it's all just a little bit of history repeating
First off, I don't know whether to tip the hat or wag the finger at the blatant quote/title. Really, Heroes? You think you're good enough to warrant quoting Dylan Thomas? Hmm. That remains to be seen.
Because it was easier for me (and probably easier to read), I've broken the episode down into the arcs (complete with smart-ass titles).
Hiro and Ando go to Africa
I’m soooooo glad that Hiro didn’t kill Ando. I was expecting some sort of reveal, that after the fact he goes back in time and replaces Ando with an even more Non-Special Ando clone and kills the clone rather than the actual Ando. I did love the stage trickery involved. Fake sword tips and corn syrup.
Love the polo shirts, kids! Very cute. I laughed for about a minute at seeing the picture of “Mr. African Isaak” beaning Hiro with a shovel. It was very Bugs Bunny-ish, what with Hiro looking at the picture of him getting hit with a shovel, then turning around to actually get hit with that shovel. Very humorous. And I can’t remember - was the picture of Hiro standing over Ando’s bloody body there the last time, or is that a new vision too?
Does African Isaak know where he’s going to hit Hiro with a shovel and paint the surrounding wall just to mess with him? I kind of want Hiro and Ando to be able to go somewhere else, anywhere else, and see a picture of him getting hit in the head with a shovel and see what happens. It's a great Pavlovian gag.
"You rely on your powers too much. Once you remembered to use your head, you would find me." HUGE THANKS for Mr. African Isaak, because WORD. At least he hasn't lost his power again, but seriously.
And oh my God, that was the cutest moment. Hiro and Ando yelling "Seriously!" in Japanese, all emotionally pissed off. I want to see that on Grey's Anatomy.
How I Met Your Turtle
Parkman talking to the turtle was hilarious. It’s like Turtle became Parkman’s wingman. Oh my God, I’m naming the Turtle Ted! “High five, Turtle.” I am so saying that at work this week.
Parkman totally reached his inner Mr. Miyagi over in Africa. And wow, Microsoft recognizes Miyagi as an actual word? Microsoft Word doesn't want to change it to something like, mirror?
I kind of want Parkman and Daphne to get together. Weird, I know. Also, I can't quite get past the fact that Daphne really looks like Kristen Bell. It's like the Tina Fey-Sarah Palin phenomenon went all Blonde Heroes on us.
SpiderPig, SpiderPig! Does whatever a SpiderPig does
Can he swing from a web? No, he can't, he's a Pig. Look out, Tracey and Nathan! Here comes SpiderPig!
Very glad to see Tracey's accepting that her power comes in handy when captured by an evil SpiderPig.
The Petrelli Boys and the Secret of Level Five
Peter: Sylar wouldn’t know what happens in the future because the future hasn’t happened yet. I find it slightly awkward how quickly Sylar has adapted to the fact that he’s a Petrelli. I understand Peter’s reluctance to accept him. Oh, and it all comes down to sibling rivalry, and which brother Mama Petrelli likes best.
Holy crap, Peter's Dad sucked his powers through a hug! So unlike Peter, who just needs to come into proximity with another Hero to gain his power, Papa Petrelli needs to have physical contact with his victim.
How I Shot Your Mothers
You know, Claire’s going to get killed someday. And right now, I actually don’t have a problem with it. The worst part is of course that she can’t get killed.
Puppet Master is wicked creepy. But I love that he called Claire Barbie. It appears that they’ve created a person with an ability that can’t be defeated.
Until Claire gets shot, that is. (This is what happens when I blog while I watch. I make statements that I later have to retract.) Go, Claire?
Oh, man, oh, man, OH MAN. NOAH! and Claire together as the One of Us/One of Them? AWESOME. I may actually stop hating Claire again if NOAH! decides to punch her in the mouth every once in a while.
Looking behind and ahead
First you kill off Weevil. Now you kill off Sark. What the fuck, Heroes? The next guest star with abilities has to be someone AWESOME to make up for all of that killing.
Speaking of Awesome Guest Star Potential, let's talk about the Four Villains from Mr. African Isaak. I recognized three out of four: Papa Petrelli; I'm assuming the black guy is Knox, and the angry bald guy is the Fire Guy from Level Five. It could also be Maurey Parkman, but I can't be 100% sure right now.
But who's the guy in the upper right hand corner? Because dudes, it totally looks like TOM SELLECK. Seriously, Amelia and I had this conversation:
Me: Okay, that's Arthur Petrelli, but the guy next to him -
Amelia: Is that -
Both: That's Tom Selleck!
Dear Casting Gods: MAKE THIS HAPPEN. That is all.
Yay, Stella's not the Mother! I didn't think she was, because Stella has to get back to being Elliott on Scrubs, but still. Yay! And also a big yay for Jason Jones!
I can hear Brad now: "I TOLD YOU ROBIN WAS THE MOTHER." Uh, no, Brad, she's not. True, Ted must marry a brunette (based on the footage of what his kids would look like if he had married Stella), but he calls her AUNT ROBIN. Why would he call his wife AUNT ROBIN if she's their mother?
BARNEY. BARNEY. Oh my GOD. You tried so hard, and then you cheated on Robin with the person you weren't even going to cheat on her with! And I know technically it's not cheating, but you had a WHITE BOARD OF AWESOMENESS that you used to determine how to get with Robin again, and if that's not Barney-Love, I don't know what is. Yeah, you look all sad and pissed off at yourself after Robin told you she was hoping to stay with you. You would have been IN, man (what up?), and you BLEW IT. And NOT IN THE GOOD WAY.
Aw man, I have to go to work. Damnit.