Heroes is, at best, uneven. It followed a groundbreaking first season with an embarrassing second, then with a third that tried its hardest to bring things back to their former glory.
That last season ended with a lot of questions. What’s the deal with Hiro’s power hiccups? Will the Nathan mask imposed on Sylar hold? And is Ali Larter really that attractive? (For that last question, I think I’ll go with what I vaguely remember to be one of my late grandfather’s old adages — “If you’re still wondering if a lady’s hot after you’ve seen her wet and naked, she isn’t.” Oh, those crusty Koreans.)
Anyway, this two-hour episode (which will inevitably result in an unusually long post) provided a pretty decent starting ground for a lot of new story arcs — some that, for better or for worse, are rather familiar.
Story
Right from the start of the episode we’re introduced to a brand new set of characters: some colorful looking British/Irish/neither folk. They turn out to be a band of powered outcasts who spend the episode getting a hold of a broken compass that only works with a select few, and a time traveller, namely our man Hiro.
More about our favorite childish, sexless (since his season one crush, Charlie-the-Cutie-Who-Remembers-Everything — which would have made her an awful candidate for a long-term relationship), self-righteous, stereotypical geeky Asian buffoon. We get some devastating revelations about his condition: Yep, he’s dying. And his powers are on the fritz. Maybe a meeting with the British/not British outcasts’ ringleader, named Samuel, will change his fate. Or maybe not, because Heroes has a tendency to completely forget almost any given event within eight episodes.
Yet, as a result of his 14-years-ago meeting with Samuel, Hiro does manage to do something useful: get his friend Ando laid. Or so we can assume. Anyway, now Ando and Kimiko have a romantic relationship, as a result of Hiro’s meddling, which the time traveler’s somehow happy about.
Danko’s dead. What a relief. That guy was a one-note villain and more of an irksome blight in the lives of those he tracked, rather than a dynamic, emotional and exciting antagonist like Sylar. Killed for a key to get the above-mentioned compass.
Claire’s got her obligatory college arc going on. Her dorm is about twice the size of Allison rooms. Her segments are, as usual, almost unbearable (particularly with the obvious “moving on” and “reinventing yourself” college/Claire’s life-as-a-whole metaphors), until her roommate apparently kills herself. Interesting.
And finally, my personal favorite storyline of the episode: Matt Parkman’s. He and Sylar are my favorite characters, full stop. Matt is a realistic and believable character, with real world problems not exclusive to those with superhuman abilities or interests therein, and has for the most part used his powers in more realistic contexts than other characters. Sylar, on the other hand, despite (or perhaps in part because of) flopping sides more than a few times over the past few seasons, has actually become probably one of the most sympathetic characters in the show. His anger feels justified, and his kills have lately been satisfying. Remember when he wrecked the crew who tried to haul him in for the government? It doesn’t hurt that Greg Grunberg and Zachary Quinto can actually act, unlike some others in the show (lookin’ at you, Hayden). Anyway, take two of my favorite characters and mix them in with a particularly interesting arc involving Sylar’s residual consciousness residing inside Parkman, and you’ve got a decent reason to keep sitting through those damned Claire segments.
Sorry, that was mighty long. What do you expect? This was the two-hour first episode of the season. It had to open a lot of boxes.
Powers
First, powers we see on screen: a little bit of earth-moving by Samuel, who also has an oddly specific ability to manipulate tattoos. He uses it to divine faces on the back of some chick named Lydia who proceeds to tell him about the owners of said faces, and once chokes a guy with a tattoo. I don’t get it either. Maybe he’s controlling the earthen elements in the ink? Then how can he draw faces he’s never seen on Lydia? Weird, but intriguing.
Also in the band of outcasts is Danko’s killer, described by Noah as an adversary who’s “super fast, and he has a thing for knives.” Right. I feel like if he were super fast and had a thing for guns he’d be a little more dangerous.
By using his borrowed super strength to quickly reach and provide first aid to accident victims as a paramedic, Peter acts in ways I wish the show had focused on since it first launched.
Tracy’s powers have developed quite a bit. She was able to reform herself after being shattered as an ice statue, and she managed to freeze and flood Noah’s car. Also, when attacked by the knife guy she turns to water with each swipe, and avoids injury entirely. Pretty handy.
Peter/Sylar’s powers are reawakening.
Haitian Memory Wipe! That’s one for the count.
Matt’s treating his power as an addiction and avoids it accordingly. Interesting. But he ends up thought-pushing a water delivery guy into never returning to the Parkman house. That push power is always a highlight, no matter who uses it.
And, Token Claire Brutalization. That makes one so far this season.
Sexy Factor
Lydia’s topless for most of this episode.
And Kimiko and Ando almost make out.
(Side note: James Kyson Lee, who plays Ando, is ripped. Wonder if the show will ever take note.)
Tracy might have something going on with Noah.
Peter continues to be a good-looking dude who doesn’t have a sex drive. Weird guy, this Peter. Remember how he left some Irish girl he was into in an alternate, apocalyptic New York? Man. What a cold move.
Closing Notes
An episode that managed to avoid falling on its face entirely says a lot about an episode of Heroes. No Suresh voice-over bookend is a first. No opinions on that. This episode didn’t blow me away, but it leaves me cautiously hopeful for things to come. Cheers.
(Oh, by the way, there’s a Crossing Jordan name drop in the episode. Har har, Tim Kring. Nobody cares.)