By John Keegan
Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.
Much like the previous episode, a handful of plot threads are explored in more detail, rather than the full tapestry of the current arc. To a certain extent, this is the right direction to take, as the plot threads begin to intersect. Connections are forming, and the story is beginning to gather steam. At the same time, this episode will do little to comfort those concerned about the scope of the second season.
Nightmare Man (aka Matt’s father) is a prominent force in this episode, yet I cannot help but be a bit disappointed. The initial hints about him suggested something far more interesting, and while he’s powerful, he doesn’t seem to be the dark power that I had envisioned. However, his ability does appear to match the killings. It might explain why Hiro’s father was killed by someone who left no trace of his existence, and why Angela Petrelli was fighting a phantom attacker.
Certainly the Company will continue to be important to the central plot, given that Bob appears to be the next target. That could make things very interesting, because Mohinder and Niki have reasons to help preserve aspects of the Company, while Mr. Bennett and Matt remain dedicated to bringing it down. These allegiances and motivations will surely change, especially once Claire’s activities are taken into account, but the most interesting situations on “Heroes” have been such gray areas.
Peter’s plot thread has been something of a disappointment. His supposed death and memory loss are mysteries that need to be solved sooner rather than later, especially now that Elle has arrived on the scene. Elle has the kind of interesting morality issues that should make her a fun character, but more important, suggest that she may be connected to Nightmare Man. If the current arc is about the legacy of the Twelve, it would make sense.
Based on the plot as revealed so far, the Twelve did something horrible to one of their own (Nightmare Man, presumably), something that has driven him to revenge. This revenge seems to have waited until the derailing of Linderman’s scheme, perhaps taking advantage of the chaotic aftermath. This vengeance scheme involves eliminating the surviving members of the Twelve, and quite possibly, eliminating anyone else with abilities through use of the plague (if it is related, which it may not be).
The first step in that process could have been the removal of the most powerful potential opponent: Peter. Peter’s discovery was never intended; Elle was apparently sent to correct that mistake. To take the speculation further, the main villain might have been defeated by the rest of the Twelve because their combined powers were too much to overcome. By virtue of his own ability, Peter would be capable of posing the same level of threat. (Sylar’s current situation could also fit into this pattern, in fact.)
Speculating along similar lines, Monica could be important because of her ability to mimic actions without conscious thought. She could quickly gain expertise in numerous martial arts disciplines, for example, as seen briefly in this episode. One might imagine a situation where she could be directed against an opponent trying to fool her with an illusion, but due to the “automatic” nature of her ability, the illusion might not work.
This episode also touches on Hiro’s subplot, but only in the most superficial way. Hiro continues to pine for Yaeko, while Kensei continues on his path to destiny. This plot thread is becoming hard to swallow, particularly given that Yaeko is supposedly the one who first tells the heroic stories of Kensei in the first place. If Yaeko is head over heels for Kensei the White, why is he always depicted as Japanese in the stories that originate with her? This will eventually need to be explained, and more importantly, Hiro’s subplot needs to be made relevant to the rest of the story.
While this episode certainly provided more than enough to inspire speculation, it was also possibly the worst episode in terms of overall writing style. I don’t recognize the names on the script, but there was a distinct lack of polish on the dialogue. The choices in editing were also clumsy, often jumping from setting to setting without much thought to logical story flow. Perhaps there was too much story to cover comfortably in the episode, but the episode seemed to be missing something as a result. |
