Angela brings Sylathan a box of Nathan’s belongings in the hope that they’ll restore lots of memories and prevent Sylar from reemerging. One item, however, restores a Haitian-whammied memory of the time Teen-Nathan watched Millie’s daughter slip and kill herself in a pool. When Millie finds out, she has Sylathan shot, causing him to morph back into Sylar’s form.
It’s probably fair to say this isn’t the show’s most eventful episode. That doesn’t make it an automatic failure, but it doesn’t do the show any favors.
Like last week, the thin plot allows the show to focus heavily on the character arcs. Those arcs come loaded with issues, however, and the end result is a character piece which fails to advance the character arcs in any meaningful way. The episode lacks the momentum of the premiere, and although that would be fine if it was as beautifully realized as last week’s episode, “Acceptance” never quite achieves the flair or charm that “Ink” achieved, and although there are moments of remarkable subtlety, it’s an hour that rewrites, undercuts and undermines much of what’s gone before. Certain parts of the plot go nowhere; some parts retread ground that had already been covered; other parts suffer simply from lack of exposure. We have moments that move the character arcs forward with elegance and wit, but we also have moments that skip over crucial issues, ignore continuity and seem unsure about what they’re trying to say.
We start out at what was formerly Tracy’s Ice Fortress.
It’s an opening that echoes the last episode Bryan Fuller scripted, only now it’s less about shaving and more about bathing. The Ice Fortress isn’t so much an Ice Fortress as an Aqua Fortress, but this prompts us to contemplate whether that’s Tracy in the tub, and whether Tracy is in fact… bathing in herself? Something about this is quite bizarre, but between the exquisite close focus and the fact that Ali Larter will never be anything other than gorgeous, I’m inclined to think Tracy can get away with the bizarrest lifestyle, and this includes cleansing herself with… herself.
Tracy selects the most alluring dress in her closet and visits Business Lunch Central. It’s important to point this out because it’s the first of numerous scenes this week involving either a meal or a drink. But it’s also important to point out that a dozen guys begin mentally undressing Tracy the moment she walks through the door, and her reaction isn’t so much disgust or disdain as flattery. Or, if not flattery, certainly not an urge to curb those impulses with an ice shower made from herself.
In any case, it’s important to point out what becomes a crucial point later in the episode, namely that Tracy, at least at this moment…
… seems quite delighted to be back in her old working environment and to see guys checking her out.
We cut to Yamagato. Hiro learns that Kimiko and Ando are engaged, and I’m pleasantly surprised that Hiro limits his reaction to, “Congratulations, I’m so happy for you,” as opposed to, “Congratulations to me, I’m so happy that I made it possible for you.”
Kimiko tells Ando that Hiro agreed to give her away at their wedding, and I can’t help noticing how different Saemi Nakamura’s delivery is compared to her previous performances; Kimiko comes across as warm and generous, and it’s a radical shift from her corporate-tyrant persona before Hiro changed history. It’s possible that one childhood experience really does determine an individual’s entire demeanor later in life, but if you want to read into it, I can’t help wondering whether this is a thinly veiled attack on males everywhere; apparently, one spilled slushy at the hands of a bumbling boy is enough to determine whether a girl grows up to be sweet and charming or vicious and cold-hearted. Feminists, please feel free to weigh in here.
I was making a note of how well Hiro was being written — what with avoiding all talk of Fate and Destiny and The Hero’s Path — when that first call from Tadashi came through. And as dumb as Hiro has been on occasion, I wouldn’t have guessed that the CEO of a multi-million-dollar corporation could hear his own work address read out to him…
… and need several lengthy moments before recognizing it as his own. Chalk up a *PING!* Dumb As Award for Hiro, because only a complete moron spends their entire working life at their father’s business and still needs that much time to recognize their own address.
Very impressive. You have to admire the moving cars, the texture of the buildings and the sunlight streaming between them.
Tadashi recounts the shame he felt after being fired for copying an image of his butt. It’s cheap humor, but to be fair, when Hiro mentions that he’s also “done things,” I’m inclined to put this stunt into context and appreciate the fact that, as absurd as the butt-copying might be, it pales in comparison to some of the stuff we’ve seen Hiro do.
The counter-argument is that there’s no context that validates an attempt to trivialize someone jumping off a rooftop.
I laughed. I think most of us at least smiled. The question is whether we should laugh, because when you consider that the show is essentially playing up the humorous aspect of suicide, we shouldn’t be laughing so much as denouncing the show for its lack of sensitivity.
But, hey, if they’re going to play it for laughs, I’ll take the opportunity to give Hiro his second *PING!* Dumb As Award for failing to even try to freeze time and pull Tadashi back over the ledge. Or just to pull Tadashi back in normal time, because it’s not as if Hiro didn’t have time to do that.
Angela visits Petrelli HQ. Sylathan holds his toy plane and remembers the time “Uncle Tim” took Kid-Nathan on a trip up the coast. Putting aside the fact that this is perhaps the most egotistical way a showrunner can immortalize himself in his own show’s canon, I’m curious to know how this sudden memory flash is any different to the flashes Sylathan must be experiencing every time he touches an object from Nathan’s past. This seems to be one ability that’s rigged to always operate at full capacity, the idea being that Sylathan gathers as many memories of Nathan’s life as possible. And yet, suddenly, the gist seems to be that absorbing memories via Bridget’s clairsentience is a new and bewildering experience for Sylathan. Something about this part of the plot didn’t add up when it was introduced last season, and something about it still doesn’t add up now.
We return to Business Lunch Central, and this is the first instance of a scene where characters sit down and talk over food and drink. I’m all for characters meeting in everyday locations and discussing their issues, but the sheer number of times it happens this week is staggering.
Tracy reveals that she’s looking for work, and Boxleitner immediately re-recruits her. In all likelihood, Malden does this because he can’t wait to hop back into bed with Tracy. But you could equally argue that he valued her ability to sway decision-making within Washington, and that he was genuinely trying to do Tracy a favor by offering her the job which, from his perspective, she abruptly walked out on.
You could argue that getting her old job back is one big nostalgia trip for Tracy, or that it reminds her of the life she had before she discovered her ability, or that the sense of power she gets from flaunting her beauty bolsters her self-esteem. But then, that’s a big part of my issue with this story thread, because it’s difficult to grasp why Tracy decides she can’t use this to her advantage. On multiple levels, this story thread fails to express a clear idea. It paints Tracy as the paragon of virtue who suddenly can’t fathom sleeping with her boss, even though she willingly stayed in that relationship until she was captured by Željko. Beyond that, there’s the fact that Tracy went on a serial-killing rampage even after she met Micah. And beyond that, there’s the fact that Tracy’s a shrewd and astutely perceptive character, and that she would have known the assumptions her boss would make when she tried to get her old job back.
Tracy’s look of discomfort when Malden takes her hand conveys her resentment about being recruited on the basis of her looks and charm. But that’s why this part of the plot never rings true. Tracy must have realized that this would be the first reason Malden rehired her. It was her main attribute before she left. It was the main reason Malden kept her around. And ultimately, it was probably the main reason Tracy was so good at her job.
And yet we’re led to feel sorry for Tracy for thinking she can make a difference based on ideas and aspirations, and we’re encouraged to judge Malden as a manipulative jerk who deserves to be fired for harassing his staff. It’s based on a premise that doesn’t work: Tracy’s not the kind of sweet-natured rookie who’d be surprised when a guy doesn’t take her seriously, and Malden never came across as the kind of irrational douche who’d refuse to take his staff seriously if they had ideas. He wants to sleep with Tracy more than anything, but from what we saw of him last season, it’s not as if he was ever closed off to her input. For the sake of serving the plot, Tracy this week comes across as uncharacteristically naïve, and Malden comes across as uncharacteristically narrow-minded.
Anyway, we cut to Noah scrutinizing his divorce papers over cereal. It’s a moment that’s partly moving, partly pathetic and wholly calculated to evoke our sympathy. Peter shows up, and you’ll note that he never makes any judgments about Noah’s lifestyle or home-decorating. You’ll also note that Noah fails to offer him either water or mustard.
Noah: “That’s a very nice arm.”
Funny. It draws our attention away from the fact that the Big Mystery from last week’s episode has now pretty much vanished, but Coleman’s delivery carries enough dry wit that you’re less concerned about the tattoo’s disappearance than with the observation that, yes, Milo does have very nice arms.
Noah dismisses the idea of going after Edgar and uncovering “some great conspiracy.” I would have credited that as development to Noah’s character arc because it suggests that his adventurous spirit in the premiere has been overshadowed by disillusionment and despondency. The problem is that, by the end of this episode, Noah returns to gathering information about the carnival; meaning, in turn, that by the end of this episode, Noah’s more or less back to the frame of mind he was in when he urged Peter to help him uncover the significance of the Magik Compass; and meaning, in turn, that this moment of skepticism doesn’t count for much.
This is where the show suffers from a circular story thread. The characters go through a learning curve or experience some form of emotional growth, but when the story ends up bringing them full circle, we’re left with the impression that it hasn’t progressed very far.
There’s a rather touching moment when Noah’s hands are outstretched in a “What do you want me to say?” kind of way, and Peter takes one of those hands and awkwardly turns the gesture into a handshake. I’d love to know if that moment was scripted, because there’s something delightfully improvisational about it that makes me think Coleman and Ventimiglia created it on the spot. Either way, it’s nicely done.
Peter opens the door, and…
Paire shippers, rejoice!
We return to Yamagato, and Ando again finishes an e-mail as the clock on his computer turns to eleven o’clock. I have to point out the irregularity in the show’s internal inconsistency, because Present-Hiro arrives at a moment when, surely, he should be witnessing his past self ignoring Ando’s attempt to dissuade him from giving Kimiko away at the wedding, and when his past self added an entry to his bucket list and took the call from Tadashi on the roof. For some reason, there’s no sign of Past-Hiro, and Present-Hiro seems to take his past self’s place at the table and take the call from Tadashi on his past self’s behalf. Something about this doesn’t jive with the show’s previous instances of time travel, because we’ve seen Hiro travel back in time and witness events while his past self participated in them.
Hiro discovers that sabotaging the copy machine hasn’t altered the timeline, and we get a repeat performance of Hiro running to the roof and scaring Tadashi on the ledge. It’s brief enough not to feel repetitive, but it belabors a storyline with butt-copy humor as its focal point, and it makes a recurring joke out of a guy who’s desperate enough to take his own life. There’s something fundamentally objectionable about that.
Sylathan shows up at Peter’s hospital and demands to know why Peter hasn’t returned his calls, and…
After months of ignoring his brother’s phone calls, the best explanation Peter can provide is, “I’m so sorry, I’ve been slammed.” You could argue that Peter panics and uses the first excuse that comes to mind, but this reunion falls flat because it avoids everything that needed to be addressed. Peter meets the brother whose atrocious actions throughout the previous volume forced Peter into a prolonged guilt trip, and their issues are totally ignored. Peter discovers that his brother can suddenly TK objects across the room, and while you wouldn’t expect Peter to drop everything to figure out what’s happening, you would expect more than a surprised smile and, “Whoa! Guess it runs in the family.” Even if Peter has no idea that Nathan’s ability was synthetic, and even if he assumes that Nathan is also an empath, he should still be wondering how Nathan absorbed his abilities without a plethora of supers around to supply the abilities. Peter should also be wondering how he and his brother will prevent another exploding-man scenario when Nathan absorbs too many abilities. From start to finish, this scene felt half-baked and underdeveloped. There were issues that needed to be resolved, there were questions that needed to be answered, there were elements of the characters’ shared backstory that needed to be addressed. All of those were ignored.
Peter exposits that Kelly ran away and broke Nathan’s heart, then urges Sylathan to visit Millie’s house to “find the truth.”
It’s hard to tell whether Peter even cares when he offers to go with Sylathan to the house. The way Milo plays it, I’m tempted to think Peter does care in spite of his issues and in spite of his whole quest for redemption on Nathan’s behalf.
Which could be a sign that Peter’s incredibly forgiving and willing to support his brother no matter what. Alternatively, it’s a sign that the show decided to ignore the source of the tension between the brothers and skipped ahead to a point where everything had gone back to normal. And in this alternate universe, Peter’s simply been too busy to make time for his brother.
Howdy, folks! Nate P here. Can you believe it’s been a month already? I know! Where does the time go? One moment you’re exploding and getting shot, the next you’re sleeping with a beautiful blonde, and then suddenly that woman needs to be locked away, and before you know it your throat’s been slit and that beautiful woman’s gazing into the eyes of the man who brainwashed your killer into thinking he’s you. Crazy, huh?
You wouldn’t believe who I bumped into the other day. Crusty old white-haired guy? British accent? Megalomaniac? Yup, he’s down here too! I can’t tell you how weird it was seeing him again. I mean, he paralyzed my ex-wife, he hit on my mom, and he loaned me $4 million to help me become a congressman. Looking back, I’m starting to think that money might have been better spent. But who wouldn’t want to hang out with the guy who made those cute little pot pies and tried to kill me?
Linderman’s pretty pissed, folks. He wants to know why he was killed off by a guy who’s now been killed off himself, and why he was killed off by a guy who was also killed off for the sake of a blonde who’s now been killed off too. I have to say, I’m not completely following him here, but it might make sense to some of you. Anyway, he’s furious about the impersonation that Parkman’s old man was using for a while. He says the rip-off wasn’t remotely convincing, and he can’t understand how anyone fell for it. Boy, can I relate to that.
There’s a woman down here who I don’t think I’ve ever met, but she swears she knows Pete from back in the day. She says she used to drive a Ferrari and tell cops to eat doughnuts, and then she met that smartass womanizer Bennet. Anyway, she wants Bennet to know how angry she is with him. She wants to know how he has the nerve to say he never helped anyone when he made such a big difference in her life. Frankly, how he helped this woman in any way is beyond me. But she’s pretty insistent. She says Bennet needs to get back to being a badass. She says it’s no fun watching him mope around his apartment. Also, he needs to take care of that a**hole she died trying to put an end to, and what was Bennet thinking when he decided to keep that piece of trash alive? I can’t say I disagree with that, but who am I to argue with her?
Well, that’s it from me for this week, folks. Linderman’s shown me where to get the laundry done. You wouldn’t believe the efforts we have to go to just to get our shirts cleaned. Do you know how hard it is to find a decent fabric softener down here, let alone to get the blood stains out when someone telekinetically slits your throat? Pretty darn tough, I can tell you. See you next week!
Noah and Claire eat cereal at his apartment, providing the second instance of a scene focusing on consumption.
Claire jokes that Noah’s “a people person,” and we see something that, as far as I can recall, we’ve never seen on the show before.
I remember a sarcastic snort at the end of “Building 26,” and Noah’s cracked a smile every now and then — a devious, manipulative, Bennet-Crafty-Scheming kind of smile. But I can’t remember a moment when he laughed, and it’s something that feels both freakishly bizarre and — under the circumstances — oddly poignant.
Claire: “‘Tell me, Mr. Bennet: what do you think your greatest strength as a salesman is?’”
Noah: “Well, if they won’t buy it from me, I can always just shoot them.”
^ ^ Delivered with a straight face!
Line of the night. Hilarious, and very much in character.
Sylathan visits Houston Central and gets a warm welcome from Millie. Welcome back, Swoosie Kurtz!
Millie offers Sylathan a drink and pours one for herself. That’s the THIRD instance this week when the plot involves characters sitting down to talk over food and drink. The set-up is largely redeemed, however, by Kurtz’s carefully layered performance. Kurtz immediately and effortlessly reestablishes Millie’s likeable eccentricity from the previous volume, but also manages to convey a mercurial confidence that offsets her quirkiness. It’s a pleasure to see the actress reprise the role with such verve, and it’s a pleasure to get the insight into the character that was lacking when we met her last season. You could argue that this is essentially just an elaborate plot contrivance, with Millie waiting for the truth to come out, and the show waiting for a pretext to turn Sylathan back into Sylar. But then, it’s done with such a rich and nuanced performance from Kurtz as the wizened mother who’s searching for closure, and with such sincerity from Pasdar as the memory-wiped monster who’s trying to uncover the truth, that it’s easy to overlook the contrivance.
It’s established that Kelly slipped over the side of the pool, hit her head and bled out in the pool. I think we could have pieced together the relevant information without the flashback, but it offers us the episode’s fourth instance of characters talking over drinks, so why not. It also affords us a glimpse of…
Teen-Nathan?! Well, the cheeky smile and the mischievous eyes are there, so good casting. The only issue the flashback brings up — besides its contrived nature — is the chronology. Nathan doesn’t look older than 18 in this flashback, and per the graphic novels, he was born in the late sixties. Which would be fine if it hadn’t been established in “Company Man” that the Haitian was discovered in the early nineties. So apparently Angela was ordering Haitian Whammies in the mid-eighties — nearly 10 years before the Haitian was discovered. Not a huge plothole by any means, and you could speculate that Angela knew the Haitian before The Company recruited him. But it’s evidence of the show tinkering with its canon to suit the requirements of the current story, and although it’s only a minor detail, it gives a sloppy impression to fans who are paying attention.
Angela meets Sylathan at a bar, giving us the episode’s fifth instance of a conversation over drinks.
Sylathan: “Everytime there’s a secret someplace, I find you with a shovel behind your back.”
Angela: “You should write Mother’s Day cards.”
Funny. Mostly because it’s true. Great delivery from Cristine Rose throughout this scene. You can hear how intent Angela is on justifying herself. Which is surprising, considering she’s justifying herself to the mutated form of a psychokiller. But this is the first scene when Angela seems to forget she’s talking to Sylathan rather than Nathan and allows herself — whether consciously or subconsciously — to believe she’s talking to her son. You could argue that she’s explaining herself for her own sake rather than Nathan’s, to alleviate her own guilt after years of not being able to talk to anyone about it. As is generally the case, Angela’s perspective contains a grain of deranged logic; there’s an opportunistic angle, because Angela’s first priority was probably to avoid a scandal that might hurt Nathan’s rise to political power. But behind the extreme solution, there also seems to be a very understandable wish to spare her son a lifetime of trauma.
Angela straightforwardly tells Sylathan she “made a choice to protect [her] son,” and her expression in that moment…
… is one of a parent desperately searching for forgiveness from her child, as opposed to a co-conspirator trying to silence a protest from the monster she created. When Angela tells Sylathan not to let this incident destroy him, we get the impression that she’s genuinely concerned for him. And in spite of everything about Sylathan that terrifies Angela, this is an indication that she’s losing her ability to distinguish Sylathan from Nathan. The scene doesn’t humanize Sylathan by any means, but it’s an indication that one of the people responsible for his existence is starting to think of him as the person he was designed to approximate.
Sylathan isn’t reading into it quite as deeply, and the look of disgust he gives Angela after she explains herself says as much about him as it does about her. The way Pasdar sells this scene, however, with the look of a guy who’s crushed by what he’s just found out, is again a sign that the show wants to blur the line between Sylathan and the character he’s impersonating. It doesn’t amount to redemption until Sylathan returns to Millie’s house and tells her the truth, but there’s something admirable about Sylathan’s attempt to make amends for an accident which neither he nor Nathan were responsible for, and there’s something pitiable about Millie’s decision to kill a guy who carries Nathan’s guilt but who wasn’t even there when Kelly died.
But then, it’s Sylathan’s sense of complicity in the cover-up that drives him to tell Millie the truth, and in a way that’s where the parallel between Sylathan and Peter emerges, because Sylathan’s essentially trying to atone for someone else’s actions. His decision to come clean with Millie doesn’t compare to Peter’s dashing heroics, but the motive is the same: he’s trying to alleviate the guilt he feels on someone else’s behalf.
This, though, is ultimately why Angela is vindicated for her subterfuge. The message seems to be that if you bury a secret, everyone eventually moves on; and when you try to be honest and admit your mistakes, people berate you for it, and in this case, they try to kill you for it.
Which is perhaps just another instance of Angela’s perpetual ignorance-is-bliss ideology, but it makes for a bleak outlook.
The counter-argument is everything we’re meant to take from both Hiro and Noah’s story threads.
On the most obvious level, aw. It’s delightful to see the characters bonding, and in a scene that doesn’t involve Claire bemoaning Noah’s Secrets & Lies. Even before he removes his glasses and drops the HRG guise, you can sense his regret that his job didn’t produce more tangible evidence of a contribution to the world.
Noah: “I’ve shot them, cuffed them, locked them up, wiped their memories. But I don’t remember actually helping anybody.”
Claire: “You’ve helped plenty of people.”
Noah: “Yeah? Name one.”
Claire: “Me.”
Again, aw, but also wow, because this might be the first time we’ve ever seen Noah open up to Claire. What’s amazing about this scene — besides the sincerity in the way the characters are written, and the fact that Hayden’s performance comes up a level because of it — is the way it serves as a counterpoint to the Sylathan thread. The message seems to be that although your children will loathe you for your dishonesty, they’ll forgive you for it, and they’ll respect you more when you treat them like adults and tell them the truth.
Hiro returns to present-day Yamagato after his 47th attempt to prevent Tadashi from copying his butt.
It’s no Groundhog Day and Masi Oka’s no Bill Murray, but the weary-as-hell deadpan temperament from a guy who’s seen and heard every nuance of the same scene over and over again taps into the same humor.
Hiro picks up his third *PING!* Dumb As Award for needing 47 attempts to foil Tadashi’s effort to copy himself before accepting that his plan isn’t yielding results. He now realizes that the most effective way to get through to someone is to talk to them. Hiro advises Tadashi to find something he loves to do so that it doesn’t feel like work. It feels like an awfully quick solution for a guy who was ready to throw himself off a rooftop, but if you can buy that Tadashi’s biggest problem was that no one ever talked to him, there’s something inspired about the way this story thread is resolved. It loses all dignity for the butt-copy humor and it sacrifices all subtlety for the way it trivializes suicide, but at its core, it’s a story about a guy with abilities who learns that the best way to be a hero is to connect with the person he’s trying to save. Which is a lesson Hiro should have learned about three seasons ago, but which finally affords the character a chance to grow.
Hiro offers support to Tadashi, who now realizes that he has enough to live for. Again, you could argue that it’s not believable that Hiro would alleviate Tadashi’s despair with one conversation about career fulfillment, but between that and Hiro’s reassurance that Tadashi will have a friend in heaven, the merit in this storyline is the difference Hiro makes on the strength of his compassion.
Heartwarming. And, frankly, astonishing, because if the episode had been written by anyone other than Fuller, I think we can assume the end result would have been more like this:
The way it turns out, we see Hiro doing a good deed, keeping it to himself and taking zero credit for it. It’s inconsistent characterization, but in the best possible way. This is a hopeful sign that someone on the show realizes what sucked about Hiro’s behavior last season and knows how to fix it.
Which seems to be confirmed by the following scene, in which Hiro not only has a chance to move beyond butt-copy jokes, but also to once again emote.
You could point out that this is as overdue as Hiro’s discovery that he doesn’t need superpowers to be a hero. But it’s worth something that the show got here — FINALLY — and it’s worth something that the show is trying to express something heartfelt and honest with a character who’d previously been reduced to a caricature. This restores my respect for Hiro. He was tolerably amusing in “Turn and Face the Strange,” he was pitiable in “An Invisible Thread,” he was likeable in this season’s premiere. But if you look past the weak humor in this episode, Hiro comes very close to being a sympathetic character again.
You can guess what brought my good spirits to an end. And it’s not the fact that we now get our FIFTH instance of characters talking while they grab a drink and a bite to eat. On top of the fact that we’re probably going to remember this episode as The One When Everyone Wanted To Get Drunk…
Oh, no.
Oh, NO.
Take cover, people! Brace yourselves! It’s… It’s… THE TROAH!
Tracy: “How are you?”
Noah: “OK.”
^ ^ Absolutely LOADED with subtext. As in, “I was kinda down, but now that you’re here…”
Noah: “So, what brings you to my neighborhood?”
My neighborhood? Not our neighborhood? Turn of phrase, or an attempt to convey a sense of macho ownership over the immediate area? You decide.
Tracy: “I got my old job back. With Governor Malden.”
That really doesn’t answer the question at all, but to Noah’s credit, he manages to conceal his jealousy.
Noah: “Let’s celebrate. I’ll buy you a tuna roll.”
That’s code for something, right? “Buy you a tuna roll”?
Noah: “Life changes, Tracy. We have to change with it. Maybe you just can’t go home again.”
Wait, what??
WHAT DID HE JUST SAY?
Did… did he just tell her she can’t go home?
Seriously, people. Watch for Tracy’s reaction when he says that. Even she looks shocked.
Noah throws more of Claire’s platitudes at Tracy, who does her best to look contemplative before resigning herself to another scene that’s dependent on drink to propel itself. Noah does his best not to look jealous as Tracy leaves to have dinner with Malden. And while I can’t imagine Malden ever offering to “buy a tuna roll” for Tracy, a few minutes ago I was equally confident that Noah wouldn’t ever cross that fine line between subtext-laden tuna rolls and, well…
Someone, please tell me Noah’s not checking her out there. PLEASE TELL ME HE’S NOT GULPING DOWN BEER WHILE CHECKING OUT TRACY’S BUTT AS SHE WALKS OUT OF THE SUSHI BAR.
Come on, show. You gave us that beautiful scene with Claire, and now you follow it up with this?
Moving hastily on.
We cut to Tracy joining Malden for A DRINK! I really hope this is intentional, and that the writers didn’t watch this episode in the editing room and suddenly realize that the characters spent the entirety of the hour going from restaurant to bar to kitchen to bar to restaurant.
Tracy declares that she wants to “set agendas” and “help people who can’t help themselves,” then looks hurt because Malden wants to skip to the sex. Which brings me back to my original point: what did Tracy expect to happen here? She waltzed into a restaurant, smiled flirtatiously, gave every indication she was there to see the governor she’d been sleeping with, gave NO indication that she wasn’t interested in resuming that relationship besides a surreptitious look of uncertainty, and yet she’s upset when Malden doesn’t immediately admit what a depraved jerk he is and offer his assistant everything she asks for. Tracy KNOWS the world doesn’t work that way. She’s probably the least naïve character on the show after Noah and Angela. Which is why her dismay over seeing her request fall on deaf ears seems so odd. You feel sorry for Tracy when she hides in the restroom and starts sobbing because you can appreciate why she’s upset, but when you think about it, she’s upset over an arrangement she’d consented to, and which, until now, she was quite happy to go along with.
Beautifully shot, although what’s effective about it is the way it supports the story, with a character’s ability emerging when they’re overwhelmed. THIS is what sets this volume apart from Volume Three, when you can bet the ability would have emerged and then the character would have been overwhelmed.
At the eleventh hour, the show throws in a carnival scene. It’s as much of a pleasure to watch as ever because, as always, Knepper carries his material with charisma that could raise any episode out of mediocrity. If you’re cynical, that’s exactly why the show hired him.
Lydia conjures up a tattoo of Noah, and although it doesn’t depict him with a beer in one hand and a bowl of cereal in the other, the prospect of HRG is enough to make Samuel…
… what, exactly? Disturbed? Unsettled? Alarmed? Afraid? It’s unclear, and it’s part of the problem with this scene. Firstly, the entire scene feels very random. Secondly, it tells us very little that we didn’t already know. In an episode with such tight focus on only four of the main characters, the introduction of the carnival storyline feels contrived because you know it’s only here to set up an upcoming episode. When you look at the scene itself, the main points to note are (a) that Edgar has issues with the way Samuel’s running the carnival — WHICH WE ALREADY KNEW — and (b) that Noah is investigating the carnival — WHICH WE’RE ABOUT TO ACTUALLY SEE ON SCREEN ANYWAY. It’s an effective scene, but it echoes lots of scenes that Robert Forster was forced to trudge through last season; which is to say, scenes that lacked any substance beyond cryptic clues and oblique references, and which relied on the gravitas of the main character to sustain them.
Which is a worrying comparison to draw, because as brilliant a villain as Knepper portrays, he won’t be able to sustain an underdeveloped storyline any more than Forster did. It seems like this scene was an attempt to keep the story thread relevant, but it tells us so little that it feels redundant. We’re four episodes in and we haven’t learned anything about the carnival that we didn’t know after the premiere. Joseph’s ability and the circumstances surrounding his death are still a mystery. Whatever purpose the tattoos serve is still a mystery. The carnival’s agenda is still a mystery. Edgar’s rebellious streak is still a mystery. The reason why Edgar hasn’t aimed a knife at Samuel’s head is still a mystery. And Lydia’s ability is still a mystery, although the implication here is that she’s able to sense an individual’s state of mind when a tattoo appears on her skin.
A slower pace of story to accommodate a longer volume than last season? An attempt to avoid the pitfalls of Volume Three? A necessary consequence of a vastly reduced budget? I leave you to decide, but to my mind, this scene encapsulates the episode: it felt like the show was treading water, and the plot needs to progress faster if it wants to avoid frustrating viewers. Four episodes into Season One, we knew that Peter had to save the cheerleader, that New York was going to explode, that the way events were unfolding was so crucial that a guy was willing to travel back through time to ensure it went according to plan. The point is this season has so far replicated everything that made the first season outstanding, but it lacks a clear direction. If the volume is about redemption, we need to see the characters working towards it. In this episode, and in possibly the most ironic turn of events the show has ever crafted, the only character who earned his redemption was Sylathan.
It’s a somewhat wistful irony, as we now establish during the SEVENTH instance of a conversation over food and drink.
Goodbye, Sylathan-as-played-by-Pasdar! You were the victim of a godless prank which required a mind-boggling degree of stupidity on the part of those involved — the likes of which this show has not come close to depicting either before or since. And yet, out of the bowels of Turbo-Dumb-As-Award-winning hell, you demonstrated self-awareness, sensitivity and remorse, and you made the most of a grotesque state of affairs. Farewell!
Millie tricks Angela and delivers the same steely-eyed panache that Cristine Rose has defined as her own over the years. In effect, Millie out-Angela’s Angela.
In this instance, the one who earned the name “Ice Queen” long before Tracy showed up is less a steely-eyed manipulator than a clueless mom who just lost the only piece of her son she had left. The fact that it happens at a moment when she’s putting on the fakest smile she can muster somehow makes it even more tragic.
But, hey, on the bright side, now we can look forward to…
Zombie Sylar!
So, looking back, this episode offered us butt-copy humor, a suicide that was played for laughs, Troah, an abundance of drinks and meals so inordinate that it probably sets a record for television standards, and, finally, Zombie Sylar.
If you’re thinking I’m about to 1-out-of-5 this episode… you’d be wrong, but you wouldn’t be far off. The flashback to Teen-Nathan’s involvement in the death of Millie’s daughter felt like a contrived device designed to end with Sylathan morphing back into Sylar, but it turned Sylathan into a surprisingly endearing character — one who I’m amazed to say I’m kind of going to miss. The Hiro storyline was about as crass and irreverent as television allows, but it showed a nobler side to Hiro, and it enlightened Kimiko about her brother’s ability. The Noah storyline at the start of the season involved him wanting to pursue his leads on the carnival; now Noah’s pursuing his leads on the carnival; and as blatant as it now is that everything inbetween was an attempt to stretch the character’s arc out, it’s hard to argue that Noah’s scenes with Claire were anything other than heartfelt, insightful and heartwarming. The only storyline that failed to work for me was Tracy’s, which focused on a character who apparently aspires to do more than her old job allowed her to, but who suddenly seems to lose the cunning and deviousness that defined her in the previous season.
Overall, a very mixed bag, but an effective set-up for upcoming episodes, and an hour that’s often amusing and occasionally very thought-provoking.
3 out of 5
The company had more than one method for making people forget things. In Volume 3 we see Arthur make Angela forget about the whole plot to kill Nathan via telepathy. Charles in the episode 1961 tells everyone at the cafe to forget that they saw him dancing with Angela. Matt made Sylar think he is Nathan and in turn made Sylar forget about his life. At the very least Telepathy is another way to have people forget any number of things.
Angela could have had the Haitian wipe Nathan for another reason later, who knows with Angela. At least this time he accepted it as true that his mind was wiped or the memory was burried deep enough for him to forget it.
HI, OTTO, GREAT REVIEW, AS ALWAYS.
I liked this episode, it focused on character in a really great way, which all kinds of awesome in my book. The Carnival is still growing on me, but really… four episodes in and we still dont have a clue of what the hell is what Samuel and company want. According to Craig´s Advance Review of Hysterical Blindness, we might have more insight in that, and this week´s scene, i felt like it was out of place and in an episode it didn´t belong.
I´m a little concerned about what are Samuel´s motives for doing what he´s doing, i have faith the writers will explain it, but i don´t like the fact that every volume´s villain bites the dust before knowing what their motives are, other than Sylar, every villain seems to have had a complex character motivation to do morally questionable actions, but they´ve never been explained.
Ej.
Arthur Petrelli (RIP): Cool character played by a cool actor. He wanted to give normal people abilities in order to…….. make the world a better place?
Emile Danko (RIP): Great character played by a EXCELLENT actor. He hates people with abilities and wanted to killed them all because of……………..something that happened in Angola? we don´t even know it was something involving prople with abilities. I´m sad we didn´t see that.
Samuel Sullivan(RIP): gret character played by a terrific actor. From what we´ve seen he seems to have two goals. (1) Revenge because of his brother´s murder (He made Edgar Kill Danko, so i guess that goal has been accomplished) and (2) He wants Hiro, Peter, Claire and Sylar to join his team for….. something. It´s been vague so far and i hope that next week´s episode brings some light about this.
In a completely different subject, ratings are down every week , i think we all agree that we don´t want hs season to be the last, even NBC. I am a non-american fan, so i can´t do anything about that, so i REALLY hope the recent publicity about next week works. If that Lesbian kiss is a rating gimmick, that it works.
We need some action too, this season is about character, i know, but at least gives some cool effect or fight scene. Budget cuts, i know….sigh.
and Mohinder´s AWOL still, at least until episode 8. I rewatch “Seven Minutes to Midnight” yesterday. i miss him.
Uncle Tim? i laughed when i heard it, but seriously. What The f…….
That´s all i have to say, see you next week. Keep up the good work.
Great review, Otto.
As uneven as the writing has been, Millie was Fuller’s throughout, and I now want the backstory of the woman who can out-Angela Angela.
Like Cold Snap, this ep. screamed damage control, but was less effective. I wonder how soon Fuller left after penning this ep. It didn’t play like he put himself into it, like we were watching a Xerox of a Fuller ep, no pun intended.
They are definitely treading water, artfully treading, but still treading. Hard core fans don’t want the show cancelled. But, frankly, if it isn’t cancelled this season, it’ll be an indication that a NBC is in its death throws, keeping Zombie Heroes above ground.
This show has been a bizarre case of the parts being more than the sum. The whole is either lackluster or retconned. It’s the parts (performances, individual scenes, ARG, fanboying or girling actors, etc.) that give the show the fanbase it has left. I’m here to the end, but it’s out of loyalty to everything but the overall narrative.
Millie is such an awesome character.
As for the episode, it was stated online that the edits here were done by the other writers. Fuller handed the draft in, and then left… I think.
“Fuller handed the draft in, and then left… I think.”
Was it really this early on in the season? I was under the impression that they were breaking the scripts for #7 or #8 when he bailed.
They were probably breaking them, but the final final edits for 404 were when he left. And those can be the crucial ones to really get everything locked in a piece.
Otto, I think Peter assumed that Nathan absorbed the powers from Sylar, and didn’t realize he had them until a few days ago.
About the time discrepancy with Nathan and the Haitian- is it possible Nathan felt guilty about it a couple of years later and was going to confess, so Angela sent the Haitian to wipe his memories?
I think that Tracy planned on using her… charms for good, and then realized that that was no way to change.
Noah: “Well, if they won’t buy it from me, I can always just shoot them.”
Sorry, but I have to go with “that’s a very nice arm.” Line of the night in my opinion. Continuing in the same vein, my favorite part of the episode was the Peter/Claire hug. No, not because I am a Paire shipper! It simply recalled the greatness of season one, where our characters were meeting and interacting with one another, and it didn’t feel as if they were on ten very disjointed story lines.
Goodbye, Sylathan. For the first time, I found myself forgetting his presence in this episode, and began to slip back into Nathan times. Does this mean Adrian Pasdar’s gone for good? If so, a huge loss for the show.
Now, to the Hiro issue. I have to say it, I found playing a suicide attempt for laughs a very wrong move on the part of the writers. Not only is insensitive, but the first chance they have to add gravity to Hiro’s arc, they waste. And more on Hiro, don’t know if anyone remembers the deleted scenes from Season 2 - what might have been if not for the writer’s strike. Well, at that point, Hiro had grown more serious, for once, and finally felt guilty for what his actions caused. Thinking about what might have happened if not for the writer’s strike always pains me because it sounded so epic.
Oh, and I agree on the Haitian issue. And the retconning. I don’t know why they mess with it. Heroes already had a great backstory with enough unanswered mysteries. There’s no need to fit everything into place.
All that being said, I still love Heroes, and wait every Monday for it to come on.
Hello, Otto. I read your reviews every week, but this is my first comment.
As far as Nathan’s memory goes, I immediately assumed that Arthur used his telepathy to hide the memories from Nathan. The Haitian didn’t even occur to me until afterwards, and even then the time conflicts convinced me it was meant to be Arthur.
In my opinion, Troah is the best thing to happen to the show since Sylelle/GabriElle/whatever you want to call them. I’ve been shipping this couple ever since ‘Cold Snap,’ and I’m so happy to see it’s becoming a real thing. Though I too thought the entire Tracy ’struggle’ was odd. Seriously, what did she think she was getting into? It’s like walking into your favorite candy store and then getting mad when they won’t give you a steak.
Swoosie Kurtz was AMAZING, but I’m once again depressed about Pushing Daisies untimely departure. I’m glad she’s getting some real depth, since I assumed that, if she did ever appear again, she was just going to be ‘Angela’s friend,’ through whom we get to hear Angela’s problems.
Hey Otto.
Well, I felt this episode was a letdown from last week, especially considering that it was penned by Fuller. Perfectly said; the charm of Ink was definitely missing here. Nothing happened, but it was the bad sort of filler, where it was just boring. I can’t even judge them as pro/con because it was just…blah.
Except Hiro. For the love of God, this goofiness has to stop. I am truly stunned that Fuller wrote this crappy plot for him. After the third “life saving” attempt, I simply stopped watching his scenes. I just couldn’t watch any more of it. And really, did it ever occur to Hiro that this dude had more serious problems than losing his job over Xeroxing his butt? He could have tripped on the friggin sidewalk and that would have been a reason to jump! And the fact that they devoted so much time to that plot just made me angry.
And don’t know if it’s just me, but I prefer Kimiko to be a jerk than all lovey dovey over Ando. She didn’t have any personality, in my opinion. At least when she was angry she had a spark.
Also thought Peter/Nathan’s scenes fell flat. “Guess it runs in the family?” Oh, please don’t make Peter stupid again. We already have Hiro for that.
Swoosie Kurtz’ scenes didn’t do much because I knew they were just a means to an end; a plot device to bring Sylar back. But the cool behavior failed on a few parts. I wasn’t surprised that Millie was calm during her lunch with Angela and her first meeting with Nathan, but the second meeting, after Nathan confessed to having a part in Kelly’s death, and Millie was still calm. Even if she thought he was lying, that deserved a face slap at least. She was almost robotic.
Tracy’s scenes were good, but unnecessary. After the premiere, I knew she wasn’t going to be a baddie, especially considering her future hook up (you know the one I mean…gag). They didn’t need to devote this episode with her finding herself after shacking up with Malden. They could have explained this in a graphic novel, or cut it short at least. And the opening scene with her…um, no. I love Imogen Heap’s music, but that felt so cheesy, with the body double song. Ew.
Hello Otto. Great review as always
First off, the carnival. As to why Samuel reacted the way he did when he heard Noah was getting interested in them again was simple. Since he spent so many years in the Company and then in Building 26, he has bagged and tagged a lot of supers. And since the carnival seems to have supers from all corners of the globe, at least one of them probably was bagged by Noah, or knew someone that was bagged by him. How they managed to override the Haitians mindwipe and tell Samuel about the experience is your guess, but it kind of makes sense. And as for Lydia’s tattos, I read on heroeswiki.com that her ability is described as an ‘empath.’ I think that she feels all the information about a person and the tatoo’s are just a medium for the others like Samuel and Edgar to have the necessary info as well.
Next, Hiro’s storyline. I agree with you that the show was a little weird trying to constantly pay up a suicide for laughs. However, as i learned in my World Cultures class, the Japanese take their work very seriously. Tadashi would certainly have been fired for his idiotic actions. And to be fired in Japan is considered a serious shame in Japan, since they work in life to have one job and one specific job only. And workers in Japan have in fact commited suicide ovr incidents like this. Or so I’m led to believe. Any way, the point is that although Hiro’s storyline is still a little stupid, it fundamentally makes sense.
As for the inclusion of Millie in this episode… I just don’t get it. Don’t get me wrong. I like seeing Swoosie Kurtz (is that right?) again. But I don’t understand her inclusion in this episode. I get that the writers wanted to get a chance to redeem ‘Nathan’ before they turned him back into Sylar. But there probably more elegant ways to go about that. So, unless Kelly or Millie wind up serving a more imporant role in this seasons arc, I don’t get the point of theri inclusion.
So, all in all, I agree with you. A pretty mixed bag episode. Here’s hoping next week is the best this season!
Oh, Otto. Where to begin?
On a light note, this time … and I almost hate to give anything to Faux Nathan … but his line: “Everytime there’s a secret someplace, I find you with a shovel behind your back.” The imagery of that cracks me up. lol
This episode just didn’t work for me, unfortunately. I can’t believe Fuller wrote it. Now, if this is any indication, then maybe now we know why he left again. He just wasn’t into it. There’s no way Peter should have been so calm and collected when seeing a new power from Faux Nathan. Granted, he didn’t have to fly off the handle, but couldn’t he at least be suspicious? As much as I love Peter, I really don’t think he needed to be in this episode. To a degree, I wish he wasn’t. What purpose did he have? Keeping him away from his family is much easier for me to get emotionally involved in than to suffer through this.
Hiro’s story ended well, but I could barely stand the beginning of it. Couldn’t they have changed the thing that made him lose his job? It had to be butt-copying every time? Maybe if they could have found 47 different ways of him losing his job it wouldn’t have felt so juvenile and redundant to Hiro’s usual role in this show.
This -> You could point out that this is as overdue as Hiro’s discovery that he doesn’t need superpowers to be a hero. But it’s worth something that the show got here — FINALLY — and it’s worth something that the show is trying to express something heartfelt and honest with a character When is Peter going to get his heartfelt and honest moment with the members of his family (or what’s left of it)? The empath sure doesn’t get much chance to react to what he’s been through. I’m hoping for an epic moment when he finds out what happens to Nathan … if he ever does find out. Unfortunately, my hopes are very low for that happening at this point. It would take too much time away from the Sylar and Claire show (did you notice all clips for next week were Sylar and Claire).
HRG and Claire were fine. I didn’t really have a problem with their scenes. Another line of the night was “You do know it was a cover? I didn’t actually sell anything.” lol
Tracy, eh, I don’t know. I need to re-watch the episode, haven’t really watched it again since Monday night.
Here’s hoping for some magical scenes next week with Peter and Emma. From spoilers I’ve read, there should be some.
Thanks for posting the review, Otto. Until next week!
The clips I was referring to were the four EPKs - two Sylar and two Claire.
Great review, Otto
Again you nailed it! (Sorry for not posting last week. Partial exams :L…)
As for the episode itself, I also found it to be a mixed bag. The episode had some great performance. For example, The “Sathan” part made me feel like if it was Nathan rather than Sylar/Nathan, which was a big plus considering they didn’t constantly beat us over the head with ‘Its Sylar in Nathan…’ like the premiere; Hiro moved me after the ‘47 times’ debacle (Horrible) when he opened to Kimiko, which I kind of felt had a similar emotional resonance like the time he cried in “Our Father”; Noah & Claire’s chit chat was straight and very “Father & Child” moving, and particularly, it was free of the usual “Love Noah & Hate Noah” from before; Swoosie Kurtz once again was a delight. But performances can only go so far…
Now the criticism. First of all is Bryan Fuller’s involvement. Reading the credits, I was surprised he penned this episode, as I hadn’t heard anything announcing that he wrote something for Season 4 (if there was that kind of announcement besides he leaving, someone post a link please
). With that said, I expected something great. And that’s exactly what I didn’t get. Don’t get me wrong. While I thought this episode was better than most of the forever debacled Season 3, for Fuller, it was way below his usual standards. While most of his smart dialog was here, the excitement of what he can deliver in his episodes was nowhere to be seen here. And also, did he ACTUALLY came up with that ‘47 times’ debacle? Considering he is the man credited for a turning point in quality for the better in the latter half of Season 3, I found it staggering. While the emotional payoff was his usual quality, having Hiro go through that was just as ludicrous as that unnecessary wedding in India. It kind of makes me think that he continued a rough draft from a lesser talented writer(it wouldn’t surprise me if that writer could have been Rob Fresco) and just added his touches. The man has the talent to not come with those ludicrous scenarios, but who knows, MAYBE he was in the mood to come with such an offensive writing prank. But I prefer to stay with the draft theory and live in denial. It’s just that I can’t believe that the man who brought us Season 1’s “Collision”, last season’s exciting “Cold Snap” and the series Holy Grail “Company Man” would come up with that. Also, Tracy’s storyline, REALLY? That was a waste of time. While it had to set the character on a different direction, did her storyline had to be that boring and uneventful? Yikes… At least it had Bruce Boxleitner back and the water effect in both bathroom scenes. And why did they tack on the Carnival? I don’t want another Arthur Petrelli situation. I’m interested in those characters, and considering how good Samuel was last episode, having him reduced to cameo along with Edgar, which hasn’t appeared since the second hour of the premiere, was also quite staggering. I hope something better next week.
The only thing that saved this episode from getting the 1 out of 5 from me was the “Sathan” storyline and the performances. Millie is a character Fuller introduced, so it was great that he was the one writing this storyline, as I thought was the most interesting of all despite not being exciting. I think it may have had with the fact that I felt that “Sathan” was actually Nathan instead of a doppleganger, as I bought the fact that he wanted to clean his mess, something I know Nathan would have done. And Swoosie Kurtz was great in her last scene as she executed the revenge for what happened to Kelly. That was fun and the only exciting moment from the episode in my opinion. In the flip side, I found it sad that this was perhaps the last we see of Pasdar in a big while, until they want to do the inevitable flashback or dream sequence. It also makes me question: Was Adrian Pasdar signed as a regular for this season? Or as recurring? I swear I saw him in the regular slots, and I would found it EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING if he was a regular with an appearance in 2 episodes. Hope I’m wrong. What I want to know is if the Zombie Sylar in the end still thinks he is Nathan but with Sylar’s body. That would make for a really enjoyable view of having the devilishly Sylar in Parkman’s mind and the Nathan induced “real” Sylar at the same time. It could make for some dynamic TV. I just hope it’s not a return to mopey Sylar.
And I think that that’s it for this episode. If this was Bryan Fuller’s writing swan swong, it was a disappointment. I gladly praised his last 3 episodes with 5’s out of 5’s. “Acceptance” was anything but. And with the pain of my heart, I’m giving this one a 2.5 out of 5. And now Otto I understand how you felt with your review of “1961″, and after consequent views of that one, I finally realized the issues you point out. And I think analyzing this episode was the same experience you may have had with that one.
As for this Season, I also think that it really needs some serious sense of direction. It isn’t trapped with short volume time constraints, and it also doesn’t have an apocalyptic future to stop, but for what it has now of character driven brilliance is seriously lacking in plot progression. I think that’s the little problem of having a long volume. After reading Craig’s advance review of “Hysterical Blindness”, I’m hoping that the pacing and story picks up. No more treading water. They should still make great developments with the characters, but the plot needs to pick up or otherwise in the future the show will see the time it lost and start rushing things in the end. No more Season 2 or Volume 3, please. The show is still on a promising path to redemption. Don’t squander it.
As for next week. the “kiss” is finally happening. Otto, with the advance reviews, the promo photo and the trailer, don’t you think that NBC is the one using it as rating gimmick instead of the show using it as a gimmick?They really want us to watch next week. I’m watching for Emma. While I can accept the fact that overnights need to move past the 6 millions once more, do you think that the show could really make it work beyond here? I hope you read what I said of something similar happening in “The O.C.” so I don’t have to repeat it again, but do you think it could spice things up beyond a single kiss? I’m still optimist, but what do you think at this point?
(BTW, Sorry for the extremely long post. Wanted to make up for missing “Ink”)
This was an excellent analysis of the episode, Otto. You picked up on several things that I missed, but what I really, and perversely, appreciated most about the review was the way you reminded me of what I really loved about this show, and still do, sometimes. Unfortunately, your review also highlighted the somewhat precipitous decline of what was a show with simply brilliant potential. I’m a total geek, but I remember first hearing about Heroes and being really stoked about it: a weekly serialized TV show that dealt with superhumans in well written, realistic yet stylized, dramatic way with 21st Century FX. And S1 delivered all that and more. It had serious punch, real suspense, mystery, drama, great acting, wonder and pretty lights. Remember how we all debated who had what power and what was up with Nikki/Jessica and how we anticipated/dreaded the realization of Future Hiro? How Sylar really used to creep us out, rather than gross us out and wear us out? It was just so much fun. “Save the cheerleader!” Sigh.
I’m really one of the die-hards, and have held on for a long time, and I’m not quitting…but I am seriously lowering my expectations. We’ve discussed several times before a number of the issues with plot and character development that you pointed out: the circular plots, the reached-for-but just-missed epiphanies of the characters, the plot holes. And we’re still talking about them in S4. It’s very disappointing.
How COLUD Peter just brush off Nathan’s multiple powers like it was nothing? Has the sheer volume of insanely surreal, marvelous, and deadly in his life completely overwhelmed his sense of curiosity and wonder? WHY did it take Hiro 47 attempts to realize he couldn’t twist time to save Tadashi, especially after the hell he went through trying to save Charlie? If Ando really is marrying Kimiko in this timeline, how could he not tell her about his own powers, at least? How is lying about something as fundamental as your freakishly powerful mutated genetic make-up, not to mention your bride’s family’s, any way to start a marriage? Does Ando still actually have powers, now? Why hasn’t Angela caught even a glimmer of what’s coming for Sylathan, and via her own friend, Millie, with her precognition? Is that slightly tawdry zombie moment REALLY Nathan’s exit? REALLY??? After all the painful twists and turns it took to get him/them to this terribly difficult, uncomfortable point? Midlife crisis for Noah? Okay, but who’s paying his salary? What happened to the new Company? Is he investigating the Carnival sua sponte? Seriously, what the HELL is going on in Tracy’s head? You’d think we had another Ali schizo character. And what ABOUT that Carnival that seems to have such potential? What was up with that lamely stapled-on scene at the end of the episode? (You know, I’d actually kind of forgotten about the Carnival’s supposed importance to the Volume in this episode, until they reminded me with that unsubtle nudge.) Aren’t they supposed to be the Big Ambiguous Bad this volume? Unfortunately, these aren’t really questions that pique my curiosity, any more; they’re just disappointing and annoying.
Despite all this, I generally still enjoy the show. But now I enjoy it as more of series of episodic pieces, like “Medium,” for example. They’ve dropped the ball on too many storylines and plot holes to really be an effective serial anymore.
On a more positive note, I was pleased with Hiro’s behavior this week, even though even I’ve come to expect him to be a total buffoon.
Don’t mean to bitch; maybe it’s the weather, but this episode left me kinda bummed out, and nostalgic for the good ol’ days of S1.
Thanks, again for the very detailed and insightful review.
Angela doesn’t see EVERYTHING with her precognition. She’s been surprised several times on the show.
I understand that, Michael, but “Sylathan’s” “death” is a pretty big deal, and a situation which SHE initiated. Also, if it were just one thing, it wouldn’t be an issue for me, but it’s actually just one more question in a 3-season long series of poorly handled plot issues.
And this is just my opinion, obviously. This very question, among others, may be addressed in the future. Or not. My point was a personal one: that I’m tired of these plot holes, abandoned storylines and halfhearted efforts at internal continuity. Clearly others might disagree.
Could it be that Angela did anticipate Millie’s actions and actually LET her press ahead with it? It’s random speculation, but I can imagine a scenario where Angela dreams about an upcoming development to the Sylathan situation and realizes it’s time to pull the plug. So, basically, she knew Millie wanted to avenge Kelly’s death, and sorta said to herself, “Well, it sucks that I’m losing the closest thing to what’s left of my boy, but Sylar’s re-emerging and the situation needs taking care of, so why not let Millie kill him?”
Maybe?
Tracy - she did know what’d happen. But not how she’d feel when it did. Perhaps she figured that she’d slip effortlessly into her old life and it’d all be rosy. When it wasn’t, the doubt seeped in like the water seeped into the bath.
Not sure how Peter was meant to react with ‘Nathan’. A historionic reaction is out of character for how Peter has reacted, and to be fair to him when his power emerged he had precognitive dreaming, flight, precognition and space-time manipulation before he even knew what he was capable of. And he can’t even be sure it’s the same power. As for the nuclear thing, ‘Nathan’s’ always been more in control of his emotions than Peter. And during S4, ‘Nathan’ interacted with enough supers that - for Peter - he could have dozens of rationalisations for whose abilities he has. Throw in that Peter seems to be regaining Empathy, he’s relating to ‘Nathan’s’ confused state of mind — while at the same time not making him any more scared.
re: The Haitian, it’s Angela. She used the most convenient explanation. Could be Nathan was so drunk he legitimiately had no memory of it, but Angela can’t say that because then ‘Nathan’ would feel even more guilt and screw everything up.
Hiro tried forty-seven times because the scenes aren’t about Tadashi. They’re about Hiro trying to believe he can cheat death, and not come clean to his sister. That’s why he’s trying so hard to save a blithering idiot - it’s about acceptance.
Yeah… disagree on the redemption point.
Hiro saves a life and takes no credit, then accepts death. Claire and Noah talk like human beings. Noah helps Tracy realise she doesn’t have to waste her potential. Angela tries to rationalise herself to ‘Nathan.’
There’s further for them to go, but the episode was about accepting the situation and moving on from it. A key part of redemption is accepting what you did, accepting what you have to do, and then doing it.
Re: Hiro’s time-travelling…
My theory is he leapt into a new timeline. And said theory falls apart on analysis.
So… Sylar’s Latest Road Trip, part four, The Quest for Memory Lane? *sigh* At least his last road trip had a great soundtrack.. and I say that having crossed Nullarbor nearly a dozen times. If you’re going on a long monotonous journey, you need something more than the soft drink and fast food at the roadhouses in the middle of nowhere - and no, counting the roadkill isn’t enough. Although, stopping at the cliff lookout to gaze out over Great Australian Bight is a sight well worth seeing. Relevance of this to your review? Well, we have food and drinks, long journeys, monotony… nice scenery… frustration and boredom… finally spending the time with family members you ought to have long ago…
Did I miss anything?
When this episode airs here, I will be looking forward to seeing Hiro FINALLY have the growth and character development that started in seasons 1&2 - and then seemed to disappear for no adequately explored reason.
Oh, I do miss something: roadkill in the form of season one’s _meaningful_ body count.
I’m as mixed as you are about the episode. I’m having a hard time beleiving Fuller wrote it, but it was obvious that some scenes would have been worst without him.
Tracy indeed didn’t nead that much screen time for a so little evolution, and the carnivale scene could have waited untill next week. Sylathan’s storyline was interesting, but the flashback didn’t seem necessary. Won’t add much to those points.
- Hiro : Not as bad than I thought, probably because Fuller wrote it. The time loop wasn’t necessarly a bad idea, even if it’s only here to proove he can’t cheat death. It just seemed too stupid that Hiro didn’t try the talk first and needed 47 attempts at undoing the butt-photocopying (thank god we didn’t get to see that). While he finally connects with Kimiko, I’m still waiting for him to grow up.
- Noah/Claire : “But I don’t remember actually helping anybody.”. Isn’t that the second sentence showing some awareness of what he has done during this season ? That’s a lot considering he didn’t care for 3 seasons. I’m even gonna calling him Noah. Though I hope this wall of supers isn’t a step back…
Frankly, are you shocked that he totally checks Tracy out ? After all, he did watch Sylar have sex. I tell you. He’s a pervert.
Am i the only one to think that Peter deserve a Dumb-As award for his “wow reaction” when seeing Nathan TKing a cup? I mean :
“- P : Wow! I used to be able to do that. Wait SYLAR could do that too !
- N : Yeah, seems like it’s a new ability every day. Few days ago, I could create lightning with my hands.
- P : Wow, I know a girl who can do that. Wait… I could do that too untill I hugged dad. Can’t beleive I just hugged you either. Wait, isn’t that how SYLAR kicked our asses last time? Crap, I guess he killed her. Too bad, seems like the women I kiss tend to die lately…
[...] - N : “Nah, it’s probably just a coincidence. By the way I can absorb memories of objects I touch too”
- P : Well, I don’t think SYLAR could do that.
- N : Well, he did say something about absorbing my tuxito’s memories.
- P : Nah, probably just another coincidence.”
Okay, I’m wasting my time there it could go on for a long time.
I’m just waiting to see what will happen when Peter realizes Nathan is in fact Sylar, if that’s ever gonna happen.
While Edgar rebellion isn’t a new thing, I’m already wondering if he’ll turn his back on Samuel at some point, considering that he is happy to see strangers join the family, and that he has to kill people for that. Hoping they’re gonna dig his backstory a bit.
With Fuller gone, I unfortunately fear that we won’t get any more of Millie. I guess she’ll probably get away with murder (at least she thinkgs) and keep going on with her life.
Great review, as always, even though there wasn’t as interesting things to say as usual. Keep it up
Did Nathan mention any of Sylar’s powers except the TK and the clairsentience? I’m not sure if Peter knows that Sylar
had clairsentience.
Nah he didn’t, I was just being sarcastic.
I just meant that if Peter or Nathan thought about it just for a minute, one of the two would think it’s fishy that Nathan happens to manifest multiple abilities Sylar had (since he *almost* killed both of them with them).Or that’s just LOTS of coincidences.
Though I beleive Nathan knew about clairsentience (maybe Matt’s brainwash didn’t include the info though).
If ‘Nathan’ shapeshifts, and Peter doesn’t note it’s fishy… I call shenanigans
Peter: “Wow. So, you can TK objects, fire Ellectrobolts and shapeshift just like Sylar. That’s one heck of a coincidence!”
I’m going to have to Turbo-Dumb-As-Award this, aren’t I?
Otto, probably, but it should go to the writers, not Peter.
Great review, as always.
My one comment, and this has been bothering me for a while, how come nobody refers to “the Haitian” by name? Have they seriously been working with this guy for 20 years and still not know his name but refer to his ethnicity? I’m always a little offended for the guy. It’s one thing if the Haitian didn’t tell anyone his real name, but you would think they would give him a nickname or something. Even in season one, when Matt is captured, he refers to him as “some Haitian.” Ok, how did he know he was a Haitian? I feel like I am missing something here. After four seasons, I really think the Haitian deserves a first name.
Baron Samedi:Others believe that names grant great strength.
Nathan: Is that why you call yourself Baron Samedi? So people will worship you like a god?
Baron Samed: Is that why you took the title “Senator”?
(The Eclipse, Part 2)
It’s also a superhero thing. And The Haitian likely prefers having a sense of anoymity. If they don’t know his name, then he can disappear at a moments notice.
They’ve revealed his name in interviews and we’ll get it on-screen later this season.
*Sigh*
Like I said, their utter and complete unwillingness to let go of the core villain of the first season (and an annoying peripheral villain in the other three volumes) will prove to be the death of the show. It appears I’m right. I seriously hoped against hope that he would never emerge from Sylathan. Now I really have lost all hope and will only watch out of loyalty.
I really thought that there was some chatter about limited screen time for ZQ due to Star Trek and such, but I guess it was just talk.
I could take Sylar in Matt’s head. I don’t know if I can take this.
Alex, valid point, Arthur could have been the one to wipe Nathan’s memories, but in that scene with Nathan at the bar, Angela specifically mentions (1) that she had the Haitian wipe Nathan’s memories, and (2) that she did it because she didn’t want the incident to ruin Nathan’s life. It could be that there’s more to it than Angela’s saying, but in this instance I think the simplest explanation — the one that Angela provides — is the actual one.
Sergio, glad you liked the episode. Good point about the majority of the show’s villains never getting the depth they deserve. I think the show’s made a solid start to establishing that Samuel isn’t the typical mwa-ha-ha bad guy, but I agree, they’re going to need to dig into the carnival’s backstory fast if they want to avoid the villain-without-a-clear-motive syndrome.
Raissa, thank you.
I hope we see more of Millie too. I think she must have undergone some extensive Haitian Whammies over the years, because she’s way too shrewd and observant to have been in the dark about Kelly all this time, and she clearly had the connections and resources she needed to get to the truth before now. There’s plenty the show could do with the character. Hopefully someone besides Fuller can get her back and write good material for her.
Michael, good point about Peter assuming Nathan absorbed his entire batch of abilities from Sylar. But by that logic, surely Peter would still be wondering why he didn’t absorb the entire batch when he met Sylar back in Season One? Shouldn’t Peter be wondering why he only got TK and why Nathan seems to have absorbed TK plus everything else? Does Peter just figure they both absorbed everything from Sylar, and it’s just a case of Nathan accessing all of those abilities faster than Peter did back in the day?
I like the theory about the belated Haitian Whammy several years later. It would explain the whole situation and avoid the retcon.
E., I liked “That’s a very nice arm” too.
“For the first time, I found myself forgetting [Sylathan's] presence in this episode, and began to slip back into Nathan times.”
Me too. I think that was the idea for everyone — characters and audience. It’s cool, but also kinda sad, because it’s evidence that if he looks like the guy, has the guy’s memories and throws in a little remorse, suddenly everyone forgets he’s a sadistic sociopath beneath the surface. I think it goes back to that whole “Can he be Nathan without Nathan’s soul?” issue. Hopefully that whole question hasn’t been forgotten since last season’s finale. It was one aspect of the whole Sylathan twist that I liked.
Caleb, welcome, and thanks so much for reading.
If Arthur had been the one to wipe Nathan’s memories, I think it would have worked really nicely. We know he didn’t have any qualms about wiping his family’s memories and controlling their thoughts, so it would be consistent. I wonder if TPTBs went with the Haitian just to keep him relevant to the story, or if they felt that mentioning Arthur would be too obscure a reference.
I’m glad someone’s enjoying the Troah.
I’m also reassured to hear you say it’s “becoming a real thing.” So it’s NOT just my imagination? 
B., word to your whole post. I’m with you on the Hiro frustration, although I like Ian’s point about Hiro’s persistent attempts to alter history expressing something about his denial. I’m still upbeat about where Hiro’s character arc is going, but I agree, it was kinda dumb.
Kimiko: aw, I like her when she’s cheerful! She’s less entertaining than when she’s snapping at Hiro and Ando, but it’s nice to see her happy.
I saw the scene when Millie found out about Kelly’s death a little differently. My impression was that she was trying to look calm, but that she was bottling up how upset she was.
CJM, thank you, and good point about HRG’s history with members of the carnival. I couldn’t decide if Samuel’s line about HRG — “he’s retired — he’s no longer interested in us” — was a reference to the compass in 4.02 or to something much earlier. You’re right, it could be a reference to HRG either capturing or investigating members of the carnival.
Valid point about the cultural aspect of Tadashi wanting to take his own life. I’d still say it was resolved too simplistically; to me, it seemed as if anyone could have said what Hiro said to make Tadashi go from despair to optimism. Perhaps that was the whole idea, but it seemed to me to ignore the fundamental issue — Tadashi needed serious help.
Susan,
“Oh, Otto. Where to begin?”
That says it all.
With the Peter/Nathan scene, I’m wondering whether it could have been removed altogether without affecting the episode. I guess there needed to be some kind of a bridge between Nathan getting the memory flashes and visiting Millie, but unless there’s a development to Peter learning that Nathan’s (apparently) an empath, did anything come of it?
I wonder how the episode would have changed if Tadashi’s part of the story had been written as ~*serious*~; if the butt-copy jokes had been taken out, and if Tadashi had been suicidal after losing his job because of (for instance) poor performance. Would the tone of the whole episode have changed for the better or for the worse? Perhaps that’s the question TPTBs ask everytime they write bad comedy for Hiro — would the episode be too somber without it? In this instance, I think making Tadashi an office drone who’s fired simply because he’s unhappy in his job would have drawn a much closer parallel to Hiro’s office-drone days. But, yeah, it would have removed the light-hearted element from the episode, and perhaps someone in the writer’s room thought that would make the episode too depressing.
Alfredo, thank you, and please don’t apologize for the long (and excellent) post!
With Fuller, I’d have to search for specific links, but I think the impression we’ve been given is that he helped to brainstorm the overall plot for the season, pushed for specific story developments and scripted certain parts of the earlier episodes.
Pasdar is credited as a regular, but I’m not sure how much that counts for. Last season, Dania Ramirez was too. BUT… [MILD SPOILER] it seems that the actor’s still filming scenes, so who knows where the story’s going.
“And now Otto I understand how you felt with your review of “1961″, and after consequent views of that one, I finally realized the issues you point out. And I think analyzing this episode was the same experience you may have had with that one.”
Less so here because the expectations (well, mine, at least) weren’t so high. That said, I’m anxious about 4.08, because that’s the kind of episode I desperately want them NOT to screw up. I really hope that one turns out well.
With the Claire/Gretchen kiss, your guess is as good as mine. It seems as if certain actors wanted to promote it, and like you say, NBC wants to promote it (perhaps understandably). I’m not sure how heavily the show’s writers are promoting it; creatively, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal to them. I’m reserving judgment until we see how it turns out in the episode, though.
Re: the ratings:
“… Do you think that the show could really make it work beyond here?”
I think it depends on the definition of “work.” It could be a terrific season, and the ratings could still continue to freefall. It could be a season that restores the faith of everyone still watching the show, and it might not make any difference because no matter how heavily NBC plugs it, I’m not sure two girls locking lips is going to bring back the viewers who tuned out for various reasons. So, creatively, I’d say the show can easily “spice things up,” as you put it. I’d say the signs so far point to them achieving that, but whether that will save them from a drastically reduced budget or a reduction in the cast count is anyone’s guess.
kevin, thank you, and great post. Your first paragraph made me sad.
Re: Peter discovering Sylathan’s abilities: I know what you mean, but was it a lack of curiosity and wonder that made it flat? I saw those things in his reaction, but to me, it seemed like it was a lack of surprise or a lack of shock that made it puzzling. I agree with Ian that Peter didn’t need to start shrieking or demand to know how it was possible, but a shade of confusion and a hint of suspicion might have made his reaction more plausible.
Ando’s ability: good point. I’m guessing he still has it in spite of the altered timeline, but you’re right, Kimiko should find out if she doesn’t know already. Further evidence of the Bennet Secrets & Lies transferring themselves to other story threads?
Ian, re: Tracy: yeah, OK, she went into the situation knowing what to expect and was just surprised by how much it affected her when it actually happened. But that look of dismay when Malden was all, “You want to make a difference? Pfft! Let’s go upstairs…”? That look of dismay suggests to me that she didn’t even see Malden’s reaction coming. That’s my issue. The impression I got is that she really thought Malden would immediately take her seriously and that he wouldn’t assume that, on top of getting her job back, she was happy to resume their previous relationship. If she didn’t want their relationship to be like that anymore, she needed to make it clear from the outset. Tracy’s been written as such a clued-in character, and this struck me as so incredibly *out-of-character* for her. Do you remember the scene last season when Tracy twisted Arthur into bringing her into the Pinehearst fold? You can’t tell me that THAT character — the wily one who could convince anyone to do anything — is the same as this character. I get that meeting Micah changed her, but on the basis of this, it seems to have absolutely transformed her.
Re: Nathan’s empathic mimicry:
“And during S4, ‘Nathan’ interacted with enough supers that - for Peter - he could have dozens of rationalisations for whose abilities he has.”
Sure, but by that logic, if Peter assumes that “Nathan” absorbed his various abilities over the course of the past season or so, it suggests that, in turn, Peter assumes “Nathan” has been an empath since well before his actions throughout “Fugitives.” Would Peter really believe that Nathan — the ruthless jerk who put all of the events in Volume Four into motion — was the empathic type? I can’t buy into that. Not even Peter’s that dumb. You need compassion and love and empathy to be an empath, and from Peter’s perspective, Nathan’s been anything BUT those things over the course of the previous volume. If anything, Peter should have assumed that Nathan’s a merciless power-sucker like their father.
“Hiro tried forty-seven times because the scenes aren’t about Tadashi. They’re about Hiro trying to believe he can cheat death, and not come clean to his sister. That’s why he’s trying so hard to save a blithering idiot - it’s about acceptance.”
Sure, but does that make it any less absurd? Can you waive 47 variations on pulling the power cord from a copy machine and say it’s simply a case of denial? Does denial equate to pathological idiocy? I agree with your interpretation of the story, but perhaps we agree that the butt-copy humor was overplayed more than it needed to be?
I just thought that Nathan suddently demonstrating Sylar’s abilites (TK, Ellectrobolts, Clairesitience) would be too obvious “coincidences”, considering Nathan never showed any sign of empatic mimicry or any other ability-sponging. Of course I guess that if Nathan actually said Ellectrobolts instead of saying “various abilities”, maybe Peter would have reacted.
Frankly, I don’t think the butt-humour was overplayed. It was just mentionned twice or three times if I remember correctly. But I just think, too, that a more serious reason, or even different reasons each time (2 or 3, not 47), for comitting suicide would have been a deeper story. Hiro has been the show’s clown since the beggining of S3, and I’m getting tired of it, even if the burlesque wasn’t that present this week.
Yes to some backstory for Samuel. About “Why Bennet, he’s not interested in us anymore”, I’m thinking it’s deeper than just the compass. It would be just nice if the Company and the Carnivale crossed roads before, giving them a common background. Since Joseph probably died recently, I’d be inclined to think that they managed to stay away from the Company, but not from the government. Since they’re obviously gonna bring Joseph (flashback or whatever) at some point, I guess we’ll get some answers sometime.
That, and he called him “Bennet”. That’s not Noah (I think only Angela, Sandra and Peter ever called him that way) but I would expect Samuel to call him “The Guy with the Horn Rimmed Glasses”. That’s like “The Haitian”. That’s how they’re known as in the entire world. POINT.
Oops for double posting (no edit function :().
As for ratings, I hardly think Heroes will survive another season, but seeing how lousily NBC is doing, a renewal wouldn’t shock me.
I think the quality of the season so far is pretty good. The 3 first episodes weren’t stellar, but great enough to come close by season 1. “Acceptance” wasn’t bad, but wasn’t good either for me.
That said, some people are giving up because “there’s not enough action”, or “nothing happens”. I don’t know about the reviews in general, but I only read one, and I wonder if the guy who wrote it even watches the show, or if he watched it before as a matter of fact. He just wrote like 5 pages bashing the show and insulting the writers constantly.
My point is that people are biased when they look at Heroes : It’s a serialized series but comes out of a mostly crappy year; Those who try to take an episode individually can’t really, because the evolution of the characters (and the references sometimes) is what is the most interesting, at least to me, etc…
Add to that that some people think they’ll see a X-Men or Transformers-like explosion/action series (I couldn’t watch more than 30 minutes of Transformers but you get the point), and people that left and won’t come back since they only read negative things about Heroes, and we can easily see that Heroes chances for its ratings to up are extremely low.
Untill next week if noone posts after me
“Frankly, I don’t think the butt-humour was overplayed. It was just mentionned twice or three times if I remember correctly.”
Perhaps not overplayed in terms of how frequently it was mentioned, although even Ando at one point refers to “the guy with the famous butt.” But it was overplayed in the sense that it was an over-the-top concept that became a staple part of the plot. When Hiro mentions the “47 times” Tadashi came up with the same prank, I think most of us were inclined to say, “What?! Is this for real?! Has Hiro really been reduced to this? Saving a guy from copying his butt?” There’s such a subtle idea at the core of this story, but when it’s couched in idiocy the way it is here, I think it’s hard for either the subtlety or the idea to shine through.
Yep, that’s about it. That’s why I think a more serious plot would have been benefic for Hiro, and for the way people see Hiro (read in that : the show clown). Changing the motive for suicide each time (once or twice, not 47) would have been good enough to show Hiro can’t cheat death simply by time travelling, or at least not easily. While watching the different part of Hiro’s storyline this week, I just had “The Butterfly Effect” (the movie, not the episode) in mind. That and realizing he can just talk him out of suicide the 48th time just makes the whole thing laughable.
It just made me thing of how it could have been better than just butt-coyping humour.
Oh, one more thing…
SENATOR PETRELLI STILL MISSING
May Be Latest Victim Of Serial Killer
Think they’ll address the media reaction to a politician’s disappearance?
RE: The Ratings - from what I’ve read even though Heroes is losing or has lost most of the live audience, it makes up for it in DVR, paid downloads, online viewing (Hulu, NBC, etc.) and overseas popularity. You could probably add the Heroes exclusive NBC website content (comic, iStory, etc.) to that list too. What it seems to come down to is that Heroes may be the most expensive show NBC produces, but it’s also NBC’s most popular … well worldwide, if not domestically. The ratings system needs to change.
As far as I know, the show also makes a healthy global profit from DVD sales.
A big part of the appeal about the DVDs, however, was the commentaries, and that seems to be one selling point the show has done away with.
“Heroes may be the most expensive show NBC produces, but it’s also NBC’s most popular…”
Yes, although in the context of NBC’s current woes, perhaps that’s not saying much. At the moment, it’s not about NBC’s shows being popular so much as them not being disastrous. Given the rate at which the network’s flagship show is losing viewers, it’s only a matter of time before the show ceases to be profitable. I agree, they’ll hold onto the show for lack of anything to replace it with, but that’s not to say they won’t strip the show of its budget and thin the cast even further in order to keep its production viable. Which is part of a vicious cycle, because the result is episodes like this week’s, which a lot of viewers will be put off by because they’re disappointed by the slower pace.
Oh, yeah, I forgot about the DVD sales.
A few weeks ago Adrian posted this on his YouTube account: “I have not seen the show yet, been working…. But we really seem to be on the forefront of a ratings change. Our ratings go up 35% once the alternate (?) methods of viewing are accounted for. So it takes at least a week to factor that in. Nielson is an old outdated system that misleads, and confuses the truth by measuring real viewership with an antiquated scale. So frustrating…!”
I agree, they’ll hold onto the show for lack of anything to replace it with
Uh oh, did you see that NBC won the new JJ Abrams show?
Totally agree about Tracy and Hiro not meeing his past self.
Also, are we now meant to believe Arthur had a brother “Tim”? Works for me, ’cause I felt Petrellis come in male groups of twos - goes with the themes of the show, Angela had a younger sister, Arthur a younger brother, perhaps?
But it’s evidence of the show tinkering with its canon to suit the requirements of the current story, and although it’s only a minor detail, it gives a sloppy impression to fans who are paying attention.
What KILLS me about this one is we have two other characters they could have used and not messed with Canon. For one Arthur… which would make us believe as of the mid 80’s Arthur didn’t have that particular power yet. Two: Maury - we don’t know when he swayed from the Company, he could have been used. I opt for the Arthur one because “we” cleaned it up, seems more in canon with the past of Angela’s life, than “I” did. I guess Arthur was out of town.
As is generally the case, Angela’s perspective contains a grain of deranged logic; there’s an opportunistic angle, because Angela’s first priority was probably to avoid a scandal that might hurt Nathan’s rise to political power. But behind the extreme solution, there also seems to be a very understandable wish to spare her son a lifetime of trauma.
Funny, I didn’t see it that way, but I totally could see it. I actually assumed when she talked about doing it for her son’s sake, it would have ruined him, not the trauma, but the fact that it didn’t look like an accident and he had a bright future to think of - very Kennedy.
… is one of a parent desperately searching for forgiveness from her child, as opposed to a co-conspirator trying to silence a protest from the monster she created. When Angela tells Sylathan not to let this incident destroy him, we get the impression that she’s genuinely concerned for him. And in spite of everything about Sylathan that terrifies Angela, this is an indication that she’s losing her ability to distinguish Sylathan from Nathan.
and brings home the fact that Angela says she did this, made Sylar Nathan to save her own kind, but I really think this is the instance of her most selfish act - she might have gone mad it he had died and as much as she knows it’s not Nathan, she’s fooling herself into thinking it is for her own sanity.
Millie tricks Angela and delivers the same steely-eyed panache that Cristine Rose has defined as her own over the years. In effect, Millie out-Angela’s Angela.
LOL. Really makes you think that as much as Angela was living a double life with her friends and the outside world and even to her family - she managered to find a friend who is a bossom buddy of sorts. lol.
Great review. The dialogue was so good, but the treads we’ren’t. Do we know if this was re-written after he left, or Fuller was just stuck with what the story was?
I agree with a lot of stuff in the review but disagree on the Tracy part of it. I think you missed the point completely. If you remember Tracy’s first appearance she DID have Malden’s confidence in her decisions, after all she clearly stated he paid her to make decisions, but the sex with him was for free. Tracy was one of these over-confident alpha women when she was with Malden, so when she came back trying to get her job back, she looked absolutely confident, and didn’t resent the looks from men. The problem was that, when Malden proved to be far more interested in getting her to bed than hearing what she had to say, she basically realized that he never really cared about her decisions, and her only real card to play since the beginning had been sex. She basically realized she was not the super genius counselor she thought she was, she was just “the girl who uses sex to manipulate others and uses it because it’s the only way she’ll get others to listen to her”. So I think her reaction was pretty justified and not at all out of character.
I completely agree with this statement.
Tracy actually said this line in episode 3×02: ‘You dont pay me for the sex, i give that for free. You pay me for my advice…’
So she was actually a lobbyist/advisor or whatever, but slept with Malden for fun (?!), and because it helped her get ahead.
She was just, understandably, disappointed to learn that Malden, in his own way, actually technically did pay her for the sex. By which i mean, he chose her for the job because of the sex…he could have gotten someone smarter and better.
I, for one, hope we see some of Tracy’s life before Malden and politics.
LostAtSea
I have a question. Does anyone know if Fuller wrote anymore episodes of Heroes beyond this one for the season? I don’t know when exactly in the season he signed off on.
Hi Otto,
I’ve been reading your reviews on the episodes week-by-week this season, and I have to say, you analyse things in great detail. I also get the impression you’re not a big fan of Hiro… lol
There are so many plotholes in this show it’s getting ridiculous…
Someone still needs to explain to me where Caitlin is… because last I checked, she’s stuck in a future which doesn’t exist anymore and Peter is showing no remorse… he’s just simply moved on with his life.
In addition, which episode was it that Hiro regained his time travelling powers? I remember baby Parkman touching Hiro, “turning on his powers”, but if I remember correctly, it only turned on his time freezing ability. I assumed when he travelled back in time to the Carnival that was by mistake, with his powers more or less taking control. But then he managed to successfully time travel 47x after that to stop the butt-photocopying…
Can someone shed some light on that?
Dear Otto,
Another great review with insightful analysis over various plot points that I missed (as usual). However, I was really riveted by the amount of character drama and character development in this episode and I found it thoroughly enjoyable and as compelling as some of the best episodes the series has had.
As for your closing point on Millie out-Angela-ing Angela, I’ll have to disagree on that. When Angela returned Millie’s toast with her poker face smile and said “To Closure…”, my first thought was “Holy… She planned this right from the start! She wanted to tie this loose end by manipulating someone else to clean up her own mess! This is so freakin awesome!” Given her ability of precognition, it really isn’t much of a stretch to assume that she knew that the cap would trigger Bridgette’s ability (Which Angela was aware of) and lead to the events that would cause the hit on Sylathan.
But by that logic, surely Peter would still be wondering why he didn’t absorb the entire batch when he met Sylar back in Season One? Shouldn’t Peter be wondering why he only got TK and why Nathan seems to have absorbed TK plus everything else? Does Peter just figure they both absorbed everything from Sylar, and it’s just a case of Nathan accessing all of those abilities faster than Peter did back in the day?
Who’s to say that Peter didn’t absorb all of Sylar’s accumulated powers? Peter, back at that time, seemed to have to be aware of a power on some level to trigger it - his conscious use of powers appeared to have some requirement of knowledge of the powers he was attempting to use (as well as an emotional connection of sorts, as demonstrated by his early training in their use). Thusly, while he might well have picked up all of Sylar’s powers during their various encounters… he didn’t know about most of them, and most strongly associates Sylar with telekinesis.
Peter was, at the time, an example of a character with a power whose full applications were never employed - Peter never saw, nor did he attempt to explore, the full range of powers he could potentially tap into (making him a counterpoint to Sylar, whose true power is his ability to understand how things function and whose control over his accumulated powers was absolute until his identity crisis, which was more a matter of degrading sanity than anything else). His current version of that power (note that he’s still being referred to as an Empath) is different in this regard - with only one power at a time, and a (normally) deliberate means of selecting that power, he’s found a need to examine his abilities in more detail to get the most out of a much more limited talent.
“Peter should also be wondering how he and his brother will prevent another exploding-man scenario when Nathan absorbs too many abilities.”
Maybe I’m just dense, or maybe it’s a testament to the oft-murkiness of the show’s writing, but I thought Peter exploded because he couldn’t control RadioacTed’s radiation power, not because he had absorbed too many powers. Or perhaps the volume of his powers led to his inability to control the radiation power specifically?
Yeesh, there’s stuff from season one that’s still unclear…
Great review, as always!