Third time is a charm
Now that I have cooled off a bit, let's move onto happier things. Here is my review for:
For me the best episode of the season thus far.
The first couple of minutes in, I would have never anticipated that I ended up loving the episode. It started out very slowly and took a while to get going. I'm honestly not sure if it's a matter of quality or my personal bias, but I thought the Sylar and Claire sub plots dragged a bit in the beginning while things picked up as soon as Emma and Peter entered the scene.
Okay, I freely admit that I adore Emma. I can't remember liking a character this much since I fell for the S1 alumni. I love her sarcasm and snarky remarks look even more awesome signed. She also has such an expressive face that you can't take your eyes off her.
We get a hint about the possible reasons of her self imposed isolation by her mother. I didn't mind this twist simply because the juxtaposition of their scenes with Angela and Peter was so beautifully done.
Ans speaking of Peter and Angela, their scene was awesome but three different kinds of heartbreaking. But let me point out first, that Peter took Noah's advice to heart. Awww.
It's so sad, though that he takes Nathan's involuntary absence from his little family reconnecting breakfast as another personal rejection. As evident in his remark to Angela about wanting to connect with the the half of the family that bothered to show up. With Angela being so heavily preoccupied with Nathan and her worry for him and the many symbolic shots of the vacant chair with the empty plate on the table, Nathan felt very present despite his absence. It's the closest they have come to acknowledge his death yet.
Peter was understandably hurt by Angela's apparent disinterest. I'm sure a lot of people will have a field day with his "Could we just focus on me for a second, mom?" remark. But I saw this as sad confirmation of how things have been in the Petrelli household since Peter was a little kid: everyone fretting about the Golden Boy and nobody paying attention to little Peter. And here he is, trying to reconnect with his mother - who didn't seem to have cared much about his obsessive work ethic and living arrangements - and she doesn't listen to a word he says. He looked so heartbroken in a few shots that I wanted to cuddle him.
Of course we know why Angela was so absent minded. Seeing her inner turmoil and dawning realization that Nathan's gone again made me feel horrible for her despite her responsibility in the Sylar/Nathan drama. It sucks to be a Petrelli right now. Sad but brilliant scene all around.
And speaking of Sylar, as I've said in the beginning, I thought his plot dragged a bit. We had a few too many incidents with people losing their memory or rediscovering their powers, so it didn't feel particularly original or relevant. Btw, is anybody able to tell whether Zach plays it like amnesiac Nathan or amnesiac Gabriel?
Anyway, the main point of his plot was to get him to the carnival and I thought that could have been achieved much quicker. I liked the doctor a lot though and I'm so very proud of the show that they didn't let him kill her at the end of the episode.
The carnival breakfast scene felt a little stilted in my opinion but it's nice to see everything coming together with the different characters and story arcs all being linked to the carnival. I'm a bit confused, if Samuel only wanted one of the heroes to replace his brother and they were all candidates or if he wants to collect all the sheep potential family members out there. Is the even still interested in the others now that he has Sylar? Also, much love for Lydia who seems to be the only one who dares to call Samuel out. And it should be forbidden for Samuel to look so sensual while eating sausage or whatever that was.
The Claire/Gretchen story played out a lot better than I had anticipated after their mindless promotion of the kiss. I contribute much to Madeline Zima who I felt was really strong in the scene. Her increasing panic and insecurity seemed so genuine that the kiss felt natural as a desperate attempt to express herself. But they did shoot themselves in the foot with the heavy misdirection over the course of the episode. I liked the twist with Becky but they deliberately set Gretchen up to be very ambiguous and creepy, so we and Claire would fall for it and I fear that has done a lot of damage to her character. Some of the things she did were not acceptable.
So, regarding the budding relationships on the show Peter/Emma get my vote. They haven't handled a possible romance that well since Hiro and Charlie. I adored all of their scenes together (and separately).
They even managed to make the most of the inevitable occurrence of Peter accidentally taking her power. By playing it for humor with his adorkable non-speed run and the ironic dying of the theme song each time, they made it one of the funniest scenes of the show. (If they gave more characters scenes like these, Hiro wouldn't have to be reduced to the comic relief for the forth season in a row.) Of course there will always be people who bitch about the mechanics of Peter's power but this way his little mishap was enjoyable. And the following scene with Peter and Emma flirting across the room while watching the pretty lights was almost magical. I squeed like a little girl. Not gonna lie.
And it turns out that I have precognitive icon making skills. LOL. Remember this icon?
Heee.
The piano scene was great as well, if just a little too long. But let me tell you that watching Peter play the piano did things to me, seeing that I used to play for 8 years. Oh, I miss my piano right now.
Anyway, Peter and Emma get my approval and I would have never guessed that they succeeded in making their bonding so charming after their romance track record. Also, it gives us a reason to see Peter smile like a loony! If that's not reason enough to support them, I don't know what is. ;)
Also on the happy making side: I made another small icon batch (what can I say, it makes me happy ;). Some Bennetrellis, some Peter/Noah, some Peter/Nathan and a few Peter/Emma. I plan on doing a lot more icons of the most recent episode, as soon as I can get my hands on HD caps. Mine are too small.
[01-03]
[04-06]
[07-09]
[10-12]
I couldn't resist doing these immediately after watching the episode. I'll do a lot more when I can get my hands on HD caps.
[13-15]
And there is already a community for Emma: heroes_emma. The fan vids are really cute. How come the het shippers on Youtube are so much faster than the slashers? *g*
For me the best episode of the season thus far.
The first couple of minutes in, I would have never anticipated that I ended up loving the episode. It started out very slowly and took a while to get going. I'm honestly not sure if it's a matter of quality or my personal bias, but I thought the Sylar and Claire sub plots dragged a bit in the beginning while things picked up as soon as Emma and Peter entered the scene.
Okay, I freely admit that I adore Emma. I can't remember liking a character this much since I fell for the S1 alumni. I love her sarcasm and snarky remarks look even more awesome signed. She also has such an expressive face that you can't take your eyes off her.
We get a hint about the possible reasons of her self imposed isolation by her mother. I didn't mind this twist simply because the juxtaposition of their scenes with Angela and Peter was so beautifully done.
Ans speaking of Peter and Angela, their scene was awesome but three different kinds of heartbreaking. But let me point out first, that Peter took Noah's advice to heart. Awww.
It's so sad, though that he takes Nathan's involuntary absence from his little family reconnecting breakfast as another personal rejection. As evident in his remark to Angela about wanting to connect with the the half of the family that bothered to show up. With Angela being so heavily preoccupied with Nathan and her worry for him and the many symbolic shots of the vacant chair with the empty plate on the table, Nathan felt very present despite his absence. It's the closest they have come to acknowledge his death yet.
Peter was understandably hurt by Angela's apparent disinterest. I'm sure a lot of people will have a field day with his "Could we just focus on me for a second, mom?" remark. But I saw this as sad confirmation of how things have been in the Petrelli household since Peter was a little kid: everyone fretting about the Golden Boy and nobody paying attention to little Peter. And here he is, trying to reconnect with his mother - who didn't seem to have cared much about his obsessive work ethic and living arrangements - and she doesn't listen to a word he says. He looked so heartbroken in a few shots that I wanted to cuddle him.
Of course we know why Angela was so absent minded. Seeing her inner turmoil and dawning realization that Nathan's gone again made me feel horrible for her despite her responsibility in the Sylar/Nathan drama. It sucks to be a Petrelli right now. Sad but brilliant scene all around.
And speaking of Sylar, as I've said in the beginning, I thought his plot dragged a bit. We had a few too many incidents with people losing their memory or rediscovering their powers, so it didn't feel particularly original or relevant. Btw, is anybody able to tell whether Zach plays it like amnesiac Nathan or amnesiac Gabriel?
Anyway, the main point of his plot was to get him to the carnival and I thought that could have been achieved much quicker. I liked the doctor a lot though and I'm so very proud of the show that they didn't let him kill her at the end of the episode.
The carnival breakfast scene felt a little stilted in my opinion but it's nice to see everything coming together with the different characters and story arcs all being linked to the carnival. I'm a bit confused, if Samuel only wanted one of the heroes to replace his brother and they were all candidates or if he wants to collect all the sheep potential family members out there. Is the even still interested in the others now that he has Sylar? Also, much love for Lydia who seems to be the only one who dares to call Samuel out. And it should be forbidden for Samuel to look so sensual while eating sausage or whatever that was.
The Claire/Gretchen story played out a lot better than I had anticipated after their mindless promotion of the kiss. I contribute much to Madeline Zima who I felt was really strong in the scene. Her increasing panic and insecurity seemed so genuine that the kiss felt natural as a desperate attempt to express herself. But they did shoot themselves in the foot with the heavy misdirection over the course of the episode. I liked the twist with Becky but they deliberately set Gretchen up to be very ambiguous and creepy, so we and Claire would fall for it and I fear that has done a lot of damage to her character. Some of the things she did were not acceptable.
So, regarding the budding relationships on the show Peter/Emma get my vote. They haven't handled a possible romance that well since Hiro and Charlie. I adored all of their scenes together (and separately).
They even managed to make the most of the inevitable occurrence of Peter accidentally taking her power. By playing it for humor with his adorkable non-speed run and the ironic dying of the theme song each time, they made it one of the funniest scenes of the show. (If they gave more characters scenes like these, Hiro wouldn't have to be reduced to the comic relief for the forth season in a row.) Of course there will always be people who bitch about the mechanics of Peter's power but this way his little mishap was enjoyable. And the following scene with Peter and Emma flirting across the room while watching the pretty lights was almost magical. I squeed like a little girl. Not gonna lie.
And it turns out that I have precognitive icon making skills. LOL. Remember this icon?
Heee.
The piano scene was great as well, if just a little too long. But let me tell you that watching Peter play the piano did things to me, seeing that I used to play for 8 years. Oh, I miss my piano right now.
Anyway, Peter and Emma get my approval and I would have never guessed that they succeeded in making their bonding so charming after their romance track record. Also, it gives us a reason to see Peter smile like a loony! If that's not reason enough to support them, I don't know what is. ;)
Also on the happy making side: I made another small icon batch (what can I say, it makes me happy ;). Some Bennetrellis, some Peter/Noah, some Peter/Nathan and a few Peter/Emma. I plan on doing a lot more icons of the most recent episode, as soon as I can get my hands on HD caps. Mine are too small.
[01-03]
[04-06]
[07-09]
[10-12]
I couldn't resist doing these immediately after watching the episode. I'll do a lot more when I can get my hands on HD caps.
[13-15]
And there is already a community for Emma: heroes_emma. The fan vids are really cute. How come the het shippers on Youtube are so much faster than the slashers? *g*