Premiere week begins...with Heroes
Well, I haven't watched any episodes of this show over the summer--perhaps that's why I noticed a few things that consistently annoyed me last season.
Overall, though? An excellent season premiere; I already have theories galore about a couple of things which were hinted to us.
--An interesting choice, to jump four months into the future (and something like 350 years into the past). It puts some narrative distance between Volume 1 and Volume 2, gives us a realistic "re-set" with the characters ready to act and be acted upon once more, and gives the viewers a gap in our knowledge that we will be eager to fill at least for the first few episodes. So far, I approve. :-)
For my own sanity, I'm going to list this liked/didn't like bit of the review by character story, since everyone is sort of split up again:
Mohinder traveling the world, trying to raise awareness of the existence of the special people, and raise funds to research a cure for the virus that harmed Molly and killed his sister. I admit I wasn't sure whether Mohinder was playing or being played by the Company's man--I was quite relieved at the phone call showing that he was intentionally "going undercover," as it were. It'll be nice to see Mohinder being smarter this season. *crosses fingers*
I was very pleased to see Matt alive and well, working and taking care of Molly. On the one hand, he's realistically not doing a completely stellar job of caring for such a troubled child; on the other hand, he's doing the best he can, and the experiences he and Molly share make this almost a necessary arrangement. Creepiest scene in the premiere: Matt listening in on Molly's nightmare. *shudder* No wonder she's drawing crazy pictures.
[Also, I laughed out loud about Molly missing Mohinder's cooking. It was the mental image of Mohinder, Matt, and Molly as a little pseudo-family.]
I wasn't too pleased with the news that Matt is getting divorced. It does make sense, given what he's been through and that their marriage was already on the rocks when we met the Parkmans, but I kind of hoped we'd see his wife again. Especially if the child she's carrying is actually his. This disturbs me even more when paired with the fact that Nathan has apparently driven his wife and children away as he spirals down into grief over Peter. Again, it makes story sense, but I am not ready to give up the peripheral characters! *crosses fingers that I'm oversensitive about this*
Speaking of Nathan, I didn't recognize him when he bumped into Ando on the street (my roommate did, though). I do wonder how Nathan survived being that close to radioactive!Peter and to the blast, when Peter is presumed dead. Clearly, it's survivor's guilt as well as normal grief that is eating at Nathan--I'm pretty sure he did not expect to live through that sacrifice, and that he did expect Peter to. The glimpse in the bar mirror, where Nathan sees himself radiation-blasted, made me wonder if it's even deeper: that Nathen wonders whether Peter somehow gave Nathan his regenerative powers, and had none left for himself. I really want to know what happened when Peter exploded!
So: someone is setting out to assassinate members of the Old Guard (if you will), including Angela Petrelli and Mr. Nakamura. I'm not sure what to think about this storyline, except that Ando is awesome in his loyalty, even without Hiro there.
Hiro's storyline, otoh, is shaping up to be pretty great. :-) I'm not sure if Hiro will become Kensei, now, or if he'll teach the "real Kensei" how to be an actual hero. Either way, I'm eagerly awaiting more.
And, of course, I want to know how on earth Peter ended up chained (shirtless) in a storage unit in Ireland, with the Symbol hanging around his neck and apparently no memory of who he is. (Actually, I have a theory about the memory thing: it could be an aftereffect of be, er, reconstituted by his healing ability after being blasted to atoms. Bet I'm wrong, but that would make total sense.)
Last, but not least: Claire and her family, particularly her father. I did like how they were trying and mostly failing to really fit in. Claire's difficulty pretending to be less than she is was telling--and Mr. Bennett's utter failure to do the same was funny, but dangerous, too. I'm going to call the boy West "Peter Pan" until further notice (does that make Claire Wendy?)
One quibble with the Bennett family storyline: Mr. Bennett felt somehow out of character to me. All anger and frustration and sharp edges. Either a characterization problem, or he's lost all ability to pretend well, which does not bode well for his family staying safe in hiding. Especially not when he's still got an active interest in screwing the Company, and is essentially acting as Mohinder's handler.
I want to know more about Alejandro and Maya--it's too soon to tell if I'll like them or not, but it is nice to see characters on this show who have some sort of religious beliefs. Heh.
I also taped the pilot of Journeyman, but haven't had time to watch it. May not have time, in fact, until the weekend.
Overall, though? An excellent season premiere; I already have theories galore about a couple of things which were hinted to us.
--An interesting choice, to jump four months into the future (and something like 350 years into the past). It puts some narrative distance between Volume 1 and Volume 2, gives us a realistic "re-set" with the characters ready to act and be acted upon once more, and gives the viewers a gap in our knowledge that we will be eager to fill at least for the first few episodes. So far, I approve. :-)
For my own sanity, I'm going to list this liked/didn't like bit of the review by character story, since everyone is sort of split up again:
Mohinder traveling the world, trying to raise awareness of the existence of the special people, and raise funds to research a cure for the virus that harmed Molly and killed his sister. I admit I wasn't sure whether Mohinder was playing or being played by the Company's man--I was quite relieved at the phone call showing that he was intentionally "going undercover," as it were. It'll be nice to see Mohinder being smarter this season. *crosses fingers*
I was very pleased to see Matt alive and well, working and taking care of Molly. On the one hand, he's realistically not doing a completely stellar job of caring for such a troubled child; on the other hand, he's doing the best he can, and the experiences he and Molly share make this almost a necessary arrangement. Creepiest scene in the premiere: Matt listening in on Molly's nightmare. *shudder* No wonder she's drawing crazy pictures.
[Also, I laughed out loud about Molly missing Mohinder's cooking. It was the mental image of Mohinder, Matt, and Molly as a little pseudo-family.]
I wasn't too pleased with the news that Matt is getting divorced. It does make sense, given what he's been through and that their marriage was already on the rocks when we met the Parkmans, but I kind of hoped we'd see his wife again. Especially if the child she's carrying is actually his. This disturbs me even more when paired with the fact that Nathan has apparently driven his wife and children away as he spirals down into grief over Peter. Again, it makes story sense, but I am not ready to give up the peripheral characters! *crosses fingers that I'm oversensitive about this*
Speaking of Nathan, I didn't recognize him when he bumped into Ando on the street (my roommate did, though). I do wonder how Nathan survived being that close to radioactive!Peter and to the blast, when Peter is presumed dead. Clearly, it's survivor's guilt as well as normal grief that is eating at Nathan--I'm pretty sure he did not expect to live through that sacrifice, and that he did expect Peter to. The glimpse in the bar mirror, where Nathan sees himself radiation-blasted, made me wonder if it's even deeper: that Nathen wonders whether Peter somehow gave Nathan his regenerative powers, and had none left for himself. I really want to know what happened when Peter exploded!
So: someone is setting out to assassinate members of the Old Guard (if you will), including Angela Petrelli and Mr. Nakamura. I'm not sure what to think about this storyline, except that Ando is awesome in his loyalty, even without Hiro there.
Hiro's storyline, otoh, is shaping up to be pretty great. :-) I'm not sure if Hiro will become Kensei, now, or if he'll teach the "real Kensei" how to be an actual hero. Either way, I'm eagerly awaiting more.
And, of course, I want to know how on earth Peter ended up chained (shirtless) in a storage unit in Ireland, with the Symbol hanging around his neck and apparently no memory of who he is. (Actually, I have a theory about the memory thing: it could be an aftereffect of be, er, reconstituted by his healing ability after being blasted to atoms. Bet I'm wrong, but that would make total sense.)
Last, but not least: Claire and her family, particularly her father. I did like how they were trying and mostly failing to really fit in. Claire's difficulty pretending to be less than she is was telling--and Mr. Bennett's utter failure to do the same was funny, but dangerous, too. I'm going to call the boy West "Peter Pan" until further notice (does that make Claire Wendy?)
One quibble with the Bennett family storyline: Mr. Bennett felt somehow out of character to me. All anger and frustration and sharp edges. Either a characterization problem, or he's lost all ability to pretend well, which does not bode well for his family staying safe in hiding. Especially not when he's still got an active interest in screwing the Company, and is essentially acting as Mohinder's handler.
I want to know more about Alejandro and Maya--it's too soon to tell if I'll like them or not, but it is nice to see characters on this show who have some sort of religious beliefs. Heh.
I also taped the pilot of Journeyman, but haven't had time to watch it. May not have time, in fact, until the weekend.