Volume Two: Chapter Nine "Cautionary Tales"

Ooooooo. Such much Heroes goodness last night. It was exactly the kind of visceral storytelling I enjoy.

There were big foreshadowy reveals:

Parkman can not only hear thoughts but he can force people to submit to his.



Mama Petrelli rightly says that if he explores this power he will be exactly like his father. Matt may think he's doing it for a good cause, but as Kaito Nakamura pointed out to Hiro,

"We have the power of Gods. That does not mean we can play God."

Again, it raises questions of where to draw the line. Should Parkman read Angela's thoughts in order to protect someone? Or should he respect her privacy and the sacrifices her generation made? What about using Claire's blood to heal others? Could healing be considered an act of God?

There Were Smaller, Expected but Satisfying Reveals

Elle is indeed Bob's daughter. Bob may be thinking more globally about "specials" than HRG, but he has clearly failed as a father.



I had been worried that Kristen Bell was having trouble playing conflicted evil, femme fatale, spoiled daughter and damaged woman. When we first saw her she came off as a combination of spacey & pouty. But Girlfriend's got it down, and the writers of this episode gave her some great lines:

"Overprotective, much?" --A shout out to Slayer Slang

and to Mohinder a saucy, "What's your superpower? Punching bag?"

(Also gotta love Mohinder's "Have you killed many people?")

There was the funny...

Bob was the regional sales manager at Primatech Paper!

And HRG's "Did you pack Mr. Muggle's doggy bath?" was delivered with a perfect combination of calculation and humor.




There was the touching & sad...

Love child Hiro saying "I'm Takezo Kensei," and grown-up Hiro smiling and saying, "Yes, you are."

(And I wonder, does Nakamura Sr. know that Adam once claimed to be Kensei? I didn't get the impression he did considering his pleased reaction to Hiro's time travel to 17th Century Japan.)




I was very glad we got to see more George Takei. It's so easy to only think of him as Sulu, and he's quite a talented actor. I love that Hiro got to say goodbye to his father, and that we get to see his continuous evolution from child to man, from man to hero. He's experimental and reflective, and right now seems to be the only hero concerned with going out into the world with these gifts in a responsible manner.


Other Thoughts

-Claire spelling out "I'm sorry" in rocks under West's flight path was heartbreaking. She did nothing wrong. She's confused, in love* and scared. It wasn't the brave Claire of last season, but it was an honest moment, and certainly something a teenage girl might do.

-It's nice to see more of Mrs. Bennet's personality, which last season was suppressed as the result of numerous brain wipes. But now we can clearly see she's a tough woman--the kind of woman Noah would be attracted to, and exactly the kind of woman he would need to keep away from his shady Company business.

-Mohinder shot Noah!!! But of course he'll live. It's just a question of who saved him, and what he might be expected to do to return the favor.



-A Random Idea I'm playing with . . . It's not fully formed, but it was something that I thought of while reading the Heroes graphic novel collection last night.



There was a story told about how Claude and a rookie Noah Bennet came to find baby Claire, and how Noah was so taken with the helpless child that he swore to always protect her, to always keep her safe. I got to thinking that while the characters on this series have a lot of Daddy Issues--and that's certainly a component of Claire's relationship with Noah--he is very much a lioness. He's a Sarah Connor, or a Ripley. He's singularly focused on saving his child rather than the world. He protects instead of avenges. Like I said, just an observation and an argument not fully formed, but something I'll be thinking about for the book.



--Finally, why is it that when women exert their power, I mean, really exert it, they get a nose bleed? I don't think I've ever seen this happen to a heroic male character but last night it happened to Angela. It happened to Willow Rosenberg on BTVS several times, and it happened to Sue Storm in the Fantastic Four movie (and to countless other female characters I can't recall right now, but you can see I'm compiling a list). It bothers me because it gives the impression that women can't physically handle tremendous power.




*(with a questionable guy, but I think the writers might be fixing that. West was much less creepy last night)

Heroes Changes Ahead

Heroes creator Tim Kring called Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly discuss fan reaction to Season Two.

EW has titled the piece "Heroes Creator Apologizes to Fans" although nowhere in the piece is there an actual apology--and I, for one, believe it's not necessary. Kring acknowledges some of the narrative choices made during this arc aren't quite working:

-Claire's creepy boyfriend
-Taking too long to get to the "big-picture story"
-Keeping Hiro in the past for so long
-And the slow introduction of new characters

While I prefer the faster-paced reveals, I've really enjoyed this season so far. I think people have forgotten just how slow much of last season was, often tediously slow, and the story didn't ramp up until mid-season.

Heroes, Chapter Seven “Out of Time”

I didn’t post a review last week, because I didn’t really have much to say about Chapter Six. But it’s clear now that “The Line” laid much of the groundwork for this week’s episode, proving once again that Heroes is an excellently functioning serial.

Last week, it was revealed that The Company is using the Shanti virus to stop Specials who either cannot learn to control their powers, or who, like Sylar, use them for evil. It’s an interesting moral quandary, and though it’s been previously explored in popular culture (most recently in Joss Whedon’s run on The Astonishing X-Men) it’s certainly an issue that would arise if people ever where to actually develop these sorts of gifts.

Is a man who can fly inherently dangerous to humanity? Should a woman who can spontaneously regenerate be exploited for the greater good? How is it decided whose powers should be quelled? As it appears these mutations are hereditary should Specials be prevented from breeding? Or will they placed into eugenics programs to create a race of supermen?

The question of liberty is also reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange—Anthony Burgess’s novel about free will.


Though I haven’t yet read the novel, I’ve seen Stanley Kubrick’s film version numerous times.* Alex, the protagonist of both, is a vile human being, raping, pillaging and performing acts of “ultraviolence” with his mates. After his eventual arrest and sentencing, Alex is reconditioned via an experimental treatment program to have a negative response to violence so that he might be reintegrated into society. The results are both just and tragic. As Alex grows to want a normal life, he encounters his victims who each exact revenge. Because of the conditioning Alex is unable to protect himself as he is now filled with nausea and paralysis when faced with evil.

According to Wikipedia,

“Burgess wrote in his later (Nov. 1986) introduction, titled A Clockwork Orange Resucked, that a creature who can only perform good or evil is "a clockwork orange — meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with color and juice, but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil; or the almighty state."

By this definition Sylar is clearly a clockwork orange. (Ironically, The Company likely sees him as he sees Maya, as “a shiny new toy.”) Sylar has charm, as well as abilities desired by people in positions of power, and The Company may only want to subdue Specials with powers they can’t manipulate. But it does raise the question of free will. Should other Specials be punished for their gifts because Sylar missuses his?

But back to “Out of Time,” an truly riveting episode in which the relationships between our characters grow more complex. Mohinder is finally growing a pair, instead of splitting one with Matt. He begins to realize that Noah is impulsive, temperamental, and desperate, and that means regardless of his skills, HRG sees him as expendable. He begins to seek a way to better protect himself, as well as his own family.

Matt and Nathan show up at The Company’s headquarters to warn Bob that he is next on Parkman Sr.’s hit list and Nathan pressures Bob for information on “Adam Monroe” –a name that was first dropped last week.**



Bob, who as Mohinder notes is “morally gray, at best” again states that “we all have our parts to play” and that “with these abilities sometimes people begin to see themselves as gods.”***

As part of Bob’s plan to stop Parkman Sr. by injecting him with the virus, he pushes Matt to explore his capabilities. Matt’s terrified of actually becoming his father, but after a heartfelt moment with the unconscious Molly he finally resolves his Daddy issues. After noticing his daughter stir in her slumber when he tells her he loves her, Matt recognizes that with these powers of the brain he not only can enter Molly’s mental prison to release her, but he can trap the Nightmare Man there as well.

It seems Matt grew a pair too.



He and Molly awake to find Parkman Sr. unconscious and as they embrace Matt says: “Oh, God, I love you.” And Molly replies, “I heard.”

He IS her hero.

Back at the Bennets/Butlers Claire is finally recognizing the danger of West—who is a creepy, creepy, stalker guy. He is in her home, uninvited, having waffles with her mother, while she is asleep. When he text messaged her a good morning I half expected him to be hovering over her bed watching her. (icky-shiver.)

Claire tells West that “You can’t just do whatever you want, whenever you want.” She’s not only concerned that he and her father will discover each other—but that HRG will discover what she’s done and she’s embarrassed to have used her gifts so childishly. Before West, she was thinking about how her blood might be used to heal people, after hooking up with him she’s torturing the alpha Mean Girl at her high school.

Because of West, she’s drifting from who she is at her core. Compounded with standard-issue teen angst, she’s growing ever-more antagonistic towards HRG (with whom, by the way, she is developing a very Jack & Sydney Bristow relationship.****)


Peter and Caitlin are in the dystopian future Manhattan where they are abducted, decontaminated, separated, and quarantined.



We learn that the first case of the Shanti virus is (was) reported on 3/20/2007 (which means all other cases have been/will be kept quiet by The Company) and that 93% of the population has died from it. This must mean that the virus has mutated to affect Normals as well as Specials and that Mohinder’s blood is no longer a cure. (As we indeed learn later, when Niki turns a virus-filled needle on herself instead of injecting Bob. She is infected with a strain, which perhaps only Claire can cure.)




Mama Petrelli is one of the 7% who’ve survived and shows up to restore Peter’s memory. She reminds him that he is kind, selfless and caring and then charges him with “changing history” a theme that repeatedly came up in this episode.

In 17th Century Japan, Kensei announces that he is going to change history—although this is a bit of a misnomer. He can make or write history, but he can’t change it unless he too has traveled back in time. Now, since Peter has seen the future, he can change history. And who is he going to do it with?

Kensei. I mean, Adam Monroe.

(Yes, the big reveal, and most saw it coming, was that the two men are one and the same.)

Though Hiro defeats White Beard by destroying the guns, and seemingly blowing up Kensei with them, we know that as a spontaneous healer Kensei could not have been destroyed and will be a major player in this volume.



One of the sweetest moments of the night came when Hiro performed the final task of "Takezo Kensei" and cut out his heart for the dragon. He said goodbye to his sweet love Yaeko who told him that she will make sure his legend, the true legend of Kensei and his Princess will live on.




“The boy Hiro Nakamura will have tales to help him sleep,” she says, as I, watching, choke up just a little bit.


Next Week is the anticipated Vol. 2 Chapter 8, “Four Months Ago.” Will current timeline Peter travel back to Kirby Plaza and save Nathan? How did Matt and Mohinder come to be Molly’s parents? Where was Candace keeping Sylar—and was it for The Company? What did Niki and Micah do for four months? What about Ando and Nakamura, Sr.? What did Mama Petrelli tell Nathan’s wife about the “family secret”?

And in future episodes . . . will Mohinder kidnap and exploit Claire to save Niki? It’s obviously him in the painting. Does he shoot HRG? Is Caitlin stuck in the future, or did Maury invade Pete’s mind?








* The film must of course be on the minds of the creative team having had Malcolm McDowell guest as Linderman.

** The show seems to have a lot of nods to Marvel characters, and I wonder if Executive Producer, Jeph Loeb, has some clearance with that Company having been a writer for them. As Bob shows an old newspaper article to Nathan regarding a snowstorm in Miami, that could have been a tsunami, Ororo Munroe is immediately (and, I suppose, inevitably) evoked. It’s not clear if weather control was Kensei’s doing. Either he’s developed other powers, or the event was the result of him having brought Generation 1 together. Perhaps Nana Dawson will turn out to be our weather goddess (although, then she could have stopped the hurricanes in New Orleans—unless Parkman Sr. interfered. Hmmmmm….)

*** Again, themes from Marvel are at play. As Kimzilla
noted in the comments of Vol. 2, Chapter 4, there appears to be a Brotherhood of Mutants vs. X-Men –esque clash of philosophies.

**** Last week’s phone call of lies was straight out of Alias.

Heroes To End Season Early

Oh Noes!!!!!!!

First the news that Heroes: Origins has been shelved as a result of the impending WGA strike comes a report from TV Guide's Michael Ausiello that the currently-running season of Heroes may end in December.

Heroes' second season may be coming to a close a lot sooner than expected due to the forthcoming apocalypse, also known in some circles as the damn writers' strike.

Sources confirm that the show is going back and shooting an alternate ending to the Dec. 3 episode that, if used, would allow the episode to function as a season finale in the event of a strike. Originally, the episode was only supposed to serve as the conclusion of the current "Generations" arc. Should an 11th-hour agreement be reached and a strike averted (fingers crossed!), the alt ending would likely be scrapped.

It looks like our Heroes party will be on December 3rd!

Vol.2 Chapter Four: The Kindness of Stangers

Episode Four was a slower paced episode, speckled with jaw-dropping reveals. There were quieter, sadder moments like Nathan visiting his sons at school. Reminiscent of a Wes Anderson scene, his sad, shaggy face pressed through the bars to make weary promises that Daddy would be coming home soon.

Mama Petrelli was also worn down. The deaths of her son, Peter, and former lover, Kaito Nakamura, as well as the attempt on her own life have put this alternately tough and fragile spirit on the edge. She’s damaged and desperate enough to confess to a crime she didn’t commit, just to be protected, just to be redeemed. She’s resolved, but also scared; enough even to express her affection for Nathan and implore him to change the ways she herself instilled in him.

She also implored Parkman to stop investigating the case. Perhaps she knows more about him than his ability to read minds, but for the rest of us the first real jaw-dropper of this episode was that Matt’s Daddy was one of the original 12.

(Arguably, the first would be that the Wonder Twins came across Sylar passed out in the middle of a dirt road in Mexico—but that was just unexpected. And kind of weird.)

Immediately I have great love for the plucky Monica Dawson, cousin to Micah Sanders and hero-in-discovery. Played by Dana Davis (Malcolm in the Middle, Veronica Mars) the character comes across, as she herself puts it, “like a woman with a future.” I’m ecstatic to see such a determined woman on the series, but Kring & Co. need to be careful with gender and racial stereotypes. D.L. was an ex-con, Niki’s claim to fame is as a “single mother.” Monica works double shifts at a fast food establishment and has dreams of going back to college, but is burdened with financially supporting her extended family in the post-Katrina South.

These types of experience do exist in the real world, the problem is creating a show with diversity requires more than just showing a variety of color, gender, sexuality, and class. It’s a huge start, but it’s important to represent these lives as lives of complexity—not just reductionist descriptives. With such a large cast, it may be hard for the writers to step away from cliché, but with an episodic, certainly not impossible.

Monica does have a really cool power! She instantly picks up skills by watching them, much like Charlie could by reading. Talk about “educational TV!” The entertainment wrestling-style kick to the Burger Bonanza robber was particularly awesome.

(And I just have to point out how sweet it was when Micah tried to “fix” Monica’s sadness for her. I don’t think he’s ever experimented with his gift on humans before, or he certainly would have with his mom, but he seemed genuine in his compassion for his cousin. They’re both trapped in situations they don’t want to be in, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they find freedom, and perhaps even satisfaction, through use of their gifts.)

I’m disappointed in the wedge that’s been driven between Noah and Claire. They’d be a stronger unit if only they would just be honest with one another—but it turns out, Claire is just a good a liar as her daddy.

Sneaking out with West provided one likable West moment. He encouraged her to jump off the famous Hollywood sign because he wanted to see her powers. She did it because she was convinced he wouldn’t be offended by her post-injury appearance. When West caught her in mid-air he had a sweet, suave line:

“I know you can heal, Claire. But I never wanna see you hurt.” (awwww)

But I still feel like he’s bossy with her. You WILL go out with me tonight. You HAVE to jump off this sign so I know that you trust me. And she’s so young, so desperate for someone to talk to about these changes in her life that she’s letting him manipulate her. He could turn out to be a good thing for her. But he could easily turn out to be an enemy. I prefer to see Claire making choices for herself.

As for HRG, why doesn’t he talk to Claire about the newly-discovered painting? I know he’s trying to protect her and that one can’t trick or prevent fate. But the last time he was privy to this kind of information (precognitive painting courtesy of Mendez) he could have saved Claire some pain by sharing it with her.

The Cliffhanger

Parkman is desperate to find his father so he can warn him that the original “heroes” are dying/being killed. He asks Molly to locate him, but when she sees the photo of the 12 she begs him not to make her do it.

She eventually agrees, and as she zeroes in on Parkman senior it turns out that he is the Bad Man. Her body goes into shock as her psyche is kidnapped.

The episode ends, and the look on Parkman’s face is heartbreaking.




Next Week: Kristen Bell!!!!!!

Company Man

This month's Television Without Pity Now or Never T-shirts at Glarkware include a Heroes-related selection.

These will only be available this month.

But they are also having a leftovers sale and still have some Cadet Mars shirts (in honor of the FBI story which never happened), as well as some advertising the Hammock District--which is from my favorite Simpsons episode.

Kindred

Like episode two of this season of Heroes, the third chapter, titled, “Kindred,” managed to be fast-paced without being overwhelming. Instead of giving a linear recap/review, I’m going to break it into sections about characters.

The Sanders Family
It seems that D. L. didn’t survive being shot by Linderman, which is a bummer because not only was he a character with an interesting power (Kitty Pryde-esque phasing through walls) but D.L. was a stand-up father and husband. Perhaps Leonard Roberts will show up on Smallville again—which, on a side tangent, is a sinking ship of a series. Tsk. Tsk Gough and Millar. Tsk. Tsk.
After visiting his gravesite, of which the tombstone read “Husband-Father-Hero,” Nikiand Micah head to Louisiana. Niki’s leaving Micah with family there so that she can go off and TCB. The Company has somehow convinced her that they can “Cure” her and they will no doubt be manipulating her in shadowy ways.*

Best moment of the evening: Nichelle Nichols, in all her regal elegance, opening the door to mother and son and saying, “Well, welcome to N’Orleans.”

!Horrible, Awful, Shameful Advertising Cross-Over!
There was an embarrassingly lame commercial with Beyonce Knowles shilling for American Express. At one point in the evening this ad took on an illustrated effect and asked the question, “Are you a cardmember?” Now, I honestly can’t remember if this has been an Amex tagline for a long time, but it was intentionally made to evoke the Heroes mantra from last season, “Are you on the list?”

I felt icky.

The Bennet, I Mean, Butler Family
I’m curious to know why Claire feels she needs to explain anything to her classmate, West, regarding what he saw through her living room window.



He’s stalking her!!! He should be explaining to her why he’s hanging around her house all creepy-like.

And not only should she already have a restraining order against the guy—but he then humiliates her publicly. In Bio class he asks the instructor what would happen if a lizard and human mated. Would the offspring be able to regenerate an amputated limb?

Now to be fair, West probably hasn’t met anyone else “like him” while Claire has—and he’s just an over-excited teenager. But I really hope they make him less of a dick, because Claire is awesome and she deserves better.

Also, we all sometimes need to be pushed out of our comfort zone to be able to claim who we really are, and everyone in Claire’s life who knows about her gift has discouraged her from using it. But West hasn’t considered how much danger he could be putting Claire in, even though he was previously bagged and tagged by the man with the Horn Rimmed Glasses.

She has to tell him, “I have to pretend to be a brainless Barbie doll so that I don’t get carted off to some laboratory!”

He tells her to shut up (ooooo-kaaay) and then takes her up in the air on an homage to the Lois Lane “Can you read my mind?” flight from Superman the Movie.


The Parkman-Suresh Household


It seems as if Parkman’s been having nightmares too. We know he can hear Molly’s nocturnal thoughts when she’s sleeping, but while he’s asleep does he experience her nightmares too?

It’s clear that Molly has big love for both her adoptive daddies, and it’s very cool to see such a caring and tight non-traditional family presented without a sitcom touch. Mohinder is pleased to be back in New York as he’ll be able to help out more around the house and with Molly’s development. But Parkman reminds him that as an academic and a scientist he’ll have trouble protecting the child:

“Mohinder, no offense but you’re a professor. You’re not 007.”

It seems that Dr. Suresh is going to have more trouble than he thought being the other daddy as The Company has co-opted Issac Mendez’s loft and have set up a lab for him there. It’s going to be extremely difficult for him to sneak away and not be watched by insidious eyes.

Hiro & Ando: Together Again (Sort of)
Both the Entertainment Weekly recap and the reader response there have expressed boredom with the feudal Japan story-arc—But I’m really enjoying it! Ancient myth has obviously informed modern myth, and it’s a playful twist to see how modernity might influence the classic.

Besides—how great is Ando’s discovery of Hiro’s message to him on the hilt of the sword?!?

“Ando, Open”



Hiro and Ando are supposed to be together and I love that they are connected across time. (Plus, there’s a little bit of Xena and Gabrielle there with the theme of the scrolls which document their adventures. Hmmmm.)

Hiro is determined to turn Kensei “into the man that history needs him to be.” Though Hiro is infectious, I’m a bit surprised that Kensei changed his temperament so quickly. One battle with 90 Angry Ronin (which did produce the best line of the evening: “How angry are they?”) and he’s ready to fulfill his destiny. He holds hands with Yaeko and tells Hiro he can’t leave yet because, “You’re like a conscience. Only, I take heed of you.”

I wonder how long that can last, especially with a blossoming love triangle (Perhaps, like Fry, Hiro will become his own ancestor!!!)

Sylar and Candace
Sylar wakes up in what appears to be Maui, but is actually an illusion manufactured by Candace (now played by a different actress as Missy Peregrym is on “Reaper” –soon to be reviewed). It turns out she’s the one who dragged him out of Kirby plaza * and he has had several surgeries to repair the damage caused by Hiro’s sword—but there is still a lot of stitching and bleeding in his chest.

By the end of the episode he has attempted to steal Candace’s power but is unable to activate it. This begs so many questions . . . . Can Candace project her illusions?

When we see her lifeless, brainless, seemingly murdered body it’s of the overweight woman she told Micah she might actually be—but why would anyone be stupid enough to stay with Sylar unprotected?

So, has Sylar really lost his ability to “fix” and commandeer the powers of others? Or is he being made to believe he has by The Company?

On top of all that, when the camera zooms out of the shack they’ve been inhabiting it appears that Sylar is stuck on the LOST island—What!?!?!? Perhaps this is just to tease all the fans who insist there are connections between the series. But it’s also totally, frustratingly weird. (yay!)



Peter Petrelli Struggles with the Dark Side of the Force
For me, the most irksome arc of the evening was Peter Petrelli’s. Peter was such a force of passionate good last season, and was told as much by a member of the earlier generation of heroes in last season’s finale (which you can watch me gush about here).

He obviously struggles with his powers—amnesiac or not—as well as with a general sense of frustration. And Peter clearly has inherited the Petrelli temper. (Remember when his taunting of Issac Mendez resulted in the death of Simone Deveaux?)

In Monday night’s episode he almost killed a man. A sadistic grin made clear that Peter enjoyed the feelings of power that came from seeing another disabled by his own hand. Fortunately uber-boring Caitlin was there to stop him (what’s with tedious love interests on TV this season?).

And what’s up with Peter deciding amnesia and a life of crime in Ireland are really the best paths for him? After exposing the “clan” traitor, and saving Caitlin and her brother, he was accepted with open arms by the very people who held him captive and abused him (a bit of Stockholm Syndrome, perhaps?).

As Caitlin inducts him with the family tattoo (which I knew could never be permanent with the regeneration powers) the ink faded to reveal the helix symbol embedded in the design of the symbolic family crest.

So Peter’s presence in Cork probably has a greater significance yet to be revealed.

The Twins
Their story needs to pick up speed soon. Unfortunately for those characters we went through the slow discovery and build-up with everyone else last season and as we are already deeply imbedded in the stories of Parkman, Suresh, Claire, HRG, Sylar, et al. it makes their storyline seem especially dragging. But with the reveal of Alejandro’s cell mate as the swiper of Claire’s car perhaps they’ll be coming into contact with more familiar characters soon.

As for Maya, she’s becoming increasingly desperate and doesn’t seem to care anymore who is infected by her “virus.” We’d had a discussion with friends the other night over whether or not her power is inherently evil (as mentioned by one of her relatives) and I really don’t think it is. It’s a part of her that is currently out of her control. She doesn’t know what is happening, how it’s happening or what to make of it. The thing-in-itself is not evil, but how it’s used could be for good or for bad. Or maybe not everyone with a power will be able to use it positively . . . Maybe not every power can be controlled.



*I thought Loeb was making sure that all steered clear of story-arcs already established elsewhere.

* *Which has yet to be explained—her body disappeared last year as well. Not only are her illusions tactile, but it appears that she may be able to project them from a distance as well.

Heroes Set Photos At Superherohype

Don't usually do linky-blogging, but check out these great photos of Hayden Panettiere and Kristen Bell on the Heroes set at Superherohype

Lizards

We're about to get back on the road to Seattle & home, but I wanted to say a few quick things about last night's episode of Heroes.

First off, it was much more entertaining than the season-setting premiere. It had a faster pace, and yet it also felt like we got to spend more quality time with characters.

There were such wonderful moments (which I fear I am too tired right now to fully articulate) but a list includes:

Hiro and "The Battle of the Twelve Swords"

Disguised as Kensei, Hiro becomes the actual hero of this legend, and the joy of it for me comes from the fact that because Hiro has evolved genetically he is able to perform the magic of this myth--the one that inspired him no less. So as in storytelling, both ancient and modern, magic and science come together to create something larger than life.

And love Hiro doing his part to preserve the story as he knows it . . .

"You can write about this in your history books!"

Is what he shouts after the samurai as they turn tail at his majesty.

Peter Petrelli's Display of Superheroics

The way he organically (and effortlessly) combined all his absorbed powers was a thing of beauty. His amnesia may actually be the key to his learning how to best use these gifts. Previously he was resistant to them, and they were therefore unstable. As Claude tried to teach him in Season One--they best thing to do is make it a natural extension of yourself--to not think about it.

Claire's Pinky Toe

How much do I love Claire!?!?! I love her excitement, her bravery, her inquisitiveness, her intelligence and her ability to explore. And I love her pleasure.

Buffy Summers, previously the mold for modern superheroines, never really took pleasure in her abilities. And you'd never see her actually researching them--that was a job for Giles or the Scoobies. But we know that when the creepy boy left a copy of Activating Evolution for Claire that she will be reading it.

I love that she knows how important her abilities are, and that at 16 is aware that she "could be missing an opportunity to help people!" She's making connections. If her skin can regenerate after "boiling it with the eggs" perhaps her blood can heal people as well (which is actually what Mohinder is doing to help those heroes infected with the virus--which now includes The Haitian).

I knew once her science teacher mentioned in his lecture that humans had evolved to the point that we no longer need certain organs/appendages that Claire was going to cut off her pinky toe--just to see if it grew back. When it did her reaction was a breathless:

"No way!"

Sublime.

Vol 2. Generations: "Four Months Later"

Just wanted to get some initial thoughts out there before I re-watch the Season Two Premiere of Heroes. Warning: Spoilers.

First let me say how thrilled I am that the show is back on, second let me point out that Heroes is not a fast-paced show and a such it often requires a lot of patience. It lacks the heart-pounding act breaks of a serial like Alias, and the comedy relief of a drama like BTVS, and as such it can occasionally feel tedious. But the payoffs are generally worth the wait.

Like much of last season, Monday night’s premiere was a combination of quiet, slowly paced moments and “OMG!!!” fan-tingly payoffs.

The episode began with Mohinder Suresh giving a lecture in Cairo about a plague that was infecting the homosuperior. He was approached by a man from The Company about working together to cure this disease. At first I was surprised that a “disease” existed, but I think that the plague might actually be a metaphor for The Company itself as we later find out that Suresh has been playing bait and working with Noah to take the shady organization down.

Suresh and Matt Parkman are now sharing the late Suresh Sr.’s apartment in New York and serving as parents to Molly Walker—the girl who was orphaned after Sylar murdered her family in the early episodes and then was later found by Parkman, Suresh, and Mr. Bennett in the season finale. The “evil man”—the one more dangerous than Sylar has been visiting Molly in her dreams, a time when she clearly cannot control her “tracking system.” *

Parkman clearly survived the bullet wounds, and has since divorced his wife, though there must be a Parkman hero baby in the near future. It’s been four months since we last saw our heroes, so Janice must be at least seven months pregnant. Then again, with her affair it might not be Matt’s baby anyway.




He was also finally promoted to detective. I hope this means we get to see some more of Clea DuVall as agent Hanson. Remember the sparks between her and Parkman? But narratively, it will allow him access to places he needs to be in order to take down The Company.

There was a lot of focus on Claire Bennett, and as much as I love her, some of the most boring parts of the episode featured her. It wasn’t Claire per se, but rather that the scenes that established her new situation—small California town, creepy love interest, dinner with the family, catty girls (cheerleaders, natch) and a high school gym showdown—all ran too long. Perhaps this was just to show just how dull Claire’s life has become in the wake of some rather exciting events. But her father tells her that in order to remain safe she has to be “entirely un-extraordinary.”

But Claire doesn’t seem to long for a life more ordinary. I don’t get the impression she views the cheerleaders with jealousy; she never really wanted to be That Girl, she just wanted to fit in. At her new school she’s ostracized for being different, quiet, and new. Though she wants to show off her gifts a la Clark Kent, her own Pa has told her to cool it.



And Pa Bennett is now working at a paper company—a real one. Noah’s a bad-ass with an ego and lets his Dunder-Mifflenesque coworkers know it. For someone trying to keep his family safe he needs to monitor his own behavior as well. (On a side note, Noah clearly has a personal agenda when it comes to the company. Suresh and Parkman do as well. I’m wondering how well they can work together to take them down when much vengeance is involved. It seems as though such intense personal feelings could backfire and place our heroes in all kinds of new jeopardy.)


No doubt the best moments involved Hiro and Takezo Kensei—although as thrilled as I am that David Anders has the part, and as much as I love the twist that the legendary warrior that inspired Hiro as a child is a drunken Englishman, I wish that particular spoiler had not been leaked. The moment Kensei removed his mask to reveal a white guy instead of a Japanese warrior (and for Alias fans, the glee of it being Anders) could have been one of those OMG payoff moments.





The subtler payoff is that it looks as though Hiro may turn out to be the Kensei of legend. He knew the sword would help him recover his powers when he and Ando quested for it last season—but the sword could actually be his. And therefore he was recovering his own totem. Did Daddy Nakamura know this when he taught his son how to use it? He had said something last year along the lines of, “I’ve been waiting for someone to rise for a long time, I just didn’t know it would be you.”

There were some wonderful scenes between Ando and Nakamura senior, who both clearly care for Hiro, and it seems the two men have developed a respect and affection for each other. Ando had previously just been a lackey in the Nakamura empire and now when faced with a pressing threat (in the form of, for us, a faceless enemy pursuing Angela Petrelli and Nakamura) Mr. Nakamura urges Ando to return home to safety.

Wonder Twins Maya and Alejandro Herrera were introduced as siblings with volatile powers who are on the run from the law in Dominican Republic. With a copy of Activating Evolution in hand, they’re trying to reach Dr. Suresh Sr. in New York with the hope that he can help them.

We don’t know much about their powers, if they both have them, if they reflect off of each other, etc . . . But I’ve seen Dania Ramirez as a potential Slayer on BTVS, and as an incarnation of Callisto in X-Men 3: The Last Stand and I’m looking forward to seeing more of her. She seemed very gracious to be a part of the show while on the Heroes panel at The Con.

The most OMG moment, took place in the final minutes of the episode. Because of spoilers we all knew that Peter Petrelli survived the explosion (even if the characters don’t) but we didn’t know how, or in what form. We still don’t know how. But he’s clearly in one piece (at least physically). When we see him he’s shackled to a wall and wearing a necklace with a helix pendant, much like the one the Haitian wore. But he has no memory of who he is.




Good on Kring & Co. for giving us a cliffhanger—it’s what they need more of. Higher stakes endings that grab the audience and inspire them to return.

We won’t be filled in on exactly what happened following the events at Kirby Plaza until several episodes in when “Four Months Ago . . .” will air. Until then, we can look forward to more David Anders (whom, as my dear friend Amy said, we love “Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much!”), and the Heroes debuts of Nichelle Nichols and Kristen Bell. Also, is Mr. Nakamura really dead? And who pushed him off the Deveaux building? Did D.L. survive? Will we hear anything about Parkman’s baby? Who is this new villain? Where has Sylar been hanging out? And will Claude return?


On a final note, I’m not sure what to make of the forthcoming Saving Charlie novel that is being written. On the one hand, I’m trilled we will get to spend more time with one of the best characters from last season. On the other, as much as I love Hiro, I’m not super pleased with it being a story about a man “saving” a woman. Yawn.





*As we discovered last season, Molly can find any hero just by thinking about them (for X-Men fans, she’s kind of like a walking Cerebro). But when she thinks about the evil man and sees him, he can see her.


Screencap credit goes to /www.heroesfanatic.com/


A special thanks goes out to Mariah and Jeff Fisher for keeping us company during the season premiere and for humoring our extravagant geekiness. Vote Petrelli!

Coming Soon

Next week is Premiere week and I'll be posting reviews of Heroes, the revamped introductory episode of Bionic Woman (which will hopefully be better than the pilot, and season seven of Smallville which will feature Kara Zor El (Supergirl):



and had better feature my favorite reporter, Chloe Sullivan.




I'm thinking of having a Heroes-a-thon on Monday leading up to the time Season Two starts. It'll get a good chunk of research done, on Claire & her bravery, on the regressive female hero (stripper!Mom), on the evolved male hero (Peter Petrelli & empathy) and on parents. Many of the themes I'm addressing in the book are illustrated throughout the series and so I'm (currently) using it as the focus of my conclusion, "Where Do We Go From Here?" It serves as a marker for where we are culturally in our representations of race and gender (and hopefully soon class and sexuality) and as it's still a text in progress hopefully we'll see some progressive evolution.

Name That Heroes Fan!!!

She's hot, she's feminist, she's spouting giddy about Heroes on the Net!!!

Yeah, it's me on NBC.com being the super geeky chick that I am.

Check it out at: Meet the Fans!

Overview of Our Trip to Comic Con International 2007

This was our second trip down to San Diego for the convention and I was once again speaking at the Comic Arts Conference. Ryan was documenting the exhibition floor, as well as the Con experience as a whole, for Microsoft Game Studios to convince the company that they really ought to have a presence there.

Upon arrival we decided that we would skip preview night and head up our hotel in La Jolla after picking up our badges. We figured a nice dinner, hot baths, and some good sleep would be more beneficial than shopping in a crowd.

Thursday morning we arrived downtown bright and early, checked out the floor and then I went upstairs to see the Comics and Education panel where I met Trina Robbins, Diana Green, Katherine Keller, and Melissa Andrada for a Women Comics Scholars lunch.

After lunch I met up with Ryan and waited for Tura Satana to begin her autograph session. I was first in line (and oddly the only woman there) and was actually a little giddy. I had just seen Faster, Pussycat. Kill! Kill! for the first time and was in awe of Satana’s formidable sexiness. She signed two photos for me (one for a friend who was watching our doggie, Giles, over the weekend) as well as a Region 2 DVD copy of FPK!K! Ryan had bought me a FPK!K! lunch box to have her sign, but I was worried I was one of those fans who was taking up too much of her time. But she was really lovely, and ever so nice. Completely Varla and completely kind, almost, maternal.

Since I hadn’t been down to the exhibition floor, we took a look around and I splurged on a limited edition copy of The Modesty Blaise Companion, complete with a bookplate signed by Peter O’Donnell (and Dick Giordano) from Bud Plant. Friday, we returned to the floor for a couple of hours. I was wearing my Television Without Pity, “The Sky’s the Limit: Petrelli for Congress” t-shirt, and while at the Heroes booth I was asked by a guy from NBC.com if he could interview me for one of their web exclusives. I was number 26, and it appears they have already posted the first 5 interviews, so we’ll see if I show up.

Because there wasn’t anything I’d be upset about missing Friday afternoon, and because hubby had been begging, we went to Disneyland for the afternoon. We managed to only get on three rides before hitting exhaustion but it was nice to see Ryan so happy.

On Saturday, Con attendees left the crowded exhibition floors for the crowded panels upstairs. Undoubtedly, one of the biggest draws was the line-up in Ballroom 20 which began the day by screening the pilot episode of the reimagined Bionic Woman (review forthcoming). This was followed by an as-always mediocre “TV Guide Hot List” a session which generally serves as filler between desirable panels. Indeed, the Heroes cast, along with Tim Kring and Jeph Loeb appeared next—which was great fun for us geeks. The session was well paced and was broken up by fan Q&A (including an audience question from Danny Bonaduce), teasers, cast camaraderie, and a surprise guest appearance from Kevin Smith who will be writing & directing the first episode of the Heroes tie-in/spin-off, Origins. The announcement was a complete surprise to the cast, who were clearly delighted. The audience also received some cool swag: a special CCI 2007 edition of a Heroes comic, and an exclusive CCI 2007 DVD Box Set sleeve. Heroes Season One will be released on August 28, 2007.

We had to miss the rest of the day in the Ballroom (Battlestar Galactica, Futurama, and Joss Whedon) as I had to give my Modesty Blaise presentation at the Comic Arts Conference and the line to get back in to B20 was doubled through the building, as well as doubled outside. Many people wasted their days standing in line, in the hot sun, for a nominal chance at entry. It’s too bad they opted to wait instead of being flexible or adventurous enough to sample everything else the Con had to offer.

Saturday afternoon we went to see “Lara Croft: Re/Visioned”—a panel featuring writers and artists who were asked by Gametap.com to rethink the character for short animations to be featured on the site. The concept was intriguing—I particularly look forward to seeing Gail Simone’s take on Lara as a teenager—but the panel was one of the most boring we’d ever seen. Jim Lee and Simone had to leave in the middle of the session to go to another panel for Wildstorm. Peter Cheung was uncooperative (bordering on antagonistic) with a you-don’t-get-me-at-all-I’m-embarrassed-for-the-both-of-us attitude towards the moderator. Warren Ellis was obviously exhausted. Everyone lacked the energy to show even the slightest enthusiasm and gave the impression that it was just one more panel they were required to participate in. It was kind of a bummer because I’ve only now started appreciating the character after reading and falling in love with Modesty Blaise.

Next, we went to see the pilot for The Sarah Connor Chronicles (again, review forthcoming) and though we were seated in the very last row of the room we enjoyed the show and Q & A very much. And even though we were cold, tired, and hungry we figured we might as well stay for the Smallville panel since we were already seated (we did leave when the fan questions started as unlike B20 the room didn’t seem to have a “kill switch” on the question mike. After 10 hours at the convention center I had no patience for inarticulate nerds). Allison Mack wasn’t in attendance, but it appeared from the teaser promo that her character may be alive (many boos from the audience when it seemed she was dead, many cheers when we saw her body sit upright in the morgue). Let’s hope being a Krypto freak saves her because after last season’s bout of crap the only reason I’ll continue tuning in is to watch Chloe. And maybe Martian Manhunter. The new Supergirl was there, but she didn’t say much.

Sunday was our last day and we separated for the first half of it. Ryan went to the exhibition floor to do some more documenting for MGS, and I went to see the Super (Natural) Women panel featuring Lucy Lawless, Lisa Klink, Marti Noxon (who arrived 4 minutes before the session ended due to an Amtrak SNAFU), Allison Du Bois, and an actress from The 4400—which I haven’t watched. I’ve also never watched Medium, but was truly intrigued by Du Bois and will have to either give the series a chance or pick up one of her books.

I went to see Trina’s presentation on the feral women of L’il Abner, but the organizer of the Comic Arts Conference who was responsible for bringing her slide presentation to San Diego had forgotten to put it on his on computer—and had assured Trina she didn’t need to bring a back-up (but the guy’s a new dad and probably hasn’t had any sleep in the past 3 months). It was too bad because it was clear she was looking forward to the presentation—she’d even sent away for a leopard print dress to wear for the occasion. She’ll be taking it all to the much more manageable Wonder Con next February instead, where I’ll hopefully be giving my Modesty talk.

Trina invited me to have lunch with her and Diana again, but I was planning on meeting Hubby for some last minute shopping. After picking up a set of TV tie-ins for The Avengers we decided we were done & done—even though we’d planned to go to two more panels. Instead we got some lunch at a hotel downtown—had two glasses of wine each AND shared a desert then headed to the airport where we had two large margaritas each. We figured all the walking we did (4 or 5 hours a day, each day) countered all the calories we consumed. Upon returning home I was happy to find that I did not gain any weight.

As usual I’ve gone through my post-con three days of exhaustion only to wake up this morning well-rested but with a head cold. I guess there’s only so much Vitamin C and Purell can do when faced with 143,000 people.