Heroes—Cautionary Tales

Just some comments tonight rather than a full recap.

Elle? Still really annoying me. I think it's because she's over the top and insists of pawing everybody. And sweetie? Mohinder's personal bubble is my personal bubble. So stay out of it. And her over the topness isn't countered enough by Kristen Bell's performance. Yeah, I know she's supposed to be over the top, but she's really not working for me. Although I did approve of her being knocked unconscious and then tortured. And the parallels set up between her and Claire were fairly well-done, and fleshed out Noah a bit more.

Mohinder, hon, you really gotta lose the nose strip. And get your normal brain back, cause the one you have now doesn't seem to be working too well. But you're still pretty. Seriously, though, Mohinder's changes in loyalty don't make sense to me given his established character. I don't feel like his arc is working well at all this year.

Noah, you are such a badass. I stil think killing the old mentor went too far, but this week you're kicking ass and taking names, and I like it.

All the heroes seem to be gaining finer control of their powers. Most notably in this episode are Hiro and Matt. Matt, please don't use your new Jedi Mind Trick for evil.

Wehn al the characters are speaking the same language, why can't they just borrow a page (no pun intended) from the comics and just make a note that they're translating from Japanese and let the actors speak English? That way I wouldn't have to read my TV all the darn time. I lack the proper attention span for subtitles.

The reveal on Nakamura's murderer wasn't much of a surprise. Well, it was to Hiro, but not to anybody else. The Horn Rimmed Glasses Guys showdown, though, while telegraphed, played out nicely, and the twist at the end was nicely done, as was Hiro's father's funeral and the intercutting between that and Noah's death. And I particularly liked Noah's reaction upon awakening, harking back to Claire's "Holy sh--" from last season.

I was expecting another fairly lackluster installment, but instead it seems like the season is finally hitting a bit of a stride. That this episode held my attention with minimal Petrelli family involvement is a good sign. With only two episodes before the hiatus, it'll be interesting to see which direction they go, and whether or not they resort to the rewritten ending for episode ten.

Heroes—Four Months Ago

Sorry for the abbreviated review tonight--real life intrudes, as does NaNoWriMo... Unfortunately my blog words don't count for my NaNoWriMo totals.

In tonight's episode, we scoot back in time four months to find out what happened after last season's finale. Truthfully, I wish they'd started with this, instead of having the flashback setup. This whole episode was much more interesting and satisfying than just about anything they've done yet this season, with one glaring exception. That exception being Elle. I do not like her. In fact, I can't stand her. Her crawling over Peter made me want to just smack her right off my TV screen. I'm still not finding Maya and Alejandro's story particularly interesting, but Adam... Wow. What a difference a few centuries make. My only complaint about him as a new character is how much time they wasted on his earlier incarnation, because this one is a very strong addition to the current cast. Also addressed were Heidi's departure from Nathan's life, Peter and Nathan's return to earth, Nathan's healing, what killed DL, and how Peter ended up half-naked and handcuffed to the inside of a shipping crate. Overall, a very strong entry, and more like what I expect to see from this show.

Heroes—Out of Time

Back in the past, Kensei has gone totally evol, keeping Hiro drugged up on opium fumes so he can keep the girl. Yaeko frees herself and Hiro teleports them out. Somehow Hiro still things Kensei has a heart of gold. I think Hiro's being just a little too good-hearted here. He gives Kensei a second chance to help him destroy all the guns. No go. Kensei is still bad. And goes boom with all the guns, as Hiro teleports out of the storage building.

Hiro has taken Kensei's place in history, but Kensei's story doesn't have a happy ending. He resolves to return before he messes history up even more, and makes with the smoochies with Yaeko before he goes. He appears in Ando's cubicle, back in the present. Ando breaks the news about Hiro's father. This story was best, I think, in its conclusion. Obviously Kensei's been set up for later movements on the chessboard, revealed later in this episode. It's too bad the story seemed to drag so much before finally getting to the point.

In the Ukraine, Bennet takes pictures of the new paintings. It's a series that leads up to his own death, one of which shows Mohinder with a just-fired gun. A Company-issued gun. Mohinder isn't too sure about his alliance with Bennet now that Bennet seems to have gone kind of apeshit. I'm not too sure about Bennet now, either. He seems to have left his character behind back in episode two or so and is now being inhabited by somebody else.

Nathan and Matt show up to warn Bob of his imminent death. Bob suggests they inject Maury with the virus, and charges Matt with this task since he shares his father's abilities. Bob tells Nathan Peter's alive. Except oops, they lost track of him. Nathan is Not Impressed.

Niki sees DL--vision or real life? Maury has been fiddling with Niki's mind. She injects herself with the virus, thinking it's the only way to save herself.

Matt drops by to see coma!Molly. Caught in Molly's dreamscape, Matt drags Maury in after him. Matt escapes the dreamscape with Molly and leaves his dad behind, effectively incapacitating Maury and rescuing Molly. Oh, by the way, we've got another M there with Maury. Mohinder tries to cure Niki, but she has a new virus strain that can't be cured by his blood. There's no cure for this version of the virus. Bob suggests Claire could help heal Niki, and sends Mohinder out after Mr. Bennet. With a Company-issued gun. Mohinder's surprised by the murder in the Ukraine--enough so that he spills to Bob that he's been working with Bennet. Apparently that smack in the nose affected his brain. He's still awfully pretty, though, although the big white Band-Aid is a dubious fashion statement at best.

In future (2008) New York City, Peter and Caitlin find themselves alone, as the city has been evacuated. Apparently this has something to do with an epidemic, because people in HazMat suits show up and drag Peter off to decontamination, where he is stripped and hosed down. Yeah, that was nice...*rewinds DVR* Caitlin's deported back to Ireland. The population has been decimated by the Shanti virus. I get distracted thinking about The Stand. Peter is reunited with his mom, who of course he doesn't recognize. She tells him Nathan is dead--he died in the first outbreak of the virus. Peter starts to regain his memory. Seeing Caitlin being dragged away with other folks being deported, he freaks out and accidentally teleports himself again. To a place where he meets up with Adam. Who's Kensei. The plot thickens. Finally.

West drops by Claire's house with waffles. Dude, he has totally gone stalkeriffic. I don't like him. I think I mentioned that already. Their prank has made the local paper. I have a moment of hope Claire is coming to her senses, but then she kisses West. Damn. West freaks out when he sees Bennet. Maybe that'll scare him away permanently. *crosses fingers* Bennet finds out about West and tells the family they're moving. Claire puts on her teenage rebellion shoes and says she's not going.

I thought this week's episode was considerably stronger than last week's, and there's some serious groundwork being laid for the future plotline. I didn't miss Maya and Alejandro and Elle a bit--are you surprised by that? This show is strongest when it focuses on the central story, and this week all the plotlines converged on that central story, which is a good thing.

Next week, we find out what happened in the four months between "How to Stop an Exploding Man" and "Four Months Later." I'm intrigued.

Heroes—The Line

I think it's safe to say a show has entered a sophomore slump, at least for me, when I find myself more interested in playing Tetris than paying attention. Last night's episode did very little for me other than to annoy me. Mr. Bennet had some intense moments, but I'm not sure I buy his extreme measures--it's like he's a Company man again, but working against the Company, and I know that's the point, but it feels out of character to me. The Maya/Alejandro/Sylar thing is doing nothing for me, nor is Hiro/Yaeko/Kensei. Mohinder is being a bit of a dumbass, in my opinion, although he's been kind of hot lately. And Claire and West? Still not working for me. The prank on Debbie was mean, even though she kind of deserved it, but Debbie seemed really over the top as a character.

Anyway, going lukewarm on this show right now, and really hoping it picks up again soon.

Heroes—Fight or Flight

Molly is still unconscious, with her two daddies tending to her. Matt departs to go find his father. His first stop is Angela Petrelli. Nathan isn't happy about Matt questioning his mom. They end up going to Philly together to hunt down Matt's dad. Nathan isn't pleased with Matt's suggestion that they fly there together. Nathan is all scruffy. This is infinitely better than the beard. They find Matt's dad and discover, predictably, that he's also received a photographic death token. Matt tries unsuccessfully to read his dad's mind, and Dad promises to tell him "everything." Matt's dad double-crosses him with a door that takes Matt to prison and Nathan to nuclear holocaust New York. He must have that key from The Lost Room. Or maybe just some mind manipulating abilities. Either way I think Matt and Nathan are in some serious trouble. In the apocalypse-world, Nathan faces his own burn-scarred self, while Matt finds himself imprisoned with his ex-wife and her baby. So they're both facing some kind of inner struggle with conscience thing in a dreamscape. And everybody knows inner conscience-struggles are never complete without a little headbutting. Matt manages to break them out of the dream, in which they've actually been headbutting each other. They discover Bob's death token--looks like he's next.

Mohinder calls Bennet. He's planning to take Molly in to the Company to get her some help. Mohinder takes Molly to the Company. Mohinder, sweetie, why are you being so dumb? His Company boss, Bob, sends him out into the field with a taser to bring in someone else. Jessica shows up and beats the hell out of everybody until Mohinder tasers her. Mohinder tries to rescue her once she switches back to Niki and discovers she's there of her own volition, looking for a cure.

Monica tells the cops about what happened at the restaurant. This show has a preponderance of characters with names that start with M. Matt, Mohinder, Molly, Monica, Maya, Micah, Mr. Muggles... Mr. Bennet, except I guess that doesn't count because his name's really Noah. But I digress. Monica has the usual I don't know what's happening, nothing makes sense anymore, blah blah reaction to her new powers. Yawn. Pardon my boredom with the new characters, but jeez, they have enough regulars in this cast to populate a small country. Micah plays the piano. That reminds me of when Noah Gray-Cabey used to be the obnoxious piano-playing kid on My Wife and Kids. Monica can mimic his playing just by watching. Micah puts the pieces together and tells Monica about his powers to get her to open up to him. He gives her a 9th Wonders comic about a Copycat talent to help explain. She begins to experiment with her powers. And then Mohinder shows up at her door. Hm. It's like when Xavier shows up at your door to invite you to X-Men school.

In Ireland, Peter and Caitlin make with the smoochies in the bar. Have I mentioned I like Peter's new haircut? Caitlin encourages Peter to see what's in the Mysterious Box O' Doom. Peter decides he'd rather take her to his room for tea and crackers. Elsewhere in Ireland, Veronica Mars shows up looking for Peter. She was a pretty good private detective for about a season and a half there--Peter might be in trouble. And now she can make lightning. I wonder if that's how Peter picked up that skill? He didn't have that before. So maybe they ran into each other before Peter got his brain wiped clean. Caitlin's brother offers to take care of Veronica Mars while Peter hides with Caitlin. At Caitlin's flat, Peter admires her paintings, and finally decides to open the box. He confesses his devotion to Caitlin first--we know that won't end well. The box doesnt' really have anything all that interesting in it. So much for that buildup. Peter has a precognitive flash and uses Caitlins painting supplies to use his Isaac-powers. Veronica Mars continues to be obnoxious. I'm really not liking her character much so far, which is probably why I can't seem to be bothered to look up the character's name on imdb. Anyway, she zaps Caitlin's brother. That's just rude. Her daddy, who she's reporting to, isn't too happy about it, either, and she's ordered home. I hope you get all your allowance cut off, Veronica. Peter and Caitlin try to interpret the painting he just created, and Caitlin gets news of her brother's death. Peter determines to find the bad guys.

Ando takes his teeny scrolls to an expert to have them analyzed and repaired so he can continue reading them. The expert says they're genuine, and repairs them so we can head into another flashback with Hiro and Kensei and Yaeko. They're off to defeat White Beard, and Kensei and Yaeko seem to be getting along swimmingly. But it looks like the three of them are facing off against an entire army, and after that the scrolls are too damaged to read further. Yeah, Ando, I hate those cliffhanger endings, too.

Tonight's episode felt disjointed to me, as if they were trying to cram too much into a small space. Which, point of fact, they were, and are, and sort of always have. It just seemed a little more like that tonight than usual. I'm sure they're doing setup that'll play out later on down the line, but I still wish they'd streamlined the show a bit more rather than making it more complicated. I know I keep harping on that, but I really think it's made this show harder to watch.

Heroes—The Kindness of Strangers

(Blogger won't let me upload an image tonight so picture Naked Peter in this space.)

Mr. Bennet is still freaking about the painting of Claire, and Mr. Muggles is apparently a power-walking Pomeranian. That dog is scary. Dad gives Claire the "outsiders are a threat" speech again. Claire reassures her dad that there's no boy for him to worry about. At school, she's still being pursued by the cheerleaders. Their lockers are outside, and I swear I've seen this school before in another show or a movie. What do they do when it rains, if the lockers are outside? See? I remember thinking the same thing when I saw this school before. West and Claire have an awkward conversation with lots of subtext, but he asks her out anyway. Claire says she's going to the library to study for a paper and sneaks off to see West. Her dad stalks them but doesn't see West and Claire flying away. They sit on the Hollywood sign and chat. West tries to convince Claire she should trust him. I don't trust him. I think he's kinda creepy. He convinces her to jump off the sign to prove her trust. Of course he catches her in mid-air. Maybe this is all supposed to be romantic but he still seems kinda stalkery to me. They stay out too late (there's a shocker), and he encourages her to lie to her father to cover up. Claire tells her dad she made the cheerleading team, instead of telling him she was out with Creepy Flying Boy. In fact, she's all manipulaty about it to get Dad to let her be on the team. He says she can cheer but she can't date. Hm. How is that gonna work? I think Claire and Julie Taylor (Friday Night Lights) should hang out, because they're both being annoying with the teenage rebellion stuff. The Haitian arrives and says he and Bennet have to go to Odessa, in the Ukraine, to follow up on the paintings. They still haven't given the Haitian a name, have they? Maybe we can call him Mr. Haitian McHottypants.

Maya and Alejandro are still traveling with Derek, who speaks English, which allows us to abandon the subtitles, thank God. They're slightly less annoying without subtitles. They find a body in the road. Oh, and I spoke too soon. More subtitles. The body in the road is Sylar. Whee! Boring characters + interesting character =.... well, I guess we'll find out. Maya shows Sylar the book and Sylar gets all curious and creepy and offers to help them find Dr. Suresh. Hm. Nice trick since Sylar killed him. Derek finds a "Wanted" ad (as opposed to a want ad) in a newspaper with pictures of Maya and Alejandro and shows it to Sylar, who says "golly." Derek goes to call the police while Sylar confronts them with the newspaper. Maya gets agitated and starts to infect Sylar, but Alejandro calms her and stops the process. Sylar is, of course, very intrigued by all this, and helps them escape. In the meantime, Derek has dropped dead of brain hemorrhage...okay, how did that happen when he was quite a distance away from Maya when she had her meltdown?

Elsewhere, Micah is being tormented by the other kids living with Lieutenant Uhura, who is apparently Micah's grandmother, so I guess the other kids would be his cousins. Micah uses his powers to get his cousins Pay-Per-View so they'll stop tormenting him. Cousin Monica has tested into a management training program so she can go to school to help her family recover from the hurricane. It appears she might have some power, but it involves cutting tomatoes into roses and I don't see how that's all that useful. Maybe she just learns things really really fast. Anyway, she doesn't make it into the management program. And her friend looks like somebody cloned Molly Ringwald. Monica is attacked at the hamburger joint and takes out the burglar using a move she saw on TV. Yep, apparently she learns by watching. Handy skill.

Molly wakes up screaming after a nightmare and is comforted by her two daddies Matt and Mohinder. Nathan sneaks a visit with his kids, who mock his beard. Poor Nathan's not allowed to be around his kids. That's not good. I wonder what pieces we're missing here. Angela Petrelli confesses to the murder of Mr. Nakamura to Matt, who's interrogating her in the hospital. She tells Matt telepathically to accept her statement and let it go. Otherwise, digging into the case will expose our Heroes. Nathan, who has shaved now--yay!--confronts Matt about his mother's "confession." I guess Nathan took his kids' mockage seriously. Matt tells Nathan about Molly's dreams and the symbol common to the dreams and the investigation.

Nathan goes to chat with Mom. Mom mocks his shaving. Wow, he can't win with the whole facial hair conundrum, can he? Angela sticks to her guns about her confession. Nathan and Matt compare notes about the older generation of folks, including Angela, DeVeaux, Linderman and Nakamura, and find a picture with a good number of them all together. We get a bit more information about Matt's situation--his wife's baby wasn't his. Back at 3M HQ, Matt tells Molly and Mohinder that he needs Molly to help him find his father. Molly is freaked out by the picture and says Matt's dad is the nightmare man. Okay, there's an interesting twist. Nathan continues to see visions of Peter with his face horribly burned. Matt pushes Mohinder to let him get Molly to continue to help track down his father. Mohinder doesn't like the idea, but Molly says she'll do it. She does, but comes too close, and is thrown into shock, but Matt can still hear her screaming.

Wow, what a freaky way to end it. Most of the storylines seem to be ramping up nicely. I'm most interested in the 3M team and the Petrellis right now. I missed Peter tonight but I can't say I missed Hiro. His storyline isn't doing much for me right now, and I hope when he comes back they've added something to that plot to make it a bit more interesting. Maya and Alejandro are still boring to me but adding Sylar to the mix at least adds some interest there. I'm still not terribly invested in Micah's situation, or in Monica yet, and Claire is really annoying me. Although I'm starting to really like Mr. Muggles. He should get a spinoff.

Heroes—Kindred

Okay, EWW, why do they have to show the toe-cutting again in the Previouslys? It was gross enough the first time.

We open with Peter trying to figure out how to get the the mysterious box of DOOOOM!! back, while Dominic Keating tries to look inconspicuous at the bar behind them, but Peter can read his mind. I wonder if he can telepathically hear all about Dominic's adventures on the USS Enterprise. Nope, all he hears is that Will is planning to doublecross the others. Later, shirtless Peter tries to use his powers. There's really no good reason for him to be shirtless here. I like that. Gratuitious shirtlessness is good. I think Caitlin was in that scene, too. Peter goes out with the gangster types and serves as decoy for their robbery. Will turns traitor just like Peter heard in his naughty thoughts. He shoots Peter, but of course Peter heals up and saves the day. He's accepted into the gang, Celtic tattoo and all--except he can't hold a tattoo because of his healing powers. And he gets his box back. Peter is reluctant to open it, for fear he won't like what he finds. Doofus. Oh, and kissing Caitlin is more fun than looking in the dumb box, anyway.

Maya and Alejandro continue their run for the border, this time stealing a car to facilitate the journey. Or trying to. Unfortunately they're crappy car thieves and the police catch Alejandro but not Maya. I think at this point we've established that separating these two is bad so why do we keep doing it over and over? Yet somehow Maya is able to come into the police station to try to get Alejandro out of jail without killing anybody. Or maybe the eye bleeding only manifests when she's threatened? That seems to be the case, as she goads the guards into attacking her, and they drop. Then Alejandro heals her, as well as the others. They escape along with Alejandro's cellmate, who has a car.

Niki and Micah visit DL's grave. Apparently he didn't make it through the final confrontations last season. That's too bad. He was really hot. Or maybe he's not dead, based on how Niki's talking about him. Let's hope. Niki leaves Micah in New Orleans with Lieutenant Uhura while she goes off on some unspecified quest.

And somewhere on a beach, Sylar is having a scruffy unshaven snooze. He's with Candice, now going by Michelle. She's trying to make things happy for him with her illusion skills (beach=fake), but he's in pretty bad shape and they're not in a very sanitary facility. Later, he has some breakfast, but he can't make his mug move telepathically. He seems to have lost his powers. Candice says she'll help him get them back when he's done healing. But Sylar has a better idea--he'll just get his powers back the old-fashioned way, by killing people, starting with her. Except his usual methods don't work, and he's now all alone out in the middle of the jungle.

Claire and her dad have a heart-to-heart. At school, Claire warns West to quit stalking her. He brings up regenerating lizards in class and annoys Claire, who walks out. West confronts her and she spills her secrets to him. So he takes her flying, since they're both freaks. Later, they sit on the beach and have a chat about their powers. And smooch. And then Claire notices that West has the tracker marks on his neck. Describing his abduction experience to Claire, he mentions the "guy with the horn-rimmed glasses." Uh-oh. Dad's busted.

The 3M team are having a bit of trouble with their domestic bliss as Mohinder and Matt have a tiff about Mohinder's spy activities and how they could endanger Molly. Mohinder visits his new lab, which was built in what used to be Isaac's loft. Mohinder seems to have given up shaving. His boss takes a phone call, which turns out to be from Niki, who's making a deal with the Company for a cure. Mohinder looks around the loft for the paintings. He finds one and sends Bennet a camera phone picture of it. It's the last picture in the series, and shows Bennet being killed by Claire. Oops.

In Tokyo, Ando gets busted playing games on his computer at work. Aww, he mises Hiro. He finds a message on the hilt of the samurai sword. Inside the hilt of the sword are some little scrolls with notes in them from Hiro in the past, describing his adventures with Kensei.

In the past, Kensei is freaked out by his sudden ability to heal and thinks Hiro has cursed him, so he hightails it out of there before Hiro can curse him some more. When they meet up again, Kensei is plotting how to use his powers for Fun and Profit instead of for the good of mankind. Hiro is not amused. He teleports Kensei to a temple where he's supposed to perform one of his great historical quests. Kensei succeeds. Hiro is all sad because he's in love with the swordsman's daughter whose name I can never remember. The whole Cyrano de Samurai thing isn't really paying off. With Kensei established as a hero, Hiro prepares to return to his own time so he won't break history anymore. But he changes his mind at the last minute. I'm sure this has something to do with Kensei smooching the girl and doing the cheesy cherry blossom thing.

I'm not finding Maya and Alejandro any more interesting. In fact, I can barely be bothered to read their subtitles. The same thing seems to happen to them every week and it's not engaging me at all. Hiro's story isn't doing much for me, either, and this week's narrative structure, with Ando reading the notes from the sword, effectively compressed the action in that storyline and thus made it even less interesting to me.

On the other hand, Sylar is back and creepier than ever. I loved that Candice thought he might like to spend some, um, quality time with, um, himself. Those illusion-crafting types are just a kinkfest, aren't they?

Next week--Nathan shaves!!

Heroes—Lizards

We open on torture of naked Peter. Okay, I'm done. That's all I need to see for the rest of the evening. Oh, wait there s like story or something going on here.

Okay, apparently Peter's big shipping crate was supposed to be ful of iPods, not naked Peter. I already have an iPod so I'm happy with the naked Peter. In fact I wouldn't have objected if they'd sent me naked Peter in my iPod box. An Irish chick named Caitlin shows up to mop up his blood. She should leave that on—it looks good on him. Plus after she cleans him up she discovers he's all healed up already. Peter ends up in the back of her brother's bar, still all tied up and naked. Actually I think that happened earlier but I was too distracted by the nakedness and bondage to notice. Anyway, he escapes just in time to use his power to take out some bad sorts who attack Caitlin. Unfortunately they have a longstanding feud with Caitlin's brother, and this just makes it worse. The brother--no I didn't get his name did I mention naked Peter is really distracting?--tells Peter he has to help with a "job" before he'll give Peter a box full of everything Peter had on him when he was discovered in the crate. Apparently we're supposed to be really excited about this box. I'm not. What's it got in it? Credit cards? A driver's license? A couple quarters and a condom? Yeah, not getting excited.

The Bennet family continues to have issues blending in. Mom is a little more cognizant than she was at the end of last season, and Mr. Bennet doesn't find Mr. Nakamura's death unexpected. Apparently Isaac left behind 8 paintings that hadn't come true yet, and one of them presaged Nakamura's death. Claire struggles with her place at school, and her curiosity about the limits of her powers. Finally she cuts off her own toe with a pair of scissors (EWWWWW), and it grows back. Unfortunately, West sees this through her window.

Matt investigates the Squished Nakamura crime scene, where he unwittingly meets up with Ando, who explains the symbol. Matt interrogates Angela Petrelli, who senses and doesn't appreciate Matt's telepathic addition to the questioning. He then talks to Nathan, who still has the scary beard. Angela is attacked in her holding cell and a picture of her is left behind with the symbol on it.

Hiro continues to try to get Kensei back in order, without much cooperation from Kensei himself. So Hiro puts on the armor and heads out to go be heroic himself. He finds the swordsman's daughter fighting off a gang of mean Samurai bullies, and uses his powers to best them, with much mwa ha ha-ing. Afterwards he shares a cheesy moment with the swordsman's daughter in a cherry orchard. He goes back to fetch the real Kensei so they can go rescue the swordsmith. Kensei is shot down by the renegade samurais...but his wounds heal as Hiro watches.

Mohinder shows up for his first day on the job with the Company, looking tres fine in a linen suit. They send him to Haiti to look at a man they think has the virus. In Haiti he finds... wait for it.... the Haitian! Who'd've guessed? Anyway, apparently he's sick. Mohinder cures him and gets his memory wiped as thanks. back home with new housemate Matt, he checks in with Mr. Bennet. And then the Haitian shows up at Copy Kingdom.

Maya and Alejandro find shelter with an old friend. A fortuneteller is freaked out when she reads Maya's palm. As they get closer to the border, they get separated again and the eye-bleedy thing is released. Alejandro comes back and cures it, but their guide abandons them.

While Hiro's story is getting a bit more interesting, noobs Maya and Alejandro still aren't doing much for me. Claire's actually proving more intriguing to me this season so far than last. I think it's because her hair isn't so annoying. But overall? I'd like to request more tied-up Peter.

Heroes—Four Months Later

When last we saw our Heroes, they'd just stopped New York City from exploding. Baddie Sylar had escaped, while good guy Hiro had dropped into feudal Japan and the Petrelli brothers had gone "boom" in the stratosphere.

As we open, Mohinder is speechifying about the virus that killed his sister, and made Molly sick. A mysterious bald fellow offers Mohinder a job with the Company. Which is good because that's what Mohinder was after.

Maya and Alejandro run away from a big truck. These must be some new folks. As if the cast weren't big enough already... Oh, and they speak Spanish so yay! More subtitles. They're wanted for murder and are making their way to the US border. They're reading the Senior Suresh's book and hoping to find a cure. Apparently Maya kills people when she's separated from Alejandro. (Bleeding eyes! Cool!) That's not fun. No wonder she wants a cure.

Claire has moved with her family to Southern California, where she's getting ready to start her Junior year of high school while staying in deep cover to hide from the Company. Also, her hair is slightly less annoying. But she still likes to dork around needlessly with her powers. Which is noticed by West, a classmate who seems to take a shine to her. Or maybe he just likes her slightly less annoying hair. She has a hard time remaining inconspicuous, as does her dad, who goes badass on his nerdy boss at the faux Kinkos. Mom continues to be a little whacky, and holds Mr. Muggles at the table, which seems unsanitary. Mr. Bennet is teaming up with Mohinder in his Taking Down the Company project.

We revisit Hiro's arrival in 1671 Japan, where he's in some trouble. There's a solar eclipse, and Hiro uses his powers to teleport out of danger. One of the warriors is Hiro's hero Kensei, whom Hiro is ecstatic to meet. Elsewhere, Ando and Hiro's dad discuss Hiro's disappearance. The symbol pops up again, this time in what appears to be a threat against Mr. Nakamura. Back in the past, Kensei turns out to be a weenie-looking British guy. Surprise! He's also a mercenary and a lush, not a hero. And Hiro's interference has apparently put history off track. That can't be good.

Matt Parkman continues his police work, trying to defuse a hostage situation in Manhattan. Dude, he kinda went badass during the hiatus. I approve. Except it's not a real hostage situation--it's a simulation. And he's finally gotten his promotion to detective. Molly seems to have joined his family, and she's having some issues with bad dreams. But he's split up with his wife. That makes me sad. Molly's drawing pictures with the symbol and lots of scary eyes. And she really, really doesn't want to talk about it. Oh, and Matt apparently left his wife to move in with Mohinder. No comment, though I titter. He uses his telepathy to eavesdrop on Molly's dreams. A Big Bad approacheth, presumably the one Molly hinted at last season.

Nathan Petrelli has a scary beard and is hanging out with his mom in Peter's old apartment and drinking a lot. Mom says Peter's dead, but Nathan says he's not. Nathan tells Mom she's evil and throws her out. Nice to know those Petrellis haven't gotten any less dysfunctional during hiatus. Angela receives a picture with the symbol on it, just as Mr. Nakamura did--portending her death, as well, I assume. She and Mr. Nakamura meet on the pigeon-balcony of yore to compare death threats. Mr. Nakamura hangs around, and for his trouble is flung off a building by a guy in a hoodie.

In Cork, Ireland, we meet some more unfamiliar folks who are poking around a bunch of transport containers looking for one in particular. But it's empty. Oh, except for a guy in the back. Who happens to be Peter, half-naked and chained to the corner, wearing the symbol, and having amnesia. And a haircut. Again, I approve.

So far I'm most interested in the Petrelli storyline. Hiro's travel to the past isn't doing much for me. Mr. Bennet being badass was quite nice, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with his and Mohinder's plans to bring down the Company. I don't think adding even more characters to an already crowded cast is the best idea, and frankly tonight's episode had way too many subtitles. But with Peter half-naked and chained up, I can forgive quite a lot.

Heroes

For those who might be worried they won't be able to get their Heroes fix because of the NBC/iTunes breakup, Heroes will be available for download through Amazon Unbox. Of course, Unbox is DRMed out the wazoo, and you have to have the DRMed out the wazoo WMP upgrade to use it, but it's an alternative. If, you know, you don't have a problem with DRM.

Ahem.

Anyway, I'm rewatching Heroes via the DVDs I picked up last week. I was home sick and working from home while sick so I plowed through about the first third of the series before I got un-sick and had to actually work at work where watching DVDs while working is rather frowned upon. But the point is--yes, I did have one--I'm really enjoying revisiting this series. I have to admit I didn't pay very close attention to about the first third of the series, because while I enjoyed it, I found the sheer volume of characters to be overwhelming, and had a hard time following the storylines. When I started blogging the show that helped a lot because I was forced to pay attention so I could write halfway intelligently about it (and probably failed but that's okay because people who know me know I'm really only about a quarter intelligent on my best days). But rewatching now and knowing how the pieces fit together, I'm finding myself nodding along and going oh, yeah, yeah, yep yep. Nice work, guys!! It's really pleasing to find a group of writers who can maintain a serialized show like that and have it be cohesive when you put all the pieces together after the fact. (And while there's an occasional--wait, but...this happens later so that bit doesn't quite fit--they're few and far between and seem to be decreasing as the season progresses.)

I'm really looking forward to next season--I can't wait to see what else this talented bunch of folks has in store for us.

No Dr. Who

Weh. I was going to settle in and watch the second half of the Dr. Who two-parter that started last week, and write something about it, but apparently they're having a Stargate SG-1 marathon. So instead I'm going to watch the Tim Kring cut of the Heroes pilot, off the minty-fresh Heroes DVD set I bought yesterday.

Fall is Near!

Hard to believe summer is almost over. But that means only a few weeks until my favorite shows come back on the air. I have to admit that, aside from Dr. Who, which I've loved for ages, none of the summer shows have really captured me. Saving Grace isn't bad, but I haven't really warmed up to it the way I hoped I might. Eureka is fun but has always struck me as a bit shallow. Burn Notice I've really enjoyed, and it's come the closest to dragging me in, so that show will probably get some repeat viewings. Overall, though, I'll be happier when Bones and Supernatural and Heroes all finally return.

I'm also looking forward to some of the new fall shows, although I don't know how many I'll be able to squeeze into my already full viewing schedule. I went to see Stardust this last weekend (awesome movie, by the way), and they showed previews of Bionic Woman and Journeyman, both of which look interesting to me. I'm also very interested in seeing Viva Laughlin. So it's looking to be an interesting and entertaining fall.

DVD News

	Supernatural Season 2 is available for pre-order at Amazon.com. It'll be released on 9-11. Season 2 of Bones will be available 9-11 as well, but isn't up for pre-order yet.
	Season 1 of Dexter is also available for pre-order, releasing 8-21.
	Season 1 of Heroes releases 8-28, in standardand HD formats.

Heroes—How to Stop an Exploding Man

I'm having a bit of difficulty writing tonight's review. The usual recap and commentary doesn't seem like the right thing to do tonight. I haven't been as attached to this show as I have been to, say, Supernatural, but tonight's episode was a well-done and stunning conclusion to a surprisingly solid season of TV.

When Heroes started off back in the fall, I was intrigued but not really hooked. But as the season progressed, I got more and more of a sense that the writers knew what they were doing, and had a goal in mind that they were making their way towards. And they did, on both counts.

Heroes has had a surprisingly solid voice and feel from day one, especially for a freshman show. While most first-season shows take a while to hit their strides--some not making it until a second or even a third season, if they last that long--Heroes seemed to know what it wanted to be from the beginning. Kudos to Tim Kring and the writing staff for pulling this show together in such a spectacular fashion.

So... on to the plot, or a brief summary of it. First, DL is not dead. He looked really dead. That was kind of cheap, because I really thought he was dead. But he's hot so I won't be bitter. Anyway, at his insistence, Niki leaves him to search for Micah. There she meets up with what she thinks is Jessica, and they throw down. But then Jessica appears in a reflection to cheer Niki on--they've found common ground in the desire to protect their son, and in the end they seem to have reconciled. While a reasonable conclusion to her season-long conflict, it seemed a bit anti-climactic.

Realizing Nathan is in on the plot to blow up New York, Peter lets his emotions run away from him and starts to go radioactive. He passes out in an alley, and in a sort of not-really-conscious emotional fugue, sees himself in the past, at Isaac's loft with Simone's father. The pieces of the plot come together around him as he watches his mother talking to Charles. Then Charles is able to talk to Peter, and tells him all he needs to save the world is love.

Ando arrives at Isaac's loft, sword at the ready. He faces off with Sylar, who mocks the comic book that shows Hiro killing him. Hiro arrives as Sylar is torturing Ando for information. Hiro rescues Ando in spite of Sylar's smirky McSmirkiness. I liked the fact that Isaac was very present in this episode, in spite of his no longer being around. Almost every major character passed through the loft and saw something there that spurred them on. Hiro teleports Ando to Japan and proceeds back to New York to fulfill his destiny.

Finally, all the Heroes converge in New York, where everybody takes a shot at stopping Sylar. The major confrontation, though, is between Peter and Sylar. Matt arrives and is taken out by his own bullets when Sylar throws them back at him (he's still alive at the end of the episode but not looking too hot). At this point Peter should have an advantage, because he can absorb the power of everyone present, not just the ones who's brains he's eaten. Again, Peter's emotions run away from him and he starts to go radioactive. Hiro arrives and puts a sword through Sylar, just as shown in Isaac's comic. But Peter can't corral his radioactive powers. New York is doomed unless someone can eliminate Peter.

Bennet prepares to shoot, but Claire arrives and takes the gun. She's reluctant, but willing to do what has to be done if there's no other way. But before she can, Nathan arrives on the scene, having finally chosen a side.

I knew what was going to happen as soon as he shot like a rocket out of the sky, but that didn't make it any less intense. Nathan and Peter reconcile, declare their love for each other, then Nathan takes Peter and flies him straight up into the sky. Shortly thereafter, there's an explosion, far up in the sky.

I did not want to see either of the Petrelli brothers go, much less both of them, but that really was a beautiful moment. The plot led to it without telegraphing it, and it was emotional without quite becoming melodramatic. And with luck, since this is a comic book, maybe they'll be back. Hey, a girl can hope.

Of course, then at the last we see a bloody trail where Sylar was lying, presumably in his death throes. It leads to a manhole cover. So he might be back next season. Plus there's a new threat--someone Molly can "see" who's scarier to her than Sylar, because he looks back at her.

In a short coda, Hiro, teleporting, arrives in 1671 Japan. And this is our introduction to Volume Two, "Generations," which will air over the summer. I'm looking forward to that.

Heroes—Landslide

I missed some bits here and there due to a GIGANTIC FREAKING HAILSTORM. Jeez. Why is the weather interfering with my TV viewing?

Hiro deems himself unfit to wield the (now broken) sword, becuse he wasn't able to kill Sylar. Hiro insists they can get the sword fixed. Apparently you can find anything in the yellow pages, including people who repair Samurai swords with funky symbols on them. Seeing the lines at the polls, they stop by to talk to Nathan and tell him he goes bad in the future. Of course they didn't realize it was really Sylar. But Nathan still seems like he's planning to carry out Linderman's plans. This disappoints Hiro.

They head for the swordsmith's, where the symbol is on prominent display. And where Hiro's dad shows up. Mr. Nakamura tells Hiro about the history of the sword, while training him in its use. He's pretty spry for an old guy. After an hour or two of training, Hiro feels he's ready to face Sylar. But Ando, thinking Hiro has weaseled out, buys his own sword and heads out to save the world himself.

Today's election day, and Nathan is down in the polls. Linderman tells Nathan his father also had powers, but he was weak, and didn't live up to his potential. Heidi isn't happy about Linderman being in their house. While she's talking to him, she moves her foot. She gets up out of her wheelchair. Mom Petrelli's handiwork?

Niki (or Jessica) and DL scope out New York, looking for Linderman and Micah. Micah's still with Candice, being bribed with comic books. After Linderman gives Micah a pep talk, Candice takes him to the voting booths and has him make them all vote for Nathan. Um, I think that's cheating.

As Peter seems to lose control of his powers, with his hands going all glowy, he asks Clarie to shoot him, but then gets things under control before she has to. Claire tells her dad about her parentage. Bennet tells her they're here to destroy the tracking system. Something makes me think we met the tracking system last week and she was all cute and Molly-like.

Bennet sends Claire with Ted and Peter to hide out in Nebraska. Sounds like Sylar's going to tag along. Dude, nobody invited you. But Peter has picked up Matt's telepathy, and tunes in on Sylar, so they can avoid him, but then Ted is spotted by the FBI and nabbed. Claire and Peter escape via Peter's invisibility powers, but Ted's kinda SOL, since Sylar tipped off the cops.

Ted is taken away in chains. Sylar interferes with the truck. By "interferes" I mean "telekinetically smashes it all to hell." Head-slicing commences.

Peter and Claire get stuck in the resulting traffic jam. They discover what's happened to Ted. Peter asumes Sylar's going to do the kaboom thing. Probably a reasonable guess. Since Sylar killed Peter last time they fought, Peter is understandably reluctant to fight him again. C'mon, all the cool kids have died twice--Buffy Summers, Dean Winchester... It's a good club to join.

Matt uses his mojo to to get himself and Bennet into Linderman's building. DL and Niki show up, as well. Niki remembers throwing Matt out the window. Awkward much? They team up.

Mohinder is still treating Molly, who's responding well. Her powers are coming back, too. Molly is, indeed, the little girl Matt rescued way back in... whatever that episode was a really long time ago. Episode 2? She's also the tracking system he and Bennet have come to destroy. Thompson arrives to spirit them both away to safety, then he goes out to face Matt and Bennet. Bennet kills Thompson while Mohinder watches on surveillance. Bennet holds a gun on Molly, undeterred by her cute Mollyness. Mohinder interferes--standoff!!

Miki and DL confront Linderman--except that looks more like Jessica, casue she's throwing Linderman around like a rag doll. They're really not very happy with him, are they? Linderman offers Jessica 20 million to kill her husband. But Niki wins out. Linderman shoots DL, and then DL puts his fist through Linderman's head, a la Connor and Jasmine in S4 of Angel. DL collapses and dies in Dean's arms. I mean Niki's. Sorry, still haven't recovered from last week's Supernatural. And why do they keep killing off the hot guys? There should be a law.

Nathan arrives with Heidi back in her wheelchair, in spite of her protests, to make his victory speech. Sounds like he stole one of Dean Winchester's mix tapes. His speech about peace and happiness is intercut with Linderman and DL dying, and Mohinder and Bennet holding guns on each other and on Molly. Yes, it's meant to be ironic. Sylar practices using Ted's powers. And man, that just can't be good.

Next week is our Season One finale. News has come down the pike today from the NBC upfronts that not only has Heroes been renewed (although I think we knew that already), but they're doing a sort of Heroes miniseries over the summer called Heroes: Origins. It'll run six episodes, and supposedly will introduce new characters, at least one of which might join the series permanently for Season Two. Also announced--Heroes will remain in its current timeslot.

Free—All Right Now



Heroes at iTunes:

Heroes—The Hard Part

After last week's super extra cool episode, this week was a bit of a let down, not just in comparison, but because it was mostly a filler sort of episode, in which things happened to bring us up to where we need to be for the season finale. They did seem like good plot progressing sorts of things, but also not all that exciting overall. Plus Peter? Not nearly as hot this week. This makes me sad.

Hiro and Ando have returned to present day New York. Hiro plans to use Isaac's comic book as a guide, but there's no dialogue in the talky balloons. He says they'll go ask Isaac. Which'll be hard since Isaac is dead. They go to the loft and find Isaac's body, as well as Sylar. They tail Sylar and tiff a bit about whether to go ahead and kill him, or try to stick to the timeframe of the comic.

Sylar goes to visit his mom. (Ellen Greene, collecting snow globes instead of carniverous plants.) Apparently Mom has contributed to Sylar's craziness. Sigh. It's always Mom's fault. He demonstrates some of his powers, but when he hurts his mother, she hides in the bedroom. Sylar seems genuinely shaken by his role in the coming destruction of New York. Mom isn't very sympathetic. She threatens Sylar with a pair of scissors. In the ensuing struggle, Mom Sylar is killed.

Hiro comes in and freezes time to kill Sylar, but is unsuccessful. Sylar breaks Hiro's sword. Hiro and Ando teleport away. They have two days left to eliminate Sylar. Sylar paints the explosion on the floor with his mother's blood. (Um, ewwww.) He aspires to be president, just like Mommy wanted.

Matt, Ted and Bennet are still teamed up. Ted seems to have gained some control over his powers--he can thaw out and jumpstart cars now instead of just blowing things up. Micah remains in Linderman and Candice's custody, while DL and Niki discover secret records hidden in Linderman's secret archives.

Thompson introduces Mohinder (still all scruffy, by the way) to Molly Walker, a little girl who has the same disease as Mohinder's sister, who died from it. Molly needs the cure Mohinder's father developed. According to Thompson, Molly is the only one who can stop Sylar. She can find people, and apparently has a bead on Sylar, but her power isn't working right now. Mohinder finds the antibody in his own blood, and is able to cure Molly.

Claire, back with the Petrellis and her regular annoying hair, prepares to go to Paris. Peter convinces her to stay, to help stop Ted. Peter asks her to kill him if he gets out of control. Wait, I thought Dean was doing that. Oh, sorry, got my shows mixed up again.

Mom Petrelli speechifies Nathan about how he has to continue with Linderman's plans, which includes allowing New York City to be blown up. Looking for Ted, Claire is reunited with her father. Peter starts to absorb Ted's powers. As we all know by now, this is not a good thing.

Overall, not a bad episode, just a dialing back of the pace in preparation for the finale. I'm not sure I liked the bits with Sylar's mother, though. It seemed like a bit of a cop-out to fall back on Mommy Issues to explain Sylar's psychosis, and her accidental death also played into that usual pattern. It would have been nice if they'd tossed in an extra twist of some kind there. As it was, it was okay, but seemed too much like the usual stereotypical treatment of nutty megalomaniacs.

Heroes—Five Years Gone

aka "String Theory"

Tonight's episode is set five years in the future, after our Heroes have been unable to stop the destruction of New York City. Hiro and Ando have arrived in Isaac's loft and have found a timeline of the events of the last five years. This turns out to be the work of Hiro himself, or rather his badass future self. He's been trying to figure out where he needs to go to save New York. He's determined that our Hiro needs to go back and kill Sylar on the day of the explosion. When future Hiro tried it, Sylar had Claire's powers and was able to regenerate. A bunch of cops, including Matt and the Haitian, break into the loft and drag Past (Present?) Hiro off. Apparently Future Hiro has a reputation as a terrorist.

In Vegas, Future Hiro and Ando find Peter's girlfriend in a bar, dancing. It turns out to be Niki. Or Jessica. Or whoever the heck she is in this timeframe. She's a little tense--must be Jessica. And it sounds like both DL and Micah are dead. Peter has a big scar on his face. That's kinda hot. Plus--stubble, for the win!

Reading Past Hiro's mind, Matt realizes he doesn't remember the terrorist acts he's being accused of. Nathan--now going by Mr. President--is suspicious about Hiro's sudden apprehension, thinking it's a terrorist trap. Mohinder's working for him, doing scientific research to stop the mutant-types from causing more damage, but more and more of them are showing up. Nathan suggests extinction might be necessary. And Mohinder looks particularly hot tonight, too. I like this future where nobody shaves.

At Primatech Paper, Bennet's putting folks into a mutant protection program. He and Matt have an agreement--Bennet alerts Matt to dangerous mutants, while Matt passes benign folks over to Bennet for protection. Claire is still alive--wait, if she's alive, how did Sylar regenerate? Anyway, she's in a diner in Midland, TX, going by the name of Sandra, and with dark hair which I find much less annoying than her regular hair.

Things just get plain complicated after that. Matt's apprehension of Past Hiro as well as Future Hiro leads him to break off his agreement with Bennet. He goes after Claire, who's about to leave Texas with her boyfriend in only partial defiance of her father's orders, and turns her over to Nathan. Peter wears a long back coat and goes completely badass on everyone. He is just smokin' hot tonight. Partially because he's combed his hair back, but then there's the coat, and the kicking down of doors... Goodness.

In other nice tidbits of future backstory (is that middlestory?), we discover that Matt's arrangement with Bennet has come about at least partially to keep his own wife and son safe, and that Hiro's personality transplant came about because of Ando's death. He's spent the last five years trying to work out how to go back in time to save New York not so much to save New York but to save Ando. Peter has taken on the weight of the world and turned into Broody McBroodster Hottiepants because he was the one who blew up New York, not Sylar. Okay, that's making sense now, given Claire's not-deadness.

Well, not dead yet. Because when Matt turns her over to her dad, we find out Nathan's not Nathan at all. He's Sylar, and he's finally getting his chance to appropriate Claire's powers. He's also decided to kill off the other mutants in the world by giving them a "vaccine" supposedly to "cure" their powers. (Didn't they do that in X3? And Astonishing X-Men? And... Okay, never mind.)

A big showdown ensues as Nathan leads a service commemorating the fifth anniversary of the destruction of New York City. Convinced of Hiro's abilities to go back in time and fix things by panels he's seen from Isaac's comics, Mohinder betrays faux Nathan and uses the "vaccine" on the Haitian. But as they all try to escape, Future Hiro is shot to death as a Peter/Nathan showdown ensues. Ando's usual earnest cheerleading convinces our Hiro he can return them to the past. They manage this just as all hell breaks loose between Peter and Nathan/Sylar. Hiro sees the comic panel of him killing Sylar, and realizes it's up to him now to save the world.

All time paradoxes aside--and, honestly, there's no way to avoid those in time travel stories, so why bother?--this was a stellar episode. I was caught out by plot twists a couple of times, and I really liked the way the episode fit together both on its own and in relationship to the other episodes of the season. The writers really seem to be weaving their story together in a complex yet comprehensible fashion, and that's great to see.

Plus--future Peter? Totally hot.

Goldfrapp--Ooh La La (Niki's pole dance song)

Heroes—.07 Percent

Linderman and Nathan have a chat about Linderman's collection of Isaac's paintings. Linderman has some sort of healing capabilities--he can restore dead plants to life. That'd be mega useful around my house. He tells Nathan a bit about the previous generation of Heroes. He feels the destruction of New York would be a catalyst for change that will unite humanity in fear and hope blah blah, and that Nathan will serve as a rallying point. He also has a painting of Nathan in the White House.

Bennet is being held capitive at the paper company. Matt, also imprisoned, hears Bennet communicating with him telepathically from the next cell. Bennet tells Matt how to escape. When Matt gets out, he sends Matt to get Nuclear Ned. Ned is to make an electromagnetic pulse to blow out the power grid in the building. Right after the EMP, the US is put completely out of commission and becomes a third world country. Oh, wait, that's Dark Angel. Never mind. The EMP works as planned, and they meet up with Bennet in his cell. They all escape to a diner and discuss how to take out the tracking system in New York.

Back at Suresh's apartment, Suresh is still pinned to the ceiling and bleeding. Not on fire, though. I still think that's just wrong, cause there's a rule about being pinned to the ceiling and bleeding that says you also have to wear a white nightgown and be on fire. (I'll keep making that joke until I'm tired of it.) Sylar slices Peter's head open again--dude, it was gross enough the first time--but Peter heals almost immediately, thanks to his Claire-powers. A super mutant smackdown ensues. Sylar stabs Peter with telepathically flying shards of glass. Mohinder knocks Sylar out with a map frame. Sylar regains consciousness to find himself alone and his computer trashed--the list is no longer his to take. He finds Isaac's address on a piece of paper left behind. Mohinder contacts the paper company, thinking he'll get Bennet, but instead Thompson (aka Eric Roberts guy) comes to meet him. Thompson suggests he and Mohinder work together.

Claire chats with Grandma Petrelli. She's known about Claire since she was born. She's planning to send Claire to Paris to protect her from the "madness." Sounds like Grandma might be a mutie, too. Mohinder shows up with news of Peter's death. Claire finds Grandma weeping over Peter's body. Shouldn't Peter be miraculously healing right about now? Nathan returns to find Peter dead. Grandma says they need to hide it until after the election. Claire comes in and pulls the hunk of glass out of the back of Peter's head so he can heal up. Took them long enough. Now that Peter's un-dead--not undead like a vampire, but un-dead like, you know, alive--Nathan and Peter discuss whether he might be able to survive his own personal nuclear meltdown when New York bites the big one. Nathan chats with Claire. He wants to be there for her, but he can't because he needs to win the election. So Claire is off to Paris with Grandma for a week. Gee, thanks, Newly Discovered Dad.

Isaac packs up comic book pages to give to a messenger. He says they're the last ones, but doesn't elaborate. He gives the messenger his sketchbook. He has, of course, painted his own death. Sylar shows up at Isaac's studio. Isaac tells Sylar he's going to be stopped and killed. Sylar crucifies Isaac on his floor painting of New York, then kills him, much as he did earlier in the season. Sylar paints the future, with someone very different in the White House.

Jessica and DL have a spat. DL is getting ready to run with Micah to protect him. Linderman's suits show up to take Jessica for a meeting with Mr. Linderman. Linderman wants to "borrow" Micah to make use of his talent. Jessica refuses in no uncertain terms. That doesn't last long--next time we see Jessica, she's taking Micah out to meet Linderman, and sends him off. Except it's really Candace, who's stolen Micah right out from under Jessica's nose. That Candace is just a big pita.

Five yeras in the future, Hiro and Ando survey the ruins of New York City. Ando suggests they teleport back with the sword and fix things. Hiro wants to know what exactly went wrong, first, so they go searching for Issac to help them. In Isaac's studio, they find a timeline made up of hundreds of drawings and newspaper clippings, telling the history of the recent past/future. Past Hiro comes face to face with future Hiro.

This episode moved the story forward pretty substantially, comparatively, while also tying big chunks of storyline back to things we've seen in previous episodes--Isaac's death, future Hiro, etc. Sylar's monstrous White House painting makes me wonder if it's a picture of a different person as president, or a metaphorical picture of what Nathan will become in that office. And for some reason I really expected Hiro and Ando to meet up with Isaac in the studio, even though he was clearly dead in the previous scenes.

Heroes on iTunes:

Heroes—Parasite

This week, we return to the more standard Heroes structure, with multiple storylines running at once. Just about everybody got airtime tonight, as well as major progression of their storylines, with the exception of Matt, who got airtime but not much of a storyline. While I didn't find this episode as emotionally involving as last week's, it was still quite good, with some intense bits and some great twists and revelations.

In Las Vegas, Hiro finally manages to find his way to Linderman's gallery. With some unexpected help from Ando, he acquires the sword. Just as they're about to be apprehended by security, Hiro uses his powers to teleport himself and Ando out of the gallery. But his powers are a bit off again, and they arrive on the roof of Isaac's building--in the future, post-kaboom.

Claire is traveling with the Haitian, who's taking her out of the country. Claire doesn't like this idea and slips her leash, so to speak, in the airport. Leaving the Haitian behind, she heads for New York looking for Peter. Instead she finds Mrs. Petrelli. But the Haitian is there, as well--apparently the "higher power" he answers to isn't Eric Roberts guy, but Mrs. Petrelli.

The FBI shows up at Nathan's, ostensibly to talk to him about illegal campaign contributions from the Linderman Group, but actually to discuss the setup they're arranging in Las Vegas. Nathan's been working with the FBI since his wife's accident, gathering incriminating evidence against Linderman. In the meantime, Jessica's heading for Vegas, as well, with her assignment to assassinate Nathan. She kills the FBI agents. When Nathan comes to meet Linderman, he's met by Jessica instead--except Niki has managed to take over again, and warns him that Linderman knows what Nathan is up to, and that if Linderman offers him a deal, he has to take it. Nathan determines to kill Linderman. He goes ahead with his meeting. Linderman is in the kitchen making pot pies. He's also Malcolm McDowell, in another interesting cameo. Nathan withdraws a gun to kill Linderman. No pot pie for you. Linderman's deal is to make Nathan politically powerful, only a step away from the presidency. So Nathan has to work that one out between now and April 23rd.

Peter and Isaac are devastated by Simone's death, until Simone walks in alive and well just as the police come to investigate an anonymous tip about the shooting. But it turns out not to be Simone at all--it's Candace, a shapeshifter in the employ of the company.

Bennet can't remember anything after bringing his wife home from the hospital. Mrs. Bennet, however, remembers everything, including a lot she shouldn't, claiming Mr. Bennet told her to remember. Bennet plans with his wife to keep Claire safe from the company. But it turns out it's not Mrs. Bennet at all, but Candace, the shapeshifter. I might have been confused about the timeline here, but it seemed like at least part of the Simone plotline meant Candace would have had to have been in two places at once on at least one occasion to pull this off. And what's happened to Mrs. Bennet? Did they spirit her off somewhere? Kill her? I guess it'll be a while before we know.

Sylar and Mohinder continue their partnership, conferring over the list. But then Mohinder drugs Sylar with chai tea. Sylar, dude, Mohinder's totally on to you. Turning all badass, Mohinder tortures Sylar with a tuning fork. He says Sylar is a parasite, and that he can't really control his powers. Sylar taunts Mohinder, saying he knows things about Mohinder's father. Dr. Suresh used Sylar to create his formula--Sylar is Patient Zero. Mohinder takes some spinal fluid without benefit of anesthesia and isolates four genes as the basis of the mutations that allow powers to develop. Sylar begs to be released. Mohinder shoots him, but Sylar controls the bullet so it doesn't hit him. He releases himself from where Mohinder has tied him to a chair for whacky bondage/torture fun. Things don't look too happy for Mohinder.

Peter arrives looking for Mohinder and finds the place trashed. Mohinder is stuck to the ceiling and dripping blood all over Peter but oddly is not wearing a white nightgown, nor is he on fire. Sylar grabs Peter and begins to slice open his head. It's about time Peter got his damn hair cut.

And now Heroes enters hiatus until April 23rd. Dude, that sucks out loud.

This Week's TV Guide

The new TV Guide (for March 5-11, with the cast of House on the cover), has several articles of interest.

First, the cover story with the cast of House is an interesting read with some great pictures.

A couple of small bits on Lost, with fans responding to Charlie's apparent impending death, and an article about the falling ratings, and another short article addressing some of the boys' apparent need for sugar mamas (I volunteer--wait, I don't have enough money. Pout).

A short Q&A with Zachary Quinto of Heroes (Sylar).

A review of The Black Donnellys by Matt Roush. (He didn't like it. I think he was unnecessarily harsh.)

An interview with Ali Larter of Heroes (Niki/Jessica).

An interview with Nicolas Cage (yes, that Nicolas Cage), regarding The Dresden Files, which he executive produces.