Heroes: Cautionary Tales
by
I have some mixed feelings about this episode. The negatives are few and mostly about not seeing either Peter or Sylar at all. On the other hand, we didn't see the Hondurans either, and the whole episode is like that. It's not really what the promo sold it as, but it's still good.Not Four Months Later good, but the last scene gets the job done.
With fewer things to complain about, my list of things to write about has grown small enough that there's no real point in doing this as a topical list. I think that's indicative of how what used to be a number of uninteresting, random threads rolling about trying to find their way, has finally started to gel.
One of my two biggest gripes for this year was how uncompelling and sideways-moving the Honduran arc is, and how completely annoying and downright trite and petty Claire has become. I won't dwell on that because Tim Kring and company have taken at least half of that problem into another direction. I will say very quickly that during Claire's final argument with Noah Bennet, I actually said to myself "you know, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if Peter had let Sylar..."
You know what I'm talking about, don't deny it.
That particular train of thought didn't last long though. Of everyone on this series in either season, I probably hated West the most. I'm shocked how quickly all of that changed and I wonder what other perceptions could change with a simple change in direction. The Honduran problem is the worst left over from this false start, but if the West arc can change so quickly, what about them?
Kring said not all the new characters were going to make it past episode 11, when the current "Generations" arc comes to an end. Are they simply going to be killed off? Have they been already?
It was clear from next weeks promo that Sylar is back in the states and I didn't see our South American friends with him. Perhaps he had a snack after crossing the border.
From this point forward I'm going to keep my mind more open about who people are versus what they are doing, because that isn't always the same thing. I didn't like West until tonight, so that really had more to do with what he was doing rather than who he was. Perhaps the same thing can be said for Monica and the others as well.
In the same way, I've really liked Suresh for the entire series, but he's going to have to pay a heavy price to make up for what he did. Right now, I couldn't care less what all manner of painful and unfortunate situations he finds himself in. It might be fun to watch, though. I'm sure deep down he's going to regret what he's done and the hole he's dug is massive.
Watching him work his way out of this could be one of the great redemption stories of the second season. There's great power in watching people redeem for terrible actions. I hope they don't screw it up, when the right time comes, he could be key to solving it all.
Two things to wrap this up, the first being Elle. As a guy, I personally think Hayden Panettiere is more attractive than Kristen Bell is, though neither is a terribly good actress, bad girls (and bad guys) are simply more interesting and fun to watch. It's even more fun to watch them get what they've got coming. Bell wins my attention right now especially with how whiny Panettiere's character has been.
They really need to keep Elle around, I'll be really displeased if it turns out she's one of the newbies that meets their end in or around episode 11.
Finally, how about that last scene? I'm sure it popped into the minds of lots of people what we saw in Four Months Ago with Adam, Peter, and Nathan. We also know Bob took at least one IV bag full of Claire's blood. I thought that we'd see Noah's resurrection right there on the spot, and when we didn't, I actually thought the guy was dead.
That they waited a few minutes to do that really made me a happy guy. I like Bennet, sympathize with what he's done, genuinely like the actor, and love the big ending. I mean that.
I really like the big ending.
In Heroes we get big intros, such as when Peter woke up from his coma after having that righteous nightmare. Cinematics, acting, and writing all come together in some instances to make it a complete package. This was one, that was another.
The more of those, the better. The more of those, the more this really is Heroes.
November 20, 2007 9:52 AM | Reply
No loss on the Hondurans. Did miss Peter but not quite as much because the other arcs were interesting tonight. I still think Monica can be a n interesting character and fills in the age group with claire and Bell and Micah. So we have a more full cast of three different generations.
Loved the Big ending. I like that it was hard to see the regeneration at first on his eye, but I didn't expect him to be brought back. (I don't know Why...after watching everything the company can do etc it did not cross my mind that he wasn't really dead). Finally, after caring less if I ever watched the show again for the first several weeks, I can't wait till the next one. Ofcourse this feeling comes NOW when there's only two episodes Left!!