Samuel visits Emma and demonstrates how she can draw people to her with her music. Using this ability, Samuel recruits a super with the ability to revitalize plant life.Welcome back, folks! On behalf of HeroSite, I’d like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.
It may not be such a happy New Year for Heroes, because apparently half of its fanbase didn’t know the show was back on Monday. Good marketing job, NBC. It’s not like the whole episode was terrible. It captures everything that’s great about the show and only very briefly disrupts its greatness with something that sucks. It comes with some terrific performances, several awe-inspiring effects, a few extremely cool details and an appropriately moving final scene. There’s the occasional flaw, and, obviously, one story thread that nearly drags everything else down. But for the most part it’s an entertaining and engaging start to the final leg of the season.
Engaging. Everyone got that, right? As in, “Warp speed, eng-”
Oh, never mind. We’ll get there.
V.O. Mohinder returns! He wants us to know that memories make us human and give our life meaning. I can’t decide if this was meant to be funny after a season in which Mohinder’s been given little to nothing in the way of memories to draw on. But his voice-over at the start of this episode might just be his most involved part in the show all season, and intriguingly (or perhaps glaringly), it suggests that V.O. Mohinder’s perspective has changed since the previous season’s finale, when he posited that an individual’s soul and spirit transcend memories and physiology. It’s V.O. Mohinder, so perhaps it goes without saying that we’re not intended to consider the meaning behind the words at all. But if we are, V.O. Mohinder appears to have changed his mind and decided that, yes, the memories really do make the man. Which amounts to a much more secular perspective, but it’s a posthumous validation for poor Sylathan.
My God. Did I really just rattle out an entire paragraph about a voice-over? Let’s move on. Quickly.
Claire spends her weekend at the carnival picking up trash. That’s what a $40,000 education will get you, kids. That, and hair that photogenically billows in the wind in slow motion. And about 10 layers of eye shadow, eyeliner and mascara to convey just how daaaaaaark and corrupt a weekend at the carnival will make you. The opening scene is effective in a more understated way, however, because it conveys how unnerving the carnival can be when you take out the music, the bustling activity and, above all, the people.
Lydia hands Samuel’s pancakes to Claire, sends her to his trailer…
… and gets the Look of Crafty Scheming. It’s a fleeting moment, but it signals the way Lydia’s coerced-victim-who-fears-for-her-daughter’s-safety stance at the end of “The Fifth Stage” has morphed into a get-someone-else-to-confront-Samuel-so-I-don’t-have-to stance. It’s not so much underhanded as it is admirably sneaky, but you’re left wondering whether Lydia knows what’s in the files Samuel stole from Noah, what Samuel’s planning and who he’s planning to recruit. Mostly, it seems like she just wanted to meddle.
The Primatech box felt like a plot device from the moment it was introduced, but it’s only now that it starts to feel like a contrived and arbitrary plot device. It’s essential to the story because it triggers Claire’s suspicion, but it didn’t have to. Samuel didn’t have to conceal the box and evade Claire’s observation. He could have claimed that he got it from Primatech years earlier. Or that he was using the files to help the people whose lives The Company ruined with incarceration and invasive testing. Or, as a last-ditch resort, he could have insisted that the box contained actual paper.
The function of the box aside, the shout-out to Primatech did make me wonder whether the paper company in Texas might still be running, and what must have happened to the Company’s secret rooms and hidden vaults after the New York facility burned down. Not a plot hole by any means, but certainly an unresolved storyline which suddenly presents itself.
Samuel: “As you may have guessed, your father and I have more shared history than you know.”
Intriguing, not least after Noah claimed that the carnival was “a nest [The Company] never came across,” and after Samuel came face to face with Noah and appeared to only know him by “reputation.” It’s possible Noah encountered Samuel without ever knowing about the carnival, and if that’s true, this is a hopeful sign that there’s a backstory between Noah and Samuel waiting to be explored.
Samuel gushes about the homeland that’s about to come to fruition, Claire bows out of seeing it on account of college, and Samuel retorts with a winning “OK, your loss.” I can’t help wondering whether this is another subtly played dig at the current state of higher education, but Claire comes storming back with a Sartre quote, which she probably got from a site like this rather than from any actual reading, but I guess it speaks to the enormous benefits Claire reaped from that one time we saw her studying.
Samuel: “I always thought freedom was just another word for ‘nothing left to lose.’”
Oh, Samuel. Oh, Heroes writers. Very well played. I think a Janis Joplin lyric will be lost on someone whose musical tastes yielded this, but that’s surely part of the humor, and it makes Samuel even more endearing when you start to think about the music this charming megalomaniac grew up listening to.
More than anything else, though, it’s Knepper that makes the character endearing; it’s the actor’s ability to take a scene between Samuel and any character — Claire, Lydia, Emma, Ian or Sylar — and to convey why any of them would instantly trust Samuel in spite of what he’s done. You could argue that Claire’s just playing along to disguise her suspicion, but the dynamic between Samuel and Claire — and Samuel and every other character — remains so effortless that you can believe they’d forgive Samuel for anything. The actor brings a charm and civility that belies Samuel’s villainy.
The carnival had a stint in Costa Verde? Nice detail. Ruth Ammon deserves about the billionth bouquet she’s earned this season for some amazing attention to detail on her sets.
We cut to Tokyo, and… Wait, what’s that? What’s… What’s Damien from the carnival doing at my door? Wh- Help! HELP! He’s… He’s putting the Damien Whammy on me! He’s removing my ability to review Hiro’s scenes with any intelligible thought!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!
My fellow humanoids! That detestable villain has robbed me of my universal communicator! Tricorder analysis has malfunctioned! Communication is limited! My fellow humanoids — are you receiving me? Red alert! Brace for impact! Thermal overload is imminent! Abandon ship! All hands, ABANDON SHIP!
Visual contact has been established! This holodeck program is most impressive. The pixels and subroutines have outdone themselves. The programmer is to be commended with shore leave in Risa.
The Jester has appeared. Repeat — the Jester has appeared! His vocal algorithms appear to be malfunctioning as well! He seeks his first officer, but all he finds is Quark. Quark offers him “miso, soy or salt.” I believe this to be a derogatory invective disguised as a reference to his culinary selection, but such analysis is currently beyond my parameters.
An offender of the society’s customs attempts to relieve a fellow bystander of her monetary tender. My fellow humanoids — this distress call is highly improbable. Statistical probability states that while Mos Eisley is a location replete with such morally disreputable citizens, Coruscant is not, and no offender would seek to obtain property when the planet’s sun is high and the environment is densely populated.
Social analysis yields many questions: the offender’s attempt to procure the woman’s accessory lasts for an inordinate amount of time, yet the members of the densely crowded alley do not attempt to intervene, and Quark returns to preparing his culinary selection.
The Jester uses physical violence to sever the bond between the offender and the accessory! This is impressive, however I must question the likelihood of a successful saucer separation while traveling at sublight speed. The Falcon’s hyperdrive is leaking.
The Jester brandishes a device capable of dissecting humanoid limbs. He issues words of reassurance, however the situation is dire. It’s analogous to arming Jar Jar Binks with a blaster in the center of Tatooine and expecting to find survivors in the aftermath of a skirmish with a demented stormtrooper. Reinforcements are required! Authorized personnel attempt to remove the article from the Jester’s hand. I seek an alternative transmission! Emergency exit! Repeat — emergency exit!
Sorry about that, folks. I think the review got a little garbled. Where were we?
Gorgeously shot, and one of the most visually stunning moments of either episode this week. You can’t tell where the real location shooting ends and the CG landscape starts. It’s seamless.
The camera pulls behind the boulder, the color drains from the screen, and suddenly we’re blessed with… Emerson, Lake & Palmer? Oh, show. I expect more of this every week from now on. You can shoehorn all the Petrelli-hoax plot twists you want into Sylar’s backstory, but this says something about character. This says something about the angry teenager who grew up wanting to bring a community of superpowered social misfits together.
Not that that’s what this scene was supposed to focus on. It helps, but the biggest help is of course outstanding casting.
With the exception of Alexa Nikolas, and possibly Ravi Kapoor and Edwin Hodge, I don’t think the show has ever cast better equivalents of its characters. It’s a shame the scene is so brief, but within moments the actors capture what drives the characters and leads them into their present circumstances. Julian de la Celle brings a bright sensitivity and aspiration to the younger Samuel, and at the same time a certain disturbed, vaguely unstable undertone, the kind that makes you wonder if Young Samuel might suddenly pick up a rock and start bashing someone’s skull in. You can believe he’s both the outcast kid who writes weird poetry and the competitive little brother who wants to prove himself to the world. The way Doug Haley plays Joseph, you can see traces of a younger Andrew Connolly: the stern, authoritative voice, the no-nonsense practicality. You can believe that Samuel would be scared enough to obey him, but also resentful enough to want to upstage him. If this is the first time the actors have feigned an Irish accent, I can’t even tell. The genius is in the attitude and the dynamic between the characters.
The flashback raises half a dozen questions that are still begging to be answered: who was running the carnival at this point in the mid-seventies? Was Papa Sullivan ever part of the carnival, or was Joseph singlehandedly looking after Samuel as soon as they left Coyote Sands? Was the carnival always a haven for people with abilities, or did that develop over time? How and where did Samuel meet Vanessa, and does he know if she has an ability?
One detail sticks out, however, and it’s the one that has yet to make the transition from online media to on-screen canon. The fact that Joseph’s ability still hasn’t been clearly established is disappointing because Young Joseph says right here that he has “a show to do,” and the implication is that his ability plays at least some part in that. What’s much less apparent is whether Samuel knows what his brother’s ability is, whether Joseph already knows that it’s his responsibility to undermine his brother’s ability, and whether the reason Samuel is unable to move the boulder is because of Joseph’s proximity.
Young Joseph makes an oblique reference to Vanessa. It introduces the character without feeling too heavy-handed, and what’s remarkable about this reference is what it contri-
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!
My fellow humanoids, my analysis has led me to follow the Jester to Cloud City. The homing beacon has been successful, but previous details dictate that the homing beacon’s existence is highly improbable: the yellow-shirts use the beacon to lead the Jester to his point of origin, yet we’ve seen the Jester visit sickbay and beam to Planet Rodeo, at which point he was reunited with the gleeful Princess Peach. In both instances the Jester’s sartorial arrangements changed, meaning he couldn’t possibly still be carrying his beacon. No ship that small has a cloaking device.
Red alert! Thermal overload! Warp core breach is imminent!
Thankfully, the beacon allows the Jester’s sidekick to establish direct contact with him. The consequences of the beacon’s absence are articulated:
Error! Does not compute! Catastrophic syntactical failure!
We are displeased! The Galactic Empire should NOT allow such incompetence to go unpunished! Apologies will NOT be accepted, Captain Needa! Visual contact terminated!
Whoa, sorry folks. Not sure what happened there. I think there’s some kind of glitch in the review. I’m back now, though.
Emma gets a stack of mail at the hospital, rifles through it for mail addressed to her and gets a rejection letter from Mercy Heights College of Medicine. What’s curious about this scene is the implications it has on Emma’s decision to help Samuel. It’s a brief scene, and the show’s editors could have taken it out and gone straight to Samuel showing up at Emma’s apartment without the episode changing all that much. The brilliance is in the subtlety, because it’s another instance of Samuel finding someone when they’re at their most vulnerable and manipulating their despair: when Claire is reeling from Gretchen’s departure, when Doyle’s wondering if he can keep up the normality shtick, and when Tracy’s beginning to question whether anyone with an ability can get by in a world that doesn’t understand them.
Which isn’t to say that Emma wouldn’t have agreed to help Samuel anyway, because she probably would. But the way the story unfolds, with Emma finally deciding to come out of her shell and getting shot down, we’re left with the impression that Emma’s delight over helping Samuel and finding Ian is even greater after she started to wonder if she’d ever be able to help anyone.
Samuel using sign language was a neat touch. You could dismiss it as a convenient plot device, but given the carnival’s extensive travel and the languages Samuel has picked up along the way, it stands to reason that Samuel would have picked up the skill at one point or another.
The other part of this scene that very much impressed me was the way Sam–
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!
Fellow humanoids, I have established visual contact with Teresa Cascajo!
Temperature of the dilithium crystals has decreased to acceptable levels. Teresa knows of the Jester’s ailment and intends to bring him to Doctor McCoy. My positronic net is appeased by this because our last visual contact with Teresa established that she knew of both the Jester’s magic tricks and his impending ailment. I fully expect this part of the galaxy to now be explored. We will boldly go where no man has gone before.
Sancho: “Wait.”
Teresa: “‘Wait?’ My brother needs a doctor. He’s all the family I have left. Please, let me help him.”
Warp factor 9.5! All systems are operating within normal parameters! R2D2 has fixed the hyperdrive!
The Jester: “We must prepare for our quest in the danger room.”
Captain, we’ve dropped out of warp. Impulse power only.
Sancho: “The Danger Room is also where [the Jester] keeps his comic books. I think he wants us to use them to figure this out.”
System overload! Entire star systems have been assimilated! Resist! Teresa — the rebellion needs you! Your grief over the tragedy of Anakin’s demise should not be ignored! Reach out with your mind and trust your feelings!
I don’t know what’s going on here, folks. Nothing I try to say about Hiro’s scenes comes out the way I want it to. I can’t explain it. It’s as if something’s gone horribly, horribly wrong.
Anyway, Emma invites Samuel into her apartment, and what’s immediately apparent…
… is the way Samuel exudes the same beguiling charm he’d previously used to win over Tracy and Claire. The way the scene is blocked out, we’re always aware of the distance Emma keeps between herself and Samuel, but at the same time we see her suspicion dissolving and her trust growing. Part of that’s down to Samuel’s winning charisma, although his familiarity with Emma’s ability is as puzzling as it is reassuring. Emma seems content to believe that Samuel knows what he’s talking about when he urges Emma to let go of her fear and embrace her true ability, but does he know this based on Lydia’s latest tattoo, or has he known someone with the same ability? Again, one of the details in Samuel’s backstory that’s waiting to be explored.
The file on Ian Michaels was delightful for a number of reasons, from the company-headed paper to the insight into Ian’s background and ability to “spawn vegetative life.” What’s most delightful, however…
… is the namecheck of a certain invisible man. Cute detail.
Claire uses the house of mirrors to confuse Eli and manages to pwn him. It’s a neat moment for the character. You have to wonder how she knew that knocking out the original Eli would dissolve the copies, but using her surroundings to outwit her attacker speaks to Claire’s resourcefulness.
There are a few names at the back of the Primatech box that can’t be made out, but all of the obvious ones are there: Peter, Matt and Gabriel, and then, intriguingly, D.L., Micah, Ted, Eden — and (perhaps less intriguingly) Maya.
Claire bolts upright and mechanically stumbles out of Samuel’s trailer. The cool thing is the way the moment functions as a signature for a character; you don’t see Doyle until Claire’s outside the trailer and on the ground, but the moment you hear that metallic CLUNK! and see Claire spin round, you immediately place the ability to a face and know what’s going on.
David H. Lawrence XVII makes a welcome return to the show, and he uses the opportunity to play Doyle with the depth the character has gained across multiple formats since his appearance at the end of Volume Four. Between the webisodes, the iStory and several graphic novels, Lawrence brings a blend of indignant anger and defensive conviction to the character, advancing Claire’s character arc at the same time. When Doyle reproaches Claire for only seeing the worst in people, we immediately know that he’s thinking of himself. Thing is, when he claims that Claire knows nothing about the concept of family, it’s an underhanded jibe that goes beyond even what Doyle intends it to mean. Which is to say, he probably means that Claire sacrificed her old family to join this one and was ready to destabilize this one within days of arriving at the carnival. But you could equally argue that it’s a jab at Claire’s willingness to betray her father, her relation to a guy whose agents pursued Doyle until he was forced to take a fake identity, and Claire’s general refusal to trust anyone on the assumption that they must have an ulterior motive. Sadly, in Claire’s case, that last part’s generally true, and it underlines the truth behind Doyle’s statement and adds to the growing list of instances which suggest that, if you’re a Bennet, you instantly attract pain, suffering and death.
What’s curious about this scene when you look at it with hindsight is how emphatically it supports Noah’s conclusion at the end of “Let It Bleed.” You look back on Claire’s efforts to help Doyle last season, and you wonder what could drive him to menace Claire the way he does now. You could argue that Doyle’s conviction stems from a deep desire to change, to be a good person and to cling to whatever stability he’s found that enables him to be that person. The alternative is that, as Noah suspects, Samuel’s greatest gift is his persuasiveness — his ability to brainwash his followers and to command blind obedience. When Doyle tells Claire that he won’t let her “ruin” Samuel’s plan — “whatever it is” — the implication is that he doesn’t even care what Samuel’s doing. Doyle’s been conditioned to trust Samuel to the point of killing for him, which is to say that Doyle’s apparently willing to relinquish his aspirations in order to hold onto them.
Which is a long way of saying that Samuel has tapped into Doyle’s idealism and learned how to manipulate him like — of all things — a puppet.
The other amazing part of this scene is the way it’s directed, with lots of extreme close-ups on Doyle to convey just how extensively he’s been brainwa-
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!
My fellow humanoids, my neural pathways are being battered. The Jester and Sancho have visited the Danger Room!
The Jester switches from Klingon to Romulan! It’s impressive. His universal translator has been reprogrammed in a way that boosts his linguistic capabilities to the point where he’s imbued with a hitherto unknown range of diction. It’s a spectacular vernacular!
The Jester inculcates upon Watson to visit the Land of Oranges. There they will find the gallant knight whose mental ineptitude once earned him official recognition — a kind of award for idiotic actions. The Jester too earned this recognition, although more recently. Sancho, however, proves undeserving of this award, as his conjecture guides him to the conclusion that the Moon of Endor is indeed where the Ewoks reside. My own disposition is melancholy, for the Empire has effaced many meaningful apples in order to tend to these few oranges. Princess Peach has been devoured by a temporal anomaly. Teresa’s discovery has vanished into the ether. The Jester’s goal to bring balance to the Force and to spread hope across the galaxy has fallen under the might of the Empire. Veritably, my melancholy knows no bounds. My neural pathways have been bombarded by stormtroopers. And not even the ones from the original trilogy — the crappy ones from the prequels.
Hailing frequencies closed, my fellow humanoids. I’m in stellar cartography and must locate five stars, but I can’t even see one. I see ZERO STARS! Must… find… synthehol… and activate… self-destruct mechanism…
All right, I think I’ve found the glitch, folks. We’re back to the usual review now. Thanks for your patience. Hopefully I haven’t garbled anything crucial for an appreciation of this episode. Somehow, for reasons I can’t define, I don’t think I have.
We cut to Samuel and Emma in Central Park, where Samuel explains that Emma’s “true ability” is to make her emotions one with her music and to lure people to her like a siren. This just about jives with the time Peter was drawn towards the sound of Emma’s music, but the remarkable part is again what the actors manage to do with their material.
Emma’s inches away from a cult leader and a murderer, but it’s never once something that enters our mind. It goes without saying that Samuel has a hidden agenda for helping Emma uncover her potential, but given that he seems to help Emma overcome her wall-cracking in order to bring people together, it’s hard to begrudge his actions on the basis that they might later serve his own ends. As contemptible as Samuel is, there’s no denying that he helped Doyle to rein in his instincts, that he enabled Emma to help people without an acceptance letter to a medical school, and that he now gets a guy off the street and gives him a place to stay. As maniacal as Samuel’s plot might turn out to be, I think a question we’ll ask increasingly as the season draws to a close is whether his endgame undermines the steps he took to achieve it. Or, from another vantage point, whether Samuel’s nobility is invalidated by his villainy.
In the space of what appears to be a few hours, we go from this…
… to this…
It’s one of the more tenuous leaps the episode takes, not least because Ian’s file suggests he discovered his ability and was “overwhelmed” — per Samuel’s description — back when Claude was still an agent. Meaning Ian’s been living in Central Park for at least seven years. I’m not saying there aren’t other explanations, and in an episode in which Hiro suddenly learns to speak Spanish, this is far from a critical issue. But it’s a tough sell, and it depends on our willingness to buy into both the siren concept and Samuel’s all-conquering persuasive skills over the reality: that someone rarely overcomes seven years of homelessness with one trip to a hospital and a few glib promises.
If you can overlook the implausibility, however, there’s a lot to be said for Ian’s speedy recovery. It earns the show praise for one of its few uplifting statements this season — that there’s always hope, that goodwill and good fortune turn up when you least expect them, and that, again, there really are one or two abilities among the superpowered population designed to restore and support life instead of threatening it.
Samuel catches a newsflash of a crash in which Nathan’s remains have been found, and his reaction to the news…
… leaves you wondering more than ever how you’re supposed to look at the character. It could be compassion borne out of sympathy for Peter, or it could simply be sadness to see anyone with an ability come to a tragic end. Or Samuel’s just trying to figure out how he can use Nathan’s crash to his own advantage. In any case, it’s a moment that speaks to the moral complexity Knepper brings to the part.
We return to the carnival.
Claire: “I’m telling you, Samuel’s up to something, and he’s lying to all of you.”
Doyle: “No. He’s a good man.”
Claire: “Why are you so sure?”
Doyle: “Because I’m good now. This place is good for me. I haven’t done anything wrong since I got here.”
Heartbreaking, for Doyle’s straightforward answer, for the pride in his voice when he notes his non-psychotic behavior, and above all…
… for that look of outright dismay when he points out that Claire’s threatening his new life. It’s such an endearing moment that, regardless of the havoc Samuel’s planning to wreak, you almost wish Claire would just p**s off and leave everyone to their brainwashed delusion a little longer.
Lydia cryptically conveys that Joseph “was our real father” and “made this place a home.” It’s nothing we didn’t already know, but it’s carried by Olivieri’s believably played grief, and it reaffirms that Lydia sees Samuel as a fraud and a pretender. Thing is, it’s hard to imagine a character played by Andrew Connolly visiting Emma and encouraging her to unlock her “true ability.” I can’t say I ever envisioned T-Bag pulling that off, but it’s even harder to imagine someone with Joseph’s stern tone reaching out to people with abilities, which makes me wonder what Joseph was doing to impress Lydia that Samuel isn’t.
Claire: “I woke up this morning and I wasn’t sure about this place. But this place is special. For you. For your daughter. Even Doyle. The only thing wrong with it is Samuel.”
And possibly self-replicating Eli?
And that crazy invisible psycho-b**ch Becky?
And a tall, dark and handsome guy with humongous eyebrows who stops by to telekinetically throw people from one side of the carnival to the other?
Just saying, it’s not like Samuel’s the only thing wrong with it.
Lydia: “You have to help us. You have to find someone that can stop him.”
Claire: “I will… So, how does one go about stopping him?*”
[* Not actual dialogue.]
Lydia: “He feeds off the energy of the people around him. Take away the people around him and he’s powerless. Or, you know, bring his brother back from the dead and get a dude from Haiti to stand next to him. Shouldn’t be any trouble. Or, hey, here’s an idea: get that Japanese dude to freeze time, teleport Samuel back to the Dark Ages and leave him there to fall into his own earthquake.**”
[** Not actual dialogue either, I'm afraid.]
*PING!* That’s one Dumb As Hiro Award for Claire for failing to ask for anything in the way of a weakness or a chink in Samuel’s armor. *PING!* That’s another Dumb As Hiro Award for Lydia for failing to volunteer anything in the way of a weakness or a chink in Samuel’s armor.
Samuel returns to the carnival, faux-chides Eli for holding Claire “captive” (/forcing her to sit outside Samuel’s trailer) and reminds Claire that she’s free to go. Claire chooses not to go until she has a chance to indignantly berate and glare at Samuel.
Humor me for a second and read that last line again. Let it never be said that the show’s writers have no sense of humor.
A fun game — many years from now — will be to count the number of times I’ve labeled a screencap “CLAIRE IS INDIGNANT.” I’ll take a wild guess and say it’s a lot. In Claire’s defense, however, she’s in this instance very much justified for calling Samuel on the murder of his brother. What’s remarkable about this is the way Samuel slithers his way back into Claire’s good graces by the end of the next scene.
Samuel: “I lost control.”
Claire: “Like that is an excuse?”
Samuel: “He told the government about us. You remember them, don’t you? They lured him in. The very same people that were chasing us for years. [Željko]? Same one that worked alongside your father.”
Great dialogue. It’s great continuity, but it also underlines Samuel’s talent for turning a situation around and using it to justify his actions. It also hints at how far back the vendetta between the Sullivan brothers and the shady super-savvy Coyote-Sands-constructing branch of the government goes.
Knepper again brings his A-game with a winning display of remorse and self-loathing. Looking back, you have to wonder how much of this is genuine and how much of it’s a performance. But as it plays out, it’s tough to doubt Samuel’s sincerity.
Samuel: “What I did was awful, but Joseph put us all in danger. After years of running free, I wasn’t about to let him get away with that. I wasn’t about to let him take that away from us.”
Again, great dialogue, and again, evidence of Samuel’s ability to twist a situation until his actions make sense. In this case, it’s almost possible to argue in Samuel’s favor by pointing out that, per the implication in the graphic novels, Željko was planning to bring in the entire “goddamn hive” of supers once he’d apprehended Samuel. It’s not as if killing Joseph solved anything, but it’s probably true to say that Joseph jeopardized the safety of everyone at the carnival by contacting Željko, and that Samuel felt obliged to take it upon himself to remove a perceived threat that his brother had created. In a further stroke of brilliant writing, Samuel draws a parallel between himself and Noah and points out that the ends-justify-the-means approach isn’t anything new to Claire.
Samuel and Claire join Ian in the valley, Samuel compares Ian to Picasso, and Ian gives this adorable smile that speaks volumes about the character’s humility and selflessness. You have to wonder whether Ian at any point stops to question why Samuel welcomed him into the carnival so openly and why it’s so important to him to alter the landscape across the valley. But then, there’s also something endearing about a character who doesn’t ask questions, and who’s content just to make everything around him lush and fertile.
Ian asks for water, and Samuel opens the ground beneath them to bring a spring to the surface. Neat effect, and a moment that demonstrates how Samuel can use his ability in conjunction with others to realize his goals.
Again, nice effect. The way the grass spreads, it’s reminiscent of Ted turning the grass beneath him to ash in “Unexpected,” only in reverse.
Again, a stunning effect, albeit one the actors seem to have struggled to visualize during the shoot in front of a green screen. There’s more focus on the characters’ reaction than there is on the scenery itself, and the downside is you can see at several points that the actors are staring quite aimlessly into the distance, evidently trying to imagine what they’ll be looking at once the post-production is finished.
Samuel explains that “this” is why he needs “a bigger family,” and although someone as skeptical as Claire should be mindful of a murderer who claims his only goal is to put grass in a dry valley…
… Claire falls for this explanation. Dumb As Hiro? Not this time, because that would suggest she could have seen through Samuel’s rhetoric, and as always, the character’s persuasiveness is a reflection of the actor’s. But it’s a testament to Samuel’s ability to brainwash members of his community when, immediately after one of them condemned the murder of his brother, Samuel manages to effect a reconciliation with her over a plot of land.
Claire makes her way back across the valley and checks her cell phone. Hilariously, you’ll note that she immediately ignores the messages from her father and only pauses to pay attention to the somber message from her uncle. Paire shippers, rejoice!
The slow-motion, piano-laden opening shot to the funeral promises nothing especially imaginative, but it’s the opening to a scene that goes on to become both moving in its subtlety and restrained in its sentimentality. The slow motion also affords us a glimpse of three individuals…
… two of whom resemble Nathan’s sons, one of whom resembles a valiant stand-in for Rena Sofer. The show deserves credit for the detail, and although I’m not sure it’s enough to placate the army of fans who objected to Sylathan’s failure to acknowledge his sons while dangling over a ledge, it’s enough to placate me.
Noah shows up, offers a respectful nod to Peter and maintains a diplomatic distance. Even in retrospect, knowing the scene Noah gets with Claire in the following episode, it seems like Noah’s role in the Sylathan debacle goes unaddressed. Angela submits herself to Peter’s wrath and Noah endures it from Claire, but it’s never completely clear whether Peter hates Noah for creating Sylathan or feels thankful to him for the chance to pretend his brother was alive for a little longer. Given the deception, and given that the monster beneath the impersonation was Nathan’s killer, you’d think Peter would harbor enormous hostility towards Noah for his role in the charade. Hopefully something that’s still coming, and hopefully something that won’t be limited to the surprisingly restrained dressing down from Claire in “Let It Bleed.”
Noah: “I’m glad you’re safe.”
Claire: “From what — where I came from, or this lie?”
Good dialogue, and especially well delivered by Hayden, with enough venom that you know it’s partly directed at the man responsible for disguising her bio-dad’s killer, but also with enough despondency that you know it’s directed at no one and nothing in particular — at a life of pretense that she’s grown weary of.
Nicely shot, and the first of several shots between now and the end of “Let It Bleed” that capture Peter standing apart from the crowd that’s mourning with him. You have to admire the nobility and stoicism, but at the same time you wonder how the most empathetic one of the family ended up standing alone, apart from everyone he cares about, unable to let himself mourn alongside them.
Milo nails the scene from start to finish, but it’s in the quieter shots that we get an idea of the care he’s put into the performance. The physical details are there, from the still-bloody lip to the bloodshot eyes, but it’s Peter’s attempt at an emotional barricade that brings out the thought in the performance. We’re given a sense of a brother and a son who’s doing his duty and paying his respects, who’s falling apart on the inside, but who’s also desperately trying to fend off the realization that his brother’s actually gone. It’s consistent with the guy who closed himself off from every human connection he had at the start of the season, and with the guy who refused to let Sylathan go at the end of the previous episode. But above all it’s evidence of the complexity Milo has put into a character who’s at once psychologically scarred and emotionally stunted.
Peter: “My brother Nathan taught me a lot. Taught me how to ride a skateboard when I was a kid, how to hook a marlin… Taught me how to catch a baseball…”
The camera cuts to a quick shot of Angela…
… and the look she gives Peter seems to tell a story of its own. You can see admiration for her son’s composure, shared grief over their loss, and at the same time inconsolable sadness; that her son’s been forced to stand next to his brother’s coffin and do this at all, and that their family’s suffered so much on account of abilities they never asked for.
Peter: “… Those are all things usually a father will teach a son, but Dad wasn’t around…”
Again, perfectly delivered. No bitterness, no hint at the pain he suffered by the man who left his son with a complex and stole his abilities and tried to kill him — just an observation that the only role model Peter had while growing up was his brother.
Peter: “… So, it was Nathan. I wish to hell it would’ve been my father, because Nathan didn’t make it easy.”
Ron Underwood times each cut from Peter flawlessly, to the point where the flow of the speech never feels like it’s been disrupted. We get a glimpse of Claire giving a nod that says, “Yeah, that sounds like Nathan.” We also see a look of remorse from Noah…
… One that, like Angela’s, conveys enormous sympathy and sadness, but also one that seems to acknowledge the fact that he prolonged and intensified Peter’s suffering much more than he needed to.
Peter: “He would throw it high, he’d throw it wide. And I would yell at him. I’d tell him to throw it right at me. But he’d say to me, ‘That’s not how it’s gonna come at you in a game, Pete.’ I used to think he was just being a big brother and picking on me. But now I understand. He just wanted me to be ready — for anything.”
Peter fixes one of those loooooong and meeeeeeaningful stares at Claire, the kind that suggests some kind of impending, sinister development. Whatever that “anything” is, it’s fraught with ominous undertones.
Peter tells his “bro” that he’s ready — “for whatever comes” — and Angela has to look down, presumably to keep her tears from spilling out.
Peter doesn’t seem especially fazed by the gun salute, but it’s worth noting Angela’s reaction to the flag and to the mention of her son’s “honorable and faithful service” to their nation. It’s moving, obviously, but there’s a certain irony to the statement when only a handful of people know that Nathan died protecting the president from a superpowered psychokiller.
Claire flinches at the sound of the gunshots, and perhaps it’s just an incredibly good performance, but those don’t look like the usual cry-on-demand tears so much as the tears of a daughter’s emotionally draining farewell to her father.
Even Angela finally cracks, momentary though it is, before returning to her usual austere self and, along with the rest of the people at the funeral, watching the fighter jets overhead fly away.
Now THAT is a fitting farewell to the character. I got through “The Fifth Stage” with only very moist eyes, mostly because that final scene on the ledge, even with Milo and Adrian’s phenomenal performances, never completely escaped the Sylathan drama that was dragging it down. This? This is Nathan’s family mourning their loss, together, and it’s Nathan they’re mourning. This is how it should have been done from the start, and as long as we’ve had to wait to finally see it, it’s as emotionally searing as it should be, and it’s hard to argue that, in several respects, the prolonged wait even enhances its impact.
I’m torn on how to score this one. Over 40 minutes, the episode ranges from unwatchable — and, frankly, unreviewable — to extraordinary. If you can get past Hiro’s comic-book-nerd shenanigans and make it to the final scene, you essentially trudge through material that would earn the episode a 1 out of 5 and reach the stuff that’s an easy 5 out of 5. The final scene showcases some of the show’s most beautifully realized material all season, and between that and the scenes at the carnival, there’s enough to provide an episode that’s engrossing, thought-provoking and — yes — engaging.
4 out of 5
Otto, great review. I don’t think that Claire deserves a Dumb As Award- she probably assumed that if Lydia knew any of Samuel’s weaknesses, she would have mentioned them.
I just wanna start off by saying that I love your episode reviews. I never really leave any comments, but I might as well start sometime.
First, I HATED EVERY SECOND that Hiro was on screen. During the show’s hiatus I went back and watched the first season on DVD, and it made me kind of sad to realize how much my opinion of Hiro has changed so drastically from then to now. Back then I couldn’t wait to see what he would do next. He had one of the coolest powers and such a fun and exciting personality, and really lit up every scene he was in. The diner scene with Nathan is still one of my favorite.
Since season 2 he’s been reduced to this stupid, annoying “fanboy” spewer that contributes nothing but eye rolls to the show. The sequence with Ando in this episode was one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever had the displeasure of watching. What Hiro was doing was bad enough, but the fact that Ando actually figured out that Hiro was trying to convey a message, the fact that Ando figured out Hiro was leading him to a mental hospital in Florida… there are really no words to describe how irritating this was to watch.
I’m so incredibly disappointed in the Heroes writers. I was actually looking forward to seeing what you thought about this as well, but unfortunately you chose to convey your annoyance by using more annoying language! LOL sorry, I skipped over everything written in green (I’m guessing this is the point you were trying to make).
I don’t have much to say about the Claire/Samuel scenes, except that I came to terms with Heroes becoming a Claire-centered show a long time ago. She has to be in every episode in one way or another, whether or not she contributes anything significant to the plot or not. “Once Upon a Time in Texas” sums this up quite well.
Not trying to sound like a Heroes hater. I love the show and have been a fan since day one. I was really sad to see Nathan go, but I guess it had to happen some day. The funeral scene was one of the highlights of this otherwise torturous episode. Peter’s speech was really moving, and Cristine Rose as usual knocked her scenes out of the park. You could really feel everyone’s heartache, coupled with my own at losing a great character.
Sorry for the long rant. I’m still eager to see how everything plays out (although I’m hoping it happens a little FASTER, please). Hopefully the next few episodes will give us the big showdown we’ve all been waiting for. Hoping for a fifth season too, if only to get a fitting farewell/closure to what has been a pretty good show.
I agree with everything you say, specially with what you said about things happening a LITTLE faster. While I’m one of the people who teared up Volume 3 for speeding up things to a fault, I can say that when it clicked it clicked, despite being a bit to short or far between. While I can openly say I’ve loved that there has been this thoughtful pace and mannered storytelling this volume,I think there is a time that enough is enough. I think that 12 episodes were more than enough to give proper development and create tension, and give some sort of proper action in “The Fifth Stage”. And since there are only, sadly, 5 episodes left, I think they should up the ante quite a bit. Season 1 was exactly like that. Create tension and pay off, and it was worthy of the sit time. There’s so little time now, so they should. It’s just sad that whatever payoff it delivers will get somehow diminished by not giving a full closure whether or not the series gets renewed. But it needs to get exciting again. We care enough now to give it a shot.
“I’m still eager to see how everything plays out (although I’m hoping it happens a little FASTER, please)…”
I wonder how much of a challenge it is for TPTBs to adapt their writing to the length of the volume. HeroesWiki recently did an interview with the folks who produced the webisodes (http://heroeswiki.com/Interview:Slow_Burn), and one of the points the writers make is how difficult it was to compress their story into 90-second segments. I’d be curious to hear whether TPTBs faced the opposite challenge on the main show, going from 12-to-13-episode volumes and back to the 20-ish-episode monsters.
Did anyone else get a “volume opener” vibe from these two episodes? Renaldsrap describes this one as “putting the pieces in place,” and I agree with that. There’s the ongoing carnival storyline, but it felt like a lot of new material was putting new story arcs into motion: Emma’s ability, Samuel’s preoccupation with Vanessa, Peter’s reaction to Nathan’s death, Sylar’s tattoo of Claire… To me, in several ways, this felt like the start of a new volume.
Well that would explain some things if it was the start of a “new volume” (even though we didn’t get a formal introduction as it being such a thing). Like everyone’s been saying, the introduction of Vanessa came out of left field, but if it has more longterm implications perhaps it wont seem as weird. If this isn’t the start of a new volume then I’ll just be confused. The show has been off to a sluggish start, then suddenly it wants to speed things up with new characters, and then God knows what else they plan on doing after that.
I’m sure the writers face the challenge of stretching out a storyline across many episodes, but that is their job. They did it phenomenally in Season 1, then it all went downhill from there. Season 1 was so good that we all got high expectations I guess, and the writer’s strike didn’t help. But if they’re getting paid to do this they need to stop being so lazy (with inconsistencies, etc) and start being more creative and speed things up, keep us interested (those of us still watching).
I don’t know why I always end up sounding like a Heroes hater… LOL
Great review.
Claire: “From what — where I came from, or this lie?”
Good dialogue, and especially well delivered by Hayden, with enough venom that you know it’s partly directed at the man responsible for disguising her bio-dad’s killer, but also with enough despondency that you know it’s directed at no one and nothing in particular — at a life of pretense that she’s grown weary of.
I hate to sound like a broken record. But, if Claire’s grown tired of pretense, she’s going to face centuries of depression. Pretense is a survival mechanism for immortals. Let’s say that the season does end with specials outed. Claire would still have to mask the fact she’s immortal. She would have to distract people from her immortality and the lack of aging with false identities and records. Also, she would use the outward showier aspects of her power to hide the bits the government and others can’t know about. But, hiding in plain site is still hiding, still pretense.
“… the bits the government and others can’t know about…”
Meaning the immortality? I can buy that Claire would want to keep that part under wraps for fear of the hysteria it could cause, because if that went public, there’d be people all over the world knocking down her door and harvesting her blood. (Probably wouldn’t do much good if they weren’t born regens, but mass stupidity would overlook that.)
But then, the ability to heal mortal wounds in itself would surely make Claire one of the most sought-after super-commodities. Everyone would want a bag of her blood in the fridge, “just in case.”
It was probably easier for Adam in the sense that documentation was less meticulous, but I wonder if the reason he started traveling (per the GNs) was about more than wanting a change of scenery or concealing his immortality. He probably got tired of the same routine of befriending people and then either lying to them or freaking them out with his ability. Perhaps that’s the dilemma Claire’s starting to discover now.
Yup. Meaning the immortality. What gets me is they establish immortality in S2. They also establish that Claire is chafing under the secrecy in S2, culminating in The Prank. But, they never connected the dots to establish that the two things are and will be related factors in Claire’s life. If she was chafing then, it’s not going to get any easier down the road. Then, there’s the fact that Adam and Claire never met to compare notes, not even in the on-line stuff. The shortsightedness is really fubar.
I’m kind of hoping there’ll be some connection between Claire’s “invincible cheerleader” tattoo and that scene at Copy Kingdom back in 2.02, when Claire started talking about the medical breakthroughs her blood could lead to. That seems like a very relevant issue, particularly now that Claire’s at a stage where she’s deciding what she wants to do with her life. For every occasion when Claire joked about donating a kidney or losing a finger, there’s an occasion when she watched someone suffer and probably knew she could help them (for example this week, then the office worker was bleeding out in front of her). I think there’s a lot to be said for the way Claire’s changed this season, and I’d like to think the medical applications of her ability will be brought up again at some point.
I’ve been waiting for that since S2. I hope it happens, but I suspect TPTB’s would like to forget it.
Otto,
I have never EVER posted before reading the review, but I have gotta say, I loved Hiro’s part in this episode. It was fun watchng Ando try to figure out what his best friend is saying. And I have got to say, it has been a long while since we felt that kind of kinship between Hiro and Ando. Maybe it was just because his brain was scrambled but, for once, Hiro was not berating Ando or killing his best friend’s spirit by telling him the only reason he has a fiance’ is because Hiro went back in time and stopped a slushie. It was kinda touching. If that’s the only reason this episode lost a point in your eyes, then I think I’m gonna end up giving this one at least a 4.5/5 after I read it. And I was already gonna give it a 4/5 anyway. Keep up the good work!
Otto, after reading the review, I definitely give the episode a 4.5/5. Absolutely brilliant after looking back on it! But it loses half a point for 1 glaring detail I mangaed to catch: The contrivance of the Primatech files(which I thought the writers would turn into a good plot device, but sadly ’tis not the case). And 2 glaring details I can’t believe I didn’t catch: the typo in the subtitles (absoutely 110% unforgivable of the editors!!!) and Hiro’s sudden switch to spanish. If I stretch my imagination, I can sort of believe that his scrambled brain was better able to pick up on a language he had never demonstrated an ability of speaking. But that’s a stretch that makes my brain need to see a chiropractor! Otherwise, an incredibly moving (engaging, lol) episode that put several pieces in place for the end of the season. Oh, and I think Emma’s just general awesomeness of spirit cure Ian’s psyche. My brain didn’t need to lift a finger to believe that.
p.s. When is the review for “Let It Bleed” gonna be out? It’s the only episode this season that I have not been able to score immediately after watching. But I will say the scene where Noah stops Edgar with that taser was unparralleled awesome!
Angela cries,
Ahh, Heroes is back!!
Did he say mean things about Jeff Zucker’s mother?
Does it count that I have?
That’s what a $40,000 education will get you, kids. That, and hair that photogenically billows in the wind in slow motion
LOL!
The function of the box aside, the shout-out to Primatech did make me wonder whether the paper company in Texas might still be running,
Didn’t we establish last season Noah had his own files, or stole what he could before he went on the run.
this is a hopeful sign that there’s a backstory between Noah and Samuel waiting to be explored.
I do believe so.
Oh, Samuel. Oh, Heroes writers. Very well played. I think a Janis Joplin lyric will be lost on someone whose musical tastes yielded this, but that’s surely part of the humor, and it makes Samuel even more endearing when you start to think about the music this charming megalomaniac grew up listening to.
I LOVED it too. Did you also catch Noah quoting the Who.
The carnival had a stint in Costa Verde? Nice detail. Ruth Ammon deserves about the billionth bouquet she’s earned this season for some amazing attention to detail on her sets.
She is truly amazing. But go Jamesprops on the 8 track player.
outstanding casting.
Best casting on a show ever, I have to say - Even the family members look alike - the Petrellis are scary And as for these two boys, I have a feeling they will be back.
Totally agree on Emma, the letter is a detail that works in characters favor
is the namecheck of a certain invisible man. Cute detail.
Except that was always seen to me as a joke - what are the odds the invisible man would be named after the actor who played him - I’m not actually happy about this one.
Emma’s inches away from a cult leader and a murderer, but it’s never once something that enters our mind.
Reminds you of a certain charming man named Adam Monroe - when the world CULT was thrown out, my first thought was of Adam and the way Angela and her friends we’re roped into the ‘cult of Adam’, so I hope that comes up as a parallel.
it’s enough to placate me
ME TOO! That was really Nathan anyway, not ALL his memories.
you’d think Peter would harbor enormous hostility towards Noah for his role in the charade.
But it is also a charade he was willing to try to continue himself - but then he still seems upset with Angela, so it may be a fight with-in him.
… and the look she gives Peter seems to tell a story of its own. You can see admiration for her son’s composure, shared grief over their loss, and at the same time inconsolable sadness; that her son’s been forced to stand next to his brother’s coffin and do this at all, and that their family’s suffered so much on account of abilities they never asked for.
Totally agree. And what a wonderful speech from Peter, a speech we all knew had to be their backstory, given what we know about their relationship, so nice to see it was the truth. Peter never had a real father, he had Nathan, perhaps being the father he had in Arthur, but once Peter was around Arthur was a different man and the Company a larger being.
I won’t repost it all, but the emotional moments of the funeral, the looks away, the tears, how the flag was the last straw for Angela, as it was for me. And yes, how we do know what Nathan did. It was lovely.
Yay, its great to have you back, Otto
Great, I’m lying, AWESOME review BTW!!!
With this review, you showed how awesome your fanboy knowledge is. Seriously, how hard was it to come up with all that nerdgasm? I was truly impressed you managed to nail it. And it perfectly captured exactly what I thought about Hiro’s storyline. I cringed all the way, through, starting with the Jedi mention. It just brought my HORRIBLE memories of Child Hiro (with the exception of what happened in “Our Father”, that joy is still a bright memory). If it weren’t for the review “glitch”, I would have loved the shovels to be back. Once again, his storyline can drag an episode all the way to a 1. It kind of “redeemed” itself with the explanation that it was just a spoon twist to his brain, but it was still horribly cringe inducing. And it continues next week with the escape of Mohinder (Stormtroopers? That low? :s).
Moving on, everything else was great. Samuel, I just got the point that to me he is the best thing to ever happen to the show acting and character wise. When has a character, particularly a villain, captured me with such captivating performance? Apart from LOST’s Benjamin Linus, I never have felt this way with a villain. Maybe Sylar once upon a time, but he has gotten so overused and done to death that I simply don’t care. And judging by the second hour (can’t wait for THAT review), with the “killing” limitation, I LOVE AND ADORE that Samuel CAN outsmart power wise Sylar. I never thought that it could be possible, but Samuel ended being the villain the “Boogeyman” should have and was promised to be; someone stronger, more powerful, and, showing his power creativity, even more terrifying than Sylar. Long time coming.
As for the moving final scene, I loved it. I felt even more connected to it because I had an almost exact funeral (minus airplanes) with the loss of my grandfather a year ago, who was also a part of the military service. His funeral was exactly like the one for Nathan, and just like Peter (I’m not kidding), I had to give an eulogy next to my father. Just saying all the beautiful things he meant to me was very overwhelming with me flashing the most brilliant moments I spent with my grandfather, and if this episode had included, at least in black and white, all those defining moments for Nathan (particularly some of the ones you listed in “The Fifth Stage” review), it would have been even more perfect. It would have made me cry even harder. I already cried a lot with what happened in the last episode, so the crying was a bit less this time, but it was still a cry fest. And it brought everything I love about the show, that despite some things that may be supernatural at times, it includes this real life situation you can relate to. And that’s why I even up the episode to the definite 5 out of 5 despite the “1 worthy” Hiro storyline. So yes, goodbye Nathan, you will always be remembered every day.
To not make any longer the post, I’ll wait to continue discussing in the next review some notable points (the reminder of West, the subtle, almost shout out to Caitlin, the Samuel & Sylar “fight”, rock bottom ratings, Greg Grunberg saying the season finale won’t give certain closure despite the fact IT may not be renewed with ratings really low, not mattering the DVD sales or outside popularity, etc.) So in the meanwhile, thanks for another great review Otto, and I’ll count the hours before the second review is up. So take care.
First off, once again, great review, Otto. You say everything I’m thinking and so much more.
Also, a note on the Mohinder voice-over: Unless I’m mistaken, that was actually the voice-over used at the end of episode 2.08 “Four Months Ago”. An interesting choice to reuse it here.
I strongly agree with your thoughts about Nathan’s funeral. I didn’t cry during “The Fifth Stage”, but the sight of that single plane splitting off from the others and flying away into the sky definitely got to me. Sniff.
Oh, and I just wanted to give Peter a hug! I love the way Milo played Peter’s anguish in both this and the next episode; quiet, restrained, but so on the edge. I was impressed that neither he nor Hayden opted for a melodramatic show of tears instead. In a way, this held even more of an impact.
I agree with everything you said about Samuel. I know you’re supposed to hate him, but how can you really tell? And the flashback was totally working for me. Honestly, if they’d swapped out the ridiculousness that was Hiro’s storyline and added more Samuel/Joseph/even Vanessa flashbacks this episode would easily have been a 5/5 in my book.
great review. just one question. Are we ever gonna get a smart as Emma award?
It’s an unspoken award. Emma earns it every episode she appears in.
Samuel: “You read lips?” Emma: “Do you read hands?”
Love her.
Great review, Otto!
Happy New Year to you, too!
The actor brings a charm and civility that belies Samuel’s villainy.
So true! Knepper is a great addition to the cast.
Ruth Ammon deserves about the billionth bouquet she’s earned this season for some amazing attention to detail on her sets.
Yes, she does and an Emmy would be nice too. Her work is incredible. Also, how do you spot these things?
Samuel finding someone when they’re at their most vulnerable and manipulating their despair:
Uh oh, this doesn’t bode well for Peter.
Totally agree with everything you said about David H. Lawrence XVII. I’m glad they brought him back.
Meaning Ian’s been living in Central Park for at least seven years.
Except in that cap you have, it says he was Tagged in 2004, which doesn’t seem possible either. Didn’t Bennet shoot Claude before 2004, like sometime in the 90s? Although I do love a Claude reference.
Samuel catches a newsflash of a crash in which Nathan’s remains have been found, and his reaction to the news
It left me wondering how much he knew about Nathan, such as does he know Claire is Nathan’s daughter? Did he know Nathan had an ability? The least he should know is that Nathan was Peter’s brother. I’m sure whatever it is he got from that news has more to do with Peter than Claire, but that could just be my own personal bias. lol
Lydia: “You have to help us. You have to find someone that can stop him.”
Peter? Maybe? Please?
… it’s never completely clear whether Peter hates Noah for creating Sylathan
Oh, I think it’s clear that Peter is angry at him. It was evident to me in that first scene in the next episode.
… you’d think Peter would harbor enormous hostility towards Noah for his role in the charade.
Again, I can definitely see some hostility in the next episode’s first scene.
Nicely shot, and the first of several shots between now and the end of “Let It Bleed” that capture Peter standing apart from the crowd that’s mourning with him.
Ugh! How could I have missed this? I noticed that kind of staging earlier in the season. Thank you for pointing this out. This is one of the reasons I love your reviews.
You have to admire the nobility and stoicism, but at the same time you wonder how the most empathetic one of the family ended up standing alone, apart from everyone he cares about, unable to let himself mourn alongside them.
You’re bringing me close to tears again, Otto.
Awwwww. Although, Angela does mention that Peter doesn’t know how to mourn.
But above all it’s evidence of the complexity Milo has put into a character who’s at once psychologically scarred and emotionally stunted.
Yes! Bravo, Milo! (And even more so in the next episode.)
… but there’s a certain irony to the statement when only a handful of people know that Nathan died protecting the president from a superpowered psychokiller.
Ah, good point. I hadn’t thought about that.
Thank you, Otto. I’m glad you’re back and am anxiously awaiting your review of “Let It Bleed”.
Okay, I have something to admit. I cried. Yes, I cried at Nathan’s funeral scene, but not because of everyone else tearing up. I truly felt bad for Peter. I couldn’t imagine having your anchor ripped out from under you like that and then having someone cover it up. I would be furious at Angela and Noah. For something like that to happen to a character as good natured as Peter is horrendous. I’m not talking the murder of Nathan specifically, but the deceit behind it. You can tell Peter is tired of the lies, but I can’t really expound on that until the next review. Trust me, I have an ear full (page full?) for you.
As for Claire, I don’t know if I find her anymore enjoyable, but she didn’t seem as annoying as I find her most of the time. I certainly did find it odd that she started wearing her make-up darker. (I’m beginning to wonder if she’s gone through my facebook.) Again I will have to wait to expound on my feeling for her decisions.
As for Ian as Picaso, I find he more to be a Basquiat (and now I have revealed my nerdiness).
The scenes with Samuel and Emma were some of my favorites, but I do agree that it seemed a tad light on explanation. I get that Emma could be a siren of some type, but I don’t think that it was explained well enough. I’m not surprised though considering that there are so many other powers this season that haven’t been explained that well anyway.
And for Hiro… uh… I give applause to a fairly complex Don Quixote allusion (but alas I am a literary nerd in the way that my room is on its way to looking like Gabriel Gray’s apartment), but as for the rest I giggled at the silliness. That was mostly due to the fact that my brother has been watching Spaced nonstop while I played Dragon Age: Origins, so as you can see I was in heavy geek-out mode. I do agree that it was unnecessary and certainly enjoyed the way you “reviewed” those scenes. They certainly were almost nonsensical.
Next review I will reveal my full feelings about what is handed to us since this portion or the two hours did not possess my favorite set of polar opposites. I also have some things to say about Samuel, but they have to wait too.
Hi Otto, and Happy New Year too!
Lovely review that reflects how much you care about the show. I actually fall in the “didn’t hate Hiro” category since I kind of like exploring the idea of what happens when something goes wrong in the brain. I’m sure this does happen (in some way) in real life. I chuckled at the market scene, and forgave them the silly robbery for sheer slapstick. Heck, maybe I was just in a good mood that Heroes was finally back?!
Regarding to the carnival, it felt like Claire spent a lot of time walking around, interacting with one carnival member at a time. I echo your praise for Knepper, he’s just so darn convincing. I was also very happy to finally see Emma again. She just oozes screen goodness.
Finally there was the funeral, and that’s where this two-parter started to get juicy. I also thought Milo (”he of the ever growing hair”), an unusually distraught Hayden, as well as Queen Rose did a very fine job, although I wondered if the speech itself was entirely appropriate for a funeral. The “ready for anything” sounds very ominous, and I wondered what the other random people in attendance could possibly make of that. Anyway, this is why shows kill off beloved characters: so that other characters can break out of the status quo. Let the games begin!
One other random thing: I actually watched the show live (I know, crazy) and by golly, there are so many ad breaks that the show becomes (almost) unwatchable. It seriously felt like 5 minutes of showtime (or one scene) followed by 3 minutes of (muted and unwatched) ads, slowing an already slow and steady plot down to a painful disjointed crawl. Are people really surprised that live viewer-ship is going down among those with some familiarity with the internet?
Hey Otto,
Glad to have you back. Hope you had a nice holiday & New Year.
Regarding the review. I missed part of the episode, but . As usual, Hiro’s antics made me cringe. I know you wrote this “Did Masi p*ss off someone at NBC” thing as a joke, but I wonder if it’s true, because I cannot fathom why they are ruining the character like this.
I know a lot of viewers are clamoring for Future Hiro to show up, but now, I can’t blame them. Hiro keeps making the same stupid mistakes or worse, being tossed aside in ridiculous plots that don’t move the plot further along, or have any real meaning. He hasn’t shown any real growth as a character. Even people like Peter and Claire, (who saw their lives through rose-colored glasses) have toughened up because circumstances have forced them to do so. But Hiro is still the comic book nerd with the credo of “A hero’s battle is never done”.
Eventually, people have to grow up and Hiro isn’t being given the chance to do that. And he doesn’t have to lose his personality in order to mature. I don’t think the writers realize that. Now, the writers have taken him back to another disastrous mind wiping plot, because they didn’t learn from the “Hiro is a kid” storyline. We all know how that one went.
As for Future Hiro, that was the closest to real character maturity that we saw, and Hiro is long overdue for that. Nevermind the samurai sword and the trendy black clothes.
The rest of the ep was OK. Just so blah and underwhelming. However, a few things stood out.
1. Nathan’s funeral. I agree, this was the farewell he deserved. Nice to see Angela actually break down and cry. Peter’s speech was cryptic, but I think that’s a good thing.
2. Ian. I liked him but I don’t think we’ll be seeing him again.
I’m biased because I haven’t seen the whole thing, but I have no desire to. Based on what I saw, I give it 2.5/5
You are very rigth! I still can’t understand why Heroes can move from the worst (Hiro, although it was funny to try to get the nerd lines) to the best (Nathan’s funeral) in the very same episode. It’s like Claire’s brain magically appering in some parts of the episode after its lack in The Fifth Stage.
Oh, I love Emma more and more everyday…
And yes, I’d like to know the feelings of Peter towards HRG…you don’t get to know if he’s furious or he has accepted what Glasses guy did.
And please…I hope Samuel does something more than talk next time. I like this character, but too much talking…
Ah! And Monty and Simon appering with ‘not visible face’ Heidi. I expected some kind of movement from Angela or Peter towards them, but it was ok.
Oh! and I almost forget…Claude’s name in the report! XD…yes, people who care about details in Heroes are great…pity that writers or whoever makes the story doesn’t take so much importance in details…
After so many long posts in past reviews, the only thing dominating my mind right now is this:
What does yesterday’s Leno news mean for the future of Heroes?!?!?! It certainly can’t be bad. I’ve seen talk about an order of three new episodes (to make a full 22) to help fill out the void in the remainder of the season…
Also, the fact that they had a chyron/chapter for the second episode makes me even more angry that they didn’t do that for the two-hour premiere. Here’s hoping (against hope) that the DVD fixes that–but then they’d have to change the chapter number on every episode.
Michael, good point about Lydia telling Claire everything she knew. I would have expected Lydia to have some inkling of Samuel’s dependence on supermagnetic energy, or at least Joseph’s ability to destabilize other abilities, but valid point.
Haushinka, welcome, and thanks so much for reading.
“… it made me kind of sad to realize how much my opinion of Hiro has changed so drastically from [Season One] to now.”
You and me both.
Thing is, I still see flashes of inspiration every now and then. “Cautionary Tales” is still my favorite episode of the series (sacrilege, I know; “Company Man” is a close second…), and every time we get an episode like “Our Father” or “Once Upon a Time in Texas,” it raises my hopes that Hiro’s arc has taken a step forward. I’m all for comic humor — and comic-book humor — but I think it should serve some kind of a purpose, and this really didn’t, at least not one that I could see.
“The diner scene with Nathan is still one of my favorite. “
Word to that.
Renaldsrap, I’m glad you liked the Hiro scenes. I agree that we should be thankful that Hiro wasn’t bragging about what a great matchmaker he is. At least this current development removed his opportunity to do that.
With the sudden Spanish, could it be that Hiro took classes as a kid, or that he was learning it in his own time for fun (hence the book in “the Danger Room”)? Grasping at straws, here.
PandoraRose, thank you as always for the counter-review. Couple of thoughts:
“Didn’t we establish last season Noah had his own files, or stole what he could before he went on the run.”
We did, but that can’t be everything, can it? There’s a moment in 4.14 when Edgar’s speeding out of the apartment and we see three or four Primatech boxes stacked next to the door, but surely there’s more: everything in the vault below the Odessa facility, for starters, and everything that was stored in the back rooms behind the offices. If nothing else, I’d be curious to know if the paper business was still running.
“Did you also catch Noah quoting the Who.”
Think that one got past me. Where was it?
“Reminds you of a certain charming man named Adam Monroe - when the world CULT was thrown out, my first thought was of Adam and the way Angela and her friends we’re roped into the ‘cult of Adam’, so I hope that comes up as a parallel.”
Nice. I didn’t think of that, but there are similarities. The ElderSupers clearly ended up thinking for themselves and taking a stand, though, and the way Edgar sums up the carnival — “They’re lambs, they know no better” — I have a hard time believing they’ll demonstrate the same independent thinking. Perhaps part of the issue is whether the carnival members even want to take a stand. As long as life doesn’t change for them, they’re probably content to let Samuel plan whatever diabolical scheme he wants. I think that’s part of the point that Doyle’s scenes were meant to convey.
Alfredo, thank you, and I’m glad you enjoyed the nerdspeak portion of the review. Believe me, it was a blast to write.
“Samuel, I just got the point that to me he is the best thing to ever happen to the show acting and character wise.”
Pretty much with you here, although I think HRG and Angela are heavy contenders. With Samuel, though, I think it’s his intelligence and charisma that make him scary as much as his ability. It’s his capacity to charm and maneuver his way into making his plan a reality that make him so formidable, and I think that’s what separates him from Sylar. Which isn’t to bash ZQ or the way Sylar’s been portrayed, but I think it’s easier to sum up Sylar’s character arc than it is Samuel’s. The the first thing that comes to mind when we think of Sylar is “brains.” Or possibly “telekinesis.” Or “parent issues.” Or just “psychokiller.” With Samuel, I think it’s much harder to boil him down to the components of his story. I think you could argue that “family,” “love” and “treachery” would be the first things that come to mind, but I’m not sure that would even scratch the surface, which is probably because his motives are still coming to light, but it’s also a testament to the character’s complexity.
E., thank you, and GREAT catch with the reused voice-over from 2.08 (you’re not mistaken — I checked, and you’re absolutely right). There’s a great gag to be gotten out of it (actor too busy filming new pilots to record a new V.O.? V.O. Mohinder so bored with the cryptic drivel that he’s repeating himself?), but I agree that it’s an interesting throwback.
“… the sight of that single plane splitting off from the others and flying away into the sky definitely got to me.”
Wasn’t that beautifully done?
Susan, I’m stumped on the Claude/2004 detail. Only explanation I could come up with is that HRG and Claude discovered Ian in the mid-nineties, but it wasn’t until 2004 that HRG (+ the Haitian or Lauren or someone else…) actually tagged him. What the heck, though — any mention of Claude is fine by me.
Great point about what Samuel knows when it comes to Nathan. I would have thought there’d be something useful in the Primatech files, but then if HRG didn’t know about Claire’s bio-dad when he tried to capture Nathan in 1.05, perhaps parts of the Petrelli files have been edited? I think it’s safe to say he knows that Nathan and Peter are brothers, though, yes.
Lydia: “You have to help us. You have to find someone that can stop him.”
Peter? Maybe? Please?
I think so too. That, or a team effort from Peter and Sylar, which seems to be where the show is going.
Re: the Peter/HRG hostility: I’m still not sure. That look from Peter at the start of 4.14 seems very ambiguous to me. The way the chronology works out, that scene probably took place only a few hours after the end of 4.12, when Peter returned to his apartment to cry on Angela’s shoulder. I think, as with Claire at the funeral, the look from Peter when he sees HRG isn’t necessarily directed at anyone or anything in particular. He’s distraught and exhausted and he’s p**sed off with everyone and everything. But there’s also the fact that Peter seems to have accepted Angela’s motive for creating Sylathan (judging from the fact that there wasn’t any strong reaction from him after her confession in 4.11). It could be that his anger at the deception is still coming, but if Peter’s willing to see Angela’s perspective, my guess would be that he’s willing to see HRG’s as well.
LeeAnna — so the Nathan/Sylathan drama finally got to you!
Great point about the impact the deception has had on Peter. It got me thinking about how early on in the show the bond between Peter and Nathan was established, and how that might be bookended when the show draws to a close. If the first scene in 1.01 with Peter (besides the image of him leaping off the roof) was him meeting his brother, and if Peter really is the central character of the show (which I think he is), I wonder if he’ll also end up at the center of the show’s final scene. Odds are it’ll be a Nathan-less scene, so I’ll be curious to see whether it will involve other members of Peter’s family (to emphasize how their experiences have brought them closer), or whether it will show Peter alone (to reinforce how their experiences have damaged them).
“As for Claire, I don’t know if I find her anymore enjoyable, but she didn’t seem as annoying as I find her most of the time.”
I’m amazed I’m saying this, but I’ve been very impressed by the way she’s been written and played this season. I thought these two episodes in particular portrayed her with admirable poise and maturity.
With the Emma/siren development, it’s Samuel’s familiarity with it that struck me as unexplained. I can buy the development itself, but I’m not sure how Samuel would understand Emma’s ability unless he’d encountered it before. Doesn’t seem all that implausible, just something that perhaps requires a little more speculation.
Hrefna, thank you. I agree, the whole brain-gone-haywire aspect of Hiro’s storyline is very interesting. I think I could have taken it more seriously if the scenes had played out more seriously. That point was buried somewhere in the nerdspeak in the review; that if the focus had been on the tumor, on Ando losing his friend, on Kimiko’s distress from watching her last relative slowly slipping away (and what a great parallel that could have been to Peter losing Sylathan…), it could have been *so* awesome. But perhaps someone decided that it would make the episode too ~*dark*~ or ~*depressing*~, so instead we got Star Trek jokes.
“Heck, maybe I was just in a good mood that Heroes was finally back?!”
See, I was too. Wasn’t enough for me…
“Are people really surprised that live viewer-ship is going down among those with some familiarity with the internet?”
It seems Tim Kring isn’t. ‘Bout time those saps and dips**ts caught up with the 21st century.
B., thank you, and Happy New Year to you too. Word to the point you make about Future-Hiro. For me, it’s not so much about seeing him with the sword and the leather (as you say), but more about seeing some kind of change — any kind of change — that affects him enough to kill his enthusiasm. I saw the potential for that in 2.09, and in 2.11 and 3.12, but it seems like every time Hiro’s about to grow as a character, the show whips him back to the way he started — only now minus the novel charm.
The way that keeps happening, though, I think it’s kind of cool to compare the way Hiro’s not becoming his future self to the way Peter and Claire aren’t. I’m actually really glad that Claire isn’t becoming the character we saw in 3.01 or 3.04 — I like where the show’s taking her now much more than where they seemed to be taking her there.
KellyH, welcome back! I agree, the Leno situation’s probably in this show’s best interest. If the rest of NBC’s line-up is in tatters, Heroes might suddenly not look like such a bad investment. Here’s hoping.
This is the first I’ve heard of an additional three episodes. I was under the impression that production shut down this week and that the season wrap party was this weekend. Do you have any links to the news?
False rumor. Grunberg’s comments came after this rumor circulated. Very poor performance last night after Chuck has people talking cancellation again, but I really think that NBC gives it a wrap-up to hit the number 100.
“If this is the first time the actors have feigned an Irish accent, I can’t even tell.”
You can’t have ever met an Irish person in your life, the accents were atrocious (but then most of the accents in the show are, even Sendhil’s once flawless accent has started slipping in American twangs)!
Yeah, the accents were awful, though only a little more so than Caitlin’s. To be fair, an Irish accent is a pretty damn difficult thing to fake convincingly.
The thing that got me the most about the funeral was the ‘missing man’ formation that flew overhead…the whole thing had me moist-eyed, but that outright made me cry. I was really dubious about the whole Sylathan thing at first, but they handled its ending so well and so affectingly that I no longer grudge it. Overall I’ve really liked this season a lot, and this episode was a pretty good example of why.
We did, but that can’t be everything, can it? There’s a moment in 4.14 when Edgar’s speeding out of the apartment and we see three or four Primatech boxes stacked next to the door, but surely there’s more: everything in the vault below the Odessa facility, for starters, and everything that was stored in the back rooms behind the offices. If nothing else, I’d be curious to know if the paper business was still running.
No, of course, but he had a lot of boxes in Costa Verde. Not that I thought about it at the time, but I’d assume Angela has the rest of the files in her basement. Or the halls of Primatech NY is still there, just abandoned. As for the paper company we have no proof, but it seems we are meant to believe its all gone. Unless when the government took over the ‘good fight’ they took it over - but that would mean they could find out about Nathan. I also think the government involvement will go down the tubes with Nathan’s death - a good reason for it to start up again with Noah and Angela as the head, but we will see.
Think that one got past me. Where was it?
(He) won’t be fooled again (To Edgar)
Nice. I didn’t think of that, but there are similarities. The ElderSupers clearly ended up thinking for themselves and taking a stand, though, and the way Edgar sums up the carnival — “They’re lambs, they know no better” — I have a hard time believing they’ll demonstrate the same independent thinking. Perhaps part of the issue is whether the carnival members even want to take a stand. As long as life doesn’t change for them, they’re probably content to let Samuel plan whatever diabolical scheme he wants. I think that’s part of the point that Doyle’s scenes were meant to convey.
Interesting. I saw it more that his charm and his promises and understanding (as Lydia said he can make an apple think its an Orange) that he gets them, is what makes them loyal. As I assume Adam used on the Elders, just what Adam used on Peter - and he had 400 years to know human nature. They all feel alone and different, looking for someone who understands them and that connection they feel when they meet someone who is like them: Adam and Samuel use the same tricks.
“Adam and Samuel use the same tricks.”
True, but the distinction is surely in the motive. As much as Adam needed the ElderSupers in order to realize his own maniacal plans, I think he genuinely wanted to spur them on to realize their own idealism. Which wasn’t his own idealism, or even all that ideal when it ended up involving a nuked New York, but the point is Adam tapped into the ElderSupers’ aimlessness and isolation with the aim to help them; to make their ideals a reality. With Samuel, it’s more, “You don’t have to change the world, you can just be yourself.” He has his own self-serving motives the same way Adam did, but I think there’s a crucial difference in that Adam offered the ElderSupers a chance to make a difference with their abilities, whereas Samuel’s offering a chance to be ~*normal*~ by way of co-existing with other abilities.