OFFICIAL: Season 1 Heroes Discussion Thread!

[kbachelder]

There is a new Heroes podcast...

http://www.heroescast.com


Kevin

[BlackAdder]

Niki finally appears as ikiN, or the part of her that does the things Niki cannot do, or will not do. I had thought she might be more effective if her counterpart had lines, and for me at least that proved to be the case. We finally met the mirror image and she's compelling and repellant all at once. I have to say that Niki's characterization improved by leaps and bounds this week. Heck, I even broken down and I bothered to learn her name. First of all, she had moments that were sympathetic. The moment when she realizes that Micha knows what she does for a living was actually rather sad. It's the first time she seemed like a desperate single mother to me.

Nathan gets creepier and incidentally skeevier. I can't say that I find him all that interesting as of yet, but last week I had the same complaint about Niki and the writing team remedied that.

Claire's murder of her rapist was both challenging and sad. I do like that she took action, and first ascertained that he was a serial rapist in the making before pile driving that car into a building. After all, there was no way she could go to the police and the kid was psychotic. Stripping her what he presumed to be dead body naked and dumping her in a river? Eek. Horrible person and she had no form of legitimate justice available. I do like that she's being set up as the most important step in saving the world because I don't get it yet. Will saving her lead the others to the group that tortured the poor cop (very creepy scene, and a darned shame, I like that cop)?

Anybody else nearly die laughing at the previews "Save the cheerleader, Save the World."? It was a great moment. It was a weirdly touching thing also. She is the youngest, and the most vulnerable. Extremely cool contrast because her power is being darn near indestructable. But with Creep-it-up dad right in the same house with her, she is in terrible peril. I do wish that Claire would quit treating the sweet Geek boy with so much disdain. He's cute, and concerned for and bonus, not in the least freaked out by what she is.

Isaac's story is very interesting and I really enjoyed going into his fugue state with him. Bonus points to the writers for creating a drug addicted character but making him touching and sympathetic. I felt for him when he said he was going to save the world. Yes, it had that trademark "drug addict and feeling of grandiosity" and that's exactly how Simone reacted to that...but Isaac was sincere, and trapped by the medium that takes him into those visions into being judged solely as a drug addict with an addled brain.

I don't like Simone and Peter together. Weirdly, I do like Simone when she's interacting with Isaac. I think because it's easy to understand precisely why she rejects what he says, and even the evidence in front of her eyes. Two years in a relationship with an addict and her common sense tells her that she has to reject what he claims. It's like her denial has switched to a different gear because to have maintained the relationship for two years prior to this she had to be in a lot of denial.

Mohinder was really uneven in this week's episode though. First he's seen actively seeking out Nathan, so he does accept that the genetic anamoly theory has validity. It didn't track that when Peter went to him and revealed that he is an empath, absorbing powers around him then displaying them, Mohinder all but blew him off. Oh, and would they please reveal that Pixie, the too cutesy sidekick is evil or kill her off? She is a detraction with all her out of place perkiness. Something in her appearance bugs also.

Peter, well, Milo Ventinagla was dubbed as being woefully miscast by more than one critic, but I confess I'm not seeing that problem. I think that MV was a very good pick for the empath with self esteem issue, trying to get out from under his oppressive family and come into his own. MV has always played gruff or angsty characters, it's nice to see him play a goodhearted, vulnerable character. I think he carries it well. Like Claire, I think he's a key player in all of this. Although, I dread the inevitable moment that Peter has to absorb the bad guys powers. Not a spoiler, it's just that it makes complete sense.

Hiro and Ando are freaking adorable. Ando isn't anywhere near as purehearted as Hiro but he isn't bad. They are always good value in the comedy department and it in no way detracts from Hiro's sweetness and honor.

Future Hiro on the train flipped me out into a silly, shouting fangirl! I honestly didn't realize that the actor speaks flawless English in a fairly deep voice. What a testament to the actor playing Hiro. He's completely convincing as the inexperienced, trusting, almost child-like Hiro. To see him as Ninja future Hiro there to deliver a message was a great surprise. To quote my husband "I should have seen it coming from the stopped train, but the atmosphere had me convinced he was about to meet a slice and dice." Really well shot moment, murky, eerie, pulse pounding "Ah hell, no, don't hurt Peter....HEY HIRO!!!"

There are of course things that don't work well. Peter asking Mohinder if he was his father? Lame. Peter's clutching the book with a picture of Saresh on it. But, the overall thrill ride of this thus far eclipses continuity snafus.

Oh, and if I thought "Blink already!" bad guy was creepy last week, EEK to this week. I think he was exceptionally well cast because he's as beautiful as a statue but brings on the malignant vibe so much that the TV nearly frosts over and shakes while he's on.

I did like Niki's alters tattoo. I am assuming that they take Nathan because it looks as if Niki may have already been in their clutches. Again, I do feel for Niki. The crimes her alter commits are in her stead, but Niki would not be able to do them. I think they improved Niki so much and with such a simple thing. Over the internet stripped doesn't make her a whore. She would not have slept with the morally dubious Nathan even to have her own debt forgiven. So in steps ikiN, the part of Niki that is ferocious, unscrupulous, protective and in many ways awful. The line "If you ever threaten our son again..." was a nice nod to the duality within Niki. Her alter is something she can't sense unless she's asleep. That's profoudnly sad, she is being tortured at night with visions of terrible things, and it looks as if it is by the part of herself that everyone has, our darker nature. Only Niki's is removed from her, and allowed free reign whenever it takes over. It isn't Niki's will and that makes me sad for her. Claire was nearly raped, but Niki is being violated in an entirely different way.

I do wonder what team Dark Force is up to, how closely are they tied to Silar? Was Issac painting Silar? Or did Claire unleash something of her own volition that will grow? After all what Isaac is painting is stage in the same area that Claire lures her would-be rapist, that's where she was when she enacts revenge. I think more and more that Silar is that terrible part, the blackness in the balance of a person.

Is that dark nature mainifesting in Silar? Or is Silar a different entity altoghether and the location of that painting is a coincidence?

The Dark Force men went digging for something in the cop. That same cop used his gift to save others. Even when he heard his wife thinking that she wanted their marriage to end, he was not vindictive or cruel. He complied. But Never Blinks and Bad Dad don't seem to want the bright, pure side of a gift and the cop would be able to use his telepathic skills to harm, if that was his nature. It isn't, here's hoping he is also telekinetic and he can bash Never Blinks over the head with something in the room and get the heck out of there. After all, we've seen the cop locate at least one person by hearing her thoughts, it would be a disaster if the Men in Black (seriously, what the heck are they called?) harnassed that.

Those previews had better not have been fibbing. I do want to see the Heroes begin to work together. We have enough background on all of them. They need to start finding one another. That's part of what made the scene with Peter at Isaac's door frustrating. It was a stalling technique that I didn't appreciate much.

[Mreen]

No - it was an annoying stall - but conversely I enjoyed that we got to see the cool whited out eyes that Isaac does when he sees the future.

As for Nikki (I learned her name too! go figure...) when the 'our son' bit happened I was thinking, suppose it could still be DL' then - no, DL wouldnt be doing that with Nathan so I guess we got the basic absorbed twin theory. Thank god they finally went somewhere with that and gave us an angle to view the story from.

Yes, she has the same tattoo as evil Never Blink - are they both controlled by Men In Black already?(wait ..was that in Xmen 2? its okay.. it wasnt a bad thing to copy...) If they take Nathan, tho, Peter will be on to them. I'd love to have Peter call Nathan's security, from right there in the subway in front of Mohinder, to tell them Nathan is in trouble and get them to start the rescue ahead of him. Heck, maybe being around (so cool) Future Hiro will enable to teleport there just in time -
hey, they can save Matt while they're at it! (Matt Parkman, nice cop) I like Matt too, even if the is the LA version of King of Queens.

Did you notice they've been doing the Farscape trick, where the 'story so far' covers things that never happened, like Parkman telling the brown-haired woman (presumably his wife, her back to us) that he can read minds? It was in the previews after ep 2, and the 'already happened' in Ep 3. I still think they might do the scene, just to show us

And Chandra has changed yet again! This time, they emphatically shake the book at us, 3 seconds instead of the two seconds of the other guy we all recognized, and - is it the same guy as plays him in the Pilot pics? We saw even less of him then, just that pic of Mohinder's graduation with proud dad. I think its the same -
clearly Tim is reading this thread and rushed over to production to have that picture changed immediately to throw us off the scent of Suresh Sr's return, and just to put the stamp on it, gave us his ashes in jar. There, see, he's really dead! The brass urn and everything! - heh .. or you know, enough viewers in the right places noticed for the change to take place.

Yes, it was a bit odd that Peter didnt recognize Mohinder as not being his dad, but on the other hand, the way the pic keeps changing, its just as well Peter has an open mind about it.

My theory? The actor we recognized did the voice in ep 2, in the message with Sylar and so they put his pic in. Viewer comment somewhere somewhen and poof! the other guys back. Or maybe that's his power - the ability to change his pic! Wait till we see who plays the dead guy next week! Special cameo by ..

Anyhow, back to the show-

You know, of all the character who should have naturally hit it off very well, Mohinder and Peter are it. Both are interested in people around them, want to do the right thing by them, and tend to get along with anyone who wants to get along. They hit it off so well in the cab that Mohinder had that fleeting moment of 'is that one' and now ... I was really looking forward to their meeting bcs they'd have a tendency to almost finish the other's sentence with mutual goals.

On the other hand, Mohinder’s steady dirty glare at Peter in the subway was pretty funny - kind of a Laurel and Hardy moment .. or who was it who said "Another fine mess you got me into!"

I had exactly the same reaction has your husband to subway moment - I thought it was all Slice and Dice and Peter was going to have to pull a spin on bad guys powers to save his pretty neck. It was so cool to see Future Hiro, Ninja guy with great english appear. That line 'Peter Petrelli, I have a message for you" - I thought for sure that was going to be Mohinder’s line from the preview.
I hope the message is to keep Mohinder away from the evil waif before he blab blab blabs all about Peter to her with what they find. I was so sure Mohinder was really onto her - even with his humiliation and defeat (and we were all wondering what she was going to pull to keep him there) but .. maybe not so. But - I mean, c'mon Mohinder, would you're dad ever let anyone call him Papa Suresh? Alarm bells were ringing ... you could almost see it at that moment .. I so want Mohinder to have been playing the spy against the masters...

And as to what you find disturbing in her appearance, I can tell you that. I dont know if its the camera angle or what, but she is way too thin, her head looks like an apple on toothpick. I mean she's very pretty, but her thinness is disturbing to watch. Like she could keel over at any moment from starvation, breaking like a (overused simile here) toothpick under any pressure at all. Its kind of like how they did the Voice on Lord of the Rings, with the mouth CGI'd too large and it just bothered you w/o knowing quite why, that's how her thinness alerts the eye that something is wrong.

More later .. lunch break is over!

[Mreen]

okay, home, laundry done, and I am indulging in baking a few forbidden cookies for far too late to eat snack (and yet, here I am, with planning and forethought)-and picking up my rambling all over the wall comments about our Heroes!

I dont think our wait for Monday was wasted - but where was the cool title intro? I'll have to ck my DVR version to be sure, but the DVD recording at the same time is title-less. I labled it Chapter 4: The Chapter With No Name! Maybe I lost a couple of seconds tho, and there really is a title. They shouldnt lose those, they are part of the mystique -how will it glide away into the story this time? Graffiti on the wall, etching in the paint ...written on the sidewalk beneath their feet as they walk across it- a note taped across the monitor by the bed? As if it just might be really there, but not?

They need to put those back in. (or I need to ck that DVR for missing seconds as I hit the button. )

Okay, when I first watched it, I saw Mohinder doing his civic duty - well, beyond that, the humane thing to do by warning Nathan that a serial killer had targeted him He just couldnt help himself tho, and asked everything he wanted to ask any of Sylar's targets - were they really supermen? Did they have gifts? What were they, how did they feel and react to them?

and then he saw that crazy guy pass him on the street, as he was being hustled away by security for bothering Nathan with his babblings, and he suddenly realized who he was - that nutcase on the corner, traveling half the world sometimes to babble on your street. He not only felt humiliated, he felt they were justified - he was insane to have done what he did, of course he wanted nothing more than to leave this place and go home. For the first time he really doubted all those convictions he'd followed for years, that he'd based his thesis on, and his life and his fathers death - the idea that maybe it really all was for nothing, just maybe it was all wrong - his reaction was as strong as his earlier conviction, he wanted to flee, put it all as far behind him as could.

And then Peter shows up at the door - Mohinder doesnt want this, Mohinder doesnt want to deal with the spy, and worst of all, the nutty superhero then admits he only has powers when other superheroes have powers .. give me a break! Evil Waif tho, is desperate. She has to keep Mohinder here, by hook or by crook. If that means setting him up to chase fruitcakes who happen to be closely related to the real target, fine, that will buy her time. Time to arrange something else, and eh, maybe the lesser brother will be worth a tidbit when all is said and done.

Meanwhile, Peter is having the worst day. I mean, after finding out how good a night he had, I suppose we had to assume it was downhill from there, but first his brother who betrayed him shows up to give him pity money to bribe him, just to get rid of him, how low can you go, then his girl of his dreams flees and tells him she's not coming back, it was just a one night fling. But she still respects him, and maybe later ..
"I dont want to be the rebound guy"
"Too late!" screams the audience "Way too late!"

Maybe that's why you don't like her and Peter - for her its just a relief to be with someone nice and kind and thoughtful, while he is hoping for true love and commitment. She's too busy giving up commitment this month, so she can only hurt him in the long run. (or short long run .. depending how the season plays out later) The artist and she are in love and already hurting each other, so its easier to watch something continue to spiral than something beginning badly.

Anyhow, Peter goes from that to searching out the one guy who might know what's going on, despite his changing photo on the book, only to find out he's intruding on a greiving son who just really, really, doesnt want to talk about this to every random nutcase he must get on his doorstop. (and I dont blame Mohinder for giving out his fathers name to security, keep the insanity in the father)

He finally persuades the guy to go visit the future painting heroin addict "You left that part out!" and then, they cant even get in. Oh, the glare ..

And just when he accidentally says something that really speaks to Mohinder - enter the eerie time splinter with creaking footsteps of doom - and just when someone is finally nice to him (altho the 'hardly recognized you without your scar" wasnt the most welcoming introduction from the future!) to be continued!!

Meanwhile we saw poor Matt, with evil Daddy Dearest leering his cig - um, horn rimmed glasses at him as he speculates aloud on best ways to torture his victim. "Be honest with your reactions. Remember, it's for posterity."

Enter creepy dude with genome chain and the great black nothingness wells up inside Matt’s head - I think that is what is chasing Claire. It could as easily be her dad's henchmen as Sylar (and yes, we all wonder if they are one and the same.. but that voice on the tape... was it the Smoking Man?)

Incidentally, does it bother anyone else that Claire's mom breeds show dogs? Did the Smoking Man choose her for her hobby, so similar to his work, or is her hobby just an small outlet, a spinoff cover for her raising the next breed of victims? Where did her brother come from and did Sylar kill off his parents too? Is that little girl to be delivered next, to replace Claire as Daddy&Mommy Dearest prepare to give her up? I have a horrible feeling she'll show up in the house next ...

Mother seemed so careful to try and cultivate Claire's attentions in the pilot, encouraging her to be different, and hoping to be asked for advice. Daddy has taken over the roll the following eps .. but I dont think Mama is innocent of the goings on of her husbands deeds and intent.

Poor Claire, sobbing while the waffles are being prepared .. doesnt her brother wonder? Is there time in busy series, following an ensemble cast and determined to keep up the ratings to help the show survive - time to cover his reaction to his sister's trauma at all? His future in just a few years... when the time comes, will he think to warn his little sister of the fate he may suspect for himself? Tune in to season 2, or 3 ...

Yes, her geeky friend is a wonder, always able to point out the clear road to the truth for her, whether she chooses to take it or not, -its a pity Dad has already targeted him, that any secrets he holds will be robbed and stolen before he can protect Claire further, he cant help her other than by his advice.

And yes, I had no issues with Claire taking out the psychotic quarterback, but I think Daddy will decide that if she's ready to protect herself that way, its time for him to stop protecting her. I just feel bad for her in the upcoming ep...

We are still missing the vulnerable FBI agent, who looks so much like Matt's wife with blonde hair. What is she doing to find Matt, has there been time for him to be missing? Has she found a better place for the girl - before her doom?

oh - and our Las Vegas moments

Hiro and Ando were quite the pair - loved the Rainman tribute! "You said you wanted a costume " and poor Hiro was so innocent, wondering at all these people beating up on him, while Ando was filled with gambling fever, and quite a bit of greed.

Bumping shoulders with Niki - Ando's favorite fantasy- as she takes Nathan to the cleaners. I liked the fact that Nathan didnt pretend to be anything other than what he was, a scummy cheating husband who had no intention of leaving his wife and kids, and that Niki discovered what she couldnt do no matter what the pressure. (she even sort of enjoyed the evening) Nathan at least didnt press the issue, he just took what came his way. Oddly, I liked him better this ep .. probably had a lot do with the fact that a scummy cheat looks amazingly better standing next to a psychotic serial rapist that Claire was dealing with in the same ep.
Still, he soon wont have that lower rung to hold him from the bottom, so we'll need to see him doing something that helps somebody out soon if they want to keep him from .. well, joining the Dark Side of Force.

Niki's evil twin tho... no problems there. I think she's going to have to kill Linderman at somepoint .. we'll see how that goes too. (season 2, he'll have a brother )

anyhow, enough rambling for tonight - the cookies are eaten and the night wanes on..

[BlackAdder]

Before I forget (meaning before I read Mreen's posts) - the song from this episode is by Rogue Wave and is called "Eyes" from the soundtrack from Just Friends. It's up on the NBC site and if you liked it, grab it. It isn't available on any of their CD's (and I should know, I love Rogue Wave and just replaced my bootleg copy of the song with the a better DL).

[Mreen]

That's good to know - I noticed it replaced the song from the original pilot in the same sequence (dont know the name of the other, just that it ended up with the singer describing sleeping in the gutter, as it was the most comfortable place, during the Nikki viewing the pinhole camera scene)

I found the title sequence! Over five minutes into the show the title appears on Claire's dead body, as the coronor slices the leathery skin, slicing right thru the title.

While I think it would have been nicer to have the title nearer to the beginning, it was good it was there. (See Tim, we look for things and are happy when they're not forgotten.)

Speaking of the 'Tim reads this thread theory' - do you think the comment about Mohinder being shown 3 John Does before his dads, "He was misfiled" was a joke about the wrong picture floating around on the back of the book


okay, maybe not but the thought occurred to me nonetheless

[Mreen]

Hey, just thinking about all the gratutious nekked back scenes we've had with Niki, she never had a tattoo on her shoulder that I recall - so maybe only her twin has it? In which case, is maybe her absorbed twin the one with superabilities (extreme strength in her ferociousness, I think more than normal would allow) and Niki herself has only the ability to reach her twin?

I wonder when she'll have the courage to start conversing with the mirror, and would love to see someone in the room with those two when the mirror starts arguing back (I'm not talking Golum/Smeagol mirror conversation, I want to see two different faces at the same time!<g>)

I was thinking about all this, because as I was watching Peter trying to explain having other people's powers, it suddenly occurred to me I never wanted him to be with Niki! If her power was an evil twin as a power in itself, then Peter's evil side could burst forth and wreak havoc upon the world! But if her power is just reaching her absorbed twin, and Peter doesnt have one, then its not the same thing. Peter would only get a power when her twin stepped out, if she had ferocious strength as a power,suddenly he'd be strong and agile and able to rip people in half before they could react. (hopefully not with her personality.

This all came from wondering if Niki's twin( I like the name backward thing, but Ikin sounds like a german company for sneakers or clothes or something.. can we merge i with the n and call her Kim? ...or not, just a thought) had the tattoo but Nikki didn't, maybe she had powers, not just attitude, that Nikki didnt.

If Kim is like the Hulk, has the strenght and agility of raging creature, and the lack of scruples to match .. maybe just her strength could be absorbed? Tho Peter's natural empathy for people would likely make him dangerous if he absorbed it for too long .. who was that ..oh yes, Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde.

[Mreen]

yet another no post that posted twice...

NBC is showing the last 3 eps 8-11 tonight (sunday)

Good catch up time!

[KaraS]

I don't know if it so much a twin as a case of multiple personalities.

People who genuinely have multiple pesonalities are strange. It's been documented that one personality can have an alergy that the other personality or personalities don't have. You'd wonder, sharing the same body, how can that be so? But it is.

So if Niki had multiple personalities, one of the personalities could definately have super powers that the other(s) didn't.

It's cute that the Las Vegas casino that this week's episode happened in was The Montecito. Does anybody else here watch Las Vegas? The name Montecito was written on the wall of the parking garage when Hiro and Ando were thrown out. And they used the same soundtrack of dinging slot machines for the inside of the casino that they use in Las Vegas.

However, I do have a quibble here. When I was in Las Vegas myself last March, I identified the Montecito's location on the strip. It's across the street from the Luxor, next to the Tropicanna, where in real life there is a parking lot for trucks (seems a waste of valuable property but maybe they have plans to develop it). The view that Niki and the flying politician (forget his name) looked at out the window is from the other end of the strip.

[Mreen]

but have you ever heard of mulitiple personality that has tattoo others dont? I think it has to be absorbed twin of some sort, that has the tattoo instead of the more typical eyecolor change (the few absorbed twin stories I have seen usually involved eyes changing colors so the viewers knew which twin had the body.)

[CactusWoman]

My goodness, I can't keep up with you guys!
I'll chime in again after tomorrow night. see you then

[sleeper]

Could Sylar=Buddy of Cheerleader Dad = father of Niki's kid?
I know there was no recogntion of her when they took flying man, but could cheerleader dad be somehow controling the black guy and that way he couldn't recognize her?

[Mreen]

Never Blink is so zombie like, he could easily be controlled - that's what I meant by the Xmen 2 thing, anti mutant extremists using controlled mutants to do their dirty work.

As to which one of them is really Sylar, or if the is someone else entirely - well, we'll find out eventually!

DunDun Dun DUN!

-sorry Cactus Woman - catch us on the flipside tomorrow!

[sleeper]

Never Blink is so zombie like, he could easily be controlled - that's what I meant by the Xmen 2 thing, anti mutant extremists using controlled mutants to do their dirty work.

Maybe that is why when Mohinder found Sylar's place there was written on the wall, "God please forgive me" or something like that. Maybe Sylar isn't in control of his own actions.

I think that Sylar is Blink, but it would be more interesting if I was wrong.

[Mreen]

I dont think Sylar is Blink- but the fact that the creepy dad didnt kill *omitting spoiler to give people time to catch up with tonights ep* makes me wonder -

Is the Smoking Man less evil than Sylar? Does he just prefer to torture his victims? We keep seeing his victims alive again later ..

As for Sylar ...well, I'm actually starting to hope its the Smoking Man .. because the other possibility that keeps popping up, so tantalizingly evil .. I just dont want it to be true. Not even going to go there...

but I have an awful feeling ...

Anyhow, do a rambling review tomorrow, its far too late tonight