Apples and pairs
I'm afraid that my usual TV blogging schedule fell behind last week due to the Anglo-German summit being held in my living room. But in the interests of slowly getting back on track, here are some thoughts on this week's Heroes.
So, the mystic pull of Strange Attractors, with a bonus swipe at last week's Tabula Rasa:
In other news, if you're looking for a musical segue into Halloween, I recommend a blast of Cliff's legendary Devil Woman. Alternatively, you could plump for the Flight of the Conchords' similarly named tribute, which is not one of their greatest, but does feature Jemaine looking scarily hot in leather. Or maybe that's just me.
So, the mystic pull of Strange Attractors, with a bonus swipe at last week's Tabula Rasa:
- So, last week was primarily notable for an image I like to call " Is anybody here NOT staring at Sylar's crotch?". This week, of course, we went one better with... well, I'm sure you can all picture it without me doing the upload. (Oh Zachary, can we have you declared a national monument?) However, I found that the aesthetic pleasures of that scene rather overwhelmed by its utter creepiness, which even the subsequent dark humour failed to defuse for me. Urgh.
- Can we be certain now that the Sylar in Matt's head is the real one, and not just Matt's guilty conscience? Unless, of course, Matt is MASSIVELY self-destructive in an unusually imaginative way AND knows what the viewing audience want to see -- hence Matt's t-shirt doing a sudden disappearing act when Sylar's mind took over. That would be one clever subconscious.
- Still, it's a little ironic that Sylar's body has also been getting some action even without the presence of his mind, due mainly to the reactivation of Nathan's supernatural homing instinct for blondes. The Carnival seems to be bringing out a whole new side in him, including a strange taste in hats and a previously untapped ability that I can only describe as Empathic Hairstyling. Whoosh! I'm neat and tidy and wholesome! Whoosh! I'm a psycho! Whoosh! I'm a geek! Whoosh! I'm a psycho again! Maybe the hat is the only way to keep its pernicious influence under control?
- Liked the acknowledgement of Claire's recent Buffyness (Buffitude? Bufficity? Buffesquerie?). She and Gretchen are quite sweet together, but one wonders where the relationship's going to go once they've fully embraced their Sapphic storyline, so to speak. I suppose that "they have a lovely relationship and everything's peachy" is an unlikely conclusion...
- The sad fate of young Jeremy suffered badly under the tragic weight of Symbolism (TM). Rednecks! Anti-mutant prejudice! Do you get it, folks? We'll keep filming until you do! The "This is my concerned face" acting of Tracy did not help matters, and even the usually sterling work of Bennet failed to raise the plotline above the pedestrian. Weirdly, the only saving grace was Samuel's earth-raising vengeance at the end. Maybe he DOES have a purpose on this show after all? (Then again, let's not get ahead of ourselves.) Still, at least the chances of Tracy/Bennet canoodling seem to have been drastically reduced, which is a bit of a relief.
- Whoops, the superpowered cat is out of the sorority bag, as Claire's chums get an accidental overdose of Too Much Information. What is Claire going to do now, hang up the novelty windchimes and hope that the Haitian's got his cellphone switched on? Or maybe she'll confess all and become the leader of her own sorority superteam spin-off, like Charlie's Angels for the 21st century. Bennet's Bitchpack: crime-fighting kickassery with added hairdressing tips! It could run and run.
- Oh, silly, silly Matt, letting Sylar fool you AGAIN with his "yeah, I am totally vulnerable to tequila" scam. Even the best of booze is no match for The Hunger (TM). Matt's only hope is that Janice has twigged what's going on. After all, she did get half an explanation of what was going on from Matt, and for heaven's sake, she knows her husband's a psychic and her baby's a multi-purpose remote control, so she must be able to conjure some dealing-with-weird-shit brainpower from somewhere. Now's your chance, Janice. Bring it on and kick some Sylar butt! (Naked Sylar butt, for preference.)
- Skipping backwards to last week, are we going to return to Mercy Heights Hospital to find that Peter's healing touch has provided a brand-new solution to the issues of the US healthcare system? Somehow I doubt it, but Obama may be crossing his fingers and hoping. And sticking chez Petrelli, I belatedly realized the plot logic behind Peter and Bennet's fluffy BFF bromance. It's to ramp up the betrayal factor when Peter finds out about the whole Nathan-is-Sylar business, innit? The same fact explains why Claire's been getting on so famously with her dad lately, too. Oh Noah, they're going to be SO cross with you. And then you'll have no friends at all, not even Tracy. Bet you wish you hadn't lost the Haitian's phone number, eh?
- Next week, I imagine we may find out how Hiro fares on his flying visit to the far-off days of season 1. Say hello to Mr Isaac for me, Hiro!
In other news, if you're looking for a musical segue into Halloween, I recommend a blast of Cliff's legendary Devil Woman. Alternatively, you could plump for the Flight of the Conchords' similarly named tribute, which is not one of their greatest, but does feature Jemaine looking scarily hot in leather. Or maybe that's just me.