rewatch notes on Heroes S1: 1x22 - 1x23
Well, I didn't get these posted before the S2 premiere, but here we go anyhow...
Disclaimers and requests:
"Maybe we do have a destiny, and it's to save the world - together." That "together" punches all of my buttons.
"My father was my hero." I like Nathan more in this moment than at any other point in the season - because he's hurt, and confused, and loyal, and... I guess what this all adds up to is vulnerable.
"After we save the world, I may go on patrols." I ♥ Claire. Also, if that isn't a Buffy shout-out, I'll eat my hat.
"The future has not happened yet." There's Hiro's sunny optimism in a nutshell.
"You become a bad person." Interesting - I'd forgotten that Hiro wouldn't realize that the villain was Sylar, not really Nathan.
"You already bad guy! Villain! Villain!" - Because, for Hiro, giving up hope is the same as being a bad guy. Which seems simplistic, but isn't wrong: when you don't work to change things, when you stand by while bad things happen, that choice in itself incurs responsibility. (This moment is even more powerful for me the second time around because I remembered Nathan teaching Hiro how to say "villain" - ouch.)
"I just don't understand why you're working for such a bad guy; you could use your power to be a hero." Micah's comment is a little on-the-nose, of course, but I think it's interesting that he raises this point right AFTER the point about the comics costing a fortune. People with money can afford to be heroes. Micah wants to be a hero - wants his parents to be heroes - but, you know, his parents want to pay the rent; Micah's whole life is circumscribed by the likelihood of not getting what he wants, and he doesn't really complain about it, but little digs like this one make a lot of sense to me, and make me hurt for him.
"He's gonna heal the world!" Oh, Candice. There is nothing scarier than a true believer. She's much more alarming like this than when doing her cynical naughty schoolgirl thing.
Seeing Sylar just standing there on the street talking to Audrey is truly creepy.
"Make it a landslide." This line is part of what convinces me that Candice really is not much older than a teenager; given that the papers have been saying the outcome is "anyone's guess," the smarter move would be to give Nathan a margin that's believably small, but large enough that the other candidates won't start demanding recounts. Making it a landslide is just showing off. Also, if I read the TV screen correctly elsewhere in the ep, exit polls show Nathan at 36%; he's actually pulling ahead (if not outright winning) on his own merits, such as they are.
Wow, that awkward elevator ride is every bit as awkward as I remembered. Heh.
Ando buying a sword and going off to save the world! Yay!
I think it's interesting that Linderman bets on class stereotypes and loses. Niki's insistence on having done everything for her family resonated differently with me than it otherwise might both because of DL's parallel commitment to the family and because of Claire's earlier statement about saving the world together.
On the togetherness front: it's interesting to me how many instances we've had of transferred application of powers via physical contact: Hiro grabbing Ando to teleport both of them out of Sylar's mother's apartment; DL holding Jessica's hand in order to phase both of them through solid objects; Peter grabbing Claire to turn both of them invisible. Linderman's healing of Heidi is a manipulative version of this; Sylar's continued cranial excavations are, of course, the evil parody of it: taking rather than sharing power. (I continue to be embarrassed that I hadn't made the connection between Linderman and Heidi as soon as Linderman's power was revealed; gah.)
I rather like that Matt doesn't immediately recognize Molly. We know who she is (and she knows who he is), but to Matt she'd just be some kid he'd seen briefly more than a month ago, in bad lighting.
I seem to recall that when the ep aired at least a few people noted the absurdity of Hiro becoming an accomplished swordsman in a single day; I am actually much more WTF about neither Hiro nor Papa Nakamura having left the room long enough to say to Ando "Sit tight! Kendo lesson in progress! Get a sandwich! Don't freak out or go haring off after Sylar!" I mean, I love that that was Ando's impulse, and I think it makes sense for the character; what doesn't make sense to me is that they wouldn't, you know, tell him what they're up to. Gah.
When this ep first aired, I hoped that Bob the Haitian's being MIA was a deliberate mislead and that he would have a major Bob-ex-machina role to play in the finale. I am still disappointed that this didn't happen.
1x23 How to Stop an Exploding Man
This episode frustrated me. I didn't hate it - I have too much affection for the show for that - but I did find it anticlimactic in the extreme. The primary conclusion was foregone pretty much from the opening text of the first episode: Yes, they'll stop NYC from blowing up; the only question was how, and I found the answer rather unsatisfactory.
I do love that they returned to Mohinder's original voiceover from the first ep; it's one of the better monologues, and also it feels really different at the end of the season, to see it overlaid not just with Peter's dream of flying but with all the characters we've come to know in the intervening season. It means something different now. I love that.
You know, there's a sense in which Niki really only acquires her powers in this episode. She's known about her super-strength, but only Jessica has had conscious access to it; whereas Peter fails to control his powers, Hiro uses his confidently under pressure, and Niki is finally able to use hers.
Okay, "Noah" is a little heavy handed (saving precious cargo from metaphorical floods!), but not inappropriate. Also, kinda funny.
Here's the thing: if Sylar's explosive, then the useful people are going to be Peter and Claire; it's not an either-or. I understand that Bennet would rather have Peter fight and Claire be safe, so it's in character for him to put it that way to Peter, but... Claire's been going into danger for weeks; that's what we see her doing in the pilot when she runs into the fire, it's certainly what she does in the burning house in "Company Man." The plan should be for them to take Sylar down together. And Peter, bless his heart, understands this, as we see in his conversation with Nathan: he's going to go after Sylar, and he doesn't want to put Claire in the front line, but he knows that she is more than, as Nathan says, "just a kid." He cares about Claire, but he seems to respect her power more than anybody else - possibly because absorbing it saved his life.
And, you know, the shooting thing? Maybe not such a great idea anyway. I keep thinking of Ted: "Do you know what'll happen if you shoot me? 'Cause I don't." If wounded and unable to focus, Peter could just as easily lose control of his powers. (Although possibly the healing would kick in, which would help.)
So... why is Claire standing so far away from Peter if the whole point is that she can get "close enough" to stop him? Remember "Company Man"? Injection? Oh, show. Your occasional willingness to drop logic for plotline cannot scare me away, because I watched X-Files for many years, but it does frustrate me.
Somebody should have decapitated Sylar. Hiro, Niki, I don't care, just - please, people. A stomach wound is not enough. Plus, there'd be a nice symmetry to it. I mean, I don't actually want any of the heroes to have to do this, and Sylar is a great character, so I'm not unhappy that he's being set up to return, but... come on, people.
It's really the "solution" to Peter's pending explosion that makes me crankiest (I know I am not alone in this). I mean, honestly. There's no reason Peter has to be flown to space to explode. Whack him on the head, for god's sake. I vote for Claude showing up to do this bit, but I would settle for Niki, especially since in my personal AU of this ep Niki just rolls her eyes at Peter when he tells her to go be with her family and keeps whaling on Sylar with that parking meter, so, you know, she'd be standing right there. I mean, Micah does call for her, but seriously, if there was ever a moment for "In a minute, baby," this is it.
I mean, I understand that the writers wanted to give Nathan a shot at being an unambiguous good guy, and I even like the idea, but what I think the writers failed to notice is that the setup to this point would have allowed them to have their cake and eat it too. I like the idea of Nathan swooping in and offering to be the self-sacrificing hero, and then having Claude show up to whack Peter on the head (or having Claire tell Niki to do it). Presto: valid conversion moment, no explosion, plus, as a bonus, we'd have the possibility of watching Nathan follow up on his insistence to Peter in 1x07 that politics IS his way of being a hero, making a difference. Would Nathan have what it takes to be just another junior Congressman from New York instead of Our Fearless Leader? Obviously there are other possible storylines, and now that S2 is airing I'm trying to let go of what the show could have done with the finale and just focus on what it is doing with the aftermath, but I still grit my teeth a little at the missed opportunities.
I would, of course, have been happiest if the final showdown had been more of a group endeavor instead of serial individualism, but I admit that that's a hobbyhorse of mine. I do think it's interesting that Peter doesn't get a hero moment; his hero moments are elsewhere in the season, and I actually kind of like that: He is the clear and present danger in this scenario, although not of course intentionally. But the show shunts aside the question of chosen family - which is where they seem to be going with the Claire/Mr B storyline - and land squarely on family loyalty, which... is kind of a yawn for me personally.
A few additional character notes:
From this distance, and especially with my enthusiasm for the show boosted by the start of the new season, I guess I'd say that while I didn't dislike the finale, and it certainly didn't sour me on the show, I did find it disappointing, largely because I got used to the show surprising me, and this ep just... didn't surprise me. But I still trust that it will surprise me again, and this is a large part of why, at least for now, I am willing to handwave some of the not-immediately-promising elements of the S2 premiere.
I doubt I'll be doing regular write-ups of the new season, since whenever vonnie_k does hers I find myself simply nodding along and having little or nothing to add; but I am happy to be watching again. I've missed these characters.
Disclaimers and requests:
- Because I have in fact watched the entire first season and am now watching in realtime, this post may contain spoilers for everything up to and including the first ep of S2.
- However, I am completely unspoiled for S2, aside from one casting spoiler, and I would like to remain that way, so while I welcome discussion of S1 and speculation about or hopes for S2, please do not mention any general S2 rumors or ep spoilers beyond 2x01 in this post.
- I like all the characters on the show, even (and sometimes especially) the ones who do dumb things or spend time trapped in unsatisfying storylines. So while I'm happy to discuss (and if necessary to share frustrations about) the writers' choices for particular characters, I must insist: no character bashing in my LJ. If you don't like some or all of the characters, hey, I get it, I've been there, I support your right to vent and complain and whatever; all I ask is that you do it in your own LJ.
"Maybe we do have a destiny, and it's to save the world - together." That "together" punches all of my buttons.
"My father was my hero." I like Nathan more in this moment than at any other point in the season - because he's hurt, and confused, and loyal, and... I guess what this all adds up to is vulnerable.
"After we save the world, I may go on patrols." I ♥ Claire. Also, if that isn't a Buffy shout-out, I'll eat my hat.
"The future has not happened yet." There's Hiro's sunny optimism in a nutshell.
"You become a bad person." Interesting - I'd forgotten that Hiro wouldn't realize that the villain was Sylar, not really Nathan.
"You already bad guy! Villain! Villain!" - Because, for Hiro, giving up hope is the same as being a bad guy. Which seems simplistic, but isn't wrong: when you don't work to change things, when you stand by while bad things happen, that choice in itself incurs responsibility. (This moment is even more powerful for me the second time around because I remembered Nathan teaching Hiro how to say "villain" - ouch.)
"I just don't understand why you're working for such a bad guy; you could use your power to be a hero." Micah's comment is a little on-the-nose, of course, but I think it's interesting that he raises this point right AFTER the point about the comics costing a fortune. People with money can afford to be heroes. Micah wants to be a hero - wants his parents to be heroes - but, you know, his parents want to pay the rent; Micah's whole life is circumscribed by the likelihood of not getting what he wants, and he doesn't really complain about it, but little digs like this one make a lot of sense to me, and make me hurt for him.
"He's gonna heal the world!" Oh, Candice. There is nothing scarier than a true believer. She's much more alarming like this than when doing her cynical naughty schoolgirl thing.
Seeing Sylar just standing there on the street talking to Audrey is truly creepy.
"Make it a landslide." This line is part of what convinces me that Candice really is not much older than a teenager; given that the papers have been saying the outcome is "anyone's guess," the smarter move would be to give Nathan a margin that's believably small, but large enough that the other candidates won't start demanding recounts. Making it a landslide is just showing off. Also, if I read the TV screen correctly elsewhere in the ep, exit polls show Nathan at 36%; he's actually pulling ahead (if not outright winning) on his own merits, such as they are.
Wow, that awkward elevator ride is every bit as awkward as I remembered. Heh.
Ando buying a sword and going off to save the world! Yay!
I think it's interesting that Linderman bets on class stereotypes and loses. Niki's insistence on having done everything for her family resonated differently with me than it otherwise might both because of DL's parallel commitment to the family and because of Claire's earlier statement about saving the world together.
On the togetherness front: it's interesting to me how many instances we've had of transferred application of powers via physical contact: Hiro grabbing Ando to teleport both of them out of Sylar's mother's apartment; DL holding Jessica's hand in order to phase both of them through solid objects; Peter grabbing Claire to turn both of them invisible. Linderman's healing of Heidi is a manipulative version of this; Sylar's continued cranial excavations are, of course, the evil parody of it: taking rather than sharing power. (I continue to be embarrassed that I hadn't made the connection between Linderman and Heidi as soon as Linderman's power was revealed; gah.)
I rather like that Matt doesn't immediately recognize Molly. We know who she is (and she knows who he is), but to Matt she'd just be some kid he'd seen briefly more than a month ago, in bad lighting.
I seem to recall that when the ep aired at least a few people noted the absurdity of Hiro becoming an accomplished swordsman in a single day; I am actually much more WTF about neither Hiro nor Papa Nakamura having left the room long enough to say to Ando "Sit tight! Kendo lesson in progress! Get a sandwich! Don't freak out or go haring off after Sylar!" I mean, I love that that was Ando's impulse, and I think it makes sense for the character; what doesn't make sense to me is that they wouldn't, you know, tell him what they're up to. Gah.
When this ep first aired, I hoped that Bob the Haitian's being MIA was a deliberate mislead and that he would have a major Bob-ex-machina role to play in the finale. I am still disappointed that this didn't happen.
1x23 How to Stop an Exploding Man
This episode frustrated me. I didn't hate it - I have too much affection for the show for that - but I did find it anticlimactic in the extreme. The primary conclusion was foregone pretty much from the opening text of the first episode: Yes, they'll stop NYC from blowing up; the only question was how, and I found the answer rather unsatisfactory.
I do love that they returned to Mohinder's original voiceover from the first ep; it's one of the better monologues, and also it feels really different at the end of the season, to see it overlaid not just with Peter's dream of flying but with all the characters we've come to know in the intervening season. It means something different now. I love that.
You know, there's a sense in which Niki really only acquires her powers in this episode. She's known about her super-strength, but only Jessica has had conscious access to it; whereas Peter fails to control his powers, Hiro uses his confidently under pressure, and Niki is finally able to use hers.
Okay, "Noah" is a little heavy handed (saving precious cargo from metaphorical floods!), but not inappropriate. Also, kinda funny.
Here's the thing: if Sylar's explosive, then the useful people are going to be Peter and Claire; it's not an either-or. I understand that Bennet would rather have Peter fight and Claire be safe, so it's in character for him to put it that way to Peter, but... Claire's been going into danger for weeks; that's what we see her doing in the pilot when she runs into the fire, it's certainly what she does in the burning house in "Company Man." The plan should be for them to take Sylar down together. And Peter, bless his heart, understands this, as we see in his conversation with Nathan: he's going to go after Sylar, and he doesn't want to put Claire in the front line, but he knows that she is more than, as Nathan says, "just a kid." He cares about Claire, but he seems to respect her power more than anybody else - possibly because absorbing it saved his life.
And, you know, the shooting thing? Maybe not such a great idea anyway. I keep thinking of Ted: "Do you know what'll happen if you shoot me? 'Cause I don't." If wounded and unable to focus, Peter could just as easily lose control of his powers. (Although possibly the healing would kick in, which would help.)
So... why is Claire standing so far away from Peter if the whole point is that she can get "close enough" to stop him? Remember "Company Man"? Injection? Oh, show. Your occasional willingness to drop logic for plotline cannot scare me away, because I watched X-Files for many years, but it does frustrate me.
Somebody should have decapitated Sylar. Hiro, Niki, I don't care, just - please, people. A stomach wound is not enough. Plus, there'd be a nice symmetry to it. I mean, I don't actually want any of the heroes to have to do this, and Sylar is a great character, so I'm not unhappy that he's being set up to return, but... come on, people.
It's really the "solution" to Peter's pending explosion that makes me crankiest (I know I am not alone in this). I mean, honestly. There's no reason Peter has to be flown to space to explode. Whack him on the head, for god's sake. I vote for Claude showing up to do this bit, but I would settle for Niki, especially since in my personal AU of this ep Niki just rolls her eyes at Peter when he tells her to go be with her family and keeps whaling on Sylar with that parking meter, so, you know, she'd be standing right there. I mean, Micah does call for her, but seriously, if there was ever a moment for "In a minute, baby," this is it.
I mean, I understand that the writers wanted to give Nathan a shot at being an unambiguous good guy, and I even like the idea, but what I think the writers failed to notice is that the setup to this point would have allowed them to have their cake and eat it too. I like the idea of Nathan swooping in and offering to be the self-sacrificing hero, and then having Claude show up to whack Peter on the head (or having Claire tell Niki to do it). Presto: valid conversion moment, no explosion, plus, as a bonus, we'd have the possibility of watching Nathan follow up on his insistence to Peter in 1x07 that politics IS his way of being a hero, making a difference. Would Nathan have what it takes to be just another junior Congressman from New York instead of Our Fearless Leader? Obviously there are other possible storylines, and now that S2 is airing I'm trying to let go of what the show could have done with the finale and just focus on what it is doing with the aftermath, but I still grit my teeth a little at the missed opportunities.
I would, of course, have been happiest if the final showdown had been more of a group endeavor instead of serial individualism, but I admit that that's a hobbyhorse of mine. I do think it's interesting that Peter doesn't get a hero moment; his hero moments are elsewhere in the season, and I actually kind of like that: He is the clear and present danger in this scenario, although not of course intentionally. But the show shunts aside the question of chosen family - which is where they seem to be going with the Claire/Mr B storyline - and land squarely on family loyalty, which... is kind of a yawn for me personally.
A few additional character notes:
- The non-reappearance of Bob the Haitian was not necessarily a plot hole (although it's frustrating); I can understand why Bennet wouldn't want to call on him under the circumstances. What did strike me as a plot hole was no one mentioning him. Claire may not know about his power-suppressing abilities, but Matt does.
- I am irked that Devereaux reappeared in an irritatingly Magical Negro-esque capacity, but on the other hand I thought that was in some ways a very interesting scene, "all you need is love" claptrap notwithstanding. What was Deveaux's power, or what was his affiliation with the group, exactly?
- The Mohinder & Molly show does not fill me with particular glee (though, yes, cute), but the Micah & Molly show was awesome, even if we only got about thirty seconds of it. The question of what will happen to her is interesting; the Sanders/Hawkins family is not a logical place for her to end up, but I dearly hope that she and Micah have further onscreen contact, even though she's now living with her two daddies. Heh.
- I saw Claire's "I already have a family" line coming a mile away, and I still loved it. The dive out the window was perhaps a little dramatic, but hey, she's sixteen. Plus it was cool. *g*
- I am really happy that DL seems likely to survive.
- I am really happy that Niki and Jessica appear to be integrated.
- I am occasionally briefly annoyed by the show's hammering on the importance of family to Niki. But really the show gets a pass on this one, for two reasons: 1) Niki's home life as a child has been established as awful; it makes sense to me that for this character specifically family WOULD be of utmost importance; 2) the family thing is decidedly not limited to mothers; DL is as concerned about Micah as Niki is, and Mr. Bennet is the other obvious example, plus the show hits the sibling thing pretty hard with the Petrellis.
From this distance, and especially with my enthusiasm for the show boosted by the start of the new season, I guess I'd say that while I didn't dislike the finale, and it certainly didn't sour me on the show, I did find it disappointing, largely because I got used to the show surprising me, and this ep just... didn't surprise me. But I still trust that it will surprise me again, and this is a large part of why, at least for now, I am willing to handwave some of the not-immediately-promising elements of the S2 premiere.
I doubt I'll be doing regular write-ups of the new season, since whenever vonnie_k does hers I find myself simply nodding along and having little or nothing to add; but I am happy to be watching again. I've missed these characters.