producers -- are nice enough to show us the immense battle of three versus hundreds (and the Spartans thought that they had it bad).

Just imagine the battle as Kensei chops through soldiers without fear of death, with Hiro using some teleportation slices to mow down his foes. I shouldn't have spent this long talking about a non-existent story line, but just the thought of it manages to get me riled up. I am not a Heroes fan boy, but I am willing to say i am a Hiro fan boy.

Peter Petrelli
Back to the lovely town of Cork, Ireland where the dock workers with loud mouths are bountiful and pubs close in the middle of the day for some "afternoon delight." Here we find Peter happy and content with his Irish lass, but trouble brews in paradise as The Company's henchwoman Elle (Veronica Mars' Kristen Bell) comes looking for the lost Petrelli.

I am glad that Peter finally opened the mysterious box, but as expected there wasn't much more than a passport and a plane ticket. NBC hyped up the box so much that I was at least expecting something semi-exciting that could count as a revelation, but, alas, I was sorely disappointed again. At least I had cute-as-a-button Bell to comfort me.

All of Peter's twists came "outside the box," such as Elle's ability to generate electricity, which I guess answers where Peter got his powers from. Also there is something important about Montreal, but we won't find out what that is for a couple of episodes. Not much happened to Peter this episode, besides his going into hiding to evade Elle. We get to see Caitlin's apartment, which looks awfully a lot like a miniature version of Issac's apartment. This makes sense as Peter begins to future-paint after opening his useless box.

Oh and Ricky died.

I was really surprised that he was killed off so early, but, by the looks of his burnt-hotdog-like body, it is true. And just as soon as I started to like him... Poof... he's gone. More like "Zap... he's gone," but you get the picture. Elle killed him after he (very convincingly) covered for Peter, which shows that the little lady has a pretty big mean streak. Her last scene phone call with her "Daddy" leads us to believe that she may be Bob's daughter, but the fact that they didn't show Bob on the other side makes me wonder if she isn't someone else's off-spring. Your guess is as good as mine, so feel free to leave theories in the comments section. My off-the-wall guess is that Linderman is still alive and is working under the shadows of The Company with his daughter. But I'm probably wrong.

Suresh
Matt and Suresh get in a lovers' quarrel at the beginning of the episode over Molly's current state. Parkman leaves to pursue his dad, leaving Mohinder with our coma-locked hero locater. After having a conversation with Noah Bennet from Odessa, Ukraine (poor use of blue screen IMHO), Suresh does the stupidest thing possible and turns to The Company for help.

Bob hands Suresh another assignment, but Jessica interrupts before the two can finish discussing the merits of tasering. Suresh later tries to free Nikki and is turned away by the schizo, who is seeking professional help to deal with her split personas. The only thing really noteworthy about Suresh's part was the very end when he shows up on Monica's doorstep. Don't you love it when storylines overlap?

My real issue with Suresh is just the sheer stupidity of the man. How can one person make so many bad decisions? I understand that the man is trying to help his daughter, but turn to the organization you are trying to undermine? Seriously? Also, this may be just me, does it seem like Suresh's beard manages to maintain a consistent level of stubble that never grows or gets shaved. Maybe that is his secret power! The power to sustain a sexy-in-dangerous-way amount of facial hair.

Parkman and Petrelli
I am just smitten by the name Parkman and Petrelli. What a great Heroes spin-off! Just imagine the commercials: "What do you take when you get a sloppy out-of-luck politician and a rogue mind-reading cop? Parkman and Petrelli! Coming this spring to Mondays on NBC, as soon as we cancel Journeyman."

Back to the story.

Matt meets up with Nathan on his way to confronting his dead-beat/super-powered dad. Nathan, who has made the decision to once again forgo shaving, travels with Parkman to Philly to the apartment Molly pointed out in her dream. They disarm the shotgun-wielding elder Parkman, who seems very pathetic and apologetic. Nathan drops the fact that Matt can read minds and Matt's dad hints that their ability goes much deeper than simple mind reading.

Which is where the story starts to get trippy. After convincing Parkman and Petrelli into a back room, the elder Parkman leaves the apartment with a devilish smile as the pair are left to confront their nightmares. Nathan confronts his burnt persona (which now answers our argument from last week), while Parkman is trapped in a prison with his ex-wife and a belligerent prison guard. The two begin to unknowingly fight each other until Parkman is able to break the mind-trap and (for the very first time) send a psychic message to Nathan. The two burst out of the back room and find a photo that shows that Bob will be the next victim.

The best moment of the night for me was when Parkman used mind communication for the first time. His powers are developing and are only going to get stronger. Hopefully he won't have to be almost choked to death before the next stage of his growth. It looks like eventually he will be able to manipulate people's minds to see what he wants them to see, but I wonder what other abilities he will learn. Maybe the power to persuade people like a Jedi. The possibilities are only limited by your mind. Or rather Parkman's mind.

Micah and Monica
Now on to our other alliteratively-named duo... I was starting to worry that Micah was just an excuse to have the Monica story line, but luckily we get to see the boy genius back in action. Monica plays the Cam'ron card and refuses to snitch on the thug she wompshanked© last week. The cop gives a pretty thoughtful line about being a hero and decides to part ways.

Monica mentions to her heavily-accented friend that she learned the move on the TV. I am not sure if this is a pro or anti-TV message. On a side note, my Louisiana friend hates the horrible excuse for a bayou accent and I tend to agree. It is a little bit grating, but I am sure that I will get over it soon enough.

After Monica unintentionally mimics Micah's piano playing, Micah reveals his ability and acts as Monica's Yoda through the world of superpowers. Quite coincidentally, they are about the same height. Monica does some double dutch and begins stealing from Bruce Lee. Then Mohinder (as mentioned before) shows up at the door.

I hate to do an I-so-called-it dance, but when Micah pulled out the 9th Wonders' comic of St. Joan I knew my prediction that Monica would become a vigilante was right on the money. I am sure there are plenty of you who saw it coming, too, but there is just something wonderful about guessing right with shows like this that is simply satisfying. The next question on my mind is "What's with the name St. Joan?" I am going to guess that she is naming her alter-ego after her deceased mother, but maybe there is some connection between New Orleans and Joan-of-Arc?

Other Thoughts
There is not much I have left to say about this episode that I didn't cover in the intro, but there are a couple of random things still floating in my head. I wonder if they are going to continue to switch off Peter and Hiro for Claire and HRG, because that will get frustrating fast. It is not that I don't like Claire, but her story and character isn't enough of a replacement for Peter and Hiro.

People may disagree, but I think that this is the weakest episode of the season. It just seemed like not much happened at all. Here is what I gathered from this episode.

  • Parkman has more powers
  • Peter learned electricity from Veronica Mars
  • Monica is going to become a costume-wearin' super
That is enough to keep me interested, but not enough to satiate my hunger. As I've warned before, at this rate, Heroes will turn into another Lost, where the script and hype goes on and on without any positive resolution. But I guess that is the formula that makes these shows so addictive.

Who is the coolest of Nana Dawson's kin?

Tags: Cork, Ireland, Fight or Flight, FightOrFlight, Heroes recap, Heroes reviewcap, Kirsten Bell, Monica Dawson

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