Heroes

[scribblinlenore]

...was a big yawn. I suppose this is just the way of things. Last week, I got everything I wanted. This week, not so much.

--Mohinder smashing the cabinet full of medicine did give me a thrill, I must admit. As did Mohinder being menaced by Jessica. I can't help myself!

--I wonder who Adam Munroe is.

--I was glad Hiro got his princess, until...it all went bad.

--I'm not sure I have the energy for another big "save the world" story arc. Also, I'm tired of images of a devastated New York.

--fanaddict, your theory does seem to be shaping up nicely!

In conclusion: give me M3 and Petrellis!!

Comments

[barely-bean.livejournal.com]

I totally agree. I liked HRG being all dark and willing to do bad things, but I was so annoyed at Claire and West still isn't eaten. Why won't he be eaten? And yes, if NY is in danger every year, then oi. I'm going to get tired of that.

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

Yes! HRG and the Haitian were interesting. I don't know why West isn't eaten yet. It's a serious oversight. The only thing that makes it-- well, not palatable, but at least a little more interesting, is when I imagine that West is another Petrelli, and what that says about this family that can only fall in love with itself.

Peoples need to lay off our city, Caro! They really do.

[barely-bean.livejournal.com]

Peoples need to lay off our city, Caro! They really do.

This is why we're unfriendly towards tourists.

[aelora.livejournal.com]

Adam Monroe is obviously going to turn out to be Kensei since Hiro said he fractured the timeline at the point he chose his hormones over history. The Company is probably trying to develop this virus to try to take the Ultimate Evil out or something.

*yawn*

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I had this theory that Kensei was actually going to turn out to be Papa Petrelli, not nearly as dead as we've been led to believe. Although I suppose he could be both. Do you think Kensei is the Ultimate Evil?

[aelora.livejournal.com]

I'd put my bets on Kensei being more dangerous than Nightmare Man because he was betrayed by love! And the Carp. Also, since they're taking so very, very long to make the reveal on this Adam, I'd say yeah, he's going to be the real danger while Maury just feels like he's the Ultimate Evil.

Then there's Sylar... who's been reduced to Idle Threats Man.

[elyssadc.livejournal.com]

I swear to fucking god, if I keep getting Nathan-less episodes I am gonna find Tim Kring and kick him in the nuts. No joke.

As for this ep? I agree. It was pretty boring aside from HRG shooting that dude in the head. I actually exclaimed out loud, over and over again, for most of the following commercial break. Now THAT is the morally grey bastard I know and love.

I was also pretty damn glad that the Hiro storyline finally appears to be going somewhere. But none of that makes up for the lack of Petrellis and Matt (who has actually become one of my favorite characters this season. I know! No one is more shocked than me. It must be the power of the Pasdar. Just being in scenes with him increases one's awesomeness exponentially.)

Oh, and the mega-huge-crazy-ass spoilers I read not long ago? They seem to be playing out which surprises me. I wasn't sure they were legit. Now, I'm thinking they might be. And I am VERY EXCITED.

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

...Matt (who has actually become one of my favorite characters this season. I know! No one is more shocked than me. It must be the power of the Pasdar. Just being in scenes with him increases one's awesomeness exponentially.

I feel the same way about Matt! He was on my list of most useless characters last season, but he's gotten far more interesting this year. As you say, having scenes with Adrian Pasdar doesn't hurt!

I don't want to know any spoilers, but it does seem as if Kensei will be important to the present time storyline. Is he Adam Munroe? Is he Papa Petrelli? I'll be interested to see.

[elyssadc.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way about Matt!

Crazy, isn't it? I guess it all comes down to the storyline. All of these actors are SO fabulous and so many are being wasted in completely shitty, boring plots. Niki is number one on this list for me right now. Kring couldn't really figure out what to do with her last season and it's even worse now. Ali Larter is so excellent in the role, she deserves better. The few moments when she was integrated into the main storyline last season, she shone! It just makes me even more annoyed that Kring is so deadset on introducing more and more characters. He's wasting the talent he has. Ugh. Another reason for me to want to punch him in the head. I wish someone could get him to give a good, clear reason for his decision to increase the cast size. He HAS to know what a bad idea it is. Is he really that out of touch with what fans want?

I don't want to know any spoilers

So, I'm going to assume that means you don't want me to answer those questions about Kensei, right?

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

So, I'm going to assume that means you don't want me to answer those questions about Kensei, right?

Hee! Yes, I'm going to wait and see what happens. But thanks!

[elyssadc.livejournal.com]

Phew. Ok. I promise not to say anything. I will just agree that I am DAMN curious to see what happens with Kensei. He and Bob are the only 2 new characters that interest me in the slightest. I want to like Monica, but she just annoys the living shit out of me. People that peppy make me want to slap them.

[madame-d.livejournal.com]

In conclusion: give me M3 and Petrellis!!

... Yeah, pretty much. It was one of those weeks with the heroes that I don't give a damn about.

On the other hand, you know the one thing the show did perfectly? They hired actual native speakers for that Russian couple (?). And Ivan's English was not at all 'stereotypical' thick accent. Yay show!

On the other hand, Jack Coleman shouldn't speak Russian anymore. Please, Kring?

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

I'm really, REALLY ready for the Petrelli boys to be reunited now.

That's cool that the show got the Russian speaking right. Except for Jack Coleman, and, hee, I only took two years of Russian, but damn. That hurt me! *g*

[madame-d.livejournal.com]

but damn. That hurt me! *g*

There was much cringing on my part, yes.

I think the fundamental difference is that Russian, like French, does not have contractions; you must pronounce everything, especially vowels. And that goes against natural Anglophone pronunciation. Thus far, the only actors to get 'great pronunciation' prizes are Michael Vartan and Matt Damon.

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

I don't speak Russian. I take it J. Coleman's attempt at it was fairly painful?

I will say that Heroes is pretty damn good at giving us characters who actually sound like they're from where they're supposed to be from, and who actually talk in their own language when it would be natural for them to do so. This show isn't afraid of subtitles. Hell, they cut from a Hiro/Yaeko scene that was all subtitles to the Alejandro/Maya convo that was mostly subtitles, without so much as an all-English scene in between. Which is unusual, in a network show in North America.

I have to say, I found Sendhil Ramamurthy's French accent a few weeks ago pretty damn funny. He didn't massacre it or anything, but it was very obvious that Mohinder was speaking a language that wasn't his first, or even his second. He had that careful, plodding schoolboy pronunciation down pat. I thought it actually worked pretty well. I guess Coleman's Russian didn't fall into the same category, huh.

[madame-d.livejournal.com]

I take it J. Coleman's attempt at it was fairly painful?

Just a bit. I actually do wonder how David Anders is doing with Japanese. I mean, for English speakers, similar languages - French, Spanish, even German - are much easier to pronounce than 'exotic' ones, such as Russian or Japanese.

This show isn't afraid of subtitles.

I was actually thinking that the show is a pretty big rarity on American TV, because subtitles are so not in vogue here, yet here's a show where as much as a third is in subtitles; they'd doing a pretty good job of educating the masses and raising their subtitle tolerance. :)

Sendhil's French sounded like *my* French - which made me wince, because I think mine's atrocious. On the other hand, I understood him without subtitles, so that's something.

I guess Coleman's Russian didn't fall into the same category, huh.

My rule of thumb for Russian pronunciation is if I can understand it without English subtitles (which I translate back into Russian and figure out what was supposed to have been said), then it's a job well-done. Sadly, I cannot say that Mr Coleman's Russian could be understood without subtitles.

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

mohinder was hot when he threatened to take molly and leave. i just wish he'd gone through with it!! i worry that the company is actually giving molly drugs to keep her sick so that mohinder feels he can't leave. it's time for matt to come back and set mohinder straight. erm, figuratively speaking, of course ;)

hiro's storyline is soooooo boring.

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

i worry that the company is actually giving molly drugs to keep her sick so that mohinder feels he can't leave.

Oh my God! I hadn't thought about that possibility. *worries too*

I was very disappointed that we didn't get even a few seconds of Matt. It felt very unsatisfying after last week. And seriously! Matt and Mohinder need to be reunited, so between them they have a complete brain again.

I totally agree about Hiro's storyline. I mean, I get the sense that it's going to be important to the larger arc, but getting to that point? Has been painful.

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

well, they are ev0l and they need a way to keep mohinder in line, sooo...yes. besides, they are clearly not above injecting people with random new drugs.

matt should have been back from philly! it doesn't take that long to make that trip. obviously matt would have checked on molly first thing after coming back. hmm, i guess he wouldn't be able to go see molly because he wouldn't want to show himself to the company. still! i suppose the reunion between matt and mohinder needs to be told in fic :).

yes. the pay-off can't be big enough to make up for the boredom.

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

It doesn't take long at all to get from Philadelphia to NYC when you have your own Petrelli-shaped cargo jet.

I found the whole Bob-wanting-Monica-injected thing to be kind of weird. Like maybe they were using the situation to test Mohinder or something. It just seemed really inefficient to make your first test of a risky experimental drug be on a brand new person who's got powers that could be seriously helpful to you if you keep her cooperative. Just from a cost-benefit analysis perspective, wouldn't it be more sensible to pick someone who's already been through all hte tests and whose powers have proven to be not very useful? Or someone who's been uncooperative? Given that there's a non-zero possibility that your lab rat could die or permanently lose their powers, you'd think they'd be experimenting on people they could spare.

But yeah, they're totally capable of keeping Molly sick in order to keep Mohinder (semi) cooperative. As to whether they're actually doing so, I dunno. Parkman Senior was the one who put her in the coma. I'm presuming something dramatic will have to happen to snap her out of it.

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

or even without it! matt could easily have been back during this ep.

huh, good point! they probably were testing mohinder, and he probably reacted just the way they wanted him to. *sigh*

i think matt needs to go into her mind and get her out of whatever nightmare she is trapped in :D. at least that's my favorite scenario for the resolution of this storyline.

[pun.livejournal.com]

Damn. That took me about 30 seconds to watch. The biggest let down was that I was all psyched for the Montreal scene, and instead of real Montreal, I got 5 seconds of the most fake-ass Montreal set I've ever seen! And then, as you say, more devastated New York which I have very low tolerance for as well.

Other than the cabinet smashing, that was a big disappointment. Grrr, man, grrrrrrr!

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

I was thinking as I was watching: why does Pun's first episode have to be so deadly boring? Why, show, why??????

I won't lie to you. This is par for the Heroes course. Really uneven. And WAY too many characters, so there are entire episodes when you don't see many of the people you care about.

The big story arc, with the virus killing off most everybody, feels way too much like last season.

At least we'll always have fan fiction with its sweet stories of Matt and Mohinder taking Molly to see the Nutcracker for the first time and go skating in Central Park.

[pun.livejournal.com]

OMG! The Nutcracker!! HOLY CRAP! YES!!!!

The tree! It grows! She'll love it!

[eponineundone.livejournal.com]

HA! Yeah, this episode kinda sorta sucked. As in, really sucked. And can West PLEASE just die now? He's such a crazy little sociopathic flying boy. He reminds me of all the boys in elementary school that I wanted to kick in the (most likely undescended) balls.

As for the virus... I don't know. I saw it coming, with all the heavy hints at the beginning of this season. Also, when they showed up in future!New York, I kept expecting some shuffling, living dead thing to come around the corner and try to eat them. It reminded me way of 28 Days Later, and how cool (and completely inane) would it be if the Heroes universe was overrun with zombies? Cooooool...

I feel like most of the characters thus far are pissing me off... Except for Nathan, who I mentally snuzzle every time he's on. Everyone else is so lame =( Thus, episodes without Nathan= LAME. so sad

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

Every week, I keep hoping that Sylar will deliver us from West. A gal can dream!

And hee! Zombies would rule!

[clarify.livejournal.com]

In conclusion: give me M3 and Petrellis!!

Oh god, I agree so, so much. The distinct lack of Matt made me all kinds of sad, and Peter and Nathan are in need of a big reunion. Like, now.

Actually, I agree with everything you said here—big yawn, though I really enjoy destructo!Mohinder, and while the "save the world" arc worked really well in the first season, it's starting to feel a little recycled.

Also, boo to West.

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

I keep hoping that Sylar will deliver us from West! *crosses fingers for next week*

[linaerys.livejournal.com]

This ep left me without the motivation to post, I found it so dull.

I'm not sure I have the energy for another big "save the world" story arc. Also, I'm tired of images of a devastated New York.

And yes. At least we have an arc, spotted on the horizon, but must we recycle last year's so closely?

Sigh.

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

I can certainly see how it sapped your will to post. It was deeply tiresome. I really wish they hadn't added characters. They could barely balance all the heroes they had last year. And so many of the new ones are so seriously lame. I tend to wander away from the TV when the Wonderless Twins are on. Even Sylar can't make them interesting.

[fanaddict.livejournal.com]

Sorry to wander in but someone speculated that maybe the show is playing with the idea that specific events can be changed, but that the path toward the general future marches on. In other words, Peter didn't blow up NYC but NYC is still in danger because that's it's future. In which case, every season is going to have a save NYC feel, much like Jack Bauer must always save LA.

[linaerys.livejournal.com]

Well, that would be a cool idea, although I do get a little tired of seeing my home destroyed. If they do something interesting with it, I'll like it quite a lot. They've already played with the idea that the future is sticky--5YG-Hiro had a difficult time finding the thread to pull that would "fix" the timeline--rather than easily damaged like it is in the Back to the Future franchise. The future might not be set in stone but in slowly drying concrete. Thanks for sharing that!

[fanaddict.livejournal.com]

You know, I was thinking Bob might have turned over a new leaf and become this season's Bennett - hated at first and then beloved (by me). Then he sent in Mohinder's new "partner"/keeper and that was just a bit menacing. If it's Niki, it's an integrated to be bad Niki. And if it's Jessica - then the Company/Bob really screwed Niki and is doing the reverse of what they claim their goal is - stopping people who are too dangerous. Either way, I take away points that I had given Bob for the ipod thing with Monica. Bad Bob!

Adam = first man. So maybe he's the first mutant? Maybe he's Kensei, who is also Papa Petrelli but who took away Peter's memory so he doesn't remember Adam=Dad, and he'll just gradually be introduced into the idea that he needs to take down the company by info left by Adam. In other words, Kensei is everyone. ;)

I don't know obviously. I hear there's a spoiler out there for who he is, but I'm resisting spoilers because I want to see if I can guess/like to watch it unfold.

That Kensei is the Big Bad (poor Hiro really messed things up) I'm starting to be almost certain. I really think he's Papa Petrelli because the face turned away in the picture only makes sense if it's someone we the viewers already know, and since the only character not accounted for in present time is Kensei... On the other hand, I do like the idea of Kensei being like Adam and being the ancestor of all the powered people - and so when I see a name like Adam on a new, mysterious character I get all suspicious too. Yet Peter would presumably recognize his own father, so... It doesn't fit without Peter's memory loss being intended to mislead Peter/viewers.

I think they need new sets because blowing up NYC/making it a ghost town is getting very old. As someone who worked in Manhattan and lives in the suburb, I'm really tire of it, frankly. Still, I think the show needs the energy of save the world, because save Mr Bennett only hooks a limited number of viewers who already care about him (ie some of last year's viewers but no new ones). So... I'm down with it. I just want someone to take aim at Chicago or Cleveland one of the days because I'm getting paranoid about living on a coast. ;)

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Much to ponder. Adam Munroe sounds like an English name, so he could certainly be Kensei. And it really does look like your theory that Kensei goes bad because Hiro stole his princess is going to come to pass. But I did think that Papa P. kind of looked like David Anders in that photo, even with his face turned away. And I wonder how Matt's dad fits into the whole Big Bad thing.

re: New York getting destroyed. Yes, as someone who lives in Brooklyn, I could happily never see that again. Since 9/11, it's really made me uncomfortable.

I agree with you that there needs to be big stakes in the large story arc, but this year's save the world just feels so much like last year's. Although I'm sure the virus thing could work if they just showed it differently.

[fanaddict.livejournal.com]

All these questions are what keeps me interested, even while bemoaning Claire's and the Dundertwins' storylines.

Someone freeze-framed "Adam Monroe's" Montreal apartment and there was Japanese armor and other stuff with White Beard's insignia on it - which I think makes it pretty definitely Kensei's (unless some other immortal Japanese/British warrior is also hanging around). But I agree that Papa Petrelli's side face looked a lot like David Ander's, so...

I'm thinking he's both, and somehow Peter didn't recognize his own father or his memory was taken for that reason. And maybe Elle's "Daddy" is Peter's too...

No idea how Matt's Dad fits in, although clearly this Adam's agenda is to destroy the Company and Parkman Sr left the picture indicating Bob was his target - so their agendas are in alignment currently at least.

I think the original 12 fractured into 2 groups, Parkmen Sr and Petrelli Sr are on one side and Hiro's Dad and apparently Bob are on the other. I'm thinking Angela P may have been on both sides somehow? She's a target now - but not actually dead so...

but this year's save the world just feels so much like last year's

Someone on my LJ mentioned that she thinks that the future all leads in the same direction. So even though Peter didn't blow up NYC last year, this year it's destroyed by a virus. That Sylar didn't die last year - but neither did Candice, which would have prevented him getting her powers and then impersonating the President. I don't know if he was able to get her powers this year and just is unable to manifest them - but it's an interesting idea. She suggest that basically all events run toward the same general future.

I felt the show played around with it a little last year (everything Future Hiro did and Isaac's premonitions didn't stop it, etc) but then at the end I felt they finally took a stand and declared that the future could be changed. Now I'm wondering if their stand was that specific events could be changed, but maybe not the general future. In that case, NYC will forever be the target on Heroes every season because the Heroes must always prevent it from being destroyed as is it's destiny in their playbook for the future.

[herohunter.livejournal.com]

Meh.

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

Yes, that does sum it up. :(

[no-detective.livejournal.com]

Big yawn indeed.

Though I did chuckle at Sylar's little "and then I'll eat your brain with a nice bottle of chianti" speech. Poor guy - it's awful when you have no appetite...

I hope gets cured soon. And then immediately runs into West.

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

Hee! Yes. Poor Sylar, indeed. He really does have to get his mojo back, because he's our only hope for ridding us of the Wonder(less) Twins and West.

I really, really wish they hadn't added so many new characters. The story would be so much tighter if it focused on fewer threads. I mean, I'm sure it will all tie together in the end, but it will matter if people have been bored to death in the interim.

[virtualinsomnia]

Last week's was ten times better than this week's. West's absence might've had a lot to do with that. ;-)

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

Yes! I'm sure if we made a graph we'd see that there's an inverse relationship between West's screen time and the loudness of our squee. I really, really wish they hadn't added so many new characters. Especially so many LAME new characters.