Well, I'm happy to report there were more than a few truly effective moments in last night's "Heroes."Of course, those moments accompanied the usual clumsy/sloppy writing and unintentionally funny shenanigans (like badass wannabe Claire saying "I'm the defensive player of the year" before diving out of a window, pictured, left — huh?), but I'll take the good any way I can get it.
For example, the fact that Arthur Petrelli inexplicably decided the best way to deal with Hiro was to make him think he was 10 years old again (or did Ando's interruption somehow affect what Arthur was doing) led to a few scenes reminding us why we fell in love with the character in the first place. Hiro was the only one who expressed childlike enthusiasm about having special abilities (as opposed to tedious angst), so seeing him prank people in that bowling alley was a welcome treat and pretty funny.
The only problem with this storyline is, um, everything else. So Ando can, not only, easily teach Hiro how to use his powers very easily, but he can actually physically help his friend teleport by blinking his eyes for him? Riiiight? Mostly though, I was embarrassed for Masi Oka during his scenes. It's pretty bad when you actually start feeling bad for a famous actor you'll never meet because his character and performance have become such a joke. At least the ratings for this show are sinking so much, less people are watching this travesty.
Ok, you're right, I'm sorry. I'm supposed to be thinking positive thoughts. It's difficult, but you have to believe me I'm trying.
Let's talk about Parkman going into Angela Petrelli's head to try to break the coma Arthur put her in. I actually thought the gratuitously flashy editing in the sequence really worked in conveying what it must be like to be engaged in a deadly mind game. It was, dare I say, "Shining"-esque in its creepiness.
Unfortunately, I'm just not buying the whole Parkman/Daphne romance at all after they proclaimed their love to each other inside Angela's head. So they've spent a few days together and they're in love? I get that Daphne is conflicted about her role in Arthur's plans because Parkman is a nice guy, but that doesn't necessarily equal love. For his part, Parkman seems to "love" Daphne because he's supposed to, according to his vision. Personally, I felt she had 10 times more chemistry with Hiro.
In fact, the most interesting part of this sequence is the revelation that Arthur still has some feelings from Angela, despite the fact that she poisoned him. In keeping with the season's theme, we're starting to see some signs that maybe Arthur isn't COMPLETELY evil. Of course, he still seems to have plans for world domination and appears to want Nathan onboard (I guess he changed his mind after trying to have him killed) or at least on his side for the forthcoming, allegedly game-changing eclipse and the upcoming fight against Angela and Team Primatech. Maybe Primatech and Pinehearst can settle their differences on the softball field.
I mean, even Arthur's villainous cronies don't seem that bad. Other than killing a few anonymous bystanders and robbing a bank, the escaped Level 5 villains have mostly been carrying out Arthur's orders instead of going on the deadly rampage suggested in the season premiere.
This week their assignment was, apparently, to hunt down Peter after he narrowly escaped Arthur's clutches. Eventually, it was revealed they were really after Claire since we're being led to believe her blood is the catalyst for making Mohinder's failed formula effective in giving people abilities. Apparently, the only person who knew about this catalyst was Kaito Nakamura, who hid the secret after apparently foreseeing a future where his son acted like a butthead for no apparent reason and lost his half of the formula.
I'm hoping for some sort of twist that reveals Claire is not the catalyst because it'd be nice to see her NOT be the main figure in our heroes' mission for a change ("Save the cheerleader, save the world", her blood being the key to curing the virus last season, etc.) I'm also hoping to see less of Hayden Panettiere's melodramatic acting.
On the other hand, I truly enjoyed Kristen Bell's performance as Elle for the first time last night. I've been critical of her performance ever since she first strutted her way on screen last season (it was like a caricature of a damaged badass), but last night, she brought it in her scenes with Zachary Quinto.
Arthur had locked Gabriel in a room with Elle after telling him the key to curing the hunger for power was to learn empathy. As cheesy as this sounded, I was impressed by how both actors sold it. Elle wanted to kill Sylar because Sylar killed her father and because she had an important part in making him a killer. Sylar proved capable of taking a beating without fighting back, resisted the urge to kill her for her power and eventually ended up being able to produce blue lightning on his own. I could've done without the cheesy, quasi-romantic moment afterward with Elle teaching him how to use the power. Unfortunately, it appears the writers felt like they had to throw something in there after establishing that these two had feelings for each other. It was dumb.
In fact, this entire episode was dumb. Fortunately, there were some good funny, creepy, dramatic moments this week to go along with the rampant dumbness.
So what do you think of this episode? Isn't it funny that Hiro's behavior as a 10-year-old isn't all that different from his behavior as a 28-year-old? Anyone else disappointed that the much-hyped eclipse didn't actually occur in this episode? I wasn't the only one hoping Mohinder would turn that mercy-kill needle on himself, right? What do you think Tracy has up her sleeve? Why didn't Sylar's pants get burned off, in addition to his shirts? Finally, what do you think will happen when (or if) all the heroes lose their powers? (Hopefully, something interesting.)
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