Ah, those old fangirly crushes
I decided to watch Heroes because of Adrian Pasdar - who was way cool long before this show, long before he married a Dixie Chick in the cheapest Little White Chapel ceremony in Vegas, even long before he embodied Jim Profit, an HBO-quality protagonist on freakin' Fox years before there was such a thing as HBO.
You see, this guy hit the Moonlash Jackpot of Cool back in 1987 (!!!) when he played the lead in the cult classic Near Dark - a movie about VAMPIRE COWBOYS. Yeah. It just... it doesn't get any better than that, people. And I know I was young and impressionable, but to this day Caleb encapsulates a tiny piece of my 13-year-old heart and keeps it preserved in fangirly amber. *sigh* Seriously, I can trace an almost alarming number of my current fixations back to this movie.
Nineteen years later, I 1) feel like a very old cow and 2) am watching Heroes. People, I am THRILLED with Nathan's character! I LOVE that he is a congressman, the not-even-so-borderline sleazy kind, utterly UNAPOLOGETIC about his ambition and all the things he does to win the election, so fabulously cool and focused and oh GOD, such a PLAYER. I love it that he is already a public figure at the beginning of the story; that he's clearly made a choice of the life he wants to live and decided to put his unusual ability aside because he wants a DIFFERENT kind of power - but that he's clearly MASTERED that special power JUST IN CASE.
I love that he deploys the shark grin so smoothly because he knows it looks genuine enough; that he knows he can push and pull at his family's strings because they are his family and they'll let him - even if they have to hate him for a while. I love that he cheats on his wife even though they're happily married, and shows NO INNER CONFLICT WHATSOEVER. I love that he feels so comfortable in his performance of self, of success and charm and "being just a normal guy who happens to be stuck in the middle of the desert in his pyjamas" that he hardly even BLINKS when someone notices what he's trying to hide. I love that he wears Neo's glasses in that scene when Mohinder approaches him, even though he flies half-naked instead of in a dark billowy coat. (And yes, I approve very much of the half-nakedness thing. Ahem.)
I love that he's a good guy with such ease, giving a total stranger a lift and barely shrugging at it, and that he maintains the same ease when he plays hardball with a blackmailer who has a tape of him having sex. (Which, btw - notice the absolute lack of shame, both about being caught in the act and about the act itself. That, ladies and gentlemen, is one helluva confident sonofabitch. And that tape must be some very, VERY good porn. Guh.)
Also, the flight? Was cool. But the freakin' SONIC BOOM??? And the SKIDDING STOP???? That was panty-melting HOT. *fans self*
Still, there were some things that didn't work for me in this ep. I do not love Nathan's last conversation with Niki and the whole "you're the woman of my dreams" because 1) he's having a one-night stand like a man who's used to having them pretty regularly and I don't care how good the sex, that doesn't result in sudden love - especially not for someone as jaded as Nathan AND in the election year, and 2) from his perspective Niki is too much of a fantastic madona/whore composite, too much of a Six-inside-Baltar's-head to look and feel realistic - and while it would be nifty if he fell for BOTH sides of her, I'd just be disappointed in his character. Now, if he had fallen for the "bad" side only... but that's not where this show is going, alas. I sincerely hope they won't be paired up in the future. Let's keep it nice and casual, mkay?
Anyway. I have some major problems with this show. I don't feel like articulating them because I'm not invested enough to write much more about it, and besides, I prefer to focus on the happy-making stuff. So far, that would be Nathan - who has all the appeal of Lionel Luthor and then some, who remains the most interesting character among the "special" ones because of his attitude toward his ability, and who has a VERY slashy vibe with his brother (don't you dare deny it, you know you've noticed it too). And yeah, he's played by ADRIAN FREAKIN' PASDAR OMG *FLAIL*.
In conclusion: the show is comic book pulp, entertaining as long as I don't dwell on the stuff that makes me cringe, and Nathan totally rocks my biased socks. Yeah, I'll keep watching.
You see, this guy hit the Moonlash Jackpot of Cool back in 1987 (!!!) when he played the lead in the cult classic Near Dark - a movie about VAMPIRE COWBOYS. Yeah. It just... it doesn't get any better than that, people. And I know I was young and impressionable, but to this day Caleb encapsulates a tiny piece of my 13-year-old heart and keeps it preserved in fangirly amber. *sigh* Seriously, I can trace an almost alarming number of my current fixations back to this movie.
Nineteen years later, I 1) feel like a very old cow and 2) am watching Heroes. People, I am THRILLED with Nathan's character! I LOVE that he is a congressman, the not-even-so-borderline sleazy kind, utterly UNAPOLOGETIC about his ambition and all the things he does to win the election, so fabulously cool and focused and oh GOD, such a PLAYER. I love it that he is already a public figure at the beginning of the story; that he's clearly made a choice of the life he wants to live and decided to put his unusual ability aside because he wants a DIFFERENT kind of power - but that he's clearly MASTERED that special power JUST IN CASE.
I love that he deploys the shark grin so smoothly because he knows it looks genuine enough; that he knows he can push and pull at his family's strings because they are his family and they'll let him - even if they have to hate him for a while. I love that he cheats on his wife even though they're happily married, and shows NO INNER CONFLICT WHATSOEVER. I love that he feels so comfortable in his performance of self, of success and charm and "being just a normal guy who happens to be stuck in the middle of the desert in his pyjamas" that he hardly even BLINKS when someone notices what he's trying to hide. I love that he wears Neo's glasses in that scene when Mohinder approaches him, even though he flies half-naked instead of in a dark billowy coat. (And yes, I approve very much of the half-nakedness thing. Ahem.)
I love that he's a good guy with such ease, giving a total stranger a lift and barely shrugging at it, and that he maintains the same ease when he plays hardball with a blackmailer who has a tape of him having sex. (Which, btw - notice the absolute lack of shame, both about being caught in the act and about the act itself. That, ladies and gentlemen, is one helluva confident sonofabitch. And that tape must be some very, VERY good porn. Guh.)
Also, the flight? Was cool. But the freakin' SONIC BOOM??? And the SKIDDING STOP???? That was panty-melting HOT. *fans self*
Still, there were some things that didn't work for me in this ep. I do not love Nathan's last conversation with Niki and the whole "you're the woman of my dreams" because 1) he's having a one-night stand like a man who's used to having them pretty regularly and I don't care how good the sex, that doesn't result in sudden love - especially not for someone as jaded as Nathan AND in the election year, and 2) from his perspective Niki is too much of a fantastic madona/whore composite, too much of a Six-inside-Baltar's-head to look and feel realistic - and while it would be nifty if he fell for BOTH sides of her, I'd just be disappointed in his character. Now, if he had fallen for the "bad" side only... but that's not where this show is going, alas. I sincerely hope they won't be paired up in the future. Let's keep it nice and casual, mkay?
Anyway. I have some major problems with this show. I don't feel like articulating them because I'm not invested enough to write much more about it, and besides, I prefer to focus on the happy-making stuff. So far, that would be Nathan - who has all the appeal of Lionel Luthor and then some, who remains the most interesting character among the "special" ones because of his attitude toward his ability, and who has a VERY slashy vibe with his brother (don't you dare deny it, you know you've noticed it too). And yeah, he's played by ADRIAN FREAKIN' PASDAR OMG *FLAIL*.
In conclusion: the show is comic book pulp, entertaining as long as I don't dwell on the stuff that makes me cringe, and Nathan totally rocks my biased socks. Yeah, I'll keep watching.