The episode was called “Thanksgiving,” and we had something to be thankful for: an episode that didn’t suck! Nothing really made any sense, and if you think that last night was yet another example of the show’s long spiral down the toilet bowl of badness toward the sewers of TV oblivion, I won’t argue with you. But human existence is nasty, brutish, and short, and you could’ve done much worse than spend an hour (only 42 minutes on DVR!) watching Heroes last night.
Let’s take a look at the three Thanksgiving dinners that formed the bulk of the episode:
The Family Bennet (with friends)
Claire wants to be normal! But everyone thinks she’s weird! Etcetera. Noah listened patiently to his daughter whining about her sole character trait for the millionth time, but there was a glimmer in his eyes and a spring in his step. Claire Bear, he explained, I’m planning a Thanksgiving Dinner! One of those divorced-family dinners where Mommy brings her new boyfriend and your little brother doesn’t show up because he’s hasn’t been important since season one! So cheer up, emo kid! READ FULL STORY »
It was recycling day at the Sullivan Bros. circus, and it was recycling day in the writers’ room. Another volume of Heroes, another flashback episode that finally explains the main villain’s mysterious motivation after half a season of plot-tease hints. (See also: Arthur Petrelli in “Villains” and Adam Monroe in “Four Months Ago”, both pale imitations of Season One’s Sylar Origin Story, “Six Month Ago.”) Also, someone’s powers were freaking out for no apparent reason, and the worst character in TV history was resurrected. But before we get all dreary, here’s three reasons why last night’s episode, Brother’s Keeper, was not the worst episode of Heroes ever:
Heroes isn’t completely terrible, even if it is the worst show on television. Parts of the show are still practically genius. There were three things I liked about last night:
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.
Comic book writer Warren Ellis once had a character offer the following truism: “Do you know what twenty superhumans working in concert are capable of? Given a day, twenty superhumans could destroy all life on Earth.” Which makes the superhumans of Heroes feel like the biggest underachievers ever.
Two things of note happened in “Hysterical Blindness,” this week’s edition of Heroes, and only one of ‘em was interesting: 1) Claire kissed a girl, and 2) We finally saw the Heroes version of Dazzler.
We’re gonna do something a little different with this week’s Heroes recap. Sure, I could blow on for hundreds and hundreds of words about what worked in “Acceptance” and what didn’t. Instead, I’ll pick out a couple of noteworthy threads, and end with a “bold” prediction. 
Know what I’d rather watch than Heroes? Head Detective, the wacky new sitcom following a psychic cop and the crazy dude living in his subconscious! From the people who brought you Cavemen, it’s the comedy fun-ride of the season. Seriously, if it wasn’t so boring, from a story perspective, it’d be interesting — only because Zachary Quinto seems to be having fun. In fact, he’s the only one on this show who does seem to be enjoying himself. Why are these heroes so friggin’ morose all the time? Wouldn’t being a master of the universe be a kick, even occasionally? 
