Heroes: It’s Coming

I’m confused.  Just when I think I couldn’t be any more baffled, the writers throw a storyline like Hiro only being able to remember up to the age of 10. (Yes, you read that right!) What will this new development have to do with anything?!  Hiro used to be one of my faves, and now, his plots have been denounced to drivel.   Everyone else is running around like chickens with their heads chopped off, without purpose or a clue to what’s going on.  The only convincing scenes, tonight, were between Elle and Sylar. (I hear Kristin Bell and Zachary Quinto are close friends which might explain the innate chemistry between the two.) But with the endless list of heroes on this show, great scenes between two characters should be bountiful.

The silver lining, tonight, lies in our heroes coming together and confronting issues, plotlines and futures that have been addressed in prior episodes.  Is this executed well?  We still have yet to see, because by addressing, I mean we’re inching at a snail’s pace closer to understanding this torrid ride we’ve been taken on.  The problem is that after investing more than two months, will we even believe the outcome?  I can’t commit a yes to that just yet.  We’ve been tuned in but I, at least, no longer feel invested.  This episode lacked suspense, and although the writers addressed past plot points, their focus provided no explanations, which is incredibly unsatisfying.  I understand that these arcs are supposed to fit together and give us one big finale in May, but I don’t even feel like we’re anywhere near a midseason cliffhanger.

At least this episode depicted two clear sides.  I can’t imagine they’re as clear as they seem.  Does it matter since, with Arthur’s powers, he can crush all our heroes with his pinky?  On the side of good, we have Peter, Claire, Parkman and Daphne with Angela as team captain.  Joining the dark side is Knox, Flint, Mohinder, Tracy, Elle and Sylar.  Arthur is this team’s head honcho.  You know there are too many characters when Noah, Meredith, Hiro and Ando haven’t even joined a team yet, and Nathan is in limbo. (It’s hard to go against the man you lived your life trying to please, isn’t it, son?)

As I remarked earlier, Hiro and Ando escape Arthur’s clutches, but Arthur has erased a lot of Hiro’s memory.  Ando is demoted from sidekick to babysitter. (Poor best friend.) Hiro would rather use his renewfound powers of time manipulation to play pranks and visit comic book stores than save the world. (Why, writers, why?!) Luckily with the help of Isaac’s 9th Wonders comic, they have a guide, and a prepubescent Hiro has a greater understanding of the magnitude of the situation. (I would like to ask where have these comic books been.  Why haven’t they been used recently if they’re so current?)

Arthur’s keen to the fact that Sylar padded Peter’s fall and tells him that he can “steal” powers without killing. (Arthur is extremely smart to show his softer side here.) He tells him Sylar needs to tune into his empathy and brings him to a shackled Elle. (It would make sense why Peter’s powers come so naturally.) Elle, still reeling from Sylar’s murder of her father, vows to kill him, and the ensuing electrocution scenes are intense.  He tells her to let out all of her vengeance on him.  Eventually she’s out of energy and just wants Sylar to kill her and end her pain.  Our old monster, though, has turned over a new leaf and wants to be a good person.  He also believes they were molded by their parents to act evil; they aren’t innately evil.  In the end, empathy allows him to absorb her powers while she retains them minus the pain.  They share a great moment where she teaches him how to use her power. (And also convinces me that she is future baby Noah’s mother.)

While one brother is gaining powers, another is still powerless.  Claire doesn’t want to leave Peter defenseless, but Peter sees more and more of future Claire in her new, in-charge demeanor.  He wants her to leave him before she loses all her innocence.  However, with Knox and Flint hot on their tails, Claire does all she can to protect him, including a nosedive into pavement. (Very cool.) We soon learn, though, it’s not Peter that our baddies want but Claire herself, and the two barely escape. (Did anyone else catch that both Claire’s uncles were fighting to get to her?)

Another Petrelli, finally, sees his dead father for the first time. (Has anyone verbalized that Nathan is related to Sylar?  Peter, he shouldn’t have to hear from some other hero!) Arthur does exactly what Linderman used to do by pushing Nathan to pursue a government office and pave the way for their plans.  Nathan doesn’t buy into this, but Tracy stays behind and pledges she can get Nathan to see it Arthur’s way. (So that’s how she becomes Mrs. President.)

And Parkman and Daphne confront their feelings for each other when Parkman gets trapped in Angela’s mind.  Daphne definitely didn’t make matters better by zipping off to Arthur to tip him off, but when she confesses what she did and that she was wrong to follow Arthur, Parkman trust her.  And, I suppose, it did help because it brought Arthur into Angela’s mind, and because of his love for her somewhere deep inside of him, he let her go. (What was the point of imprisoning her in the first place if he was going to be the one to release her?) Either way, Mission Parkman achieved.

With Angela awake, she can impart some much-needed information that the opposing side already knows, like the fact that there’s a third component to the formula, and it has to do with someone’s blood.  Claire remembers what Sylar said about her being special and believes she’s the one. (Duh!  Why else would Team Baddies try to capture you?)

As I said earlier, tonight has led our teams to form up.  Now, they’re just waiting on that darn eclipse to show up and/or to save the future, I guess.  I forget at this point who’s saving whom and why.

Season 3, Episode 9: It’s Coming (originally aired November 17, 2008)

For another take on this episode, check out Stalling For Time by Paul Secrest.

For more on Heroes, click here.

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Photographs courtesy of NBC