Heroes new season!

[StarOpal]

Except for really loving Ando in this episode, I didn't really have any strong feelings about it. Personally I think it would be cool if The Catalyst wasn't Claire, but was, in fact, Ando. But they probably won't do that.

So is Gabriel going to have to have a group session in order take someone's power every time? I'd rather open them up - it's quicker.

I thought it was kinda weird putting in Nikki looking at the first eclipse. I mean, Ali Larter may still be on the show, but that character is gone.

I'm so not going to say anything about Claire and Peter. Nope. *makes zipping mouth motion*

Besides that, I didn't really feel too much in this one. Maybe it's just me, but it was like it was lacking energy.

[TheLuckyOne]

Nov 17, 2008 23:17:01 GMT -5 StarOpal said:

Besides that, I didn't really feel too much in this one. Maybe it's just me, but it was like it was lacking energy.

I liked that it felt like the battle lines are finally being drawn. I'm not saying there needs to be a huge, all-out brawl involving every character, but the show has gotten by on 2 1/2 years of characters wandering around at random, occasionally interacting and even more occasionally fighting, always just a couple at a time. Not since the end of season 1 has it felt like characters are aligning for a common goal, and my God, that seems to finally be happening again. It doesn't have to be a cataclysmic battle between Good and Evil -- not all of the "villains" are completely bad, and for sure not all of the "heroes" are all good -- but it's about damn time for one or both groups to come together and decisively act against the other en masse. That closing scene, with the quick cuts between characters on both sides, was nice... it fairly screams "showdown."

That being said, if they jilt us again, my faith in the show may never recover. But let's all hope that's not the case.

-D

[StarOpal]

I wasn't saying that I was expecting a big brawl this episode, it just didn't click. I think it's mainly Robert Forster as Arthur just isn't working for me. Not that I'm looking for a screaming maniac complete with Bwahaha! laugh, but that scene between him and Angela (where she's saying he's going to let her go), I don't know some emotion, just the barest hint in the eyes, something.

And I'm getting worn down by the show's trying to recover itself from last season.

And I'm being cautious trying not to get my hopes up.

But, yeah, the ending with having two distinct groups was pretty good.

[Storm_Rider]

I for one am on board for the awesome-train after this one. There are 4 more episodes till the conclusion of this chapter and am starting to feel really good about it.

Now that he figured out how to do it, Gabriel will be able to take powers easier, rather than having group sessions, keep in mind there was a bit of history between him and Elle, and she is so Noah's mom

Man when Peter and Claire met up at Primatech I was like, hell yeah we're getting our teams people, place your bets. About that, I'm wondering how exactly and why did Arthur set Angela free, I mean was that some sort of failsafe in his illusion? Was he in fact really there? Weird stuff.

Ando's getting his share of the spot-light and you have got to love it, especially at the beginning of the episode when he literary jumped at Arthur to save his friend, that kind of camaraderie can only bring warmth to my heart.

Like you pointed out Drew, the line has been drawn but it's quite relative, on the villain side we have Gabriel (should we call him Gabriel from now on?) and Elle who might not be willing to go till the end with Arthur's plan, and in the heroes camp of course, Nathan and maybe Daphne to some extent.

But we also have our Joker cards that will come into play heavily till the end, Ando and Hiro after Hiro gets up to speed, Suresh is still very conflicted about his research so he may be in a position to throw a wrench in the works and of course our favorite ex-agent and father of the year contestant, HRG.

Let me go back to Ando and Hiro for a bit, so Isaac has been dead for what 6 months now, is it possible that he made his comics so much in advance? I'm just saying it's a bit weird.

And we got to see a bit of Usutu helping Matt, yey!! (I dunno I really dug his character)

What's also interesting is the apparent importance of this upcoming eclipse, could it mean that they might lose their powers (probably till the next one) and that's why Arthur wants to develop the formula? Also, when is the last time there have been two consecutive total solar eclipses viewable from the continental US?
As far as I remember it, at least some of our characters manifested their powers before the first eclipse.

[TheLuckyOne]

Nov 18, 2008 15:51:11 GMT -5 Storm_Rider said:

Let me go back to Ando and Hiro for a bit, so Isaac has been dead for what 6 months now, is it possible that he made his comics so much in advance? I'm just saying it's a bit weird.

Ha... I was thinking the exact same thing. As much as I loved the "comics predicting the future" angle of season 1, it's a little hard to buy that issues are still coming out. Granted comics are written and illustrated about 3 months before they hit the stands, and we saw Isaac sending off his final issue right before he died, but still... he was already foreseeing season 3? Couldn't he have done more to warn people about what was coming?

Oh well. It's not like that alone is such a huge deal, but it just comes on the back of so many other continuity blips, it's kind of annoying.

-D

[Storm_Rider]

Nov 18, 2008 15:51:11 GMT -5 Storm_Rider said:

What's also interesting is the apparent importance of this upcoming eclipse, could it mean that they might lose their powers (probably till the next one)

Just saw the Canadian promo for the next episode and that assumption was correct. We get Heroes without abilities, at least for a while I suppose.

[Storm_Rider]

Nov 18, 2008 15:51:11 GMT -5 Storm_Rider said:

What's also interesting is the apparent importance of this upcoming eclipse, could it mean that they might lose their powers (probably till the next one) and that's why Arthur wants to develop the formula?

ZING!!!

Ok so while till now I used to consider Elle just loony, and a deeply disturbed girl, this episode she went for all out psychotic wacko with the whole killing of innocent people just because "they can". This lead me to despise her character even more and made me jump off my couch with glee and a yell of "Hell Yeah!!!" when HRG clocked her with that piece of wood. Oh yeah and how cool is HRG when no one has powers anymore? I mean the dude is a cool customer even when they have abilities, but this, dislocating Sylar's arm and that great Elle swing made me feel better for the normals

Also him and Claire finally having a decent adult-like talk and making up, *awwwww* nice.

Unfortunately he'll probably be interrupted by a cell call because of Claire's situation while getting ready to shoot, it would appear however that next episode he gets some sort of revenge which is all fine with me.

I guess the eclipse meant that Mohinder is now back to his whiny, poor-judgment self, as exemplified by him wanting to go after Maya (I hope they never bring her back to the show).

The Petrelli brothers have some brotherly issues that have been bubbling beneath the surface for a long while that they need to iron out... in the jungle, and under gun fire, go Peter go.

Biggest shocker of the episode, Daphne can't walk like a normal person, let alone super-speed, the irony is not lost on me, however it might mean that Matt could do something dumb and want to use the formula to give her her powers back - because in the future which has not yet been avoided, they all have their powers back.

Hiro and Ando, as usual funny as hell, and Hiro's resolution of seeking out the "wise men" to talk about their problem, who else better than two comic geeks, so...damn...awesome.

[StarOpal]

Okay, have to make this quick.

I love Hiro, I love Ando, I love Matt, and I love them working all together. Corn, comic books, and holy Crap!

I love the brother dynamics of Peter and Nathan (even if it gets kinda whiny and juvenile to the point where it totally seems like Nathan should get Peter in a headlock and Pete starts saying he's gonna tell Mom), I've missed The Hatian, so win again. But seriously, fighting in the middle of a militant druglord jungle? Not wise boys.

I wasn't too sure about Daphne when the season started, but she's grown on me. I like the development about her legs. I had it stuck in my head that Arthur had broke her out of an institution of some sort.

Elle. Buh? I know she's crazy, but how does one go from "kill him just because and be a monster again' to 'I made you into a monster I'm so sorry' ,which is where we left her last week also, in one episode?

From a meta thinking POV, I'd like it if the eclipse was a sort of reset button. When it's over, Mohinder doesn't have powers, Claire can feel pain and stop being such a brat, and Peter gets his original power back, with Gabriel and Arthur starting back at square one too. It'd fix a lot of the writers' problems a lot faster methinks.

[Al]

Hmmm. How can I put this?

*Yawn*

Yeah, that about does it.

[Storm_Rider]

So their powers got something of a re-boot during the eclipse, now I wonder if Peter got his basic empath power back, because if he did he's not aware of it yet, hopefully he did.

Hiro's "bad man" was priceless.

So are we supposed to think that Elle is dead, and he just killed her for the sake of killing, what a shocker, this does put a dampener on the Noah's mom idea, and future Gabriel's attitude. This could be a clue about the fact that the planet cracking future has been averted, but we just saw that Nathan decided to choose his father's side, and Mohinder's scaley situation came back, so these might be clues to the opposite.

Also, we got our answer to the comic-book question and a nice bit of a geek quest for the final issue , the comic book store stuff was so cute.

Wondering what importance Claire seeing the past will have on future events.

The scene in the Bennet house reminded me of the scene when Peter is in the future and Claire tells Gabriel that he took everything from her, presuming that the future is averted that would have happened right there and then if it wasn't for Hiro.

[TheLuckyOne]

I honestly think this might be the last season for me. It started strong, but the endless retcons, unexplained and/or ludicrous actions on the part of the characters, and endless side-switching are just getting to be too much. Bad enough that they killed their two best guest stars in the course of the season, but that last scene with Peter, Arthur, Sylar, and the Haitian? How many things were wrong with that scene?

Basically, we're to believe that Sylar, after killing Arthur, would just walk calmly away. Even though he knows the Haitian is standing right there, and they've met before... he knows what the Haitian can do. No. Either Sylar'd get his ass out of there at a run before his power could be dampened, or even more logically, he'd try to kill the Haitian. Ideally to steal his power for himself -- who would Sylar have to fear if he could cancel out anyone else's powers? -- but at the very least, to keep the Haitian from being used against him in the future. So... no. Not buying that.

Second, why would the Haitian just let him leave? Sure, I buy that he's exhausted after dampening Arthur's powers (even though we've never seen it be a strain for him before), but with Arthur's death, strain over. Meanwhile, Sylar is, again, right there. Suck it up and dampen his powers the same way you've done before, just for five seconds, long enough for Peter to put a bullet between his eyes. Or better yet, since Peter's a whiner who wouldn't be able to pull the trigger if you gave him five minutes (did he really used to be my favorite character?), pick up the gun and do it yourself. You know, instead of waiting until Sylar strolls casually away and then letting Peter tell you to "go after him." Gee, I wonder if he'll catch him?

Third, why did Sylar leave anyway? He clearly wasn't scared of the Haitian, because he just meandered away. So why go? He knows that, at bare minimum, there's a few powered individuals at Pinehearst that he could be feasting on (Flint, Knox, Tracy... plus, though he doesn't know it, Nathan). And if he had half a brain, he'd think to check and see whether the formula had been completed, because if so, instant smorgasbord for him. That's an unlimited supply of powers for him to steal if he just keeps Mohinder alive and nabs the formula.

Sorry. That scene just really, really bothers me... exciting at the time, but the more I think about it, the less sense it makes. Much like this entire season, really.

-D

[PoolMan]

I guess it's the same argument as always... because otherwise, it'd be a really short show.

Personally, I found Arthur interesting, but didn't care for the portrayal. It's one thing to have a Bond-esque badguy introduced into the Heroes universe, especially one with such a unique connection to the main characters, but the actor really didn't do it for me. Why does the most threatening character on the show have to have that weird midwestern accent? And be so mild all the time? What would have made Arthur more intimidating to me would have been if he occasionally lost his temper or something. Make the suit the veneer, not the entire character.

Anyway, I agree the season has been exciting buy largely pointless. It looks like they're finally putting Sylar back in his original position (good) and guiding almost everyone else against him (also good). The "super soldier(s)" thing I'm still wrestling with. Interesting concept, but I don't know how long it'll stay that way.

(Side note: do American soldiers really refer to Iraqis as "Hajis"? That just seems... very strange to me.)

The scenes with Hiro and his mother were lovely, I quite enjoyed them. I also liked "Bonnie" trying to peacefully infiltrate the young Bennett family, and HRG catching on so quick. Does he have the whole thing figured out yet?

Personally, I liked the episode, but I agree that I'm hoping for a return to Season One form. Don't know if that's coming any time soon.

[Storm_Rider]

Oh Drew, don't be a gloomy Gus, wait for the next episode and see what happens, if I've learned anything from this show is to go with the flow and see where it takes you. You have to remember there have been plenty of scenes across this show that didn't make a lot of sense at first, so bare with it.

Let's look at the positive side of it: Elle is dead - yey!!, Sylar is more homicidally maniac than ever - "cake" -, Arthur is dead - Peter pulled the trigger though, even if he technically didn't kill him he was willing to do it so that's nice, and we saw the catalyst vanish, so all the formula is that cherry colored vat Mohinder has- granted it's enough for a small army.

Talking about that scene Drew, besides all of the rather valid points you bring up, I was much more interested in Sylar's attitude with Peter, is that by any chance the super-villain protecting the hero's integrity so that he can have a completely opposite arch-enemy? I found that much more intriguing than the apparent lack of logic in that particular scene.

Hiro getting to see his mother, oh man that was so touching, and knowing that she died after she saw her son all grown up, quite splendid.

Nathan yet again is undertaking some ambiguous character trait modifications, turning him against his brother yet again, and in regards to this: do we know now who the hell healed him in the first place? I do not think that was explained at all.

As for Claire and younger HRG, I think even by that time the guy had some decent experience working with humans and neo-humans (is that a cool name?) to be able to tell when someone was not truthful, that's why he believes Claire. Heh also, "Claire-bear" becomes a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy since he only had the baby for a couple of hours and I doubt he already though of that.

[aargmematey]

Wow, this episode was actually pretty freaking awesome. I really liked Sylar in it, loved Claire going all awesome, and I actually liked the scenes with Matt, Daphne, and Ando. Especially Ando. Man, I love Ando! And his power is actually pretty cool and interesting.

I only had two qualms and those were a) I wish they would just kill Angela Petrelli already, and b) I wish they would actually go somewhere with Nathan's character instead of just always keeping him a puppet. He never develops beyond getting manipulated/used by someone, and it's just getting really old. Maybe the next part of the season will have some actual character development for him, because now I just feel it's a "curse your sudden and inevitable betrayal!" situation with him.

[TheLuckyOne]

So chapter 4 will be Days of Future Past?

-D