What aunt_zelda Thinks: V5 Premiere (Double issue!)
Linkara updated today … *sighs dreamily* Harvey Finevoice totally needs his own show. Or Linkara could just wear a suit more often. That would be cool too.
Oh, right, Heroes!
(For those of you who don’t know, I review Heroes episodes in a vaguely TWoP way: recapping and snarking as I watch the episode, so if I make silly observations, don’t point and laugh, I’m just pausing the video and typing my thoughts.)
When we last left our vaguely-intrepid heroes, no less than three strong female characters were killed off, continuity was royally screwed, we underwent several Broken Base phases, and Bryan Fuller had rejoined the show to voracious applause only to jump-ship sometime in June. As Bryan Fuller is known for creating beloved quirky shows that invariably get the ax, some may see this as a good sign. I, however, would like to point out that at least Mr. Fuller stayed with those shows that got the ax until the bittersweet end, and has, to date, jumped-ship from this show twice.
On the upside, I have high hopes for this season!
*settles down to review the TWO HOUR PREMIERE WOOHOO*
Orientation:
I don’t like watching Heroes on nbc.com. I prefer it to squinting and fighting with my antennae, as I have for the past several years, but nbc.com is annoying sometimes.
Oooo, desert! Volume 5: Redemption … ooooo? *shrugs*
An … (Irish?) guy talks about him and his brother Joseph (who is, presumably, the one currently in the box in the ground) to a bunch of people in black and chef’s pants. Despite the lack of dust clouds and bulldozers, I’m flashing back to the HBO pilot of Carnivale.
Then, suddenly, to Possibly-Irish-Man’s-Dulcet-Tones (I sincerely hope that he’s the new Heroes Narrator!) we flash back to Peter standing on top of that building in NYC, way back in S1. *sniffles* I miss those days of good writing, clever lighting, and believable characterization. Newrator slips in some Mohinder-quotes while we see recaps of Claire and Sylar and Matt and Tracey, and then some new establishing clips of Claire with a box on a college campus, HRG spinning his wedding ring on a table, and Matt holding Oswald (aka: his son, Matt, whom I renamed ‘Oswald’ last year due to the annoyance of having to type out ‘Baby!Matt’ or ‘Matt’s son, Matt’ or ‘Matt … the baby, not the goofy man.’ The child shall still be referred to as Oswald in these recaps.)
Newrator says that his Nakama (the carnies) offer salvation and redemption for others with abilities. Kinda like Professer Xavier’s School, but on the move. We see more new scenes, of a ragged, bloodied Sylar with a scraggly beard (yum!) running staggering out of some bushes, Tracey seeing … someone, and Peter rushing a gurney down a hospital hallway.
Newrator says that everyone (the heroes and villains, presumably) will find their way ‘home’ (re: to the carnies Nakama) and that it’s time for them all (re: the Nakama) to go home, whilst looking at this compass before tossing it into the grave.
I’m confused, but it’s a good confusion. It may wear off into annoyance if this ‘going home’ vauge-ness continues for more than three episodes, but whatever!
Some of the women cry, including a pretty one with a tattoo on her neck. I want the Newrator’s coat. The Newrator looks sad and husks “Fine your way home, brother” and then CLOSES THE EARTH OVER THE COFFIN. *jawdrop* OH MY GOD HE’S AN EARTHBENDER! COOL!
The circus folk head back to the carnival, and I won’t describe them all because I have no way of knowing which will become significant later on, but I have a feeling the younger man in the Ninth Doctor’s Submarine Coat and the Old Man with the Oxygen Tank he’s helping along might become important later.
Heroeclipse! God, I’ve missed this old thing! *squees* Did they change things a little bit at the end, with snow?
Claire heads up some stairs, and the chapter title ‘Orientation’ is written on the wall, curving slightly. Cool. That honestly never gets old for me. Unless it’s on a bodybag. *growls*
Claire has a disgustingly perky, unintentionally bitchy roommate who has nice lamps strung over her bed. And a trajectory for her life. And snubs Claire for getting a GED (like Harry Dresden OMG!) and then DISSES THE BEARS. Oh no she di’nt! Claude gave her those bears! This roommate has got to go!
(By the way, loving how Claire, like Buffy, gets an annoying and perky roommate when she goes to college.)
Hey, Japan! And … Ando and Hiro are on an add on a building. We zoom into a building with two Apple laptops and the slogan ‘Dial a Hero!’ subtitled behind them. Awwwww. They help the helpless! Well, they would be, if they were getting any calls. Note to self: cardboard cutouts of yourself do not a good business plan make. Hiro pulls out a picture that depicts, as Ando calls it ‘the Night of the Slushy Incident’ when he spilled his drink all over Kimiko’s new dress. From that moment on, she started hating Ando and still thinks of him as an idiot, despite Ando loving her. (Hey, I seem to remember a certain GN where you saved her from some badass bikers with LIGHTSABERS …) Ando laments that she thinks of him as an idiot, which Hiro denies … and then Kimiko storms in and yells “IDIOTS!” in Japanese. I love Kimiko. Have I mentioned that enough? I haven’t. Because SHE. IS. BADASS.
She is mad that Hiro and Ando are sitting here while she does Hiro’s job and protects the assets of the company (but not THE Company … I hope) and increases shareholder value and stuff. She then lays the blame on ‘Dial a Hero’ on Ando, even though this is clearly Hiro’s idea, as anyone who knows Hiro could tell you. Kimiko forbids spending another yen on this idea, ‘putting her foot down’ and storms out.
I now know how to say ‘bar graph’ in Japanese! Just like ‘yogurt’ and ‘father’ ‘I did it’ and ‘cool.’ This show teaches me words I will probably never use in Japan. Hurray!
Ando laments that Kimiko hating him all started ‘at the carnival.’ Hrrrrm … I smell a plot twist!
Then, the boys get a call! Their first client! Awwwww! Squee!
NYC, night. Peter and his EMT Arabic buddy from last volume’s pilot respond to a call, but traffic’s all blocked up and they’re twelve blocks away. Peter says he’s going to ‘hoof it’ and says he knows a shortcut. I think we all know where this is going …
True to prediction, Peter uses his superpowered parkour to get through an alley and respond to the emergency call. A car has crashed into a cab. He pulls the door off the car and says “Hey, I’m here to rescue you” to a woman in shock. In … medical shock, not shock that he pulled the door off, because I don’t think she was able to register that.
Claire in college. She tries to avoid her roomie and fails, Hayden making these hilarious cringe-movements, but gamely sits beside Annoying-Girl and endures her ‘this isn’t a competition or anything, it’s about sisterhood!’ yatterings.
The professor pulls down a large equation for the class to solve in 45 minutes. From Claire’s widened, terrified eyes - a look I know all to well, having exhibited it myself for many years before I was graced by a good math teacher - she has no idea of how to proceed.
The professor is reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a book I got for my birthday this summer. BAHAHAHAHAHA! *ahem* It’s been a while since Heroes made me laugh out loud that loud. *smiles*
Claire is sweating, and asks if this is a joke. Roomie giggles “I know, it’s so easy!” Claire dreams that two snipers hit her with tranq guns, and then leaves the class.
At the hospital, EMT buddy thinks that Peter should be a little happier, having saved not only the woman’s life, but the lives of her the two twins she just delivered. Peter seems to be taking easy-angst pills, and has that whole ‘tired anti-hero sees only more people to save’ thing going on. Sure enough, Peter says that if he hadn’t been there thirty seconds earlier, the woman and her babies would be dead, and he needs to be faster. EMT buddy is incredulous, saying that if he were religious, Peter’s speed would be a miracle. He tries to get Peter to remember that there’s life outside the hospital, and asks him to come with a group going to ‘Hula Hands’ later on. Peter laughs, recognizing the name of the club, but declines, going off to take on other shifts.
Japan back-alley. Workers and cardboard boxes hustle about while steam billows. An adorable little girls says “Muffin Man is stuck!” and points up at the roof where a cute cat meows from a shelf. HEE. HEE. HEE.
Hiro gets Ando to climb up and rescue the cat. He does, but no sooner does the little girl cry out ‘He doesn’t like strangers!’ then the cat scratches Ando and both fall to the ground. Hiro stops time. YAY!
Washington D.C. Angela is calling Noah, telling him that Tracey is on a revenge spree, killing off the remnants of last season’s plot … I mean, the He-Men-Mutant-Hater’s-Club … I mean … former Building 26 employees. (Has she killed Asian Bob yet?! I certainly hope not! Asian Bob was my favorite!) Angela wants Noah to stop ‘dragging his feet’ and kill Tracey before Tracey gets to Nathlar. (Sythan? Sylar-who-thinks-that-he’s-Nathan? Whatever, it’s stupid and I hate it.) I’m loving how gray and drab Noah’s room is, while Angela is looking very Sin City with her black clothes, pale tablecloth, and RED roses at her table. Dayum, Christine Rose can act! I’d forgotten how intense she could get … and making Jack Coleman her scene partner was one of the only good things to come out of S3.
Noah, dropping his Genre Savy card on the way, stupidly goes into a parking garage and gets into his car. Bad things happen in parking garages, people. TERRIBLE things. In real life and TV. I can’t believe Noah Bennet, HRG, parked in one of those deathtraps!
Anyways, the car engine doesn’t start, water starts spewing from the vents, and ice freezes over the doors. I yelped. I shrieked into my hands. You did too. Don’t deny it.
After the commercial break (annoying annoying annoying!) Noah struggles uselessly for a few more seconds (great work, special effects people!) until someone shoots out his window from the outside. He slides out, gasping, and his HRGs float away from him. Symbolism? *cocks eyebrow* Noah puts on his glasses and gazes up at A Person holding The Gun, and for a wild and crazy and wonderful moment I thought it was Claude.
Of course, it isn’t, it’s Danko. Dammit. I don’t like Danko. I don’t think he likes me, either. He’s mildly annoyed, as he shattered Tracey into a million pieces. I love how nonchalant and collected he is compared to the sopping HRG, who is loosing control of his life and just wants to see his daughter on her first day of College. How many of those snazzy suits does he have, anyway?
The ensuing scene is not one of their best. Bad angles that repeat. Danko wants HRG to join him in Tracey hunting season, HRG wants to leave his bagging-and-tagging-and-killing days behind him and start anew, Danko mocks him for growing a conscience, Danko leaves, HRG observes some water slithering into a drain … it’s not very good. I wanted some wall-slamming, or at least someone slamming someone against the car. No such luck. No tension, just information exchanging setting us up for later developments.
College campus. Some girl who looks like a grown-up Amanda from Buffy hits on Claire. Well, she doesn’t really hit on her, but it certainly looks like that to me. I like how she doesn’t look like a model, more like a gawky off-goth girl. *beams* She’s from Austin TX, and knows Claire Bennet from the Homecoming Murder story. Claire’s S1 music plays and Claire says she wants to keep that on the down low, and Gretchen (that’s her name) suggests that Claire change her name to hide from the urban-legend infamy. Claire says that she did for a while, but changed it back because she wanted to be Claire Bennet again. She and Gretchen exchange awkward goodbyes, with Gretchen looking wistfully after Claire. I know the feeling honey, I know the feeling. *sighs* Never did tell That Summer Girl how I feel about her …
We pan past Japanese looking people staying very, very still. Good work, extras! Hiro saves Ando and the cat, and the little girl is joyous, saying “Dial a Hero is the best! I’m going to tell everyone!” but then she and Ando discover that Hiro is kinda … frozen. Rut-row!
Cut to Angela in the Sushi place Noah was in earlier. Nathlar comes in … but he looks like Sylar and just acts like Nathan! Angela looks freaked … and then she wakes up. Yeesh. Poor lady. The car door opens, and Alfred - yay, an extra with a name! - says that they’re here … at the Sushi place. Angela goes inside, looking tense, and then Nathlar comes in … but he stays looking like Nathan. Adrian Pasdar in a suit … yum. *purrs* Oh, then we cut to a while later, and he’s taken off his jacket! SQUEE! *fans self* Waistcoat … *drools* (Yes, this is about as coherent as you’re going to get me in this scene, but old readers have come to accept this.)
Nathlar wonders aloud if he likes Sushi. Angela struggles to keep her cool as Nathlar says that he’s noticing a lot of changing within him and feels like when he looks back at his life it’s not his. Nathlar says that he hasn’t been a good father, son, or brother, and calls himself ‘a jackass.’ HEE. *kicks self* He says he’s going to change all that. Angela looks alarmed, which means that her eyebrows move about a fraction of a hair upwards. She tries to sell Nathlar’s strange feelings as a mid-life crisis, but that usually means a guy starts cheating and buys a shiny red car, and Nathan had the former covered in S1. Angela then suggests that he buy himself a sportscar and start going out with a hot young thing, which is apparently what Arthur Petrelli (GRRRRR! ARRRRRGH! DAMN YOU ARTHUR PETRELLI!!! YOU KILLED MY FAVORITE CHARACTER YOU JERKASS!) did. Huh? Did I miss a wild and crazy affair somewhere? Well, there was that thing with Linderman …
Moving on!
It’s clearly killing Angela to look at the man who killed her son, trapped in her son’s body. Christine Rose sells that with her eyes in three seconds alone.
In LA, Oswald (played by a different toddler, but that’s ok) hangs out as Matt scrambles for the phone. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Janice, though I hate her, has a sweet orange couch that I want dreadfully. Angela is calling Matt. I love how she still calls him ‘Detective Parkman.’ She wants him to patch Nathlar up, but Matt refuses, saying that he’s done with all that and admitting to seeing things since mind raping Sylar. (Oh, like seeing African!Isaac all of V4 wasn’t visions enough for ya, Matt?) Angela says that there is not ‘out’ for people like them, but Matt says Nathlar is her problem, glances at Oswald, lowers his voice, and hangs up.
In DC. Nathlar TKs a tacky mug of coffee over to his desk. He looks so much like Sylar it’s scary. Then he just looks scared, like a guy who randomly made an object slide over to him with his mind. Personally I’d jump up and down, but that’s just me. He gets up from his chair and looks even more scared, then sits down and makes some hand motions, trying to do it again. Doesn’t work, he sighs, pulls his hand back … and then shoots blue sparks from between his fingers. He jumps, and the music hypes up, and it even scared me! Then again, I do scare easy … but that was a nice, easy, creepy moment.
Claire walks in on Annie Annoying Roomie chattering away at Noah, who is sitting in a chair and looking like the victim of a particularly brutal interrogation. And I would know, because I’ve seen many such interrogations on this very show, with Noah as the receiver or administrator. His relieved look as Claire enters and he leaps to his feet is hysterical. Annie the Annoying leaves, and Noah and Claire have a sweet scene. These two actors really sell the father-daughter relationship. Makes me smile.
Sullivan Bros. Carnival! Night. The Tattoo lady slinks over to a tent, brushes her long blondish hair over her boobs because this isn’t actually Carnivale and isn’t on HBO, takes off her red robe, and sits backwards on a chair, so that Newrator (calling him ‘the Ringmaster’ or ‘Mr. Sexypants #542’ seems too easy) can stick some ink onto her pretty back and show him (and us) the face of Danko. Apparently Tattoo-Lady’s name is ‘Lidia’ and this is her power: creating tattoos and getting information out of them. How the hell did she figure that one out?! You can’t exactly fling out your arm and yell ‘web!’ for a power like that. Newrator is hot. Very sexy. With this slightly-open shirt and a vest and these silly little glasses and that voice and … ahem. This man could save the show all by himself.
Guy-With-Submarine-Captain-Coat (Edgar) comes up and is asked by Newrator (whose name is Samuel, for those of you who wanted to know) to go do something. Edgar winces almost completely inwardly and asks if it isn’t someone else’s turn, but Newrator insists. Edgar asks about Samuel’s speech this morning about redemption, and Samuel says that he left out the bit about ‘vengeance.’ Ooooooo … I like where this is going veeeeeery much …
Then Edgar and Samuel have a very good, very slashy, very scary, incredibly well-done scene. Edgar says that he’s only killed when he absolutely needed to. Samuel wants him to get the compass back and kill ‘that son of a bitch’ (aka: Danko, re: Samuel is my new favorite character) and adds that “it’s what Joseph would have wanted.” Edgar says the dreaded “Joseph isn’t here anymore” and gets his arm slammed onto the table and injected with some magical mutant tattoo ink that slides up his arm, up his chest, and forms a hand that half-strangles him. Eeeeeeew! Cooooooool! Eeeeeeew! Cooooool! ‘I find your lack of faith disturbing’: Heroes version! Samuel lets the hand thing vanish (or it wears out, whatever, still eeeew/cool!) and husks that he won’t ask Edgar to do this again after this last job. Lidia doesn’t look the least bit concerned about these proceedings. Edgar staggers off, and we’re left with a great shot of Lidia in the chair, Samuel with his back to us, and Edgar heading off towards the glowing Carnival lights. *purrs* Haven’t seen set-ups this good since S1!
Sushi place. Noah is at a table … and then Tracey sits down next to him. “I thought I’d be the one who got away” Noah quips. “No,” Tracey says “You’re just number five.” I got chills, right there, and I am aware of the irony. Noah says that five is his lucky number, and asks, almost cutely, if it’s still lucky. “I haven’t decided yet.” Tracey breaths, sipping tea from a cup (or sake, but I’m not sure.) And here I was thinking that Jessica was the only menacing one! Noah asks how she went from shattered to alive again, and Tracey looses her cool (sorry, these come too easy!) and hisses that she felt herself shatter, and then all the little pieces of herself came back together with one thought: killing all of the Building 26-ers. Noah says he doesn’t think she’s a killer. Tracey says that yes, she is, he took everything else away from her! Ouch. Noah says that he could get Danko to ignore her, and Tracey asks why Noah would help her. Noah says that after twenty years of ‘bagging and tagging’ he never helped (here he stutters, obviously thinking of Claire) any of the heroes or villains. “Maybe we’re both looking for redemption” he says. I think Claude would like to have some words with you about that, Noah. Emphasized by several whacks with the Teaching Stick. But I digress … I’m loving the return of the Blue Lighting. REALLY loving it. Noah chugs his little cup of whatever and asks if they have a deal. Tracey snits “You wish it was that easy” and stalks out. Noah sighs. He really needs a fedora, and perhaps a Detective monologue. This would be a good place for it.
Instead we fade to another scene, in a really really dark room, where HRG is waiting for Danko. He tries to convince Danko to forget Tracey and take a ‘permanent vacation’ (the actual kind, not the mobster kind) away. Danko doesn’t accept, but HRG says that not accepting is ‘unacceptable’ and that Danko will forget about Tracey … whether he wants to or not. The camera pans around, and we see THE HAITAIN OMG IS STANDING RIGHT BEHIND DANKO OH MY GOD I LOVE HIS SHOW ALL OVER AGAIN. Yes, I screamed. Scared the cat. Geez! Danko turns, the Haitian grabs his forehead, and all is well in the Heroes verse again.
Nathlar calls Peter, who we see arriving home, at what I think is a new, teensy apartment. Peter ignores Nathlar’s pleas for help, and tacks up an article about the pregnant woman he saved to the wall. Kinda an eerie callback to Sylar’s original apartment, which had serial-killer articles tacked to the walls.
Danko arrives at home, Tracey stands in the doorway after him, but he’s forgotten her and she figures out what HRG did for her. Danko hears Edgar inside and has an offscreen confrontation with him, about the compass and having taken it and them never being able to find it etc., Tracey eavesdrops, then hears slicing noises and rushes inside to see Edgar moving super-fast and slicing at Danko with a pair of kukri knives (that are, incidentally in my D&D Player’s Handbook and thus I recognized them, being a total geek.) Danko falls to the floor, Edgar notices Tracey, and the budget for this season is spent in a super-cool scene where Edgar moves super-fast and slices at Tracey, but only water comes out. He even slices her face off, but it regenerates. Cool! And then she grabs his wrist, freezing it, so he drops one of his knives and it shatters, and then he flees. Danko appears to be dead. I’m … so upset? *and there was much rejoicing*
At a party, lots of stuff is going on. Annie the Annoying is beating people at Guitar Hero. Claire makes a beeline for Gretchen, and they play Guitar Hero together, neither knowing how to play and generally having a good time. Awwww. And there was much squeeing from me because I really hope Gretchen is gay and stresses about telling Claire, and that leads Claire to become introspective and maybe discover that she likes girls and … I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I? And lo, Claire and Gretchen did vanquish Annie the Annoying with their major Guitar Hero fail, and it was adorable!
Ando sneaks Hiro - tied to a moving wheelie thing - through the office, past Kimiko, past the Kensei armor from S2, and into Dial a Hero’s headquarters. Hiro wakes up, thankfully, but he has A Nosebleed. And those of you who, like me, watch Lost, know what that means. Ando insists that Hiro see a doctor, and Hiro wearily says that he already has, and that the news isn’t good: he’s dying. I suspected this was going to happen, and yet still I’m wibbling over here. *squeak* I may cry. A lot. Ando suggests going back in time to change everything, and that there must be one specific time when this all happened. Hiro pegs it at ‘that night’ at the Carnival in the picture, holding it up. Hiro and Ando argue a bit about changing or not changing the past, and how it all hinges (apparently) on Hiro getting the fortune ‘you will be a powerful hero’ at the Carnival. Then Hiro unwillingly (or not) zips back to that night at the Carnival. (Geez, this recap is getting long. I’m enjoying every minute, but still …) He’s shocked that he time traveled to14 years ago.
Present day, Samuel gets the info that Hiro was at the Carnival 14 years ago via Lidia’s sexy back. He then goes over to Old Man With Oxygen Tank, who asks if they’re really going to stop someone or something that starts with an ‘m’ that I can’t hear. Samuel says yes, and asks Old Man to send him back 14. Old Man says he can do that.
Claire arrives back at her room, sees no roommate, peeks out the open window and … sees that Annie the Annoying is not Annie the Dead. I yelped. I certainly wasn’t expecting that of all things! Yeesh!
We get a sequence of scenes between Matt and Nathlar. Then suddenly Sylar (actual Sylar!!!) is in LA, holing a crying Oswald, and saying “I want my body back.” YEEK!
After the commercial, Sylar bounces Oswald and asks “Can you say ‘freaking out?’” *sporfles* Oh, Sylar, I’ve missed you. He’s angry at Matt. Is he a Head!Six or what? I dunno, but then Janice comes in and it turns out that Sylar was an illusion … for now. I don’t like Janice. Next scene!
Noah grapples with a smoke detector. Just when I thought I couldn’t pity him any more. Last time he was onscreen, he was HRG: MIB. Now he’s Noah: Divorcee and woobie. He has some cornflakes for dinner. In his suit. Have we ever seen him in anything but a suit (and prison slacks?) Noah phones home, but a man answers. He’s shocked, thinking that he called the wrong number, and asks for Sandra, and the man says that she’s there and calls Sandra over to the phone. *jawdrop* I’m not mad at Sandra or anything, I’m happy that she’s doing what she’s doing, but the look on Noah’s face kills me. *hugs him* Tracey calls him over to Danko’s apartment, which is off of a Shadowy Corridor full of Ominous Music and Green Paint. He sees Danko’s body on the floor, and Tracey sitting in a chair. “I didn’t do it.” she says.
Back in time, Hiro is horrified and tries to go home. Then he taps himself on the shoulder and he takes his own picture. Hee. He sees this as a test, and refuses to try and change things and squints, trying to go home, and fails. Samuel from Our Time offers him a chance in Japanese (hot!) and then addresses Hiro in English, calling him by his own name. Hiro is shocked and asks “Do I know you?” which is just what he asked himself a few minutes ago. Samuel gives his name and says that he thinks they’re going to be ‘great friends.’ Yeah, that’s what Kensadam said too …
Annie the Annoying is now a chalk outline on the concrete, and Claire is being interviewed by one of those female police officers in fiction who are always snarky, annoying, and ignore crucial evidence so our hero can look like … well, a hero. Claire insists that there was no suicide note when she entered the room, yet there’s on in an evidence bag. Huh …
Kimiko demands to know where her brother is. Ando tells the truth, and she’s all ‘why do I even bother with you sci-fi geeks?’ and leaves. So … Kaito didn’t fill her in on the whole superpowers thing? Weird …
In the past, Samuel is awesome.
Ok ok, he has a spinning compass tattoo on his arm (cool! So, he earthbends AND bestows magical tattoos to people? Buwuh? I’M CONFUSED! AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY ANYMORE!) He toys with his lip cutely as Hiro explains that he can’t interfere, because of the Butterfly Effect and if he interferes now he won’t become a master of Time and Space or Save the Cheerleader, and then New York will explode! Samuel clearly had no idea of what he was getting himself into and though he had a B-level hero at the MOST on his hands, not Hiro Nakamura, possible Future Badass. He has ratty black nailpolish. Then he leaps over the counter, making Masi Oka jump a little. HEE. (Oh my god, Samuel is Graverobber! SQUEE!) He tosses a ball at those stacked milkbottles, taking out one and leaving the stack mostly the same, to emphasize that you can squish some butterflies. He wheedles the ‘spilling the slurpy on Kimiko’s dress’ thing and literally drags and SHOVES Hiro into changing the past. I like this man. He’s a Mover. He’s gonna make all kinds of cool stuff happen. He pursues his goal without thinking about human factors. Samuel is going to be very, very dangerous.
Hiro zaps back to the present. Ando insists that nothing has changed, then Kimiko comes in to charge Hiro rent for the ‘Dial a Hero’ office. Hiro leaves, and Ando murmurs ‘Kimmy-chan’ which was a big red flag for me, because I’m a nerd. Kimiko puts a hand on his chest, and then they KISS! Hiro yelps “Yatta!” while his sister and friend look confuzzled, and I squee. Awwww!
Tracey and HRG talk. Tracey talks about Edgar being so fast that he’s “one of us …” then amends “one of me.” Naaaaw. HRG figures out what I dreaded: Edgar was looking for something INSIDE Danko. He puts a plastic baggie over his hand and fishes out a key. Say it with me now: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW!
Matt is cute with Oswald and annoyed at how familiar the water guy is with Janice. Even going so far as to call her ‘Janice.’ Hooboy, back away slowly, Water-Cooler Boy, Matt has a gun and psychic powers!
Hey, Matt, ever stop to think that not using your powers is like not using a muscle or one of your senses or denying that you’re gay when you are or something? As in, it’s unhealthy and will have bad ramifications if you aren’t being yourself? Just sayin’ …
Peter’s apartment. It’s poorly lit. HRG shows up for a talk. Peter offers him something to drink: water or … mustard. Hee. Peter explains that he’s using his agility power to make up for the sins of everyone else. HRG (actually I think that this is Noah) says that that’s a heavy burden for one guy, and Peter anti-heroes that away. HRG thinks that Edgar will be waiting at the safe for whoever shows up with the key, and wants a partner because Edgar is super fast. Peter asks “How fast?” Heh.
Yay, Sandra! Nice orange sweater! I like Claire’s new haircut! Gretchen thinks Annie the Annoying’s death was murder. She asks Claire how they’re going to prove that. Huh …
Noah shares some sage advice about how living alone isn’t healthy. Peter may or may not ignore it. They open the safe. Inside is a compass … that’s broken. I assume it’s Joseph’s. The bank person opens the door, but it’s one of those dead-man-puppet things and Edgar is behind him. He husks “That doesn’t belong to you.” and brandishes his knife.
Superfight! This episode’s action and special effects totally make up for the major suck that was the Season 3 finale. Peter empaths Edgar’s power, and a really cool, really weird, swooshy fight follows. Edgar once again flees to fight another day. I’m sensing a recurring theme here …
Bank guy is still breathing (yay!) and Peter rescues him.
Apparently the compass only works for people with powers (but Peter and HRG think it only works for Peter.) Does it lead to a jar of dirt? *sporfles* Sorry, had to be said …
Peter doesn’t want in on HRG’s wild and crazy schemes, but he’ll come through in the end. He claims that he only went on the mission to get the speed power so he could save more lives. HRG says goodbye, and he and Peter shake hands. HRG calls over his shoulder “call your mother!” Hee.
Gretchen is morbid. And drives one of those boxy cars that Car Talk are always recommending. And has big boobs. I mean, wowza! They make a reference to Crossing Jordan, which is cute because I think Tim Kring did that show before Heroes or something.) There’s this test that you do by tossing a dummy to see if the person really jumped or was pushed, and Gretchen wants to try that on their own.
Matt is in a drug recovery group. This is an interesting twist! I approve of this plotline for Matt, I have hated pretty much all of his previous plotlines! Then Sylar stumbles in. Now, that’s just rude!
“Hi, my name is Sylar,” Sylar drawls, striding through the circle “It’s been about six weeks since I last saw my body.” he gets all up-close and personal to Matt. “And I want it back!” he snarls. Poor Matt tries to stagger on and ends up yelling at what looks like an empty chair, coming off as schizophrenic, which is never good. Zachary Quinto acts the hell out of this scene. *applauds*
Hiro decides that his mission is to un-do his past wrongs. Because of him bumping into Ando, Ando spilled slushy on Kimiko and she hated him. By changing that, Kimiko and Ando are now together. Hiro rushes off excitedly with his slightly-stained shirt. HEE. *sniffles*
Matt goes into interrogate Some Suit, but then Sylar wheels into frame. “I get it: you are the good cop … how ironic!” HEE. Hee hee hee …
It must be so hard for the actors in these scenes to have to ignore Zachary Quinto slinking around them like a lapdancer and acting his little heart out.
Sylar goads Matt into throwing a chair at him, which terrifies the suspect enough to reveal the name of his dealer. Matt’s partner storms in, apparently not pleased.
Peter and his EMT buddy share some Clam Chowdah from Boston. Hee. Peter zips out to an accident … which happens to be Noah, sliced up by Edgar. OH NOES! Noah gasps out “He took the compass …”
I hope it leads to Claude. *crosses arms and sulks*
Dizzying recap bird’s eye view of NYC. *reels* Oh, HRG’s ok, just in the hospital because of the knife-wounds. Not dead or dying. *heaves a sigh of relief* Tracey comes to visit him. I love how cutesy and awkward she can be while still being badass and menacing. Noah doesn’t know if he’ll pursue Edgar, he prefers the ‘old way’ of ‘one of us, one of them’ and doesn’t like the new, dangerous way of Badass Normal vs. the X-Men. Tracey suggests that perhaps Edgar is like her, just out to get his life back together, and that maybe HRG should be about helping the mutants instead of trying to stop them. Good point, girl! HRG just wanted some company and apparently he and Sandra are officially divorced. I gathered that from his behavior in this episode, but hearing it still cut me hard. *wibbles*
HRG and Tracey share some Clam Chowdah. Huh …
Matt comes home to Roy in his home, with his wife and kid … and then does Something Awful. He mind melds Roy into asking for a new route and never stopping by the house ever again. YEESH! Matt, I thought you left all this Sith Lord nonsense behind! *headdesks* Nooooooo …
Claire wakes up and just decides to jump out the window. As you do … (or hopefully, as you don’t! Suicide is not the answer, kids!) Way to get your DNA all over the crime scene, Claire-bear …
Oh dear. Apparently Gretchen saw Claire get up from the fall. Dear oh dear … their cute weak waves are nice, though …
Back at the Carnival, Edgar hands Samuel the compass. He says he met an Empath. Samuel is intrigued. (Hey, Claude did recognize Peter as an Empath … there’s more out there!) Edgar says that Lidia told him that Samuel found ‘another time traveler’ to ‘replace’ Old Guy. Samuel says he doesn’t like the word ‘replace.’ “You can’t replace family” he says, putting on his sexy specs. Edgar mistakes Hiro for Chinese. “Japanese” Samuel corrects, earning my love once more. That’s, what, five times this episode he’s won my fangirl heart? That’s pretty impressive, even for a Heroes character! He says that he put Hiro on “a righteous path” but that he’ll ‘retutn’ to the Carnival again. Edgar asks what’s next.
Samuel gives Lidia more ink. We see Claire, Sylar, and Peter appear.
“We gather the rest.”
Next Week:
Claire and Gretchen argue. HRG says they need to use the Haitian on Gretchen. People think that Peter is causing the accidents himself. Tracey goes back to the governor … in a towel. Samuel wants someone to isolate Claire. Nathlar is getting out of control. Peter is visited by S1 Hito. Matt is listening to Head!Sylar and it’s getting very bad indeed.
Hey, Heroes has changed its timeslot … interesting …
Oh, right, Heroes!
(For those of you who don’t know, I review Heroes episodes in a vaguely TWoP way: recapping and snarking as I watch the episode, so if I make silly observations, don’t point and laugh, I’m just pausing the video and typing my thoughts.)
When we last left our vaguely-intrepid heroes, no less than three strong female characters were killed off, continuity was royally screwed, we underwent several Broken Base phases, and Bryan Fuller had rejoined the show to voracious applause only to jump-ship sometime in June. As Bryan Fuller is known for creating beloved quirky shows that invariably get the ax, some may see this as a good sign. I, however, would like to point out that at least Mr. Fuller stayed with those shows that got the ax until the bittersweet end, and has, to date, jumped-ship from this show twice.
On the upside, I have high hopes for this season!
*settles down to review the TWO HOUR PREMIERE WOOHOO*
Orientation:
I don’t like watching Heroes on nbc.com. I prefer it to squinting and fighting with my antennae, as I have for the past several years, but nbc.com is annoying sometimes.
Oooo, desert! Volume 5: Redemption … ooooo? *shrugs*
An … (Irish?) guy talks about him and his brother Joseph (who is, presumably, the one currently in the box in the ground) to a bunch of people in black and chef’s pants. Despite the lack of dust clouds and bulldozers, I’m flashing back to the HBO pilot of Carnivale.
Then, suddenly, to Possibly-Irish-Man’s-Dulcet-Tones (I sincerely hope that he’s the new Heroes Narrator!) we flash back to Peter standing on top of that building in NYC, way back in S1. *sniffles* I miss those days of good writing, clever lighting, and believable characterization. Newrator slips in some Mohinder-quotes while we see recaps of Claire and Sylar and Matt and Tracey, and then some new establishing clips of Claire with a box on a college campus, HRG spinning his wedding ring on a table, and Matt holding Oswald (aka: his son, Matt, whom I renamed ‘Oswald’ last year due to the annoyance of having to type out ‘Baby!Matt’ or ‘Matt’s son, Matt’ or ‘Matt … the baby, not the goofy man.’ The child shall still be referred to as Oswald in these recaps.)
Newrator says that his Nakama (the carnies) offer salvation and redemption for others with abilities. Kinda like Professer Xavier’s School, but on the move. We see more new scenes, of a ragged, bloodied Sylar with a scraggly beard (yum!) running staggering out of some bushes, Tracey seeing … someone, and Peter rushing a gurney down a hospital hallway.
Newrator says that everyone (the heroes and villains, presumably) will find their way ‘home’ (re: to the carnies Nakama) and that it’s time for them all (re: the Nakama) to go home, whilst looking at this compass before tossing it into the grave.
I’m confused, but it’s a good confusion. It may wear off into annoyance if this ‘going home’ vauge-ness continues for more than three episodes, but whatever!
Some of the women cry, including a pretty one with a tattoo on her neck. I want the Newrator’s coat. The Newrator looks sad and husks “Fine your way home, brother” and then CLOSES THE EARTH OVER THE COFFIN. *jawdrop* OH MY GOD HE’S AN EARTHBENDER! COOL!
The circus folk head back to the carnival, and I won’t describe them all because I have no way of knowing which will become significant later on, but I have a feeling the younger man in the Ninth Doctor’s Submarine Coat and the Old Man with the Oxygen Tank he’s helping along might become important later.
Heroeclipse! God, I’ve missed this old thing! *squees* Did they change things a little bit at the end, with snow?
Claire heads up some stairs, and the chapter title ‘Orientation’ is written on the wall, curving slightly. Cool. That honestly never gets old for me. Unless it’s on a bodybag. *growls*
Claire has a disgustingly perky, unintentionally bitchy roommate who has nice lamps strung over her bed. And a trajectory for her life. And snubs Claire for getting a GED (like Harry Dresden OMG!) and then DISSES THE BEARS. Oh no she di’nt! Claude gave her those bears! This roommate has got to go!
(By the way, loving how Claire, like Buffy, gets an annoying and perky roommate when she goes to college.)
Hey, Japan! And … Ando and Hiro are on an add on a building. We zoom into a building with two Apple laptops and the slogan ‘Dial a Hero!’ subtitled behind them. Awwwww. They help the helpless! Well, they would be, if they were getting any calls. Note to self: cardboard cutouts of yourself do not a good business plan make. Hiro pulls out a picture that depicts, as Ando calls it ‘the Night of the Slushy Incident’ when he spilled his drink all over Kimiko’s new dress. From that moment on, she started hating Ando and still thinks of him as an idiot, despite Ando loving her. (Hey, I seem to remember a certain GN where you saved her from some badass bikers with LIGHTSABERS …) Ando laments that she thinks of him as an idiot, which Hiro denies … and then Kimiko storms in and yells “IDIOTS!” in Japanese. I love Kimiko. Have I mentioned that enough? I haven’t. Because SHE. IS. BADASS.
She is mad that Hiro and Ando are sitting here while she does Hiro’s job and protects the assets of the company (but not THE Company … I hope) and increases shareholder value and stuff. She then lays the blame on ‘Dial a Hero’ on Ando, even though this is clearly Hiro’s idea, as anyone who knows Hiro could tell you. Kimiko forbids spending another yen on this idea, ‘putting her foot down’ and storms out.
I now know how to say ‘bar graph’ in Japanese! Just like ‘yogurt’ and ‘father’ ‘I did it’ and ‘cool.’ This show teaches me words I will probably never use in Japan. Hurray!
Ando laments that Kimiko hating him all started ‘at the carnival.’ Hrrrrm … I smell a plot twist!
Then, the boys get a call! Their first client! Awwwww! Squee!
NYC, night. Peter and his EMT Arabic buddy from last volume’s pilot respond to a call, but traffic’s all blocked up and they’re twelve blocks away. Peter says he’s going to ‘hoof it’ and says he knows a shortcut. I think we all know where this is going …
True to prediction, Peter uses his superpowered parkour to get through an alley and respond to the emergency call. A car has crashed into a cab. He pulls the door off the car and says “Hey, I’m here to rescue you” to a woman in shock. In … medical shock, not shock that he pulled the door off, because I don’t think she was able to register that.
Claire in college. She tries to avoid her roomie and fails, Hayden making these hilarious cringe-movements, but gamely sits beside Annoying-Girl and endures her ‘this isn’t a competition or anything, it’s about sisterhood!’ yatterings.
The professor pulls down a large equation for the class to solve in 45 minutes. From Claire’s widened, terrified eyes - a look I know all to well, having exhibited it myself for many years before I was graced by a good math teacher - she has no idea of how to proceed.
The professor is reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a book I got for my birthday this summer. BAHAHAHAHAHA! *ahem* It’s been a while since Heroes made me laugh out loud that loud. *smiles*
Claire is sweating, and asks if this is a joke. Roomie giggles “I know, it’s so easy!” Claire dreams that two snipers hit her with tranq guns, and then leaves the class.
At the hospital, EMT buddy thinks that Peter should be a little happier, having saved not only the woman’s life, but the lives of her the two twins she just delivered. Peter seems to be taking easy-angst pills, and has that whole ‘tired anti-hero sees only more people to save’ thing going on. Sure enough, Peter says that if he hadn’t been there thirty seconds earlier, the woman and her babies would be dead, and he needs to be faster. EMT buddy is incredulous, saying that if he were religious, Peter’s speed would be a miracle. He tries to get Peter to remember that there’s life outside the hospital, and asks him to come with a group going to ‘Hula Hands’ later on. Peter laughs, recognizing the name of the club, but declines, going off to take on other shifts.
Japan back-alley. Workers and cardboard boxes hustle about while steam billows. An adorable little girls says “Muffin Man is stuck!” and points up at the roof where a cute cat meows from a shelf. HEE. HEE. HEE.
Hiro gets Ando to climb up and rescue the cat. He does, but no sooner does the little girl cry out ‘He doesn’t like strangers!’ then the cat scratches Ando and both fall to the ground. Hiro stops time. YAY!
Washington D.C. Angela is calling Noah, telling him that Tracey is on a revenge spree, killing off the remnants of last season’s plot … I mean, the He-Men-Mutant-Hater’s-Club … I mean … former Building 26 employees. (Has she killed Asian Bob yet?! I certainly hope not! Asian Bob was my favorite!) Angela wants Noah to stop ‘dragging his feet’ and kill Tracey before Tracey gets to Nathlar. (Sythan? Sylar-who-thinks-that-he’s-Nathan? Whatever, it’s stupid and I hate it.) I’m loving how gray and drab Noah’s room is, while Angela is looking very Sin City with her black clothes, pale tablecloth, and RED roses at her table. Dayum, Christine Rose can act! I’d forgotten how intense she could get … and making Jack Coleman her scene partner was one of the only good things to come out of S3.
Noah, dropping his Genre Savy card on the way, stupidly goes into a parking garage and gets into his car. Bad things happen in parking garages, people. TERRIBLE things. In real life and TV. I can’t believe Noah Bennet, HRG, parked in one of those deathtraps!
Anyways, the car engine doesn’t start, water starts spewing from the vents, and ice freezes over the doors. I yelped. I shrieked into my hands. You did too. Don’t deny it.
After the commercial break (annoying annoying annoying!) Noah struggles uselessly for a few more seconds (great work, special effects people!) until someone shoots out his window from the outside. He slides out, gasping, and his HRGs float away from him. Symbolism? *cocks eyebrow* Noah puts on his glasses and gazes up at A Person holding The Gun, and for a wild and crazy and wonderful moment I thought it was Claude.
Of course, it isn’t, it’s Danko. Dammit. I don’t like Danko. I don’t think he likes me, either. He’s mildly annoyed, as he shattered Tracey into a million pieces. I love how nonchalant and collected he is compared to the sopping HRG, who is loosing control of his life and just wants to see his daughter on her first day of College. How many of those snazzy suits does he have, anyway?
The ensuing scene is not one of their best. Bad angles that repeat. Danko wants HRG to join him in Tracey hunting season, HRG wants to leave his bagging-and-tagging-and-killing days behind him and start anew, Danko mocks him for growing a conscience, Danko leaves, HRG observes some water slithering into a drain … it’s not very good. I wanted some wall-slamming, or at least someone slamming someone against the car. No such luck. No tension, just information exchanging setting us up for later developments.
College campus. Some girl who looks like a grown-up Amanda from Buffy hits on Claire. Well, she doesn’t really hit on her, but it certainly looks like that to me. I like how she doesn’t look like a model, more like a gawky off-goth girl. *beams* She’s from Austin TX, and knows Claire Bennet from the Homecoming Murder story. Claire’s S1 music plays and Claire says she wants to keep that on the down low, and Gretchen (that’s her name) suggests that Claire change her name to hide from the urban-legend infamy. Claire says that she did for a while, but changed it back because she wanted to be Claire Bennet again. She and Gretchen exchange awkward goodbyes, with Gretchen looking wistfully after Claire. I know the feeling honey, I know the feeling. *sighs* Never did tell That Summer Girl how I feel about her …
We pan past Japanese looking people staying very, very still. Good work, extras! Hiro saves Ando and the cat, and the little girl is joyous, saying “Dial a Hero is the best! I’m going to tell everyone!” but then she and Ando discover that Hiro is kinda … frozen. Rut-row!
Cut to Angela in the Sushi place Noah was in earlier. Nathlar comes in … but he looks like Sylar and just acts like Nathan! Angela looks freaked … and then she wakes up. Yeesh. Poor lady. The car door opens, and Alfred - yay, an extra with a name! - says that they’re here … at the Sushi place. Angela goes inside, looking tense, and then Nathlar comes in … but he stays looking like Nathan. Adrian Pasdar in a suit … yum. *purrs* Oh, then we cut to a while later, and he’s taken off his jacket! SQUEE! *fans self* Waistcoat … *drools* (Yes, this is about as coherent as you’re going to get me in this scene, but old readers have come to accept this.)
Nathlar wonders aloud if he likes Sushi. Angela struggles to keep her cool as Nathlar says that he’s noticing a lot of changing within him and feels like when he looks back at his life it’s not his. Nathlar says that he hasn’t been a good father, son, or brother, and calls himself ‘a jackass.’ HEE. *kicks self* He says he’s going to change all that. Angela looks alarmed, which means that her eyebrows move about a fraction of a hair upwards. She tries to sell Nathlar’s strange feelings as a mid-life crisis, but that usually means a guy starts cheating and buys a shiny red car, and Nathan had the former covered in S1. Angela then suggests that he buy himself a sportscar and start going out with a hot young thing, which is apparently what Arthur Petrelli (GRRRRR! ARRRRRGH! DAMN YOU ARTHUR PETRELLI!!! YOU KILLED MY FAVORITE CHARACTER YOU JERKASS!) did. Huh? Did I miss a wild and crazy affair somewhere? Well, there was that thing with Linderman …
Moving on!
It’s clearly killing Angela to look at the man who killed her son, trapped in her son’s body. Christine Rose sells that with her eyes in three seconds alone.
In LA, Oswald (played by a different toddler, but that’s ok) hangs out as Matt scrambles for the phone. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Janice, though I hate her, has a sweet orange couch that I want dreadfully. Angela is calling Matt. I love how she still calls him ‘Detective Parkman.’ She wants him to patch Nathlar up, but Matt refuses, saying that he’s done with all that and admitting to seeing things since mind raping Sylar. (Oh, like seeing African!Isaac all of V4 wasn’t visions enough for ya, Matt?) Angela says that there is not ‘out’ for people like them, but Matt says Nathlar is her problem, glances at Oswald, lowers his voice, and hangs up.
In DC. Nathlar TKs a tacky mug of coffee over to his desk. He looks so much like Sylar it’s scary. Then he just looks scared, like a guy who randomly made an object slide over to him with his mind. Personally I’d jump up and down, but that’s just me. He gets up from his chair and looks even more scared, then sits down and makes some hand motions, trying to do it again. Doesn’t work, he sighs, pulls his hand back … and then shoots blue sparks from between his fingers. He jumps, and the music hypes up, and it even scared me! Then again, I do scare easy … but that was a nice, easy, creepy moment.
Claire walks in on Annie Annoying Roomie chattering away at Noah, who is sitting in a chair and looking like the victim of a particularly brutal interrogation. And I would know, because I’ve seen many such interrogations on this very show, with Noah as the receiver or administrator. His relieved look as Claire enters and he leaps to his feet is hysterical. Annie the Annoying leaves, and Noah and Claire have a sweet scene. These two actors really sell the father-daughter relationship. Makes me smile.
Sullivan Bros. Carnival! Night. The Tattoo lady slinks over to a tent, brushes her long blondish hair over her boobs because this isn’t actually Carnivale and isn’t on HBO, takes off her red robe, and sits backwards on a chair, so that Newrator (calling him ‘the Ringmaster’ or ‘Mr. Sexypants #542’ seems too easy) can stick some ink onto her pretty back and show him (and us) the face of Danko. Apparently Tattoo-Lady’s name is ‘Lidia’ and this is her power: creating tattoos and getting information out of them. How the hell did she figure that one out?! You can’t exactly fling out your arm and yell ‘web!’ for a power like that. Newrator is hot. Very sexy. With this slightly-open shirt and a vest and these silly little glasses and that voice and … ahem. This man could save the show all by himself.
Guy-With-Submarine-Captain-Coat (Edgar) comes up and is asked by Newrator (whose name is Samuel, for those of you who wanted to know) to go do something. Edgar winces almost completely inwardly and asks if it isn’t someone else’s turn, but Newrator insists. Edgar asks about Samuel’s speech this morning about redemption, and Samuel says that he left out the bit about ‘vengeance.’ Ooooooo … I like where this is going veeeeeery much …
Then Edgar and Samuel have a very good, very slashy, very scary, incredibly well-done scene. Edgar says that he’s only killed when he absolutely needed to. Samuel wants him to get the compass back and kill ‘that son of a bitch’ (aka: Danko, re: Samuel is my new favorite character) and adds that “it’s what Joseph would have wanted.” Edgar says the dreaded “Joseph isn’t here anymore” and gets his arm slammed onto the table and injected with some magical mutant tattoo ink that slides up his arm, up his chest, and forms a hand that half-strangles him. Eeeeeeew! Cooooooool! Eeeeeeew! Cooooool! ‘I find your lack of faith disturbing’: Heroes version! Samuel lets the hand thing vanish (or it wears out, whatever, still eeeew/cool!) and husks that he won’t ask Edgar to do this again after this last job. Lidia doesn’t look the least bit concerned about these proceedings. Edgar staggers off, and we’re left with a great shot of Lidia in the chair, Samuel with his back to us, and Edgar heading off towards the glowing Carnival lights. *purrs* Haven’t seen set-ups this good since S1!
Sushi place. Noah is at a table … and then Tracey sits down next to him. “I thought I’d be the one who got away” Noah quips. “No,” Tracey says “You’re just number five.” I got chills, right there, and I am aware of the irony. Noah says that five is his lucky number, and asks, almost cutely, if it’s still lucky. “I haven’t decided yet.” Tracey breaths, sipping tea from a cup (or sake, but I’m not sure.) And here I was thinking that Jessica was the only menacing one! Noah asks how she went from shattered to alive again, and Tracey looses her cool (sorry, these come too easy!) and hisses that she felt herself shatter, and then all the little pieces of herself came back together with one thought: killing all of the Building 26-ers. Noah says he doesn’t think she’s a killer. Tracey says that yes, she is, he took everything else away from her! Ouch. Noah says that he could get Danko to ignore her, and Tracey asks why Noah would help her. Noah says that after twenty years of ‘bagging and tagging’ he never helped (here he stutters, obviously thinking of Claire) any of the heroes or villains. “Maybe we’re both looking for redemption” he says. I think Claude would like to have some words with you about that, Noah. Emphasized by several whacks with the Teaching Stick. But I digress … I’m loving the return of the Blue Lighting. REALLY loving it. Noah chugs his little cup of whatever and asks if they have a deal. Tracey snits “You wish it was that easy” and stalks out. Noah sighs. He really needs a fedora, and perhaps a Detective monologue. This would be a good place for it.
Instead we fade to another scene, in a really really dark room, where HRG is waiting for Danko. He tries to convince Danko to forget Tracey and take a ‘permanent vacation’ (the actual kind, not the mobster kind) away. Danko doesn’t accept, but HRG says that not accepting is ‘unacceptable’ and that Danko will forget about Tracey … whether he wants to or not. The camera pans around, and we see THE HAITAIN OMG IS STANDING RIGHT BEHIND DANKO OH MY GOD I LOVE HIS SHOW ALL OVER AGAIN. Yes, I screamed. Scared the cat. Geez! Danko turns, the Haitian grabs his forehead, and all is well in the Heroes verse again.
Nathlar calls Peter, who we see arriving home, at what I think is a new, teensy apartment. Peter ignores Nathlar’s pleas for help, and tacks up an article about the pregnant woman he saved to the wall. Kinda an eerie callback to Sylar’s original apartment, which had serial-killer articles tacked to the walls.
Danko arrives at home, Tracey stands in the doorway after him, but he’s forgotten her and she figures out what HRG did for her. Danko hears Edgar inside and has an offscreen confrontation with him, about the compass and having taken it and them never being able to find it etc., Tracey eavesdrops, then hears slicing noises and rushes inside to see Edgar moving super-fast and slicing at Danko with a pair of kukri knives (that are, incidentally in my D&D Player’s Handbook and thus I recognized them, being a total geek.) Danko falls to the floor, Edgar notices Tracey, and the budget for this season is spent in a super-cool scene where Edgar moves super-fast and slices at Tracey, but only water comes out. He even slices her face off, but it regenerates. Cool! And then she grabs his wrist, freezing it, so he drops one of his knives and it shatters, and then he flees. Danko appears to be dead. I’m … so upset? *and there was much rejoicing*
At a party, lots of stuff is going on. Annie the Annoying is beating people at Guitar Hero. Claire makes a beeline for Gretchen, and they play Guitar Hero together, neither knowing how to play and generally having a good time. Awwww. And there was much squeeing from me because I really hope Gretchen is gay and stresses about telling Claire, and that leads Claire to become introspective and maybe discover that she likes girls and … I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I? And lo, Claire and Gretchen did vanquish Annie the Annoying with their major Guitar Hero fail, and it was adorable!
Ando sneaks Hiro - tied to a moving wheelie thing - through the office, past Kimiko, past the Kensei armor from S2, and into Dial a Hero’s headquarters. Hiro wakes up, thankfully, but he has A Nosebleed. And those of you who, like me, watch Lost, know what that means. Ando insists that Hiro see a doctor, and Hiro wearily says that he already has, and that the news isn’t good: he’s dying. I suspected this was going to happen, and yet still I’m wibbling over here. *squeak* I may cry. A lot. Ando suggests going back in time to change everything, and that there must be one specific time when this all happened. Hiro pegs it at ‘that night’ at the Carnival in the picture, holding it up. Hiro and Ando argue a bit about changing or not changing the past, and how it all hinges (apparently) on Hiro getting the fortune ‘you will be a powerful hero’ at the Carnival. Then Hiro unwillingly (or not) zips back to that night at the Carnival. (Geez, this recap is getting long. I’m enjoying every minute, but still …) He’s shocked that he time traveled to14 years ago.
Present day, Samuel gets the info that Hiro was at the Carnival 14 years ago via Lidia’s sexy back. He then goes over to Old Man With Oxygen Tank, who asks if they’re really going to stop someone or something that starts with an ‘m’ that I can’t hear. Samuel says yes, and asks Old Man to send him back 14. Old Man says he can do that.
Claire arrives back at her room, sees no roommate, peeks out the open window and … sees that Annie the Annoying is not Annie the Dead. I yelped. I certainly wasn’t expecting that of all things! Yeesh!
We get a sequence of scenes between Matt and Nathlar. Then suddenly Sylar (actual Sylar!!!) is in LA, holing a crying Oswald, and saying “I want my body back.” YEEK!
After the commercial, Sylar bounces Oswald and asks “Can you say ‘freaking out?’” *sporfles* Oh, Sylar, I’ve missed you. He’s angry at Matt. Is he a Head!Six or what? I dunno, but then Janice comes in and it turns out that Sylar was an illusion … for now. I don’t like Janice. Next scene!
Noah grapples with a smoke detector. Just when I thought I couldn’t pity him any more. Last time he was onscreen, he was HRG: MIB. Now he’s Noah: Divorcee and woobie. He has some cornflakes for dinner. In his suit. Have we ever seen him in anything but a suit (and prison slacks?) Noah phones home, but a man answers. He’s shocked, thinking that he called the wrong number, and asks for Sandra, and the man says that she’s there and calls Sandra over to the phone. *jawdrop* I’m not mad at Sandra or anything, I’m happy that she’s doing what she’s doing, but the look on Noah’s face kills me. *hugs him* Tracey calls him over to Danko’s apartment, which is off of a Shadowy Corridor full of Ominous Music and Green Paint. He sees Danko’s body on the floor, and Tracey sitting in a chair. “I didn’t do it.” she says.
Back in time, Hiro is horrified and tries to go home. Then he taps himself on the shoulder and he takes his own picture. Hee. He sees this as a test, and refuses to try and change things and squints, trying to go home, and fails. Samuel from Our Time offers him a chance in Japanese (hot!) and then addresses Hiro in English, calling him by his own name. Hiro is shocked and asks “Do I know you?” which is just what he asked himself a few minutes ago. Samuel gives his name and says that he thinks they’re going to be ‘great friends.’ Yeah, that’s what Kensadam said too …
Annie the Annoying is now a chalk outline on the concrete, and Claire is being interviewed by one of those female police officers in fiction who are always snarky, annoying, and ignore crucial evidence so our hero can look like … well, a hero. Claire insists that there was no suicide note when she entered the room, yet there’s on in an evidence bag. Huh …
Kimiko demands to know where her brother is. Ando tells the truth, and she’s all ‘why do I even bother with you sci-fi geeks?’ and leaves. So … Kaito didn’t fill her in on the whole superpowers thing? Weird …
In the past, Samuel is awesome.
Ok ok, he has a spinning compass tattoo on his arm (cool! So, he earthbends AND bestows magical tattoos to people? Buwuh? I’M CONFUSED! AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY ANYMORE!) He toys with his lip cutely as Hiro explains that he can’t interfere, because of the Butterfly Effect and if he interferes now he won’t become a master of Time and Space or Save the Cheerleader, and then New York will explode! Samuel clearly had no idea of what he was getting himself into and though he had a B-level hero at the MOST on his hands, not Hiro Nakamura, possible Future Badass. He has ratty black nailpolish. Then he leaps over the counter, making Masi Oka jump a little. HEE. (Oh my god, Samuel is Graverobber! SQUEE!) He tosses a ball at those stacked milkbottles, taking out one and leaving the stack mostly the same, to emphasize that you can squish some butterflies. He wheedles the ‘spilling the slurpy on Kimiko’s dress’ thing and literally drags and SHOVES Hiro into changing the past. I like this man. He’s a Mover. He’s gonna make all kinds of cool stuff happen. He pursues his goal without thinking about human factors. Samuel is going to be very, very dangerous.
Hiro zaps back to the present. Ando insists that nothing has changed, then Kimiko comes in to charge Hiro rent for the ‘Dial a Hero’ office. Hiro leaves, and Ando murmurs ‘Kimmy-chan’ which was a big red flag for me, because I’m a nerd. Kimiko puts a hand on his chest, and then they KISS! Hiro yelps “Yatta!” while his sister and friend look confuzzled, and I squee. Awwww!
Tracey and HRG talk. Tracey talks about Edgar being so fast that he’s “one of us …” then amends “one of me.” Naaaaw. HRG figures out what I dreaded: Edgar was looking for something INSIDE Danko. He puts a plastic baggie over his hand and fishes out a key. Say it with me now: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW!
Matt is cute with Oswald and annoyed at how familiar the water guy is with Janice. Even going so far as to call her ‘Janice.’ Hooboy, back away slowly, Water-Cooler Boy, Matt has a gun and psychic powers!
Hey, Matt, ever stop to think that not using your powers is like not using a muscle or one of your senses or denying that you’re gay when you are or something? As in, it’s unhealthy and will have bad ramifications if you aren’t being yourself? Just sayin’ …
Peter’s apartment. It’s poorly lit. HRG shows up for a talk. Peter offers him something to drink: water or … mustard. Hee. Peter explains that he’s using his agility power to make up for the sins of everyone else. HRG (actually I think that this is Noah) says that that’s a heavy burden for one guy, and Peter anti-heroes that away. HRG thinks that Edgar will be waiting at the safe for whoever shows up with the key, and wants a partner because Edgar is super fast. Peter asks “How fast?” Heh.
Yay, Sandra! Nice orange sweater! I like Claire’s new haircut! Gretchen thinks Annie the Annoying’s death was murder. She asks Claire how they’re going to prove that. Huh …
Noah shares some sage advice about how living alone isn’t healthy. Peter may or may not ignore it. They open the safe. Inside is a compass … that’s broken. I assume it’s Joseph’s. The bank person opens the door, but it’s one of those dead-man-puppet things and Edgar is behind him. He husks “That doesn’t belong to you.” and brandishes his knife.
Superfight! This episode’s action and special effects totally make up for the major suck that was the Season 3 finale. Peter empaths Edgar’s power, and a really cool, really weird, swooshy fight follows. Edgar once again flees to fight another day. I’m sensing a recurring theme here …
Bank guy is still breathing (yay!) and Peter rescues him.
Apparently the compass only works for people with powers (but Peter and HRG think it only works for Peter.) Does it lead to a jar of dirt? *sporfles* Sorry, had to be said …
Peter doesn’t want in on HRG’s wild and crazy schemes, but he’ll come through in the end. He claims that he only went on the mission to get the speed power so he could save more lives. HRG says goodbye, and he and Peter shake hands. HRG calls over his shoulder “call your mother!” Hee.
Gretchen is morbid. And drives one of those boxy cars that Car Talk are always recommending. And has big boobs. I mean, wowza! They make a reference to Crossing Jordan, which is cute because I think Tim Kring did that show before Heroes or something.) There’s this test that you do by tossing a dummy to see if the person really jumped or was pushed, and Gretchen wants to try that on their own.
Matt is in a drug recovery group. This is an interesting twist! I approve of this plotline for Matt, I have hated pretty much all of his previous plotlines! Then Sylar stumbles in. Now, that’s just rude!
“Hi, my name is Sylar,” Sylar drawls, striding through the circle “It’s been about six weeks since I last saw my body.” he gets all up-close and personal to Matt. “And I want it back!” he snarls. Poor Matt tries to stagger on and ends up yelling at what looks like an empty chair, coming off as schizophrenic, which is never good. Zachary Quinto acts the hell out of this scene. *applauds*
Hiro decides that his mission is to un-do his past wrongs. Because of him bumping into Ando, Ando spilled slushy on Kimiko and she hated him. By changing that, Kimiko and Ando are now together. Hiro rushes off excitedly with his slightly-stained shirt. HEE. *sniffles*
Matt goes into interrogate Some Suit, but then Sylar wheels into frame. “I get it: you are the good cop … how ironic!” HEE. Hee hee hee …
It must be so hard for the actors in these scenes to have to ignore Zachary Quinto slinking around them like a lapdancer and acting his little heart out.
Sylar goads Matt into throwing a chair at him, which terrifies the suspect enough to reveal the name of his dealer. Matt’s partner storms in, apparently not pleased.
Peter and his EMT buddy share some Clam Chowdah from Boston. Hee. Peter zips out to an accident … which happens to be Noah, sliced up by Edgar. OH NOES! Noah gasps out “He took the compass …”
I hope it leads to Claude. *crosses arms and sulks*
Dizzying recap bird’s eye view of NYC. *reels* Oh, HRG’s ok, just in the hospital because of the knife-wounds. Not dead or dying. *heaves a sigh of relief* Tracey comes to visit him. I love how cutesy and awkward she can be while still being badass and menacing. Noah doesn’t know if he’ll pursue Edgar, he prefers the ‘old way’ of ‘one of us, one of them’ and doesn’t like the new, dangerous way of Badass Normal vs. the X-Men. Tracey suggests that perhaps Edgar is like her, just out to get his life back together, and that maybe HRG should be about helping the mutants instead of trying to stop them. Good point, girl! HRG just wanted some company and apparently he and Sandra are officially divorced. I gathered that from his behavior in this episode, but hearing it still cut me hard. *wibbles*
HRG and Tracey share some Clam Chowdah. Huh …
Matt comes home to Roy in his home, with his wife and kid … and then does Something Awful. He mind melds Roy into asking for a new route and never stopping by the house ever again. YEESH! Matt, I thought you left all this Sith Lord nonsense behind! *headdesks* Nooooooo …
Claire wakes up and just decides to jump out the window. As you do … (or hopefully, as you don’t! Suicide is not the answer, kids!) Way to get your DNA all over the crime scene, Claire-bear …
Oh dear. Apparently Gretchen saw Claire get up from the fall. Dear oh dear … their cute weak waves are nice, though …
Back at the Carnival, Edgar hands Samuel the compass. He says he met an Empath. Samuel is intrigued. (Hey, Claude did recognize Peter as an Empath … there’s more out there!) Edgar says that Lidia told him that Samuel found ‘another time traveler’ to ‘replace’ Old Guy. Samuel says he doesn’t like the word ‘replace.’ “You can’t replace family” he says, putting on his sexy specs. Edgar mistakes Hiro for Chinese. “Japanese” Samuel corrects, earning my love once more. That’s, what, five times this episode he’s won my fangirl heart? That’s pretty impressive, even for a Heroes character! He says that he put Hiro on “a righteous path” but that he’ll ‘retutn’ to the Carnival again. Edgar asks what’s next.
Samuel gives Lidia more ink. We see Claire, Sylar, and Peter appear.
“We gather the rest.”
Next Week:
Claire and Gretchen argue. HRG says they need to use the Haitian on Gretchen. People think that Peter is causing the accidents himself. Tracey goes back to the governor … in a towel. Samuel wants someone to isolate Claire. Nathlar is getting out of control. Peter is visited by S1 Hito. Matt is listening to Head!Sylar and it’s getting very bad indeed.
Hey, Heroes has changed its timeslot … interesting …