Heroes season 3 episode 3 review and predictions

Last week, as well as giving an overview of how I felt Heroes had started, I thought it would be fun to make a few predictions about what might happen next. So with the screening of this week’s episode I was doubly excited, as I got to enjoy another chapter of the ever-evolving storyline whilst at the same time excitedly seeing if any of my predictions from last week would ring true.

Unsurprisingly at the end of the episode I was left to nurse my psychic ego as the one nugget of insightful prediction I had made after episodes one and two failed spectacularly to mask the cataclysmic failure of my other forebodings. It’s fine, I can take it, I understand now that my attempts at seeing the future were about as shortsighted as the studio execs who thought parts two and three of The Matrix Trilogy were a good idea. But what surprised me most of all is that at the end of episode three I was left a little disappointed at Heroes itself, something that I’d gotten so used to during the second season but which had been pleasantly absent from my viewing of season three thus far.

But why? Surely it can’t just be that all my predictions were wrong? I mean, after all I was kind of on the money with Sylar who, as I prophesised, helped Noah in the apprehension of the Level 5 villains before letting his ‘hunger’ get the better of him, popping open poor Francis Capra’s head for a look around. This was actually one of the most enjoyable moments of the episode and I enjoyed the tension between Sylar and Noah, the way he used his powers for good and handled himself in the line of duty, I even enjoyed how dapper he looked in his fortuitously tailored suit.

But what I didn’t enjoy and what I couldn’t get my head around, was quite how painfully poor the Level 5 villains turned out to be. I mean these guys are meant to be the worst of the worst, yet seemed about as comfortable with villainy as She-Ra was with outfits that covered her dignity. I was really looking forward to seeing these guys let off the leash, especially after watching Heroes Unmasked in which various cast and crew members eulogised about quite how fearsome and realistic they were, but I couldn’t help but feel let down at quite how incompetent and unconvincing they were as villains.

The Magneto guy, sorry ‘The German’, just plain sucked, as did the stereotypical redkneck firestarter; but what I think I found hardest to swallow was just how poor Benjamin “Knox” Washington (Jamie Hector) and Jesse Murphy (Francis Capra) were, especially as both characters are played by some truly superb, up and coming actors, yet in this instance were little more that pantomime villains. The show has previously focussed so much on the motivations and characterisation of its main protagonists and I was looking forward to getting a similar look into the minds of some of their evil-doer counterparts. For me the stereotypical bank robbery did little to satisfy this wish. But, there are still other villains out there so I hope this is just the appetiser in what will become a feast of fiendishness.

Whilst I was close to the point with Sylar, when it came to Nikki / Tracey I could not have been further from the truth. It seems as if from the way Dr Zimmerman (another geeky nod to Star Trek from Kring and co) greeted Tracey at the end of the episode that she was not alone and that perhaps there may be more women like her and Nikki out there. Whilst this plot development and its set up certainly hasn’t got my pulse racing I’m going to hold fire until further down the line before criticising it here. And as for Mohinder, who knows, he was conspicuous in his absence from episode three and I still have great hopes for the development of his storyline during the coming weeks.

All in all then I was left entertained but a little disappointed by this week’s offering, especially when it comes to the villains. But there are still more on the loose, which gives me hope and I can never stay mad at the show for long, especially when it offers up some more truly brilliant interplay between Hiro, Ando and the speedster.

So onto this week’s predictions. I’m feeling confident because I’m one for three so far so let’s see where next week will take us; well I have looked at my tea leaves, sub consciously painted and precognitively dreamt and come up with the following:

• Tracey, Nikki and at least one other duplicate will have been part of some cloning or test tube like experiment to create powered humans.
• The music playing on the spiritwalker’s walkman is ‘Can’t Touch This’ by MC Hammer.
• Matt Parkman will spend the duration of the season separated from the rest of the cast, taking on the role of Isaac to give the audience a window into the future.
• The speedster will be working for a rival Company.
• Elle will take it upon herself to hunt down the Level 5 villains with disastrous consequences.

 

Read Daniel’s prior review and predictions here.