<-He Inhaled |Main|The Fifth Thing to Love About Madison: Sledding->

"Run!" or "Poor Claire" (Updated)

February 13, 2007 2:32 AM

nother straight-up excellent episode of Heroes. Not as good as last week's, perhaps, and definitely more depressing. But still really good.

As usual, don't read on if you haven't watched it yet.

The biggest story was Claire. I liked the story, but I have to say that I feel really bad for our indestructible cheerleader. First off, she gets in trouble for doing something her moom said she could do. It's not Claire's fault that Mr. Bennet made The Haitian erase Mrs. Bennet's memory, after all.

To make matters worse, Claire's frustration with her adoptive father is understandably growing. Now Mrs. Bennet's got apparently serious neurological problems, all due to The Hatian's memory wipes. So Claire blows up at her dad, and Mr. Bennet, already suspicious (remember when he saw thee windchimes outside Claire's bedroom?), apparently put some of it together.

Where does Claire have to turn but to the long-lost mother she's recently met. But (and I hate the writers for doing this) Claire's real mom is a bitch. First, she shortchanges Claire to the tune of $25,000. Then she tells Claire that she's leaving. Why? Fucking--why? That's just so mean. So Claire sticks around, and her father shows up. But Nathan's an asshole, too. Whether it's because of what his mother said or because he really is a cold-hearted bastard, Nathan just leaves, and Claire overhears a conversation that makkes it pretty fucking clear that her birth parents don't give too much of a shit about her.

Claire doesn't know that her dad is Peter Petrelli's brother, but the question is whether Nathan recognized Claire as the cheerleader his brother saved. I couldn't tell.

Man, it would suck to be Claire right now. The writers are writing her perfectly. Just like Superman, she's invincible, so the most compelling stories about her are going to have to involve emotional pain.

Matt Parkman's story was good, too. The only weakness, really, was Nikki/Jessica. That aspect is still my least favorite part of the show, although I liked the fact that Micah acknowledges their abilities and even asks to discuss them. In any event, Matt's part was pretty good. But why--why--did he steal the diamonds? Matt's always been one of my favorite characters, but I hate the fact that he did that. I always thought of him as an inherent do-gooder. I just hate the fact that he did that, and it's going to have a shitload of negative consequences. Why?

Hiro and Ando got played. I love Hiro, but he's such a panssy. Ando made some really good points: Ando gave up his job, spent a shitload of money to come to America with his best friend, and has done everything that Hiro's asked of him. Hiro's got Ando in some pretty fucked up situations, so I don't think it was asking too much to expect Hiro's help getting the bag. But Hiro ran away like a little girl.

And, in the process, Ando's fucked and Hiro's probably fucked (I actually think something good will happen with the gaming enforcement guy).

But, here, again, the writers show how good they are. It would have been easy to have Hiro be this stereotypical hero right away. Instead, they've set him up as someone who clearly knows what he has to do, how to do it, and why. But he's not quite brave enough yet. Just like all the other characters, he's deeply flawed; he's human.

Update:
I forgot to talk about Sylar. His newly acquired ability has the potential to be really cool or really lame. I interpreted his power to mean that he can turn anything into a puddle of liquid, but Kristin says that the toaster handle remained after Sylar demonstrated his ability for Mohinder. I didn't notice that, so it's time for some HD Tivo reviewing.

In any event, if Sylar's ability allows him to turn people into puddles of goo, it could be pretty fucking bad for the heroes. And it's certainly not good for anyone that Sylar, posing as Zane, is going to have access to Mohinder's more up-to-date and detailed list. In fact, I would s ay that's probably going to be bad.

End of update.

So, next week's episode looks to be amazing as usual.

I can't wait.



4 Comments


Utah said:

The previews said that someone is going to die, and I really hope it won't be Matt Parkman, who has established himself as my favorite hero. If he lives on, I REALLY hope that his decision to take the diamonds isn't the first sign of corruption.

The way I figure, the characters most vulnerable to extinction are Isaac, Mrs. Bennett, Mohinder, Ando and Claire's new mom. Nikki/Jessica's husband may also be on the chopping block. Personally, I'd vote for Isaac. It would be easy enough to fill his role by conveniently finding a bunch of paintings in his apartment after his death. I kind of like the hitman role Jessica is playing and besides, she needs to be alive to fulfill the alternate ending, starring you and your unique power.

Finally, I was disappointed that Sylar had to kill Zane. The guy had a story just like his about being a nobody and for a second, I thought he would live. Or maybe join forces with Sylar.

February 13, 2007 10:06 AM



Ismael Tapia II said:

I can't imagine that Parkman's going to die. Like I said, I think Isaac's the goner. Other than his ability to paint the future, he's pretty worthless. And now that Peter can use other peoples' abilities without being near the person, Isaac is largely superfluous.

I agree that Mrs. Bennet's a good candidate--something fucked up is definitely happening with her. Why else would Mr. Bennet erase her memories of Claire, for fuck's sake?

I see no chance that Mohinder will die, and I think that killing Ando would be far too mean, especially after cock teasing Hiro with Charlie.

I still think Nikki/Jessica needs to get more interesting.

February 13, 2007 1:27 PM



Maggie said:

I was confused about Zane's power, as well. I thought that he had the ability to liquify metal because some parts of things were left in tact, but then i also thought that maybe he just hadn't practiced enough to melt the whole thing. I don't know.

I was also excited about the prospect of a new hero, but alas, no such luck.

I thought what you said about Hiro and Ando was interesting. You're right, up until this point, Hiro has made all the decisions and Ando has faithfully followed along...at the same time Ando doesn't have any sweet powers or really the focus that Hiro does. It's obviously easy for him to get caught up in the glamour of being a hero, which makes him act like a fool. It came off a little bit like Hiro was running scary, but I think he was just being smart and intuitive-- i don't think being a hero means you have to fight every battle.

Maybe I just love Hiro too much to admit he acted like a chicken :)

February 13, 2007 1:33 PM



Ismael Tapia II said:

It seemed to me that Zane could melt anything. I remember definitely seeing two different things that were half-melted: a cordless phone and a lampshade. Both of those things contain metal together with other materials, and, in both cases, it seemed like the extent to which they were melted did not depend on the materials--both the lampshade and the phone were melted roughly in half, even though the metal and nonmetal components of each were spread evenly throughout.

You make a really good point, Maggie: being a hero doesn't mean fighting every fight. It may have been that Hiro just thought this particular mission was frivolous or stupid. Hell, he may even have known that something fishy was going on.

Still, I think Hiro owes Ando, and I think that he was ultimately a pansy in this situation--don't commit to something and then wuss out halfway through.

February 13, 2007 2:37 PM



Leave a comment