Heroes: "The Hard Part" & "Landslide"It's a two-for-one deal here since I got a bit behind on Heroes.
As the deadline to stop whoever destroys New York looms (at this point it has to be either Peter or Sylar), the dramatic intensity picks up a good deal. The ticking clock is there in the background, though it's not quite as evident as on, say, 24. Threads from the entire season are coming together and it's been fairly entertaining the past two weeks, though I'll have to admit the best parts have been surrounding Hiro, esp. in "Landslide."
What I've really enjoyed about the past two episodes is how it's thrown our character expectations for a loop. We expect Hiro's dad to be some kind of bad-guy, but here he helps Hiro train for his quest to destroy Sylar. And when Hiro finds out Ando has gone after Sylar alone and this will lead to his death, Dad looks upset by this. But I wonder if the bed-time story we heard in a flashback will have to come to fruition--will Hiro have to sacrifice his "heart" (aka Ando) in order to stop Sylar? And knowing how he turns to out in the future, will Hiro be able to avoid the same mistakes? I have to wonder if the future Hiro is trying to change is too big to change...he can change a few small details, but overall the big picture may not change that much. And as much as I hate to say it, I have to wonder if the destruction of New York might not bring about something good--yes, it's a great evil, but what if instead of rallying around to destroy the heroes, the country rallied around for the greater good?
And then we have Bennett, who started out the bad guy, has become an anti-hero of sorts and then this week we see him willing to kill Molly to protect Claire. And the guy did kill Eric Roberts character in cold blood...so the ends to justify the means for him. It should be interesting to see where and how this all plays out.
Because it certainly feels as though everyone here has some kind of destiny and we're running toward it--whether they can avoid it or not.
Of course, looking at the episodes, it was fairly easy to figure out how Linderman could assure Nathan of the landslide win. But what did catch my attention was that Michah seemed drained by the experience. I wonder if there is a limit to how much he influencing of computer systems he can do. Have we seen others needs to "recharge" after an extensive use of their powers? Could they be drained to the point of exhaustion and possibly beyond?
And poor ol' DL, we hardly knew him. He sacrifices himself but still gets to kill Linderman. Of course, with the healing power Linderman has, I do wonder if he's really going to stay dead for long.
That said, I do have some criticisms. I enjoy disliking Sylar and I didn't really think the attempt to have us understand him was all that effective. Can't we just have a villian these days that we enjoy disliking because they're evil? I'm think Darth Vader before the latest trilogy....it was just fun to not like the guy becuase he was such a powerful bad-ass.
Also, could Hiro freeze time and train with his father? If so, why not do that? If there's a clock ticking of two days in which he has to take out Sylar, why not take advantage of all your advantages? Or would the use of his power somehow draw Sylar to him faster? Is part of the power Sylar has absorbed the ability to find other Heroes? It is obviously not quite the same as Molly's power, but can you imagine how dangerous and lethal Sylar becomes if he gets that power? If I were the powers that be, I'd be just as worried about him finding that power as absorbing Claire's.
Which all leads to multiple cliffhangers that I assume will all be resolved in the next hour. One thing this show does well--it leaves you wanting more.
24: Day Six, 3 -4 a.m. At least when they kidnapped Kim Bauer and she got all whiny about it, we got to watch Elisha Cuthbert be whiny and pouty. (In my book, all good). This time on the season of greatest hits, we get Josh kidnapped and acting all whiny and pouty. Not nearly as entertaining and a whole lot more annoying.
Call me cruel, but why didn't Jack keep pursuing Chang or at least shoot in the leg to prevent escape? I mean, Josh could hold on a few more seconds and not plummet to his death (please don't let him die...I can't handle seeing Rena Sofer try to do grief!) while Jack makes sure that he keeps our country from going to war.
Which is what this all comes down to--we have to stop World War III from occurring....even if we have to lie, cheat and steal to do it. Alas, the Russians have good counter intelligence and figure out we're faking them out. Man, who didn't see that one coming?
So now Phillip Buaer has all the power. And we're left wondering what his overall agenda is. He wants to go to China...he sells nukes to terrorists. Surely this guy is some kind of enemy of the state, but he's got the White House on speed dial? Ummmmmmmmmmmm, yeah...ohkay then.
I'm trying to apply rules of logic to this show that just won't work...I've got to stop doing that.
That said, the few minutes Jack is taking on the Chinese were pretty cool. As for the rest...well, at this point, we're playing out the string and I'm hoping season seven is good.
Other than that, I got nothing.
Labels: 24, heroes, tv shows
posted by Michael Hickerson at 5/19/2007 01:38:00 PM |
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