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 Advance Review: "Hysterical Blindness"
Review by Craig Byrne - HeroSite.net Webmaster
Be warned of SPOILERS below.
NBC apparently REALLY wants people to watch the Monday 10/12 episode of Heroes.
Not only is it the one that, yes, features "the kiss" that's been promoted since Comic-Con; it's also the episode where other storylines begin to finally converge. And now, the network has sent out some advance copies to try and drum up interest and publicity for next week.
Is it any good? In short, "kind of." It's actually similar in quality to the other episodes thus far of Season Four - some storylines are interesting, and some aren't so much. For example - I may be in the minority but I still have yet to really feel for the "carnival" storyline, which of course plays a big role in this episode. Heroes has had this problem for a few years now, actually - introducing new characters that I haven't really connected with in the same way that I connected with the earlier ones.
 Going against that feeling, though, is Deanne Bray's Emma character. This might be the most interesting new character to come to the show in the last few years. I love her power, and the actress is just terrific. The scene back in "Ink" where she played the violin was one of the series' best moments, and there's more like that in this episode.
On the subect of new characters I don't like, Gretchen hasn't really done much more than annoy me so far. By this time she seems to be going all "Emily Valentine" and is bordering on creepy-obsessed with Claire. The other reaction I'm having to the Claire/Gretchen interaction is that to me, the two actresses very little to no chemistry at all. That might be intentional, to make the viewer uncomfortable, but it's giving me trouble connecting with that storyline. I do, however, like Claire's attempts to have a normal life.
This week's Claire/Gretchen storyline also involves them trying out for a sorority which counts Veronica Mars' Tessa Thompson among its members. This "sorority" could cause Claire more trouble in the future.
Even though she's not seen much in the episode, Cristine Rose's Angela Petrelli seems to know more than she's letting on to Peter about what just happened with Nathan. Rose plays the elusive Angela so well; she's a definite asset to the show, and I'm curious to see where this story will go.
Peter has quite a few good interactions next week. Beyond his scene with his mother, he shares more scenes with Emma, and there's even a sequence where he encounters a group of kids singing a song that the reporter that Tracy froze last season would be awfully fond of. That throwback to a superhero show gone by makes me think of the hero Peter is within. He's gone through some rough spots over a few seasons but the core of the character really seems to be returning. Peter gets a surprise visitor by episode's end, though.
 The other bit that I'm sure NBC wants to hype is that Sylar is finally back - as Sylar, not a figment of someone's imagination. He seems to not remember much, and most of his interactions are with Ernie Hudson's police detective and a doctor named Madeline Gibson. Christine Adams, the actress playing her, plays it with a British accent, which makes her character immediately awesome to me and evokes good Doctor Who or Torchwood style associations. I like her.
I'm still not sure "Hysterical Blindness" is a good "jumping-back-on" point for the show, or if the series is completely beyond that point. Being a serialized show I don't know what a series like this can do to gain new viewers and not lose the old ones. It's still a decent hour, on par with the season's other episodes, but it's still not the feeling I had when watching the show in Season One.
(One final note - advance copies of this episode have a chyron that reads "Chapter Five" at the start of the episode. Since "Acceptance" was Three, wouldn't that make this Chapter Four? Hopefully this will be fixed.)
See a gallery of images from "Hysterical Blindness" and don't forget to watch Monday, October 12 on NBC!
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