Eight Minutes to MidnightThis week's episode was written by series creator Tim Krieg. When I saw that flash across the opening credits, I will have to admit it really ratcheted up my expectation level for the show. And maybe it pushed my hopes up too high because while I liked the episode, it ended up not being all that and a bag of chips.
I do like that the episode expanded the universe a bit. It's nice to see the developing of powers isn't just an isolated thing to the protagonists we've seen on screen. I will give
Heroes a lot of credit--it's got a fairly substantial cast but yet it's still finding ways to expand the cast without it becoming over confusing or not servicing the previously established characters. That can be hard to do (just look at
Lost this year trying to shoe-horn in characters that were supposed to be there the whole time, we just hadn't met them yet). I think part of that is that
Heroes is so early in its run, that it can easily introduce new characters and not have it be too intrusive. And unlike
Lost, it doesn't have a closed set of characters where if you bring in new people, you have to come up with some way to explain why we haven't seen them before.
This week, we met the cute waitress who has developed the ability to remember anything she's read. I will admit I liked her moments with Hiro. The puppy-dog eyes he kept making at her were well done, as was his reaction to her compliment. I wonder if she understood what he was saying to Ando and how she reacted. It's a shame that Sylar killed her because I think she had some potential. Of course, as we sat in the diner, watching this story unfold, I wondered if Sylar was there for Hiro or the waitress. And we were left hanging as to the fate of them both since Hiro vanished but didn't come back. Has Hiro's first-attempt at a do-over doomed him. Because if you think about it, once he gets back in time, what can he do to stop Sylar? Will Sylar still be drawn to the waitress whether she's at work or not? Or will Hiro's coming back to save her only mean that Sylar can have a double feast of whatever he takes from those with powers? I hate to say it, but Hiro's power is good but what does it offer in helping him defeat Sylar? Would it have been better to wait on the do-over until he could find Niki or someone who could, possibly, go up physically against Sylvar? Also, if something happens to him here, does this create a time paradox later, wherein he can't come back in time and warn Peter?
And that's the issue with time travel--it opens up so many paradoxes. It's better to just not think about it, really and just go with the flow.
Meanwhile, we find out Eden has some kind of abiilty to push her will upon people. Did she do this to Mohinder? Does this mean his attraction to her was planted? And is it wearing off? And was she doing whatever she did to push back his ability? We see that Mohinder has some kind of prophetic dreams in this storyline. (That gives us two charactrers with a future-telling ability at this point, for those of you keeping score at home). Where are they leading him? Will he end up pursuing his father's work again and throwing away the life he seems to want? And why did Eden and HRG want him on the sidelines?
Also, we have the question of if HRG and company can somehow create these powers in people. Or are the marks just a sign of having been mind-wiped by the Haitian? I do wonder if HRG has found a way, through the research of Mohinder's father, to unlock the potential powers within everyone. What if we find out that everyone could have these powers but HRG is picking and choosing those he needs or wants for whatever overall purpose he has. That could be an intersting plotthread, if they follow through on it.
And we did find out a bit more about HRG. We see his drive to save Claire and how, when it comes to her, the ends justify the means. Does this carry over into everything else he's doing? And who exactly does he work for? And I have to think Claire's seeing Eden in the hallway will be important to the show later. It just seemed to much of a set-up for future events.
I do have to wonder about HRG's agenda. I wonder if Sylar is an early attempt to unlock the potential of someone gone wrong. And is Claire somehow bait for a trap?
All I know is we're 24 hours from the big event that we've seen hinted about for weeks now.
Heroes is at a crossroads with the first big pay-off episode of its young run next week. And I have to admit, I am intrigued to see how it all unfolds next week. This episode finished setting things up, I expect next week to start knocking things down.
posted by Michael Hickerson at 11/14/2006 10:05:00 AM |
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