Five-Legged Iguana

HEROES Season 1 Episode 18 (WARNING: SPOILERS)
“Parasite”

That is such an evil cliffhanger to leave us with for five weeks! Evil!!!
Not only is HRG in a whole heap’a trouble, but Mo’s stuck to the ceiling, and Peter’s getting his head sliced open by Sylar…
But hey, there’s all that good stuff too.
I’ve loved Mrs. B and Mrs. P since the get-go, but this episode just cements the deal. Finally, HRG lets Mrs. B in on the secret, and she doesn’t cave. Finally, he’s got an ally close to home. But given that Thompson’s on to him, I gotta wonder if maybe Mrs. B is in some hot water too.
And Mrs. P. Bosom buddies with the Haitian. Who’d’a thunk? And that scene between Claire and Mrs. P (or should that be Grandma P?). This is brilliant television, people!
All that and Ando’s back! (Of course, he and Hiro are in post-explosion NY, but hey, at least Hiro’s teleporting again. And he’s taking passengers now!)
There’s also a new b*tch on the block, in the (ever-)shifting form of Stick It’s Missy Peregrym. Jury’s still out on whether I’m happy with this new character or not.
What I am stoked about in terms of new additions to the cast is Malcolm freakin’ McDowell as Mr. Linderman! And he cooks too!
Just as I’m curious what Mrs. P is up to chit-chatting with the Haitian, I’m also wondering what Linderman’s game really is. Linderman knows a lot. And he’s got Felicity’s Javier (Ian Gomez) as a curator. And did I mention? He cooks!
Man, this is such a cool TV show.

Parting shot: Tim Kring indicates that “[Heroes is] a little more the 24 model than the Lost model.” Interesting choice, that. To make each season a self-contained story, adding new characters to the sprawling global phenomenon of people discovering they are now no longer as ordinary as they’d once thought.
I think there’s a certain sense of security that this kind of template gives to the audience, who can look forward to a story with a beginning, middle, and end, each season, as opposed to a serialized story that continues from one season to the next. It also affords the show’s writers fresh avenues to explore with each new season.
Of course, the trick here would be to ensure that the new characters to be introduced are just as interesting as the original group are (or were, as the show’s creative team seems to imply there may be at least one more death before episode 23 comes to its conclusion).
Well, all in good time. 5 weeks, then 5 more episodes.

Till then,
Are you on the list?