Heroes, Volume Four, Chapter Three: Building 26

Sylar and Luke, who is reaching bold new levels of irksome, continue on their road trip to find Sylar’s dad. When the damn kid keeps lying about their destination, Sylar, who is all too clearly thinking about how this isn’t nearly as awesome as that time he drove cross-country with Mohinder, starts losing it a little and threatens to slice open Luke’s head. For the life of me, I can’t tell whether I’d support this. On the one hand, murdering a stupid teen is a horrendous thing to do, even by Sylar’s bottom-barrel standards of moral behavior. On the other hand, Luke is working my every last nerve.

Sylar and his little buddy stop at a diner. When Luke uses his heat wave powers for no good reason, Sylar informs him that part of being an effective super-villain is always knowing your motivation. Serial killers: they’re just like actors! Nathan’s goons, who have located Sylar using surveillance cameras and super-sophisticated face-recognition software, storm the diner. Luke creates a distraction to save his new best friend, and a huge shootout ensues. Sylar escapes in a barrage of gunfire, but Luke gets tasered by the goons. Sylar returns and massacres the goons to rescue his stupid protégé.

Hiro and Ando go to New Delhi and find the location depicted in Matt’s prophetic drawing, which turns out to be the site of a big wedding. Hiro decides he needs to stop the wedding and rescue the bride. Wow, Hiro gets so much more out of those drawings than I do. Before Hiro can intervene, Ando approaches the bride, Annapura, and demonstrates his ability for her. The bride interprets this as a heavenly sign to call off the wedding. Hiro gets bitchy and resentful toward Ando. His reasoning goes thusly: By depriving Hiro of his chance to stop the wedding and fulfill the prophetic sketch, Ando has ruined Hiro’s opportunity to get his powers back. He got all that out of Matt’s little sketch? Really? Is it me, or are Hiro’s leaps in logic sort of dizzying?

Annapura’s jilted fiancé kidnaps Ando to intimidate Annapura into going through with the wedding. Hiro stops the ceremony and punches out the groom, thus fulfilling the prophetic sketch. The groom releases Ando, who apologizes for infringing upon Hiro’s destiny. Hiro goes on his “I don’t need powers to be a hero” kick again and forgives Ando. They receive a fax from the mysterious Rebel, which reads, “Save Matt Parkman.”

Washington, DC: From his top-secret headquarters in the mysterious Building 26, Nathan fields a visit from Homeland Security agent Abby Collins, who is concerned about his request for additional funding for his “round up all super-powered people and imprison them indefinitely” scheme. Nathan tries to explain his plan, but Abby thinks he’s full of it. Fair enough. Upon learning that a super-powered individual is in custody in the building, Abby asks to see proof of the existence of special abilities.

The prisoner is Tracy, who’s being kept shackled to a chair and bombarded with heat waves. Wait, so Tracy’s the only prisoner Nathan and Danko managed to recapture after the plane crash? I mean, there were SWAT teams, and attack dogs, and helicopters, and flood lights… Granted, Nathan has been a teensy bit flaky and incompetent lately, but I’m starting to think Danko’s abilities as a super-elite hunter and tracker have been greatly exaggerated. Abby, who knows Tracy from her days as a lobbyist, is horrified and threatens to shut down the entire program.

Tracy, meanwhile, breaks her chains and escapes from her cell. When goons surround her, she takes some poor random guy hostage, then freezes him solid and shatters him into pieces. This does absolutely nothing to further her attempt to escape and, indeed, kind of helps along Nathan’s argument about people with special abilities being too dangerous to exist in polite society. So that went well. Tracy is taken back into custody, and a shocked Abby agrees to give Nathan all necessary funding. Later, Tracy tells Nathan her chains were already broken and her cell door was left unlocked. She accuses Nathan of orchestrating her escape attempt just to squeeze money out of Abby. Yes, Tracy, Nathan’s a scumbag. We all got that memo. Doesn’t mean you had to murder that random dude. For his part, Nathan realizes Danko was actually the one who released Tracy.

Costa Verde: Over breakfast, an oblivious Sandra Bennet grills Claire about her recent--and wholly made-up--East Coast college tour (Noah Bennet, perhaps realizing the Ivy League is pretty much a pipe dream for Claire, even with a truckload of Petrelli money at her back, takes the liberty of enrolling her in the local community college instead). Claire gets an urgent text message from Rebel asking her to warn someone named Alex of imminent danger.

Claire visits comic-geek Alex and delivers the message. It should be noted that Alex is sort of adorable and earnest, and doesn’t deserve to get bogged down in a plotline involving sullen, petulant Claire. When Bennet comes searching for Alex, Claire and Alex flee. Claire gives Alex the lowdown on Nathan’s goons and his plans to incarcerate all people with special abilities. In turn, Alex tells her he has the power to breathe underwater.

(At some point in all this, Bennet and Claire have a spat about all the lies and sneaking around, but I’m just too tired to mention it in detail. How’s this: from here on out, if Bennet and Claire don’t get into at least one tedious domestic squabble in the course of an episode, I’ll make a note of it. Otherwise, just assume at least one such argument takes place.)

Claire tells Sandra that Bennet is still up to his old tricks: once again, he’s working for shady organizations and abducting innocent people. Sandra gets seriously peeved at this and kicks him out of the house. Oh, hallelujah. It’s about fricking time. Sandra, I just wish you’d done that two seasons ago when you discovered your husband had given you brain damage rather than tell you the truth about his line of work. I’m downright fond of Bennet as a character, but he’s an appalling excuse for a husband. Claire, meanwhile, is keeping fugitive Alex hidden in her closet. Good for you, Claire. He’s cute.

A forlorn Bennet drinks and mopes in a hotel bar. His vision blurs, and he collapses to the floor. Matt, Mohinder and Peter pop up out of nowhere and drag him off.

Comments

Morgan Richter said…
I'm going to kick off the comments just by saying that my blog is once again having some technical difficulties, and I had to post and repost this four times before it took. Please let me know if anything is displaying funny.

Also: Third consecutive week with no Mohinderlogue, plus only about two seconds of screentime for Mohinder? What's the world coming to?
Ingrid Richter said…
Blog seems to be working fine on my end. Interesting episode - not much seemed to happen until the last five minutes or so. Still, I highly approve of Matt & Peter slipping Mr. Bennett a mickey...
Morgan Richter said…
There must be some point to that Hiro-Ando plot that I've missed. Because it seemed to suck up a whole lot of precious time for no real reason (time that would have been better spent, say, letting us know how fugitives Matt, Mohinder and Peter were keeping one step ahead of Nathan's goons). Hiro didn't get his powers back, they didn't accomplish anything besides saving a nice lady from a sucky marriage (which is a tad paternalistic and condescending, but whatever), and it didn't advance the main story in any way. So... what was that? It's only the third episode of the volume, guys. It's too early for filler.

I highly approve of Matt & Peter slipping Mr. Bennett a mickey...

Mohinder was there, too! Hovering in the shadows! You could just catch a brief glimpse of that gorgeous head when they were dragging Bennet out of the bar, and that was it for Mo. Next episode appears to be a Bennetstravaganza, complete with nostalgic black-and-white flashbacks, which... I don't know how I feel about that. I know I'm in the minority, but I thought Volume One's flashback-heavy "Company Man" episode was the single dreariest installment of that season. I prefer my Bennet exposure to come in small, entertaining doses, not big treacly glumps.
Anonymous said…
I liked this episode the way I like other ill-conceived plotlines. It was kind of no-brainer entertainment. Except for the whole India thing. Talk about filler! Rebel had to fax them in India? Are you kidding me? To be honest, I've completely stopped caring about Hiro. I was much more interested in Matt, Mo etc. The last few minutes redeemed the whole episode.

But still, I have to wonder (something I think I've mentioned here before) if Heroes has jumped the shark. Sigh.
Morgan Richter said…
Except for the whole India thing. Talk about filler!

Ye gads, yes. At least the whole subplot seemed to be a one-off: presumably next episode will find Hiro and Ando out of India and off chasing after Matt, thanks to Rebel's fax. If they'd stretched it out over three or four episodes, I would have cried and cried and cried. It didn't accomplish anything, and it was juuuuuuust on the cusp of offensive.

(Here's a quote from lovely Sendhil from an old AV Squad interview where he talks about the hackneyed portrayal of Indian characters in films:

"Like, how many more scripts can there be about an arranged marriage or an abusive husband? It's the same thing over and over again.... I literally fling those scripts across the room as soon as I start reading them."

Heh. He must've been thrilled with this episode!)

To be honest, I've completely stopped caring about Hiro.

I hear you. I still love Hiro and Ando, but if they're going to be off doing their own thing, it has to tie in with the greater scheme of things somehow. This reminded me of Volume One when Hiro and Ando had a tedious and mind-numbing adventure in Las Vegas with Missi Pyle, which just sucked up a whole lot of time and didn't move the plot forward or further their character development. Heroes has a large cast and a lot of different plotlines; they really don't have the time to waste on piddling stuff like this.
Dan said…
Ugh. Worst episode I've seen in a long time. Contained everything I dislike in an episode of Heroes.

Firstly, yes, the Hiro and Ando thing. Um, what? Didn't understand why they were there (Hiro's got to be getting captions on those pictures). Nor did I care about the woman entering her loveless marriage. Especially seeing as good ol' Grandpa eventually said 'Engh, I only wanted you to marry him if it made you happy'. Communication, people.

Sylar and Luke? I loathe this kid already. Who is this snot-nosed little punk? And what was with the random personality fluctuations into amateur counsellor mode: 'Why do you want to find your father, Sylar?'

Nathan and Tracy? Oh, come on, Ali Larter! You want to leave the show? Why? Don't you see these awesome character arcs they've developed for you where you get to be, uh, shackled in a chair, showing plenty of perspiring skin and glowering with sexy fury at Pasdar? You really want to give all that up?

And, of course, Claire-Bear and HRG.

Sigh.

I'd have loved it if, when Alex was trying to explain how he felt about his ability (and, really, 'can breathe underwater'? Kinda scraping the bottom of the barrel there. Can he also communicate telepathically with fish? As a comic book geek, shouldn't he know how lame Aquaman is?), the conversation went more like this:

ALEX: I felt like...
CLAIRE: A freak?
ALEX: What?? No! I mean, it's just holding my breath. It's not that freaky. No. What?

Also, when HRG walked into the store and Claire urged him to hide, I'd have liked Alex to say 'No, that's just Noah. He's probably here to pick up his weekly shipment. Hey, Noah! Saved you a copy of Final Crisis 7 with the alternate cover'.

Alas, neither of these conversations happened.
Morgan Richter said…
"So we've got the stuff with Nathan and Tracy, and we've got some stuff with Claire and HRG, but we need to pad this episode out to the usual length. Hey, we could continue on with the rousing action from last episode, in which Peter and Mohinder and Matt, armed only with their (ahem) wits, are hunted down by the ruthless squad of rifle-toting goons, or we could have a zany subplot about the loveless marriage of a character we've never met before and are not likely to ever mention again. What do you say, gang?"

Especially seeing as good ol' Grandpa eventually said 'Engh, I only wanted you to marry him if it made you happy'.

And even the evil fiance was all, "Well, I didn't really want to marry you anyway, so there." So, hey. Glad Hiro and Ando traveled from Arkansas (without Hiro's powers or money or passports or credit cards) in the middle of their own life-changing crisis to help that get sorted out. That was great, Heroes. Thanks. I owe you one.

I loathe this kid already.

I was amusing myself yesterday by trying to figure out who I loathe more: Luke, or West? I figure West gets the edge because he was supposed to be a perfectly reasonable love interest for Claire-Bear, but just happened to be scripted as an utterly vile wretch. I could be wrong, but I don't believe Luke is intended to be a perfectly reasonable love interest for Sylar. I think we're supposed to find him irritating as all hell.

And what was with the random personality fluctuations into amateur counsellor mode

Payback. Because that's exactly what Sylar was doing to him last episode, what with yammering on about Luke's mommy issues. Luke? Sylar? You both suck at psychoanalysis. Stop it. Also, knock it off with the nostalgic childhood memories of camping trips and red wagons. Stick to barbed-yet-comical discussions about when and how Sylar's going to kill Luke, and we'll all get along just fine.
Ingrid Richter said…
Personally, I think all road trips would be improved if the driver asked: "Now, give me one good reason why I shouldn't slice your head open right now."

Completely missed Mohinder with the drugging of Mr. Bennet. I was pleased that at least Sendhil got to say "Previously on Heroes..."
Dan said…
I think all road trips would be improved if the driver asked: "Now, give me one good reason why I shouldn't slice your head open right now."

It would certainly add a thrilling risk element to calling 'shotgun'.

In the opening scene where Mrs Bennet says 'It's so lovely to have the whole family together for dinner', I really wish HRG had just pointed at Lyle and said, between mouthfuls, 'Who is this kid?'
Morgan Richter said…
Completely missed Mohinder with the drugging of Mr. Bennet

I'm not surprised. He has no lines (Matt gets a line, Peter gets a line...) and he's blocked by HRG the entire scene (Mo's gripping him from behind, which should be sexy but wasn't). Poor Sendhil. They take away his Mohinderlogue, they don't give him any lines, they block the scene so you can't even see him...

I appreciated Sylar's exasperated delivery: "You've really got to stop trying to be my friend, or I'm going to have to kill you."

Which Luke then immediately followed with, "Do you like birds?"
Anonymous said…
I was really underwhelmed by this episode and very much in agreement with everybody here on its myriad flaws. Sylar's teen sidekick was annoying beyond measure. Ando and Hiro visit India was sooo lame. One punch from Hiro and the groom's freeing Ando and giving up his bride? Please. If I'm that groom (and as bad a guy as the bride said he was) I snap my fingers and have my goons exact excessive revenge for my embarrassment.

Also, why didn't those government brainiacs try containing Tracy in a deep hole or some kind of vault with walls too thick for her to instantly freeze/shatter.

So is Daphne actually dead? Apparently she's not in custody. Considering she was the only female character left on the show that hadn't grown completely stale that would be a shame.

I'm not feeling very optimistic about the rest of the season.
Morgan Richter said…
I'm not feeling very optimistic about the rest of the season.

Courage, Jason! I'm thinking this was a fluke. The India plot was a pointless misstep, and it was a mistake not to show what Peter and Matt and Mohinder were up to, because they've currently got the liveliest plot going, but I still like the general direction of this volume. And I remain confident Daphne will make a reappearance.

As irritated as I am by Luke, I like the road trip, if they'd just cut out the attempts at psychoanalysis. Luke has so many screws loose (and such little survival instinct) that something interesting and no doubt disturbing is eventually going to happen here.

As to Nathan... I don't hate his plotline. Nothing terribly exciting happened with it yesterday (although: Tracy, honey, if you're escaping from captivity and the only thing between you and imminent recapture is your terrified hostage, don't kill the hostage), and I'm not even remotely interested in Nathan's attempts to wrest more funds out of the White House, but Danko is sort of crazy and intriguing. Plus, sooner or later he's going to turn on Nathan, and that should be fun to watch.

The episode wobbled all over the place, but it stuck the landing. Let's hope it manages to stay on the beam next week.
Morgan Richter said…
Oh, and also:

Also, why didn't those government brainiacs try containing Tracy in a deep hole or some kind of vault with walls too thick for her to instantly freeze/shatter.

I believe Dan got to the crux of this with his earlier comment about Ali Larter being "shackled in a chair, showing plenty of perspiring skin and glowering with sexy fury at Pasdar."
Anonymous said…
...Danko is sort of crazy and intriguing. Plus, sooner or later he's going to turn on Nathan, and that should be fun to watch.

That guy is kind of carrying the show right now, in a sleeper sort of way. Here's hoping they don't kill him off!
Morgan Dodge said…
I dunno. I liked it. If only for the line: "ok, technically I am a serial killer." The level of joy that that single line brought me meant that the rest of the episode could have been total crap and I would have still liked it.

Sadly low on the Skulky content.(Which, speaking of, did anyone notice Grunny dropped a "factoid" tweet the other day about Elvis?)

I guess I'm just the wet blanket here... or... dry blanket? I dunno. I liked it. [insert shrug here] I guess I'm just easy.
Morgan Richter said…
Eh. I didn't hate it. (Except for the India plot. I sort of hated that.) If they'd swapped out the Hiro-Ando plot for a Matt-Mohinder-Peter plot, I'd be perfectly happy with it. Or if Hiro's plot had indeed resulted in Hiro getting his powers back, or if it had tied in with anything else that was going on, I'd have no problems. It irked me that it was both: a) such a stand-alone (bizarre place in the series to go on a tangent -- Hiro was recently kidnapped and taken from Japan by the US government, so why is he faffing about India breaking up the marriages of strangers?), and b) not very good.

I saw Grunberg's (I refuse to call him "Grunny", if only because it opens up the possibility that people might someday start referring to Sendhil as "Rammy") tweet about the turtle. The legend grows.
Damozel said…
On lack of Mohinder, the squishy feeling in my gut is becoming heavier. I am beginning to think that this could be the beginning of the end for Mohinder. The writers answer about how Arthur found Molly to take her power to find Hiro and Claire: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=20086)
Morgan Richter said…
The writers answer about how Arthur found Molly to take her power to find Hiro and Claire

Eek. I'm just as glad they left that out. That poor kid has had enough thoroughly creepy things happen to her without having Arthur suck out her powers.

I am beginning to think that this could be the beginning of the end for Mohinder.

My hope is that he's just being quietly backburnered for a while until the fallout from his ill-received plotline last volume passes. I'd have no worries for his longevity on the show, except for the recent interview where Bryan Fuller mentions pressure from NBC to eliminate one or two original cast members. And if Mohinder starts looking inessential to the show...

In any case, I don't see any need to get rid of anyone. Whatever problems the show has, they've always been tied more to the plotting than to the characters. The reason the show built such a large, passionate fanbase so quickly is that viewers responded well to the characters (and the actors), not because the plots were especially fresh and innovative.
Ingrid Richter said…
I don't want to see them getting rid of any of the original characters :-(

io9 has another fine review of this episode: Nothing Happens, And It Feels So Old School. Added bonus: I finally got a chance to see Mohinder peeking out from behind Mr. Bennett. Hooray!
Morgan Richter said…
Heh. Ingrid, that photo from the Io9 article, with the top of Mo's head peeking over HRG's shoulder, encapsulates his screen time for the episode. He's like a really hot version of Where's Waldo?

I don't want to see them getting rid of any of the original characters :-(

Aw, man! When you break out the frowny-face emoticon, I know you mean business! I feel the same way. I have very little love for Claire, but I don't want them to get rid of her -- I want them to give her some likeable and sympathetic personality traits and have her knock it off with the unappealing self-involvement. I think Tracy is a ridiculous character (similar to Nikki! but not the same!), but I'd rather see the show correct the mistakes they've made with her than scrap her entirely. And as far as I'm concerned, the rest of the original cast is pretty much untouchable. I like these guys. It's why I'm watching the show.
Dan said…
The writers answer about how Arthur found Molly to take her power to find Hiro and Claire

I wish they'd shown it. Or at least mentioned it. Because that's a cool explanation for how Arthur was always getting the drop on our heroes. Even when they were wandering around aimlessly in the past.

Sometimes I swear the Heroes writers are from Bizarro World with the choices they make (see the episode under discussion - "No, no, no. People no want to see tense pursuit scenes as Peter, Parkman, Mohinder and co strive to stay one step ahead of the Hunter. People want to see Hiro travel to India and ruin a wedding.")

Speaking of which, enough of 'jumping the shark' and 'nuking the fridge'. I predict television shows are now going to 'stop the Indian wedding'.
Morgan Richter said…
Now that I've had a morning to let my indignation fade away about the Behind the Eclipse installment that Damozel linked to earlier, I figure I can address the whole issue of MOHINDER BETRAYING MOLLY TO ARTHUR FRICKING PETRELLI without sputtering and frothing at the mouth too much. As far as deleted "Mohinder is a douchenozzle" scenes go, this tops the deleted Volume Two scene where he tasered poor cute Monica for no special reason. I take heart that it was, after all, a deleted scene, and that the writers specified that it is not part of official continuity, but jeez, what were they thinking for writing and filming such a scene in the first place?

Thing is, I really don't think the writers are setting out to deliberately sabotage Mohinder's character when they make him do despicable and/or idiotic things. I think they believe they're giving him layers. Which I guess they are, but they're just doing a spectacularly poor job of it.

Of course, it's also possible the entire writing staff hates Mohinder.

I predict television shows are now going to 'stop the Indian wedding'.

Works for me. Catchy!
Damozel said…
Morgan: Totally agree with the point that most people watch Heroes for the characters and the actors rather than the plot. I think, Heroes is probably the only series out there which has the most charismatic set of actors: they are intelligent, witty and humourous in real life which doesnt hurt at all. I am hoping that the writers are keeping Mohinder in the background so they can reclaim his storyline from the mad scientist to someone who is a seeker of cures and people-with-abilities and the small matter of his father's killer. What throttles my hope is the writer's use of words in describing Mohinder's actions. As Dan said, Heroes writers are always pushing the boundaries of weird story telling, and are unpredictable.
The Indian wedding part of the episode was ridiculous. Hiro and Ando are supposed to be in New Delhi - a decidedly North Indian city - and there is a temple which has the unique South Indian pagoda structure...It could have been ignored if the story had furthered the character development of Hiro, Ando, or any of the people involved in the story. *Writers, Please do not throw in stuff which you do not understand - we Indian fans of Heroes do not want place representation - rant over*
Morgan Richter said…
I am hoping that the writers are keeping Mohinder in the background so they can reclaim his storyline from the mad scientist to someone who is a seeker of cures and people-with-abilities and the small matter of his father's killer.

That's my hope, too. I think they were overzealous during last season's whole "heroes and villains are more alike than you think!" crusade, and it damaged Mohinder's character. Thus far in this new volume he's been much calmer and more considerate -- much closer to his depiction in Volume One than in Volume Three, which is great. However, like you, the writers' words make me very concerned for his future path.

It could have been ignored if the story had furthered the character development of Hiro, Ando, or any of the people involved in the story.

That's the thing -- I'm willing to forgive some sloppiness and inconsistencies (or, in the case of the India plotline, a lack of research) as long as the end result is positive. If Hiro and Ando had just accomplished something, anything, then I would have felt warmer toward their plot. But they ended the episode no better off than when they started, so I can't see any point to it.

Ugh. It's late, and I'm feeling a little down about Heroes right now. To end this comment on a brighter note, here's a totally awesome and adorable photo of Sendhil and Jack Coleman on the set that Wendi, the nice Heroes makeup artist, posted on her Twitter. Even if they continue to botch Mohinder's character, it's nice to see that at least his hair looks great in upcoming episodes.
Damozel said…
Heh! A dose of Mohinder hair before the day curtains down :D
Those whorls on Sendhil's forehead kind of remind me of Hellboy *hides* The blueness of Coleman's eyes are so visible in the pic that Wendi posted...
Morgan Richter said…
Spoiler TV has some vaguely spoilery promo photos for the next episode, including a bunch of Dr. Mohinder "Still Not An MD" Suresh looking adorably befuddled while holding a stethoscope. On the downside, they're still doing that unflattering slicked-back business with his hair (how does he manage to find hair gel while on the run from the government?). Even still, he's looking smoking-hot.

(Warnings for that link: you may run into an annoying banner ad that emits a wholly irksome high-pitched beeping noise. Which is bad enough, but I also sort of think it's lying about me being the one millionth visitor.)

Can't really tell much aboout the episode from the stills (looks like Peter, Matt, and Mohinder will be bumbling around in a loveably incompetent manner while HRG out-cools them even while tied to a chair), but heck, there's no sign of Hiro or Ando or an Indian wedding, so already I'm feeling cheerier.
Patrick said…
Hello again from Ireland! Am very disappointed with this volume. The attempted reboot has not worked and the storylines increasingly have a desperate, make-it-up-as-you-go-along quality.

That said, I'm still not sure I'm wrong about HRG being Rebel, even though Claire received a text during breakfast when HRG was opposite her. Heroes sometimes cheats in this way and it is very like them to have a scene like that (or in a previous episode with Angela) and then explain it away with some time-delay excuse.

Luke is hiding something. Some have speculated that he is Sylar's father (and it's possible he could still transform into an older man) and there will definately be some reveal here.

I just wish the writers of Heroes sketched out a season arc before shooting so that there is a real logic to it. I'm currently watching all the recent Doctor Who episodes and the lead writer there always puts hints in some episodes (and always the first of each season) about what is to come at the end.

Remember when Hiro's father was killed - he had some line like 'I never expected it to be you' - and was full of surprise. The writers clearly had no idea then who the killer was. Later, when we learn it is Adam Monroe, the line makes no sense. After all, Adam was the enemy of the Company, had been imprisoned by them for years, and was the MOST likely person to kill him.
Morgan Richter said…
I'm currently watching all the recent Doctor Who episodes and the lead writer there always puts hints in some episodes (and always the first of each season) about what is to come at the end.

Oh, lord, yes. The Doctor Who creative staff could teach a master class on advanced plotting and elegant foreshadowing (Bad Wolf, Harold Saxon, etcetera). In Heroes' first season, it seems like an effort was made to do this sort of thing (such as when Peter first encounters Alternate Future Hiro, who tells him, "I didn't recognize you without your scar" -- and sure enough, when we finally visit the alternate future, Peter has a big scar across his face), but they've pretty much abandoned that. Thus, we're left with a bunch of hints -- eclipses, the omnipresent half-helix symbol -- that go nowhere and mean nothing. It's sloppy.

The writers clearly had no idea then who the killer was. Later, when we learn it is Adam Monroe, the line makes no sense.

Good example. I also get irked when Heroes tries to shoehorn events into the backstory that don't fit. The revelation of Sylar and Elle's early romance is one of the more glaring examples of this: not only did it seem contradictory to everything we'd previously learned about these two, but it made no sense in terms of established events.

Some have speculated that he is Sylar's father (and it's possible he could still transform into an older man)

Ha! Well, that'd definitely be a twist I never saw coming. I think it's possible Luke is hiding something, but I also think it's possible he's exactly what he seems to be: an uber-irritating kid with zero survival instincts.
Patrick said…
PS. I meant to add that I love this blog so much that I now just watch the episodes so I can keep up with it! So well done!
Morgan Richter said…
Thanks, Patrick! That's good to hear.

Hey, everyone, Ingrid tells me she's seeing a lot of broken images on my blog. Everything looks fine on my end, but I've been having some difficulties and display problems lately, so please let me know if images aren't displaying correctly or if anything else looks off. Not that I'll be able to do much about it, but hey -- knowledge is power.
Dan said…
Ingrid is an inveterate liar of the worst kind.

Alternatively, the image problems she is experiencing are limited to her nape of the neck of the woods.

Your call.
Ingrid Richter said…
Things look fine again on my end. Maybe it was something in my contact lens?

Luke as Sylar's father is... preposterous! Preposterous, I say!
Ingrid Richter said…
Dan, I either always lie or I always tell the truth. And you can only ask me one question.

- Inveterate Ingrid
Morgan Richter said…
Ingrid and Dan, if you two keep it up with the name-calling, I'm going to have to take away your avatars again.

Thanks for the image feedback. We'll just chalk this one up in the "Ingrid is imagining things" column and move on.
Ingrid Richter said…
Either "Ingrid is always imagining things" or "Ingrid is never imagining things" - only one can hold true.

Er, actually, two can hold true after a couple of pints of Blue Moon...

Glad your images are back, Morgan!
Morgan Richter said…
Glad your images are back, Morgan!

Oh, they'll disappear again at some point, I'm sure. Because that's just the way my blog rolls.

So there seems to be a general consensus that it wasn't an outstanding episode. I will say, however, that I snorted out loud at Bennet announcing that he'd already taken the liberty of enrolling Claire at Costa Verde Community College. Take that, Petrelli-money-fueled Ivy League dreams! Bennet is a terrible, terrible father. But he's funny.
Dan said…
Take that, Petrelli-money-fueled Ivy League dreams! Bennet is a terrible, terrible father. But he's funny.

And he's a realist.

Costa Verde Community College probably has loads of cheerleading courses Claire-Bear could excel in*. And no doubt far less of that troublesome book-learnin' that those snooty real colleges make one do.

* where 'excel in' may well equal 'almost pass'. I remain unconvinced about Claire-Bear's cheerleading prowess, regular wearing of the uniform notwithstanding.
Damozel said…
Luke as Sylar's father? Preposterous but would be a stroke of genius from the writers, so perhaps wont happen. But I want to see Sylar's face at the reveal: Oh the betrayal...Karma!

So HRG apparently confesses his collusion with Nathan...apart from the usual protectClaire shtick, does this involve the Haitian? Because where is that man?

Ah Ingrid! So you saw those broken images too: I thought it was just my system at its usual mid-day games.
Morgan Richter said…
Argh. It was more comforting to think the broken images were all a figment of Ingrid's wild imagination. Ah, well. Seems okay at the moment. Lemme know if it happens again, please.

It was such an in-your-face vote of no confidence from Bennet to enroll his daughter in community college behind her back. Claire, you're too old to have your dad make this sort of sweeping life decisions for you without your input. Now that you're officially done with high school, might I suggest you think about getting away from your thoroughly toxic home environment?
Damozel said…
The Writers seem clueless about developing Claire's character...do they really think its all about throwing random boys at her and having her and HRG have the same mundane rant sessions every season? Let the kid grow up, go to college (not in a cheerleader's dress please), make some ordinary decisions, meet Micah and Molly so she knows she had a comfortable upbringing...Most Heroes characters do not get the development because there is such a dearth of interaction between various characters. Hopefully, this volume they will get to interact amongst each other and learn each other's stories to be more self-aware. I would love to see some bonding episodes which show our heroes having normal conversations.

Heroes is casting for baby Matt: probably for the Janice-and-baby episode. or could it be for a flashback to our Matt's childhood, as part of Maury's past in the Company founders' episode.
Morgan Richter said…
I would love to see some bonding episodes which show our heroes having normal conversations.

One of the things I like about the fugitive Matt-Mohinder-Peter plotline (and, hence, one of the reasons I sorely missed it last episode) is just seeing these three hanging out together. It's always seemed like Peter and Mo could be pals, but they've never really even been friendly with each other -- they had some early volume one contact that ended poorly, they didn't have any volume two scenes together, and their volume three interaction was bizarre (Mo tries to experiment on Peter against his will; Peter holds Mo at gunpoint to prevent him from curing himself, then leaves him unconscious in an exploding building). Peter and Matt? Haven't had much to do with each other. Matt and Mohinder? Some promising interaction back when they were roommates, but it fizzled out, and last volume they hardly seemed to know each other. I love the idea of these three bonding while bumbing around in a crisis situation. That's plot gold right there.

The more interaction among the main characters, the better. Not just Hiro and Ando, not just Claire and HRG, not just Peter and Nathan.
Patrick said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Patrick said…
Morgan has written before that there is no situation which cannot have a Star Wars reference. Well, we could get a great Star Wars reference if Sylar's father does turn out to be a body-snatching psychopath currently in the body of an annoying teenager.

Sylar: 'No, Luke, you are my father'.

However I agree with Ingrid that such a twist would be a bit preposterous. That said, the kid definitely is more significant than we think. Note that he wrote the address, rather than said it, because that way he could evade Sylar's lie-detection ability. It would also explain why Luke's mother hated him so much (and was afraid of him). There will be a twist here.
Morgan Richter said…
Note that he wrote the address, rather than said it, because that way he could evade Sylar's lie-detection ability.

I didn't even think of that. Good catch. I hope there's a twist with Luke, and I hope it's something really, really cool and clever. It'd be fun to find out Luke has just been playing Sylar all this time. I don't think Sylar would react well to being played.
Dan said…
It'd be fun to find out Luke has just been playing Sylar all this time.

If Luke is playing Sylar then I will forgive some of the more annoying points of their road trip. Because you're right. That'd be awesome.

I can't think of anything that will make me look at the Indian wedding storyline in a better light... maybe if Masi Oka and James Kyson Lee are revealed to be the stars of Wedding Crashers 2.
Morgan Richter said…
I can't think of anything that will make me look at the Indian wedding storyline in a better light.

If they tied it in to the bigger picture somewhere, that would help. Like if it was revealed that Hiro grievously misinterpreted Matt's drawing, and that by comically trying to save a random lady from an unhappy wedding, he's unwittingly brought certain doom and destruction upon the world. That'd be cool. Or if not cool, then at least better than the status quo.
Lou said…
Just got around to watcing this ep with a few hours to spare before the shiny new one. Great review as ever girl-Morgan

As there was so little Mo (and everyone else here is a lot more insightful) I feel too sad to comment further. There better be more of him and his adorable sweater this week.
Dan said…
Lou, don't be sad*. New comments section soon for you to put your stamp on. And surely there can't be any less Mo this time.

*Or, to use a fake Australianism that Girl-Morgan introduced me to (via Isla Fisher, who was having a lend of Vogue magazine):

"Cheer up, trendy"

I love saying that.
Morgan Richter said…
Earlier today I passed a bus shelter poster featuring Isla Fisher in Confessions of a Shopaholic, and the phrase "Cheer up, trendy!" suddenly popped into my head.

When you Google the phrase "Cheer up, trendy!", you only get seven results. This, combined with Dan's complete and utter unfamiliarity with the phrase, lends credence to the theory that Isla made it up on the spot just to have a bit of fun with the Vogue interviewer. Nonetheless, it's a darn cute expression, and one I'm determined to someday shoehorn into casual conversation.

Gearing up for tonight's episode. Lou, like you, I was greatly saddened by Mohinder's fleeting appearance last week. Here's hoping this episode has twice the usual dose of Mo to compensate.
Lou said…
"Cheer up trendy"... hmm, I like it!

Thanks Dan. I shall use it at every opportunity. Even if it's not appropriate. Hurrah!