I was delayed in watching “Heroes” last night because Kath and I went to the annual SFWA get together, informally known as the “Mill and Swill,” and Ariel was good enough to record it. She also recorded “Studio 60.” Haven’t had a chance to watch that yet, but I know that for some insane reason you guys are really interested in my opinion on “Heroes,” so I’m not wasting any time. Spoilers follow:
This episode climaxes a lot of what the past weeks have been building toward: The instantly iconic “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World” mantra. Shockingly having nothing to do with Buffy, this enigmatic phrase has spurred a number of our heroes to track down Cheerverine (who I still believe is going to have to save NYC from a nuclear meltdown that only she can get to because, like the climax of Star Trek II, only she has the endurance to handle unfettered radiation to get to wherever the shut-off switch is) and save her from the even more enigmatic Syler, who apparently has a thing for slicing open the tops of people’s heads that surpasses Hannibal Lecter.
The trick when building up to something as big as this episode, with all the foreshadowing, is the problem of raised expectations. That and, in the interest of full disclosure, I was tired and fighting off falling asleep. That said, it was certainly engaging enough, particularly the sequence where Syler mistakenly goes after Cheerverine’s rival, killing the wrong cheerleader. Nevertheless, the episode was lacking two things for me: Hiro, who was MIA until the final scene, and remains the most engaging character on the show; and any real suspense as to the outcome. The painting that depicted Peter dying in his battle with Syler was utterly pointless because, although granted Peter had no way of knowing he’d survive and was thus heroic in his actions, no question, as a viewer I’m going, “Well, once he’s in proximity to Claire, he’ll just absorb her Cheerverine properties and heal himself.” Any other character being sent to the rescue, there’s suspense; with Peter, not so much.
None of which deters my enthusiasm for the series, and my continued relief that it doesn’t air on Fox since it would be on at 8 PM Friday and be canceled already. Unlike other such serialized tales in which things only seem murkier as the show progresses, “Heroes” is actually coming more and more into focus. However I think it’s time for them to lose the snore-enducing opening and closing narrative. Aiming for portenous, it’s simply pretentious, adding nothing and illuminating nothing. Unless they’re going to have the observations made by Mary Alice from “Desperate Housewives,” I’m not really seeing the point.
PAD
• 
But if NYC goes BOOM in an A-blast, it is not unreasonable to assume other cities will start going ‘poof’, too. So, saving one doesn’t preclude saving the other.
1) No unquestionable evidence that it is an atomic blast — so far only that it is a very, very large blast.
2) It may be “not unreasonable to assume” as you say, but it is still an unsubstantiated assumption, not a given, and only one of several such assumptions about what might happen.
Come to think of it, supppose Sylar is not one specific person, but can jump from body to body — and ends up inhabiting Claire. Could that be what she needs to be “saved” from?
Did anyone catch the name on the Soccer Boy’s file? It was quick, but I thought it was a variation on Sylar. Like his first name began with “Sy” and last with “Lar”. I could be completely mistaken and don’t have a way to go back and watch it, but if anyone can verify…
(By the way, love the blog, especially the TV roundups. We haven’t seen a Veronica Mars thread in a while. I’m curious to get PAD and everyone’s take on season 3.)
“From the point of view of the characters in the story, nobody has actually tried to stop anything in a painting yet. Thus, there’s no evidence either way about whether or not the paintings are infallible. Once somebody actually learns about a painting and says, “I’ll do something other than what the painting shows me doing,” then we’ll find out if fate forces them into doing it anyway.”
Yeah, I see what you’re saying, and I don’t disagree. But my comments were more along the lines of “This is how it should be,” or “Wouldn’t be interesting if…”, than “This is how it is in the show,” and I was sort of thinking “aloud” about how, if the paintings WERE infallible (i.e. if they showed the actual future, rather than the potential future), then it means that the characters can do nothing about it… if they do nothing, it will still come true, and if they try to prevent it, the thing they do to prevent it will be what causes it, and so on (which is what I meant by the head spinning comment).
waterboy: Did anyone catch the name on the Soccer Boy’s file? It was quick, but I thought it was a variation on Sylar. Like his first name began with “Sy” and last with “Lar”. I could be completely mistaken and don’t have a way to go back and watch it, but if anyone can verify…
I don’t tape Heroes so I can’t go back and check, but I remember seeing the name on the file as something like “S. Ilyer” which, of course, seemed kinda significant (if I didn’t imagine it all…).
>supppose Sylar is not one specific person, but can jump from body to body
If so, then Mindwipe – my name for the haitian who erases memories – may be the best defense against the guy. Too, if he is a body jumper (which I doubt), does this mean the telekinetic abilities he’s shown would be a ‘property’ of his ‘current’ body? If he’s like Malice in the X-Men strip, but without the tell-tale collar, that could make him a real pain to spot.
I tracked down a copy of episode 8, and took a look at the name on the Soccer Boy’s file. It says “SANJOG, Iyer”. It is curiously similar to “Sylar”, but not clearly so. It could be significant, or it could be a red herring for crazy people who pause TV shows to try to read labels on make-believe file folders. I guess we’ll just wait and see…
I still believe we be honest and officially name the bald guy who can wipe minds Scary Black Guy. This name is an instant emotional trigger for comic book fans, 99.5 percent of whom are timid white nerds for whom “scary” and “black guy” are synonymous.
D.L. isn’t a scary black guy; he’s a father. He has a kid and cares for him. Scary Black Guy doesn’t relate to anyone and has no emotions. He’s a cannon. Or more appropriate, he’s the guy waiting outside the comic book store waiting to intimidate and rob the white nerds as they emerge.
In other words, Peter Petrelli is wrong. Life doesn’t get better after high school, because high school never ends. All of life after high school is just a bigger, louder, more deadly version of high school.
Peter Patrelli = RePete
Power mimic guy – credit goes to “Television without Pity” forums.
[i]Mr. Bennet – BGM, Bad Glasses Man (like XFiles Cigarette Smoking Man)”[/i]
FYI, in close-captioning, and in other places, I’ve seen him referred to as HRG, for “Horn-Rimmed Glasses,” so you’re on the right track.
😉
Slight Spoiler Warning (for those who didn’t watch the promo for next week):
in the promo for the next episode, we’re shown a gravestone with the name Jessica on it. I’m wondering if Niki has more than a simple MPD. What if Jessica was a twin, and while her body died, she’s still around.
Of course, it doesn’t explain why “Jessica” has super-strength, but Niki doesn’t.
The other thing is, the Jessica on the gravestone died at age 11. Does Niki not remember her? She doesn’t appear to “recognise” the woman in the mirror.
…hmm…
My HTML tags don’t appear to be working.
Sorry to keep going like this, but I thought of two more things:
1. What do you think Sylar is doing with the brains he removes? (Well, I’m assuming they’re gone; we haven’t actually been told that, have we?)
2. Anyone reading the online comic books? I ask because, while most of them are fairly inconsequential, number 6 focusses on Jessica, and what happened with her and DL’s gang. It also shows a connection between her and another character that has not, to my knowledge, been mentioned on the show — except maybe very subtly.
I don’t know if I should spoil it or not…
Mr. David;
With all due respect, Heroes is about the dumbest thing on TV right now. It’s appeal is only the amount of time that the female stars show as much cleavage as they can. I am fed up with network TV and their efforts at a superhero TV show. It’s all been CRAP.
Gee, thanks for that, R.M….
Now back to the Heroes drool fest…
Thanks to so much TV we’re watching this year…still haven’t seen a single episode of Supernaturla…and our 13 month old’s bed-time routine, we’re just catching up on things. But we’re up on Heroes now…
I’m almost embarrased to say, but the person who’s been reading comics for 20+ years didn’t see Peter’s way of surviving, while my wife…who’s read maybe 20 comics in her life…called it. Yes, I’ve officially turned in my Membership card and tights. So even though I knew the show had established that Peter had to survive…he has to get a scar for Hiro to not recognize, after all…I didn’t see how. I did figure that, if he died, we were going to see Hiro change the past and get a do-over.
I’m hoping that Hiro is unable to change events he’s lived through. I’m not sure what that means about his little visit to the future, though. If time’s on a single stream, New York is screwed…unless there’s a hero out there than can absorb a large explosion we haven’t met yet. But if Hiro’s visits to the future are not established yet, then there’s a real chance they can stop those events. But I don’t want to see Hiro change the past, erasing events we’ve already seen. I’d be watching Daybreak if I wanted to see do-overs.
So as much as I liked the Waitress, for the sake of the show I think she needs to be dead dead. And Hiro needs to learn the limits of his powers…that he can’t change the past, but he can change the course of the future.
In our house, we love Heroes. It’s like Lost on steroids…there’s real superpowered stuff going on that we can understand (yes, I’m looking at YOU, Lostzilla), we aren’t having mysteries dragged out over 3 seasons, and the plot advances in a way that mostly makes sense and pleases. Plus it’s got superpowers. And with 20 million people watching, we know it’s going to be on all season, and won’t get cancelled just when it’s getting good (darn you, CBS, and your lack of faith in Threshold….)
Code name for Matt could be Telepathicop.
Mr. R.M.,
You are hereby banned from this forum. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.
Sincerely,
The Judge in a Beauty Contest
I think the explosion happens… but only after DL latches on to Ted at the last minute and phases them both out, leaving the explosion visible yet out of sync enough that it passes through things with only a minor shockwave. Or Peter bridges some of Claire’s and DL’s powers together so he won’t die before the explosion disipates.
I disagree with you about the narration being “snore-enducing”. The narration helps set the mood of the show as being something with profound meaning and history instead of just another suspension of disbelief like so many bad sci-fi shows.