Heroes 4-4 'Acceptance' (10/5/09) (Spoilers)

Cafe Society
1

Hai guyz! Come back! It’s pretty good now!

Last week, everyone’s still trying to get on with the gett’n on, but there’s impediments: Matt’s trying to not use his ability, and be a LAPD detective depending only on his smarts and common sense. Unfortunately, that part of his psyche’s now being played by Sylar, who’s getting another crack at being someone’s smartass, annoyingly competent partner. Matt’s even less fond of him than Noah was. And did I mention he’s imaginary? (Or a part of Sylar sloshed into Matt’s noggin when he Nathanized him or something, we’re not really sure.)

Claire’s new bestest friend saw her taking her semiannual leap from a 8 storey window, and instead of having that bit of knowledge Haitian’d out of Gretchen, Claire’s going to try and nice her into keeping that under wraps. Noah’s feeling the ennui now that he’s kindasorta out of the game. Peter’s been positively assessed for his suitability for carnival life by Samuel, and Peter’s met the records lady at his work who sees sound as light (lucky for her she doesn’t see voices yet, that would be like living at Laser Floyd)

Has *Heroes *ever gone this far into a season without blowing up a major metropolis in a flash forward?
From the show site:


As Hiro’s life continues to hang in the balance, he distracts himself with saving the lives of others. Meanwhile, Angela tries to help the new “Nathan” remember his past, at the risk of his remembering too much. Elsewhere, Tracy is determined to get her old job back, but soon realizes that she needs to make more of an impact.

When you’ve alienated big swacks of your audience and the ratings are a’tumble and all else fails, bring on the blondes in short dresses (not spoilery):

Tracey;and Claire- episode after this:

2

Bump

Hits head on the cement

3

I liked this episode. Nice, simple, character progress. No one’s trying to save the world, just save themselves. Although all that talk about Noah fake working at a paper company for 20 years and not being qualified for anything really makes me want to see him crossover with a certain paper-based NBC show.

4

Yabut, how long before Noah gets sick of being hassled on coffee and tries to twist Michael’s finger clean off his hand?
“I am done. Eating. Your crap”

(Who says season 2 sucked?) :smiley:

5

Watching the preview for next week, it’s only going to get worse:

If the short dresses doesn’t do it, bring on the girl-on-girl action! It turns out that girl-Wes wants to be more than just BFF with Claire. She makes the move and kisses a surprised Claire.

I think this episode was ok. It’s certainly better than a lot of the crap in the past. I also didn’t get too confused about what was going on.

Is Nathan stupid or what? “Excuse me, I think I’ve killed your long lost daughter!”.

6

…credits, it kind of spoils your big twisty surprise endings.

(And oh yeah, when did this show start being about people’s lives without an apocalypse in sight? This is pretty cool. Buffy always had an apocalypse, mind you. Or an evil undead boyfriend, but Sylar can’t be in every episode, I guess)

……Seems like everyone over the age of 30’s having some sort of mid life (or in Tracey’s case, 1/3 life) crisis. Noah’s hanging out in his divorce pad, pensioned off from Primatech, not quite making it to cooking food, but now he’s eating at the table. Tracey’s backed down from her moist swordless Kill Bill revenge frenzy and wants back into her cosmo and short skirt lifestyle; and Nathan-yeah, I could go with the easy shot and say he’s not feeling like himself, but considering he has to feel stuff before he knows where the hell it came from…

Hiro, the baby of the gang, is having an end of life crisis. He’s skipped over anger and is working on some denial/bargaining combo- he’s going to damn the cerebral torpedos, boing boing through time, unbugger whatever it is he’s buggered up in life, and use some of that inherited wealth to pay off the karmic scorekeepers and become a nearsighted, nonviolent, one man A-Team. So far, he got Ando to save a kitty, and took a slurpee to the face so Ando and Kimiko can live happily ever up to now. The wedding’s next year, but Ando’s already got enough sleeping-with-the-boss cred to wear jeans to work.
Ring ring
Hiro: Dial a Hero, whaddya need?
Dude: I’m going to kill myself.
Hiro:: Where are you?
Dude: Are you near a window? What side of the building are you on?
Hiro: Hey, aren’t you the guy from accounting who photocopied his ass?
Dude: Oh, god, everyone knows! Byeeeeeeeeeee
Hiro: Well, into the wayback machine, time to sabotage a photocopier

(Gotta love making some guy’s suicide an opportunity for some farcical temporal hijinx!)

Angela shows up at Nathan’s office with a box of his old crap:
Angela: So, you’ve been feeling like you’ve been remembering your life but it’s not like it was your own? Which is completely ridiculous! Of course it’s your life, I mean, how could it not be… I brought you some of your old stuff, let’s see if you remember the good ole days before your dad went evil
Nathan: Can I hug you?
Angela: No! Never touch me again!
Nathan: What happened to that really cool leather coat you were wearing when we went to Coyote Sands? I haven’t seen you in it since I came to after Peter and I fought with Sylar
Angela: Uhhhh, I-lost it?
Nathan: You’re lying. How did I know that?
Angela: Here, play with your little toy airplane from preschool
Nathan: Ok * fiddles with the propeller*
Angela: Do you remember playing with it in the car in 1974?
Nathan:Yeah, and the guy in Taiwan at the toy factory who assembled it on had dried squid congee for breakfast that morning.
Angela: Here, quick, try on the ballcap!
Nathan: Ew, hat’s got dead girlfriend germs Picks up something else from the box, it changes in his hand Ma, where did I get a solid gold Yoyo from?

Tracey: Well, that family crisis has resolved itself. My only remaining family is a 13 year old fugitive, so can I have my job back now, Governor? I want to help people
Governor: Sure, I need you to sweet talk some legislators. Be sure to wear that skirt when you go
Tracey: are you saying that all my alleged political acumen is basically me being a hot blonde?
Governor: You may have noticed I didn’t hire Janet Reno to replace you. So,wanna screw?
Tracey: No! I want to help people now
Governor: What, I’m not people? What are you wearing under that?
Tracey: I’m going to go look up that guy in the glasses who hunted my kind for 20 years. At least he’s ethical. Well, not so much ‘ethical’ as ‘moderately repentant assassin’, but at least he doesn’t give me that icky feeling, like I’ve really been a whore with a great title all these years.
Governor: Hey, some of us New York governors have to pay extra for that 'icky feeling! Hey, is just me or is it getting cold in here?

Peter:rolls up sleeve Noah, look at this on my arm
Noah: What am I looking at, needle tracks? I don’t see anything
Peter: No, it was a tattoo of that compass we found, it appeared on my arm, now it’s gone
Noah: Are you sure you haven’t been raiding the pharmacy at work?
Peter: Let’s go find that compass, like you said, one of you, one of us, partners!
Noah: Naw, my heart’s not in it anymore. I just feel like hanging around the apartment, eating sushi, feeling sorry for myself. Ironically, now that I’m no longer a sneaky not-government agent anymore my wife who dumped me for always lying about being a sneaky not-government agent just sent me divorce papers. And this time, the signatures match!
Ding dong
Claire: Hi uncle not related to my parents!
Noah: You know, I really feel awkward when I see you with your birth relatives, Claire
Peter: You do? She looks so much like you I’m beginning to think I’m the one who was adopted. Claire, wanna come hunt for some knife wielding speed demon who sliced your da-
Noah: Peter, ixnay on the asher-slay!
Claire: Sorry, trying not to get killed this week. It’s causing some social problems for me at school
Noah: See ya Pete, Claire, want some Cheetos?
Claire: Damn, do you know how to cook anything? OK, first lesson, when it comes to mac and cheese, splurge and go for the Kraft Dinner, the store brands taste like ass. Happy housewarming
Noah: reads box So, when they say ‘add butter or margarine’, can I substitute chip dip?
Claire: dials phone Hi, mom? I’m at dad’s. Please let him come home. He’s going to die out here on his own. No, ok, can Lyle come live with him? He can show dad how to reheat pizza…

Ando: Where’ve you been and why are you covered in ink?
Hiro: I went back in time to stop Ass-ataki from photocopying his butt at the Christmas party
Ring ring
Hiro: Dial a hero…
Dude: I’m going to kill myself
Hiro: But I sabotaged the photocopier myself!
Dude: You broke the 9th floor copier? That’s why I had to use the one on 10. Byeeeeeeeeeee
Hiro: Damn, do I have to break them all? blink blink

Nathan: Peter! Why don’t you return my calls?
Peter: Hey, you’re in your flying jacket, did you come-…Don’t hug me!!!
Nathan: God, what? Do I smell? WTF is with you and mom and the no touching?
Peter: Do you remember what you did the last time you saw me in this uniform
Nathan: *touches sleeve * Noah and the Taser? God, I am such a dick! I’m so sorry for that, but I need your help- what is going on with me? Watch this! Vwoomps a coffee cup into his hand
Peter: You have multiple abilities? Cool! About time you caught up to every other man in the family.
Nathan:and when I touch something, I know everything that’s happened to it.
Peter: Yeah, that’s kind of common. Like, did you know a lot of deaf people can see sounds?
Nathan: No
Peter: Yeah, me neither. But if that’s possible, why not feel-and-tell powers?
Nathan: You know what this reminds me of? Sylar
Peter: No, Sylar’s power was way different. See, he’d have smashed the coffee cup into the wall and used the pieces to cut you to sashimi; what you can do, you bring the cup to you. Totally not the same!
Nathan: Did I mention the lightning? And the worst, the absolute worst? When people lie to me I get dizzy. Peter, I work in Congress!
Peter: So, what do you want me to do about it?
Nathan: I dunno. But I put on a ballcap from when I was in high school and saw my girlfriend Kelly, who disappeared that year. See, in the 80’s, when a rich white girl went missing, we didn’t have Nancy Grace sniping on about it for 4 hours a night on Headline News. So everyone just forgot about her. But I remember seeing her just before she disappeared, so I’m going back to her house, have a feel around, see what I remember.
Peter: Was that the night you came home smelling like chlorine, beer and blood? Actually, that was most nights when you were a teenager, never mind

Nathan: Hi Millie- can I come grope around your yard? I’m trying to remember what happened the last time I saw your daughter
Millie * slightly perma drunk.* Sure
Nathan: * feels up the pool area, remembers some teenage hijinx, a bottle of Jack, a wrestling match and a girl hemorrhaging into the pool* Owie! Millie, I think I remember what happened to your girl…
Millie: You do realize I’m evil, right?
Nathan: Who’s the goon behind the poolhouse?
Millie: Pool cleaner
Nathan: Does he have a needle in his- * thud*
Goon: I charge extra for elected officials, just so’s you know, lady

Ando: If you don’t tell Kimiko you’re dying you will be destined to spend the rest of your days going back in time breaking the office equipment. Roll that up and smoke it, Mr. Heroic Destiny!
Hiro: All right, all right! *hollers across the office *Kimi, if you want me to give you away at the wedding, you’ll have to get married this weekend!

Na-lar: Ma, what did you know about Kelly?
Angela: That you probably killed her, so I got rid of her body, created an alibi and had the Haitian erase your memory of it all?
Na-lar: Wow, I hope that info never gets in the hands of an unscrupulous psychopath

Tracey comes back to visit her guru Noah, who’s also a day ahead in working through his sense of purposelessness.
Tracey: I want to help people. Can I come work with you?
Noah: What, I hold them down while you make them a refreshing snow cone? We’ve never helped anyone in our work before, why start now?
Tracey: We’ll think of something
Noah: Sure. Nice skirt. Saki?
Tracey: What’s all this compass stuff on your wall?

Having retained his vulnerability to horse tranqs, Na-lyer remains unconscious while the goon pours him into a grave so shallow tulips wouldn’t sprout, shoots him in the chest and shovels on the dirt. Let’s see if Nath/ler kept any other Sylar-bilities…and yes! Welcome back, corporeal zombie Sylar!

(OK, so I was wrong about him not being in every episode).

Next time: a couple of hundred brain-violated corpses later, and the law catches up to Gabriel for his only accidental kill; Claire goes LUG (oh, go look it up yourselves)

7

Aww, the show IS good just at the moment, Annie. People totally should come back. Then again, whenever I catch myself saying that, it tends to turrn around and do something mindblowingly horrendous to ensure that there is no net gain in awesome. Still, until the next time this happens, I’m enjoying it all greatly.

[QUOTE=Annie;11633078Noah: reads box So, when they say ‘add butter or margarine’, can I substitute chip dip?
Claire: dials phone Hi, mom? I’m at dad’s. Please let him come home. He’s going to die out here on his own. No, ok, can Lyle come live with him? He can show dad how to reheat pizza…

[/QUOTE]

Bwaha! You are on fire this week :slight_smile: And that’s SO how it was.

8

I think Bryan Fuller’s creative influence ends soon. Gird thee loins. But if you want a drama about how people live their lives when they have extraordinary abilities, you’ll like the show now. If you want a live action comic about Superfriends in civvies, probably not.

Now that I think about it, didn’t Noah used to make breakfast for the kids back in Odessa? Granted, that was one sweet kitchen they had there.

9

And the winner of this year’s Stupid Award goes to…

NATHAN PETRELLI!!!
Whooooo!! Nathan’s actions there are very selfish. Telling the truth like that is not for the benefit of the woman at all, it is entirely for Nathan’s benefit, to make himself feel better. And by Nathan I mean Sylar, of course.

10

Yeah, and it’s not just the fact left but I’m more than a bit concerned over what could have prompted him to leave - they offered him a total fortune to come back. Ah well, time will tell.

He does plenty of dumb things but I think in this instance he does the right thing. He states he’s motivated by Millie commenting that she thinks her daughter left because she was a shitty mom and given Swoosie Kurtz’s rather heartbreaking performance, I can buy that.

For dumbness, I liked him getting confused over what department/ division to ask for to confess his crime to on the phone. Especially impressive for a former ADA. Reminded me of Dr Leo Spaceman from 30 Rock phoning up 411 and asking for "someone in …Diabetes …repair??

11

That brings up an interesting question: Would Sylar (as Nathan) be able to hold his own in a courtroom now?

12

Annie, you’ve done it again!

I totally cannot wait to see the kiss and zombie Sylar next week!

13

This time around, it’s way off the mark for me. It just seems to be a mish-mash with everyone doing their own thing – bits and pieces with no end in sight, and no common thread. I didn’t even finish watching this episode and deleted it from my DVR recordings.

14

Well, like I said, if you want to watch a show about regular people living their lives with extraordinary abilities. you’ll like what they’re doing; if not, probably you won’t.

15

If Bryan Fuller left, who’s the main honcho now? Do we have his/her resume?

I’m actually digging this quieter, character-based arc, even though Hiro’s storyline is doing nothing but annoying me these days, and Nathan-lar was a blooming idiot this ep. If he wanted to make mommy feel better, he could have taken the fall a much better way and said something like he and the girl had had a fight that further deepened her existential crisis and caused her to flee to the land of crumpets and tea. Take some of the guilt off, without implicating yourself in murder. Sheesh.

Excellent job, as always, Annie.

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That kind of make sense. Imagine the battle in Sylar’s subconscious as Matt was imprinting Nathan on it.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((
)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))wavey lines)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((
Matt: You are now Nathan.

Subconscious Sylar: Really? Nathan is a farging idiot with mommy issues. I already have the mommy issue thing down pat, it looks like I’ve got to be an idiot now.

Na-lar: Millie, I killed your daughter.

17

I was thinking… first, I need a frigging chart to keep the assorted Nathan/Sylar/possibly Matt permutations straight. Second, Sylar-currently-being-Nathan has a bagillion kills under his belt, so he’s got something to feel remorseful about; if he does feel remorse about killing,(maybe he got some of Matt’s better nature mixed in with the brainwash?) but isn’t sure why, he could latch on to whatever presents itself as a target for his remorse. Kelly’s accidental death served that purpose. He was basically holding up a sign to Millie saying ‘whip me’

(settle down, you pervs :wink: )

The real dork in this is Millie who seems to think that having a senator offed won’t attract attention. Fergawds sakes, get you minion to dig a deeper ditch, at least.
Also somewhat cool, Sylarnathan did exactly what Tracey did when she accidentally killed that reporter-called the cops to confess, then chickened out.

18

It’ll be interesting to see if the version of Sylar that Matt is carting around in his brrain disappears now that the real one is back. If not, my guess is that the Sylar that crawls out of the earth will inexplicably have no sense of who he is, just to sidestep the problem of having two copies knocking about the place. Then again, my track record of anticipating Heroes’ next move is piss poor so who knows?

By the way, I found it oddly amusing that Nathan’s childhood memory was accompanied by Maria Muldaur’s ‘Midnight At The Oasis’, one of the most irritating hit records ever. Usually when shows play hit records of the past, they go for tunes that sound cool to the modern ear, so full marks for not doing so here. No doubt if he’d continued rummaging further down that box of crap we’d have been treated to the musical stylings of the Starland Vocal Band.

I think Millie’s just impressively hardcore and doesn’t give a shit any more. I love Millie. I fear once Bryan Fuller goes, she’ll leave the show with him sigh. I wonder if the hitman stole Nathan’s Naval Academy ring for the sheer hell of it. Or, as I hope, that it’s a grim trophy that Millie demanded. And she later mails it back to Angela saying it was found on the baggage carousel at Heathrow.

Also, now that we’ve had the fun of saying how great this week’s ep is, can we now start trashing the cake a bit? Like querying how come Sylar-As-Nathan’s power is zeroing in on Nathan’s memories when he touches stuff? I’ll grant them the toy plane because presumably few other people ever touched it. (although it would have been amusing if it had granted him a vision of Angela crawling around in the attic saying ‘aHA! just the thing for helping him not remember he’s really Sylar!’) but that poolside? There must be a million memories there. I mean, on this basis, if Matt had hypnotised Sylar into thinking he was Abe Lincoln, would he suddenly remember writing the Gettysburg address if handed the manuscript?

19

“Angela, get that crap off my 8-track and put that Yardbirds tape on!”

20 years later, but it’s not like Millie had Angela’s son killed or anything. It also serves to remove a clue to determining the identity of zombieSylar. Hope he grabbed the wallet too.

How he can get through walking through your average public building I’ll never know. And while Angela sat in that bar drinking her wine and telling anyone within earshot and the (ok, significantly altered) psychopath who killed her son, held her hostage and a thousand other naughty things that she conspired and committed a flagrant act of obstruction of justice, knowing that Nathan’s leaking Sylar? Woman! Are you insane?

My vote for the next ability to make a sudden appearance: shapeshifting. He’s hiding from the local rabble with the pitchforks and spontaneously turns into Angela. That won’t freak him out to the core of his amnesiac little mind :smiley: