Something old, something new...
The Distance
This episode was my first taster into The OC, after seeing it on TV a few times when S1 was airing, I didn’t really see what everybody was getting at and the show’s hype, but now - god I was so wrong.
The previously pretty much filled me in on everything that was going on, so at least I wasn’t completely diving into the deep end at least.
We’re greeted with a Sandy/Kirsten scene initially, both pain filled on Kirsten’s end and yet slightly amusing at the same time with Sandy’s little quips and wisecracks. That’s one of the things I love about the guy, while every other character is wallowing is misery over some tragedy, he’s able to at least keep his head up a little and keep up the mild subtle comedy, but not in an annoyingly insensitive way either.
Kirsten: Are you doing that thing when you think I’m ignoring you, so you start speaking in gibberish to see if I’m listening?
Sandy: Aw, you were listening.
Kirsten: Nope
Two words for that. So so cute. Ok, maybe it turned out to be three…
And we’re left with a tense opening to the episode.
I’m not sure how other fans feel about Marissa in this episode, but I gotta say I kind of liked her. Her reaction to Ryan’s departure just felt so completely genuine and real, not too over the top, but just enough pain factor to feel raw. I feel Mischa and the writers did a pretty good job in portraying Marissa’s pain. The Ryan/Marissa phone montage and the song they used every time Marissa thought of Ryan (Eastern Glow by The Album Leaf *OC nerd alert!*) was so perfect, reflecting the mood and so fitting it hurt sometimes. Even with all these awesome Marissa moments, my favourite was the famous “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!”. Now that’s one angry little lady. Though something I completely relate to, as I’m sure many people can. I completely feel like doing that a lot of the time. Alas, that damn thing called sanity and weird looks prevent me from doing such a deed :).
Looks like Marissa’s not the only one who’s pretty damn peeved this episode, Seth’s not a happy Cohen either. I liked seeing Luke again and I quite enjoyed Seth’s angsty side in this episode as well. But angsty Seth is nothing compared to the uber goddess of angst - Summer. And it’s freakin’ awesome to see. I love how ranty and insane she gets when she’s all fired up and her explanation about her vibrations thing to a very perplexed Kirsten was just brilliant!
Now for Ryan, our shows noble white knight in shining armour, leaving The OC to be with Theresa. I suppose one of the reasons I’ve never really warmed to Ryan/Theresa must be because this was my first impression of their relationship - tense, cold and frigid. Which I’m sure was the intention here in this episode. In his new life, with Theresa and “working construction” (as he frequently quotes), the mild loneliness expressed in this episode, kinda got to me.
The “miscarriage” at the end, I simply thought was pure - soap opera-esque genius. I would have never seen that coming. The only words that were going through my mind was “WOW.” I was looking forward to the consequences that Ryan’s baby could have brought to the show, but unfortunately the plot was completely massacred in S3 when we find the baby in fact - wasn’t his. I mean C’MON! how insanely boring is that. The writers had a great opportunity for some great storylines and they just throw it away! What a waste! Now I know the outcome of this storyline, I have to say this whole lie now seems a little fruitless. Shame.
Then the episode is all tied up, Seth comes home, Ryan comes home and soon enough…it’s like the events of the end of S1 never happened. *sigh* That’s one of the things I don’t like about The OC. After explosive cliffhangers at the end of a season, they decide to wrap story’s up waay to quickly, could at least drag it out for a few episodes and wrap the plot up in a less mechanically fake, natural way.
And we conclude the episode in the usual Seth/Ryan fade out way. Overall another strong season opener, despite the slight set-backs, I’m looking forward to reviewing the rest of the season.
And we’re back.
Four Months Later
As expected, a strong start, to what looks like another strong season to come for Heroes. I really did enjoy this episode, we’re delved straight into more mystery again as Mohinder is approached by some guy claiming he can help stop this plague that attacks Heroes, this plot definitely has a lot of potential, the whole plague plot and Mohinders mysterious alliance with HRG bodes great plotlines to come (I hope).
Nathan…firstly. Beard. Secondly. Drunk. Thirdly. Good. I think it’s great to see that Nathan actually cares about what happened to his brother, sure he’s not doing anything useful about it, but the fact that he’s turned to drink just shows that he at least does give a bit of a damn. I really hope we get to see less of the complete and total ass side of Nathan and more of the actual caring not so cold side, I know he has it in him, he’s just always hiding it. What was with that Hellboy look-a-like when he looked at himself in the mirror by the way? Consequences from the explosion?
Well Mama Petrelli still seems to be skulking around the show, I see and she’s apparently got a death threat. Oh well. Hiro’s father also seems to have got this threat, shame he’s dead already in the first episode :(. Yet more mystery, wonder who this mystery death threater is? I’m expecting it to be some random new character they’re planning to bring in, but I hope not. I’d really like them to bring back a character from S1 they didn’t use as effectively as they could have (that’s a long, long list). Yay for Ando! I’m glad to see he’s still doing something useful, and as always loyal to the end. Love the guy, though at the moment he seems a little…dull, not as interesting as he seemed in S1. I hope that picks up over the season.
So we finally discover what happened to Hiro in 17th Century Japan, I was expecting the show to pick up with Hiro well into his life, but I have to say I’m glad we were able to see how Hiro integrated (freakishly quickly might I add) into the community. The Taseko Kensei plotline seems quite appropriate and fitting for Hiro, who we discover… is not Japanese after all. Also a drunk, seems to be what all the cool heroes are doing these days. It's a nice change to see David Anders play someone less serious though, even if he does have the exact same voice as Sark. I'm hoping for great things from this arc.
We’re introduced to a new hero, Maya and her brother Alejandro, trying to get to The US from somewhere in South or Central America. But what exactly is her new power? Have I missed something or is this just another mystery aspect that hasn’t been entirely revealed yet? It’s clearly something quite lethal, but who knows. Could be an interesting duo.
At first I was quite pleased to see Molly was still in the show. At first. She was so sweet in S1, but now… the whole stroppy pre-teen thing isn’t really impressing me, but what is up with her and who is this big bad she’s dreaming about?
My favourite parts of this episode had to be the Claire filled parts, looks like the Bennets have in fact reunited and are trying to rebuild their lives which is an idea I quite enjoy, the sections of the episode focusing on HRG at his new paper company were fairly light amusing entertainment, seeing him all tough as he pretty much kicks his bosses ass was great viewing!
Claire’s introduction to her new high school was good to see, the whole being the new kid in a school is something I never get tired of enjoying! Though I would have liked Claire to have done something about those bitchy cheerleaders, the resolution, though plot fitting just felt a bit flat. We’ve got a new love interest, I’d be heavily surprised if they don’t end up tongue wrestling by mid-season, seeing as most shows seem to have that sort of formula these days (hopefully Heroes isn’t one of those shows). But the main thing I was thinking during the Claire/West scenes, as amusing as they were was… why? What’s the point in bringing in another new character who’s only going to be killed off eventually by the end of the season. When I first watched this show I think it was clear that Heroes wasn’t going to be a show that focused on the characters, but the plotline, I accepted that, but one thing that does irritate me is how they treat characters with no respect and keep on bringing in new characters when the characters they had before were perfectly good. Like Zach. Why couldn’t they just bring him back instead of this new guy, West? It’s the constant shifting of characters, and the lack of stability that I’m not really fond of in this show. You get attached to some characters and the next moment they’re replaced by some random newbie. Like West. He better impress me.
But one thing Heroes never fails in is giving me a chill at the end of every episode, just making me itch for more. Peter’s back - and seems to have done a Cordelia. Though overall, I am impressed, not exactly the best TV ever, but still good. Hope they keep this up.
Lizards
Hmm. I can’t say I was as impressed by this instalment as I was with the previous. Well Peter’s in Ireland… for some reason and in the captivity of some fairly pissed off locals, the introduction into the life he’s suddenly been thrown into and his memory loss seems quite interesting, along with the discovery of his powers. Speaking of, the fears about his powers becoming too Mary Sue unfortunately seem to be coming to light… The guy seems to have every power under the sun and seems to be able to do anything. As a character that’s just very boring, I’ve moaned about this before, but characters with few limitations are just fairly dull to me. I hope they make him less powerful, I really do. With Peter not much actually happens, he’s just recuperating and we’re getting exposition on how he is - which is fair enough.
Hiro’s little adventure playing the role of Kensei was quite amusing and his scenes with that Japanese girl were light fun, though yet again I have to say as far as a main plot in concerned - nothing really happened.
We get to see a little more of this virus that’s going around, Mohinder helping The Haitian (nice to see an old face again!) The memory wipe at the end was interesting, I’ve always loved The Haitian’s mystifying air, it’s just grippingly intruiging, so it’s good to see him again this season as part of Mohinder’s and HRG’s mysterious plan against The Company. Though, not much really actually happened.
Matt’s gone all Columbo, investigating Kaito’s death (Hiro’s not going to be happy when he gets back) and Mama Petrelli’s interview… “GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!” That woman is scary sometimes! :D That moment in the episode is officially the moment that gripped me to her. Before I never really cared for the woman, but now… I find her incredibly interesting. She definitely knows more than she’s saying, I’m suddenly very interested as to what her whole story is. However, not much actually happened.
The mystery over Maya and Alejandro’s powers seems to have cleared up, looks like they have some sort of ying/yang type partnership, whenever Maya gets stressed and does her creepy mascara tear thing, it kills whereas Alejandro reverses Maya’s actions. I quite like that representation of their relationship.
Claire’s getting all curious about the extent of her powers and how exactly she heals, which I found to be of interest, so if she cuts any part of her body off - it’ll just grow back. The mysterious West ending was alright, but yet again - overall, nothing really happened.
Notice a theme in this review? I just found the episode fairly uneventful. I’d have preferred the episode to be less spread out amongst the characters and more focused on only a few to give the episode real substance, as it really just felt like they were skimming the surface on all the storylines. Judging on the season so far compared to S1, every episode, (I know, a ridiculously unfair comparison!) Season One was a thriller rollercoaster ride, this episode was one of those slow tea cup rides. I know it’s quite early to judge but I hope the season cranks up a notch.