Heroes: The Puppet Show

Oh my god, you killed Kensei!  You bastard!

In light of shocking developments in this week’s top notch installment of Heroes, that seems like the only proper response to the seemingly definitive death of Adam Monroe, formerly Takezo Kensei: regenerator, immortal rogue, and primary villain of season 2.  With one small touch, Arthur Petrelli revealed a talent for power theft, stealing Adam’s gift and reducing him to dusty bones, Last Crusade style.  It seems that Papa Petrelli’s talent is a clear forebear of that possessed by sons Peter & Sylar, although Peter’s methods are less cruelly permanent, and Sylar’s are much more so.  Wouldn’t it be fascinating if perhaps all three men were born with the same power, but each one’s character manifested it slightly differently?  Deep stuff.

Elsewhere in the Heroes-verse, it is revealed that Ando’s “death” was the product of some snazzy Back to the Future style manipulations involving fake swords and a blood pouch.  Consider me deeply relieved because however dark this show may get, I have faith in Hiro’s infectious optimism and good will, traits that would hardly mesh with killing his best friend.  So Knox gets his pound of flesh, Hiro’s in with Pinehearst, and it’s off to Africa to wrangle Usutu, Matt’s future painting spirit guide.  Hilarity ensues when Hiro tries to outsmart a man who can see the future.  For instance, getting distracted by a painting of an African man hitting a Japanese man over the head with a shovel only to be… well, you don’t need precognition to see where that punch line is heading.  Hiro ultimately learns not to rely so heavily on his powers, and receives a useful mission briefing from Usutu in the form of a painting depicting the Pinehearst logo and the faces of Arthur, Knox, and two men whose identities remain ambiguous, but I’m convinced one looks a little like Nathan.

Matt meets his future love Daphne, but comes off like a total stalker until falling back on the old standby of providing a piece of information that he couldn’t have possibly known unless he was telling the truth.  Daphne bolts, shaken but not entirely convinced of their romantic destiny.  I’m rooting for their love connection, I just hope it doesn’t turn into You’ve Got Mail From An Alternate Future In My Mind or Sleepless In A Level 5 Bunker in Upstate New York.  Season 3′s other lovebirds, Nathan & Tracy, show up at Mohinder’s place for advice.  Not a great idea these days.  He drugs and shackles them, but they escape with the help of a little empathy, a little seduction, and some severe frostbite.

Claire and her two mommies spend the episode in a standalone storyline that provides one of the series’ most memorably suspenseful and creepy scenes ever when Claire tracks down Eric Doyle, a corpulent bug-eyed marionette theatre owner with the power to make anyone’s body his own private Pinocchio.  He sits the ladies down for a friendly little game of Russian Roulette, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t genuinely afraid for Mrs. Bennet’s life.  Fortunately, she has enough faith in her daughter’s power to unload every chamber into Claire’s chest, creating enough of a distraction to knock out the baddie and call in Noah to haul him away.

Finally back in Petrelliville, Peter & Sylar have a wicked cool fight over who gets to avenge mom’s nightmare-induced coma.  With the help of Elle’s lightning and a steel window cage, Pete puts Sy back into chemical dreamland and teleports into Pinehearst HQ like he’s the freakin’ cavalry.  Understandably shocked at the sight of his presumed dead father, Peter is easily tricked into giving his dear old dad a hug.  Peter Petrelli has faced death, amnesia, insanity, and nuclear meltdown, but he’s never been this powerless.  The war between the heads of the Petrelli clan just swung decidedly in Arthur’s favor.

Season 3, Episode 6: Dying of the Light (originally aired October 20, 2008)

For another take on this episode, check out The Villain Round-up by Inisia Lewis.

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Photographs courtesy of NBC