Volume Three: Villains
Tonight’s episode: I Am Become Death
I really enjoyed last week’s episode. It was tightly focused and exciting. It is said that a hero is only as good as their villain. Season one had the constant, looking threat of Sylar. And now with season three we have the escaped baddies, this show’s version of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Even if they killed off Magneto last week.
What can this show use? I would say a thinning of the herd is in order. There are too many characters with too many storylines. Giving the hook to Micah was a good start. I wouldn’t mind if they 86ed Mohinder, Maya and Niki/Tracey too. Up the dramatic ante by having some of these people get killed in action.
Heroes might be in big trouble. The two hour premiere event was down 7 million viewers from the premiere a year before, and last week’s show was the least watched episode of Heroes ever. Was season two a fatal blow to the show, or just a Lost-like stumbling block? Only time will tell, but this season better pick it up. Heroes can’t be cheap to produce.
As always, I look forward to your thoughts, opinions, gripes, live-blogging, etc.
As always my griping, which I am optomistic will be minimal, will be 3 hrs. late because I’m on the west coast
I’M REALLY CONFUSED. WASN’T THE WHOLE POINT OF SEA 1 "SAVE THE CHEER LEADER, SAVE THE WORLD", AS IN DON’T LET SYLAR GET CLAIRE’S POWER BECAUSE IT WOULD MAKE HIM UNSTOPABLE. I FEEL LIKE THAT WAS POINTLESS NOW BECAUSE RIGHT FROM THE START THIS SEASON…SYLAR TAKES CLAIRE’S POWER.
@Ben – The only justification I can make for that is that it was Claire’s power in conjunction with the nuclear guy that was going to end the world.
b4 it starts I have onew question. Peter has met the Hatian before, so does he have the hatians powers and would that make him normal.
@Conor – That makes sense, I forgot about that piece of the plot. That had been bugging me the last couple of weeks, thank you for the positive spin! Well I’m on the west coast so I’ll be tuning in 3 hours, can’t wait. And sorry about the all-caps, I’m still at work. Enjoy the show everyone!
@cyber – Well if the Haitian negates his powers then he couldn’t use them to steal the Haitian’s powers, right? It would make the Haitian the ultimate survivor, I guess.
So Niki and Tracey are like Arnold and DeVito in TWINS? Actually, that might even be the same actor playing the doctor…
Huh….That was fast and almost clear.
So now we have to deal with Ali Larter scared and not wanting her ability again, fantastic.
Now that’s cool.
@conor ok that makes sense! Thanks,
Nice double Peter tough guy walk.
Mohinder is Lex Luthor. But sexier.
Peter stuck in the future again. i hope he finds his irish girlfriend
Uh huh….. Was that Hatian?
Claire needs more time at the range.
Haitain just got fucked up by a lunch tray.
@cyberauron – I doubt that. I don’t think that past character’s going to be touched upon.
Never mind, I guess it wasn’t.
In the future thre are two colors – black and blue.
Poor Hiro is only a level 2
is fear guy dead? did sylar kill him
@Cyber – Sylar didn’t kill the fear guy, he killed Banshee.
He escaped at the bank
Is it me, or is Hiro making his own enemy…again?
Was that Daphne in the future? She had the same haircut as the blonde in the African Tim Sale paintings.
@ReiMehari – He is definitely driving Ando to villainy.
Finally, the theory is addressed that Linderman is a byproduct of brain damage.
I’d pick the JFK motercade.
is suresh turning into the fly?
Huh. I forgot technically Nathan wasn’t president in the future.
and why does his girlfriend now speak perfect english?
Maya’s accent is excellent for such a short amount of time. Is that a power of hers?
That loft is really the center of the show.
Wow, peter does know how to use some of his abilities.
Hahaha I love sylar and his craziness
WHat is this?
ANd what did his apron say?
Hail to the chef, hilarious.
That is the most terrifying I’ve ever seen Sylar. "Hail to the Chef", indeed.
Sylar and Claire…
I wonder if thas some kind of illusion?
Sylar and Claire are related, so that would be icky. He’s her uncle.
Hail to the Chef/Chief. I thought I recognized a presidential shielf. Kind of funny, considering his future in the first season.
i think electric girl, she is just as damage as him
Aside from Sylar as Ward Cleaver, this episode has been fairly… ugh… so far. particularly the future scene with peter talking to himself.
Mohimder still called it the Bennet home, though.
So future Peter married Sylar and they adopted Mr. Muggles?
forgot about that conor.
Maybe Sylar can be redeemed…
How does Peter know he can "take" powers now?
molly didn’t really age… weird
Ah ha – it is Daphne in the paintings! Poor her.
at least she did not end up with hiro
Shouldn’t peter have Sylars ablity.
Molly is a strange one to me…and that is saying something on this show.
I think if you were going to attack Peter and Sylar you’d need more than three agents.
You fool… she shot the future you.
noah jr. just got messed up!
Oh, shit.
A. That was awesome.
B. Sylar is now going to kill EVERYONE.
AWESOME!!!!
Okay, i take back what i said before.
This episode just got AWESOME
that came out of nowhere
omg
Thats what they get for messing with him.
What is with all the baby killing in media this week?
That kid was hardly a baby.
In that painting, Daphne was in great shape for being at ground zero of a nuclear explosion.
it official matt parkman can not be happy
looks like heroes is still willing to go the distance and mess up thousands of people!
She either ran away at the very end or got vaporized.
The subtitles don’t jive with my picture-in-picture box.
damn i love the hatian.
That was like the start of a bad joke – "How many nerds does it take to climb into a maintenance shaft?"
There is ALWAYS a ventilation shaft.
so… the fly or spiderman, still can’t decide.
Haha – looks like the building bully is going to get what’s coming to him.
@anson17 how about water bug
I’m thinking Venom instead of Spiderman… but close!
Speaking of named "real" heroes… How do they get away with constantly referencing DC and Marvel properties? Last week we got told that Nikki was the Hulk and that Ando and Hiro were Batman and Robin.
My reaction to what just happened:
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeess… NO!"
@Crippler – Why couldn’t they refence them? They are pop culture icons that get referenced everywhere.
That was the most predictable jump cut Heroes has ever done.
Best spinoff idea; Future Sylar kills everyone in the future in his apron
Is future Nathen Petrelli not married?
So. . . Linderman:Nathan :: Six:Baltar?
@conor- agreed…I’m all for having eye candy but Ali Larter and Maya have to go for the sake of bringing this story up a few notches.
didn’t he used to be an alcoholic. Why is he drinking again?
Now THAT’S how make a drink on the rocks!
"but how could you see me? The glass was frosted…"
nathan is a pimp
those sunglasses were hideus.
hmm… liking the torture scene idea. She’s basically her dad. is she gonna give him the eye scar???
Yowza! Claire’s gone ’round the bend.
In the future.. sunglasses are even bigger.
Can someone explain why future Peter (aka Scarface) can’t heal anymore? He should have taken those Claire bullets and then just got back up.
go terrorist peter!!!
Man, someone get Peter some ointment or something! A cloth… some gauze… anything…
Geez.
No frakin way…
So this is kind of the opposite of season one future where they wanted powers abolished?
You can’t say Sylar didn’t warn Peter about the hunger…
@Conor – Right, that Susan Sarandon movie wasn’t nearly as tittilating as I had hoped.
@crippler I guess he did not heal because he did not see it coming, or the bullets were not pulled out yet
Scarface Peter is from the timeline where Claire died (they didn’t save the cheerleader), so he never met her and never got her healing factor. I think?
On another note, the word "webisode" needs to be stopped.
Parkman is still tripping on the floor?
That explains that.
And there’s your Parker-Daphne picture.
@ohcaroline – I thought Scarface Peter was from the future that we’re watching right now.
A turtle maybe
HELL YEAH LOVE THAT TURTLE
@Conor Technically he’s from a future where Nathan told everyone he had abilities.
@Cyberauron – Claire doesn’t need to see it coming, or have the bullets pulled out unless they’re in her head.
@OhCaroline – I’m not sure. I mean, by season 1 rules, Peter only has to be next to someone with powers.. right?
@YoSoyJu – Right, the one we’re watching tonight. Where Claire is not dead.
The Phanton menace?
ADAM’S BACK!!! yes.
yes hes back
No fraking way….ADAM?
Yeah! Adam’s back!
Can’t…stand…Adam.
Mr. Petrelli?
Hmm, Peter had the scar in "Five Years Gone" which was the AU from the first season — so I was assuming he was somehow the same guy — but Claire obviously knows him in tonight’s future so —
Yeah, this is why I hate time travel.
Well, I liked that ep a lot, anyway.
When I was watching season two with my brother on DVD a couple of weeks ago. I saw Adam grab the key, and we were like "well there is his way back."
Well, that was pretty cool. Forgot all about him gettin buried 6 feet under. How is he involved in all this though?
Thoughts on tonight – pretty good. Still pretty disjointed. I liked the fight scene. Could use a lot more of those. For just a second there, we saw what the flash might look like using modern CGI techniques.
@ohcaroline I think that its a different future but Peter seem destined to be scared.
Ugh. I see where theyr’re going, but I think we’re seeing the error of trying to salvage the lost part of last season. Too much repetition. Future World is bad, we must save it. Ali Larter struggles with powers, Nathan (who is still married right?) immediately breaks some commandmants.
My wife things this show has jumped the shark, I’m not so sanguine, but I am concerned.
Hmm, you know, it’s obvious scarred-Peter isn’t a healer — because he didn’t heal when she killed him — but how did he not absorb her power?
I need to stop thinking about this.
I think that the proximity of the Haitian at the time of Peter’s shooting has to be the reason why he didn’t heal.
Technically is this the timeline that Future Pete is from? I thought in his timeline Claire wasn’t at her house to be brain-raped by Sylar.
I don’t like Adam. He’s supposed to this scary villian, but there is nothing scary about him.
@Crippler: originally Peter had to be in the proximity of other "Heroes" to access there power- sort of like Synch of Generation Next. But over the course of the first season his power was explained as "empathic" and he had to just think about how that person makes him feel and he could use there powers.(Of course, if he’s around random mutants he has never met/interacted with he shouldn’t be able to use there power).
Since then he has become way too powerful and has been written out of the main story only to return from amnesia/lost in the future at the end of the season all Deus Ex Machina-like.
I wonder why Sylar’s default power is telekinesis?
All in all I liked this episode, it’s about what the whole season has been for me so far: mostly good, sprinkled with things that make me think "Seriously?" Like – Peter can’t absorb Sylar’s power through proximity, but all he needs to do is fix a watch and he has "The Hunger"? Matt’s on a spirit quest following his totem turtle? They’ve now just started taking DC & Marvel characters wholesale [Spider-Man, Flash, Magneto, Ice Man, Banshee, etc.]?
I think the groundwork they’ve lain in these first few episodes has a lot of potential, but I agree with what seems to be the prevailing opinion – the show could benefit from more focus and less storylines.
@ohcaroline Future Peter was always scared of Future Claire shooting him. My guess is that in the future where a lot of people can heal themselves, they have made healing suppression bullets. War is a catalyst for technology. She said he was still alive, but made no attempt to remove the bullets, so that’s my guess.
Also, it’s a TV show where they needed a character to go away for a while.
@Brandino It’s also Peter’s. Wouldn’t it be yours? In battle, if you could punch a guy in the face without hurting your knuckles or throw a guy across the room without hurting your back, wouldn’t you? And to do it all from a safe distance?
Question: Shouldn’t a telekinetic also be able to fly?
I look forward to winning my never-ending battle with the tivo so I can join in on one of these threads sometime before the show goes off the air. It sounds like it’s getting better.
@YoSoyJu- Sorry- I should have been more clear. I wonder why when Peter mimics Sylar he got TK instead of Sylar’s original power or even any of his other abilities he has killed for.
Even when he got his abilities back at the end of season 2 he had TK but had lost all of the other powers he had "acquired".
Sylar can fly (or at least levitate).
What are Sylar’s powers now:
TK
Pyschometry
Midas Touch
and Banshee Scream.
Is that it? I remember a pair of The Company’s agents attacking Sylar on a video monitor. Since every pair has one mutant it’s safe to bet he has who ever’s power that was.
Duh, and Claire’s Healing Factor
I’m still waiting for it to start. But while I wait I have a question, does anyone else here watch Chuck? That show is damn good fun
‘I Am Become Death’?
Let’s see with a little editing that title wont have the grammatical error anymore….’I Have Become Death’…That’s more like it.
Well…. That was great….
@TNC – In reference to the Trinity test in New Mexico, where his Los Alamos team first tested the bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer famously recalled the Bhagavad Gita: "If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one. Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
@Brandino – Wasn’t there also some lady who had super hearing? Didn’t Sylar…or Gabriel or whatever he is called now…kill her and take that one too?
I’ve never hated, Heroes, but the writing is not tight. It’s always compared to Lost, because it brought big ratings to its network like Lost did for ABC. The difference is that I have more faith in Lost’s writing than I do in Heroes’ writing.
BTW, Sylar did kill a woman with super hearing (she was a mechanic, if memory serves), but I guess that power he stole was just useful for that season. He doesn’t really use it now.
I thought that Suresh was going to be a badass creature, but he’s just a sadsack in the future. Poor dude.
I agree that there are too many characters. They hold too tightly on these characters. Suresh should go, but I guess since he’s the narrator, he cannot be killed off. His stupid voiceovers that beat us over the head with obviousness.
Even though I like the actor, Matt Parkman is useless as well. He could die and no one would miss him. He doesn’t really tip the balance, unless he becomes as powerful as his father.
I’m glad that the big bads aren’t obvious this season. This season it’s the Naturals Vs. the Experiments. Evil Claire is just so cute!
I think this episode was stronger than the last few. I’m still not happy with it, or as happy as I was during season one, but its looking up.
And I really believe that its Nathan Petrelli’s personal goal to bang Nikki and all her sisters. BTW, he is still married right?
Perhaps Peter can’t regenerate from injuries made in the presence of the Haitian. Even after he was left alone with Future Nathan, Peter’s scapel cuts weren’t healing. Perhaps Peter got cut in the face by the Haitian or near the Haitian and couldn’t heal it even afterwards. I will say he’s continuing his quest to out-idiot Claire with full-force. Copying Sylar’s powers after the guy pretty forwardly told him he’d get the addiction as well, that was just the god king of the hall of colossally stupid ideas. "Oh, I need to figure out how s–t works." Well, bring him along, you idiot, don’t take his blinking powers.
I will go out on a limb and say Adam’s return made me very happy. I kind of like his "the world needs a do-over/Linderman on steroids" motivation and his history with Hiro, my favorite character is cool to me. I like him more so than Sylar, actually, especially since the producers are now turning from a fully aware sociopath to some super-junkie. Taking away his responsibilty in what he does takes away what little threat I saw in the guy. I’m also not digging on Angela being his mom. That’s just too soap opera-ish if you ask me.
Nevertheless, the whole "some of you were genetic experiments" sounds kind of interesting though I really can’t stand Ali Later. At all. Still, this season is getting very very interesting with Peter, Mohinder, Ando, and Nathan all being teased as villains to one degree or another.
The Bad: So let me get this straight Peter can survive a nuclear explosion, but he can’t get shot in the chest twice? Someone brought up the point of the Haitian being close, but that was only for a mere 10 min. On the autopsy table shouldn’t he have revived a la Claire season one. Claire was dead until she hit the autopsy table where she came back to life, so apparently you can be dead for awhile before reviving. And if you want to say you have to be thinking about the person for the ability to work, how do you explain Peter reviving on Homecoming night, or him surviving an f’n nuclear blast?
Anyways that really pissed me off for the entirety of the episode. Besides that I was also pissed that Saresh’s recorder was in the exact same spot 4 years in the future… even though you see him move it(present) later in the episode. Also if they do that stupid white eye reveal of going into a future coma I’m not gunna be happy. We get it, white contacts make your eyes look cool.
The Good: Now don’t get me wrong, this was a great episode. Great moments include:
– Sylar crushing his son and blowing up.
– Seeing the events that lead to a regulated mutant society come into play.
– "Hail to the Chef"
All in all I’m excited this show is back on its good foot.
–
regarding Peter’s healing/not healing…the company does have the technology to neutralize powers (i.e. Section 5) so perhaps they miniaturized that tech.
I felt like this episode was all over the map….
Though I am intrigued by the thought of a third Ali Larter out there. What will her powers be?
@conor: Ah that makes a little more sense, since it actually grammitcally works within the sentence and not as a fragment. Thank you
It sounds like to me though that this was mostly taking place in the future….Which would mean it’s kinda pointless considering the whole point of the series is to try and fix the past so the messed up future doesnt happen…Am I wrong or am I right thinking so far this season has been pointless?
Well, you could argue all TV is pointless.
When in doubt create a character whose power is to retcon everything.
Maybe hero and the haitian combined Power Rangers style.
Did I miss something? How did Peter and Future Claire survive the nuclear blast, when even Daphne barely got away? They just show up later elsewehere with Peter restrained.
@Manos210 They’re invicible.
So I’m assuming future Sylar is still alive as well.
Seems reasonable.
Here’s something, where is Maya living? How does she afford food and clothes? She can’t have working papers yet…
I keed.
They killed off the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants too quickly … Magneto and Banshee are dead; and the Human Torch is back in jail. Would have liked to see them create some more mayhem (ala Marvel’s 1985 book). All they ended up doing was car jacking an SUV and then get caught knocking over the bank. They should have made the cliffhanger ending for the bank robbery episode when Sylar walked in (would have had all the fanboys drooling for the next episode). Then have an (extended) fight between them to start of the next show. This may be stretching the budget for a television show; but some of the exposition has started to become a bit much. Minor criticisms aside, this is still a good, fun show (better than most). PS – the Mohinder stuff is reminding me of the movie "The Fly".
@Cam- I thought we’d already met all 3 Ali Larters: Ice girl, alter ego girl(dead), alter ego girls sister(dead).
@Ruo21 Did we? I’ve completely forgotten. Sometimes the things I forget scare me.
Curses, I was hoping the third would show up with the power to be even hotter.
When you’re posting fast and furiously, sometimes things get missed.
@Conor – Re: referencing the Hulk.
I thought Marvel and DC were pretty touchy about things like that. I mean, isn’t that why City of Heroes got sued?
See, I understand something being in the public domain being fine for discussion, satire, or any other number of fair uses. What I’m a bit shaky on is this. If you have your character (Nikki) have the same attributes as another fictional character (the Hulk) and then go so far as to reference that other fictional character and say they’re the same, then isn’t that IP infringement? I mean, personally, I don’t care, but there’s a reason why every movie runs a disclaimer saying that these events bear no resemblance to any person, real or fictious, living or dead. It’s because lawyers need to litigate!
@Crippler – Visual representations are different than spoken. They can’t stop people from saying the names of their characters, but they can stop them from being used visually.
@Connor – So, you could claim your character was Superman and that he was super strong and could fly, but the only way that DC would take offence would be if you dressed him in blue tights with red highlights?
Just seems odd to me.
S3 Heroes. I’m high on Peter’s personal plot, Sylar’s personal plot, always dig Noah and the core thread of the superpowers being given to the world for better or worse. I want to know where different Heroes got their abilities. Why they got them. Adam is back… hrm, maybe I just like the villains.
I hate Mohinder, especially as the observer voice, the Latina woman and Hiro’s childlike idiocy – despite everything he’s seen – no one is that stupid. I’m not saying he needs to be dark and gritty, but marginally practical, please? I hate the speedster chick, mostly because of the juvenile rivalry with Hiro.
I’m indifferent to Parkman, Tracy, and Claire – though her personal plot is very slowly warming.
I actually think my favourite character is Parkman, I think the actor is doing a fantastic job. I could use a little more action in his present day storyline, but for the most part I enjoy all of his screen time.