Heroes: Seriously Shakes Things Up

Did I just enter the Twilight Zone? I couldn’t stop asking myself this question because the episode felt like a completely different show. It was aptly title “Pass/Fail” because it was a little bit of both, and it’s one that’s got me completely torn. The major plot points included Hiro facing the consequences of his time meddling, Samuel and Vanessa strolling down memory lane and Claire and Sylar facing off. But everything from the writing, to the direction and just the overall tone of the episode was out of the ordinary. There was action and romance, tension and witty banter. It was pretty much everything I’d be hoping to get from Heroes for the past two seasons.

The plot moved forward, characters deepened and things surprised me. I couldn’t  have asked for more, except that this came out of nowhere! Did some assistant in the writers room decide to go on a blog after boycotting technology for 2.5 years and then muster up the balls to tell his boss that people have been tearing the show a new one? Oh, and wait, boss! Here are some nifty ways you can actually make the show interesting. Or is it the “Dollhouse/Lost” phenomenon? Must all science fiction shows flounder around in storytelling confusion without an end in sight? (Though the word is that this season’s early February season finale is a huge cliffhanger.) I’m sure I could have gone on wondering, but I really needed my brain cells to focus really hard on the TV so I wouldn’t get lost.

And that’s the part that really irked me since television is as much entertainment as it is comfort, for me. I don’t like to be messed with or teased by a show I’ve invested time (and DVD money!) in. And inconsistency is intolerable to a consistent viewer. So what was so jarring you say? I would be a bad recapper if I didn’t, at least, clue you into this week’s feature presentation, so here’s a quick return to our regularly scheduled program.

“The basic building blocks of our lives, and we have the same blocks, yet here we are. Content college coed and me. How did we end up so different?” – Sylar
Gretchen tries to comfort Claire, who’s still depressed, but heads off to class when things get a little to touchy for her liking. Thankfully, for the my viewing pleasure (though not for Claire), Sylar’s the substitute teacher. He wants to know why Claire is the one who can help him and shows her his new tattoo. He says he’s holding Gretchen hostage to force her hand. Sylar uses this time to give a lecture, pointing out on the board how similar their pasts are. She spits back that the difference is Sylar’s a psychopath and attempts to storm out, but Sylar won’t let  her leave. Instead, he telekinetically holds her down and plants one on her.

Getting another Sylar-Claire pairing is truly magical. He always pushed Claire to be more powerful and fearless, and we get treated to Sylarific quips. He uses powers acquired from Lydia to, basically, read Claire’s soul and figures out that she’s like  him. She doesn’t let people in or allow herself to be vulnerable. He points to the Gretchen memories he read and tells her there’s something significant between them. She takes his pause as a chance to escape by jabbing a pencil into his eye. No really, there was a pen jutting out of his bloody eye! She reaches Gretchen and confesses that Sylar was right, and she wants to step out and be more like her. Gretchen says that maybe Sylar will become human if he loses his powers. But it’s not really her lady love because Gretchen morphs into Sylar, and it becomes apparent that her friend was never in danger. However, this little scare does propel Claire to take a leap and hold Gretchen’s hand for all to see, including Sylar.

“I saved the world… Twice.” – Hiro
Mohinder plans on returning to India to make things right with his old girl Mira. He says goodbye to Noah, Ando and Hiro and is completely self-absorbed and oblivious to the fact that Hiro’s not looking so good. After Mohinder leaves, Hiro passes out and ends up at the diner. But how? Is this real or not? It’s never clear, but I’m just going to assume it was one of those “at death’s doorstep” cerebral moments. In the real world, Ando is rushing Hiro to a hospital where they say they have to operate even though the procedure is risky. But in LaLa Land, the dead Adam Monroe greets him and says that a judge will declare his fate in the case Hiro vs. The World. The judge turns out to be his father who says that Hiro broke the Heroes code by altering time for his own gain, a crime punishable by death.

We take a trip down the Heroes rabbit hole, so forgive me if things get a little crazy. My brain had a hard time trying to understand why they fit some random movie into the middle of a TV show, and then I realized that the movie was kind of cool so why not enjoy it. Hiro’s past is paraded before him, usually in ways to dispute his hero-worthiness. Ando is his attorney, and witnesses include the young pairing of Ando and Kimiko from the fair. But the best part (besides more of the devilishly, charming Adam) was a cameo by the old Sylar from Season 1 and getting to see him rattle off the names of all the heroes he’s killed. Hiro asserts that the world was better with Charlie in it, but when it is his turn to testify, he changes his tune. He owns up to the fact that his motives changed. He used to follow a strict code, like when he wouldn’t bend time to save his father, but as time went on he wanted to right the wrongs in the world. He says that he may, in fact, be guilty. And his father doesn’t argue with him.

Back in the real world, will Hiro make it through the surgery? This is mirrored by his imaginary journey. Speaking of imaginary with his family and friends besides him, Hiro walks towards the bright white light where he’s greeted by  his mother. He wants to leave with honor and changes his plea to guilty, but a katana materializes and his mother urges him to fight Adam. A crazy, awesome, but “huh?” kind of moment ensues as the two sword fight. Hiro eventually kills Adam, and his mother kisses him and tells him she’s proud. He says he’s ready to go, but she tells him he has a destiny to fulfill.

“This is your fantasy, and it’s beautiful, and I’m happy for you. But it isn’t me. My life isn’t here.” – Vanessa
I have to say kudos to the director Michael Nankin for some of the most beautifully shot scenes of the season. Samuel and Victoria reminisce, but she’s already out the door. The wordsmith weaves her right back in, and what unfolds  is a true love story. It isn’t melodramatic and, for just dropping a bomb on us, it felt very organic. I believe this is achieved mostly because Kate Vernon and Robert Knepper acted their pants off.

Samuel’s stories of their childhood really loosen Vanessa up, and by the end they’re enveloped in their old dreams and old feelings. Samuel decides to show her what he’s been planning, and it turns out to be the cottage she always dreamed of in the middle of nowhere. He tells Vanessa that it was all for  her, but even though she clearly cares for him, she can’t leave her life. It’s too much for Samuel to handle, and he tells  her it’s time to get her home. And you know he’s not the type to sit in his room and cry about it, so instead he heads to the diner where they shared a milkshake earlier and flips out on the waitress. He pins all his pains on this one, poor woman and then levels the place and the home he built for him and Vanessa.

WRAP IT UP
If I could liken “Pass/Fail” to any other episode, it’d be the bomb episode of Grey’s Anatomy or the entire Denny Ghost arc or the one where she drowned and saw her mom who was able to forgive her. Is it so hard to believe that a new intern would manage to have a one night stand with a man who turns out to be her boss? Or that a doctor would cut the L-Vac to ensure her patient, who she happened to fall in love with, would get a new heart? Hey, I think not. But a doctor sticking their precious hand into a patient with a bomb in their gut? WHAAAAT?! That’s when my eyes squint, I scrunch up my nose and suddenly, I’m a little weary.

Even after writing this article, I feel a little more love towards the episode than I felt when I started. And I realize a lot of my issues were because it left a feeling that the writers haven’t spent anytime trying to figure things out until this moment. And then there’s the fact that they crammed so much awesomeness into one episode when they could have applied the crescendo effect over the course of the season. There’s also the feeling that this is just a fluke and they won’t be able to hold this up over the handful of episodes we have left, but I welcome the jolt it gave me, no matter how jarring.

PARTING SHOTS
And tonight’s winner is….Adam Monroe

“And as long as you saved his girlfriend, you could kill some more, willy nilly?”

“Objection, your honor! He’s reciting the opening to Quantum Leap.”

Season 4, Episodes 16: Pass/Fail (originally aired January 18, 2010)

For more on Heroes, click here.

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Photographs courtesy of NBC and Chris Haston