"What did we win?"

[adeline]

Heroes
4x01-2: Orientation / Jump, Push, Fall

I'm trying out a new and simpler format for my reviews this year (say hi to the big fonts, lol). Helps with the ~emoshunal distance~ thing I've been meaning to keep. Here goes nothing!

OMFG!?
:O

n/a, heh.

I guess the previews desensitized me or something.

Nathanites Never Say Die
Wtf happened to the body anywayz?!??!

The foreshadowing is so heavy-handed, lmao. Sigh. This whole situation still sucks. DNW Sylar's judgment (of all people's) on how Nathan led his life. "I'm gonna be a better me." DIAF! Please DIAF before I really see the Nathan in you and start to hope he sticks around long-term.

Whaddyamean, too late?

-_-

Anyway, Pasdar rules. I loved those power discovery/experimenting scenes. Nathan's shock and surprise, Sylar's eagerness and frustration. And it's been a while since we got a glimpse of Sylar on the show, you know.

Mohinder Watch
Have you seen a sexy geneticist?

Momologues? None.
Seconds of airtime: 0
Name checks: 1

And then Peter traded in his power, so I can only see those name checks taking a nosedive. (My only hope is that Sendhil still got paid his full fee.)

Okay, cool.
(I begrudgingly liked this...)

Mad props to Cris Rose in that first scene alone. I have justifiably doubted Angela's love for her children time and time again, but her whole FACE after talking to Noah was incredibly expressive and heartwrenching.

Samuel seems interesting. Robert Knepper also did a great job asserting his character. Talk about gravitas, goddamn. And I loved the scene between Samuel and Hiro.

Peter and Ray Park (character's name?) fighting was also a pretty nifty scene! Good job on the VFX, show.

I'm so glad Hiro can once more time travel. It means his "Fugitives" storyline makes even less sense, but I don't even care. He's a time-traveler, damnit! And so it should be. \o/

Hesam is back! That is just awesome.

For all the fail that is Matt's "seeing Sylar" nonsense (I don't buy any of that "something got into me" crap), I'm glad at least his head!ZacharyQuinto is hitting where it really hurts, stuff Sylar never knew about, thus reinforcing the idea that he's a total Matt-made hallucination. Come on, Sylar would tease about Mohinder and Molly. Now watch as the next episode contradicts this beyond any ~reasonable~ doubt.

Peter is endearing in his endeavors to save all of those people - the newspaper clippings on the wall, guh, can we say 'reason for living'? <\3 But what about "this is a family," what about never cutting out those who matter most to him? <\3 <\3 I guess Peter will have to be my favorite now..

The Claire stuff was decent as well. I hope she gets to stay in college. And Gracie Sheffield did not bug as much as I expected!

I call shenanigans!
(... but let me tell you how you still suck.)

The opening scene was okay in my book, though I utterly despise the editors' persistence to milk past and future scenes to recall fondness and fabricate suspense. Cheapest trick ever and I'm really tired of it. The days of Season One are clearly long gone, and no amount of dirty Sasan-haired ZQ tumbling out of the grave ~woods~ is going to distract enough. It's a shame because aside this fuckery, that sequence was just the right amount of intriguing.

I think the whole tattoo thing is a load of bullshit and I will never be able to take it seriously. I couldn't say why specifically, but I'm guessing it might just be on that side of too-ridic-even-for-me. What's wrong with a good ol' ~standard~ precog? Also, they need to settle on a power for Samuel and stick to it. Does he move earth? Does he have the power of ~oooh magickal tattooz!~? Does he have telekinesis? Those are not enticing questions, just the kind that make me wonder if anyone has any idea where the whole thing is going.

I tried, I honestly tried, but where the writers would have us/Matt see Sylar, I only see Zachary Quinto Acting. They've just perverted the character so far from what he was, it's like separate entities. Lucky for them, Zachary Quinto is very entertaining in his Mean Lulzy Bitch routine, but I really can't believe anyone genuinely enjoys Sylar for anything but the lulz at this point. (Which is fine and all, but kind of sad at the same time.)

And my final complaint is OH GODS THE EXPOSITION-Y DIALOGUE! SOMEBODY MAKE IT STOP! I feel like sending Kring, Armus and Foster to detention and have them copy 'Show, Don't Tell' 100 million times. Ugh.

Brain Crumbs
Scattered thoughts

When Annie kept yammering on about her brilliant future, Claire's look so read "I want to kill myself". But she can't. LOL.

"Who the hell are you?"
"You exactly who I am!"
LOL YOU GUYS ACCIDENTALLY A WORD.
Wat. Does nobody watch the dailies as they're filming the episodes? Because that's a whole load of fail right there. *headdesk*

I wonder how much that Kojin Sushi place paid to get featured so heavily in the show. Surely it cannot be that the production is running out of sets, riiiiight?

I'm withholding a verdict on the compass quest, but I hope it gets to the point where bringing back Danko just for this was a worthwhile investment. It just seems kind of random for now.

Hotass o' The Week
Half the reason I keep watching


Satan ~Nathan

Don't even act surprised. :P

HBIC o' The Week.
Head Bitch In Charge

I was gonna give it to Kimiko Nakamura based on the first half of the episode, but then she went into full-on Kimi-chan mode and lost her bitchy. Then Danko died, so, not so much in charge anymore. Idk, Samuel?

Ship o' The Week
lol romance?

PETER/HESAM FTW! Gods. I think it's because Hesam seems so, y'know, normal. I like it. Peter could use some more ~normal~ in his life. And Hesam's worrying about Peter! And Peter got him Boston clam chowder! (Which is so the new aphrodisiac, in case you didn't get the memo.) Also, they would make pretty babies.

And name them all 'Peter'.

XD

Best line
I may or may not quote this irl

"Hey... Call your mother. ;)"

I'm gonna get so much contempt for this, but IT GAVE ME WARM FUZZIES. Except that Noah acting as a father figure to Peter (lololol is that me getting carried away?) kind of in a far-fetched way makes him Claire's figurative grandfather. Which makes me ship Angela/Noah all over again! Luuulz, this show! And luuulz, what I choose to read into the slightest things.

Most burning question?
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! *flails*

Why doesn't Angela just call THE HAITIAN?

It's not like he doesn't feel indebted to her (lawd knows why) and his contribution to Mission: Brainwash Danko just showcased the preciseness of his skill. If this were any other show, I'd presume this was by design, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

Overall,
I liked this episode. I obviously have reservations about lots of stuff, but despite pre-existing lame plot points I actually enjoyed the show. We're definitely miles above the abyss of last season's premiere, and hopefully (I hate myself) it'll only get better from here.

Comments

[barilace.livejournal.com]

Has T-Bag from Prison Break showd up yet? Ha.

[gossy16.livejournal.com]

lmao, yes he has! And he was kind of awesome, not gonna lie.

[ibroketuesday.livejournal.com]

"Who the hell are you?"
"You exactly who I am!"
LOL YOU GUYS ACCIDENTALLY A WORD.

ARE YOU FOR SERIOUS.

Well, I didn't watch the show, and nothing in this review makes me want to...

[gossy16.livejournal.com]

I watched it like 4 times in a row because it just did not compute. How does something like that even happen? LMAO.

[ibroketuesday.livejournal.com]

It happens because no one working on the show actually cares about its quality anymore. :|

[gossy16.livejournal.com]

Clearly. And that's almost depressing.

[thefreshchuff.livejournal.com]

I love the format and detailed breakdown! Keeps me from having to watch the real thing. ;)

[gossy16.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And yeah, that time was definitely better spent watching House, especially when Sylar used to be your favorite character.

[thefreshchuff.livejournal.com]

I figured as much. Plus House was just generally made of awesome. I might start downloading Heroes, though, just to keep an eye on it. (I was reluctant to this week, since it was two hours and that file would be huuuuge for my measy internet connection.)

[boombangbing.livejournal.com]

Basically YESSS to all this. The foreshadowing was just too much, and Sylar is just not Sylar any more. They seem to let ZQ do whatever he wants to do while on set - and the guy is funny, no doubt, but that's not Sylar, and can't they throw other actors a good line or two? It's a shame that the lighter moments only ever seem to come from Hiro, Ando, Sylar, and occasionally Claire. You've got a big cast, show, let's see what the others can do, too!

Also also, in my head Nathan healed (because they still haven't explained how he came back to life after being shot, and he did get Adam's ~*magical*~ blood once upon a time) and had to, like, dig himself out of a grave. I am so close to writing this.

I only have one complaint about this post: you designate Nathan hotass o' the week, and don't show the glorious ass shot? For shame.

Oh! And a million times yes to why doesn't Angela get Sy!Nathan Haitianed - surely that would stick better than Matt's tricks.

[gossy16.livejournal.com]

Agree so hard re: Sylar! I can recall instances when other characters than those you've mentioned brought comic relief, but the fact remains (IMO) they took Sylar way too far into comedy. He's completely unrecognizable now. Having said that, yes please, funny lines to more people!

I love your Nathan regeneration theory, but his bandaged fist after punching a mirror in Volume 2 seems to disprove it. :/ I am willing to suspend all disbelief, though, if it's for a cause as good as real!Nathan coming back to life! XD I like to think somebody is storing his body in deep freeze (Claude? Adam? future Simon? lol, I need to annotate this parenthetical!¹) waiting to inject him with a natural immortal's healing blood.

Haha, I thought that oversight might seem sacrilegious, but the moral of the story is: the right to stare is earned. I watched the show! So can everyone. XD

Seriously, if even AFTER they all but told us "LOOK HOW AWESOME AND EFFECTIVE THE HAITIAN'S POWER IS" they don't even mention it in relation to ~Nathan's looming awakening, I'm gonna be... even more baffled. Which I didn't think there even was that much room left for.

---

1: Claude - I'm not sure what his motivations might be or how he'd even be in the know (unless he's been stalking Peter all this time... Sounds plausible!) but if he's secretly keeping Nathan alive, then Nathan's thread in all of Hiro's or Peter's subsequent string-theory-inspired timeline models = invisible.
Adam - I refuse to acknowledge or believe that "The Dying of the Light" was the end of him. Any excuse to bring him back into the fold is a valid excuse.
Future Simon Petrelli - I have this lovely image in my head of Simon being a time-traveler; and Monty a healer, so, duuude, that would be all kinds of cheesy and bittersweet!)

[boombangbing.livejournal.com]

I guess the thing with funny lines is that with Sylar, Hiro, and Ando it's like an oncoming train; the show basically goes HERE COMES THE FUNNY, PREPARE YOURSELF. I want to see more little moments like Peter's 'water or mustard' line. Also, Adrian is actually really funny, but Nathan almost never gets (or got) lighter moments. Not that I have a one track mind, or anything.

I kind of think that maybe the healing isn't immediate? Or something? I don't know, it's not a rock solid theory, but when has anything in Heroes been rock solid?

Oh, Adam coming back would be glorious. I never got how having his power taken away equaled rapid aging - he's not a vampire for Christ's sake! I would have loved to see Adam have to try and live as a mortal-- but that's another complaint altogether. Future!Simon and Monty saving their dad would be so adorable, omg. ♥ The only problem with being injected with healing blood again is that apparently the graphic novels jossed that by saying that healing blood is a one time deal, which is why I like the idea that Nathan has some leftover healing powers. Hey, anything could happen!

[gossy16.livejournal.com]

*nods* I definitely see what you're saying. And those more casual ~funny bits~ are made all the better by the fact we're not constantly expecting them.

Haha, that's a good point! Me, I tend to cling to the belief that only what happens onscreen is canon, and the comics are completely irrelevant. (This is mostly because I don't read them, LOL.) But it's true, on Heroes, continuity matters are a moot point.

[nitro26.livejournal.com]

DID NO ONE REMEMBER THAT CLAIRE'S BLOOD CAN HEAL?! Sheesh.
Haha, Annie's the best new character so far. It was hilarious when she was sitting there when Claire came in, giving HRG a progress report on her. :P PETER IS MY FAVORITE. ♥ Aaad yeah, that's pretty much all I can say since I haven't even finished the whole episode yet.

[gossy16.livejournal.com]

I hope you've finished the first hour now, because yes! Even as Claire was looking down at her roommate's body, I was like, "uhhh... You can maybe ~cut your finger~ over her?" Jeez! The worst part is I'm sure these conversations take place in the writers' room, and then some jackass goes like "meh, let's not bother with logical explanations, most people forgot that". It makes me see red. :\

My heart breaks for Peter. He's so earnest and alone - and gods, he doesn't even know how alone yet - and self-effacing. :( Go out with Hesam, Peter! :P

[ilikethequiet.livejournal.com]

Damn Satan Nathan is a hotass isn't he?

[gossy16.livejournal.com]

He's a goddamn GQMF, trufax! XD

[ilikethequiet.livejournal.com]

I shall have to icon him later me thinks, I need new Nathan icons.

[gossy16.livejournal.com]

Aww yay! There can never be too many Nathan icons in the world, I say! :D

[gabsy.livejournal.com]

Mmmmmm, Adrian Pasdar.

(OH COME ON LIKE YOU EXPECTED ANY OTHER COMMENT FROM ME)

[gossy16.livejournal.com]

I hear you, bb. I hear you.

(LOL I REALLY DIDN'T ^^)

[gabsy.livejournal.com]

I'M ON A(NOTHER) PASDAR KICK LATELY. BLAME MY WATCHING NEAR DARK. OH GOD THE LULZ, ADE, THE LULZ.

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Did you just come up with Satan? Because that is all kinds of win!

I agree with most of your comments except:

Matt/Sylar: To me it's not the 'real' Sylar so I am loving the bitchy scenes he's having in Matt's head.

Samuel: I know everyone adores him, but I am just not feeling it yet... I don't hate him but I am not very fond of him either.

I was pleasantly surprised by the compass thing, it was the one storyline I didn't know about yet. And it makes the fact it's the Sullivan Bros logo (and the back of our keychains xD) even cooler now.

[gossy16.livejournal.com]

I stole it from the Heroes France message board, where it works even better because in French, "Sathan" and "Satan" sound exactly the same. XD

Oh it's def. not the real Sylar, but it's also not true to the image Matt should have of Sylar, which makes the whole thing bogus. What does Matt know about Sylar? Sylar murdered Molly's parents, repeatedly attempted to kidnap her, tried to blow up NYC, shot him four times in the chest, traumatized Mohinder, murdered Nathan. It would make so much more sense for Matt's visions to be shadowy bloodbaths. (Though I guess the 8pm slot does not help with that. BUT STILL. More spookiness is required.)

I'm not omginlove with, but I'm thrilled with Knepper's performance. I feel like we already have a clear idea of who Samuel Sullivan is just from the one episode. That's insane! And a great thing. Edgar, though I have nothing against him, I'm not so certain about. I think maybe it's because he doesn't have as strong a personality (and I do mean Edgar, not RP).

But the compass was in the sneak peeks we saw? :p I guess I'll wait to see where it's going, I just hope ~magic~ isn't involved. Remember when Heroes was supposed to be set in a just-very-slightly evolved version of our world? Sometimes I struggle, LOL.

[canadian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I like it, it's better than Synathan o.O

Er... I still think it's Sylar doing this, not Matt hallucinating. But because he's (partially?) 'stuck' in Matt's head he's a different person with different priorities and I really can't explain it well, just that I lolled at the bitchiness without thinking it was ooc.

Our opinion on Samuel and Edgar are swapped then. Let's see what next week will bring for these characters.

Yeah it was, but somehow it didn't seem like anything important to me just something Samuel had on him :\

Remember when Heroes was supposed to be set in a just-very-slightly evolved version of our world?
I don't :\

[gossy16.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can't stand "Synathan," "Sylathan" or any of the others, lulz. >:|

That's what gets me. If it is in fact Sylar doing this because his ~soul~ or whatever did indeed get ~stuck inside Matt~ (which I feel would be over-the-top stupid, omg, but okay) then he's still way OOC for me. Funny and entertaining and interesting even, but way more like Evil Sasan than anything else, lulz. XD

[decadentdream.livejournal.com]

I wonder how much that Kojin Sushi place paid to get featured so heavily in the show. Surely it cannot be that the production is running out of sets, riiiiight?

LOL with all the season one flashbacks, I kept presuming it was the new Burnt Toast diner XD

Also, was it me or did HRG manage to travel 3 states in one day? New York/Virginia/Washington? Dude you're lucky to even get to two states with one flight in a day over there :$ (Especially with their plane service *speaks from experience*)

On a completely random topic of hotness - did you see the Nathan smile right before he kissed his mother? I was like bouncing in my chair. Seriously - no-one does Nathan better than Pasdar (I'm sorry ZQ - you can keep being the bodiless freak you are at the moment cause I'm loving you that way instead *ahem*)

[gossy16.livejournal.com]

It probably will fulfill that function, if I had to guess. Did we ever see this many different sets of characters visit the Burnt Toast Diner in one episode? LOL. It doesn't really matter, I just thought it was funny that out of all the restaurants in D.C., everyone would choose to go there. XD

D.C. and Arlington are just a 15-minute drive apart from each other (thank you, Google Maps) - which is probably why Claire goes to college there -- and omg *MAJOR SADFACE* at Sandra not visiting/calling Noah when she came to see Claire! :(((((( And the flight to NY is probably something like an hour or two, so it's conceivable he got there and back on the same day.

I knoooooow. It makes me miss Nathan all the more. :/ I dread the day Pasdar is well and truly out of the picture. LOL, it's better for my mood if I don't get into specifics. XD

[promiseoftin.livejournal.com]

I really can't believe anyone genuinely enjoys Sylar for anything but the lulz at this point. (Which is fine and all, but kind of sad at the same time.)

Please suspend your disbelief for me. :) If I were a disembodied mega-villian, I'd go the taunting route, too. I like this aspect of him better than Season 3's Daddy Issues Sylar.

[gossy16.livejournal.com]

Well, to be fair, ANYTHING is better than S3's Daddy Issues Woobie. XD I'm just not on-board with the whole "Sylar is trapped" thing to begin with, so that colors my perception for sure. For now I'd rather believe Matt's having vivid hallucinations - though, granted, that would still make this portrayal of Sylar inane. This is not a diss on Quinto, who remains excellent, but I am a bit ticked off at the writing.

My word choice was rather poor and on second thought, I do believe your involvement remains genuine (hell, if I could make sense of Nathan last year, who am I to even say anything?) but it's so difficult for me now. I continue to think the writers dropped the ball on their own narrative and keep doing their previous good work one great injustice after another - Sylar being the most recent and glaring example.