Heroes season 3 episode 2 review

Episode 2 in the new Heroes series is called ‘The Butterfly Effect’, though it turns out that the particular minor event that changes everything actually happened in the previous episode. That was Claire’s encounter with Sylar, where he ended up immortal and she lost the ability to feel pain from the exchange.

This sets a chain of events in place that ends up with Sylar visiting the Company’s underground prison, and after killing Robert ‘golden balls’ Bishop he then sets about his sociopath daughter Elle. That’s a big mistake, because she freaks out and emits an EM pulse that disables everyone in the vicinity, including Sylar. It also releases all the most dangerous inmates from confinement, including Noah and another that currently holds the consciousness of ‘Present’ Peter Petrelli.

That’s one plotline, another is to do with Ando and Hiro chasing speed-girl for half a formula that could destroy the world, or so they think. Matt Parkman has been deposited in an African desert by Future Peter, and Nathan meets the Niki-identikit called Tracy Strauss, who takes the expression ‘Ice queen’ to a whole new level. There’s no sign yet of Micah or any of that extended family.

I’ve got a feeling we’ll not see them soon, maybe never again.

If these developments sound overly complicated then you’re not wrong, but I found things in this episode easier to follow than in the previous one. What I’m always struck by in Heroes is just how much they manage to squeeze into each show, at least twice as much as you’d reasonably expect to be there. It’s like a narrative super-power.

The weirdest bit in this episode is a scene with Nathan and the resurrected Linderman, where it transpires that only Nathan can see Linderman. It could be he’s bonkers, or is Parkman’s father up to his old tricks? Whatever the reason somebody healed Nathan, invisible or otherwise.

In the final 30 seconds there is also a revelation which if true explains an inconsistency in Sylar’s parentage, but it’s so good I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you here. Believe me, it’s a cracker.

This show has always been a good source of geek moments, but Tim Kring outdid his film and super-hero references this week. First he takes Suresh’s new found powers and makes them his own little homage to Steven David Cronenberg’s classic The Fly. And then for good measure he throws in a cameo by William Katt, who twenty years ago played an unprepared super-hero in The Greatest American Hero. It’s all geek-fodder, but the good stuff that makes you smile from ear to ear.

The show gains momentum with each episode, making it more intriguing where the next one might take us? I doubt it’s where we expect to go, but then that’s why this is a show worth watching.

Check out our review of the season opener here.