Monday, February 2, 2009

Thoughts on HEROES, Season 4, Chapter 1 - A Clear and Present Danger.

We're back. And they're back. Let's see where it goes from here.



7:53 - See first commercial for new Season (I skipped the Super Bowl one). Looks interesting, although I wonder how bad things have gotten for Noah to have any interest in saving Mohinderance after... oh... everything that happened in Season 2, let alone what he probably heard Mohinderance did in Season 3.

7:55 - Dammit! The skipping is starting again!

7:56 - Okay. Gone for the moment.

8:00 - Three months later. Nathan is somehow in charge of Homeland Security. Tracy hasn't talked to him in two months. And naked Ali Larter. Good start so far.

8:02 - Okay... agents protected against freezing, thanks to some special Snake-eyes style ninja suit. Tracy is the first one. VERY good start so far. And we cut to commercial after 3 minutes? They're quickening the pace if nothing else.

8:06 - Back in Tokyo. Shades of Ghostbusters - converted Firehouse for a base. And yeah - this is perfect, if predictable. Hiro trying to be a second-hand hero despite his power loss and Ando being rather sick of Hiro trying to turn him into the hero Hiro walways wanted to be, complete with secret base, costume and motorcycle. Ando, still being the smart one who realizes just how useless a lone superhero whose only power is enhancing other people's powers is in a fight. Especially with Hiro as your back-up.

8:08 - New York. And wow - looks like we've got Peter back to his usual self. Paramedic. Saving lives. Wishing he could do more to help save lives and, not surprisingly, missing his powers.

8:09 - Hmm. Claire is still in NY with Angela helping her pick colleges. Naturally Claire is less than thrilled about the idea of a normal life. And of course, genre savvy as she is, Claire knows that Sylar is still out there. Even if they DID find dental records. And The Company is apparently dead, even though Noah is apparently still going out on "business trips".

8:11 - The Fallout 3 theme? And yes, Sylar is still alive. And in Baltimore. Which is only slightly better than dead.

8:12 - Awwwww... it's Sylar's long last real daddy. Or is it?!?!

8:16 - Hey, it's a Matt and a Daphne. Matt is a bodyguard. Daphne is a bike-courier. Matt wants to live a normal life. Daphne is a little reluctant. And Matt is still having visions of Usutu, for some reason.

8:18 - Okay. Any doubts about Nathan going bad are gone. He's getting ready to "take down" his own brother and Matt - probably the only two people he knows with powers who are least likely to be a threat to anyone.

8:20 - Ah-ha! So THIS isn't his real dad either. Called it! But it is his uncle. OR IS HE?!?

8:22 - Just in case the political commentary earlier with Nathan being in charge of Homeland Security and talking about dangerous people being brought under control was too subtle for you... we have an Iranian talking about the dangers of the government trying to control people deemed dangerous.

8:24 - Oh, crap! He's still alive! I mean, I know he was still alive. But it still sucks to see. So why didn't Mohinderance go back to India if he's trying to lay low rather than staying in New York City?

8:26 - You know... that was a very effective little action scene. Even if I'm confused as to why the hell Noah would be helping Mohinderance escape.

8:27 - Ah. Cause he isn't. Again, I'm torn. Because Noah is the epitome of badass. And yet... he's clearly working for the bad guys. More than likely it's just because Nathan agreed to keep Claire out of it, which has always been Noah's priority one. And after everything with Sylar last year, I can see Noah losing patience with all the decent metahumans he knows (i.e. Hiro, Peter, Matt)

8:31 - Peter finds Nathan. This is not going to end well. And now I'm wondering if we're back on track from Season One, with Nathan betraying "his own kind" and being on the road to the Presidency, with Sylar on the way to replacing him.

8:32 - Peter is sounding very bad ass here. And I just realized that his scar is gone. Obviously he's met Claire at least once since Season 3 ended. And Peter, for once, isn't holding The Idiot Ball as he refuses to tell Nathan what powers he has.

8:34 - An illusion? So... not a ghost. And Matt is getting precognition to go with his telepathy? Well, I guess somebody had to even if I'm fuzzy on how.

8:35 - Hiro as Oracle. This feels oddly right.

8:36 - The Ando cycle is a chick-magnet. "It's the car, right? Chicks dig the car." Yes, I'm just as ashamed to make that reference as you are to get it.

8:37 - And... Hiro gets kidnapped. Oh, this is going to cause a scandal if the Japanese government ever finds out about it. American soldiers kidnapping a citizen on foreign soil?

8:40 - Claire and Matt in the drawing? And a drawing of Daphne and Ando? Bit late to realize what that dart was, though.

8:42 - I like this new attitude on Peter.

8:43 - Apparently Peter hasn't seen Matt in the last few months. Either that or they are being subtle about the telepathy, assuming he's reading Nathan's mind here.

8:44 - Yeah. Definitely no telepathy. You'd think Peter would learn about hugging family members he has active disagreements with by now. And is it just me or is Noah looking more than a little bit conflicted on bringing down Peter?

8:45 - Ah. So Sylar's daddy is a Taxidermist. OR IS HE?! (I'll stop doing that soon, really!)

8:46 - Apparently Elle's powers make Sylar immune to tasers. Logical, although I'm a bit lost as to how they've been able to track him.

8:51 - Ando? The password is Ando? I would have guessed Charlie first.

8:52 - And yeah... Claire being tough as ever, pointing out that Nathan has nothing to threaten her with and the "free pass" buys him nothing.

8:53 - Ah! Claire was playing up being drugged. Makes sense because there's no way any sedative should have that much effect on her metabolism.

8:55 - Looks like we have some new faces here... and Peter apparently has to do skin-to-skin contact to absorb a power now. That's interesting and it also makes him a little less powerful, but still a threat.

8:57 - Yeah. Peter has totally gone badass now. And Noah is flying the plane?

8:59 - You know - this is a bit of a false cliffhanger since, you know, we know Peter can fly. Unless he can't store the powers he copies anymore...



The Final Verdict: Ladies and Gentleman... the magic is back. And HEROES is worth watching again for reasons other than to see how much worse it will get.

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