The Heroes Review: 3.7 Eris Quod Sum

Posted by Jason Chamberlain on 10.28.2008

This week on Heroes, Elle and Claire hit the road, Sylar saves his brother and Arthur's army grows! 411's Jason Chamberlain has the full review of "Eris Quod Sum"!

If the third volume of Heroes is indeed a chess match between the matriarch and patriarch of the Petrelli clan, the pieces are moving ever closer!

3.7 Eris Quod Sum
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Directed by: Jeannot Szwarc

Did You Notice? - "Eris Quod Sum" is Latin, and translates to, "You will be what I am."... Lyle's line "The bitch is back" is a reference to Kristen Bell's (Elle) former series, Veronica Mars. The series finale of the show was titled "The Bitch Is Back".

Indeed, the Petrelli family continues to be the centre of the Heroes universe. With the show’s various storylines beginning to intersect, they all revolve around Pinehearst, the shady company fronted by Darth Petrelli.

I’m not sure that we’re any closer to understanding Arthur’s true intentions. By collecting an army of “villains” and arranging for the deaths of those he deems unfit or unwilling to join his gang, it seems he seeks control over the kind of abilities that are out there and how they’re used. This is further evidenced by his ability to take the powers of others. He leaves Peter powerless, as he does with Maya, though she considers it a gift, and takes the power into himself. Does Papa Petrelli have the same hunger his son Gabriel does? Does he seek to be “the most special”?

When we first see Arthur, he is standing watch over Peter, and the pair quickly engage in an argument. Arthur has taken Peter’s abilities “for good” (it says here that Peter will absorb them all over again sometime in the near future), because Peter “left him no choice”, and the youngest Petrelli brother steadfastly refuses to be a part of Pinehearst’s machinations, which earns him a prominent place on Arthur’s shit list.

While one parent traps their child away, the other sets about setting another free. Angela, still in a coma, uses her dream power to reach out to Sylar, in a chemical induced coma of his own thanks to Peter. She wakes him and tells him to man up and go get Peter. The words of his new found Mom are spinach to Sylar’s Popeye as he immediately snaps off his bindings, rips the door from his cell and heads off to Pinehearst to save “little bro”.

The developing brother relationship between Peter and Sylar is one of the most interesting elements of this season and, to me, the best part about the “Sylar Petrelli” concept. Two characters originally presented as diametric opposites, a pair whose conflict seemed to define the series, I once thought they might even form the backbone of the series, that their hero/villain relationship would be the show’s very own “James Bond/Blofeld” or “Harry/Voldemort”. But three seasons in and it seems the pair are far from that, and may in fact simply be puppets in the war between their scheming parents. How they overcome the intentions of their parents and forge their own destinies, and the sides that they ultimately choose, will be very interesting.

With the revelations about Sylar’s power, we can get behind his quest for redemption and see the heroism in his attempts to battle the hunger inside of him. When he storms Pinehearst and saves Peter, who is not only surprised, but genuinely thankful, it’s another step on that path. However unlikely, Sylar has earned at least some of Peter’s trust.

Sylar gets left behind in the rescue attempt, and Arthur immediately sets about trying to manipulate him (just as, he argues, Angela is). It seems to work, and when Peter risks coming back to save Sylar, the Big Bad rewards him by force pushing him out the window from seven stories up.

The fall doesn’t kill Peter however, as it should without his healing power, and the obvious implication (and what Peter, and I believe) is that Sylar slowed Peter’s fall so that he would survive. He’s going “undercover” at Pinehearst, it would seem, but which side he will ultimately choose is still undetermined. It remains to be seen if Sylar is even a match for Arthur, should he choose to fight him, and a powerless Peter would certainly be of no help in that endeavour.

It seems clear that both Angela and Arthur are manipulating their children, albeit in different ways, and though Angela seems to be on the side of good at the moment, that’s simply because we’ve seen Arthur inherit the show’s badass role. There’s more to know about the Petrelli family.

Speaking of the family, its dark sheep (like many, I’m beginning to wonder if Nathan is a true Petrelli after all) still has a weakness for blondes, and when he finds out about his dad’s survival, he assures Peter that he won’t do anything about it one moment, and then charges off to kick some doors down the next. It’s a bad move, because flying isn’t going to do much good against Darth Petrelli. He better not give Daddy a hug in the vicinity of a window, if you know what I mean. One power suck and Nathan will be diving into a concrete pool and sticking the landing.

What is Arthur truly capable of anyway? Can he safely be called evil at this point? He does help Maya, and then lets her go, so it seems he does have good intentions or, at least, does not waste time and effort on harming those that don’t concern him. That said, he snaps Maury’s neck without a second thought. Maury is far from an innocent, but still, it’s a ruthless move. He also allows Sylar to throw his other son out of a window, presumably to his death, and actually seems disappointed (and, unfortunately for Sylar, suspicious) when Peter isn’t killed by the fall.

I know the dangers of judging characters too quicjly on this show, believe me, but I’ll still have to cast my Arthur advance ballot in the “total douchebag” category, at least for now. That said, the “why/when/how a douchebag" questions are still unanswered. After all, according to Angela, this guy took a self prescribed dirt nap long ago, and we still don’t know why he’s alive.

With Angela still in a coma (albeit a talkative one), Peter powerless, Nathan coming for a visit, Arthur badass and Sylar playing the double agent role (and, IMO, over acting it a little bit) the saga of the Petrelli’s is far from done.

Also at Pinehearst is Mohinder, who continues to rack up the dumb ass points. This is the second shady company he has agreed to join in three years, for those keeping count, and though he seems to be swinging back towards the sane side of things, his character has still developed in a totally unbelievable way this season, and that doesn’t change with his quick decision to join Pinehearst. Yes, they heal Maya, who quickly gives him his walking papers, but he still turns around and gets ready to experiment on Peter, who he once befriended. I almost don’t see the point of commenting on Mohinder anymore, as his story gets more and more convoluted and harder to swallow each week. It’s the one element of this season that, to me, hasn’t clicked.

Elle returns and my eyeballs say thank you, as she seeks Claire’s help with her malfunctioning Electro powers. After a quick cat fight that ends with Kristen Bell soaking wet (see the movie “Sex Drive” for a real funny cat fight) the pair patch things up and head to Pinehearst (those cards are everywhere!). Elle is short circuiting, flinging electricity all over the place, so naturally they decide to take a plane to New York. As good ideas go, that’s up there with covering yourself in honey and walking into a bear cave. Elle narrowly avoids crashing the damn thing and killing every aboard (well, except for Claire) and though the two seem to do some bonding, when they arrive at Pinehearst she thinks only of number one, rushing in to have her power removed while Claire tends to the window ejected Peter.

In Africa, Hiro begins a spirit walk to find out how he can fulfill his destiny, and African Issac continues to be cool.

The final element of this episode to touch on is Daphne and Matt. The hot thief, of course, can’t bring herself to kill Matt, and Knox comes to finish the job. Matt makes brilliant use of his mind powers to send Knox off thinking that he has killed them both. However, it’s one bait and switch too many later when Daphne calls Arthur to tell him “Matt bought it” and he thinks she’s “on his side”. So, she’s not? Good luck keeping that secret, honey. The man’s a mind reader, after all. I’m sure Daphne and Matt will end up together so it’s just a question as to if Arthur stil has his hooks into Daphne, or if she and Matt are trying to swerve Arthur, but I think we could have done without the uncertainty.

Things I Dug

- “Evil forces gather. The dark sun rises. Soon it will be too late. Will you choose your own path, or will you have it chosen for you?”
- Peter's fever dream about his father
- Elle, on the fritz
- “What could possibly drive a father to put his children through such grief?” “Have you met their mother?” BA-DUM-BUM-PSH!!!!
- “Alright Dorothy. Then we’re off to see the wizard.”
- Darth Petrelli snapping Maury’s neck like a twig. Evil, but badass.
- “That’s what brothers do, Peter. They look out for each other.”
- Peter trying to save Sylar from Mohinder. Never thought I’d see that back in season one!
- “I see you’ve still got a weakness for blondes.”
- “I’m gonna dig inside your head, find your worst fear and make it eat you alive.”
- “Angela has done terrible things.” “So have I, and I’m gonna do them all to you.”
- “I’ve been nothing but a bitch, and you’ve been nothing but sweet, and it really just makes me hate you more.”
- “I’m telling you, he saved my life.”
- “I don’t need any doors opened. I plan on kicking them down.”

The 411: A transition episode, certainly, as the various story threads start to weave together. But they're doing so in an entertaining fashion, so I can't complain. However, I do have to take points off for the hack job being done on Mohinder's character, as well as a few too many curve balls. There's a lot to be said for straight forward story telling!

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]