WRITER: Bryan Fuller DIRECTOR: Ernest Dickerson
CAST: Adrian Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli), Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli), Santiago Cabrera (Isaac Mendez), Ali Larter (Niki Sanders), Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura), Hayden Panettiere (Claire Bennet), more...
Nathan attends a business meeting in Las Vegas, where stripper Niki is working and Hiro is busy using his powers to cheat at gambling. Meanwhile, Peter finds Mohinder and demands answers...Events continue to cool down after the hectic start to Heroes, with the episode focusing on just a few of the many subplots and fleshes out some of the characters' lives and powers. Writer Bryan Fuller, who previously worked on Star Trek Deep Space Nine, brings some much needed quality to the writing. The dialogue flows much better here, with the characters taking on greater depth and believability as a result. In particular, Nathan and Niki suddenly become the show's greatest acting assets thanks to a great scene in a Vegas hotel.
The plot treads water for the most part, with nothing particularly important happening until the climax. Collision is mostly about character development and moving some of the disparate heroes together like pieces on a chess board.
Unfortunately, with so many balls in the air, a few are left hanging. Matt the telepathic cop is captured by Mr Bennett and has his power subdued owing to the presence of a mysterious black man (the silent guy seen in bar last episode), but this is a subplot that is quickly forgotten about.
Santiago Cabrera is still criminally underused as clairvoyant painter Issac. Although he's given a few scenes to work with, they don't really give any insight into him as a character, just confirm exactly how his power works. It's disheartening to see some characters still being used as convenient plot devices, and Cabrera has the most reason to complain.
Masi Oka remains the star of the show, here cheating in the casino with his powers (and a homage to Rain Man?); Milo Ventimiglia is good as Peter but his character remains bland for my liking, although his "leeching" ability to feed off other peoples' powers should prove interesting; Sendhil Ramamurthy's usually OTT performance is reigned in quite successfully here; Hayden Panettiere is surprisingly good, Tawny Cypress is a good actress, so I hope her role as Simone (Issac's friend, Peter's lover) develops into something worthwhile; Jack Coleman's creepy Mr Bennett is good boo-hiss value; while Nora Zehetner's character Eden could become totally superfluous unless she hides a secret (a mole?)
While Fuller does wonders for the show's dialogue and pacing, Collision remains little more than marginal developments. A subplot with Claire seeking revenge on her rapist (and murderer if she wasn't invulnerable!) isn't convincing, despite Hayden Panettiere's valiant attempt to squeeze drama out of the situation.
The premise of Heroes is great fun, and the characters' powers, together with the mysteries surrounding them, make for entertaining viewing. For all its faults, there's enough here to entertain and draw you into its comic book-style format. But Heroes will only earn greater respect if it begins to prove it has direction, and isn't just a jumble of moments and half-formed ideas designed to excite audiences on a superficial level each week. The good news is that, for the time being, things are developing fast and the show is building a strong mythology.
