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    Heroes: It's Coming
    Tuesday, 18 November 2008
    Heroes s03e09: It's Coming

    I'll admit it - I wasn't looking forward to this week's episode of Heroes. The last few weeks have been extraordinarily lackluster and unnecessarily complicated. I found myself wondering if this was going to be like Season 2, something to chuckle about later after all the disappointment had faded.

    Thankfully, I was wrong.

    Last night's episode of Heroes not only brought back some of the elements the show has been missing, but also kept the show moving at a brisk enough pace to stay on target without meandering too much in "ExpositionLand". All the key pieces are put into play for an action-packed volume finale, and while Hiro reminds us just why we like him so damn much, Peter reminds us that when super-powered people fight, everyone wins.

    This episode is the precursor to the two-part "The Eclipse" storyline, which then leads into the penultimate and final episodes of volume 3. As such, most of the episode revolved around getting people where they need to be so that they can play a part in the inevitable conflict that's coming (just in time for an over-emphasized solar eclipse). Lines are being drawn, sides are being chosen (though some choices are more questionable than others), and with the final four episodes of this volume in sight, this was one hell of a "set up" episode.

    Paging Josh Baskin

    Picking up where we left off last week (with Hiro screaming in Arthur's vile clutches, mwahahaha), Ando decides to pick his jaw up off the ground and actually help his friend out. He leaps towards Arthur, who calmly stops him in mid-air (much to Ando's surprise) and tosses him aside like an O'Douls at Keith Richard's birthday party. Arthur begins to wipe Hiro's mind when he happens to glance up and notice a large painting of an eclipse on the rockface. He releases Hiro and walks closer to get a better look, and Ando seizes the opportunity to snag Hiro.

    You're out of your element, Ando.
    "Dude, chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature."
    They crumple to the ground, but it's too late: Hiro seems confused and wonders where he's at. Ando tries to get him to make sense, but all Hiro can reply is "waffles" (nice little fanboy toss there, Heroes writers). Arthur turns and sees them, and Ando rushes to get Hiro to teleport them away, even squeezing Hiro's eyes closed himself. Finally, Hiro teleports them and they arrive in a bowling alley in Tokyo - home of Hiro's favorite American-style Chicken and Waffles. Hiro is still acting funny, and wonders why Ando looks so old. Ando realizes what must be going on, and asks Hiro his age. Thanks to the partial mind-scramble by Artie, Hiro now thinks he's ten years old.

    Back at Pineheart, Arthur returns to find Gabriel staring at the newly repaired office window (the one he threw Peter out of). Arthur takes Gabriel down a hall and tells him that his hunger isn't about killing, it's about acquiring power - and that Arthur can help Gabriel do that without the telekinetic can-opener trick. The key, Arthur tells him, is empathy - something that Gabriel doesn't think he's capable of. Arthur disagrees, and reveals that he knows Gabriel helped Peter survive the fall. He lets Gabriel into a locked room where we find Elle, chained to the floor. She looks up, sees Gabriel standing there, and fries him with electricity.

    Up, up, and awaaaa... splat.

    At Peter's apartment - which makes no sense because if your father just tried to kill you, you probably wouldn't want to go to the very first place he'd be likely to look, but I digress - Peter tells Claire to go home and stay away from him, to stay "innocent". They're interrupted by someone trying to force their way into the apartment, and Claire tells Peter to run. At first he hesitates, but she tells him she has a plan and he leaves out the window and down the fire escape. The door slams open to reveal Knox and Flint. Knox laughs about Claire trying to protect Peter, but Claire replies "Don't you know? I'm the defensive player of the year" and leaps out the window and lands with a heavy thud on the asphalt below. Peter is right behind her and they duck into a nearby sewer grate, but not before Peter notices a familiar painting on the side of a nearby building: the painting of the world shattering apart.Not enough parameters! You must have 4 parameters separated by "|" : e.g. {playerflv}290|140|false{/playerflv}

    Arthur checks up on Mohinder's progress with the serum, and besides a hideously mutated man-beast, he's got exactly zilch. Arthur glances over and sees that Mohinder is also studying an eclipse and asks him about it. Mohinder tells him that all the cases he's documented seemed to happen around the time of the last eclipse, but that it was probably just a coincidence (mmhmm, sure it is). He goes on to tell Arthur that there has to be something missing from the formula - a catalyst - and that it would have to be something that couldn't be stored or created synthetically: something inside an actual person.

    While Gabriel (I still want to keep calling him Sylar) lets Elle use him as an electric punching bag, Matt Parkman and Daphne arrive at Primatech to find it near deserted. Matt finds Angela and tries to see into her mind, but is forcefully blocked. Daphne says she's going to find a nurse, but instead races over to Pinehearst to tell Arthur what's going on and to again ask him to leave Matt alone. Arthur insists that Angela will be fine, and that if Parkman manages to get in, he'll be waiting.

    Peter and Claire race through the sewers, and Peter keeps insisting that Claire leave him, finally breaking down and telling her what she becomes in the future and how she kills him in the street above. Claire refuses and there's a touchy-feely Hallmark moment between them when she tells him that he never should have saved her or become her hero. Awwwwww. Knox and Flint find them and Claire tells Peter to run again. She faces them and that's when they tell her that they're not after Peter: they came for her.

    Yataa!

    I'm just going to come out and say it: 10-year old Hiro is way more fun than 28-year old Hiro. While Hiro exchanges a barrage of spitballs with a nearby table, Ando tries to explain his powers to him. Ando does his best to teach him how to do it, including the sugggestion "make your cheeks wobble". Haha! Hiro gives it a shot and manages to slow down time enough to dodge an incoming spitball. Then, he tries it again and manages to stop time completely, leaping from his chair and shouting out his signature "Yataa!".

    Not enough parameters! You must have 4 parameters separated by "|" : e.g. {playerflv}290|140|false{/playerflv}Then what does he do? What any of us would if we had his powers: plays pranks on the entire bowling alley. He puts ketchup in people's seats, he turns his spitball adversaries against each other, he moves bowling balls out of the way, he ties shoelaces together - all with a look of glee and delight that I've sorely missed. I can't even begin to tell you how great it is to see Hiro actually enjoying his abilities, instead of just droning on about his "destiny" and lamenting his one failed jaunt to the past (which may finally be explained soon - see the spoiler section).

    Back at Pinehearst, Gabriel keeps letting Elle zap him. He tells her that he didn't want to kill her father, and that she deserves vengeance. He tells her to let it out, and she pours it on, frying his skin and shirt off (really Heroes writers? Can we please go a single episode without one of the male leads somehow "conveniently" losing their shirt?). He tells her that he understands, that he can take it, and to give all of it to him. She ups the voltage and let's him have it, knocking him to the ground. Exhausted, she collapses to the ground and begs him to kill her. Sylar raises his "telekinetic knife finger" and points at her.

    And I thought the Corleones had issues...

    Nathan and Tracy arrive at Pinehearst looking for answers, and Nathan finally sees for himself that his father's still alive. He tells Nathan to give him a hug, but Nathan just circles him warily (hmmm, maybe Peter should have taken pointers). He tells Nathan that everything that's happened to him - the election, the assasination - it's all part of his destiny, and that Nathan was always his favorite son. Man, what is it with this family and their obsession about favorite sons? Angela tells Sylar he's her favorite, Nathan and Arthur think that Peter is her favorite, Nathan is Arthur's favorite... is there some kind of child ranking system these people are consulting or what? Talk about poor parenting. Then again, when your goal is to give superpowers to half the world and then destroy it, I suppose that parenting flaws are low on the list of grievances.Not enough parameters! You must have 4 parameters separated by "|" : e.g. {playerflv}290|140|false{/playerflv}

    In the cell, Gabriel surprises Elle by cutting her restraints instead of killing her. He tells her that he understands - Angela made him the bad person he was, her father made her the person she is - and that they both wanted to be normal, they just didn't know how. She tells him that she only saved his life to use him, and he leans in, touching her arm, to forgive her and ask her to forgive herself. When he pulls back, her pain is gone, and Gabriel has her ability as well.

    Flint and Knox capture Claire, but Peter can't just leave her. He blocks their way out and tells them to let her go or die. Flint scoffs at him, but Peter's got a plan: above them, he's broken a gas line and it's slowly pouring propane into the room. Peter gets Flint all riled up and says he doesn't even need powers to kick Flint's ass. Knox smells the gas, but his warning comes too late as Flint lights up, and ignites the gas fumes with a massive blast, sending himself and Knox flying backwards while Claire runs headfirst through the flames towards Peter and escape. If anyone out there had any doubts as to Peter's superhero street cred, let the fist-pumping jumps of over-caffeinated glee this scene caused be evidence to the contrary. This is the kind of Peter Petrelli I like to see: someone who is capable of taking down two supervillains and saving the girl, even without his powers. Daaaaayum.

    Nobody puts Baby in a Pinehearst cell.

    Still in the "prison cell o' love", Gabriel and Elle ("Gabri-Elle" for all you relationship hyphenators out there) discuss the finer points of her abilities as close to each other as they can physically get, while Arthur watches the whole thing in his office via surveillance camera. Add in some soft wah-wah guitar and a wayward cable repairman and I think you can guess where this is headed. Bow chicka bow wow...

    Not enough parameters! You must have 4 parameters separated by "|" : e.g. {playerflv}290|140|false{/playerflv}Outside, Nathan has a difficult decision to make. Tracy tells him to pull it together and make a choice, but Nathan just isn't sure. He tells her to get back to Washington while he visits his mother, and flies off. Instead, she goes back inside and makes Arthur a shady deal he can't refuse: as long as he watches her back when the dust settles, she'll convinces Nathan to join his side and become the public face of Pinehearst and Arthur's plans for the world.

    Over at Primatech, Matt enters Angela's mind to free her, and runs right into a mental version of Arthur Petrelli (disguised as Daphne). Daphne/Arthur stabs him, and in the real world the real Daphne sees the wound and begs Matt to let her in too. She grabs his hand and Matt brings her into Angela's mind, where Arthur tells him about her betrayal. She confesses, and from there it gets a little too touchy-feely for me, as she apologizes and espouses her love for him and Matt (who apparently is more concerned about the fact she has the hots for him, and less about the fact that she's been working for the guy who has tried to have him killed 3 times now) buckles and gives in. Wow, dude must be reaaaaally desperate. Sure, Daphne's a looker and all, but one assassination attempt is one too many if you ask me. Angela tells "the MindArthur" that he used to love her like that too, and that in some way he still does. She tells him to let her go, and voila! Handcuffs unlocked, chains released. Maybe she should have tried that to begin with, huh?

    White Pawn to E4

    And finally, the pieces are all put into play. Outside Angela's mind, Matt runs into Peter and Claire and attacks Peter for sending him off to Africa. Peter lets him read his mind and Matt finds out the truth and lets him go. Angela fills them in on the details: Arthur being alive (which they all knew already) the two halves of the formula being stolen (some of them knew this too *cough*Daphne*cough*), and the final part, the catalyst. Claire puts two and two together and realizes what Sylar meant when he said she was "special... different": Claire has the catalyst in her blood stream.Not enough parameters! You must have 4 parameters separated by "|" : e.g. {playerflv}290|140|false{/playerflv}

    And so the teams are in place for the upcoming battle: Angela's team of heroes consisting of Peter, Claire, Nathan, Matt and Daphne versus Arthur's team of villains consisting of Knox, Flint, Gabriel, Elle, and Tracy. Of course, you never know who will switch sides at the last moment: will Nathan be seduced by Tracy into joining Arthur? Will Gabriel do the right thing and stop Arthur? Will Hiro regain his memories in time to help?

    Speaking of which - Ando convinces Hiro to teleport them somewhere that will jog his memory, and Hiro picks the unlikeliest of locations: his favorite comic shop. After some hilarious fanboy-appreciative comic book humor ("Captain America DIED! Spiderman revealed his secret identity!! And the Hulk is RED?!") Hiro and Ando find a copy of 9th Wonders with Hiro on the cover, in exactly the same situation they find themselves in, right down to Ando showing Hiro the comic book and Hiro saying "I don't remember that". They flip to the back of the book to find out what happens and it's a full page splash of an eclipse with two words: "It's Coming". Back at Pinehearst, Arthur paints the future and the result is the exact same image. Arthur mutters the final words of the episode: "It's coming."
     
    So, sufficed to say, an eclipse is coming (duh). But what that eclipse may mean is the important part:

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    And that does it for another week of Heroes.

    Come back next week for chapter 10, "The Eclipse, Part One", where Arthur orders Gabri-Elle to find Claire and bring her to him; Matt, Hiro and Ando team up together and follow Daphne to her hometown; and Nathan and Peter search for the only man that can stop their father from destroying the world: the Haitian.

    Sounds like a good time.

     





    Peter Sorensen is a part-time reviewer and would totally abuse time-stopping powers for his own amusement too. You can email him here or follow his updates on Twitter.

    Thoughts? Opinions? Is Hiro really Angela's illegitimate son? Maybe Meredith is Nathan's 3rd cousin?     Post a comment below and let us know!
    Comments (6)
    crood wrote...
    The whole thing feels like it's being made up on an episode by episode basis. People keep picking/changing sides without any apparent thought. You'd think Angela's first statement to Nathan would be about the murder attempt. Parkman could easily confirm it, so what could Tracy do to get Nathan on Arthur's side?

    So after 2 seasons of explaining Sylar's powers one way, they're now actually the same as Peter's after all? Why then would Peter have gotten the hunger if he already had the better way of getting powers? Does that mean they both could do it Arthur's way if they wanted to?

    They spent the first season claiming the eclipse was symbolic. It works better that way since a total eclipse doesn't occur in the US and Japan at the same time. It's usually night in one place or the other and the angle would prohibit it being total in both places.
    || November 19, 2008
    crood wrote...
    One more thought. Why didn't it occur to anyone that must be or have been a different carrier of the catalyst? Clair's father got his powers from the formula. If we use the actors' ages as a reference, we know it was being administered to babies around 1976 (Ali Larter's birth year). Going by Adrian Pasdar's age, Nathan would have been around 11. Claire was born around 1990.

    Since the catalyst has to be in a human host, who was hosting it for 14 years?
    || November 19, 2008
    Peter wrote...
    @crood - I'm with you - a lot of this season just makes little to no sense. Lately, I've had to develop a "don't overthink it" attitude towards the show because otherwise I just get way too frustrated with the plot-holes and inaccuracies to enjoy watching it.

    I've also wondered the same thing about the eclipse, and the only thing I can think of to say is... "huhwha I dunno!" smilies/cheesy.gif Apparently in the Heroes universe, a solar eclipse looks exactly the same in every single time zone and nation. Add it to the long list of curiosities about the show, like how the hell do all these people jaunt around the country so damn quickly? It seems like half the episodes involve people going from New York to California to Texas all within a single episode and you never once see them on a plane, or tired because they pulled an all-night driving session... anyway, you see what I mean. This is not a show for thinkers. smilies/wink.gif

    I also thought the same thing about Claire. Mohinder says that all his documented research has them showing up around the eclipse... except then that would mean that he never took a look at any of the Company files while he worked there because the graphic novels (and even most of the episodes involving the Company) have proved that there has almost always been a steady stream of super-powered people, even long before Claire was even born or during any kind of eclipse. Not to mention the fact that the Company didn't know Claire had abilities until mid-season last season (because HRG hid the whole thing from them), so that makes it even more unlikely that Kaito would hide the catalyst in her or that the powers are somehow linked to solar eclipses.

    On top of that is your point that Claire is simply too young to be the carrier. My guess is that the whole thing is a red herring and that we're supposed to believe Claire is it until they eventually reveal it isn't and tell us who the real carrier is (I'm putting my money on either Hiro or Peter).

    That, of course, leads me to my main problem with the show: every season the writers come up with some stupid way to keep Peter and Hiro out of the fight. These two are the main protagonists of the show, and they are constantly removed from the fray. Last season, it was Hiro being in feudal Japan while Peter had Haitian-induced amnesia. This season, Peter's powers have been stripped away and Hiro has Arthur-induced amnesia. What's next? Maybe next season, Peter will be captured and held on Level 5... oh wait, they kinda already did that one. Oh, I know! Maybe next season they'll introduce a new character who will give Peter AND Hiro amnesia at the same time! Of course, now that Sylar can take powers just like Peter, they'll have to tag him too. lol

    http://www.bleepinggeek.com || November 20, 2008
    Tron wrote...
    Nice wrap up Pete.

    Fingers crossed they can save this season! Or at least not fudge up the epic battle royale they've just set up. I just wan't to be entertaaaaaaained dammit!!

    Also.. what's the ETA on new Lost?
    || November 20, 2008
    Tom wrote...
    Sigh. Been away from TV for a while and see I haven't missed much. Series swirling white ceramic bowl. Tune in next week for the flush. Sigh. Too bad. So much promise.
    || November 23, 2008
    manzy704 wrote...
    Hey Peter, no review for last week's abortion or this week's burial? Are you done reviewing this show?
    || December 02, 2008

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