Cheerleader in Peril as ‘the Eclipse’ Starts on Heroes

In Heroes “The Eclipse Part 1,” the eclipse has begun and it’s having the reverse effect of the one we saw in Season 1.  But we knew exactly what was going to happen this episode because we saw Arthur’s sketches at the beginning.

Heroes - Season 3 -

It was pretty funny watching everyone try to use powers they no longer have, particularly the overconfident Sylar and Elle.  The shocked look on Sylar’s face when his power didn’t work on HRG was priceless.  It’s amazing how reliant they’ve all become on their powers.

The best part was that Mohinder was finally back to normal.  Not that I’m a huge Mohinder fan.  It’s just that he was reaching an all-time low in the gross out factor and I’m not sure if I could take much more. 

But what does the newly healed scientist do?  Sets out to stalk Maya.  I’d be more concerned with whether or not this change was permanent.  Will he go back to being creepy dude when the eclipse finishes?

Nathan and Peter spend their time squabbling, too much brother revelry pent up I guess.  They find the Haitian who won’t leave until he stops his brother, a Level 5 escapee.

While the boys are gone, Angela goes to Nathan’s office where she finds Tracy, who happens to be on the phone with Arthur getting orders to go to Paris Island.  I didn’t understand this scene at all.  Why did Angela go there?  Does she know Tracy’s working with Arthur and if so, why didn’t she confront Tracy?  What was the purpose of this scene?

Meanwhile, Matt finally learns Daphne’s big secret when she goes home to Lawrence, Kansas and loses her powers.  I can see why she liked her ability.  I’m just curious why her dad didn’t get out his shotgun and chased Matt and company out of his corn fields.

Hiro still thinks he’s 10 so he and Ando head to the nearest comic book store to find the latest copy of 9^th Wonder to tell them what to do and they find Seth Green.  I really hope we get to see more of Seth in the next episode.  But my big question is this:  who is writing 9^th Wonder now that Isaac is dead?  Surely, he didn’t have three to six months written ahead of schedule.

And the big cliff hanger is the precious catalyst – I mean Claire – is shot when she jumps in front of a bullet meant for HRG, a man she is obviously very angry at for leaving so often.  So what does HRG do after patching up the now mortal Claire?  Leave, of course, and return to take vengeance on Sylar and Elle who are still licking their wounds.

Guess we are back to “Save the Cheerleader.”

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Heroes’ Claire’s Specialness Revealed on “It’s Coming”

On the most recent episode of Heroes, “It’s Coming,” we finally learned what made Claire special.  But was it really a big reveal for the audience?

Heroes - Season 3 -

Last night we learned that Claire is the catalyst that will make the formula Mohinder is perfecting work.  But most of us guessed that back in the season opener when Kaito (via a recording) told Hiro that the one with the pure blood was the key.

Sure Adam was a contender for the role for a while, but since he’s long been disposed of, it left Claire.

What would have been more interesting was to find out how Kaito made her the catalyst?  Surely, he did it while she was in his custody as a baby.  But how?  And why her?  Was it because of her healing ability?  Or was it just coincidence that she was the one available?  Did Kaito realize that she was a Petrelli?  Or did he and it was just an extra bonus to keep the catalyst right under their noses?

And just how will she be used to make the formula work?

Also not a big surprise given last week’s flashback, Elle and Sylar get close as he – after prompting by Arthur – helps her rid herself of pain and control her power again. 

Sylar is really becoming a nice guy, well except for the part where he is working for Arthur.  This empathy thing is really working for him.  I’m just having trouble finding him so likeable after wanting him dead for two seasons.

Meanwhile, Matt tries to help Angela by jumping in her mind.  But instead he finds Arthur disguised as Daphne, who stabs him.  Now, Matt must really love the speedster because there is no way after being stabbed that I would have brought her into my mind when she asked.  And even after he finds out she’s double crossed him, he stays with her.

In the end Arthur releases Angela.  Did Angela use the power of persuasion on him or was there still some semblance of love between them?

Back in Tokyo, Hiro – or rather Ando – is dealing with the side effects of Arthur’s attack on Hiro.  What I don’t understand is why Arthur didn’t just take Hiro’s powers?  Or was that what he was doing and Ando interrupted, leaving Hiro thinking he was 10?

In the end the sides line up and wait for what’s coming – an eclipse.

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Heroes Takes a Look Back in ‘Villains’

They say Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and Angela Petrelli was definitely a woman scorned in Heroes’ “Villains.”

Linderman and Arthur plotting together

I was wondering about the little Ozzie and Harriett routine that Arthur and Angela had going on in the beginning of this episode.  They didn’t strike me as the happily ever after type.  But it made a lot more sense after we found out how Arthur was keeping Angela “in line.”

And given that tidbit, it’s easy to see how she would be so willing to kill her own husband (I always thought she did).  Many mothers will do anything to protect their children.  Ironically, by doing so, she became the matriarch of the Petrelli family and became what she hated about Arthur – willing to kill her own son(s) for the good of the plan.

However, this interesting plot was ruined by the major hole in the storyline – the part they rewrote without explanation.  In Season 1, we were told that Arthur Petrelli committed suicide.  And if I remember right, he was found in the bathroom. 

I never believed it was actual suicide, but instead murder – or attempted murder.  However, this episode didn’t even reference the earlier mention to suicide, let alone follow through with the premise.  But even more frustrating, it offered no explanation for the deviation.

I was actually really enjoying this episode until we got to that part.  Then the whole episode was ruined for me.

I don’t understand all the trouble they went to in the episode to show other connections – HRG with Mohinder, Claire saving Flint – if they were just going to completely change the story as we knew it.

However, we did get some interesting tidbits in this episode.  We learned how Arthur survived.  And we got a little more insight into his powers.  He can obviously read people – when Linderman asked him to look in to Nathan he said he saw “trouble.”  He can also apparently put thoughts in people’s head – like convincing Angela that Nathan needed to die.

Furthermore, we learned that The Company knew about Sylar from the beginning and did nothing to stop him.  In fact, they encouraged his behavior. 

And we discovered that Flint and Meredith are siblings.  I’m guessing it won’t be long before she becomes one of Arthur’s henchmen since Flint is already one.

It started out as a great episode, one of the better of the season, but flopped with an ending that just didn’t cut it for me.  And did anyone else feel like the timeline was off a bit?

What did you think about the episode?  What was your favorite new reveal?  What didn’t you like?

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Heroes Form, Break Alliances on ‘Eris Quod Sum’

Loyalties are more than divided on Heroes these days.  On “Eris Quod Sum” we saw allegiance cross and double cross.  And who is at the center of all the chaos – the Petrellis.

A little water settles down the electric Elle. Courtesy of NBC.

Arthur Petrelli was a busy man tonight.  First he confirmed some details for fans.  Yes, Peter’s abilities are gone for good.  Arthur takes it all and leaves nothing behind.

And Arthur was in a taking mood this episode.  First he “heals” Maya by taking her power.  And fans rejoice as Maya leaves hopefully for the last time.  But not before she has a very stalker-like goodbye with Mohinder.  No way I’d waste words on some guy that put me in a cocoon on the wall! 

Meanwhile Mohinder goes to work for Pinehearst to help with the formula.  I don’t understand what Mohinder needs to do.  Don’t they already have both halves of the formula?

Next Arthur takes Maury’s life.  Maury had pledged his loyalty to Arthur in exchange for Matt’s safety.  But when Arthur’s plans for Matt change, Maury protests and gets a broken neck for his troubles.  But given what we later find out I have to wonder is Maury really dead?  Or was it a show?  For who’s sake, I’m not sure – maybe Knox.

Next Arthur sends Daphne to kill Matt or so Knox thinks.  After playing a little mind trick on Knox, Daphne befriends Matt.  But we know that she’s still working for Arthur, who warns her that he if she screws up he’ll put her back where he found her.  Just where did he find her?  Did she have powers when he found her?  Or did she acquire them later?

In the meantime, father-of-the year is playing musical sons.  First he has Peter locked up and wastes the opportunity for father-son bonding with really bad lines like “you’re grounded.” 

But the comatose Angela uses her mad skills and a promise that he’s her “favorite” to inspire Sylar to break out of his coma, escape Level 5 and save his little brother.  Sylar manages to save Peter from being Mohinder’s guinea pig, but gets himself caught. 

So instead of running for his life, the powerless Peter decides to return the favor and rescue Sylar.  But what he doesn’t know is that Arthur tries to win Sylar to his side by convincing him that Angela is the devil incarnate (hmm . . . that didn’t take much improvising).  Sylar decides to stay with Daddy and sends Peter flying out the window.

Has Sylar really traded allegiances?  Was the man who evaded capture so many times in the first two seasons, really so easily taken hostage by Camp Arthur?  Did he try to kill Peter or help him escape?

Pete falls at the feet of the blonde duo on their way to Pinehurst to get “fixed.”  Elle’s powers are really out of whack (almost took down their plane) and Claire is still feeling broken, so the pair bond over daddy issues on a cross country flight.

But the appearance of Peter stops Claire in her tracks, while Elle continues into Pinehearst.  So who does Claire call for help?  Daddy.  No not him, the other Daddy. 

Nathan and Tracy leave their meet and greet with Meredith and HRG at Mohinder’s lair to go to Claire and Peter’s aid.  Peter gives Nathan the low down on Papa Petrelli.  Nathan promises to shut down Pinehearst legally, but then heads out to confront Daddy Dearest.  Another son in Arthur’s grasp.

Tracy, who has been getting kick backs from Pinehearst, agrees to accompany him.  How is her former allegiance to Pinehearst going to pan out?

And while all these alliances are being formed, and broken and double crossed, our wanna be hero Hiro is in Africa arguing with Ando about the hazards of time travel.  Apparently Africa is the new place to go when we don’t know what to do with your storyline.  Or maybe it’s just an excuse to flash forward or flash backwards.  And backwards is just where it appears Hiro’s spirit walk is going to land us in two weeks.

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Arthur Petrelli’s Power Revealed on Heroes

The Petrellis are a complicated family and apparently the heart of Heroes.  Tonight on “Dying of the Light” we see a perfectly healthy Petrelli patriarch use his power on his own son while the rest of his family is incapacitated.

Adam learns that Arthur Petrellis is alive.

Let’s start with Arthur.  If you thought Peter’s ability was cool, you haven’t seen anything yet.  But it’s easy to see how Peter is his father’s son, if to a lesser degree.

First Arthur meets with Adam.  And without saying a word, he puts enough fear into Adam to empower Knox.  Then he touches Adam, making him age so rapidly that he turns to dust.  Did he just use Adam’s ability to stay young against him?

And if that didn’t wow you, suddenly Arthur is Mr. Healthy, up and out of bed.  So not only does he absorbs some else’s power, but he uses it against them too.

So I have to wonder if Maury is pulling the Linderman sightings or if it’s Arthur doing it with a power he stole from Maury?  Could explain why Maury is so afraid of him? And last week, Arthur used Angela’s premonition power against her to put her into a catatonic state.

Meanwhile, Daphne continues her recruiting efforts for Pinehearst.  We pick up with her meeting with Hiro and Ando and learn how Hiro faked Ando’s death.  No big surprise there – most fans had figured out that scenario or a similar one already.

But she sends Hiro (and his sidekick) to Africa to kidnap Usutu for Pinehearst.  Instead Hiro plays how many times can I get hit with a shovel before finally having a conversation with Usutu.  Usutu tells him he’s relying on his powers too much and shows him a painting of the real villains.  Anyone get a good look at the painting?

In the meantime, Matt has returned from Africa with turtle in tow.  Just how did he get the turtle through customs?  Did he declare it as his totem?  Either way, the turtle need not lead him any further because Daphne is waiting for him at the airport.

After thinking Hiro had turned into a killer, she gives Matt a half-hearted sales pitch.  But Matt is giving his own pitch – he’s trying to convince Daphne that Pinehearst will get her killed and that she is his soul mate. 

You can see that she wants to believe him, but Arthur and company are obviously holding something over her so powerful that she can’t leave them.  Did they give her her power and are threatening to take it away if she doesn’t cooperate?  Or do you think it’s something else? 

Needless to say, she continued her recruitment by visiting Level 5.  She frees Flint and Sylar.  But Sylar refuses to go with her, saying “I’m not a killer anymore.”

But the freed Sylar did check on Mama Petrelli.  When he finds her incapacitated, he wakes Peter from his coma.  Instead of joining forces with his brother, Peter puts the smack down on Sylar, leaves him in a coma and heads to Pinehearst.

Shocked to find his dad alive, Peter falls for the give-dad-a-hug gag that leaves him powerless and Daddy walking around with a whole lot of new abilities.  Since Peter obviously leaves Arthur more powerful, why didn’t he send Daphne to recruit Peter?  Was their relationship that bad?  Or did he just know that Pete would find his way to him?

Meanwhile the eldest son Nathan and his girlfriend Tracy are playing fly bait for Mohinder when Daphne stops by to visit.  She walks in on his cocoonville, but does nothing to help his victims, just leaves him a Pinehearst card and tells him he’s as bad as the rest before dashing out.  She obviously doesn’t understand Nathan’s connection to Pinehearst’s founder.

Obviously Pinehearst isn’t worried about keeping a low profile.  Daphne has left the card with the double Godsend symbol all over the country.  But I guess the real question is who is left to stop Arthur?

And lastly we have little Claire Bear, who is often playing hero again, this time with Sandra in tow.  The mission is to free Meredith from Eric Doyle, the puppeteer. It seems that Eric and Meredith have a past relationship.  He tells her, “I’m going to make you love me again.”

But the girls have different plans for him.  After playing a game of Russian roulette combined with spin the gun, Sandra finally shoots Claire.  Thinking her dead, a surprised Eric gets knocked out by “Barbie.”  Next thing you know HRG is on the scene bagging and tagging the puppeteer.

Even after being praised by Daddy, Claire won’t talk to Noah.  Anyone else think it’s ironic that Claire is following in the footsteps of the man she doesn’t trust?  Well, if HRG can’t get Claire on his side, he’ll settle for partnering with Meredith.

Aside from seeing Arthur’s power in use (but not totally defined), the episode had no big reveals.  But the story seemed to move along.  What was your favorite storyline?  What questions did the episode leave you with?

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Arthur Petrelli Lives on Heroes, But is He an Angel or a Monster?

On tonight’s “Angels and Monsters,” Heroes dropped a bombshell.  The yet unseen patriarch of the Petrelli family – long thought dead by his own hand – was show still alive and running his own “company.”  And guess what this company’s logo is?

Papa Petrelli is alive, although bedridden, and guess who is helping him -- Maury Parkman (left)

Here’s what we know:  Arthur Petrelli (Robert Forster) is alive, or at least for now hanging in there.  He is bed ridden.

Here’s how I see it:  Arthur had a parting of ways with The Company, probably over the issue of giving people powers.  Seeing Arthur as a threat, Angela – or another member of The Company – killed (or at least thought they killed) him, making it look like suicide.  But Arthur didn’t die – not sure if that a result of his power (which is what?) or just luck.

I think for the last two years Papa Petrelli has been hiding away regaining his strength and forming a plan of vengeance and/or domination.  Given what he looks like now, he must have been in really bad shape.

So now Arthur is back in the game with his own company – Pinehearst – and the company’s logo is two Godsend symbols intertwined.  Given that he’s the guy that Daphne has been working for, I’d say that the formula – which can be used to give ordinary people power – is a major part of his plan.

But what exactly is his end game?  An army of people with abilities?  Why?

We also know that he’s been recruiting his oldest son Nathan through the imaginary Linderman.  It turns out Linderman is not so much a figment of Nathan’s imagination as the work of Maury Parkman.

Major questions here.  How did Maury come to work for Arthur?  Correct me if I’m wrong, but the last time we saw Maury he was in the hands of The Company and was trapped in his own mind by his son Matt.  How did he escape?  Has Maury always sided with Arthur?  If not, what did Arthur do to win him over?

Furthermore, I want to know why Daddy is working so hard to win over Nathan?  As we learned tonight, Nathan’s power is synthetic.  Wouldn’t the powers of Peter be more useful to Daddy?  Or is it the synthetic power that Arthur needs?  Although it’s never made clear tonight whether Peter and/or Sylar’s powers are natural or synthetic, I got the feeling that at least one of them was born with their power. 

The next question would be is Arthur Peter and/or Sylar’s dad?  Maybe Pete’s not his, that’s why he didn’t try to recruit him.  Speaking of which, why are they recruiting certain people?  Is it because of their family connections or their abilities? 

When Daphne was requested to recruit, Maury (as Linderman) gave her files for Knox and Mohinder and she falters calling them “pretty nasty people.”  It seems Mohinder is moving up on the badass list, maybe it has something to do with the fact that he spent the entire episode collecting people (Maya included) and storing them cocoon-like on his wall.

Daphne recruits Knox, who then kidnaps Adam for Pinehearst.  And someone from Pinehearst had already talked to Stephen Canfield (Andre Royo).  Plus now we know how Daphne and Matt (another family connection) meet since he’s on her recruit list.

Or is Pinehearst just looking for easily swayed people?

Yes I’m thinking of the Japanese Nazis, as Adam called them.  “We are the worst heroes ever?” Yes they are.

First they – or rather Hiro despite Ando’s protests – lost Kaito’s half of the formula to Daphne.  Then they got caught by the Haitian while trying to steal the second half and tonight they unbury Adam only to lose him moments later in a “cantina” after being distracted by a Star Wars reference.

Then Hiro kills Ando in an effort to prove he’s bad ass enough to join Daphne and Knox.  I don’t for one minute believe Ando’s dead.  It’s probably another Scooby plan of Hiro’s.  I just haven’t figured out to what end.

While I’m pretty sure that Nathan isn’t entirely buying the “dead mobster telling me he’s a messenger from God,” I think it’s going to be Angela herself that pushes her son into Arthur’s waiting arms.

After confirming that The Company did give the Tracy – and her sisters Niki and Barbara – their powers and revealing to Nathan that Daddy wanted his son to have powers even if they were synthetic, Angela tried to sound repentant.  But it’s kind of hard to see past the fact that she has Peter subdued in another room with a medically induced coma.  Now that’s a mother’s love for you.

And Peter almost got a chance to pay her back for all her motherly kindness with a little slice to the head, but brother Sylar stopped him.  It seems that Angela has at least one obedient child.  And she’s going to need it now that she knows Arthur’s back thanks to that little premonition.

Meanwhile we were introduced to two new heroes villains people with powers – Stephen Canfield and Eric Doyle (David H. Lawrence).

Claire, in all her infinite teenage wisdom, decided to go hunting for escapees solo.  She found Stephen.  But so did HRG and Sylar.

Stephen can create vortexes and accidently killed his neighbor over a lawn mower dispute before being hauled away to Level 5 two years ago.  Now that he escaped all he wanted to do was reconnect with his family.

Claire just wants to help him, HRG just wants to use him to kill Sylar and Sylar just wants to play father and daughter off each other.  In the end Stephen sends himself into a vortex.

In the meantime, Meredith and Sandra discover that Claire is missing and start trolling through the Primatech files looking for clues.  But when Meredith spots Eric she calls him a horrible man.  It seemed like she had some history with him or at least knew something she wasn’t telling.

But if she knew he was a puppet master why would she go there?  And how are Claire and Sandra going to end up there next week?

I think this episode was pretty good.  I hope it was critical to forming this season.  Let’s hope I was right and it wasn’t just another tangent.

What did you think of the episode?  Did you know it was Arthur behind it all?  Who are you cheering for – Angela or Arthur?

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Who are the Real Villains on Heroes’ ‘I Am Become Death’?

On tonight’s episode of Heroes, “I am Become Death,” Peter and Matt both see (one by dream and one by time travel) four years into the future and given what they see you have to wonder which of our heroes are actually heroes and which are villains.

Peter and Sylar face off against Daphne and Claire four years in the future.

In the future – in which anyone can have an ability if they want – the line between right and wrong is blurred.  But it’s clear that sides have been chosen – at least by some.

Peter – future and present – was on one side.  He doesn’t think people can be trusted with abilities.  Therefore, it’s ironic that his actions end up creating an army of people with abilities and he himself acquires an ability he can’t handle.

On the other side are a leather-clad Claire, a longer-haired Daphne, Knox and the Haitian.  What this side wants – besides Peter dead – is unclear. 

In the first clash of sides, Claire kills Future Peter, but Present Peter escapes.  How did Peter die?  I thought he had Claire’s healing ability.  Sure the Haitian was there, but Present Peter knocked him out which should have made his power useless.  Is a bullet in the back of the head really deadly for Peter?  Why can he be killed, but Claire can’t if he got his power from her?

The second battle is at the Bennett house where Sylar – I mean Gabriel – is playing June Cleaver with his son, Noah.  Is anyone else blown away by the fact that the supreme villain from the last two seasons is not only playing house, but has a son of his own now.  Just who is Noah’s mom?

It seems unclear if Gabriel has chosen sides in the future, but Claire is definitely holding a grudge against him.  However, after painting the future – which showed what? – Sylar gives Present Peter his power to understand how things work.  Unfortunately, in the ensuing battle Little Noah is killed by Knox and Sylar goes supernova, killing 200 thousand.

Daphne gets away, but dies in Matt, her husband’s, arms in front of Molly and their daughter Danielle.

Peter and Claire also survive.  And she is enjoying torturing him until President Nathan and First Lady Tracy stop her.  While trying to understand Nathan’s motivation, Peter becomes the monster he always thought Sylar was.

Still the question remains, who is the real villain(s) here?

Meanwhile back in the present, Matt wakes up from his future dream and chooses a turtle as his spirit totem to guide him to changing the future.  Seriously, he couldn’t have chosen a faster animal?  At this rate, he has no hope of changing anything, let alone getting out of Africa this season.

Tracy learns that she is one of identical triplets – Niki and Barbara are her sisters – who were subjects of DNA manipulation by The Company after their parents died.  After they were given their powers, the triplets were separated which begs the question, where is Barbara?

Frustrated that Zimmerman can’t cure her and unable to confess ton killing the reporter, Tracy takes a header off the office building after resigning.  But Nathan – at the urging of imaginary Linderman – saves her life.  And the beginning of the future relationship is born.

Hiro and Ando spent most of the episode arguing with each other in a cell in Level 2.  Just when Hiro is about to escape sans Ando, Angela tells Hiro that he holds the secret to unlocking the mystery behind the formula.  Reenter Adam.

Finally, Mohinder spent the episode playing The Fly and he was even less helpful in the future.  All we know is that he didn’t get the formula right.

My biggest question is based off the preview for next week when Angela tells Nathan that they gave him his power.  Who was “given” powers and who was born with it, if anyone?  Zimmerman made it sound like he wasn’t the only one working for The Company.  How many others were conducting “experiments?”

What did you think of the episode?  What questions did it leave you with?

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Heroes’ Sylar Goes to Work for Mommy in ‘One of Us’

Paternity seems to be the key to the shockers on the third season of Heroes.  Last week we learned that Angela is Sylar’s mom and this week in “One of Us, One of Them” we find another one of our heroes questioning their origins.

Working with HRG, Sylar poses as an FBI agent, complete with Irish accent.

After a tender bonding moment (as if Angela knows anything about maternal nurturing) in which Mama Petrelli tells Sylar – excuse me “Gabriel” – that she’s sorry she gave him up for adoption and promises to provide him with inspiration, guidance and comfort, Angela serves Sylar lunch – I mean a new power. 

Why does she give him the power to read the history of any object?  Is she expecting him to need that particular power in her plans for him?  Or was she just offering him a power as a peace offering?

Next Angela partners Sylar with the one man who hates him most – HRG.  She believes that Noah – who insists he hasn’t reenlisted but simply wants to return the escapes – can provide Sylar with the structure he needs.

Despite protesting that Sylar is a killer, Noah agrees to take Sylar to rein in Jesse/Present Peter, Knox, The German and Flint.  Looks like HRG will play mentor to Sylar . . . at least until he finds Sylar’s weakness.

Meanwhile Angela’s youngest son (at least of the ones we know about) is still trapped in Jesse’s body.  Jesse is originally from Las Vegas.  Anyone else think that’s more than just a coincidence?  It seems like everyone on this show is either from New York, Las Vegas, Texas or California.  Could Jesse be related to one of our other Vegas residents or former residents?  Maybe he’s Linderman’s son?

Either way, Jesse is jonesing for revenge against HRG and has masterminded the current plan to rob this bank and draw out HRG.  However, Peter’s resistance to the plan make it easy for the others to figure out he’s not the real Jesse.

After a little fear – or maybe its adrenaline – Peter discovers – and uses – Jesse’s Black Canary-like power before Future Peter shows up to free him.  But the whole “possession” leaves a few questions.

Did Peter have access to his own powers while he was hijacked?  Now that he’s come in contact with Jesse’s power has he acquired it?  Where was the real Jesse during Peter inhabitation?  Was he also in there?  And where did the two Peter’s go?

When Future Peter rescues his present self (anyone confused yet), he leaves HRG at the mercy of Jesse and his flunkies – until Sylar saves the day, but not without acquiring a new power.  Guess Sylar’s reformation isn’t complete.

HRG and Sylar return to Level 5 in Hartsdale, NY with Flint.  The German and Jesse are dead — those stories were short-lived. And Knox is still on the loose. 

Daphne comes between Hiro and Ando.

Also in Level 5 are Hiro and Ando.  Seems they tried to relieve the Haitian of Angela’s half of the doomsday formula in Berlin only to have it stolen by Daphne while they argued between themselves over Ando’s “sidekick” status.

Meanwhile, Matt continues his “spirit walk” with Usutu in Africa, discovering a series of paintings Usutu has done of Parkman’s life beginning with his encounter with Molly.  All the paintings have come to be except one – of Matt with a woman holding a baby.  Did anyone think the woman looked like Daphne?

But Usutu tells him the future has changed, then goes all white eyes and paints over it.  In the new picture, Matt is carrying a woman that is injured/dead.  I still think it could be Daphne.  Matt asks if he can change the future and Usutu helps him meditate.

Claire is trying to do some changing of her own.  Tired of being a victim, she asks Meredith to help her learn to fight using her powers.  Instead Meredith tries to scare her into giving up her vengeance plan and focus on being a teenager.

Claire says sure, pretends to be the good cheerleader and heads out on her own mission with a Primatech box in tow.

Back in DC, Nathan – sans any visits from the mysterious Linderman vision – gets swore in.  But it’s Tracy that’s the real story of the night.  When Nathan visits her she is clearly struggling to grasp the apparently newly revealed power to freeze and continues to deny any knowledge of Niki Saunders.

Tracy goes to Micah for answers about Niki.

After a visit with Micah at a funeral home in New Orleans, Tracy discovers that she and Niki share a birth date and a birth place, but not a body.  Tracy is a separate person from Niki, not a separate personality.  And Tracy – and presumably Niki – were created by one Dr. Zimmerman.  Big questions here.

Who is Dr. Zimmerman?  Exactly how did he create Tracy?  Did he create Niki too?  Or was she the model from which Tracy was created?  And who did he think Tracy was when he answered the door?  Did he call her Bobba?

What is Zimmerman’s relationship to The Company?  There’s no way someone was creating people with powers and The Company not know about it.  What does this mean for the other people with powers?  Has he had a hand it that?  Could he be Sylar’s papa/creator too?

What are your thoughts on this week’s episode?

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Heroes Returns with Double Feature Season 3 Premiere

Tonight Heroes returned with a two-hour premiere – “The Second Coming” and “The Butterfly Effect” – opening Volume 3:  Villains with a literal barrage of plot twists.

Hayden Panettiere as Claire Bennet and Milo Ventimiglia as Peter Petrelli. Courtesy Adam Taylor/NBC

I know that NBC is trying to gain back some of the momentum the series had in the first season, but sometimes less is more.  I think that they threw a little too much at us to even start to digest.

After the disjointed Volume 2, I was left with a whole series of questions about the plot and one major question of whether the show was still worthy of my play list.

After tonight, I have even more questions and I’m still not sure if Heroes has recaptured the magic from Volume 1.

Let’s start with what tonight’s episode answered.

A future Peter shot his own brother during Nathan’s press conference in Odessa where Nathan planned to expose his powers. 

Apparently four years in the future, Peter – who has the ability to teleport – feels the need to run before traveling back in time, but not before he has a run-in with a dark-haired future Claire.  It seems not all is well for our heroes in the future with the masses knowing about their powers.

But once in the present, future Peter finds out that changing history isn’t as easy as it sounds.  While he might have prevented Nathan from revealing their secret, he did not actually kill his brother.

A miraculously recovered Nathan believes that he was “touched by God” while at the same time believing that he was healed by Linderman – a Linderman who we believe is dead and apparently only Nathan can see.

This tidbit then begs the question – who healed Nathan?  Is Linderman alive and invisible?  Is he a figment of Nathan’s imagination?  Or is someone cloaking themself to appear as Linderman while not being seeing by others?

Either way, the revived Nathan gets noticed by New York’s Governor (Bruce Boxleitner) and his staffer/lover Tracie Strauss – formerly known as Niki Saunders to viewers (and Nathan) – and is tapped to fill a senate seat.

It seems that Niki survived the fire in New Orleans, but has assumed another alter ego.  This one has the power to freeze nasty little reporters that might expose skeletons in the closet.  Poor William Katt.  What an end for the Greatest American Hero!

Meanwhile, future Peter sends Matt to an African desert when Matt discovers he’s not the present Peter.  While in Africa, Matt meets Usutu (N’Tare Mwine) who tells him he must go on a spirit walk.  Why doesn’t Matt just read his mind to get the answers he wants?

Nevertheless we learn the Usutu paints the future – I’m assuming he meant literally, but I guess it could me figuratively too.  It’s easy to guess that the rock painting that Matt saw in the desert is Usutu’s work, but what about the painting Mohinder saw?  How did Usutu get to New York?

Heroes - Season 3 - "The Second Coming" - Sendhil Ramamurthy as Mohinder Suresh. Courtesy Adam Taylor/NBC

Speaking of Mohinder, he’s been busy playing mad scientist after sending Molly somewhere to be safe.  He uses Maya’s adrenaline to develop a serum that will give anyone injected with it special powers.  Maya, however, is still left without an antidote for her deadly power.

Mohinder – apparently coming up short in the common sense department – decides to inject himself resulting in heighted senses including super strength and super lust for Maya.  But no good deed goes unpunished and Mohinder starts to lose his skin. 

In another act of stupidity disguised vaguely as wisdom, future Peter tells Claire not to rush to the injured Nathan’s side, leaving her to continue hiding in Santa Cruz, CA where Sylar easily finds her.

After a chase scene right out of a teen horror flick, Sylar finally takes Claire’s power.  But he doesn’t kill her.  Instead he leaves her with a gift – he takes away the pain.  He also tells her she’s special and that neither of them can ever die.  But we know differently – if the brain stem is severed (like it was to Peter is Volume 1), death can happen.

With his new found power, Sylar heads to Section 5 where the biggest and baddest villains The Company has captured are imprisoned.  The same place where future Peter imprisons present Peter (anyone confused yet?) is the body of a prisoner named Jesse (Francis Capra).

Sylar starts off by killing Bob and acquiring his power to turn medal to gold, but Elle short circuits the rest of his plans.  While she’s able to capture Sylar, her power surge inadvertently released the rest of the prisoners which included HRG, Jesse, Knox (Jamie Hector) who absorbs fear and uses it as a weapon, Flint (Blake Shields) the flame thrower and The German (Ken Lally).

But never fear, there’s someone to step up and fill Bob’s shoes – Angela Petrelli, who promptly fires Elle.  Angela confirms that her power is premonitions – that’s how she knew who future Peter was. 

She also had a premonition in which Matt, Hiro, Peter, Claire and others are left dead while the likes of Adam, Tracey, a black guy I didn’t recognized and what looked like Governor Malden face off against Angela and Sylar.

Seems Angela has taken a liking to Sylar.  He’s her new project – and judging from the previews for next week, HRG’s new partner.  But the big reveal is when Angela tells Sylar that she is his mother. 

Is she speaking literally or figuratively?  Just how many people has Angela slept with?  There’s Peter and Nathan’s dad, Kaito, and apparently Sylar’s dad (whose identity remains a mystery).  There is even speculation that she’s Matt’s mama too – but I have no proof to back that one up.  This woman really gets around.

Lastly, we have Hiro and Ando who find out that Kaito left Hiro in charge of half of a dangerous formula whose only cure is the purity of blood.  Hiro immediately loses his half of the formula to speedster Daphne (Brea Grant).

In the quest to find her and retrieve the formula, Hiro travels to the future where he sees a super charged Ando kill him.  Of course, now Hiro treats Ando differently and that is going to be the exact reason Ando turns on Hiro in the future.

More interesting, I’d rather know who Daphne is working for?  And who has the other half of the formula – at least until Daphne steals it.

Micah, Monica and Molly are all missing this episode.  Jessalyn Gilsig reprises her role as Meredith Gordon, Claire’s biological mom.

I felt like I was running through this entire episode trying to keep up.  Didn’t the creators learn anything from last season?  I can only hope that the show finds its groove soon and settles in.

What did you think was the most interesting twist?  What was the biggest surprise of the night?

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20 Burning Questions About ‘Heroes’

20 Burning Questions About ‘Heroes’

Volume 2 of Heroes has closed, but questions remain.  The biggest, of course, being when will Heroes return and what will Volume 3 “Villains” hold?

But as the third volume remains in a state of flux due to the writer’s strike, I have plenty of time to ponder those possibilities.  However, in the meantime, I have 20 burning questions (in no particular order) that I’m hoping the writers will be answering when the show returns.

1.  Do Niki and Nathan live? 

Although neither died on the last episode of Heroes, both lives were left in peril.  Was Niki still in the house when it exploded?  If not, how did she get out?  Will Nathan survive the gunshot wound?  If so, does he have some superhero assistance to do so?

2.  And just who shot Nathan?

I think it’s obvious The Company is behind the hit, but who actually did the shooting?  Was it HRG, back working for The Company?  Was it Claude returning?  Or was it someone new?

3.  What happened to Caitlin?

I know I brought this one up before, but what happened to Caitlin?  Does she cease to exist now that the future she was in no longer exists?  Is she still in the future, just a different future?  If so, what does she remember?  Will Peter ever find her or has he forgotten about her already?

4.  What else was in The Company vault?

What were the deep dark secrets The Company had hidden away?  Why were those items down there?  What happened to the contents of the vault?  Did Nathan, Peter and Matt take anything or destroy it?  Or did they leave it intact?

5.  Who is in The Company jail in Odessa?

When Hiro and Adam went into the depths of Primatech in Odessa, Adam told Hiro that this level is where the cells were.  Are these the same cells we saw Sylar in last season?  Who is The Company keeping in their little jail?  And why? 

6.  How many other “jails” do they have?

Adam and Peter were kept in cells in New York.  Is that where they are keeping Maury Parkman now?  And Sylar, in the beginning of the season, was kept somewhere in Mexico.  Just how many of these little prisons does The Company have?

7.  Who was Angela talking to on the phone at the end?

The logical answer is Bob.  But I get the feeling that there is someone else higher up pulling the strings.  In Season 1 we were led to believe that Linderman ran The Company, but when he died, he was seamlessly replaced by Bob in Season 2.  No power struggle among partners which makes me think he was appointed by someone at the top, a top that we haven’t seen yet.

8.  Just how big is The Company?

It have offices (with prisons) in Odessa and New York and, at the very least, a warehouse in the Ukraine and a prison in Mexico.  Just how big is this Company?  How many people are involved?  Are they all people with powers?

9.  Who are the other members of the League of 12? 

We’ve seen a picture of all 12 members, but we’ve only met seven – Angela Petrelli, Daniel Linderman, Kaito Nakamura, Charles Deveaux, Maury Parkman, Victoria Pratt and Bob.  We know, although have not met Arthur Petrrelli.  Who are the other four?  We know from the picture that it’s two women and two men.  We know that this picture was taken after Adam Monroe was incarcerated so he isn’t one of them.

10.  And who is still alive?

Of the eight members of the League of 12 that we know about only three are still alive – Angela, Maury (although he’s trapped in his own mind) and Bob.  What is the status of the other four?  Are they alive or did Adam already get to them?

11.  How did the League of 12 form?

According to Bob’s story, Adam brought the League together to do good.  But exactly how did he do it?  How did the various members meet?  From the graphic novels, we know that Linderman and Arthur Petrelli met during the war.  But how do 10 others with powers come to know each other, let alone form their own version of a Justice League?  We have at least that many heroes in the current generation and after saving New York in Season 1 they all walked away from one another as if it never happened.

11.  What were their powers?

I only know what the powers are of three of the League of 12 – Bob can turn metal into gold, Linderman could heal and Maury can read and control minds.  I think but do not have firm confirmation that Angela has dream premonitions and the Deveaux had some kind of mental power.  But what were all the others’ powers?  Thanks to Bob’s story, we know at least one of them could control weather or freeze water, something to make a hurricane turn to snow.

12.  What caused the League of 12 to splinter?

The older heroes keep mentioning a division among them, some event that seemed to drive them apart, at least ethically.  But what was it?  Clearly over time their definition of “doing good” has changed.  But what was it that caused the group to splinter?  And who was on each side of the controversy.  I don’t think it was Adam and the virus, because they are clearly still a group when the photo of the 12 of them was taken, which appears to be years after Adam and the deadly strain of the virus were locked away.

13.  Why would Angela protect Victoria?

It’s clear that Angela and Victoria didn’t care for each other and that Victoria didn’t approve of Angela’s methods.  So why is it that a woman who chooses The Company over her own children would so vehemently protect Victoria?  It couldn’t be because Victoria knew the location of the virus.  Apparently, several people knew that location.

14.  What happened to Papa Petrelli?

We were told in Season 1 that Arthur committed suicide.  But given what we know about the Petrellis and their involvement with The Company, I have to wonder if that was just a cover.  So that leads me to question what really happened to Arthur?  Did his wife off him for The Company?  Did someone else?  Was he killed in the line of duty working for The Company?  Did he want out?  Did he not approve of Linderman’s plan for his sons?

15.  Why was the Takezo symbol a logo for the Petrelli law firm and not The Company?

When the symbol from Takezo’s sword started marking members of the Legion of 12 for death, Angela said the symbol was the logo for her husband’s law firm.  Why would Arthur use this symbol for his law firm?  I could understand Kaito using the symbol for his company, but why the Petrellis?  Why wouldn’t it be the mark for The Company?  Likewise, why did the Haitian have a necklace (the one he gave to Peter) with this symbol?  Did it show his allegiance to The Company or the Petrellis?

17.  Why was The Company experimenting with the virus to begin with?

Clearly The Company had been experimenting with the virus for a while.  We saw that with Hiro’s little journey to the 70s.  But why were they experimenting with it?  Where they trying to find a cure for the Shiantis of the world?  Or were they trying to find a why to rid people of their powers?  Or was it for the more deadly reason that Linderman and Adam have already both showed an interest in?

18.  Who are West’s parents?

Although I never really cared for West, I wondered who his parents were.  Did they have powers too?  If so, what were they?  Do they know their son can fly?  Why aren’t they a little more concerned about his showing his powers off in public?

19.  Who are Elle’s real parents?

I had similar questions about Elle’s real parentage.  Did they know what their daughter could do?  Did they have powers of their own?  Did they willingly give up their daughter?  If so, why?  If not, what do they think happened to her?  Will Elle go looking for them?

20.  How are powers passed on genetically?

How does one get his/her powers?  If it’s genetic, it should come from their parents.  How do powers pass from one generation to the next?  Can you have a power if you only have one parent with powers?  Why do some children get the same power as their parent (Matt) and other get different powers (Claire or Micah)?  How come Claire has powers, but Nathan’s boys don’t?  We saw several duplications of powers this season.  Claire and Adam could both regenerate.  Linderman could heal (not sure if his power was the same as Claire and Adam’s or just similar).  Nathan and West could both fly.  Does that mean there is a genetic connection to them or is it just coincidence?

Anyone want to offer some theories to answer these questions?  It looks like we’ll have plenty of tie to mull them over.  What Heroes questions are on your mind?

——————

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