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"Distractions" or "I Did Not See That Coming!"

February 6, 2007 1:04 AM

onday night means Heroes. Spoilers to follow.

Holy fucking shit! Nathan?! That's just--wow. I didn't see that coming at all. I have to admit that I was pretty blown away. The immediate thing this means is that the people who were rooting for a Peter/Claire relationship are out of luck. In addition to that being statutory rape, it's now also weird pseudo-incest. The more important question is: How is Nathan going to react? He, like Claire's mom, probably thought Claire was dead. So how's he going to deal with finding out not only that she's alive but also that she, too, has super powers? More importantly, did Nathan know that Claire's mom has abilities? And are hers like Ted Sprague's, or are they more controlled than that?

The cool thing is that, from Nathan's perspective, everything's going wrong: his brother's acting all crazy, more and more people are talking about his having freakish abilities, and, now, his long-lost daughter's returned. But what's really happening is that Nathan is being brought to the point where he can't deny his destiny. Eventually, soon, he's going to have to face who he is, what he's done, and the reality that these powers are real, New York's going to explode, and he's going to have to step up to the plate.

The Peter storyline was also extremely awesome. I like Claude, but I hated the fact that he was telling Peter that, in order for him to use a person's ability without being near the person, he would have to let go of that person. Of course, this is Peter we're talking about. He's just not that kind of person. We've been shown over and over what a caring, compassionate person he is. It would be against his nature to stop caring about people and cut them off. But Claude was right, in a way: in order for Peter to realize his potential, he has to be himself. And, for Peter, that means remembering how he feels about someone, how that person makes him feel. Through empathy, Peter found that he doesn't have to be near someone to use their ability.

So Peter is like a naturally occuring Sylar, only better; he doesn't have to kill the person to use their ability, and the person keeps his or her power. Meanwhile, Peter permanently retains their ability. Does anyone else see an amazing Sylar/Peter battle coming up? Yeah, thought so. This is mind-blowing shit. Once Peter figures it all out, he'll be able to regenerate, fly, stop time, teleport, read minds, become invisible, and see the future. This also explains why Peter was having prophetic visions even though he wasn't near Isaac.

Hiro's story was good, too. And Ando's part was pretty good, to boot.

Basically, Heroes puts out two kinds of episodes: good ones and awesome ones. This definitely falls into the latter category. I can't wait for next week.



5 Comments


Maggie said:

I concur on all points :)

February 6, 2007 7:59 AM



Vice said:

I agree, that was an excellent turn of events. I really respect the writers for what they're doing with Nathan, because it's going to take a long-ass time for him to really develop into a hero, and in the meantime, he's going to continue being an unlikeable asshole. What have we found out so far? He's cheated on his handicapped wife on multiple occasions (as well as contributing to her accident), fathered an illegitimate daughter, conducted shady dealings with Lindermann to buy political support, threatened to have his brother committed, and generally acted like a raging douche to anyone he meets. While I imagine he'll probably do something pretty cool at the end of this season, I still think it will take pretty much all of this season and next season before he really turns things around. At this point, he's all about himself, and it's going to take awhile for him to completely rethink his life like that.

Actually, the writers have done that with pretty much everyone -- while a few characters are instantly likeable (Peter, Claire, Hiro), most have a really long road to travel before they're worth anything. At this point, I pretty much hate anything involving Nikki/Jessica/DL/Micah, I still don't care much for Isaac (and even less about what's-her-name bouncing back and forth between Isaac and Peter), and Mohinder is presently boring as shit. I mean, I'll bet his story line will be excellent at some point, kind of the Dr. X to these mutants, but he's got negative personality. It's going to take awhile to like any of these characters, which is a courageous move by the writers, because it assumes the story will be good enough for viewers to keep coming back long enough to watch these characters develop and grow to like them. Which, so far, is dead on.

Also, I'm also a big fan of Claude. I thought that actor was awesome in the updated "Dr Who" series, and I'm very happy they added him to the cast.

I'm also seeing a Peter v. Sylar showdown. I like it.

That's all.

February 6, 2007 9:59 AM



Utah said:

I agree, the Nathan twist was incredible and I'm really anxious to see where it takes us. I also enjoy the addition of Claude, and found the Hiro v. his dad plotline entertaining. Maybe Ando will end up with Kimiko.

At this point, I'm still torn between Hiro and Matt as my favorite characters...Nathan may even end up as number one.

However, the best part of last night's show (for me) was the realization that Claire's mom is actually Gina Russo, from Nip/Tuck. If I were Claire, I'd have myself tested because Gina has AIDS.

February 6, 2007 10:38 AM



Santi said:

The real question is: how does all this affect Jack Bauer and his badass of a father who killed his other son for being a pussy? We'll probably never know the answer :(

February 6, 2007 10:41 AM



TheExpat said:

I've begun to notice that lately I've been talking shit about almost everything you enjoy, Ismael. My apologies for what must now seem a diametric opposition to everything you stand for (entertainment-wise anyway). This Heroes thing sounds pretty fun, though. I'll likely try and watch it on DVD in the future.

February 6, 2007 7:08 PM



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