So. That Show I Watch.
So I missed my first class and my second one was canceled and the third...well...I am a thoroughly lazy person.
Who is going to sit down and write about Heroes for no real reason other than...bored.
The Petrelli Family: Is Pure Awesome a Dominant or Recessive Trait?
I don't know, but either way, it's too bad about Angela's Awesome genes apparently got at least watered down by Arthur's Lame ones in Peter and Nathan. Not that they both don't have their moments; Peter we didn't actually get to see last night, but I'm going to assume he's off doing something fairly awesome anyway (*cough*Claude*cough*), and Nathan, in the end there, did a good thing.
But yes, Angela: she is amazing. Drinking her champagne and slurping her oysters and being completely un-intimidated by Danko. That little smirk she gave him at the end; it reminded me of her little wave to Nathan in the pilot after he'd come and yelled at her for shoplifting. Also reminded me a little bit of Peter: he's not nearly as snarky, not really, but on the rare (and awesome) occasions when he gets sarcastic and mocking he's...well, it's just as low-key. Less confident, but similar.
Plus there were even a few moments last night, here and there, when Nathan was reminding me a bit of Peter. Perhaps because he was a little less sure of himself than usual. But they did a good job of showing him kind of scrambling to keep his position; going to talk to Tracy (and hey, it worked), and just his attitude (despite the random toothpick) just seemed a little more aware of how precarious a situation he was in, even if he didn't come out and say it. Plus he was going to put Bennet (totally just wrote Claude there; dammit) in charge, which shows growth. Now if he'd only done that in the first place!!! But I guess we wouldn't have a show.
Matt-Matt Attack, Apparently.
So you know who would be a perfect baby-sitter for Matt Jr.? Claire. She's indestructible, so whatever weird thing the baby does, it wouldn't phase her (unless of course he makes black holes, but that seems unlikely, because the house is still there). Plus she does seem to like kids. And at least touching this one won't result in scary time dragons. And she was totally looking for a job before. Really, it would be perfect.
But the Hiro and Ando team was rather hilarious. "No thank you." Aww, Hiro, thank you. Adorable and very much my sentiment with any baby, not just ones that are potentially powered. I wonder if Matt Jr. is telepathic as well? The Parkmans do seem to inherit the same powers (well, "seem to" in the one other father-son Parkman relationship we've seen). Either way. I'm cautiously optimistic about this story, despite the fact that babies introduced out of nowhere on tv shows are usually not a good sign. At least it wasn't twins.
The Adventures of the Puppet Man and Little Miss Miracle Grow
See that, writers? That was a clever Claire nickname. That, and "pom-poms". Those were good. "Barbie" is a) easy b) lame and c) overused, not just in this show, but in...just about every show with a cute and tiny blonde. The only lamer thing would be "Blondie".
However. I will give you a break on that, because Claire is coming into her own as well. I like how much of a Company Girl she's turning out to be; she's had to make some tough choices, realized that they have consequences, and didn't get all bratty about any of it.
She also learned from Bennet's example and is being honest with Sandra and trying to keep that life separate from her home life; the "I'll just get a job and have them meet me there!" plan was not quite Bennet-worthy (so instead of just risking the lives of your mother and brother, you'd also risk the lives of innocent people with no connection to you at all? Actually that is very Bennet worthy), but it was an effort and I appreciated that.
Plus the phone call between Noah and Claire? I loved it. For one, I think they both need that, to be able to connect on that level of them having done things that could be considered, ahem, morally grey.
"Honestly, Claire, I'm the worst person to ask," which is true, and progress for Noah: before, I think he was genuinely convinced that his efforts to keep what he did and his family life apart were both successful and justified. But he knows now that that's not quite the case, and he admits as much to Claire. Plus, it's a little thing, but I genuinely like that just because Noah has moved out, and he and Sandra are not doing fantastically, he and Claire have kept in touch. He doesn't seem surprised to get her call, or not in a way that would suggest that they've been "not speaking". Which, again, good for Claire, and good for Noah; he's a good dad and she's being once again tolerable.
I also really enjoyed her interview in the comic book store. She was pretty humble and polite and sincere about it, and her interactions with Comic Boy were sweet; I loved when he seemed concerned that he'd made her cry. And the fact that he gave her a comic book for "homework". Plus, um, "Invisibility versus flight" is about as close to a Claude tease we've gotten for a while (not counting this week's graphic novel). It was an unexpectedly nice moment all around. Too bad that Claire's about to go on the lam again, but what can we do.
As for Doyle: still creepy as hell, but I think he's kinda-sorta change of heart (which was given a little sting at the end with that smirk) was perfect. Given everything he's been through (earned, certainly, but still) it would make sense for him to want to go back to the way everything was. He (like Papa Grey) got no really benefit from his evil-ness, and he's not some great villain with delusions of grandeur. He wanted stuff, he used his power to take it, but it was very basic, human stuff. A girlfriend and some money was pretty much it; the rest he did to facilitate him getting a girlfriend and some money. He was thoroughly creepy about it (mind control always is), but in the end, it's a very human kind of creepy. He showed a kind of vulnerability in going to Claire, and he was smart not to "make" her help him. Maybe he was playing her, but I don't think he was; he's not the diabolical mastermind type.
So Claire making the choice to save him was great. Because first of all, it was her choice; second of all, it wasn't something big and heroic; third of all, she recognized that there was a risk involved (whether or not Doyle would go back on the bad path) and was willing to accept it. She's growing up. she's understanding consequences and dealing with them maturely. I'm willing to watch this Claire without wanting to slap her. It's very odd.
And now, being about Sylar, this got long:
Tell Me About the Rabbits, Samson...
I will admit this once and never again: I don't hate Sylar nearly as much anymore. In fact I've reached levels of non-hate comparable to the end of Season 1, when I even found him marginally interesting.
I think it has to do with who he interacts with; the Mohinder/"Zane" thing was not quite as interesting to me (although it did get me into fandom) as Gabriel interacting with his mother, and with Bennet; plus the 5YG stuff was a surprise and enough of a WTF moment to be kind of cool. You got a sense that for all his posturing he was still that kind of warped teenager who just wanted to be cool so badly, and you saw a progression of that as he went from the kind of weird stalky baseball-cap guy to what he thought "Zane Taylor" should be to regressing a bit and going back to his mom to failing at that and going all "dark", and the effects of that. So that was cool stuff.
He got kind of derailed since, at least in terms of traits that made him interesting to me; I'm not a big fan of the camp, for one, at least in contrast to what he actually does, and they really started playing it up since Season 2. But now it's...well, there's some signs of self-reflection that go beyond them trying to make him wounded and fluffy.
Plus he's finally started coming up against people who aren't scared of him, and I kind of get a kick out of that. Luke I liked because he was just so very messed up that it made sense he'd identify with Sylar, and he was a stupid teenaged kid who acted like a stupid teenaged kid (the kind who'd probably end up shooting up his school, but still), and Sylar reacted accordingly. And Samson Gray...well, he's something altogether.
He seems more self-aware than just about any of the villains we've come across. He's come to regret what he did (a bit) not because of anything moral or sentimental, but because of where it's left him: alone, dying of cancer, with his squirrel army taxidermy. He got nothing out of it ultimately, and that's just got to kind of blow.
He took the wind out of Sylar's "Big Confrontation + Daddy Issues!" sails. "That's a myth," and it is. I know Heroes loves to do that stuff, the big brother against brother, father against son stuff, but seriously: life isn't like that. There isn't always some big dramatic showdown. There isn't always some big cackling villain behind your suffering. There isn't always a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Etc. I like that they admitted that, and I like that it was so anticlimactic.
And I tried not to read too many reviews of the episode from other people, because they just tend to get me pissy, but one thing I did pick up was the idea that Sylar was playing him. Which he definitely was at the end, but I think at first, right up to when Samson shot him, he wasn't; he showed up there genuinely looking for the man that made him who he was (in his mind at least), and having found him...well, he was going to try and figure him out. I think he really was trying to connect with him on some level.
That talk about hobbies? "I fix watches"? Whatever I've felt about Sylar, I've always thought that ZQ does good work, and that line read very much like Sylar grasping at straws for some kind of connection there.
Which is something I'm going to admit reminds me of Peter: they've always been kind of set up that way, the two sides to the same coin, and this episode made it a little more obvious to me. They're both looking for father figures where they can find them, and both tend to fall into the roles those figures offer them: Peter's interactions with Claude and Adam; Sylar with Chandra and Noah, when they were partnered up. Both of them are trying very hard to figure out who they are, and because of their relationships with their fathers (or lack thereof) they're very easily susceptible to suggestion about who that might be.
I mean, look at Peter in Ireland (the horror!): he falls right in to the criminal thing, and yeah, part of that is his amnesia, but part of that is personality to try and fit in with whoever's most authoritative around him. With Claude, he even tends to dress a little more casually, and is stronger and shoutier. With Adam, the two of them actually seem to be sharing clothes, and Peter defers to him pretty much all the time (although he does question him, which, good boy, Peter, better than nothing). And even with Angela, he ends up looking like he's sharing her clothes.
And then Gabriel with Chandra: needy, desperate, entirely pegging his future and worth on whether or not he has an ability because that's the only reason Chandra seems to care about him. Sylar with Mohinder: he plays up the "Zane" that he thinks he's supposed to be, and really takes his cues from Mohinder about how to react to things. It's calculated, but it's genuine, I think: he does want to be liked. Sylar with Bennet: he does the whole Company Man thing, showing off, almost like he wants to impress Bennet. Sylar with Arthur, even: he's pretty quick to fall in with the whole Pinehearst thing.
Both of them define themselves by their relationships with other people. "Still see yourself through their eyes," as a certain person put it. They both want very much to be their own people, independent (Sylar hates being manipulated and Peter ran about as far from the family profession as he could) but they're still so heavily influenced by others.
Why does Sylar care so much about not being "the son of a watchmaker"? Because he wants a reason behind him being who he is, and if he paints his father as this horrific monster, then he gets a little leeway there: it's genetic, it's psychological, Daddy Issues, OMG! But his father's just kind of...pathetic.
The logical extension of who Sylar is now, of course; cynical and bored and close to death from something as mundane as cancer. And really, if Sylar manages to survive all the people who want to take him down (and I'll give him that, he's pretty good at it), what's really going to be left for him to do? How valuable are those powers of his if he can't even show them off? He's going to live forever (supposedly), but for what? I'm frankly pretty sure he's already bored of just stealing powers; he fell into this quest of his a little too easily. He needs something else to do with his time, or he's going to end up at Adam levels of crazy. Figuring out what that's going to be, what he's going to go look for next, I'm not sure, but it has potential.
So yes. Sylar, still kind of annoying to me, personality wise. But in a Greek Tragic Hero kind of way, not so bad at all.
Overall, though. I'm liking this. The show. Where everything is going. Even the dialogue has gotten better which, awesome! So...yay.
Who is going to sit down and write about Heroes for no real reason other than...bored.
The Petrelli Family: Is Pure Awesome a Dominant or Recessive Trait?
I don't know, but either way, it's too bad about Angela's Awesome genes apparently got at least watered down by Arthur's Lame ones in Peter and Nathan. Not that they both don't have their moments; Peter we didn't actually get to see last night, but I'm going to assume he's off doing something fairly awesome anyway (*cough*Claude*cough*), and Nathan, in the end there, did a good thing.
But yes, Angela: she is amazing. Drinking her champagne and slurping her oysters and being completely un-intimidated by Danko. That little smirk she gave him at the end; it reminded me of her little wave to Nathan in the pilot after he'd come and yelled at her for shoplifting. Also reminded me a little bit of Peter: he's not nearly as snarky, not really, but on the rare (and awesome) occasions when he gets sarcastic and mocking he's...well, it's just as low-key. Less confident, but similar.
Plus there were even a few moments last night, here and there, when Nathan was reminding me a bit of Peter. Perhaps because he was a little less sure of himself than usual. But they did a good job of showing him kind of scrambling to keep his position; going to talk to Tracy (and hey, it worked), and just his attitude (despite the random toothpick) just seemed a little more aware of how precarious a situation he was in, even if he didn't come out and say it. Plus he was going to put Bennet (totally just wrote Claude there; dammit) in charge, which shows growth. Now if he'd only done that in the first place!!! But I guess we wouldn't have a show.
Matt-Matt Attack, Apparently.
So you know who would be a perfect baby-sitter for Matt Jr.? Claire. She's indestructible, so whatever weird thing the baby does, it wouldn't phase her (unless of course he makes black holes, but that seems unlikely, because the house is still there). Plus she does seem to like kids. And at least touching this one won't result in scary time dragons. And she was totally looking for a job before. Really, it would be perfect.
But the Hiro and Ando team was rather hilarious. "No thank you." Aww, Hiro, thank you. Adorable and very much my sentiment with any baby, not just ones that are potentially powered. I wonder if Matt Jr. is telepathic as well? The Parkmans do seem to inherit the same powers (well, "seem to" in the one other father-son Parkman relationship we've seen). Either way. I'm cautiously optimistic about this story, despite the fact that babies introduced out of nowhere on tv shows are usually not a good sign. At least it wasn't twins.
The Adventures of the Puppet Man and Little Miss Miracle Grow
See that, writers? That was a clever Claire nickname. That, and "pom-poms". Those were good. "Barbie" is a) easy b) lame and c) overused, not just in this show, but in...just about every show with a cute and tiny blonde. The only lamer thing would be "Blondie".
However. I will give you a break on that, because Claire is coming into her own as well. I like how much of a Company Girl she's turning out to be; she's had to make some tough choices, realized that they have consequences, and didn't get all bratty about any of it.
She also learned from Bennet's example and is being honest with Sandra and trying to keep that life separate from her home life; the "I'll just get a job and have them meet me there!" plan was not quite Bennet-worthy (so instead of just risking the lives of your mother and brother, you'd also risk the lives of innocent people with no connection to you at all? Actually that is very Bennet worthy), but it was an effort and I appreciated that.
Plus the phone call between Noah and Claire? I loved it. For one, I think they both need that, to be able to connect on that level of them having done things that could be considered, ahem, morally grey.
"Honestly, Claire, I'm the worst person to ask," which is true, and progress for Noah: before, I think he was genuinely convinced that his efforts to keep what he did and his family life apart were both successful and justified. But he knows now that that's not quite the case, and he admits as much to Claire. Plus, it's a little thing, but I genuinely like that just because Noah has moved out, and he and Sandra are not doing fantastically, he and Claire have kept in touch. He doesn't seem surprised to get her call, or not in a way that would suggest that they've been "not speaking". Which, again, good for Claire, and good for Noah; he's a good dad and she's being once again tolerable.
I also really enjoyed her interview in the comic book store. She was pretty humble and polite and sincere about it, and her interactions with Comic Boy were sweet; I loved when he seemed concerned that he'd made her cry. And the fact that he gave her a comic book for "homework". Plus, um, "Invisibility versus flight" is about as close to a Claude tease we've gotten for a while (not counting this week's graphic novel). It was an unexpectedly nice moment all around. Too bad that Claire's about to go on the lam again, but what can we do.
As for Doyle: still creepy as hell, but I think he's kinda-sorta change of heart (which was given a little sting at the end with that smirk) was perfect. Given everything he's been through (earned, certainly, but still) it would make sense for him to want to go back to the way everything was. He (like Papa Grey) got no really benefit from his evil-ness, and he's not some great villain with delusions of grandeur. He wanted stuff, he used his power to take it, but it was very basic, human stuff. A girlfriend and some money was pretty much it; the rest he did to facilitate him getting a girlfriend and some money. He was thoroughly creepy about it (mind control always is), but in the end, it's a very human kind of creepy. He showed a kind of vulnerability in going to Claire, and he was smart not to "make" her help him. Maybe he was playing her, but I don't think he was; he's not the diabolical mastermind type.
So Claire making the choice to save him was great. Because first of all, it was her choice; second of all, it wasn't something big and heroic; third of all, she recognized that there was a risk involved (whether or not Doyle would go back on the bad path) and was willing to accept it. She's growing up. she's understanding consequences and dealing with them maturely. I'm willing to watch this Claire without wanting to slap her. It's very odd.
And now, being about Sylar, this got long:
Tell Me About the Rabbits, Samson...
I will admit this once and never again: I don't hate Sylar nearly as much anymore. In fact I've reached levels of non-hate comparable to the end of Season 1, when I even found him marginally interesting.
I think it has to do with who he interacts with; the Mohinder/"Zane" thing was not quite as interesting to me (although it did get me into fandom) as Gabriel interacting with his mother, and with Bennet; plus the 5YG stuff was a surprise and enough of a WTF moment to be kind of cool. You got a sense that for all his posturing he was still that kind of warped teenager who just wanted to be cool so badly, and you saw a progression of that as he went from the kind of weird stalky baseball-cap guy to what he thought "Zane Taylor" should be to regressing a bit and going back to his mom to failing at that and going all "dark", and the effects of that. So that was cool stuff.
He got kind of derailed since, at least in terms of traits that made him interesting to me; I'm not a big fan of the camp, for one, at least in contrast to what he actually does, and they really started playing it up since Season 2. But now it's...well, there's some signs of self-reflection that go beyond them trying to make him wounded and fluffy.
Plus he's finally started coming up against people who aren't scared of him, and I kind of get a kick out of that. Luke I liked because he was just so very messed up that it made sense he'd identify with Sylar, and he was a stupid teenaged kid who acted like a stupid teenaged kid (the kind who'd probably end up shooting up his school, but still), and Sylar reacted accordingly. And Samson Gray...well, he's something altogether.
He seems more self-aware than just about any of the villains we've come across. He's come to regret what he did (a bit) not because of anything moral or sentimental, but because of where it's left him: alone, dying of cancer, with his squirrel army taxidermy. He got nothing out of it ultimately, and that's just got to kind of blow.
He took the wind out of Sylar's "Big Confrontation + Daddy Issues!" sails. "That's a myth," and it is. I know Heroes loves to do that stuff, the big brother against brother, father against son stuff, but seriously: life isn't like that. There isn't always some big dramatic showdown. There isn't always some big cackling villain behind your suffering. There isn't always a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Etc. I like that they admitted that, and I like that it was so anticlimactic.
And I tried not to read too many reviews of the episode from other people, because they just tend to get me pissy, but one thing I did pick up was the idea that Sylar was playing him. Which he definitely was at the end, but I think at first, right up to when Samson shot him, he wasn't; he showed up there genuinely looking for the man that made him who he was (in his mind at least), and having found him...well, he was going to try and figure him out. I think he really was trying to connect with him on some level.
That talk about hobbies? "I fix watches"? Whatever I've felt about Sylar, I've always thought that ZQ does good work, and that line read very much like Sylar grasping at straws for some kind of connection there.
Which is something I'm going to admit reminds me of Peter: they've always been kind of set up that way, the two sides to the same coin, and this episode made it a little more obvious to me. They're both looking for father figures where they can find them, and both tend to fall into the roles those figures offer them: Peter's interactions with Claude and Adam; Sylar with Chandra and Noah, when they were partnered up. Both of them are trying very hard to figure out who they are, and because of their relationships with their fathers (or lack thereof) they're very easily susceptible to suggestion about who that might be.
I mean, look at Peter in Ireland (the horror!): he falls right in to the criminal thing, and yeah, part of that is his amnesia, but part of that is personality to try and fit in with whoever's most authoritative around him. With Claude, he even tends to dress a little more casually, and is stronger and shoutier. With Adam, the two of them actually seem to be sharing clothes, and Peter defers to him pretty much all the time (although he does question him, which, good boy, Peter, better than nothing). And even with Angela, he ends up looking like he's sharing her clothes.
And then Gabriel with Chandra: needy, desperate, entirely pegging his future and worth on whether or not he has an ability because that's the only reason Chandra seems to care about him. Sylar with Mohinder: he plays up the "Zane" that he thinks he's supposed to be, and really takes his cues from Mohinder about how to react to things. It's calculated, but it's genuine, I think: he does want to be liked. Sylar with Bennet: he does the whole Company Man thing, showing off, almost like he wants to impress Bennet. Sylar with Arthur, even: he's pretty quick to fall in with the whole Pinehearst thing.
Both of them define themselves by their relationships with other people. "Still see yourself through their eyes," as a certain person put it. They both want very much to be their own people, independent (Sylar hates being manipulated and Peter ran about as far from the family profession as he could) but they're still so heavily influenced by others.
Why does Sylar care so much about not being "the son of a watchmaker"? Because he wants a reason behind him being who he is, and if he paints his father as this horrific monster, then he gets a little leeway there: it's genetic, it's psychological, Daddy Issues, OMG! But his father's just kind of...pathetic.
The logical extension of who Sylar is now, of course; cynical and bored and close to death from something as mundane as cancer. And really, if Sylar manages to survive all the people who want to take him down (and I'll give him that, he's pretty good at it), what's really going to be left for him to do? How valuable are those powers of his if he can't even show them off? He's going to live forever (supposedly), but for what? I'm frankly pretty sure he's already bored of just stealing powers; he fell into this quest of his a little too easily. He needs something else to do with his time, or he's going to end up at Adam levels of crazy. Figuring out what that's going to be, what he's going to go look for next, I'm not sure, but it has potential.
So yes. Sylar, still kind of annoying to me, personality wise. But in a Greek Tragic Hero kind of way, not so bad at all.
Overall, though. I'm liking this. The show. Where everything is going. Even the dialogue has gotten better which, awesome! So...yay.