Heroes: Don’t Think It, “Ink” It

So the ink has dried on episode two, and things didn’t get any worse in terms of writing or storyline so that’s always a good sign. But things didn’t get better on the other hand, and I’m starting to think that everyone was right to have bailed on this sinking ship when they had the chance. Monday night’s episode had some intriguing new developments, so let’s just say I’ve put on my life vest but I’m not heading for the lifeboats just yet.

This week Heroes practically crawled, which was a good thing, because instead of hopping from character to character, we had the chance to focus on and develop a few. Matt battled with the demons in his head, while Peter came face to face with the circus ringleader Samuel. And Claire came clean with her new friend Gretchen. And we meet a new character with some unique powers.

CLAIRE BEAR’S ALL GROWN UP
After seeing Claire put herself back together after jumping out a window, Gretchen starts calling her like an ex-boyfriend who just won’t get the hint. Claire does a good job of avoiding her until Noah shows up and invites Gretchen out to lunch with them. Being the snarky girl that she is, Gretchen takes every chance to rub it in Claire’s face that she knows something is up, but Noah’s too smart not to realize that it’s not every day that a college girl gushes about someone she saw on YouTube that can’t feel pain. Noah confronts Claire when he thinks she let her secret slip and says they’ll need the Haitian to erase Gretchen’s memory, but Claire confirms that it’s not what he thinks and even if it were, she’s old enough to decide who to trust.

It takes Gretchen opening up about being teased in high school for being bulimic, something very deep and personal, to convince Claire that she can confide in her. And she’s genuinely happy once she does. The two get closer emotionally and physically, foreshadowing the girl-on-girl action to come. Gretchen even suggest they become roommates but I can’t see anything good coming out of kissing a girl, liking it and living with them!

GET OUT OF MY HEAD
I feel so sorry for Parkman because he really is a good guy who just happens to get himself into the worst situations when he’s not even trying to. That’s also a pretty big problem when it comes to the show because no matter how long we watch these characters, they fall into the same pattern over and over again. Where’s Hiro at this point? He’s figuring out how to fulfill his destiny and become a true hero. Nothing new there. Sylar keeps popping into Matt’s head and messing with him. Matt believes he can just tune him out and ignore him since Sylar’s powerless, but Sylar makes it clear that he’s not powerless and he won’t go away so easily.

When Matt and his partner attempt to arrest a drug dealer at his home, Sylar plays a sick mind game on him. First he helps Matt find the dealer, saves him from getting shot by alerting him that the perp has a gun but then leads him to find a kidnapping note (fake) and a dead body under the stairs (false, as well.) Matt isn’t clued into this game until he’s already beat the guy to a pulp and his partner is looking at him with eyes that say what have you done. The beating is so bad that Matt has to use his powers to erase his partner’s memory, a power he’s worked hard not to use. He might have saved his job at this time, but he lost a lot of his dignity. Point, Sylar.

THE BOY WITH THE SAVIOR COMPLEX
And Peter has some strife of his own. When a William Hopper sues Peter, complaining that he’s out of work because Peter manhandled him during his last rescue, things start to spin out of control. His co-workers start wondering if he really is the hero he seems to be or if he may have started all the trouble himself to “look” like a hero. And it looks even more suspicious because he doesn’t remember William Hopper being at the scene or on the log so he denies it vehemently.

What we learned earlier was that Samuel not only controls the earth but also ink. He takes a little pool of ink in through his fingers before leaving his tattooed lady Lydia and the circus behind. He even sneaks into Peter’s apartment and uses the ink to place himself into a picture from the accident that Peter clipped out of the newspaper. The end game to all this running around is to find someone to replace his dead brother Joseph who apparently is like his compass. It hasn’t been fully divulged what this compass does for him besides give him peace of mind, and but now Samuel’s figured out a way to sink his hands into Hiro and Peter. Two down.

He hits Peter where it hurts and that’s his heart and his guilty conscience. Peter is convinced “William” wasn’t there until he returns home and finds the doctored photo. That’s when he starts feeling really bad and finds “William” to apologize. Samuel shares with him that he lost his brother, and Peter shares that he wanted a turn at saving people as a paramedic instead of watching people die as a hospice nurse. And that’s all Samuel needs to know to recognize that he’s the guy that he’s been looking for. But before he goes, he drops the suit, shakes his hand and says that Peter’s exactly who he hoped he’d be.

Then, Samuel’s off to visit the house he and his brother grew up in. His father was a butler, and they lived in the carriage house, but since the new residents are throwing a grand party of their own, the lady of the house won’t give him the time of day. As a thank you for her time, he creates a sinkhole that sucks the house into oblivion, though I didn’t hear any ‘your welcomes’ in return. Samuel is definitely giving Sylar a run for his money in the best Heroes villain category.

NEW GIRL IN TOWN
Peter runs into a deaf woman just as her powers are starting to emerge. At first you don’t really know what Emma’s, played by Deanne Bray, deal is. I kept thinking how can she just act like it’s normal that her alarm clock also makes her bed vibrate. In what world is that normal? But, apparently, it is in the deaf world. Emma starts to see bright light, and the doc thinks that it may just be heightened senses, but by the end of the episode we realize she is seeing sound depicted in this bright light.

When she first runs into Peter, the look he gives her when he realizes the unresponsive person he’s been trying to have a conversation with is actually deaf, is the look that she tries so hard to avoid every day. But when she comes across a cello and the amazing amount of light it emits, she can’t help but play it. The people who surround her don’t have pity in their eyes but amazement, but when Peter shows up again she’s reminded once again and runs. Me thinks this is not the last we or Peter will see of Emma.

WRAP IT UP
So in the end it wasn’t a horrible episode, and I like where they’re taking Samuel and Peter and the introduction of this new Emma character. Yet, I’m not sure two new storylines and one improved one is enough to save the show. I’ll stick with it for the whole season because I’m not one to give up, so I guess we have awhile to see what happens. Here’s hoping that episode four, which will undoubtedly focus more on Tracy and Hiro most likely, reinvents those characters in new and creative ways that will keep me excited or at least hopeful.

Season 4, Episodes 3: Ink (originally aired September 28, 2009)

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Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal, Justin Lubin, Chris Haston