(S03E12) So you think your last office birthday party was bad? Well, you've obviously never invited Sylar to one of your gatherings. That was the main thing I learned this week: if there's an invitation list, it's better to keep Sylar off of it--lest you want your birthday cake covered in blood.
While that was probably the most disturbing part of the episode, it probably wasn't the most important--after all, it was pretty inevitable that Sylar would be back to doing his Sylar thing eventually. The catalyst was actually the driving force behind this episode. Who gives it and who takes it plays a big role in what happens, and ends up ending one of my least favorite storylines from recent weeks.
We saw at the end of last week that Claire and Hiro were finally going to get some screen time together, as he pulls her back 16 years and watches Hiro's father turn over the baby version of herself to HRG. Although they didn't do much together, it was about time that we got to see Hiro with the cheerleader he's been so intent on saving.
Claire's decision to save the baby version of herself from becoming the catalyst ended up being kind of creepy. She follows her mother home, pretends to be their neighbor's niece, and quickly proceeds to change her own diaper. This whole scene also bothers me because while they caked her mother's face in enough pancake to fill an IHOP, they didn't do anything to HRG to make him look sixteen years younger.
Since Claire's not-so-clever idea still managed to prevent her from becoming the catalyst, we still needed to find somewhere for it to go. I like that we finally get to see Hiro's mother and find out that she had powers as well. I do find it interesting that despite the fact that she seems to be a healer, she can't save herself. She dies after giving Hiro the catalyst, and it makes me wonder if her illness was brought on by the catalyst itself, or if that was what was keeping her alive. In any case, I'm so happy that she gave Hiro his memory back. I've had just about enough of 10-year-old Hiro and his waffle fetish.
Hiro's possession of the catalyst is predictably short-lived, since Arthur tries to steal it from him. I actually wasn't expecting anyone to die in this scene, since it is Heroes, after all, and nobody ever dies. However, this episode was full of surprises for me. Not only is Elle actually dead, but Arthur appears to bite the big one as well.
Despite the fact that Angela has been trying to bump off her husband for a while now, even enlisting Peter to do her dirty work for her, it was Sylar's daddy issues that allow him to actually get the job done.
- So, seriously. I was really sad to see that Sylar had actually killed Elle. I love Kristen Bell and enjoyed her and Gabriel/Sylar together. How is it that Ali Larter plays three really boring characters and stays on the show forever, but Elle gets her head sliced open?
- It was nice to see Ando interacting with someone other than Hiro, and I'm really hoping that he gets some powers of his own.
- I kind of like how Sylar just seems to be killing because he missed it. I'm pretty sure he could have gotten what he wanted from Elle without murdering her, and that entire office party was a bit superfluous. Also: hilarious.
- Next week is the last episode of the calendar year, and I'm pretty excited. They seem to be tying up some of the fifty million storylines and streamlining the whole operation a bit. I have high hopes for next week's episode.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
12-09-2008 @ 3:50PM
Adam said...
The way Quinto delivers lines ins magical. "Cake?" is my favorite Heroes moment ever>
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12-09-2008 @ 4:39PM
Adam said...
Unfortunately there is no spell check on Chrome (hangs head).
12-10-2008 @ 12:33PM
MikLamb said...
Great line - at Christmas, I bet when we get ready for dessert everyone will say "cake!" and laugh uproariously, and my mom and dad will be completely clueless.....
12-09-2008 @ 4:03PM
Liz said...
Yay evil Sylar is back!
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12-09-2008 @ 4:05PM
Parl said...
A few things:
1. I couldn't even tell the difference between 10 year old Hiro and adult Hiro.
2. Agreed with regards to Ali Larter's characters. Boring. Also agree about Ando.
3. The time traveling Claire/Hiro interfering with the timeline so much was a bit of a stretch. This series just doesn't do time-travel that well.
Also, surprise surprise, someone trusts Hiro with something important and he messes up again.
4. My big question: Are the Haitans powers active or passive? Do anyone remember the scene were Hiro and Daphne meet in the theatre and someone knocks out the Haitain? Were his powers still working when he was knocked out? I seem to recall that they were, but I could be wrong.
I still think it's a cop-out that Arthur's powers didn't work, but Sylar's did. At least Arthur is dead. Why wouldn't Sylar take his powers? Is that what appeared to be draining out of him after he died?
It just seemed like they changed the Haitan's powers for the sake of this episode.
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12-09-2008 @ 4:12PM
Josh said...
Season 1 had one incidence of the Haitian's powers being active in this manner. He and Eden subdued Sylar in the woods and was using his ability to mute Sylar's, while Eden was still free to work her suggestive mojo in order to get Sylar to comply.
12-09-2008 @ 4:15PM
Parl said...
Thanks Josh. Clears it up a bit.
12-09-2008 @ 4:28PM
John Heltsley said...
I'm really bummed that Arthur was killed, both because I love the actor and because his character was one of the best ones they've ever had on the show.
Arthur's powers not working, however, wasn't a cop-out - the Haitian was actively surpressing him. That's why he was under the stress and told Peter to kill Arthur quickly. You could make the argument that the Haitian couldn't throw up a "blanket surpression" in the area because Arthur had too much power, and it would have been overcome. He instead needed to focus on blocking only Arthur. As he was actively focusing all his control on Arthur, Sylar was free to act as normal.
Does it suck? Sure. But not really a cop-out.
12-09-2008 @ 4:32PM
Will said...
No, The Haitan's powers weren't working when he was knocked out. Yet, it does seem like they changed his powers or at least added an aspect that we weren't aware of before now. Either way, I don't like it.
12-09-2008 @ 4:07PM
CJ said...
ug. Still too many plot holes. Why did Arthur know to go back in time to that exact spot? Why did he need to bother with anyone else when he could do all the things he can do? So Daphne has super strength to "carry" Matt and Ando? This show is out of control.
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12-09-2008 @ 7:48PM
Dan said...
The comic book (well, the sketch book) showed that scene, so Arthur would have as well. The pre-cogs all see the same images and paint them the same. So he would have seen Hiro going to that exact point (plus, it's an important period in the Heroes universe, it's the moment Claire was given the catalyst) and he would have used Peter's power (picked up from Hiro) to travel back into time. I loved that scene, I actually yelled out "NOOO!" when he took Hiro's power and threw him over the edge, I thought Masi Oka was being written off!
Great episode, great season, great show. While Dexter is higher quality, and Chuck is more intelligently written, Heroes is still the show that I find to be the most fun AFTER I'm done watching. I have so much to ponder from all the characters and storylines and limitless possibilities. Sure, the acting or writing can be wooden, but there's nothing else on TV that comes anywhere as close to making a live-action comic book along the vein of a classic Marvel comic. They've even got a Captain America being made now!
I don't get why all of you say that Ali Larter is boring. My GF finds her to be more interesting than most other characters (she usually falls asleep during the show), and I think she's the best actress on the show. Her character is a great #2 to the Evil Nathan Petrelli. I just think Nathan needs to give himself more powers than just flight.
12-09-2008 @ 4:14PM
Ian said...
About time this review is up...
Reply
12-09-2008 @ 4:19PM
Josh said...
Don't know for sure how Arthur knew, but it's possible that he drew something with Isaac's ability to clued him in on where and when to go to (one of Isaac's paintings from season 2 was of Hiro and Adam clashing in ancient Japan, establishing that precog paintings can be of events in the past that time travelers have yet to experience).
He did what he did because no matter how many powers he has, he needed the catalyst plain and simple.
Daphne ran with Flint in tow earlier this season, so it's nothing new. She didn't necessarily "carry" them; they could have been running themselves while holding onto Daphne, making it ability-sharing via proximity, like how Niki could phase through walls with D.L., or Adam could with Peter.
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12-09-2008 @ 4:29PM
Carl said...
If Daddy Petrelli comes back from the dead i'm done with this show. I'm giving it one more chance.
Having characters that never die despite the fact they appear to have been killed over and over again defeats the purpose of killing a character.
Enough already.
Stay dead Mr. Petrelli.
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12-09-2008 @ 4:37PM
john hall said...
so...no one noticed peter getting his power back? go back to the scene where he picks up the gun,, it jumps to his hand.
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12-09-2008 @ 5:08PM
0megapart!cle said...
No, I just watched it again, and it is pretty clear that he stooped down to pick it up. I was wondering the same thing though, as soon as Arthur died, if all of the powers would go back to their original heroes.
12-09-2008 @ 5:20PM
Enrique said...
I just re-watched this looking for the gun to jump. It definitely did not.
12-09-2008 @ 4:38PM
SassylilB said...
My questions is where did Arthur P. Come from When he took the Catylist? He couldn't Time travel at that point b/c he didn't take Hiro's powers? Was it the Arthur from 16 years ago, and if it is that why go after Clair? Is it all this Butterfly effect thing in the Cosmos??
Other than that Good episode! Peter got his powers back at the end, so Hiro should get his powers back Right??
You are so true about Ali Larter's characters, Kristen Bell was way better. All in all a satisfying Episode! I'm thinking I might want to bring Syler to my Company Christmas party!!
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12-09-2008 @ 4:52PM
scottR said...
Arthur took Peter's powers, who had Hiro's powers.
12-09-2008 @ 5:10PM
0megapart!cle said...
Thanks for clearing that up! But are we sure that Arthur's powers are being returned to their original heroes? They didn't exactly say that.