HEROES
Season 1
Chapter 21
(WARNING:
SPOILERS)
“The Hard Part”
Sigh. Didn’t I say? That Peter shouldn’t meet Ted?
These people…
Directed by John Badham (yes, Mr. War Games is back), “The Hard Part” pretty much sets things up for the final 2 chapters of this Volume.
D.L. and Jessica are off to save Micah, who is under the careful guard of Candice; Mohinder uses his own antibodies to save Molly Walker (heh. The “Walker system”…), something he was a little late in doing for his own sister; Peter convinces Claire to stay in New York for the cause; Mr. Bennet and sidekicks are in New York (heh. At Kirby Plaza) to destroy the Walker system; Hiro tries without much success (or conviction) to kill Sylar; and Sylar gets it in his head to become the President.
And as unlikely as that last one may sound, this was an interesting aspect of this chapter, as we see the reasons why Gabriel ended up the way he did, with his pathological need to be “special.”
We also get to see an important facet to Sylar’s character: that he is actually hesitant to be the cause of so many innocent deaths. Sure, his reasons are still self-motivated: that he would find no gain in their deaths—unlike when he murders someone with powers—but still, at least the man shows some smidgen of remorse.
Of course, that’s before he does the bone-headed move of calling up his snow globe-obsessed mother and it becomes all too clear where the seeds of Sylar sprung from.
Things go horribly awry, and well… Let’s just say that was a momentary lapse, and the unhinged watchmaker is back in town.
(I could have done without the voice over though, when Sylar discovers he may be the “exploding man” who will cause so much grief for New York. It’s one of my pet peeves, people apparently talking to themselves for no good reason. I mean, the audience is smart, right? They could figure out what the deal was, couldn’t they?)
Oh, and Grandma P is in on Linderman’s plan! Man, this woman is playing so many sides. Is she hedging her bets, or is she actually one of the baddies here?
Still, you gotta love her.
And now Peter has crossed paths with Ted and he’s in danger of a meltdown.
Again, didn’t I say?
Of course, given that we’ve got two more episodes to go, I guess that means Peter gets it under control, at least at the beginning of next chapter. After that, all bets are off.
I do have to mention the downside though. This is one of those episodes where there are too many headless chickens running around, too many subplots vying for screen time. Understandable, perhaps, given that they have to amp things up towards the volume’s climax, but hopefully in Volume Two, we could have a slightly smaller number of characters, thus making them more manageable, and the subplot juggling a little less frenetic.
Parting shot: Hayden Panettierre’s well-deserved win at the Saturns is justified here (as it is in all the other chapters of this Volume). Those tiny moments: Claire on the stairs as Nathan’s family arrives; Claire’s reaction to her discovery that Nathan can fly. Those weighty moments: Claire at Kirby Plaza, as she shares a Moment with Peter.
This girl is amazing.
Parting shot 2: Yes, I belatedly realized I should be using the terms “volume” instead of “season,” and “chapter” instead of “episode,” as per Tim Kring’s narrative structure for the show.
(Image courtesy of comicbookresources.com.)
Season 1
Chapter 21
(WARNING:
SPOILERS)
“The Hard Part”
Sigh. Didn’t I say? That Peter shouldn’t meet Ted?
These people…
Directed by John Badham (yes, Mr. War Games is back), “The Hard Part” pretty much sets things up for the final 2 chapters of this Volume.
D.L. and Jessica are off to save Micah, who is under the careful guard of Candice; Mohinder uses his own antibodies to save Molly Walker (heh. The “Walker system”…), something he was a little late in doing for his own sister; Peter convinces Claire to stay in New York for the cause; Mr. Bennet and sidekicks are in New York (heh. At Kirby Plaza) to destroy the Walker system; Hiro tries without much success (or conviction) to kill Sylar; and Sylar gets it in his head to become the President.
And as unlikely as that last one may sound, this was an interesting aspect of this chapter, as we see the reasons why Gabriel ended up the way he did, with his pathological need to be “special.”
We also get to see an important facet to Sylar’s character: that he is actually hesitant to be the cause of so many innocent deaths. Sure, his reasons are still self-motivated: that he would find no gain in their deaths—unlike when he murders someone with powers—but still, at least the man shows some smidgen of remorse.
Of course, that’s before he does the bone-headed move of calling up his snow globe-obsessed mother and it becomes all too clear where the seeds of Sylar sprung from.
Things go horribly awry, and well… Let’s just say that was a momentary lapse, and the unhinged watchmaker is back in town.
(I could have done without the voice over though, when Sylar discovers he may be the “exploding man” who will cause so much grief for New York. It’s one of my pet peeves, people apparently talking to themselves for no good reason. I mean, the audience is smart, right? They could figure out what the deal was, couldn’t they?)
Oh, and Grandma P is in on Linderman’s plan! Man, this woman is playing so many sides. Is she hedging her bets, or is she actually one of the baddies here?
Still, you gotta love her.
And now Peter has crossed paths with Ted and he’s in danger of a meltdown.
Again, didn’t I say?
Of course, given that we’ve got two more episodes to go, I guess that means Peter gets it under control, at least at the beginning of next chapter. After that, all bets are off.
I do have to mention the downside though. This is one of those episodes where there are too many headless chickens running around, too many subplots vying for screen time. Understandable, perhaps, given that they have to amp things up towards the volume’s climax, but hopefully in Volume Two, we could have a slightly smaller number of characters, thus making them more manageable, and the subplot juggling a little less frenetic.
Parting shot: Hayden Panettierre’s well-deserved win at the Saturns is justified here (as it is in all the other chapters of this Volume). Those tiny moments: Claire on the stairs as Nathan’s family arrives; Claire’s reaction to her discovery that Nathan can fly. Those weighty moments: Claire at Kirby Plaza, as she shares a Moment with Peter.
This girl is amazing.
Parting shot 2: Yes, I belatedly realized I should be using the terms “volume” instead of “season,” and “chapter” instead of “episode,” as per Tim Kring’s narrative structure for the show.
(Image courtesy of comicbookresources.com.)
2 comments:
I thought the title of this episode is "Even SOBs have Moms." :)
I like how they took time to set things up for the final episodes (as it beautifully pays off in the next episode). They didn't feel compelled to ram in more 'shocking' moments after 'Five Years Later'. This is a nice slow episode going into the home stretch.
yeah, as greg beeman (who directed "landslide") said, the last 3 eps were basically 3 acts of the last "heroes" story for the season.
(though as i did mention in my review, if next season, they can cut down on the total number of characters, that would help immensely, i think.)
so, what do you think of the idea for "heroes: origins"?
it's a nice way of avoiding re-runs, i'll say that much. i just hope the characters they intro are interesting. (of course, if more than one of them are interesting, it'll be difficult to make a vote on it. and it could end up a popularity contest, ala idol.)
at any rate, one cannot argue with 30 heroes hours next season! and the roundabout announcement that there will be a season3.
ya-hoo!
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