The Heroes Review Episode 4.13/4.14
Posted by Michael Weyer on 01.05.2010
The show is back with a double dose that pushes the plotlines forward as the two big bads come together, Hiro gets a new quest and everyone says goodbye to Nathan.
Welcome all, back to the Heroes Report. Jason Chamberlain has decided to take time off due to personal issues so I’ll be handling the recaps from here on in. As such, I’ll be a bit more in-depth to the various plotlines. We get a double dose of the show to kick things off so here we go.
:Suresh opening: Can I just say once more how much I have not missed those annoying voiceovers?
Carnival Claire: The opening plot has Claire still at the carnival doing grunt work while Samuel is trying to sway her over to his side. When he talks about how the carnival means freedom, Claire pulls a poet’s line “Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you.” She’s suspicious right off when Lydia sends her to Samuel’s trailer with breakfast and Claire sees the Primatech files. Samuel tells Eli the Multiple Man to keep an eye on Claire, ignoring how sending the creepiest guy after her will just get Claire more suspicious. Indeed, he freaks Claire out, sending her into the Hall of Mirrors (a great bit of Eli seeing her reflections as she smirks “now you know how it feels.”) where she knocks out Eli (causing his doubles to vanish). She goes back to the trailer only to be caught and literally hung up to dry by Doyle. She tries to talk to him as Doyle reveals that it was Joseph who recruited him to the carnival and he hates having to leave it, as it’s made him a better man. Claire insists she doesn’t want to ruin things but help and Doyle lets her go. She seeks out Lydia and while Lydia refuses to talk, Claire quickly figures out that Samuel killed Joseph but is caught by Eli.
Samuel’s Errand: During all this, Samuel has been in the city checking up on none other than Emma. She’s a bit down as she was turned down for medical school after getting her strength back and was thus open for Samuel’s manipulations. The man knows sign language and confirmed that he was the one who sent her the cello as he needed her help. He brings her to a park and reveals the true power Emma has, which is to lure people with her music, making her a deaf siren, which is a pretty cool idea. She plays and among the people coming to listen is a homeless man named Ian who leans on a tree which instantly sprouts leaves. Emma uses her hospital connections to get him checked out and discharged as Samuel offers her a compass and a chance to stay with them. He’s about to leave but struck by a TV report on a private plane carrying Senator Nathan Petrelli crashing.
Hiro’s Quest: Hiro pops back up in Japan where he gets into an altercation with a mugger and is arrested. Ando has been looking for him for six weeks and Hiro is brought to the offices. Apparently, Samuel’s mind-reader scrambled Hiro’s head a bit as he babbles about finding Suresh, only it’s in comic book terms (“We must storm Castle Arkham to find Dr. Watson!”). His sister wants to get Hiro to a doctor but Ando realizes Hiro’s trying to communicate to him and does a nice job piecing together the geek clues to figure it out. A great bit is that Hiro keeps calling him Sancho (after Don Quixote’s companion and Hiro as the famous dreamer is a nice touch) and a heartfelt moment of Ando acknowledging himself as the sidekick and Hiro replying “The best one I know.” Aw, the boys are back together.
A New Land: Back at the carnival, Samuel returns to face Claire, confirming he killed Joseph but citing it as a moment of passion. Samuel points out how Noah has killed a lot of people as well and Samuel is trying to help his people out and fulfill his brother’s dream. He tries to tell Claire he still wants to help their people and brings her to the nearby valley where Ian is waiting. Bringing water up from the earth, Samuel lets Ian do his thing and in seconds, the desert has turned to lash grass which even Claire has to admit is impressive. She’s still not sold but Samuel lets her go with a compass. Just as Claire is leaving, she turns on her phone and hears a message from Peter…
Nathan’s funeral: I’m pretty sure Angela came up with the cover story as it’s just like her not to see the irony of a guy who can fly “dying” in a plane crash. The funeral was a naturally somber affair with Claire softly crying for the father she barely knew and Peter giving a great eulogy of how Nathan taught him to be strong and know he was ready for what needed to be done.
Heroes continues…Now!: I liked that fun little caption that led us to hour two.
Meeting of Minds: At the carnival, Samuel is remembering Vanessa, a girl he apparently loved as a teen but had to leave behind when their family moved. His musings are interrupted by Doyle crashing in, saying he tried to stop “him.” “Him” of course is Sylar, looking for some payback on Samuel. Samuel tells Doyle to leave but keep everyone nearby so they can strengthen Samuel. Sylar just wants to take everyone’s powers and lives and when Samuel talks of his plans, Sylar sniffs that all people want is to use him. To Sylar’s surprise, he can’t kill Samuel, who uses the opportunity to call up a sandstorm that rips half of Sylar’s face away (nice makeup work there). Samuel sends Lydia in to try and seduce Sylar to his side. Lydia, of course, hopes to use Sylar to kill Samuel but Sylar sees through her plan. They have a brief make-out session as Sylar has flashes of memories from both Matt and Nathan which drives him away. Lydia realizes Sylar’s been infected by those memories and weakening him. Sylar fires back that he knows Lydia’s plans as he already borrowed her power (“I didn’t need to kill you. It’s just something I like to do.”) but Lydia gets the win by snapping that Sylar can’t kill her. “You’re impotent.”
Sylar goes to see Samuel and a great discussion of the two occurs as Samuel points out how they’re alike: “I’m not a good guy but I’m not all bad either.” He decides since Sylar has Lydia’s power to see what Sylar’s future holds and places ink into him. Sylar gets a tattoo and both men are surprised at it as Sylar declares that Samuel was wrong, the carnival wasn’t for him and leaves them in peace.
Normal life: At the wake, Peter is keeping to himself while Claire is upset with Angela and Noah for lying about Sylar being dead. Angela acknowledges her mistake and urges Angela to help Peter out. They talk and at one point, Claire cuts her finger and since Peter still has the Haitian’s powers, it doesn’t heal. She’s actually happy to see it, realizing she needed some normality in her life right now. She brings up her old season 2 boyfriend West (apparently they’re Facebook friends) and how Nathan accused her of “daddy issues” by dating a boy who flies. Peter is still withdrawn, not speaking and at one point leaves the party when he hears of a shooting nearby on the police scanner. Claire catches up to him at an office where a fired worker has gone nuts. Peter has her tend to a wounded worker while he confronts the gunman, trying to talk the man down. It doesn’t work as Peter is shot while subduing the man. Claire blasts him for taking chances and Peter replies that he has to keep moving because if he had time to stop and think about Nathan, it would be too much. Claire lets him borrow her healing power and he then asks where West is. The final shot has Peter flying off, apparently borrowing West’s gift and off to parts unknown.
Not So Fast: After meeting Claire, Noah is confronted by Edgar but is ready this time with a stun gun. He goes to an old friend of his, Nozawa, whose restaurant freezer Noah has used in the past. Lauren shows up (and we discover that her nickname in the company was “the Iron Maiden”) with some drugs as Noah reveals how speedsters don’t like the cold with Nathan tied to a chair inside the freezer. This man has the most interesting idea for a date night. Despite the truth serum, Noah is still ticked off at the whole getting stabbed thing (despite Edgar apologizing for it) and takes out some frustration in punches. Lauren tells him to think about this logically as Noah realizes Edgar doesn’t have a compass and is alone. He decides to try Lauren’s approach (“If it was up to me, you’d be down six fingers by now”) and gets Edgar to tell him about being exiled and Samuel in charge. It’s discussed how the carnival has changed under Samuel as he’s less about protecting the people and more about his own plans. Edgar seems ready to help, giving Noah plans on the carnival after they let him out of the freezer. But when Noah and Lauren talk about getting a raid together, Edgar realizes this would wreck the carnival and doesn’t want his “family” being hurt. Breaking his handcuffs (apparently super-speed helps the lock picking exercise immensely), he takes off, stealing all the maps and notes he’d helped them out with. Well, that could have gone better. Noah is upset about all this, comparing this failure to his relationship with Claire as Lauren makes the great observation “burned bridges can be rebuilt.”
Ending: Coming back to her dorm, Claire finds Gretchen out and lies on the bed exhausted. Outside, Sylar is seen hovering and we see that the tattoo on his arm is of Claire’s face as he smiles at her. “Hello, cheerleader.”
The 411: Thoughts: Some good moves on the various plotlines here. Emma as a siren is a unique touch and we get more of Samuel’s overall plans. The Knepper/Quinto scenes were tremendous as the two played off each other wonderfully and I still like how Samuel comes off likeable despite what he’s done. The cast was also good with the funeral scenes as Milo sold Peter’s refusal to accept his pain and obsession with payback with Hayden’s own fun work as Claire in both episodes, mixing nice humor with some key dramatic stuff. The Hiro/Ando scenes were rough at first but got funnier and do enjoy them showing the great bromance the duo share. Overall, a great return of the show as the second half of the season promises to be even more action-packed than the first as the plots are coming together and forming a clear picture for some fun.
