(S01E18) Now that's how you do it. Heroes was founded on the idea of this multifarious cast running all over the place and getting into trouble. We skipped all around, checking in on everyone and the hours just seemed to fly by. After what was a slower outing last week, the adrenaline kicked back into high gear. Rebel made a return appearance, if by appearance I mean more text on various computer screens ... and that is what I mean? Is it Ma Petrelli? Nathan asked her that point blank tonight.
And poor Nathan. You kind of knew the Hunter was going to be a bit much for Nathan to control. After all, Nathan is wanting to round up those with abilities for their own good as well as for the good of mankind. He wants to protect them and the world at large. In a sense, he's doing a "good" thing, if only from his perspective. The Hunter, on the other hand, sees them as a threat that needs to be eliminated. They're dangerous, and after his close encounter last week he's gone and made it personal.
Sylar & "Kid Sylar"
I guess it'd be better to call him "Kid Wannabe." I'm still not sure why Sylar brought him along, unless it was so his exposition about his burgeoning memories regarding his father wouldn't require him to be talking to himself. The kid should be eternally grateful that Sylar didn't kill him. My guess is we're not quite done with Luke yet. As for Sylar's father, we found out why Sylar chooses to kill people the way he does. He may not have gotten the telekinesis from his dad, but he certainly got his forehead slashing technique. Ah, suppressed memories.
Clearly, Sylar is a chip off the old block after all. I am curious as to why he was sold to this other family, but I guess we'll get there. I was glad to get back to this storyline, as Zachary Quinto is one of the strongest actors on the show and can dominate a scene with just one sideways glance; he had several tonight.
Matt & Peter
With Mohinder captured, the three stooges were down to two. And at the rate they're getting captured, Peter's going to need to find some new friends, and soon. What are Hiro and Ando doing? The quest for Daphne continued to night with Peter picking up Matt's powers so the two could infiltrate Hunter HQ. It's always fun to see Matt using his powers, as he's really one of the most powerful heroes we have. Unfortunately, concentration is apparently a huge problem. In the end, Matt winds up captured so Peter can escape.
Nathan & The Hunter
Nathan is quickly losing control of this situation. The Hunter has been defying him in little ways up until now, but last night it was a blatant disregard for Nathan's wishes. You could see the pain on Nathan's face as things began to fall apart around him. He had the best of intentions, per his own skewed perception, and now one pasty, tiny, sickly-looking little man was going to take it all away from him.
The question is if the Hunter has his own agenda. Peter was pretty clear about leaking the footage of the "heroes" being rounded up, hooded and put on a plane to the press if Daphne and Matt weren't delivered to him (what about Tracy and Mohinder, Pete?). Besides, you saw it yourself. Daphne wasn't even at that facility anymore. Oh, Peter.
Regardless, the Hunter set Peter up for a fall. It was only Nathan's usage of HRG's loyalty and the knowledge that Peter still had Matt's ability that allowed Peter to survive a sniper shot. Too bad bull-headed Peter has to question everything or he might have avoided getting shot entirely. But in the end, the video and data was released to the press. In a sense this at leasts outs our cast as "persons of interest" if the press decided to reveal names. At the least, it throws the operation right into public scrutiny.
Aqualad & The Bennets
There wasn't much to this storyline. I think the agents parked outside were a little aggressive, considering. They basically forced their way into the house for an impromptu search and then accosted the family pulling out of the driveway. And, of course, all of this with no warrant. Such rampant abuses of the Patriot Act!
Claire keeps falling for boys with abilities and then they just drop out of her life. Flying boy disappeared and never came back, and now Aqualad is off to god knows where. And it looks like the Bennett household is the first stop in the new Underground Railroad.
Finale
Clearly the Hunter has decided to use the public to sway his own agenda of more forcefully dealling with peole with abilities. It would, however, be more effective to have someone cause death and destruction with their ability rather than with a bomb strapped to their chest. As it stands now, Matt will look like just another terrorist. Sure he can be linked to one of those people on the plane, but the abilities factor is eliminated. Unless that's the Hunter's gambit. He just wants these people to be seen as terrorists. That would be easier for the public to swallow.
I don't know if it's his cool name, David H. Lawrence XVII, or just how freaking creepy his Puppetmaster character is, but I was thrilled when I saw his name flash during the opening credits. Having Rebel send him to Claire for help opens up a whole can of worms. I'm sure she's not really very forgiving of what he put her and her mothers through, but it also sheds a whole new light on the storyline. Heroes and Villians are equals now in the eyes of this task force. So what is the right thing to do? Not to mention that he can still totally own her with is ability if he chooses to.
Observations
- Okay, I don't live in California, but where I live we've come a long way from a laminated driver's license with an inserted photograph. It's all high-tech and credit card like. Tricks learned when a forty-something woman was in her teens would no longer apply for making a fake ID.
- Hey, Aqualad! There's a difference between breathing for someone and sucking face. Yeah, I'm onto you.
- A car inside a half-wall in a busy, dirty diner for decades would probably have more dust on it than that.
- I'm glad they've made Ma Bennett a strong and valuable character in her own right.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
3-03-2009 @ 2:22PM
fsu120 said...
I thought the Puppetmaster died in the explosion at the Company's headquarters.
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3-03-2009 @ 2:31PM
Martin said...
Well obviously we now know for certain Rebel is Micah, there is no way its anyone else considering the way everything is done is like it is someone talking to the computer and whatnot... One thing though, did Hunter see Nathan flying, or does he just think it was Peter flying by himself?
Considering the placement of the car, it probably wouldn't have that much dust, especially if the hole it fell into was covered up soon after. Probably a lot more rat droppings though!
I thought they already explained why the family bought Sylar, as the guy who bought him was trying to save his marriage cause his wife couldn't have a child... Now why did his dad give him up, well it appears he was just sick of having a kid, and apparently a wife considering he killed her... Still I think and want to believe that Luke is Sylar's dad and somehow managed to have some power to become young again, but they keep going for the brother approach...
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3-03-2009 @ 2:52PM
ussilov said...
i'm with you man, its got to be micah,and if its not...IT SHOULD BE! lol
3-03-2009 @ 2:54PM
Martin said...
and if it isn't Micah, it better damn well be a talking dog over Angela, becuase if it is Angela, I GIVE UP ON THIS SHOW!!!
3-03-2009 @ 3:54PM
Mr. Bungle said...
If you look at the episode that just aired on IMDB, the actor that plays Micha was credited. But we never saw him. That would make me think he was the rebel as well.
3-03-2009 @ 2:31PM
Mark said...
I'm confused about something.
Peter had Matt's power in the parking garage. Then he flew away, so he obviously got the ability back to keep more than one power. But then when he was talking to Nathan and his mom, they showed Peter taking Nathan's power. But he already had it because he flew away from the garage.
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3-03-2009 @ 2:39PM
Derek said...
No, Nathan saved Peter at the parking garage. He grabbed him and flew away.
3-03-2009 @ 2:42PM
Mark said...
Yeah, I saw Martin's comment and then I went to NBC's site to watch that part over. I completely missed that. And I was watching with a friend and he didn't notice Nathan either. That's sad.
3-03-2009 @ 2:46PM
Adam said...
I thought the same thing, but Nathan went to the ambush, and he grabbed Peter.
3-03-2009 @ 7:28PM
Jim said...
Nathan was the one who saved Peter by catching him and flying him to safety. At that point, Peter had Matt's power.
Later, Peter took Nathan's power to fly away from his family. Apparently, Peter can control when he "borrows" a power. Powers don't seem to be transferred to him through casual touch.
3-03-2009 @ 3:41PM
Dan said...
Thanks for getting back to your old review form, this is back up to par.
The episode was also awesome, except for the Claire bits which were lame as usual, and I LOVED how Parkman controlled the agents and then looked at the camera as if to say "suck it".
Micah is my guess for Rebel, and I hope so, cause he's probably the second best actor behind Sylar.
I mentioned the Driver's license thing too, they haven't looked like that since I got mine in California in 1997, so I can't imagine it'd be an effective Fake, but I liked that part anyways.
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3-03-2009 @ 2:58PM
Suntzu said...
I think this one power at a time was made up to make Peter a little more interesting. He was getting the Superman factor. How worried can you be for a guy with ALL the powers. So give him the ability to get one at a time makes it a little more interesting
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3-03-2009 @ 5:01PM
Dan said...
Totally...a superpowered good guy is pointless and leaves too many chance for plot holes to fall through the cracks. Instead of having to remember every single power that Peter had been around, they just have to focus on one and can allow for a little more difficulty in his journey. After all, Peter could Teleport, freeze time, not get hurt, blow things up, move stuff with his mind, control minds, fly, be invisible, paint the future...etc. It gets to be too much. You only want the villan (Sylar, US Govt) to seem unbeatable, not the hero. I'm loving this chapter of Heroes and hope it continues this way.
3-03-2009 @ 3:28PM
Mike said...
Did Claire ever regain the ability to feel pain, because for a while she couldn't? Because she sure was freaking out underwater, when she started to "drown." Also since she technically can't die, one could say that Aqualad just kissed her to calm her down, not to breathe for her.
And CA definitely does not use laminated licenses anymore, that was just ridiculous. Not like it really mattered since when do you need an ID to get on a train? And don't you think a flag would go up when HRG's kid checks into a hotel in Albequerque?
I also liked the use of black and white, with bright red blood in the flashbacks of young Sylar.
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3-03-2009 @ 6:31PM
Yelloweyed said...
Claire could possibly die. Just not by most physical means. Remember when her in the storage unit, and started to burn up the oxygen? She can suffocate, and there is the spot int he back of the head that severs the brain in such a way that the powers are muted.
3-03-2009 @ 3:52PM
Age-K said...
I too had some confusion over the Peter-getting-one-power-at-a-time thing. When he and Parkman broke into building 26, he took Parkman's power, which caused Matt to say that that ruled out their rooftop escape route. It looked to me like Peter grabbed his sleeved arm in order to do this, which would mean the power transferred through his clothes...but then again, maybe I didn't really see that shot clearly...can't really remember. If this is true though, then the second they tried to make their "rooftop escape," they probably would have crashed down to their deaths anyway since carrying him by holding just his shirt would probably be very difficult...Parkman's a much bigger guy than Peter, so I don't know how easy it'd be for Peter to carry him anyway without also having Mohinder's super strength. But then again, how did Peter not get Nathan's power when Nathan caught him? That points to the more logical transfer of power by skin-to-skin, but I can't imagine catching somebody falling off a building can be so precise. I really enjoyed this episode though. Much more than the last few.
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3-03-2009 @ 3:57PM
Age-K said...
Oh yeah, and I forgot two quick things--the driver's license? Definitely no lamination in CA...Hell, I'm from NY and I didn't know that anywhere had laminated licenses until a trip to Michigan in the mid '90s, and I thought those looked incredibly fake. But it worked for the story, so I was entertained by that part anyway. Liked seeing Mrs. B getting involved.
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3-03-2009 @ 4:20PM
Echy said...
Okay. So Aquaboy can breath water. But that doesn't make him create air so he can give it to Claire. Other that that problem I really like the episode.
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3-03-2009 @ 4:19PM
The Archon said...
This episode was all-around great solely because they're making the characters actual characters instead of whining little victims. I mean, even Claire's showing the first traces of personality since Season 1. And Peter's actually being somewhat intelligent and badass, which is quite an improvement from him being a moron in season 2 and somewhat in season 3.
My money's on Micah being Rebel, and he may have Molly Walker with him as well so he knows where everyone is. I mean, he tracked Hiro to India and Peter and Matt to New York. That's more than just technopathy.
And 50 bucks says that the Hunter is Sylar's dad. The whole Sylar storyline is quite detached from the rest, but it would come full circle if the Hunter was actually a villain concealing his power for his own nefarious ends.
I'm just so glad this show is back on track. This volume is only 5 episodes in and has already far surpassed the past 2 volumes (not that it's that hard to do).
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3-03-2009 @ 4:22PM
Dawn said...
Another thing about the California license, Lyle is under 18. The license only had the one provisionary bar on it, red for "not 21 until this date". In California, we have 2, one red, and one blue saying "not 18 until this date". Claire is older than Lyle, and she's only 17.
Just a minor note, and if they're laminating id's, then they aren't very worried about accuracy, but it was just something that bugged me.
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