2x06 - The Line: Review
Eh, there wasn't really much in this ep that outright annoyed and/or pissed me off, so it ranks higher than most of the season. Fight or Flight remains the best of the season, though.
I'm not gonna really do this in any order, I'm just gonna write down my thoughts/review of the ep as it comes to me. Season 2 hasn't felt nearly as structured and easy to review as season 1 did.
To start off...a few notes to my dear fandom. I know we don't agree on most things. Isaac is my favoritest character, I love season 1 Nathan as much as season 2, I want Angela to die a swift-yet-horrible death. I yawn when Sylar comes on screen. Heidi creeps me out for reasons unknown to me. I don't see what's so special about Peter and Claire's interactions. Zach's sexual orientation isn't homg crucial to his characterization. I don't see any homosexual under or overtones in Heroes canon (aside from the three Ms. There's some of that going on there.). Heroes isn't out to get every girl in the series because Kring is secretly chauvinistic. Nor is it picking on any minority--Kring just doesn't know how to make a story interesting without it. Niki doesn't just have some silly MPD/DID. Janice is not a horrible nasty cheating cheater with another man's baby. Even if Matt said so. Naked!Peter: So what? And, Nathan/Claire daddy-daughter > Noah/Claire daddy-daughter
But that doesn't mean we can't come to some sort of agreement, can't we? I share opinions, too! Season two has been far worse than season one, for instance. West is a moronic stalker boy, who's probably evil! The twins story is almost as boring as Sylar's! Peter-has-amnesia-in-Ireland is a dumb plot. We don't need another 5YG so soon. Linderman > Bob. I can't stand Peter/Simone, and Simone's storyline was less than unnecessary. The Sanders were completely pointless until the finale. Noah is the most uber paper factory manager ever. And Hana's storyline is the silliest, most confusing Heroes story ever.
So why do you, oh fandom, keep griping about the same silly things, and not about the silly things that should be griped about? Like how Peter and Caitlin used a ticket from New York to Montreal for a trip from Ireland to Montreal.
Firstly: Would people stop complaining about the green screens? I like them. Yeah, going back and scrutinizing them, you can see they're a little fuzzy around the edges sometimes. So what? They're not that noticeable unless you're trying. Are you watching the show for the story, or the pretty visuals? Try watching Classic!Who or Red Dwarf again for a bit. (Classic!Battlestar Galactica, if you've never watched PBS. And shame on you if you don't know what Red Dwarf is.)
Secondly: The accents. Stop it. The show has never been under any obligation to accurately portray accents and dialects. Not everyone can nail an accent, anyway. It's not a personal slight against all Louisianians, or Irish, or Australians, or Japanese, or Canadians, or Californians. At least they're trying. They could all inexplicably speak in one British dialect or another. (Hello, Jack.)
Thirdly: Would you just leave Caitlin alone, already? Don't make me get my sheet and mascara. I honestly didn't like her at first, but compared to most of the characters this season, and really, most of the women the entire series, I don't see what's so wrong with her.
And Finally: Stop expecting Heroes to have plots that don't involve impending world doom. Its supposed to be science fiction/fantasy/hero. Not night-time Soap opera thank god. Up until now, this season was entirely character-driven, and as some people have said, it's been aimless and pointless. A show like this needs the threat of doom to operate properly. Of course it's going to be centered in New York--that's the biggest city that they're centered in. It would be implausible for everyone to end up in Cairo.
That's it for my thoughts toward fandom.
On to the show. Oh, the show.
I am disappointed that Kring offered no explanation, or even so much as a glimpse of them buying tickets, before throwing them into Montreal. I'm assuming he had them use the tickets Peter had. but they were for New York to Montreal! I went to look up the price differential between Ireland-to-Montreal and NYC-to-Montreal, but ran into the difficulty that there are apparently very few planes from Ireland to Montreal. Lucky there was one right there waiting for them, then.
Anyway. Jackie was prettier than Debbie. And more believable. Wow, there was just...so much wrong with Claire's storyline this time, I don't even know how or where to start or elaborate on the sheer wrongness of it all. What kind of a stupid stunt was faking her own death? (Nice one there, West. Apparently humiliating Debbie means more to you than Claire not getting hurt.) Yeeaah. Noah's never going to hear about a local cheerleader talking about a flying man 'killing' Claire, and then terrorizing her. Because Noah is the king of the unobservant! Come on, Claire. Your Dad is/was a secret agent, for God's sake. Even if he's being perfectly honest with you, he's still going to be on the look out for any sign that you might've been compromised. It's his duty as your dad. Now, I know you don't respect him at all this season, and are working your very hardest against the entire thing he established over four months...but at least know your enemy, Claire. Please. Be the Cheerleader worth saving the world for.
West. Just. Ugh. West breaks all the story when he's around. I mean...he's some faux-nerd, who's all about non-nonconformity. Remember the robots and aliens speech? Popular kids don't say that crap. Same with the 'they need a taste of their own medicine' or whatever. Do you know who else said that? Betty and Ren. (Candice and her gothic school-punching-bag friend)
So. Wtf is up with May being all sweet and like "You're a cheerleader now! You two lovebirds have fun!" Maybe Californian schools are different, but from what I know of the school sect-system? Cheerleaders and nerds don't go out. And when a cheerleader pursues a nerd, her other cheerleader friends don't encourage her. The show is bad enough this season, West. Stop breaking what's already damaged.
And the Jackie reference was lame and crappy. I refuse to believe after a half of her highschool years as Jackie's best friend, and then Jackie's last word telling Claire to 'Run', rather than help, or find help, or such, that Claire is going to be all like "Whatever, she sucked."
Also. Debbie wasn't high. She was drunk. You don't have full-blown vivid hallucinations when you're a little bit drunk. I mean, wtf? And sending her to some sort of juvie, because she wouldn't let you on the team, and you lied to your father saying you made the team instead of chewed on West's face? Way out of line. There were plenty of other things you could have done. Something trivial-yet-humiliating would have been far more effective.
But no. This is just so Claire can be made cheerleading captain. Also? Best cheerleader? Come on. Claire only made it on her other team because Lauren or whomever was raped, and Brody made it out like she was a school slut, instead--making her drop from the team. Apparently Claire can't make it onto cheerleading times without someone else being sabotaged first.
Noah! He was one of the few joys of this episode. I knew he was going to shoot him, because it was in the preview. Its nice to see more of the Noah we all know and love. Why was I not surprised at all when he spoke Russian? I bet he knows every living language. And likes thinking in Japanese like the Frenchman likes cursing in French. The memory torture was pretty cruel, you have to admit. But very effective--its just about the only thing he could threaten someone like that with. Also! Claude reference! I'm impressed.
Peter is such a dork. It's kind of endearing sometimes. Caitlin is growing on me. I think next
episode is going to be crucial in whether she's going to turn out a favorite character, or fall flat on her face/be regulated to Peter's Ando.
So, I have a feeling the other six paintings aren't deaths. They're another Save the Cheerleader comic strip. Which, given it ends in Noah's death, must mean this season's tag must be "Save the Copy King, Save the World"
Mohinder's awesomeness from episodes one and two has now faded into an ugly abyss. Back to pretty-but-dumb, apparently. And who believed even for a second that Niki was Niki, or on a friendly mission? You have no idea how pleased I will be if she's not Jessica, but Candice.
Also, I'm intensely creeped out by Bob's easy sell. Still, provided it doesn't have subliminal messages, Monica needs to watch all that crap. Annd, my brother brought up a point--can Monica copy physically oriented powers?
Hiro. Oh, Hiro. You're so silly. You kiss her when time has stopped. Then you push her away, and go talk to Kensei. The man is from 1600 Japan, he's not going to be with the 'kissing is okay' theory. Note: I refuse to believe Kensei planned to betray them already. I like him as a good guy. In fact, I'm not so sure he's just going to leave Hiro and Yaeko and the Swordsmith captured, either.
Actually, Whitebeard was right there, the whole thing could be a set up engineered by the Swordsmith. Who, by the way, is only hanging around to eat the souls of the fallen in the battle to come.
Yeah. Here's me still hoping for a literal dragon. Aren't I a sad little girl, hoping for something cool from Heroes?
Alejandro completely won me this episode. I've been working up to like him little by little, but seriously. He's the only person in the history of the world not to be fooled by Sylar's "Oh me, oh my!" act. And he can't even understand the stupid lines Sylar's spouting.
"I once could move things with my mind, and hear a pin drop a mile away." Yeah, you also used to play with watches and eat tuna sandwiches, you whiny little twit. You only had those powers because you murdered people and stole them away. I hope you never get them back either.
But, then again, I also hope Alejandro understands at least the phrase "I'm going to kill you" in English. Its a useful phrase to know, if you're going to be hiking to New York. And especially given that Maya seems fluent in English, it would make sense that Alejandro knew at least some of it, right?
Alternatively, Maya could have overheard Sylar. I'd be fine with either of them throwing him into a spiked ravine and impaling him on lots of metal spikes. Maybe raining some stones down on him, too. And ebony-staring him. I love that Alejandro is going to let Sylar die next time Maya panics.
He knows his sissy. Its only a matter of time (a short one) before she does it again. Unfortunately, Sylar might catch on, too, and decide to off him quickly--powers or no.
Ando's such a fan boy.
And Out of Time might be good. Might be bad. Dunno. It had an interesting flavor to it, though. At least it'll hopefully not be another specials-suppressed future. Also. Peter...you're in an abandoned New York. It looks like it's been abandoned for awhile. What makes you think that the paper you found is in any way accurate to your time, except that you're in the future?
I suppose when he comes back he'll end up in New York again. Hopefully cue the brotherly reunion. Also, did just get spoiled for who Adam is (vaguely?) but won't comment on it.
I'm not gonna really do this in any order, I'm just gonna write down my thoughts/review of the ep as it comes to me. Season 2 hasn't felt nearly as structured and easy to review as season 1 did.
To start off...a few notes to my dear fandom. I know we don't agree on most things. Isaac is my favoritest character, I love season 1 Nathan as much as season 2, I want Angela to die a swift-yet-horrible death. I yawn when Sylar comes on screen. Heidi creeps me out for reasons unknown to me. I don't see what's so special about Peter and Claire's interactions. Zach's sexual orientation isn't homg crucial to his characterization. I don't see any homosexual under or overtones in Heroes canon (aside from the three Ms. There's some of that going on there.). Heroes isn't out to get every girl in the series because Kring is secretly chauvinistic. Nor is it picking on any minority--Kring just doesn't know how to make a story interesting without it. Niki doesn't just have some silly MPD/DID. Janice is not a horrible nasty cheating cheater with another man's baby. Even if Matt said so. Naked!Peter: So what? And, Nathan/Claire daddy-daughter > Noah/Claire daddy-daughter
But that doesn't mean we can't come to some sort of agreement, can't we? I share opinions, too! Season two has been far worse than season one, for instance. West is a moronic stalker boy, who's probably evil! The twins story is almost as boring as Sylar's! Peter-has-amnesia-in-Ireland is a dumb plot. We don't need another 5YG so soon. Linderman > Bob. I can't stand Peter/Simone, and Simone's storyline was less than unnecessary. The Sanders were completely pointless until the finale. Noah is the most uber paper factory manager ever. And Hana's storyline is the silliest, most confusing Heroes story ever.
So why do you, oh fandom, keep griping about the same silly things, and not about the silly things that should be griped about? Like how Peter and Caitlin used a ticket from New York to Montreal for a trip from Ireland to Montreal.
Firstly: Would people stop complaining about the green screens? I like them. Yeah, going back and scrutinizing them, you can see they're a little fuzzy around the edges sometimes. So what? They're not that noticeable unless you're trying. Are you watching the show for the story, or the pretty visuals? Try watching Classic!Who or Red Dwarf again for a bit. (Classic!Battlestar Galactica, if you've never watched PBS. And shame on you if you don't know what Red Dwarf is.)
Secondly: The accents. Stop it. The show has never been under any obligation to accurately portray accents and dialects. Not everyone can nail an accent, anyway. It's not a personal slight against all Louisianians, or Irish, or Australians, or Japanese, or Canadians, or Californians. At least they're trying. They could all inexplicably speak in one British dialect or another. (Hello, Jack.)
Thirdly: Would you just leave Caitlin alone, already? Don't make me get my sheet and mascara. I honestly didn't like her at first, but compared to most of the characters this season, and really, most of the women the entire series, I don't see what's so wrong with her.
And Finally: Stop expecting Heroes to have plots that don't involve impending world doom. Its supposed to be science fiction/fantasy/hero. Not night-time Soap opera thank god. Up until now, this season was entirely character-driven, and as some people have said, it's been aimless and pointless. A show like this needs the threat of doom to operate properly. Of course it's going to be centered in New York--that's the biggest city that they're centered in. It would be implausible for everyone to end up in Cairo.
That's it for my thoughts toward fandom.
On to the show. Oh, the show.
I am disappointed that Kring offered no explanation, or even so much as a glimpse of them buying tickets, before throwing them into Montreal. I'm assuming he had them use the tickets Peter had. but they were for New York to Montreal! I went to look up the price differential between Ireland-to-Montreal and NYC-to-Montreal, but ran into the difficulty that there are apparently very few planes from Ireland to Montreal. Lucky there was one right there waiting for them, then.
Anyway. Jackie was prettier than Debbie. And more believable. Wow, there was just...so much wrong with Claire's storyline this time, I don't even know how or where to start or elaborate on the sheer wrongness of it all. What kind of a stupid stunt was faking her own death? (Nice one there, West. Apparently humiliating Debbie means more to you than Claire not getting hurt.) Yeeaah. Noah's never going to hear about a local cheerleader talking about a flying man 'killing' Claire, and then terrorizing her. Because Noah is the king of the unobservant! Come on, Claire. Your Dad is/was a secret agent, for God's sake. Even if he's being perfectly honest with you, he's still going to be on the look out for any sign that you might've been compromised. It's his duty as your dad. Now, I know you don't respect him at all this season, and are working your very hardest against the entire thing he established over four months...but at least know your enemy, Claire. Please. Be the Cheerleader worth saving the world for.
West. Just. Ugh. West breaks all the story when he's around. I mean...he's some faux-nerd, who's all about non-nonconformity. Remember the robots and aliens speech? Popular kids don't say that crap. Same with the 'they need a taste of their own medicine' or whatever. Do you know who else said that? Betty and Ren. (Candice and her gothic school-punching-bag friend)
So. Wtf is up with May being all sweet and like "You're a cheerleader now! You two lovebirds have fun!" Maybe Californian schools are different, but from what I know of the school sect-system? Cheerleaders and nerds don't go out. And when a cheerleader pursues a nerd, her other cheerleader friends don't encourage her. The show is bad enough this season, West. Stop breaking what's already damaged.
And the Jackie reference was lame and crappy. I refuse to believe after a half of her highschool years as Jackie's best friend, and then Jackie's last word telling Claire to 'Run', rather than help, or find help, or such, that Claire is going to be all like "Whatever, she sucked."
Also. Debbie wasn't high. She was drunk. You don't have full-blown vivid hallucinations when you're a little bit drunk. I mean, wtf? And sending her to some sort of juvie, because she wouldn't let you on the team, and you lied to your father saying you made the team instead of chewed on West's face? Way out of line. There were plenty of other things you could have done. Something trivial-yet-humiliating would have been far more effective.
But no. This is just so Claire can be made cheerleading captain. Also? Best cheerleader? Come on. Claire only made it on her other team because Lauren or whomever was raped, and Brody made it out like she was a school slut, instead--making her drop from the team. Apparently Claire can't make it onto cheerleading times without someone else being sabotaged first.
Noah! He was one of the few joys of this episode. I knew he was going to shoot him, because it was in the preview. Its nice to see more of the Noah we all know and love. Why was I not surprised at all when he spoke Russian? I bet he knows every living language. And likes thinking in Japanese like the Frenchman likes cursing in French. The memory torture was pretty cruel, you have to admit. But very effective--its just about the only thing he could threaten someone like that with. Also! Claude reference! I'm impressed.
Peter is such a dork. It's kind of endearing sometimes. Caitlin is growing on me. I think next
episode is going to be crucial in whether she's going to turn out a favorite character, or fall flat on her face/be regulated to Peter's Ando.
So, I have a feeling the other six paintings aren't deaths. They're another Save the Cheerleader comic strip. Which, given it ends in Noah's death, must mean this season's tag must be "Save the Copy King, Save the World"
Mohinder's awesomeness from episodes one and two has now faded into an ugly abyss. Back to pretty-but-dumb, apparently. And who believed even for a second that Niki was Niki, or on a friendly mission? You have no idea how pleased I will be if she's not Jessica, but Candice.
Also, I'm intensely creeped out by Bob's easy sell. Still, provided it doesn't have subliminal messages, Monica needs to watch all that crap. Annd, my brother brought up a point--can Monica copy physically oriented powers?
Hiro. Oh, Hiro. You're so silly. You kiss her when time has stopped. Then you push her away, and go talk to Kensei. The man is from 1600 Japan, he's not going to be with the 'kissing is okay' theory. Note: I refuse to believe Kensei planned to betray them already. I like him as a good guy. In fact, I'm not so sure he's just going to leave Hiro and Yaeko and the Swordsmith captured, either.
Actually, Whitebeard was right there, the whole thing could be a set up engineered by the Swordsmith. Who, by the way, is only hanging around to eat the souls of the fallen in the battle to come.
Yeah. Here's me still hoping for a literal dragon. Aren't I a sad little girl, hoping for something cool from Heroes?
Alejandro completely won me this episode. I've been working up to like him little by little, but seriously. He's the only person in the history of the world not to be fooled by Sylar's "Oh me, oh my!" act. And he can't even understand the stupid lines Sylar's spouting.
"I once could move things with my mind, and hear a pin drop a mile away." Yeah, you also used to play with watches and eat tuna sandwiches, you whiny little twit. You only had those powers because you murdered people and stole them away. I hope you never get them back either.
But, then again, I also hope Alejandro understands at least the phrase "I'm going to kill you" in English. Its a useful phrase to know, if you're going to be hiking to New York. And especially given that Maya seems fluent in English, it would make sense that Alejandro knew at least some of it, right?
Alternatively, Maya could have overheard Sylar. I'd be fine with either of them throwing him into a spiked ravine and impaling him on lots of metal spikes. Maybe raining some stones down on him, too. And ebony-staring him. I love that Alejandro is going to let Sylar die next time Maya panics.
He knows his sissy. Its only a matter of time (a short one) before she does it again. Unfortunately, Sylar might catch on, too, and decide to off him quickly--powers or no.
Ando's such a fan boy.
And Out of Time might be good. Might be bad. Dunno. It had an interesting flavor to it, though. At least it'll hopefully not be another specials-suppressed future. Also. Peter...you're in an abandoned New York. It looks like it's been abandoned for awhile. What makes you think that the paper you found is in any way accurate to your time, except that you're in the future?
I suppose when he comes back he'll end up in New York again. Hopefully cue the brotherly reunion. Also, did just get spoiled for who Adam is (vaguely?) but won't comment on it.