Heroes 2x04: "The Kindness of Strangers" (heroes_meta)
OK, now, is this episode going to be as gay as the title suggests? Well, kind of - in a lot of great ways! Stella!!! It's no Tennesee Williams masterpiece, but I'd definitely say my show is back!
Apparently, the magic formula is five small shots of whiskey consumed over the two hours before the show starts, and maybe a little smokie-smokie. But this episode was smooth like butter - there was nothing that snagged on me the whole time. And for that I am grateful - I was all knotted up with dread all day, worried that the show was going to be a piece of shit, and I'd have to commit myself to watching a show that I didn't enjoy. That's not gonna happen. Thank you, Mr. Kring, and I am sorry I doubted you, but still, fire JJ Philbin, I beg you.
NO PETER
Good! That shit was pissing me off! I'd rather no Peter at all than lame Peter! Maybe good Peter next week? With Kristen Bell, we will probably have good Peter, as long as he can recognize the fact that he has hands and stuff.
UNITED COLORS OF BENNET-TON
Episode opens with HRG-cam! Everyone take two drinks! Oh noes, now, for very good reason, Noah and Sandra become the most overprotective parents ever. And so the web of lies gets spun anew because Claire is a teenager after all, and lying is what she does. It's the whole family's official sport! Claire just can't help being popular. West just can't help being a complete TOOL. But cute as hell, that boy. Too bad I despise him. And he looks like a moron when he flies. But I'd hit it.
More painful dinners at the household. Lyle is up Claire's nose like a good annoying pain of a little brother. We get HRG-cam again as he stalks Claire after dinner and sees her meeting up with West; fortunately the crazy kids can fly away. Woot! And he takes her to the Hollywood sign, because of course. He wants her to "share" with him. Uh-huh. She jumps off and he catches her, so obviously he's a better flier than he makes out. And then they make out. And it's so rrrrrrrrrommmaaaaaaantic *gag*
Claire comes in late, Noah is pissed as hell, Claire lies and is a liar about West and claims that she tried out for cheerleading again. Noah is double-pissed - then totally caves, and makes a devil's bargain that she won't date if she cheerleads. Oh, sure, that's gonna work. Anyway, Noah don't hardly care; the Haitian Sensation is being a backdoor man, creeping up through their back yard to the patio. He tells Noah that he has a lead on the other paintings, but they're in Odessa - UKRAINE. Zing! Nice parallelism there - too bad they weren't from Paris, Texas, huh? HUH?
I gotta get me some windchimes.
HOUSE OF M, M, and M
Matt continues to be the wife and mother, and Mo continues to give attitude. No need to fight over Molly, ladies! Mo wins this round by singing a charming little lullaby to Molly to help her sleep. But then he and Matt fight some more... fight and fight, and bite and fight and fight... fight fight fight, bite bite bite... the Mohinder and Matthew Show! And to shut them the hell up, Molly agrees to find MattDad. (With disastrous consequences...) Nice fucking work again, there, Matt. You're a winner. I totally want you on my team. You will guarantee success and safety for us all. >_< But yeah, no wonder he's such a screwup, if at the age of thirteen his dad pretty much kicked him to the curb with a hundred bucks. I mean, Claire's been through some tough stuff, and Nathan and Peter were almost made responsible for the deaths of millions, and Mohinder's dad would barely speak a civil word to him (and Mohinder even says the phrase "daddy issues" AND breaks the fourth wall when he's saying it), but that is one of the harshest things a parent's done to their kid even on this show. I guess Niki and Jessica have him beat, but that's about it. Poor Matt. *pets him* I do love the big dumb girl. He means well.
Anyway, Matt's dad is a thief - because it's Heroes - and apparently he's also the Big Bad Scary Horror (to be distinguished from the Boogeyman, who is on his way). Molly freaks out Broadway-style, complete with the Godsend RNA symbol showing up in her eyes. Fabulous!
Looks like locating MattDad wasn't the best thing in the world to have done - it looks like it's killed Molly. At the very least, I think it's trapped her inside her own head, or maybe her soul was stolen, or... WTF?! I'm worried! This is great - classic 70's child-based horror. I love POLTERGEIST too! Now my question for you, my friends, is - do you hope she's dead, or should she live on to terrorize us with her precociousness and her blatant favorites-playing with Matt and Mo? I'm on the side of "Live", if only because I want her and Micah to run away together, and maybe grab Simon and Monty, too, while they're at it, and form a new Company, but with ice cream, pony rides and Wii.
PETRELLIS FTW
Nathan's been reduced to the pathetic cliche of stalking his kids at school, where supposedly he's not supposed to be - restraining order? But oh my god he's beautiful. The kid playing Monty looked like he wanted to make out with him. The Petrelli magic! It's literally all Adrian Pasdar's fault for having that quality of rich, vulnerable sensuality (not to mention that voice that I'd call The Velvet if Kiefer Sutherland didn't already have the trademark on that. So what's Adrian? The Cashmere?).
And the beard disappears without even a goodbye! Angela can't help snarking at him about it, though, reminding him that (ah yes, see my icon) he's still a goddamn alkie. Nathan doesn't dispute it. OK, I have to take umbrage - can you really become an alcoholic in four months? C'mon, Tim Kring. I love my Drunk Nathan, and I accept that his pajamas don't fly off when he flies, but you can't play me on substance abuse.
Matt and Nathan not-bond over their kids and dig through the family photos. So Kaito used to hang out with the Petrellis? Oh HELL YEAH. (And, of course. I bet those holiday parties were kickass.) Dad is VERY blurry (and wearing glasses! ... wow! Hmmm... how're they gonna do this, seeing as in the online comic, "Dallas" Petrelli looks a hell of a lot like Adrian Pasdar?), Bob Tobolowsky was there as we know, and MATT'S DAD WAS IN THE ORIGINAL 12! OH MY STARS AND GARTERS. Yeah, it's logical, but it's still a lovely shock. Did I mention that MY SHOW IS BACK? Life is so lovely spoiler-free. And there's Angela, taking the fall for Kaito's murder (pun only slightly intended)! Giving Matt a stern but loving telepathic talking-to! Can I love her more?! But I don't want her redeemed! We need scary ass-kicking manipulative post-menopausal women!
Nathan has so many pictures of Peter, including really Horrifying/Wonderful Young Milo shots, then sees his burned and disfigured reflection in the mirror again. Then he punches it. He doesn't heal. He's Nathan. He has feelings. I would like to help him sort them out, preferably involving massage oil. I'd be willing to let Peter handle that, but only if he promises to stop being so goddamn dense.
MAYA Y AL Y SPECIAL GUEST STAR!!
Gringo in Claire's stolen Rogue drives up and finds Sylar all stretched out in the road! Yay! This is gonna be GREAT! They pick him up and take him with them. Maya gets all excited, whereas Al is like "This guy's a freak." But he's not! He's GABRIEL GRAY! Just like the angel. Of DEATH, bitches; watchmakerz represent.
Gringo reads a newspaper with the twins on the front, flips out, and rats them out; Gabe runs back and rats HIM out, stressing poor widdle Maya, who goes all black-oil and almost takes Gabriel out. Al fixes things in time, though, and Gabriel figures out they've got powers, and they all ditch the dumb-ass - but only after Gabriel has given the gringo a bonk-bonk on the head with a brick. And leaves a suddenly geographically appropriate Mexican hissing cockroach behind, as a sort of calling-card. Maybe Sylar is actually Roach-Kote from the Powerpuff Girls!
I wonder what he's up to. He's got the hotties and the Rogue now, though, so the world is pretty much his oyster. How far will he get without having to snack on their tasty brains? And how the hell do they think they're getting across the border? Sylar's got to be in some national databases by now, doesn't he? (Or did the Company get them all?) Whatever. This storyline is suddenly awesome. Maybe it was just Sylar in the black wifebeater, and his beautiful, weird body, or also my realization that ALEJANDRO HAS STOLEN PETER'S HAIR.
THE BLACK PEOPLE PART OF THE SHOW
Nichelle is my hero. She's not only believable as a slightly freaky voodoo lady who no doubt has powers beyond any imagining, but also does a great tired ol' granny who falls asleep in her easy chair. And the new sassy black teenage female, "Monica", is gorgeous and awesome. And the asshole cousin, "Damon" (of course) is extremely rad. And Micah gets into his old felonious ways, stealing cable (like, sending us a message about trying to get the show by any means necessary? Whatever, we're crackheads). He just wants to be liked, I guess - but more than anything he wants to use his powers, like all of them do (except Maya, I guess). He gets a sexy hug from his cousin (because it's Heroes don'tcha know!) and then gives her a poignant line about fixing her dreams or some smooth business like that.
Meanwhile our young lady's got plans and dreams and can make a mean tomato rose. She does the same kind of rants that Peter gave us last year - maybe those two should hook up. I'd be OK with that. She gets on great with her redheaded, acerbic co-worker, and I like her, too. She also happens to see a neato pro wrestling move on the TV, then busts it out on a bad Ice-T clone who jacks her cafe/fast food grease emporium (do they got chicken?...) and tries to rob the joint. A little swing around a pole and bada-boom, broken plate glass, badly shaken thug, and me grinning my ass off. That's good. Real good. That works for me. Because if there's one thing I love more than watching cute little blonde girls beating the shit out of perps, it's cute little chocolate-brown girls beating the shit out of perps. By swinging around a pole. Subtext? What the hell! Whee!
So she can do anything she sees on TV? Ok, that's officially the best power ever. Yes, that's the one I want.
Please, Santa, I want Peter and Nathan to be together again. Preferably before Christmas.
Also? Need screencap of the photo of the 12 super-postles like yesterday. C'mon, internet, be my friend. I'm sure all the adolescent-Milo pics are already there - hate to be a hater, but Milo's hair used to be seriously wack. I know; I had the same haircut. And it looked better on me.
So happy. So happy. Yay. Smiling so much makes my face hurt.
Apparently, the magic formula is five small shots of whiskey consumed over the two hours before the show starts, and maybe a little smokie-smokie. But this episode was smooth like butter - there was nothing that snagged on me the whole time. And for that I am grateful - I was all knotted up with dread all day, worried that the show was going to be a piece of shit, and I'd have to commit myself to watching a show that I didn't enjoy. That's not gonna happen. Thank you, Mr. Kring, and I am sorry I doubted you, but still, fire JJ Philbin, I beg you.
NO PETER
Good! That shit was pissing me off! I'd rather no Peter at all than lame Peter! Maybe good Peter next week? With Kristen Bell, we will probably have good Peter, as long as he can recognize the fact that he has hands and stuff.
UNITED COLORS OF BENNET-TON
Episode opens with HRG-cam! Everyone take two drinks! Oh noes, now, for very good reason, Noah and Sandra become the most overprotective parents ever. And so the web of lies gets spun anew because Claire is a teenager after all, and lying is what she does. It's the whole family's official sport! Claire just can't help being popular. West just can't help being a complete TOOL. But cute as hell, that boy. Too bad I despise him. And he looks like a moron when he flies. But I'd hit it.
More painful dinners at the household. Lyle is up Claire's nose like a good annoying pain of a little brother. We get HRG-cam again as he stalks Claire after dinner and sees her meeting up with West; fortunately the crazy kids can fly away. Woot! And he takes her to the Hollywood sign, because of course. He wants her to "share" with him. Uh-huh. She jumps off and he catches her, so obviously he's a better flier than he makes out. And then they make out. And it's so rrrrrrrrrommmaaaaaaantic *gag*
Claire comes in late, Noah is pissed as hell, Claire lies and is a liar about West and claims that she tried out for cheerleading again. Noah is double-pissed - then totally caves, and makes a devil's bargain that she won't date if she cheerleads. Oh, sure, that's gonna work. Anyway, Noah don't hardly care; the Haitian Sensation is being a backdoor man, creeping up through their back yard to the patio. He tells Noah that he has a lead on the other paintings, but they're in Odessa - UKRAINE. Zing! Nice parallelism there - too bad they weren't from Paris, Texas, huh? HUH?
I gotta get me some windchimes.
HOUSE OF M, M, and M
Matt continues to be the wife and mother, and Mo continues to give attitude. No need to fight over Molly, ladies! Mo wins this round by singing a charming little lullaby to Molly to help her sleep. But then he and Matt fight some more... fight and fight, and bite and fight and fight... fight fight fight, bite bite bite... the Mohinder and Matthew Show! And to shut them the hell up, Molly agrees to find MattDad. (With disastrous consequences...) Nice fucking work again, there, Matt. You're a winner. I totally want you on my team. You will guarantee success and safety for us all. >_< But yeah, no wonder he's such a screwup, if at the age of thirteen his dad pretty much kicked him to the curb with a hundred bucks. I mean, Claire's been through some tough stuff, and Nathan and Peter were almost made responsible for the deaths of millions, and Mohinder's dad would barely speak a civil word to him (and Mohinder even says the phrase "daddy issues" AND breaks the fourth wall when he's saying it), but that is one of the harshest things a parent's done to their kid even on this show. I guess Niki and Jessica have him beat, but that's about it. Poor Matt. *pets him* I do love the big dumb girl. He means well.
Anyway, Matt's dad is a thief - because it's Heroes - and apparently he's also the Big Bad Scary Horror (to be distinguished from the Boogeyman, who is on his way). Molly freaks out Broadway-style, complete with the Godsend RNA symbol showing up in her eyes. Fabulous!
Looks like locating MattDad wasn't the best thing in the world to have done - it looks like it's killed Molly. At the very least, I think it's trapped her inside her own head, or maybe her soul was stolen, or... WTF?! I'm worried! This is great - classic 70's child-based horror. I love POLTERGEIST too! Now my question for you, my friends, is - do you hope she's dead, or should she live on to terrorize us with her precociousness and her blatant favorites-playing with Matt and Mo? I'm on the side of "Live", if only because I want her and Micah to run away together, and maybe grab Simon and Monty, too, while they're at it, and form a new Company, but with ice cream, pony rides and Wii.
PETRELLIS FTW
Nathan's been reduced to the pathetic cliche of stalking his kids at school, where supposedly he's not supposed to be - restraining order? But oh my god he's beautiful. The kid playing Monty looked like he wanted to make out with him. The Petrelli magic! It's literally all Adrian Pasdar's fault for having that quality of rich, vulnerable sensuality (not to mention that voice that I'd call The Velvet if Kiefer Sutherland didn't already have the trademark on that. So what's Adrian? The Cashmere?).
And the beard disappears without even a goodbye! Angela can't help snarking at him about it, though, reminding him that (ah yes, see my icon) he's still a goddamn alkie. Nathan doesn't dispute it. OK, I have to take umbrage - can you really become an alcoholic in four months? C'mon, Tim Kring. I love my Drunk Nathan, and I accept that his pajamas don't fly off when he flies, but you can't play me on substance abuse.
Matt and Nathan not-bond over their kids and dig through the family photos. So Kaito used to hang out with the Petrellis? Oh HELL YEAH. (And, of course. I bet those holiday parties were kickass.) Dad is VERY blurry (and wearing glasses! ... wow! Hmmm... how're they gonna do this, seeing as in the online comic, "Dallas" Petrelli looks a hell of a lot like Adrian Pasdar?), Bob Tobolowsky was there as we know, and MATT'S DAD WAS IN THE ORIGINAL 12! OH MY STARS AND GARTERS. Yeah, it's logical, but it's still a lovely shock. Did I mention that MY SHOW IS BACK? Life is so lovely spoiler-free. And there's Angela, taking the fall for Kaito's murder (pun only slightly intended)! Giving Matt a stern but loving telepathic talking-to! Can I love her more?! But I don't want her redeemed! We need scary ass-kicking manipulative post-menopausal women!
Nathan has so many pictures of Peter, including really Horrifying/Wonderful Young Milo shots, then sees his burned and disfigured reflection in the mirror again. Then he punches it. He doesn't heal. He's Nathan. He has feelings. I would like to help him sort them out, preferably involving massage oil. I'd be willing to let Peter handle that, but only if he promises to stop being so goddamn dense.
MAYA Y AL Y SPECIAL GUEST STAR!!
Gringo in Claire's stolen Rogue drives up and finds Sylar all stretched out in the road! Yay! This is gonna be GREAT! They pick him up and take him with them. Maya gets all excited, whereas Al is like "This guy's a freak." But he's not! He's GABRIEL GRAY! Just like the angel. Of DEATH, bitches; watchmakerz represent.
Gringo reads a newspaper with the twins on the front, flips out, and rats them out; Gabe runs back and rats HIM out, stressing poor widdle Maya, who goes all black-oil and almost takes Gabriel out. Al fixes things in time, though, and Gabriel figures out they've got powers, and they all ditch the dumb-ass - but only after Gabriel has given the gringo a bonk-bonk on the head with a brick. And leaves a suddenly geographically appropriate Mexican hissing cockroach behind, as a sort of calling-card. Maybe Sylar is actually Roach-Kote from the Powerpuff Girls!
I wonder what he's up to. He's got the hotties and the Rogue now, though, so the world is pretty much his oyster. How far will he get without having to snack on their tasty brains? And how the hell do they think they're getting across the border? Sylar's got to be in some national databases by now, doesn't he? (Or did the Company get them all?) Whatever. This storyline is suddenly awesome. Maybe it was just Sylar in the black wifebeater, and his beautiful, weird body, or also my realization that ALEJANDRO HAS STOLEN PETER'S HAIR.
THE BLACK PEOPLE PART OF THE SHOW
Nichelle is my hero. She's not only believable as a slightly freaky voodoo lady who no doubt has powers beyond any imagining, but also does a great tired ol' granny who falls asleep in her easy chair. And the new sassy black teenage female, "Monica", is gorgeous and awesome. And the asshole cousin, "Damon" (of course) is extremely rad. And Micah gets into his old felonious ways, stealing cable (like, sending us a message about trying to get the show by any means necessary? Whatever, we're crackheads). He just wants to be liked, I guess - but more than anything he wants to use his powers, like all of them do (except Maya, I guess). He gets a sexy hug from his cousin (because it's Heroes don'tcha know!) and then gives her a poignant line about fixing her dreams or some smooth business like that.
Meanwhile our young lady's got plans and dreams and can make a mean tomato rose. She does the same kind of rants that Peter gave us last year - maybe those two should hook up. I'd be OK with that. She gets on great with her redheaded, acerbic co-worker, and I like her, too. She also happens to see a neato pro wrestling move on the TV, then busts it out on a bad Ice-T clone who jacks her cafe/fast food grease emporium (do they got chicken?...) and tries to rob the joint. A little swing around a pole and bada-boom, broken plate glass, badly shaken thug, and me grinning my ass off. That's good. Real good. That works for me. Because if there's one thing I love more than watching cute little blonde girls beating the shit out of perps, it's cute little chocolate-brown girls beating the shit out of perps. By swinging around a pole. Subtext? What the hell! Whee!
So she can do anything she sees on TV? Ok, that's officially the best power ever. Yes, that's the one I want.
Please, Santa, I want Peter and Nathan to be together again. Preferably before Christmas.
Also? Need screencap of the photo of the 12 super-postles like yesterday. C'mon, internet, be my friend. I'm sure all the adolescent-Milo pics are already there - hate to be a hater, but Milo's hair used to be seriously wack. I know; I had the same haircut. And it looked better on me.
So happy. So happy. Yay. Smiling so much makes my face hurt.