Monday, October 22, 2007

'Heroes' - "Fight or Flight"

Heroes - NBC

Now, mind you ... I'm not saying that I don't enjoy the show this season. I do. I wouldn't watch anything else in the 9 PM slot on Monday nights. But, that said, I think it's lost a bit of the amazing mesmerizing magic it held for me in its first season. I'm not sure what the problem is -- it's coming across as very disjointed this season. They're flipping from character to character and back again with no rhyme or reason.

Anyhow, here goes ...

Mohinder Suresh, Molly Parker, Matt Parkman (Brooklyn)
Molly is still all but comatose. Mohinder insists that Matt go ahead to Philadelphia to find his father -- the reason behind Molly's condition. He says that in nightmares you can fight or take flight. He think Matt owes it to Molly to go.

Mohinder calls HRG (who's with the Haitian) to tell him how sick Molly is. Mohinder wants to bring her to his boss at "The Company" as he thinks that they'd be the only ones who can save her. HRG is against the idea, but Mohinder does it anyway.

Mohinder, Molly, and Bob the Boss (The Company in NYC)
Bob the Boss, who reeks of a young Richard Deacon in my mind (Lumpy Rutherford's father in Leave it to Beaver) is thrilled Mohinder has brought in Molly ... as we could have guessed. Where's Mohinder's mind?

Bob tells Mohinder he has to go out in the field, handing him a taser gun. Reluctant to leave Molly behind, Mohinder stalls long enough for Jessica (of Jessica/Niki fame) to rant through and almost kill Bob with her powers. Mohinder uses the taser to bring her down.

Next thing you know, she's back to being Jessica and is in bed being consoled by Bob -- "Multiple personality disorder is a terrible thing." After he left the room, Mohinder tried to free her, but Jessica refused to go. She thinks The Company is her only help to be normal again.


Monica Dawson and Micah (New Orleans)
Although she was quick to stop the robber at her workplace, Monica refused to ID the guy to the cop even though he said she should step up and be a hero. She told her co-worker friend that she didn't know how she did what she did and she's still on the "I was meant to be someone better" kick we saw last week.

When she returned home, Micah was playing the piano. She said no one had played it since her mother died. She also said she didn't know how to play, but then went all piano fingers crazy after watching Micah for a bit. Micah, smart little dude that he is, figured out her power. He showed her how he can control the television, then it dawned on her that the
tomato roses and karate kick to the robber were learned with the power. Micah called it "copycat" and showed her it in the 9th Wonder comic book.

Micah and Monica went out to test her powers. She always wanted to Double Dutch, so she did it in style after watching a few minutes. Her eyes almost developed a tear-shaped outdent as she took in the how-to.

Alas, later when she answered the doorbell, it was Mohinder with the taser gun to bring her back to The Company. "You have questions? I have answers?" (What is going on with him?)

Peter Petrelli, Caitlyn, Mickey and Elle (Cork, Ireland)
Peter still hasn't opened the box and has become totally smitten with Caitlyn (am I spelling her name right this time?).

Caitlyn is sure that someone must be looking for him -- family or friends.

Oh, yeah someone is looking for him, but she's neither a family member or a friend.

So, we're introduced to a new anti-hero (I think I'll call the bad ones that from now on) -- Elle. She's looking for Peter and we first see that she has a lightning fingers power. Um, okay.

Mickey had heard that an American girl was searching for Peter, so he told him to go to Caitlyn's flat. When Elle met up with him in the bar, Mickey told her he didn't recognize the picture of Peter. She thinks otherwise. She uses her
lightning fingers to weld the lock on the door shut, then works him over trying to get information about Peter. She ended up killing Mickey.

As she called someone on the phone explaining that Peter was in Cork, she admitted killing Mickey. She said first that she had to use persuasion and d
idn't understand what the big deal was. Then she sighed and said into the phone, "Okay, I'll come home, Daddy." (Who's your daddy?)

Meanwhile, in the flat, Peter and Caitlyn finally opened the box. They found Peter's passport, a ticket to Montreal, and a photo of Nathan and Peter. Peter still has no memory of his prior self.


Peter saw a canvas and his old Isaac painting power took him over. He painted a picture of a couple near a corner. The street signs were in French, thus making them think Montreal is a must.


When they went to the bar, they found that Mickey had been murdered. That actually ended this episode, but not the way I'm writing it!

Ando (Tokyo) and Hiro & Co. (1671 Japan)
This was a lot of flipping back and forth and much ado about nothing (except the very end of the segments) to me. Ando took Hiro's scrolls passed through the sword to a man for reading. Hiro had pretty much been telling the story of what he was doing, so they went back and forth from the guy reading them to Hiro doing. Very odd.

At the very end of the segments, the scroll was unreadable. In the Hiro relating scene, Hiro, Kensei, and Yaoko find out they have to face an entire army.

Matt Parkman, Nathan Petrelli, and Matt's Dad (Mainly Philadelphia)
Matt met up with Nathan who thought he wanted another round of interrogating his mother. Instead, Matt told him about Molly and his father. Nathan initially didn't want to go with Matt, especially not used as a cargo jet, but he did.

They found the apartment and busted in as cops ... or something. Parkman's father had a picture bit of himself from that group shot, also bearing the red "Godsend" symbol across his face.

Matt should have remembered his father was a con man. Duh, Matt. The father gave a story about his own life being in danger and how the group tried to save the world, but some used their powers for evil. (I'm sure he was one of them.)

He too can read minds, so he could block (and hurt) when Matt tried to read his. He told them the power develops further, then offered to show Matt something from "the old days" which might help him.

He led Matt to one room where the doors automatically locked. Nathan tried to rescue him, forcing open a door. Then it was akin to an LSD experiment gone
horribly wrong from that point on.

The door Nathan chose led him to the roof of the DeVeaux building overlooking a destroyed Manhattan. He met up with his mirror monster, who is indeed him. They fought. The mirror monster Nathan said, "You are no hero. You want ignorance! I am you!"

Matt ended up in a jail where the guards spoke gibberish. A baby appeared, then his wife. They argued, then she left. He started fighting with the guard trying to break free.

The fight scenes flipped back and forth between the two places and two people rapidly, then all but melted into one -- Matt and Nathan were fighting in Matt's father's decrepit apartment. When they woke up, it was then they realized they couldn't trust the con man dad. (Duh.) They know why he was "the nightmare." Plus, they have a picture of Bob with the "Godsend" red symbol.

Um. Okay. At least there weren't any Wonder Twins tonight.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Since you asked....I spell my daughter's name, Caitlin, the traditional Gaelic spelling. So, I was glad to see that the Irish girl in the story also spelled it Caitlin.

tbc

Caroline said...

I'm actually enjoying this season tremendously and it's sad to hear that some people don't feel the same. I think it feels a little disjointed now but that in actuality it all fits together, we just haven't gotten that far yet. Pretty much all the Heroes are involved in the company whether they realize it or not and it's just a matter of time before some of them band together and really come after the company in full force. Whatever the outcome, the previews for next week looked very good. My only wish is that we'd get a little more Niki/Jessica. Although I adore Kristen Bell and miss Veronica Mars terribly so she was a welcome addition last night and I hope we see much more of her.

RiseandShine said...

I'm with you, caroline. Last season was brilliant. Although it was all news to us, the reveals were timed well, the inferences subtle, and the clues exciting.
While this season has that "all over the place" feel, I anticipate a reveal that will tie it togther.
After all, they can't have been brilliant for one year only...well, that's what I'm hoping at least.

Mohinder is acting out of character, and I can't imagine what's up with him.
I guess we're supposed to believe that his attachment to the memory of his sister drove him to place Molly in Bob's hands so that she wouldn't die too. It just happened too fast..it seemed like a silly thing for him to do since he KNOWS what the company is all about.

I really like the idea that the mind reading ability grows to being able to put ideas in people's heads, or having them create their own nightmares, or whatever it is exactly. That was cool.

Anonymous said...

I am enjoying this season too. I tape it for my husband. Sometimes I rewatch it with him to gage his reactions. Thank you, Jackie for the detailed blog. Sometimes when I go over to tv squad, and I've missed an episode (like Damages, Mad Men or Rescue Me), the review is not meaty enough. Yours are always well written with lots of meat!

tbc

Anonymous said...

As I see your review, I thought it's just the same with other but I kade a mistake and I found out that it is a unique and very informative one. nice one my friend!

Zoetawny said...

((((Jackie))))

Just a short post to thank you for the blog. I would have been very upset if it wasn't still here after my long absence. Your personal touch makes this blog very special.

I tend to agree with you about this season being somewhat disjointed. I find myself asking what happened to the characters in the previous episodes. Maybe it's just me needing a contiguous story line. I'm enjoying it nonetheless.

Please pray for the victims of the CA fires.

Zoetawny~
xoxo

Anonymous said...

I can't say it is a great as last year either...but it is still great.

I really want to know who the daddy is...do we know them..maybe some thought dead like peter's dad or Simone's dad are still alive and that is who she (k bell) was talking to. Maybe it's BOB..in the previews he said some powers are to dangerous for someone to have. With Peter now about on level with a jedi he might be refering to peter.

Peter is one of my favorite...maybe my favorite..but he is just too powerful for the show. I hope they keep him around longer then i expect.

Anonymous said...

I forgot to mention last night...anon 2am

When Hiros father died..he said "you" when he saw the figure and that persons looked thinner then matts father. Who did Hiros father think killed him since it was all in his mind?

Matts father could have made it look like anyone.

Miko