"I say it's time we found our way home again." - Samuel Sullivan
Anyone who may watch Heroes someday I will just let you know:
SPOILER WARNING!!!
Okay I love Heroes and a little lag in the storyline doesn't sway me from the show at all. Now the main premise of the entire series is that ordinary people begin to discover that they are developing superhuman abilities at certain points in their lives within a realistic but nevertheless somewhat hyper-real world. I know that sounds familiar...CoughX-MenCough! But this is the kind of show I've craved for. A show about superheroes and villains in the real world. Or as real as the world can be with superheroes and villains.
You've got a bagillion characters with powers: Hiro Nakamura, a nerdy Japanese cubicle worker who discovers he can control time and space (albiet badly). Peter Petrelli, a hospice nurse who discovers he can mimic other people's powers. Nathan Petrelli, Peter's politician brother who can fly. Claire Bennet, a confused ex cheerleader who is indestructable. Claire's father Noah Bennet, a former detainer of all things superpowered. Matt Parkman, a police officer who can read minds and control thoughts. Mohinder Suresh, a scientist whose quest to help people with abilities lead to his own abilities of super strength and agility. And recently Tracy Struass, an ex political advisor who can control ice and water while also being the long lost twin sister of a better character who got killed off awhile ago. The primary villain is Sylar, a former outcast watchmaker turned serial killer and stealer of powers. I like almost every one of them. My favorites usually vary with the choices they make of course.
MAJOR SPOILER, LIKE DO NOT READ
To briefly recap last season's ending: Sylar once again rises once all of the other current villains are dead or incapacitated and seeks to kill and assume the identity of the President. Peter and Nathan Petrelli finally put aside their differences and fight Sylar themselves. In the end Peter manages to take Sylar down, but Nathan is killed in the battle unbeknownst to his brother and most of the cast. Nathan's mother Angela, conniving matriarch of the Petrelli family, and Noah Bennet convince Matt Parkman to remove Sylar's personality from his body and replace it with Nathan's, successfully bringing him back without anyone knowing what happened to him. A dead shapeshifter who appears to be Sylar is cremated, convincing everyone that the villain is dead for good.
So now starting off with our new volume, called Redemption I guess because the word was mentioned in the opening speech, we are introduced to a helluva lot of new characters. Most importantly I guess is the villain Samuel Sullivan, played by Robert Knepper from Prison Break fame. Samuel is the shady new leader of The Carnival, a sanctuary of sorts for people with abilities. New leader because his brother Joseph has just died. Significant members of The Carnival include Lydia, a woman who can tell the future through tattoes or something like that (I'm not really sure), and Edgar, a knife wielding lackey with super speed. There is also a deaf woman named Emma Coolidge who works in the same hospital as Peter. Emma can see sound in bright and fantastical colors and discovers that she may be able to channel sound energy into a form of attack. Another character is Claire's college roommate Gretchen, played by Madeline Zima who I know as the little girl from The Nanny. Two female child actors all grown up who are no longer cute so much as they are hot and acting side by side as roommates in a modern TV show, it's almost inevitable that there would be some kind of romance between them. Well a romance in the works is implied, if it is not than a good kiss and exposition went to waste. Then there is Lauren, a former partner and near flame of Noah's from his days with The Company who provides a possible love interest. Oh yeah, Noah and his wife have divorced. In other news, Nathan is beginning to uncover the truth that he is different now, having no idea he is living inside Sylar's body. Sylar on the other hand is of course still alive and dwelling inside Matt Parkman's head, threatening his attempts at a normal life. Tracy Strauss is contributing nothing but drama. Claire Bennet is playing the same tune of wanting to be either normal or accepted while attending college. Playful Hiro is still dying and screwing at righting the wrongs of the past. Noah is again trying to sink into a normal life.
The events that have taken place so far don't feel like an advancing story as much as filler until something better happens. No one has done too much yet. Samuel seems to have been spouting the same speech within every new episode, not even Knepper's good acting helps there. Hiro goes from his childish dreams of being a comic book super hero despite his terminal illness, but then ends up in a repetitive state of demanding Charlie's location, his true love whom he saved with help from past Sylar but who is then taken away by Samuel as leverage. Tracy Strauss does pretty much what she did last season which was complain about her power. Claire complains about fitting in AGAIN. Her father does little to help AGAIN. The only thing interesting going on is scenarios involving the duos of Parkman and Sylar and Peter and Nathan. Parkman is losing control of the monster trapped in his head. Meanwhile Nathan loses touch with himself slowly as Peter struggles to make time for him amidst his life of saving people. Ah Peter Petrelli, the only figured out character who has always wanted and does use his powers to do superheroic things. That is a main criticism I've seen among those who give Heroes negative reviews: you'd think with so many superpowered characters a few of them would actually do interesting things with their powers.
Before the break we are left with a bit to take in. Samuel turns out to be the one who killed his brother for standing in the way of his true potential. He frames Edgar for his brother's murder, leaving Edgar to form an alliance with Hiro before fleeing. Hiro meanwhile disappears to "rescue Watson" after one of Samuel's carnival friends does something to his mind. Mysterious! Hiro has placed Mohinder in a mental hospital to keep him from screwing up things with Samuel. Claire and Tracy join Samuel, believing him to be the one person who understands their plight. Parkman returns to his wife for the time being after Sylar gets back into his own body. Sylar finds trouble however when Nathan's mind quarrels with his own. This leads to a pretty cool showdown between Sylar and a well prepared Peter, who precedes to defeat Sylar, disable his powers, torture him, and repress his mind for a bit. Nathan, tired of fighting, gives up his last bit of life. Peter is left distraught while Sylar walks away fully in control. All in all Redemption isn't perfect but it is pretty entertaining so far. It feels a little too much like Season 2 where nothing really happens and the plot isn't advancing much.
As far as performances go, the show delivers as always. As with Season 3, the top actors here are Adrian Pasdar and Zachary Quinto, who portray Nathan and Sylar. Pasdar brings out much despair and emptiness once again in Nathan, a character I at first disliked but one who grew on me. Quinto shines as Sylar in his everchanging personalties. For the most part he is the psychopathic true Sylar who enjoys nothing more than gaining power and causing suffering. This may actually be his best work as the killer, without going over the top as he sometimes does. The other Sylar is the frightened amnesiac (this was excellant work). Milo Ventimiglia finally had his big emotional moment as Peter in Nathan's death scene. It is good stuff. Anyone else I could commend would be Robert Knepper as Samuel. Maybe he just puts a lot of energy and feeling and method into the role that he just intrigues me for some reason. He has the makings of a truly destructive villain, I hope Samuel goes further than just one time main enemies that are easily overcome like Daniel Linderman, Arthur Petrelli and Adam Monroe. Also Mark L. Young, who played a tragic character for a few episodes, a teenager who couldn't control his powers. He was perfect in his few episodes.
So yeah, Redemption has not really impressed me as much as it has left me wanting the really good part of the story that will hopefully surface after the break. I will wait eagerly until that time. I just hope that they don't drop the ball totally because despite it's lag I think it might be shaping to be something real cool.
This has been a long ass fan frenzied post regarding Heroes from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.
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