Heroes 1.19 review

With spoilers aplenty, Dan Wright's been catching up on Heroes again. And he's no-less enthused...

For this episode, Heroes continues to do what it does best, i.e. drag out what should be a fairly straightforward plot while littering awesome character moments here and there. Not a great deal happens here; the cliffhanger of the previous episode is put on the back burner while we learn a little more about Linderman and his whacked-out (but curiously practical) plans for the future of the world, and Nathan’s role in them.

Cristine Rose shines in her limited screen time as the Petrelli matriarch; her icy pragmatism coupled with genuine concern for her newly-discovered granddaughter are superbly real, and her presence undercuts the increasingly overwrought “zomg, I have emotional problems!” that characterie most of Nathan/Peter/Claire’s scenes.

More surprising but welcome character development comes in the form of a wonderfully evil scene between Linderman and Jessica. Seriously, when these two are together I half-expect them to start twirling their big black moustaches as they regale their diabolical plans to each other.

Jessica cements her standing as Most Awesome Character ever by proving that not only is she a gun-toting sociopath, but a good mother to boot. On refusing to let Linderman use her son as a pawn in whatever scheme he’s got cooking, it’s left to the talents of shape-shifting minx Candace to go over Jessica’s head. What Linderman wants with young Micah Sanders, whose powers have so far been to defraud an ATM, has yet to be seen.

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The Escape From Primatech Paper was a welcome bit of running-around-in-corridors for Parkman, Sprague, and – my personal hero – Mr Bennet, who through teamwork and a lot of expositional monologue are now on their way to New York. Or possibly Vegas. I can’t remember. The sooner everyone unites in New York, the better. There’s only so much Kerouacian wandering of America I can take, and I wants to see me some real action.

The crowning moment of this episode, however, was the (timely) death of one of the Heroes who I’ve never particularly taken to. Mostly because they were a hollow bore of a character who never really did anything. However, when a certain brain-eating watch repairman comes a-calling, the ensuing horrific murder (featuring inventive use of art supplies) is surprisingly touching.

If I weren’t dead inside, the line “Finally, I get to be a hero” would surely have put a lump in my throat.

And once again, the show concocts another half-baked cliffhanger to make sure we all tune in next week, as Hiro and his newly-reunited sidekick Ando find themselves having traveled through time (you know, again). Only to meet a familiar face…