Heroes: Villains

This should have been a jumping off point for Heroes season three from the start.  Where this episode is placed, it might as well serve as filler.  It doesn’t move the story that the writers have spent the past two months telling any closer to a resolution, and it gives us a quick look at events that will probably have little influence on the final episodes of the “Villains” arc.

Yet this time, Heroes gets the time traveling right.  Through Hiro’s trippy spirit walk, the audience travels one year into the past and gets a glimpse at the lives some of our heroes or villains led before we knew them so well.  And there are three main reasons why Heroes does this type of story best.

One, we got a taste of a past we’ve never seen but that seamlessly fills in the gaps of season one events we could recall as if we watched them yesterday.  Two, it brings characters we were not aware of during the first season full circle.  And three, the development of these characters are deepened more in one hour than they have been in the last three episodes combined.

What Heroes has been missing, that this episode dearly reminded us, is an understanding of how these powers can internally, both emotionally and mentally, change a person.  During season one, the audience was so invested in Peter’s, Claire’s, Hiro’s and many other characters’ plights as they coped with raw emotions over powers so new and unreal.  There was also more cyclical storytelling.  Heroes looped through each other’s lives.  They realized they were meant to meet and meant to touch one another in some way.  It was a story about separate people with separate problems, all being connected and brought together for a greater purpose.

Much like the fantastic episode “Six Months Ago,” we peeked into the lives of the Petrelli family and a few others around the time it started raining powers post season one’s eclipse.

THINGS WE’VE LEARNED FROM THE PAST

*Nathan and the DA’s office were investigating Linderman for some shady business practices.

*Arthur, tangled up along with him, couldn’t allow Linderman’s downfall to be his.

*When he couldn’t convince Nathan to drop the case, he plotted his son’s death.

*Shockingly, someone-for-hire tried to run Nathan’s car off the road with his wife in the passenger seat, and we’re treated to the scene from “Six Months Ago” that left his wife paralyzed.

*Arthur did a lot of mind erasing to Angela, leaving her blissfully unaware of his plans.

*Linderman healed Angela’s mind so she could remember.

*With a leg up from the Haitian, she prevented Arthur from using his powers, long enough to poison him.

* Paralyzed but still able to use his mind-wielding powers, Arthur convinced his doctor to notify his family he died and keep comfortable enough to plot his recent reemergence.

We all know that Arthur didn’t die that day, but we know what led up to his bedridden disappearance and how his family was left in the dark.

We also get to see the path of two people that seemed completely divergent until now.

* Flint is Meredith’s younger brother. (Which is possibly why they have such similar powers.)

* They were both lowly thieves before being caught by the Company’s Thompson.

* For a short time after, Meredith was a Company agent, helping Thompson bring guys to Level 5.

* The Company also wanted to enlist Flint, but instead, Meredith helped him escape on a train with her.

* Thompson followed them both, and while Flint got away, Meredith was cornered.

* Thompson released her when he realized the reason she could never trust the Company was because of Claire’s supposed death.

There’s a cool scene where we see Claire run into the same train from the “Pilot” that Meredith just inadvertently set ablaze.

We also see more inside info on the Company and the operation they were running.

* Noah teamed up with Elle, and they observed Sylar.

* Sylar attempted to commit suicide after he killed his first victim in “Six Months Ago,” but Elle saved him.

* There was a definite chemistry between Sylar and Elle, so much so that he believed he could suppress his hunger and she had faith that he could change.

* However, since it was their mission to see how Sylar transferred powers from his victims, Elle baited Sylar with another “special” human.  Hence, Noah and Elle played an integral role in creating a monster.

We see another “Sliding Doors”-like scene where after the completion of their mission, Noah hops into a cab from which Peter exits, and we all know who’s driving this yellow bullet.

So as you can see, a lot has changed in one year.  In the end, Hiro awakens from his spirit walk to find Usutu beheaded and a really ticked off Arthur.  What this episode becomes is a reminder of how fantastic Heroes used to be.  Even though I loved some of this season’s high-octane thrills, I never spent time wondering if the big picture would have a satisfying conclusion.  I hope this episode is not just a tease but instead, a poorly placed, but sorely needed, transition to bring our heroes together once and for all.  While tonight’s episode brought us no closer to quelling my fears, I’m still hanging on to hope.

QUOTABLES

Linderman: I heard your office is about to launch a full-scale investigation into all things Linderman.  Care to comment?

Nathan: I’d shave my wrists.  Handcuffs chafe.

Meredith: They’re trickin’ you because you’re dumb!  You remember what Daddy used to say: “God gave you a big sister instead of a brain.”

Season 3, Episode 8: Villains (originally aired November 10, 2008)

For another take on this episode, check out History Repeats Itself by Paul Secrest.

For more on Heroes, click here.

Mondays at 9/8C on NBC

Photographs courtesy of NBC