Heroes S4- “Redemption” (Five Years Gone yet?)

Cafe Society
21

The first hour had some pacing problems, and I’m hoping Hiro grows the hell up sometime soon (hope springs eternal); he may get away from the Big Damn Hero! comic book idealizations he has and follow through on what they introduced tonight-small actions that create significant good. Which will ultimately result in a significant bad sometime, but hey.

Matt’s head-Sylar isn’t behaving like regular Sylar, who was always fairly low key and undramatic; this version is more some bugshit crazy slasher movie killer. Which makes perfect sense-Matt never actually saw Sylar much, apart from mopping up after his LA and Odessa kills and getting shot back at on Kirby Plaza. Sylar’s more evil archetype than person to Matt, and that’s coming out in his imagery of him. Nathan, too; in his introspection he sounds more like Gabriel than Nathan.

Noah and Tracey partnership-not so crazy, Noah’s found ability-damaged women and made partners out of them (Eden, Candace) before.

22

Well regular Sylar was always in control of whatever situation he was in, head Sylar is trapped like a caged rat.

23

On one hand, that makes perfect sense. On the other hand, the writers aren’t that clever.

24

And I’d like to thank the OP for reminding me why I gave up on this show ages ago. Yikes!

25

One of my best friend’s played Angela’s driver in this episode! He says something like “We’re here Mrs. Petrelli” and she calls him Albert, I think… might be a recurring role…stay tuned.

26

I’m not sure what we’re meant to believe – that Sylar’s merely a hallucination by Matt, or that it’s actually Sylar who somehow managed to ‘upload’ himself into Matt’s mind (can’t have been that hard, I bet there’s lots of empty space up there to snuggle in).

27

I don’t care how many things that main Carnie has been in, I’m always going to recognize him as Wyatt from that early Next Generation episode.

And I have to think that scene between Ray Park and Tracey was put in there as a huge “eff-you” to the fans. I know I was thinking “Yes! Cut her up! Yeah, yeah —DAMMIT!”

28

The episode was somewhat interesting, but didn’t really do it for me. It was about time they changed the VO, but to that? It took me a while to figure out T-Bag was even supposed to be a traveler (my first guess was Irish American steampunk fan). Appropriate casting, seeing as how he went down with the ship on Prison Break, another show I loved at the beginning before my interest waned.

Anyone else think Claire’s odd new friend looked familiar? Aside from being on Californication, it turns out she was also a child actor on The Nanny (her name’s Madeline Zima).

And I know I’ve already complained about her to no end, but Nikiwhateverhernameisnow. Boring. Do not want. Do not need.

29

Yeah, she was even worse than Buffy’s first college roommate.
BTW, anyone who missed the ep, if you can’t/don’t want to use Hulu, they’re replaying episodes on G4 this season. Tuesday at 10pm (eastern).

30

Ha! Nice catch.

31

A new volume of Heroes starts off with the traditional flashbacks and metaphysical ponderings on the meaning of life by some guy with a British accent, but hey! It’s not Mohinder; it’s some skanky dude and his crew, including some old guy with tubes up his nose. Gotta love the callbacks to the previous seasons… but first, let’s spend an hour on exposition so we can catch up all those people who stopped watching about 27 minutes into Villains. Pikers.

It’s been six weeks since our last volume and Claire’s hosed most of her gawdawful makeup off, got a decent haircut, dragged her ass to a college conveniently adjacent to her two dads, and moved into Buffy’s dorm room. She even has Buffy’s anal, evil roommate, who turned out to be a succubus in the second episode:

Annie: I’m Annie, and I have my future planned out on this Visio chart posted over my bed- 20 years from now I absolutely won’t be lying on my sofa writing snotty recaps about TV shows. So, are you in the honors program too?
Claire: No, I got in on my GED. And my birth dad the senator,and grandma probably threw a few bucks at the school…
Annie: Ew, 'tard germs. Don’t touch my books.
Claire: Don’t touch my Clairbears
Annie: Deal. Coming to the oddly alcohol-free dorm party tonight?
Claire: Sure. It’s not like I have to spend 90 minutes every night curling my hair anymore.

(OK, really, this roommate kid is completely ruining the Type B rep of Annie’s across the planet. We aren’t like this. Trust me. Personally, I chose my university because the student union had Spanish coffee on for $1.70; AP classes my drunken adolescent ass.)

Peter: I’m not awesome enough to save everyone!
Para-partner: Oh, just fucking die, Superman.
Peter: To the Batmo-sneakers zooms off to save the day

(Peter’s gone to gymnastics class or wire-fu school, or got Mohinder’s leftover bug wall-climbing ability, 'cause these days he’s bouncing up walls and leaping over dumpsters to save pregnant damsels in wrecked cars. Hi.)

*The writers have worked out how to revise that prophetic painting crap; fortunately for the guys in the audience it involves a naked chick. No, not Angela. She has prophetic dreams, but only about stuff hat’s going to happen in the next ten minutes. Really, not that useful-not a lot of time to plan countermeasures. Anyhow, Scuzzy Mystery Sock pokes an arrow into the nice painted lady’s back and reveals a tattoo of Hiro. This being their very alternative version of a Monster.com posting for the position of Master of Time and Space. Samuel grovels to the current MOTAS to get a kickback 14 years so he can go bug Hiro at a carnival in the past. *

Hiro: My quest began 14 years ago when a fortune teller told me I’d be a great hero. But that led to me becoming MOTAS and now I’m dying.
Ando: Huh.
Hiro: I’m dying, and that’s all you say?
Ando: I’ve been mopping the blood off your ears for weeks now, so I can’t say I’m stunned.
Hiro: Should I go back and stop myself from becoming a hero? No, going back in time is wrong, I can ruin too many things. But I can save myself! Oh, I don’t know what- *vwoomp * Hory Crap! I’m back 14 years to the carnival where my destiny was revealed.
Samuel: Hi Hiro. I’m here to help you fulfill your destiny, or something; hey, anything you want to fix while you’re back here in 1995?
Hiro: I want to not ruin Ando and Kimiko’s future together, which was destroyed because I knocked over a slurpee
Samuel: Y’know brother, a love that cannot handle a spilled slurpee, probably isn’t an enduring love for the ages, if you get my meaning. Well, what the hell shoves Hiro into the path of the slurpee of destiny, Kimiko’s dress is saved, and now back in the present Ando and Kimi are necking in the boardroom. Well, nice to see Ando get some for a change
Hiro: I’m still dying?
Samuel: yeah, probably. Wanna join the circus?

Noah’s moved into the apartment I used to have in 1993, the depression era walkup over a Japanese restaurant; lousy electrical services and weird bits of fish bobbing up in the kitchen sink, but fabulous wainscoting. Of course he’ s yapping into his cell:

Noah: Let’s discuss in elaborate detail how we brainwashed Sylar into thinking he’s Nathan. Oh yeah, by the way, what the fuck were we thinking???
Angela: Look buster, was it your son who was brutally murdered? What’s his name, Larry?
Noah: Lyle
Angela: Whatever. We had to do it. Or else- damn, why did we do this? I forgot.
Noah: I just went along with it because I felt sorry for you
Angela: At least you still have a son
Noah: So do you
Angela: Yeah, he’s suppose to meet me for sushi after the senate goes into recess-
Noah: Not your fake son, Peter!
Angela: I see less of him than I see of the dead one. He never calls…
Noah: Hey, you’re at the sushi restaurant in my building. I’m outside-Hi!
Angela: By the way, Tracey’s on a Building 26 revenge killing streak so watch yourself

Noah blows her off and gets into his car, which immediately starts shooting water out of the vents and filling up like a goldfish tank. He’s blubbing around in there drowning, until he’s able to-punch out a window?

Danko: blows smoke off his pistol Abilities are overrated…
Noah: You know, you’re seriously annoying. I have a cure for that.
Haitian: I’m squishing your head, Emil.
Danko: What? Who? What? Who’s that guy with the kni-OW!
Tracey: I swear to God, that wasn’t me chopping Danko open.
Noah: I just have this feeling Danko buried some sort of clue into his yank abdomen.
Tracey: OK, that was just gross.
Noah: I need a new partner, Haitian’s not returning my calls.
Tracey: I dunno, I have this vengeance thing I’m dealing with. You remember? I tried to kill you 2 hours ago in your car?
Noah: Another man answered my wife’s phone this morning, so the murder attempt was only the second shittiest thing to happen to me today.

Angela: Sylar! Eeeeek! Why are you wearing Nathan’s suit? Oh, right. Nathan, why are you wearing Sylar’s face?
Sy-than: Ma, wake up!
Angela: Oh God, I had a horrible dream that Sylar kille- oops. So, how’s work?
Sy-than: I dunno ma, I feel like a new man. Immortal, and I have this urge to-fix everything that I’ve screwed up in life. Do I like sashimi? I forget
Angela: Just shut up, go be a senator, get some tail-pretend you’re John Edwards! Now pour me a saki.
Sy-than: I banged Niki in Vegas and abandoned my sick wife too, hey, that’s right! Ew, I did that? Wow, I’m an asshole.
Angela: You’re not talking like Nathan, you sound more like Gabr-
Sythan: Let me look at your watch, it sounds like it’s running fast
Angela: ohshit ohshit ohshit (dials up Matt) Fix him! Download a patch! Sylar’s leaking out
Matt: Screw you lady, I’m giving up mindmojo, it’s bad!
Angela: Yeah, and having a amnesiac pissed off serial killer wandering over to the White House for beers and domestic security discussions, that’s way better for the country. Suck it up. You know what Sylar’s like when he’s in the throes of an existential crisis - he starts burning girls on beaches and kidnapping Claire and painting apocolypti with his mother’s blood. On a relative scale, I prefer that you have the emotional baggage-you’re way less likely to commit an atrocity
Matt: Go Away!!!

Back at the office, Sythan reached for his coffee two arm lengths away and schwoomps it into his hand; this is different for him. Sylar never used to TK stuff into his hand. Me? I’d be 'hey, where’s the remote? Oh, over there on the kitchen table schwoomp!” if I was telekinetic; Sylar just used TK to slam people into walls and cut their heads open. You know, really? He could have done more with that skill. While he’s sitting there thinking, ‘That was weird’ he Elle-shocks himself. He’s so freaked by that he calls Peter- Parker? Petrelli, right.

Sythan: Peter, something’s going on with me, I don’t understand it and I think you’re the only one who can help me.
Peter: Bugger off, I’m being moody. Later, doorbell.
Noah: Hey, didn’t you have furniture the last time I was here?
Peter: When was that? When you tasered me, put me in an orange jumpsuit and shackled me onto a prison transport?
Noah: errr… hey, nice clippings! This all your work?
Peter: Yeah-I swiped Suresh’s bug-wall-strength thing, now I save pregnant car crash victims
Me: OK, we may not know where Mohinder is, but at least he hasn’t been butterfly-stepped out of existence…yet
Mohinder: Don’t hold your breath, I’m not in the credits anymore
Me: Aiieeeeeeeee!
Noah: I need a ‘one of them’ partner to go with me to the safety deposit box. There’s going to be a super speedy knife wielding maniac there waiting to kill us, is that an issue for you?
Peter: Anything to build the skill set
Noah: Cool. Hey, call you mother. When she doesn’t have you to call to get her guilt on, she calls me.
Peter: Suck it up, man. You’re related by adoption, she can play you off Nathan instead of me for a change.

Claire comes home from the Christian Temperance Union frat party, sees that Annie’s left the window open. And a quick boo outside shows that like Claire, Annie likes to jump out of windows a couple times a season. Just one small problem…
Claire: Heal! Grow those bones back together Annie! Heal!
Remains dead and deformed
Claire: Crap, you mean you jumped out a window and you can’t heal yourself? Where’d you learn that, AP algebra? Idiot. *This * is how you leap out a window-weeeeeee-thud.
Gretchen the hippie chick: Uh, wow?
Claire, rooting through her speed dial: Haitian, Haitian, where’s that number…
Matt’s mind-humped someone at the LAPD to make him a detective, but he’s still so insecure he’s jealous of the water guy. But he’s back with Janice and swears he’s staying out of people’s heads
Matt: Matty? How’d you bust out of this crib, you can’t even walk yet
Hallucin-Sylar: I’ve got your baby, nyah nyah.
Matty: Daddy? SCARY BRAIN MAN PLAYING PATTYCAKE WITH MEEE!!! HELPPP!!!
(No shit, the best actor on the show is 9 months old and looked more terrified than any previous Sylar-bait featured,and that includes Jackie the bitchy cheerleader, who despite being unpowered and a total bagface, actually tried to kick Sylar in the sack while he was murdering her.)
Matt: Get out of my head!!!
Sylar: Oh, you’re one to talk. Where’s my body?
Matty: GAWDAMMIT DAD HE’S KISSING ME MAKEHIMSTOPPP!
Matt: How’d you get into my head?
Sylar: Brainwash backwash? Guilt induced hallucination? Do you think I care? Want my body back. It’s been weeks since I menaced Claire.
Matty: Where’s Ando? He makes the Mooby face that makes me happy.
Sylar: Trust game-Catch! (throws the baby at Matt)

Matt, at 12-step at work: Hi, I’m Matt, it’s been six weeks since I mind-hum-used. I think I’m seeing ghosts GADDAMMIT SYLAR GET AWAY FROM ME!
Everyone else: Dude, maybe you should keep the sidearm in your desk until the DT’s wear off?
Matt: GO AWAY!!
Matt’s partner: Now’s the perfect time to interrogate perps! Let’s go, Lumpy!

…This is getting a little long, so suffice it to say some more stuff happened, involving speedy guy with flying knives, Noah getting a fetching abdominal wound, some clam chowder, and a new ‘one of them’ for Noah. The chick who tried to drown him that morning. Yeah. This should work out well.
*
Next time: I’d better see Mohinder, dammit!*

32

Don’t give up on Mo - if the actor isn’t going to appear in the episode, he or she never shows up in the credits, even if they are a series regular.

I know, right? I haven’t seen such shitty after sales care since I bought my Dell.
Also, how lame IS Matt? I keep wanting to show him every comicbook featuring a telepath ever and see if he notices a pattern. Like, they tend to be *in charge *because their power is so mindbogglingly (ha) awesome! He’s the biggest loser ever. And amongst this adorable bunch, that’s some feat.

Also, Noah’s “you’re not a killer”. Noah, I pretty much think she is. The entrance exam is not taxing - you kill someone and hey presto, you are a killer. Also, how’d he get her number? Did she leave a business card in the car or what?

33

I just watched it last night, and have not yet read the thread. Here are my thoughts:

I like the evil carnies. I like new villains, as long as they have a good motive (“Because we’re Eeeeevil” is not a good motive). I’m not sure what carnival will show up in Tokyo and in America, but my first hand knowledge of how evil carnivals work is severely limited.

Hey - Claire is in college now, and her story line (shades of Single White Female) may be interesting. Just don’t let her meet a boy: they all seem to suck the life out of her storylines.

Matt’s imaginary friend: It’s good right now, but if it keeps up for more than three weeks, that will be too long.

I think Noah has almost recruited Tracy.

Sylar/Nathan: I like the occasional cuts where we see Sylar in profile, but Nathan in full.

The Compass: It’s an obvious McGuffan, but if it advances the plot, I’m okay with that.

Off to read the thread, now.

34

He was on Psych last week… without the accent.

He sounded weird. Where is he originally from?

35

He thinks it’s ethically wrong to do it, and probably realizes that if he gets into the pattern he’ll become a bwah haha eviliy dopey overlord sort, so good on him for that self awareness. But if I were him, I’d read Matty’s thoughts- let’s find out what babies really think about.

Me too, I also liked that they cut from Nathan looking very discomposed to the scene with Matt and the new babysitter. Makes for some Hmmmmmmm

Le Google… Chicago, but studied in England. Royal Shakespeare, not bad, dude.

36

IIRC, when asked on THE TONIGHT SHOW he mentioned growing up in Texas (as per the reference to San Antonio in your link).

37

His father was a pretty good object lesson.

On the one had, that would be kinda cool, but on the other… would you really want to know what’s going on in there?

Okay. He still has his Chicago vowels. He just sounds wrong without a slight Indian Accent. Sorta how James Marsters sounds wrong with an his Californian Accent.

38

OK, I tend to get my mind wandering over the most unimpotant stupid things, but here goes anyway.

So they need to solve a linear algebra problem to get into an exclusive linear algebra class? And really how can you differentiate 35 students with one problem that has a correct answer?

OK, I am done…continue on with your more substantive discussions.

39

Would any crime scene really still have the corpse position outlined with white tape? If nothing else, I would think in any real campus setting, Claire would be seen by a lot more people when trying out her little experiment because a dozen or more ghoulish students would be queuing up to lie down in the outline and getting their picture taken by their mates.

40

OK, so watched it again…Wyatt / T-Bag / head Carnie guy can manipulate ink…AND move the Earth? I’d forgotten that he used his hands to push dirt on the coffin at the beginning.