Commissioning a Symphony in See
Another mostly slow-paced episode, but at least the filler was mostly pretty filler. Music's always good. So is snark.
PETER: LOL YES, EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS ABOUT YOU PETER. ALWAYS.
Even if it's still mellow as plotlines go, I like Peter SO much more like this. When he's acting like a relatively normal person, interacting with his family, trying to connect, and showing of his hero complex and all the faults and issues that come with it. Apparently he's taking Noah's (and Samuel's, LOL) advice and reaching out to connect with his family again. Which was nicely spliced in between with Emma and her mom and their family issues. Everything Peter touches turns to fail, but...you know, so far in a way that doesn't suck. Even when he tries so hard to do something as simple as connect with someone or patch things up with his family, nothing works out for him. Aw.
The DRAMATIC MUSIC gag was a bit slapsticky, but I laughed. (OH NOES, Peter, your heroic soundtrack died on you! Guess you'll have to do your own theme music.) And the IRONICALLY APPROPRIATE CHILDREN'S CHOIR OF UPLIFTING INSPIRATION was a bit much, but Peter and Emma's reaction to the lights made me smile. It almost gives me hope that a romance plotline wouldn't be terrible or end in death. Almost.
EMMA: Holy crap, there's an actual REASON she knows how to play the cello! Is that actual LOGIC and CONSISTENCY I spy? It's been too long, show. You were doing so well up until you decided to make her a deaf version of Songbird.
Aw, Doctor Lady is her mom! I can sympathize, Emma. And I say again: IT'S A TRAP. Yes, your scenes with Peter were pretty, and kind of sweet, and so far isn't the worst romance they've ever done. But Peter is still Peter, so it's still 99% likely to end with you dead for some lame reason or other. Follow your lights, move away, become a demolition cello player, and don't look back. You'll thank yourself for it.
SYLAR: After waking up from his dirt nap (courtesy of Millie), Sylar walks like a zombie, gets arrested by a Ghostbuster, steals Peter's season 1 hair, and queues up for his turn to ride the amnesia express. Which could go either way, but doesn't have a good precedent considering Peter's amnesia escapades were boring as hell in season 2. I dare you to do better, Sylar.
I liked his interaction with Madeline (I'll get to her in a minute). Mostly because she didn't end up dead. Say what you want about the amnesia card being over-played, but at least it's an excuse for Sylar to interact with someone without cutting their heads open. We already have snarky-evil-bastard figment!Sylar poltergeisting it up over in Matt's storyline, so it's all a welcome change of pace. Now let's hope that Samuel has a better plan for handling brain-hungry serial killers than Danko, Angela, and Papa Petrelli did.
STEP RIGHT UP, SYLAR. If you see any bloody pink bunnies or evil carousel-riding doppelgangers, just back away slowly and don't make eye contact.
MADELINE: Gets her own section because OMG I KNEW I RECOGNISED HER FROM SOMETHING! TWO SOMETHINGS, IN FACT. She had a role in the first season of Doctor Who ("The Long Game"), but more importantly, she was Simone (the dog breeding lady with the clicker) on Pushing Daisies. Heroes is full of Pushing Daisies alumni this season, so automatic awesome points there.
I liked Madeline. I liked it even more that she didn't die by the end of the episode, despite the normal Heroes certain-death trifecta of being (1) female, (2) anywhere near Sylar's storyline, and (3) the latest in a long string of people who decide giving Sylar a lift is a good idea. Still can't decide if she's another one of Samuel's "cousins" sent out to track people down, or if she's an innocent bystander who genuinely wanted to help "Gabriel". Neither of which are good for your life expectancy, really, but you might just survive if you walk away now, Madeline.
CLAIRE: Gretchen's not evil! I'm happy about that, even if I don't particularly care about her as a character. FORENSICS GEEK ≠ EVIL. Invisible sorority girls, on the other hand: totally evil.
Even when I don't have much interest in her storyline, Claire still has her moments. Her sorority interview made me laaaaaaugh. Especially the bit about her past boyfriends. Yep, that pretty much sums it up. One day you'll get a love interest who doesn't stalk you and/or isn't Pedobear, Claire. Today is not that day, but SOME DAY.
HIRO: Random surprise Hiro appears suddenly! When was the last time he and Peter had a scene together? Someone remind me.
CARNIES: Nice to see that the carnival "family" is more than the same four characters hanging around outside tents. For all Samuel's pontificating and speechifying, even some of the other carnies seem to think he's full of it and just don't want to say anything to his face. Which makes me like Tattoo Chick a bit, because she more or less DOES say it to his face.
Nice ringmaster outfit at the end, Samuel. You're rocking the nail polish. Word to the wordy wise, though... I really, really, really want to assume that you're not really going to help Sylar get his memory back. Really. Because if you honestly think that's going to end any other way besides you and your "family" dead and de-brained, you suck at villainy recruitment. Don't be Danko. At least have a decent endgame plan for when the brain-eating inevitably starts. (PROTIP: "LOOK OVER THERE, A BIG DISTRACTING THING!" and a headshot...doesn't work.)
RANDOM STUFF:
- Family seems to be the big theme building up this season. Connecting with family, NOT connecting, losing family, finding family, forging a new family. Practically every storyline is touching on it. HRG losing his family. Angela struggling to pretend she still has hers. Peter struggling to want to connect with his. Matt trying to settle back into his. Hiro connecting with his for the first time. Claire attempting to move beyond hers. Newcomer Emma has her own family issues. Even Sylar's first "real" appearance this season immediately hit him with his mother's death all over again. And of course, Samuel MIGHT HAVE MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT FAMILY ONCE OR TWICE, IDK.