I'm glad I waited until this morning to write this post, because it gave me the opportunity to have a nice, insightful conversation with one of my friends about what's been going on with this show lately. I think some poor choices were certainly made early on in the season (which fyi Tim Kring has apologized for), but I think it's still going to take some time for people to get back on aboard. That being said, I think the last two episodes have gone a long way to making that happen. That and the fact that Kristen Bell is smoking hot. Yeah.
I think the main reason last night's episode was much better is that (a) we're starting to move towards the resolution of the virus/old heroes dying plots which means (b) our characters are starting to cross paths again. The Bennet family is preparing to flee since Mr. Bennett can't deal with the fact that Claire has a boyfriend and is making friends at school (albeit by faking her own death to make another girl look stupid and thus exposing herself, but who's keeping track?) Mr. Bennett is not without reason, though, as Bob, Mohinder, and Veronica Mars (ok, I'll call her Elle from here on out) are hot on their trail. Mohinder wants to find Claire so he can save Niki from the virus, although I think we would be better off letting Crazy just pass on, because frankly I'm sick of her. Bob, on the other hand, is out to get rid of Mr. Bennett. Apparently we can only have one middle-aged, glasses-wearing white guy on this show. The three want to set a trap for Bennett which involves Elle shooting lighting, which is never a bad thing. Claire's boyfriend West, who has recently figured out that he was abducted by Mr. Bennett as a child, confronts him but then offers his help when Claire is in danger. One might say he wants to "play the hero." (Wop, wop) When the two are confronted by Elle and Mohinder, some quick work on their part allows them to take Elle hostage and use her as collateral to get Claire back. And given that we've all seen Isaac's paintings, we know how this plays out: Bennett gets shot in the eye and dies. End scene.....wait, it's not over? No it's not: Mohinder uses some of the blood Bob collected from Claire to revive Bennett, who wakes up in a company holding cell in shock and says 'Holy ---," just like his daughter did a year ago in the medical examiner's office. Nice touch, show, nice touch.
In the B-plot, Hiro can't deal with his father's death, so he decides to go back in time to stop it, but instead Papa Nakamura teaches him that just because one can change time, one shouldn't. This would have been a useful lesson four episodes ago when Hiro was still acting idiotically in Japan. And in the C-plot, Parkman realizes that not only that he can hear other people's thoughts but he call also transmit mental commands to them as well. He uses this newfound ability to interrogate Mama Petrelli as to why Adam/Kensei is killing all the old-people (they locked him up, and oh, p.s. he's immortal) and the identity of the unknown woman in the old Heroes photograph (her name is Victoria Pratt, and she will eventually played by Joanna Cassidy, who was in lots of things but whom I can only remember as the boss from Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead).
Noticeably and welcomely absent from this episode were the Wonder Twins, whom I can only hope are dead in the desert somewhere. Seriously.
Ok, that's it for this week. I'd like to hear thoughts about the way people feel about Heroes lately, since I'm beginning to get way too biased to be objective (although you have to give me props for cutting down on the Kristen Bell rhetoric-although you should all know that she is the Best. Actress. Ever.)
