Super-Powered TV: Heroes 4.6: Tabula Rasa

I am going to take a different tact with this episode of Heroes. While I cannot promise no spoilers, I am going to focus the review less on a recap and more on my thoughts about individual events as the show progresses. Let me know what you think.

“:Tabula Rasa” opens with the regular recap scenes and another rather random Samuel speech. At least he isn’t Mohinder. No one wants that kind of narration again.

Why is Peter using the powers that are killing Hiro to try to save him? That seems rather foolish to me.

Is it me, or does Noah seem to be keeping the entire company’s file system unsecured on his laptop? That seems to be a global catastrophe waiting to happen.

The Jeremy subplot feels a little out of the place with the current flow of this season. I honestly think we have seen too many one or two appearance powers at this point.

Emma and Hiro make a rather interesting combination. Hiro’s never-ending optimism fits perfectly with her paranoia. Although I am a bit confused as to how Hiro knows even the sign for applause in ASL. It is American Sign Language. Why would he ever learn that?

Sylar sees his memories, but apparently still doesn’t connect with them. He is dangerously close to becoming an utterly broken character this season.

Please don’t bring back Charlie!

Hiro disappears before he returns to his bed. While it is an overly easy way out of a quick cure for the character, it is almost too simple. And I will reiterate, please don’t bring back Charlie. The book was bad enough, but we are going to apparently cover this base one more time. Heaven help us.

Oh and that is three weeks now without a Parkman appearance. Can we please get back to him and evil phantom Sylar some time soon? This episode was completely all over the place and continues a seeming need to focus only on what have become the writers’ three crutches: Peter, Hiro, and Sylar.

We will see what happens with next week’s episode: “Strange Attractors”.

Super-Powered TV: Heroes 4.5: Hysterical Blindness

This week we have “Hysterical Blindness”. I am already writing this late, so let’s get right in to it.

More generic plans by the carnival folk. We continue to randomly talk about the new member endlessly.

Claire and Gretchen enjoy lunch together. Claire especially enjoys being normal. She convinces Gretchen to tag along to a sorority initiation. Yawn. We get a bizarre speed dating segment at the beginning of the pledge day. Claire begins to get creeped out by Gretchen’s clinginess. It took her weeks to figure out the girl is a little odd? After an accident(?) at the mixer, Claire accuses Gretchen of some sort of murderous plot. She admits that she is a little bit stalking Claire. Gretchen admits that she has a crush on Claire (after the much talked about girl-on-girl kiss). We learn that Rebecca, head of the sorority, is actually Samuel’s ally and an invisible girl. She has been responsible for all the weirdness in Claire’s life of late. Samuel, Lydia, and Rebecca see the new member of the group after that.

Sylar gets pulled over by former ghostbuster turned police officer Winston Zeddmore. Or just a cop played by Ernie Hudson. I prefer to think it’s Winston though. But alas, he apparently is Captain Lubbock (meh). Why is a police captain on patrol in the middle of the night? Anyway, he gets a new criminal psychologist who is British. Strange, this stuff. Lubbock sends the good doctor away and tells Gabriel his identity. But he doesn’t remember any of this. He inadvertently uses his powers to send Lubbock crashing through the glass. He escapes with the doctor, but the cops quickly pursue. Sylar gets shot, and they both roll down the hill. Sylar’s wounds quickly heal and the doctor tells him to make a break for it. He runs down the hill... straight in to the carnival.

Emma continues to have problems coping with her new powers and in a confused state almost gets hit by a bus. Peter speeds to her rescue. She wanders off and Peter finds he no longer can run at super-speed. Instead, he has absorbed her synesthesia. He returns to the hospital looking for Emma, but only sees kids singing “The Greatest American Hero” theme. Nice. She realizes he can see the sound too. But she runs away from him. Back home, she learns that she can channel the light in to an energy attack. And as Peter returns home for the night, Hiro finally reappears (from last week) just to collapse in to his arms.

We do finally get past the Carnival’s quest for a new member this week. I think Emma’s story arc continues onward nicely and she continues to prove herself one of the show’s more interesting characters. It’s a shame though that the best storyline of this season, starring Parkman and phantom Sylar, spends the second week in a row on the shelf. It is good to see that the Heroes staff continue to know that former Veronica Mars cast members are good snags as Tessa Thompson joins the cast as Rebecca. Just as on that show, she seems to be able to channel the right levels of friendly and evil to make the character work. This season continues to have potential, but it is clear by the ratings that it cannot continue to push back that potential in order to build suspense. At this point, I hope that these eighteen episodes can serve to properly bring the series to a close.

Next week: “Tabula Rasa”.

Super-Powered TV: Heroes 4.4: Acceptance

Apologies for the lateness of this report. I am way behind on all my television viewing, reading, and other entertainment forms after a rather hectic week. On to the episode!

We start with Tracy reconnecting with her former employer, the governor of New York. She gets her job back, but already seems to have doubts about it from the get go. Tracy visits Noah and admits that she is uncomfortable in the position. Noah tries to convince her that she might be read to move on. Tracy leaves for dinner with the governor anyway. She tries to convince the governor she wants to help people. The governor just hits on her again. She leaves as she begins to lose control of her powers. She returns from the bathroom and just abandons the senator.

Dial-A-Hero gets another call, from the rooftop of their own building. He is going to jump, apparently because he got fired for copying his butt at the Christmas party. Really? And we are supposed to take Hiro’s dying seriously? He stops the copying, but Tadashi is still on the rooftop. This is idiotic. After multiple attempts, he finally realizes that he needs to talk Takashi down and does so easily. The talk also makes Hiro realize he needs to tell Kimiko the truth about his situation. Hiro has an attack after his confession, then disappears.

Peter meets with Noah about the compass tattoo, but when he arrives the tattoo is gone. Noah turns Peter down. Peter leaves as Claire arrives. Claire tries to get Noah to get a job. Their heart to heart does help them reconnect emotionally. Noah reconnects to his desire to stop the Carnival.

We get a brief digression with Samuel, Lydia, and Edgar. Edgar express his doubt which seems to draw Samuel’s ire. Lydia gives a vision of Bennett.

Angela brings Nathan a pile of keepsakes that help to refresh “his” memories of the past. He visits Peter and confesses about the image of his dead girlfriend, Kelly. Nathan visits Kelly’s mother, but she tells Nathan that she left for London. He wanders to the pool where he uses Sylar’s psychometry to remember the past. They both fall in to the pool, but Kelly hits her head on the side of the pool and breaks her skull open. Angela confesses that she used the Haitian to erase Nathan’s memory and clean up the “problem”. He tells her mom Millie the truth, but Millie just tells her to leave. Nathan gets attacked in a parking garage by a mystery man. Millie meets with Angela and tells her that he forgives Nathan, even as her hitman shoots and buries Nathan in the woods. Nathan survives and quickly digs himself out of the shadow grave... as Sylar.

While the Nathan parts of the episode did a good job of establishing where exactly his mind is in the currrent situation, much of the rest of this episode is middling filler at best. The Hiro bits just show us how redundant Hiro is becoming on this show. For a man so obsessed with the hero’s journey, one would think he would be smart enough to figure out he keeps repeating himself. Even as he is now dying, Hiro seems to be traveling the same path he has traveled in the previous three seasons. Tracy’s part of the story on the other hand seems to be filler at best and an attempt to keep Ali Larter’s characters stupid at the worst. Nothing about the epiphany Tracy has at the end of this episode needed to be acted out this way. Having her life destroyed in the last volume honestly should have been enough to make her realize her path was no longer as a governor’s personal aide/prostitute.

Like so many episodes before it, Heroes wants to spend too much time on the build. We still have no idea what motivates the carnival, who they are, or where they come from. This isn’t Lost, guys. You do not have the size of the cast or the over-arching design that Lost has. You cannot get away with taking an entire season to develop the plot this way. This kind of deconstructed storytelling is dying in the comics your stories obviously cop from and should do so here.

Next week (okay, tomorrow night): “Hysterical Blindness”.

Super-Powered TV: Heroes 4.3: Ink

“Ink” opens with a un-narrated montage followed by cryptic plans told by Samuel to Lydia.

Parkman has problems with Sylar in his mind, but Sylar uses Matt’s powers to keep him safe. But only after harassing Parkman during a drug bust. Parkman finds a stuffed animal by the toilet. Sylar hints that something worse is happening at the residence. Only problem is that all of it is a plant by Sylar. In the end, Parkman has to use his powers to keep from losing his career after he beats down a suspect. In the end, Sylar makes an ultimatum about the future.

We meet a woman with some kind of audio processing disorder. Peter meets her, but the conversation gives us no real information. Her name is Emma (played by Deanne Bray, a mostly deaf actress) visits her doctor who tells her she is synesthetic, able to view sounds as a kind of light. The doctor counsels her to actually get back to work as a doctor herself, instead of her job in the records department. In Central Park, Emma uses the audio-lights to perfectly play a cello. Peter comes to watch, but she runs away before he can speak with her.

Claire gets a visit from dad, but Gretchen throws herself in to the lunch-date the two have set. Claire does manage to convince dad that she can handle the situation with Gretchen. Gretchen hints at her past as a bulimic. Claire decides to come clean with her new friend. Claire invites Gretchen to become her roommate.

Peter leaves his meeting with Emma to confront a man who has sued him, only to find it is an incognito Samuel. Samuel does his best to set up Peter, going as far as to break in to his house and alter the photo in his montage. Samuel agrees to drop the charges and goes back to his family home. No one will let him in so he takes his vengeance with his powers, which are apparently earth-related. (Apparently in the world of Heroes all ink contains dirt.) Peter and his partner show up after the disaster, and a tattoo of the compass appears on Peter’s wrist as the show comes to an end.

Super-Powered TV: Heroes 4.1: Redemption and 4.2: Push, Jump, and Fail

Welcome to Volume Five of Heroes: “Redemption”. We have two episodes to cover from the first night, so let’s get right to it!

We open with a funeral of a character named Joseph attended by a handful of folks we have never seen before. We get a montage of some of the Heroes we do know in the process (most of which are from season one) before we move in to images that appear to be of the characters’ current location. Our eulogist (already a better narrator than Suresh) uses his powers (I assume telekinesis) to bury his brother as the funeral breaks up.

Chapter one, “Orientation” starts after the break as Claire makes her way to her college dorm room in Arlington, Virginia. Her roommate ends up being a little overly pushy; far pushier than any normal human should be. Seriously, I met some overly pushy people in college, but this goes a little far. Claire meets Gretchen after bailing on her new roomie during a test. Gretchen is a far friendlier student (despite her resemblance to a former ward of a nanny named Fran). She discusses her new surroundings with her father and embraces truthiness. (Stephen Colbert must be proud.) After a party where she chooses to hang up with Gretchen instead of

In Japan, Ando and Hiro have set up a business called Dial A Hero. Hiro’s sister Kimiko shows up to tear them a new one for wasting the company’s money. But after she leaves, they do get their first call. It is of course, a stuck cat. Ando goes to get it and predictably falls. Hiro uses a time freeze to keep him from getting hurt, but when he flashes the power off he seems to get stuck in time himself. After he awakens back in the office, Hiro reveals he is dying. He talks about his history in the carnival... before disappearing fourteen years in to the past.

Peter is a medic again, and uses his flight (or is it strength) powers as a really cheap form of parkur to get to an injured patient on the other side of a traffic jam.

Noah and Angela discuss the death of multiple Building 26 agents by Traci Strauss. Traci tries to murder Noah in his car, but he is rescued by Danko of all people. We get several tense and rather pointless moments. Later, Noah tries to convince Traci to work with him to find redemption, but Traci declines. Danko & Bennett have another terse converstion about Traci, but this time the Haitian lies in wait to make Danko forget his target.

Angela sits down for dinner with Nathan, a dinner she saw only moments before in a vision... only with Sylar. She begins to get worried about the nature of Sylar/Nathan.

Parkman receives Angela’s phone call for help, but he refuses to help. He is dealing with his own issues with “darkness” that has arrived recently.

Nathan begins to display Sylar’s power traits while in his office. He reaches out to Peter, but Peter ignores his calls.

At the circus, Lydia the tattooed woman works with the carnival master to uses his powers to summon up an image of Emil Danko. Our villainous carnival master assigns Edgar (go, Ray Park, go!) to hunt down and assassinate Danko. Edgar goes after the mind-wiped Danko and kills him in his apartment just after Traci decides to let him go. He cannot cut water and Traci chases him away from the scene of the crime before he can get the “compass” he wants.


Episode two, “Push, Jump, Fall”, opens with Parkman having headaches in Los Angeles, while Nathan is having the same in Washington. Parkman finds his son gone, only to have him in the hands of Sylar. Sylar demands to have his body back. It seems instead of wiping Sylar from Nathan’s mind, Matt absorbed the villian’s consciousness in to his own. Not quite sure how that would work, but let’s run with it. Parkman uses a police drug recovery program to discuss his powers in the loosest sense. Sylar pays a visit, and as always, Matt ends up looking crazy. He again looks crazy in the interrogation room. Sylar’s influence finally strikes with the water guy, as Matt forces him away from the house.

At his apartment, Noah calls Sandra only to have a man answer at the house. The phone dials right back, but this time it is Traci. Traci calls Bennett to the scene of Danko’s demise. They discuss the unknown killer and find a key buried in Danko’s stomach. This seems to be getting slightly preposterous. Noah pays Peter a visit, and after a brief conversation about Peter’s situation, he asks Peter to back him up. They open the safe deposit box and find that it is an actual compass, a broken one. Edgar arrives, but Peter uses his own speed and strength to keep the fight moving. They start a super-speed fight, and either Edgar clearly does not have any fighting abilities past his speed or Peter is a secret ninja, because Peter easily defeats him with one less blade. After the fight, we learn the compass isn’t so broken when held by Peter. Peter refuses to follow Noah on the mission, but he quickly finds that Noah has become a victim of Edgar after Peter leaves. Traci visits the injured Noah in the hospital... and Noah ends up hitting on her. Really?

In the past, Hiro realizes his location. He encounters Samuel the carnival master, himself time traveled in to the past. With Samuel’s influence, Hiro stops the accident that made Kimiko have a grudge against Ando. Now they are in love, and Hiro immediately decides that he must fix every mistake of his life.

In the aftermath of her roommate’s death, a suicide note appears out of nowhere in the room. She moves in with Gretchen who seems set on solving the murder. They start talking about a push, jump, fall test to determine how the body landed. Alone, Claire decides to run the test all by herself. She finds that her roommate did commit suicide. But Gretchen watches her recovery.

We end in the carnival with the words we gather the rest, and images of Sylar, Peter Petrelli, and Claire.

All in all, the debut shows a cohesiveness that hasn’t been seen since the end of season one. The loss of Mohinder (so far at least) gives the show a chance to pull itself out of its old funk. The new villains have solid potential, but so did every other villain introduced on Heroes. The challenge will be to keep them from derailing the way every other villain did. The characters seem to have received a reset as well, with most of their personalities reverting back to season 1. Nicely done, if not for the fact that we had two seasons of wild motivation changes. Hopefully the stream-lined writing staff can keep the show focused asd we progress over the next few weeks.

Super-Powered TV: Heroes 3.25: An Invisible Thread

Welcome back to my rather late post on the final episode of Heroes for season three as well as my two hundredth post on Take the Helm. Thanks again for everyone reading!

We start with half a dozen replays of where we left off, all set to a Mohinder voice-over. Clair and Angela are slowed down by a need to sneak in to the city after a roadblock. When they get in to town, Angela leaves to fulfill her dream by finding Matt Parkman.

Sylar uses his shape-changing to frame Danko for murder and take care of his credibility. Claire confronts Sylar-Nathan (lets just call him S-N) who uses his powers to imitate Nathan to perfection, so much so he convinces Claire. Or does he? Claire and S-N head to the White House, but small ticks make Claire suspicious.

Nathan wakes up alone in the bathroom. Peter finally shows up a few hours too late.

Noah has a confrontation with Danko in the conference room. They discuss the natures of their failures, only to be frozen in time together.

Hiro and Ando watch Building 26 secure Danko and discuss Hiro’s power problems. Inside the Building, Hiro continues to have bleeding issues. But they rescue Suresh (again) from captivity. They connect everyone active in to the facility to the sleeper units instead. Hiro freezes time again to rescue Noah, even after Mohinder’s warning. He collapses in the aftermath as Noah runs off. Noah calls Claire, but Sylar takes the phone and transforms in to Claire to answer. Sylar seems to have the Puppetman’s powers as he taunts Claire (although I suppose this may be his telekinesis at work and her just going along with it).

Nathan and Peter arrive and attack Sylar, as Claire sits in the hallway only able to watch as things fly inside. In the aftermath she heads back inside to see scorched ground, flames, and a lot of damage. Claire runs off with Peter. Sylar and Nathan return, and Sylar cuts Nathan’s throat. Nathan bleeds out in his chair, dead. (A season finale tradition, maybe this time for real.)

Parkman meets up with Angela outside and they find Nathan’s corpse.

S-N attacks the chief of staff, takes his place, and goes after President Worf. He uses his new form to climb in to the car with the president. But the president isn’t who he thinks he is. Peter stabs Sylar with the knockout drug and they take him back upstairs.

Noah, Angela, and Matt are faced with a hard choice: transforming Sylar, alter his memories completely, and use him as a replacement for the late Nathan Petrelli. Matt realizes he has little choice and starts to erase Sylar’s identity and replace it with Nathan. Sylar’s body spasms in the aftermath before it transforms in to that of Nathan. Nathan Petrelli awakes, unaware of his previous identity.

In the aftermath, the new Nathan burns the false Sylar’s body as all the other members of our cast watch on. Nathan sets up a new Company with the President, and Noah is placed in charge. A hurting Hiro leaves with Ando, his problems still unresolved. And Noah once again lies to Claire about the nature of S-N.

Volume Five “Redemption” opens six weeks later. A Building 26 agent returns home, finds water overflowing in his house. Water that slowly but surely reforms in to the body of Tracy Strauss. She proceeds to drown the agent, apparently her fourth victim. Angela visits Nathan at his office, but Nathan doesn’s feel right about himself. He looks at a clock behind a glass case, and realizes it isn’t running at the right speed, as a worried Angela looks on.

A definitely unique finish to the season, one that definitely has the feeling of Bryan Fuller on it as opposed to Jeph Loeb. The show seems ready to set its cast out in to new directions, which is something desperately needed in Heroes. I am a little disappointed by the lack of Claude in this episode, the ‒invisible” in the title got my hopes up, apparently for nothing.

Everyone enjoy their summer free of my less than regular updates, and the Heroes posts will return next season!

Super-Powered TV: Heroes 3.24: I Am Sylar

We open again with Nathan on television. We then flashback to eighteen hours later, back in Washington, as Sylar awakes in a different form. Sylar admits to Danko that he is losing himself, and he is unwilling to be a “nobody”. Sylar kills another victim and declares his nature as a living entity. Danko tells Sylar he needs something to connect him to his past. Sylar uses his federal clearing to get his mother’s belongings. Sylar then has a phantom conversation with his adoptive mother, as he transforms between his natural form and her.

Parkman tries to convince Hiro to give up the fight... that they have more to live for, as does he. But even though both Matt Parkmans leave, Hiro and Ando set out to bring down Building 26. FOr some reason, Ando doesn’t stop when they use themselves as bait for Building 26’s goons. But Hiro sets him up, lets him get hit by the darts, and replaces one of the guards. They try to sneak in, but instead have to use the GPS from a soldier’s cell after they are caught. They arrive at Building 26, but Hiro’s powers only cause a nose bleed.

The government corners Micah in a warehouse. Micah tries to convince Sylar to change sides. The words “You can save us all” stops Sylar in his tracks. Micah watches as he is shot on the pier... because Sylar has taken his place. Micah hides out in Sylar’s house and watches as Sylar has a self-conversation with his mother. But Sylar pushes Micah from his house with the threat that he will kill him if he sees Micah again. But Sylar mentions Nathan’s name as a suitable person to replace, an idea Sylar takes to Petrelli’s office. He again has a twisted self-talk. And mom’s words about becoming President seem dangerously close to coming true, as he takes Nathan’s form. He then goes on television just as we have already seen twice before.

Parkman takes the baby back to Janice, and wants to help her escape government surveillance. Parkman says he cannot escape with Janice; he has to stop the goons at the top level and end the entire situation. Parkman uses his powers to make his family invisible to the attackers.

Nathan sets out to stop the false Nathan from meeting the president. Peter follows. Nathan meets false Nathan in his office. The two have a heated conversation about the nature of the initiative. Before he can kill Nathan, Danko knocks the senator out. Sylar ignores Danko’s last request, and Danko stabs him in the back of the head. But Sylar gets back to his feet and pulls the knife from his head as the episode ends.

Once again it seems we have set ourselves up for a finale that is too busy. The sudden reemergence of Mohinder at tonight’s end seems to serve no purpose other than to add another face to the finale. But we will see how things come out as we hit “An Invisible Thread” next Monday. Does anyone else smell some Claude in the air?

Super-Powered TV: Heroes 3.23: 1961

“1961” opens with some more grave-digging. From there we move in to a flashback to 1961. All she gives us (outside of flashback) is that every member of her family died here. But even as she speaks the words, someone is watching them. But an argument about the need for the company causes Peter to leave.

Coyote Sands is apparently an internment camp for super-powered children visited by Angela and her sister Alice. We meet Charles Deveraux, Linderman, and another young male named Bobby Bishop. They begin to suspect something is not right, even as Angela tries to protect her sister... a sister with weather control powers.

Claire and Angela continue to talk, but they are struck by bursts of uncontrollable wind. Noah is caught in the storm and dragged away, by Suresh. Suresh and Noah discuss the elder Suresh’s time with the product.

In the flashback, Angela warns Chandar that he is going to be a murderer, serving as an analog for Nathan.

Angela goes outside to confront her sister. The wind dies down and in the aftermath, Angela is gone. Noah warns Suresh not to think the worst of his father... yet.

In the past, Devereaux pressures Angela to run without her sister, something Angela does not want to do. She agrees, and she lies to Alice about where she plans to go. In the present, Angela wakes up in a messy shack of some kind, filled with old papers and refuse. And she finds her sister’s old copy of Alice in Wonderland. And then she stands face to face with her sister.

In the past, Devereaux (who apparently is a telepath) tries to soothe Angela in a diner. In the present, Alice revealed that she stayed behind despite the death because of the lie told her by Angela fifty years ago: that she would safe as long as she stayed behind.

Back in the past, Alice refuses the shot. Her powers go haywire as she fights back. Suresh slaps her and her father uses his powers to fight back. From there the shooting begins and the powers die. And we learn exactly why Angela stole socks all those many episodes ago. Wow, that is some actual good writing by the folks at Heroes. Angela admits she lied that night, and Alice goes crazy. The sight of Mohinder pushes her farther in to her craze and she blasts him down. Angela tries to talk Alice down, telling her she has a family again. Alice refuses to listen this time and disappears in to the night.

In the aftermath, Peter gives Mohinder footage of the elder Suresh. Mohinder isn’t sure he wants to watch it, but he does know he doesn’t want to move on. He remains in Coyote Sands.

In the past, Angela reveals that she had dreamed of the company and the evil they would commit. The company began with her on that night. Nathan plans to go back to Washington and set things straight, but the episode ends with Nathan also on screen. It seems Sylar has taken the Senator’s place.

This is the episode that actually ties the mess of the previous three seasons in to some kind of coherency. It does very little to set up the end of this volume, but it does clear up a few problems left in the past. We will see what is left for volume four next week with “I Am Sylar”.

Super-Powered TV: Heroes 3.22: Turn & Face the Strange

Been busy watching and reviewing Wrestlemania, but I am still on track with a very early Wednesday morning update! Ha, I am finally getting ahead of schedule on this thing! Anyway, on to tonight’s episode.

Hiro and Ando are having their own problems with a baby that doesn’t want to go the same direction they are. Ando finds that he has to make an odd gremlin face in order to keep the baby happy and allow them to continue towards Washington.

At Building 26, Noah receives a visit from Sandra. So she knows where their base is but otherwise it’s a secret? Noah knows that the body isn’t really Sylar, and will take any risk to prove it. Like Parkman with Danko, Sylar wants his own revenge on Noah. But Sandra serves him with the divorce papers, and Noah doesn’t know how to respond. It is a lie though, as this Sandra is really Sylar. The signature on the divorce paper gives away Sylar’s shape shifting secret. But he thinks that the first Sandra is Sylar. But a phone call from Lyle saves her life before he can shoot. But it just serves to push his wife farther away from him. Noah, sans glasses, visits Danko’s office with a couple files. He implies he isn’t Noah, but instead Sylar. Danko walks right in to a trap, and Noah draws on him. Danko tells Noah the supposed secret identity of Sylar, but it is instead an innocent man, an innocent man that Noah killed. Noah is left on the run, just like the other heroes. After he leaves, the corpse recovers and transforms back in to Sylar.

Mohinder wants to flee, but Parkman is ready to go after Danko once and for all. Matt uses his powers to push Danko towards the person he most cares about. Danko visits a young foreign woman as Matt watches. After Danko leaves, Matt breaks in to her house and tries to force himself to kill her in return for Daphne’s death. Instead he sits down and has a chat with her, and learns she is actually an escort. Parkman tells Elena about Danko’s true life. Parkman still cannot kill her, but Hiro arrives in time to stop Danko from killing Parkman. Hiro introduces Matt to baby Matt, and in the process, gives Parkman something to live for.

Angela and Peter, Claire and Nathan, the compromised Noah, and even Suresh all are pointed towards a place called Coyote Sands. Angela and Peter are the first to arrive, followed shortly by Claire and Nathan. They start digging until Nathan finds a skull with a bullet in its head. But Angela reveals that they have only found the first. As Noah arrives, they uncover more and more skeletons... a mystery that will have to wait until next week and “1961”.

A good episode, coming back from some of the missteps of last week quite well. The shape-shifting nonsense is going to get old really fast, and will almost certainly be a game breaker just like Peter and Hiro’s old abilities. It reminds me a little bit of Dollhouse where you are always left to guess exactly who is real and who isn’t.

Next episode will clearly be another flashback: one that will apparently tell us the true, true, true origin of the powers. That sounds somewhat familiar... I’ll be back then, as volume four of Heroes nears its close.

Super-Powered TV: Heroes 3.21: Into Asylum

Again, apologies for lateness. Heroes was a lot easier to watch in the days when my television actually got NBC. Hopefully, my internet will stick around so I can stay up with the love-hate next week.

We open with Claire and Nathan in Mexico, penniless and on the run. Nathan tries to win a drinking contest to pick up much needed cash, but it takes Claire’s powers to give the pair a win. Nathan once again vows to fix everything. When will he learn he isn’t particularly good at that? Nevermind, when sober, Nathan goes back to Nathan-mode 2: time to give up. Nathan is quickly jumping ahead of Mohinder in my please-kill-him-now bracket. Claire thought Nathan was amazing when they met? Was this when he and his mother were trying to ship her out of New York before the explosion? Or... ... ... Yeah, so they finish the episode heading north again.

Anyway, on to the episode’s other plot threads. Peter makes Angela take her to church as it is “where she’s supposed to be”. Angela is facing a lack of sleep which is eating away at her. Peter is back to whining, this time to God. I suppose I should respect him for taking it right to the top. Um, yeah, the government breaking in to a church would be a pretty big news story. Bigger than their crowd and press control could stop. Noah is the one who finds them hidden in a confessional and purposefully looks past them. Can we get a resolution to this Angela/Noah pact at some point? After finally dreaming, Angela decides they need to find Claire & Nathan, and then find Angela’s sister. Really, another Petrelli? That is some how going to help things?

Danko and Noah argue over an unknown power. After a threat to Noah, Danko has an unwanted sitdown with Sylar. Sylar offers Danko a deal: freedom in exchange for alliance. Sylar reveals that the killer Danko seeks is his own surviving man, actually a shape shifter. When did Sylar take on affectations and other characters? This smacks of the previous two volumes and their desire to change characters’ personality to the story’s whim. And why would Danko be willing to deal with Sylar when his irrational hatred for the more stable powers keeps him from working with them? That does not make sense in anyway. Not if his goal is to do everything in the most effective way possible. And if that isn’t his goal, what is it? Danko and Sylar trace Martin to his favorite bar, only to find the shape shifter disguised as Danko. The pair catch Martin after he runs, when Danko shoots Sylar in the gut. Danko stands aside and lets Sylar take Martin’s powers. Danko uses the shape-shifter’s body to fake Sylar’s death. The military guys seem to have very flexible outfits. Impressive how they can fit both Sylar and a woman half his size.

Wow, well, we have once again reached the point where the villain turns in to an absolute brain dead fool. This seems to be a symptom of every volume of Heroes and this is no exception. What exactly does Danko think he will be able to do once Sylar has gained every power in the damn universe? Does he think Sylar is going to let him put a bullet in the back of his skull? Or that Sylar will wander off to live his life in peace? What in the blue hell would possess anyone with Danko’s hatred of super-powers to trust the most dangerous of them all? This makes no damn sense. Okay, deep breath. We have three more chapters to go if my math is right. Maybe government agent Sylar vs the forty-seventh Petrelli will suck less than I expect. And here&8217;s hoping that with Fuller fully aboard and Loeb soon out, completely out of the loop that this kind of nonsense will soon stop.

Super-Powered TV: Heroes 3.20: Cold Snap

Ha, Wednesday! I am almost back on time with the Heroes reports!

We are back from a week off and we open with a ridiculous long sequence of Danko washing up and shaving, only to have his alarm go off. Danko finds the Puppetman gift wrapped for him. What is Sylar’s motivation for helping Danko?

Noah and Angela meet one another again. Angela tells Noah to capture Rebel in an attempt to get on Danko’s good side. Impressively, Noah apparently gets back to Washington (that is where Building 26 is right, or does it just exist in a Negative Zone between all cities on the show) in the time it takes Angela to drive across town. Anyway, a prescient dream allows her to escape an attack from the government. Angela meets with friend Millie to get money and aid. Angela gets chased in to a hotel where Peter arrives just in time to save her.

Hiro and Ando think baby Matt Parkman is in fact a de-aged Matt Parkman. Of course, because Hiro is still an idiot. Baby Matt can apparently power devices just by touching them. Hiro and Ando have a poignant moment while talking about Hiro’s mother. Janice returns home just as they prepare to leave. Hiro and Ando try to convince Janice that they are here to help. When the government arrives to take the baby, Ando learns how to channel his power in to an attack form... and Hiro regains his powers to stop time with baby Matt in hand. But he can no longer teleport. Good way to give him abilities again without making them story-killers like they were before. Why didn’t he rescue Janice too while time was stopped? Either way, they set out to find the elder Matt Parkman.

Rebel once again causes problems for the Building, as he shuts off the heat lamps and unlocks Tracy’s door. She frees Parkman and Suresh, who take Daphne and make a run for it. But Tracy abandons the others and meets Noah in a dressing room. Noah wants Tracy to give up Rebel, and tries to make a deal with her. Rebel sets up the money and the trip for Tracy, and then Tracy is followed by Micah. Surprise (if you haven’t watched the show ever before)! Micah makes contact with Tracy, who reveals that he is Rebel. Tracy regrets setting him up, and Micah uses his abilities to attempt an escape. When cornered in a parking garage, Micah sets off the sprinklers while Tracy uses her powers to freeze the rain and everyone and everything in the room, including herself. Danko proceeds to shoot ice Tracy, leaving her shattered and on the floor. But even in pieces of ice, she still blinks. Yep, we got some Iceman powers in the works.

Matt takes Daphne to a hospital, where he convinces everyone that she is Gwen Stefani in order to hide out. But why doesn’t anyone recognize Matt? Daphne tries to break up with Matt and leave, and despite his best arguments, she runs away. Parkman chases down Daphne in Paris, but Parkman shows he can fly... so who is he really? But it all a dream inside Daphne’s head given to her by Matt as she dies at the hospital.

And Peter asks his mother what their next move will be...

All around, a good episode. We have upped the ante, moved forward hard, and started towards an endgame for the season. With Daphne and Tracy (maybe) dead, the heroes are teetering on the edge. And the total lack of Claire, and for the most part, Peter served to focus the show on the players that really need to become the future of the show. Be back here next week as Heroes goes “Into Asylum”.

Super-Powered TV: Heroes 3.19: Shades of Gray

Petrelli tries to talk down Parkman, only to learn that Danko is more involved than ever before. Danko tries to activate the bomb, but the access is blocked (by Rebel, we will assume). Nathan helps Parkman use his powers to escape, then decks him. Can this idiot make up his mind where he wants his own initiative to go? In the aftermath, Nathan and Danko become clearly antagonistic. Nathan convinces Tracy to help him throw Danko off the trail of his own powers.

Gabriel Gray meets his father and threatens his life, only to learn he is already dying of cancer. Sylar and dad discuss the morality of the kill. We get a taxidermy lesson in the process. Sylar shows dear old dad his healing powers. Dad doesn’t take it quite the way Sylar expected. But dad is just playing dumb, and knocks Sylar for a loop. Sylar breaks free, and his dad begs him to give his power up. Failing that, dad begs for a quick death. Sylar leaves him to die slowly of his cancer.

Noah gives Danko mis-information... that Angela is the flyer that saved Peter. Danko pays a visit to Angela at dinner. Angela brings up Danko’s own dark past in answer to his questions. Nathan returns with Danko’s pink slip. Nathan promptly names Noah his replacement. Danko attacks Nathan, pushes him out a window, and Nathan flies away.

Eric Doyle the Puppetman begs Claire for help, but she reacts with only fear. He leaves. Claire decides to try for Alex’s old job at the comic shop, to use it as a cover while she helps the people sent to her by Rebel. Rebel sends her another message, that the agents have cornered Doyle. Claire reluctantly goes to his aid. Claire gives Doyle a new identity as Jason something-or-another, all set up by Rebel. In the aftermath (and the aftermath of the Nathan incident), Rebel sends Claire a message that she has lost her free pass. But when the agents arrive, they find her gone... rescued by Nathan...

Hiro and Ando reach California to save Matt Parkman, only to learn it is a baby. Yeah, Matt’s ex is finally back! Wondered when we would get to that...

Danko returns home to find Sylar’s stuffed rabbit in his home as Mohinder oddly returns with a voice-over. Sigh, I thought we might have been done with those. Sylar lies in wait to attack as the show ends.

Balance shift with this episode. It looks like Noah may end up as the head of the whole Building 26 crew, with Danko and Nathan both on the outs. Whatever the case, this storyline feels like it cannot have that much more play to it. Will we get volume five yet this season, or do they actually have a plan to stretch this storyline another six episodes? The Rebel bit is getting old as well. Give us Micah and/or Hana already. Most people have figured this out by now I would think. And finally, this show is in desperate need of some new blood. A few deaths or disappearances coupled with a new character or two (it would be nice to see Echo incorporated in to the show) would really help the show out. And finally, what the fuck happened to Molly? That kid seriously disappeared off the face of the earth.

Back next week with “A Clear and Present Danger”. Will Harrison Ford guest-star?

Super Powered TV: Heroes 3-15: Trust and Blood

The entire episode seems to be in flashback form, as Nathan talks on the phone to a mystery party.

Mohinder, Parkman, and Hiro form one contingent of escapees. Meanwhile, Peter & Claire run head long in to Noah, gun drawn. Peter is allowed to run, Claire stays with her father, and the US military destroys the wreckage utterly to cover up the crash.

Parkman follows a vision of the African to an abandoned trailer. He retrieves the materials he needs to draw the future again. Mohinder tries to convince Hiro to leave in the mean time, but Hiro refuses.

Daphne finds Ando in Japan, and the two of them realize that they need to find their lost friends. They arrive quickly at the crash and start to worry. Daphne speeds in to camp and steals an already angry (at both her fathers) Claire from their midst.

Daphne is shot down by the enemy, and so is Claire... but Parkman takes control of a shooter and lays waste to the other gunmen before Danko, head of the attackers, shoots down his own man. Parkman is pulled away by Hiro, Ando, and Mohinder.

Mary and Luke Campbell receive an unfortunate visit from Sylar just a few doors down from the taxidermist. Sylar threatens to torture them in front of the injured agent he has captured. Sylar tortures Mary and Luke uses his heat powers (surprise, surprise) in an attempt to rescue her. Luke then uses his powers in front of his mother and kills the soldier. His mother is horrified, but Sylar leaves without killing anyone. Luke tries to follow Sylar, and Sylar takes him along when Luke admits that he knows the father's whereabouts. Sylar takes him in his mother’s car with a shade of Magneto and Pyro following in their midst.

Peter meets with Tracy in the woods. They waylay two different soldiers to steal their clothes. We learn the nature of Peter’s new ability: he can only hold one power at a time. Much more convenient for storytelling purposes. Tracy steals a phone and immediately sets out to try to be a deal maker: she offers to trade Peter to Nathan in charge for her freedom. Tracy’s double play plan goes back towards Nathan, but Peter gets in the way. Soldiers target both Peter and Tracy, but Peter steals Nathan’s power and flies away, while Tracy is dragged off by government goons.

Peter joins the other four and they begin to lay a plan: a plan of attack. Peter places himself as a leader: a leader in a war none of them (except Parkman) want to fight.

Back home, Claire receives a text message from someone named Rebel. Who Rebel is... we don’t know although Hana Gitelman could be a good guess.

We learn the phone call is to Angela Petrelli. Angela washes her hands of the situation and leaves Nathan in the able hands of his own government even as Nathan sacrifices Tracy to internment in the name of the “greater good”.

All in all, a very good episode. Even though I clearly see the X-Men vs the Brotherhood vs the government parallels in this storyline, for the first time it feels like Heroes isn’t just trying to be X-Men. The characters all act true to established form, even as Nathan pushes himself farther and farther in to the dark side.

One more episode to go to catch up. Stay tuned for that one soon.

Heroes Season 3 Episode 14: A Clear and Present Danger

Heroes returns with “Fugitives” which begins with a bland, rather generic start. As Jessica watches an incredibly pointless TV interview about Nathan Petrelli and his poistion with Homeland Security, she is attacked and captured by a pair of G.I.’s who then call Nathan and tell them they have the “first”. Three minutes in and everything I feared from the commercials seem to be coming true.

Claire refuses to acknowledge Sylar’s death (at least, she’s regenerating a brain) and vows to hunt him down despite Angela’s protests. Claire learns that her mother and Nathan aren’t after Sylar... they want to round up heroes! Oh Noes!!! She learns that Parkman appears to be the first target.

Peter has problems at his new job as a paramedic when he realizes he can’t save everyone. This sadly makes him quite angry. Wow, Pete... time to get in touch with reality. You did a piss poor job saving anyone when you did have all your powers. Remember that girlfriend you erased from existence? Anyway Claire calls Peter. Peter goes to meet Angela and is picked up in a cab and has a brief chat with Mohinder (the driver). Mohinder’s next passenger draws a gun and tells him to drive. The gunman takes him to an ambush, but Mohinder uses his spider-powers to escape. Noah shows up to save Mohinder, starts to question him, but when they are cornered, Noah tases Mohinder and turns him over to the gunman.

Peter meanwhile meets with his brother. Nathan asks him to stay out of the way, Peter refuses, and Noah takes down Peter.

Hiro tries to make Ando in to a superhero, but Ando uses his new Ando-cycle to pick up chicks instead. He is on his headset talking to Hiro when Hiro is attacked (in Japan! Way to go American soldiers!) and captured. Ando uses the tracking chip that Hiro also has implanted to track him back to America.

The deceased African painter appears in Parkman’s apartment and names Parkman the next prophet. Parkman commences to use his new ability. Claire arrives at Parkman's house to warn him... only to both be downed by the government goons.

Sylar, alive and well of course, is in Baltimore, where he has finally hunted down his father. Only this guy isn’t actually his father. His unknown uncle is actually his father. (This is getting a little too soapy for me...) He arrives at the home of taxidermist Samson Gray, possibly his real father (unless his real father is actually his cousin’s father’s masseuse’s uncle’s roommate from college), but Samson isn’t there. He has walked in to another ambush, but despite four taser strikes, Sylar destroys his attackers quite easily. Bullets people, use bullets on Sylar!

Dad tries to free Claire at the shipping facility for the detainees, but she escapes the car, stows away on the departing plane, and frees Peter. Peter steals Mohinder’s powers (which he apparently has to do by touch now), and fights the soldiers. Claire frees the others from the juice that keeps them docile, then heads to the cockpit to take control. She finds her father as co-pilot. Not much comes of this, as Peter accidentally steals Jessica&8217;s power and uses it on the side of the plane. Depressurization occurs with an impending crash landing, and Peter only survives being thrown from the plane by a helping hand from Suresh. (No, I don’t know why he needs a helping hand. He can fly, he should have Claire’s healing abilities now... nothing about flying from a crashing airplane should do him much damage.)

The show ends with Mohinder holding Peter as the plane careens towards the earth.

Despite the dull opening and terrible ad campaign, I was actually impressed by the new direction. If the writers can avoid cliches (and hopefully with Jeph Loeb’s input limited, they can), Heroes actually has the potential to be good again. Hopefully, the fugitive angle we are heading towards doesn’t throw it all under the bus.

We can only wait to next week to find out...

Living Legends 12 Notes

This chapter of Living Legends continues in the current vein of four very different storylines all going in their different directions. This will continue for the next couple chapters at least before I finally start pulling some of the disparate threads together. Unlike Heroes I do have an overarching idea where this is going. It’s just taking a little longer than I thought to get there. Sometimes characters take on a life of their own, and just need more space.

The Ghost Woman and friends thread has closed for a couple months with the battle between London and Golden Amazon. I won&8217;t reveal details as to why, but I will say it will bring about the return of another Living Legend.

Dart and Ace are two characters that have really grown on me as the story begins. When I first started Legends, I thought of Dart as an out and out piece of garbage, but as I continue to write him I realize that he is a more complicated character than my one-sided initial character study. He is still a self-absorbed son of a bitch though.

Chance and the Purge storyline won’t return for a couple months either as another storyline is rising up that will push it mostly to the wayside. Purge does play a major part of a major reveal though, and will serve to introduce a planned spin-off book very soon. American Crusader will do a lot in the coming months as Atoman returns to these pages.

Black Owl and Terri are interesting characters to me as well, maybe the most interesting in the series to me at this moment. Perhaps it’s the whole married aspect; I’t not really sure. But I like ’em.

I’m still curious to see what everyone thinks about this story&8217;s honestly massive cast and the somewhat disjointed story-telling. Is it working? Is it not? Give me some comments and let me know.

Super-Powered Television: Heroes Episode 13 Dual

Okay, I am going to say that the Sylar voiceover from the very get-go definitely made me happy with this episode. The voiceover is a good summation of the last few episodes... even does a good job of glossing over the weaker parts.

The show opens with Peter and Nathan talking about their father’s plan over Arthur’s corpse. It leads quickly to a gun pointed at Nathan’s head. But Peter can’t shoot him... so he decks him instead.

Claire, Meredith, Angela, and Noah prepare to head to Pinehearst, but instead get trapped in Primatech by Sylar who has mind games planned for them all.

Sixteen years in the past, Hiro is still hanging from a flagpole. Parkman, Daphne, and Ando go in search of Mohinder in an attempt to get Ando powers and somehow save Hiro. Back in the lab, Mohinder is still dying. Rather dully. Peter once again draws a gun on Mohinder (and I doubt he will do much shooting here either. Why do you even have a gun, Peter?) Daphne speeds through and steals the formula, but Jesse and Knox show up to destroy Mohinder’s lab.

Super-marine falls fast as Knox goes in to the hall and kills G.I.-Kyle (as my 4400 fans/coworkers like to call him).

Daphne returns, Ando injects himself and promptly collapses with a sickly thud. Back in the past, Hiro climbs to the top of the roof. He ends up recruiting his younger self in an attempt to alter the past (which can’t seem like a good idea to anyone, can it?)

Sylar’s mind game plays out simply: he will let everyone go if Claire shoots Angela. How can this mind game really be this dull? And why would be Claire stupid enough to waste a bullet on a phone? Smart, Claire, real smart. Noah frees the remaining villains as bait for Sylar. (Go Hobolossus!)

Mohinder tries to talk Jesse and Peter out of their destruction, but it fails miserably.

Ando wakes up and tries to use his time travel power... and it turns in to a moronic blinking exercise. He quickly learns he has some kind of explosive touch instead (just like on his future appearance from week’s back).

Boo, Hobolossus gets offed away from the screen! Meredith confronts Sylar, but the Puppetman actually comes to her rescue and stops Sylar. Sylar apparently gives him a brain aneurysm instead. He proceeds to inject Meredith with something that causes her to drop to the floor (I assume the adrenaline, as she suddenly can’t control her powers.) Sylar locks Noah in a cell with Meredith, with the assumption that either he will die in her flames or he will shoot her in the head. Oooh, go craaazy Sylar.

Knox and Jesse’s motivation in this is really stupid. Anyway Knox holds Nathan hostage, and confronts Nathan with his fear. Nathan in turn bashes Jesse in the face with some kind of globe. Tracy shows up just in time to freeze and shatter Knox and rescue him.

Parkman touches Ando and finds that his powers amplify somehow. Daphne touches him a second later, and finds herself flashed back in time a few seconds.

Claire and Angela go to rescue Noah and Meredith, but Sylar takes Angela’s place and shoves Claire against a wall. More dull mind games (this is a really stupid deathtrap...). She runs away and tries to free her father, but finds the keypad gone. Noah has Meredith heat up the glass with her powers, Noah fires on it but it doesn't break, so Claire takes a flying leap through it. Meredith sends Noah and Claire away, and Meredith collapses.

Tracy tries to convince Nathan to leave, and Nathan quickly fires her.

Parkman figures out that Ando is some kind of power super-charger. Parkman uses some Einstein physics to convince them to travel back in time. Daphne and Ando work together to travel backward in time. In the past, Hiro and future Hiro try to steal the formula only to be stopped by Kaito. Kaito assaults Hiro, who tries to convince him to destroy the formula. He rips it in half, Kaito swings the blade, and Hiro is grabbed by Ando and Daphne. Back in the present, Daphne and Hiro run off to destroy the formula. They confront Tracy as she tries to steal the formula. After being called “Pikachu” Hiro decks Tracy and they run off with the formula.

Knox and Peter spill out the formula, which conveniently blankets Mohinder. Jesse prepares to blow everyone sky-high, but Nathan beans him with a metal pipe before he can. He proceeds to deck Peter and beat him down with the same pipe. Knox lights everything up and traps Nathan. Peter injects himself in a psychotic hope to help his brother, dives across the room, and flies them both away.

Sylar and Angela confront one another in Primatech. Angela congratulates him on saving the world by killing Arthur Petrelli. Angela tells the truth, that she is not Sylar’s mother either. But Angela tries to convince him that she had his best interest in heart. Sylar detects the lie and cuts her slightly. She admits that he would be useful to her as a monster that she could easily manipulate. She uses the truth about his parentage to keep herself alive, but as Sylar threatens her Claire embeds a piece of glass in to Sylar's cerebellum.

Claire tries to save her mom, but Noah pulls her away as her flames consume her. Meredith literally explodes and takes Primatech with her.

Peter and Nathan confront each other out in the woods. Nathan informs Peter that he wouldn’t have save him if the tables were turned before he flies away.

Mohinder voice over pops up again as he stares at himself in a car door and finds Tracy inside. He leaves with her.

Daphne, Parkman, Hiro, and Ando celebrate.

Mohinder’s voice over is all about love and shades of gray (Bleh.)

Three weeks later we get the beginning of Fugitives, where Nathan confronts an agent about the existence of other heroes. He gives his new goal: to round up the other heroes and contain them. Sorry, not an agent... a black President. (Considering this is either 2006 or 2007 still, I find it odd that George W. is black but whatever.)

The episode ends there and I take it in with mixed feelings. While the denouement of “Villains” did prove to bring things together far better than I would ever imagine, I fear that “Fugitives” may be more of the same. However, the clear focus on a few different players, specifically the return of Micah, could free up the new volume to shine. Let’s hope things can come together to keep Heroes on the air for some time to come.

Super-Powered Television: Heroes Episode 12 Our Father

Hiro and Claire arrive in the past, and we learn that Hiro’s mother was the former catalyst. They quickly seperate. Claire goes to stop Kaito from injecting her with the catalyst. Hiro, upon learning his mother is another healer, sets out to find a way to get her to restore his memories. Hiro very badly tries to cook for his mother as he takes the place of th enew chef (where the new chef actually is is anyone’s guess). He proceeds to overhear a conversation between his mother and father about his lack of ability. He reveals everything, and his mom cures him, and the two talk about his life... his successes. She proceeds to pass on the catalyst, not to Claire, but to the adult Hiro. She passes away moments later.

Sylar answers his father’s (or is he?) phone call, and reveals his plans to go after a new list of heroes from Elle’s phone. He burns Elle’s body and wanders off of the beach Hiro left them. Sylar goes to confront someone with the ability to lie detect in an office, and makes short work of her... and apparently her office mates.

Claire has a rather bland heart to heart with her mother. Nathan returns and is immediately suspicious of the older Claire. He quickly sees through her story. Claire actually convinces her father to somehow not answer the phone when Kaito calls. Hiro tells Claire he has the catalyst, but he’s assaulted by a time traveling Arthur. Arthur takes his powers and the catalyst and throws Hiro from the roof. He sends Claire back to the present, and Arthur is trapped hanging from a flagpost in the past.

Parkman, Daphne, and Ando go to the delivery company that has the Isaac Mendez sketches, but the bike messenger tries to make a run for it. He doesn’t make it far before Daphne cuts him off. They get the book and learn that Hiro is trapped in the past. They set out to find a way to find the formula.

Peter and the Haitian are assigned to murder Arthur by Angela. But the Haitian tries to counsel Peter from making a rash decision. They confront Arthur in the hallway, after the formula is activated. The Haitian loses his control over Arthur’s powers. Sylar arrives to stop the bullet, learns he is not Arthur’s son, and proceeds to imbed the bullet in Arthur’s brain. With Arthur dead, the catalyst vanishes.

Nathan arrives back at Pinehearst, and learns Tracy is already on Arthur’s side. Nathan rather blandly meets with the G.I.’s who potentially will give them powers. Arthur returns to the present and proceeds to add the catalyst in to the formula as Mohinder, Nathan, and Tracy look on. Nathan prepares Mohinder to test the injection on the first Marine, the same person that Nathan talked to earlier. He gains massive superhuman strength as the episode ends.

Next week, Villains comes to an end, but how it will play out remains to be seen.

This episode fails on many levels, with it again having the heroes get all the answers just in time to have Arthur take it away again (seriously, this is an annoying plot convention that needs to be thrown away as soon as possible!) A few holes poke through the story... How did Arthur know that Hiro was in the past, let alone be able to take his abilities? Why does a young Noah so easily respond to future Claire’s request? I mean, why would a hard ass like him respond to a stranger’s request about a child he barely knows yet? It just doesn’t fit for me.

With Arthur already dead, I am definitely interested in how they will end this season. I hope and pray that this will end the way it should... with Nathan having to die in order to prevent the formula’s continued spread. Instead, I suspect he will see the error of his ways yet again. If that happens, I might just see the error of mine. After all, RTN has some pretty keen looking reruns of the A-Team every night at eight.

Super-Powered Television: Heroes the Eclipse pts. One and Two (season 3-10,11)

I honestly have put off watching both parts of “The Eclipse” on purpose. After two solid episodes, I feared that this would be more of the same from the first several weeks of the series.

Angela puts Claire in the hands of Noah for safe keeping. Claire is snarky and standoffish, so dad proceeds to train her... badly. They have a heart to heart momentarily before Elle shows up... and finds her powers don’t work. Noah proceeds to beat Gabriel and Elle senseless, but not before Elle can shoot Claire with Noah’s gun. After Noah takes her home and binds the wound, he leaves to go after Sylar, but Claire’s wound opens again.

Nathan and Peter head to Haiti... to find the Haitian, and fall out of the sky as the eclipse approaches. The two of them end up in an argument about their own world views. They end up meeting the Haitian, and Nathan gets captured by the men of Baron Samedi, who is apparently the Haitian’s brother.

Mohinder learns that he may soon die... especially if Claire does so. Mohinder starts to fall apart as the eclipse approaches, but I doubt this will be enough to actually kill him. Instead, he apparently cocoons himself. (Ugh.) He wakes up quickly, apparently cured.

Parkman and Daphne are sent out to find Hiro, unaware that Hiro has the mind of a ten year old. Daphne starts to come in to her own, as her paranoia about betrayal gets teh better of them. Hiro and Ando find them instead, in the hopes that Parkman can cure Hiro. The first irk comes here as Parkman isn’t clever enough to mind-link with Hiro AND Ando to reset his mind. Anyway, they follow Daphne after she runs to Lawrence, Kansas. After Hiro leaves, Matt goes inside and learns that without her powers, Daphne apparently suffers from some kind of muscular dystrophy.

Hiro’s story breaks off from Matt’s as he goes to a local comic shop... ran by guest stars Seth Green & Breckin Meyer. And I have to admit, framing the Robot Chicken creative team as comic shop owners is great fan service. On the other hand, I wonder how much fan service is really necessary in a show that is already so blatantly dredging up old comic storylines.

Tracy plays double agent, ratting on Nathan. Arthur sends her on a mission of her own.. to Paris Island, and almost gets caught by Angela.

As the first chapter starts, Arthur sends Sylar and Elle on a mission to capture Claire as our show opens. Elle proceeds to become the problem child again, as she sets up Sylar to battle with a rental car worker (who for some reason has a rifle). After the debacle of their attack, Sylar and Elle have a Bonnie and Clyde style chat as they become human once more, even as Noah has Sylar in the sites of a sniper rifle...

Oh, and I am kind of annoyed that Lawrence, Kansas, equates to a farm house. It’s a town of nearly 90,000 for goodness sakes! Althought it is big enough to have a comic shop... well done, California writers! Well done!

Okay, so the first part was decidely better than expected... on to part two.


Part two opens with Peter and the Haitian plotting to recover Nathan, and attack Baron Samedi. The Haitian and Peter blindside Baron Samedi, and beat him down.

claire is rushed to the hospital, where we learn her lack of abilities has left her immune system basically non-existent. She is stabilized by the doctors (I am not really sure how...), and her mom finds herself answering questions from the police. But Claire goes in to cardiac arrest... (Sigh... really?), no wait it’s apparently septic shock. The doctors can do nothing to save her. (Powers should be coming back anytime now...) Oh wait, the eclipse clears, lighting up the corpse (as this morgue apparently has windows) and Claire wakes up.

Nathan is tied and chained by Baron Samedi, a character in full super villain mode. He begins to realize that he’s not the hero he thought he might be, but he does help to free the other would-be prostitute. His story reconnects with Peter and the Haitian, and Peter stays behind to let the others escape. After the powers return, Peter comes under fire from Samedi’s forces, and with his gun empty has no choice but to surrender. The Haitian and Nathan return to save him. But Samedi’s powers have returned also, and with his invulnerability, only the Haitian can bring him to his knees. The Haitian helps the prostitute escape, and Nathan and Peter have a heart to heart. Nathan begins to move to his father’s worldview... and proceeds to abandon Peter in Haiti.

Arthur threatens Mohinder to keep him working, even though now powerless, Mohinder (selfish, spoiled brat that he is) wants out. Mohinder beats Jesse senseless in order to escape captivity, and immediately goes running for Maya (Damn you, Heroes!) Mohinder arrives at Maya’s doorstep, but his powers arrive before they can speak. Mohinder returns to Pinehearst, ready to return to his work as his body begins to degrade again.

We learn Daphne actually has cerebral palsy, a condition her powers cured. Now she continues to punish herself again and again for her past mistakes. After a brief stop at the comic shop to find Hiro, he returns to the house and finds his and Daphne’s powers have returned. Parkman helps Daphne come to terms with herself and her past mistakes... hopefully for good this time.

Seth Green & Breckin Meyer continue to have a fight over whether or not the newest issue of 9th Wonders featuring both themselves and the visiting Hiro and Ando. Breckin figures out that the eclipse is what blocks their powers, and quickly become fanboys for the real life heroes. But Hiro runs away as he learns of the perils he faced as an adult. Seth Green proceeds to help talk Hiro out of the comic shop bathroom. Meanwhile, Breckin Meyer finds a secret in an old issue of 9th Wonders that gives him the answer to retrieving his powers. He flashes away from Ando and the comic shop to find Claire Bennet. Parkman & Daphne come back to learn that Hiro is gone, and Seth tells them of a legendary lost issue of 9th Wonders that may hold answers for their future.

Gabriel and Elle “make love” (as much as two sociopaths can do so) on the floor of the safehouse, only to come under attack by Noah. Elle gets hit by a bullet, but Sylar pulls her away (after the two of them magically put some clothes on). Noah’s own sadism begins to shine through again as he starts the hunt for them. Noah pursues them to a supermarket, where Gabriel bandages Elle’s wound then sends her away. Noah beats down Gabriel, and then slits his throat. (Powers should be coming back any time now...) Nathan comes back to learn Claire died, but is alright now. Gabriel and Elle arrive a moment later and assault Noah’s family. Gabriel tortures Noah, but Noah reveals that Gabriel is not Arthur or Angela’s son at all. Noah works mind games to try and save himself, but Gabriel starts to cut him down anyway. Hiro arrives, teleports Gabriel and Elle elsewhere. Then he runs off with Claire. Claire and Hiro watch as Kaito Nakamura hands over baby Claire to a younger Noah as the show comes to an end.

Gabriel begins to doubt Elle after Noah’s words, and Elle seems to still be slightly afraid of him. Gabriel comes to the understanding that he hasn’t changed at all, and proceeds to cut open Elle’s skull.

Well, these episodes were decidedly better than I expected, and I go in to tonight’s episode with less trepidation than I expected. But the Petrelli family storyline seems to me to already be past due to end. The quality of the Sylar, Hiro/Ando, and Parkman/Daphne storylines really show that the show is at its weakest when its treading out the Petrellis again and again. I have no interest in Nathan and Peter’s storyline at all... Honestly, are there any comic fans out there that are tired of the whole Havok trying to come out of Cyclops’s shadow storyline. It feels like a lot of retread, and bad retread at that. Jeph Loeb especially should be ashamed of his hand in this, but then, anyone reading his Ultimate Universe work knows that Loeb has little or no shame.

Here’s hoping that in a couple months, when Heroes returns with volume four, the series will learn to refocus. Give us an actual ensemble for the first time since season one, and push the Petrelli family to the wayside. Here’s hoping... but I’m still not holding my breath.

NaNoWriMo Comes to an End

I have finally brought my first NaNoWriMo experience to an end with a (barely) successful first 50,000 words of Neo-Tokyo. Although the story isn’t quite finished (I would estimate another 20,000 words at least), it does feel good to get that much on to the screen in one month’s time. I am going to try to maintain a continued writing discipline of around 800 to 1000 words a day at least 5 days a week. Wish me luck on that one.

I have been dreadfully negligent on pretty much everything else super-hero related in the mean time. I still haven’t watched last week’s Heroes and I am about a week behind on all my comics and graphic novels. With the stress of nearly 2,000 words a day off my back I should be getting back up to speed though. I have a couple archived articles I will get posted in the next few days and we will go from there.

I may have a new comic property in the works over the next few days. I will let everyone know on that soon as more news pops up. Metahuman Press will be back to updating at a regular pace as well.

Thanks for everyone’s patience while I worked myself to the bone. I have plans to participate in NaNoWriMo again next year, but now that I know what it entails, I will probably change a few of my plans to more readily update. In the mean time, thanks for reading.

Heroes Episodes Eight and Nine

My apologies for the lateness in the first half of the post, but with NaNoWriMo going on, I used most of my days for sleep. Last week’s Heroes fell by the way side to just before I watched tonight’s show. Sad, considering it’s easily the best episode this season.


We seem to get the season back on track as we go in to flashback mode with “Villains”. Hiro (apparently) goes on a viewing spree as he watches the events of one year ago. Eric Roberts returns as Thompson to bring Meredith in to the folds of the Company, while Noah and Elle work together as we see their pre-season one investigation of Gabriel Gray, even as he transforms himself in to Sylar.

We learn bits and pieces of the history of Arthur and Linderman, and the investigation by Nathan as a DA on Linderman. How it was not Linderman that ordered the attack on Nathan’s car at all... We finally learn what turns Angela against her husband as she learns what her husband has planned for Nathan. But even as Arthur acts, Linderman plots behind his back. He shows Angela the true nature of her husbands actions, and how he manipulated her mind again and again. Angela recruits the Haitian and several ounces of poison to eliminate her husband, but Nathan’s untimely arrival leads to Arthur’s chance at survival.

Meredith’s short career as an agent does give us one bright spot, as she encounters Danny Pine, a man the internet already nicknamed Hobolossus. Let’s hope we can see more of him soon. Anyway, things devolve when Flint, apparently Meredith’s brother, is also captured, and Meredith goes to free him. Thompson shows an amazing depth of character as he lets Meredith suddenly go free after she betrays the company.

Elle’s appearance in his life seems to be a saving grace for Gabriel, but Noah’s manipulation only causes more of Sylar's moral decay. We learn that Sylar may not have the loose moral standards we once thought.

The episode ends with Hiro wakening, and the sudden death of the African seer at Arthur’s hand. Arthur grabs Hiro....



Which is where we open on episode 9, “It’s Coming”. Arthur wipes Hiro’s mind down to that of a ten year old, but Ando saves him from death and helps him escape back to Japan. Ando begins a slow quest to reteach his friend how to use his powers, but Hiro has some problems taking things seriously.

Arthur returns to Sylar... and in an attempt to cure his bloodlust locks him in a room with Elle. Elle’s reaction is less than friendly, as she rips him apart with an electrical attack... He accepts the attack and encourages her to make more. Their confrontation cures Elle’s overpower, while somehow unlocking Sylar’s power mimicry as he finds he can now use her powers. They seem to be on the return to their romantic inclinations shown last episode.

Claire helps Peter escape an attack by Knox and her uncle Flint. But when she goes back to confront them, she learns it isn’t Peter they’re after at all. Peter uses his mind instead of his powers to save the day and help Claire get away.

Parkman and Daphne go looking for help at Primatech, but he only finds an unconscious Angela. Nathan makes the decision to free her mind, but may be just putting himself in the sites of fellow psychic Arthur. Parkman can’t find a way out of Angela’s mental crisis and finds himself stabbed by a psychic projection of Daphne. Daphne enters the dreamworld, and Parkman learns of her double dealing when Arthur arrives. Parkman confronts Arthur, but Angela forces Arthur to free them.

Nathan confronts his father. Arthur makes the same offer Linderman did back in season one, but this time Nathan isn’t as ready to make a deal with the devil for “the good of mankind”. Nathan leaves, but Jessica returns to speak with Arthur and make a deal for her future...

Mohinder’s experimentation proves a failure, as they are missing a third component, a human based catalyst, but his actions remain shady at best. Maybe something will actually come of this storyline soon...

Ando takes Hiro to a comic shop where 9th Wonders opens his eyes for the first time. They learn of the coming eclipse in its pages.

The episode ends with the villains coming together, but the heroes do so as well. Surrounded by Parkman, Peter, Nathan, Claire, and Daphne, Angela reveals the existence of the human catalyst and lays out the plans for their new mission: to stop Arthur from finding the catalyst. And Claire realizes exactly what Syler meant by how “special” she was...



Robert Fresco wrote Villains, his first episode of the show, and while it ties together stories from over two seasons in a way that could only be planned, the fresh look on the characters actually makes the show shine more than it has since season one. Series creator (and clearly best writer) Tim Kring returns for It’s Coming to continue the streak of quality episodes. Finally, this season’s first story arc is coming together despite the worst attentions of the season’s first several episodes. With their continued participation, and the recent removal of the overly influential (and not in a good way) Jeph Loeb, Heroes might just survive yet.