Marc Bernardin was so traumatized by last week’s spooky-scary sorority hazing that he had to take the week off. (That’s completely untrue.) While he’s off, I’ll do my best to guide you through last night’s Heroes, which managed to be the least bad episode of the season so far, but only by turning the clock back to the salad days of late 2006.
Back then, it seemed like Heroes got better, darker, and twistier with every episode. Characters died constantly, and besides Claire, they stayed dead. A cast fatality can make for game-changing plot twist: 24’s season 5 killed off a couple of main characters in the first three minutes, and the result was the show’s best season. Of course, it can also be ruinous: 24’s season 6 off Curtis and half of Los Angeles, and the result was the show’s worst season.
To a certain extent, then, last night’s Heroes was a cowardly embarrassment, an admission that the show needs to revive minor characters from three seasons ago in order to be exciting. But it also felt attuned to the fans in a way that the rest of the season hasn’t. After all, we all want the show to go back to season 1.
Full props to Jayma Mays, taking a break from Glee to resurrect Charlie. She managed to make Masi Oka seem not-bored for the first time in years. It’s not Oka’s fault; for years now, Hiro’s been an unplayable mess of emotions (He’s heroic! He’s goofy! He’s dying!) Seeing the two of them playing off each other was great. You can believe that Charlie, the nerd-goddess-next-door, could actually fall in love with Hiro.
Also great in the episode was Sylar. Specifically, season 1 Sylar, before mindwipes and bouts of powerlessness reduced him to two separate bad characters. (There’s a long, sad road between the grinningly malevolent villain we saw last night and last week’s embarrassing “Alcohol, my only weakness!” fakeout.) Hiro had to make a deal with Sylar in order to save Charlie, and although the stakes never really got too high with their Faustian bargain, seeing these two old enemies play off each other was fun.
Perhaps worried that the Sylar-Hiro-Charlie story line was too entertaining, the creators also included an unnecessary subplot about season 1 Noah Bennet, back when we only knew him as Horn Rimmed Glasses. (Discussion question: Was the revelation of HRG’s real name the last great moment in Heroes history? If memory serves, it happened right before the deeply unsatisfying Kirby Plaza showdown, which really would have been better if at least two characters had died.)
Turns out that Noah had an affair of the heart with a coworker, played by Law & Order casualty Elisabeth Rohm. Rohm’s character made no sense (a typical scene, paraphrased: “We’ll save your daughter! But first, kiss me!”) Still, I thought she made a good match for Noah, if only because it’s exciting to see him do anything besides the Tragic Father bit. And the unexpected end to this subplot introduced the phrase “Going Haitian” into the national lexicon.
Robert Knepper’s Samuel spent the episode doing what he’s done all season: lurking in the shadows, twiddling his mustache, and reading a recap of the first three seasons of Heroes via the tattoo lady’s omnisciently-inked back. He hung out with Hiro in Charlie’s coffee shop, and offered helpful advice, like “This place is a minefield. One mistake here and it’s kablooey history!” (He was right: by my count, three separate timelines were crossing over each other. Thank god for string theory!)
The very end of last night’s episode cast some light on just why Samuel is such a shady fellow. He trapped the rescued Charlie somewhere in time, and will only tell Hiro where and when if Hiro can fix Samuel’s past. But what does Samuel have to fix? Flashback to eight weeks ago. Samuel is telling someone he’s sorry. The camera pans over to… DEAD MOHINDER SURESH! OMFG! OMFG! I’ve been loudly screaming at the television set to kill Mohinder Suresh for years now, and at last, TV listened. Hooray for cast fatalities! Of course, now it seems like the plot going forward will be about saving Mohinder’s life, which is officially the worst idea Heroes has ever had.
Did you enjoy the trip to better days, viewers? Didn’t Claire look great back in her cheerleading outfit? Wasn’t Ando’s hair better back then? Or was this just more flogging of a dead horse? Certainly, we can all agree: if the show killed off half its current cast, it could only be better. In fact, if it killed off everyone except the Haitian and gave him his own spin-off, “Going Haitian,” it could only be better.
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hilarious. all true. bored to tears last night. and what about the painter-dude hero, what’s his name… not the same actor, duh! Boring all around. I skipped ahead on DVR to Trauma.
Completely agree that this was a terrible episode. (I can’t believe the writer thought this was the “least bad” episode.) Everything about it was stupid.
Hiro telling the backstory via the little (cow)boy was just cheesy and lazy writing.
The HRG (almost) affair was pointless.
I hate when people use the term “jumped the shark” describing a TV show, but I don’t really know what else to say about Heroes anymore.
I really wanted to like it still, but it is just too hard to do that. I think I’ll just read these recaps from now on and save myself 40+ minutes.
What? They brought back Isaac and didn’t use the same actor? Lame. this is why I don’t watch the show and only read the recaps. I imagine the racaps are as fun as watching the show.
Yes they did use the same actor.
That was the same actor guys!
I definitely go with flogging a dead horse. I’m just watching it now because it’s so bad it’s laughable.
Sigh… I so want to enjoy this show again, but I can’t seem to get onboard with their crazy plot lines. The Noah subplot last night was a complete waste of time, and Hiro saving Charlie felt like a huge stretch that should have massive consequences that will probably be ignored. I’m going to keep trying, but I don’t know how much more I can take…
This was the worst episode of the season. It seemed like a lot of wheel-spinning. I hope they make the consequences of the time-meddling clear in future episodes. I am interested to see how Mohinder got involved with the Carnival.
I agree, Noah’s story was so boring I was tempted to fast forward through it, but I kept holding out that this was so close in time to “Company Man” that the real interesting thing would be after the kind of interesting Hiro story would be something more about Noah or who that woman was (shouldn’t she have been a one of them with her own powers?). I also kept thinking, the only think that would have saved Charlie (and not include this stupid brain tumor/aneurysm storyline) was Hiro sacrificing himself to Sylar (meaning also, that we could revisit Kirby Plaze without Hiro’s part, that would have changed some things), but most importantly, Sylar would have that power too. And then, maybe Samuel is kind of a good guy relunctantly as the one to try to follow up everything, or, he hates Sylar so much that Sylar has a real adversary through that time Sylar was really cool.
1. Noah’s story meandered and had no bearing on the Heroe’s story arc – unless it added to introduce the fact that he has always been interested in young blondes aka waterlogged-Tracey. I’m surprised Elisabeth Rohm’s character was not played by yet another Larter clone.
2. The writers should have beefed up Noah’s tale by reminding us that the Paper Company operatives work on the philosophy of “one of us, one of them”. Shouldn’t Elisabeth Rohm’s character have been one of them? I was so disappointed that she didn’t have a power, and that she didn’t die.
3. Can someone go Hatian on me so that I can forget this season?!?
I don’t think she was his partner (wasn’t he partnered with the Hatian at that time?) – I thought that she was a co-worker that he met up with a couple of times a week…
Obviously she was another agent of “The Company” that works with one of them. I dont even think it is possible that at that time HRG would of gotten involved with someone with powers. Considering his profession. Besides his wife is really hot why would he want to leave her?
Could not disgree more. Killing off Characters is a terrible idea. What should’ve happened with the Heroes is that they should form a Legion of Heroes. I can live without Mohinder, but to kill off anymore of the original Heroes would be a tragic mistake. There was a chemistry there. The problem was the writing for season three did much harm to the show..you didn’t know who the characters were as their personalities changed week to week….sometimes minute to minute. The show need to go back to their roots and killing off characters just puts a nail in the coffin of the show. Room has it Nathan is the next character to go…..bad decisions have killed a great show. As for this season, I like it. Personally I can not understand why someone who hates a show as much as this writer still watches.
“There was a chemistry there”
Emphasis on “was”. The chemistry is long gone. My understanding is the original plan was to continuously have characters leave/die and new ones come in, but when the fans became attached to the original characters, the writers were afraid to kill them off. At this point, the show is beyond saving. They just need to come up with a nice way to wrap it up this season.
Wasn’t the original idea after the first season for the show to introduce new characters with a new story, but the popularity of the show made Kring change his mind and keep the original characters?
Maybe Heroes was a victim of its own success. Had it not been as successful as it was, they would have replaced the original characters with new ones as they had originally intended.
I should have read this post before making mine
Wow, Heroes has gotten so bad, it’s breaking reviewers.
I HATE time-travel retcons and I did not appreciate them turning HRG into a emotional adulterer with someone we’ve never seen before.
Also more than a little perturbed by Samuel’s seemingly unaided comings-and-going through time and space, only to pass Charlie off to a carnie-crony (car-ony?) who just happens to have the same powers as Hiro.
And Sylar’s x-ray vision aneurysm removal . . . WTF? If he can see inside her brain to diagnose and fix the problem, why did he ever need to chop off heads to get powers and draw unwanted attention to himself?
I missed some of the meat of last night episode due to my 4 year old refusing to stay in bed, and still felt like I didn’t miss anything.
Sylar didn’t HAVE to kill anyone to get their powers. Kristen Bell’s character, Elle, showed him that, before he killed her.
I agree with you completely about old Sylar, he was a badass back in the day, now he is comic relief with fat albert parkman (who does a better job acting on the McDonalds monopoly commercial than on Heroes”….I hope the show is going down a path where they reset time and the cast forgets how lame they become and we see a new path for the heroes and get to meet the cool future hiro and peter…not the lame current version we are forced to view week to week
I disagree…I believe that old sylar like to take it up the rear
One of the best this season. I think this show is reclaiming some of its former creative glory. However, the thought of reviving Mohinder is indeed the worst idea this show has had. Does ANYONE miss him?
Hmm, Mohinder has been gone this whole season and it’s become our best since season 1. Get a clue guys. It’ll be like Lana’s return driving last season of Smallville into the ground they couldn’t recover.
I had hoped Mohinder was with Molly and Grandma Shuresh in India… I don’t really miss him, but I’m curious now to see what happened between him talking to Peter in Ep1 this season and now…
Overall, I think this was the best episode in a while. It was fun to go back to Season 1 and see Hiro really square off with Sylar. He showed a confidence he did not have in Season 1. I wanted to see Hiro win, and in a sense he did, but he still ends up losing somehow, which made me mad. But, we got see Hiro finally get really angry about something, and his character is now finally coming into it’s own. Growing up as it were.
I agree the whole subplot with Noah was a waste-Unless, they use the affair and the love of teaching he expressed to Claire somewhere else in the present.
Mohinder coming back? Hmmm. The jury is out. If they can find a way to make it interesting.
This episode kept me at the edge, which Heroes has not done in a while. I think it still has alot more to offer than people give it credit for.
I 100% agree.
Please be aware that last nights episode also included back story from the Heroes Novel “Saving Charlie” from 2007. The aneurysm plot is from that novel. Saving Charlie has been a theme to Hiro’s story since Charlie was introduced. I was very happy to have this woven in, and for the attention to detail. Showing Hiro willing to do anything, having literally nothing left to lose – it gives me hope that perhaps they could retcon Peter too and deal with another lass lost in time,…
Heroes is a one season concept, people discover they have powers and learn to cope with them. No thought was given what to do after the adjustment phase wears off. Its been a mess since. No disrespect to Jayma Mays but when the season is half over and the only highlight so far is the resurrection of a very minor character it shows the show is running on fumes.
I disagree. The reason Heroes tanked is because they creatively blew their wad in season one. Giving two characters nearly God-like powers was fun in the short term, but totally destroyed the future of the show. There was no way they could come up with interesting villains and challenges after that point. They had no choice but to resort to amnesia and intermittent power impotency, which is always completely hackneyed and boring.
Does anyone think be showed us the blond girl who likes Noah so they can bring to the present since he is single now?
This may be the worst ep I’ve ever seen of Heroes. I’m assuming it will be cancelled by the end of the winter so I’ll finish watching.
Hiro could just get Matt Parkman to read that guys mind and find Charlie and then the two Sylars can meet up and end that story line.
I was hoping Sylar would kill Hiro! But sadly, no. What a waste of an episode.
Hey reviewer, you sound like a moron. You judge greatness by how many characters are “offed” as you so gleefully put it. Stay in your Moms basement you tool.
Agreed
Not agreed.
Tina reminds me why debating with fans on anything in EW.com is so loathsome. They seldom respectfully disagree on anything, and prefer name calling over cool headed rebuttals (aka, the Fox News syndrome).
In some ways, Darren Finch makes a good point, and I definitely agree with the 24 comparison. It’s hard to give an action show a sense of legitimate danger when the main characters survive every possible situation. That’s something the Lost writers realized early on (though they’re a bit gun shy compared to 24). Same with Battlestar Galactica.
While killing off characters certainly doesn’t result in an ingenious show (especially if the plotting is terrible, like Heroes: Villains and 24 season 6), it helps add tension when done correctly.
To T3hdow: Yeah, using 24 as your example of a good show makes you look dumber than Tina….good series dont kill off the main beloved characters. Buffy never killed off anyone (except Buffy herself who was brought back)
Thank you for proving my EXACT point I stated earlier (i.e., no one in popwatch debates so much as they bicker). And thank you for not reading into what I said from start to finish.
Did I say great action shows NEED to kill off their characters? No. But the earlier seasons of 24 showed how it could raise the level of drama and tension in an action show. Even when the writers faked a few possible deaths, they made you really believe the characters could’ve died, because the show made it clear that anyone could die at anytime (excepting Jack, of course).
And it’s ironic that you think 24 is a terrible example when it influenced every action show since its inception, including Heroes. Few shows took out major characters like 24 did before it existed, and Heroes adapted that strategy well with season 1.
But as stated earlier, when done wrong, it can seriously backfire.
Heroes is a mess and I agree they didn’t plan beyond 1 season and not even the whole season considering that 1st season finale and you seem to need to rewatch Buffy, they may not have killed none of the main characters (at least not in a permanent way) but a lot of secondary characters didn’t make it till the end and they always managed to make it shocking and eventful and we’d lose a character, which is something the writers on Heroes could learn from, along with better choreographed fight scenes
Um Buffy did kill of main characters um Tara and Anya….as for last nights heroes I liked it.It made me remember what was good about the show. Yes the H.R.G. plot was thin but did explain that he cared about his family.Starting to like this season more and more there at least trying to stay consistent with the story and not doing 360’s like the last 2 seasons.
I had high hopes after last week’s episode, but I was so bored by this episode I actually turned it off half way through and played my 360.
Glad I wasnt the only one. I dont mind going back in time but the Noah storyline was absolutely dull. Hiro’s “battle” with Sylar was laughable and lame. Hey Hiro, when you freeze time why dont you get smart and cut Sylars head off? And these idiots call themselves “heroes”???
Ok you faithful few, I need some advice: I’ve been recording this season of Heroes but I just can’t bring myself to actually watch them. I’ve been avoiding these recaps to avoid spoilers but glancing at some of your comments I don’t think I’ve been missing much. I’m assuming this season isn’t living up to the ‘redemption’ we’ve been promised… so should I bother to catch up? Or just erase the eps and try to eternal sunshine my mind of everything that followed Season 1? I know some will be split; but if you could go back to the start of this season.. would you still watch? Is it worth it?
nope.. sorry via.. its confusing, muddled, repeating storylines (didnt sylar wake up with amnesia in s2?)…
hiro alternates between moping about dying and clowning around rescuing cats and playing matchmaker..
its completely lost in its own mythology.
i’m not sure how your tastes run, but if you want to abandon it for a true ensemble with amazing acting, deep plotlines, writers who take risks, etc etc..
i could not recommend Sons of Anarchy (on F/X) anymore. its simply incredibly, about halfway through its second season now (13 ep seasons).
Thx alex, guess it’s time to finally ‘break up’ w/this show (and give my DVR some much needed space). Good recommendation, but I’ve been watching SoA since season 1 so you’re preaching to the choir.
Don’t listen to Alex hes bs-ing. This show is awesome keep it
First of all, I am a fan of Elisabeth Rohm, but she was totally unnecessary in this episode. It was nice to see Jayma Mays, but that ending was unsatisfying. I only watch this for Jack Coleman, Zachary Quinto, and especially Robert Knepper (who is now a member of the regular cast–congratulations).
I too am a fan of Elisabeth Rohm, but was very disappointed with her character’s subplot. I only tuned into Heroes last night to see her performance, and although she was good, her character was a huge freakin’ let down.
I agree with The Truth, in that the fact that we’re reliving the original story line shows what Heroes is really about.
It reminds me of the Back to the Future movies. The first movie is a classic. The second shows the first movie in a new way. And the third was just… something different and not great.
After years of bashing the show, I actually enjoyed Heroes yesterday. They did a number of things right:
1. Gave Hiro a purpose that we care about.
2. Gave the original season a new level of depth.
3. They made time travel make sense (finally!!)
4. They focused on one character’s story as the main plotline instead of jumping around.
5. The episode pushed the story forward.
6. It’s doing a better job of managing characters’ powers.
7. It’s alluding to things that we said, “wtf happened to…?” (e.g., future bad-ass Hiro from the train).
8. Made a reference to the game Chrono Trigger!!!! (One of the greatest games of all time, pardon the pun.)
The episode could have been called “Vulnerabilities” because it showed us what was going on with characters we didn’t really know about in season 1 (Sylar and HRG). And some of the pieces of the story are filled in and are being used to (hopefully) enhance this season.
I half expect the show to rehash some of the timelines in season 1, such as Sylar’s showdown in Kirby Plaza, but with a different result, now that Sylar knows his destiny.
This show makes Smallville look well written.
Nope… it makes you dumber by posting this.
Smallville is so bad it makes Heroes look like Shakespeare.
agreed.
This seasons smallville has been very well written my friend
Is marc the reviewer gone for good? I sure hope so, every week we have to listen to his biased viewpoints about a show that its fans still enjoy. This reviewer isnt the greatest but its alot better than Marc’s crap we have to listen to every week. Now if EW would actually find a reviewer that enjoyed the show and highlighted some positives of each weeks epiosode then they would be doing their job
I disagree! Look at how many people posting on here have the same POV. Being a “fan” doesn’t mean that you have to blindly love a show and never be disappointed with it.
I agree. Im not completly happy with every second of the show I just want the reviewer to be objective and highlight positives about he episode as well as the dissappointing ones
does anyone else think that the claire/noah scenes where they gaze deeply into each other’s eyes, are actually kinda creepy? especially since he had just locked lips with a “claire clone but older”?
I think you’re reading way too much into that.
I don’t think this show could ever recover…I see a lame reality show going in this time slot very soon. OR make Jay Leno 2 hours on Monday nights.
Jay Leno wont be lasting at 10 very long…the ratings are terrible and he’s already saying he would go back to 1130
Maybe this is where Chuck will go. It is its old time slot.
Loved the Back to the Future references:
Great Scott!, when Hiro realized he’s messing with the space-time continuum….and the picture that he breifly dissappeared from
Didn’t he also say “Oh Boy” from Quantum Leap too?
What it’s starting to do better is balance the superpowers with commensurate flaws. Hiro, for example, is dying because of his all-encompassing power. And, it that’s not enough, he has to essentially make a deal with the devil to save the woman he loves, further tarnishing his hero status. This is the way comic books are designed, and the show had gotten away from that in order to introduce a new power every week. This episode worked not just because it went back to Charlie (and really, she’s adorable), but because it’s also increasing the stakes for our protagonists in more than superficial ways (though I hesitate to proclaim them deep).
The writers of Heroes should pen a how-to book on How to Not Deal With Time Travel in modern fiction.
Just absolutely awful…
The problem w/ the show is that there is absolutely no continuity and no rhyme or reason. They kill characters and bring them back and give and take away powers as if the writers are throwing darts at a wall and seeing what sticks. After the first season I really thought they had something w/ Peter and Sylar being these uber-heros and polar opposites. And now I don’t even know if Peter is even a likable character still. The writers need to pick a direction to take the story and stick w/ it. And don’t kill someone unless they are going to stay dead.
“Going Haitian” I love it!
Lotta hate on this board. The ep wasn’t perfect, but it was one of the better ones this season. I enjoyed the nostalgia trip, and hated everything with HRG (didn’t Claire hate his guts at this time?)
It is amazing the writers keep messing with time-travel when they don’t know what they’re doing. (The whole reason they gave Hiro a tumor was an excuse to time-travel less). But more amazing is that they did they “lost in time” device again. Anyone remember Caitlin?