WRITER: Natalie Chaidez DIRECTOR: Terrence O'Hara
CAST: Ali Larter (Niki Sanders), Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder Suresh), Noah Gray-Cabey (Micah Sanders), Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura), Leonard Roberts (D.L Hawkins), Jack Coleman (Mr Bennet), Hayden Panettiere (Claire Bennet), Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman), Adrian Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli), Christopher Ecclestone (Claude), Jimmy Jean-Louis (The Haitian), James Kyson Lee (Ando Masahashi), Alex Fernandez (Captain) & George Takei (Mr Nakamura)
Hiro and Ando are pursued by mysterious men, D.L struggles to provide for Micah following Niki's sectioning, Peter wants answers from Claude, Nathan contacts Mohinder and Claire traces her birth mother...The Fix is disappointing. As usual, we jump between multiple plots at a frenetic pace, but most of the storylines seem to be stuck in neutral. Heroes is clearly readjusting in its latter-half, but so far the debate over whether or not Peter is responsible for the upcoming New York explosion isn't very satisfying.
Matt's wife finally learns about her husband's mind-reading powers, which will hopefully spin his storyline off into a new direction (particularly now he's lost his job). At the moment, Matt's storyline seems to have hit an impass following his failure to find Sylar, but hopefully it will pick up soon.
Niki remains locked in a padded cell (something actress Ali Larter should be use to after Final Destination 2), leaving husband D.L to fret over caring for their son Micah. As D.L, Leonard Roberts is becoming increasingly one-note, so thank God for the excellent Noah Gray-Cabey as Micah (who uses his "technopathy" to make an cash-machine dispense a fortune).
The brilliant Masi Oka can usually be counted upon to elevate a mundane episode as the irrepressable Hiro, but even Oka is hamstrung by the script here. Hiro and Ando do nothing more than run around a multi-storey car park for most of the episode, which is a tragic waste of time for both the characters and viewers. Their story may lead to the unveiling of an iconic guest star, but even that surprise is already known to fans (particularly Trekkies).
Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar) has been a frustrating character since day one; veering from skeptical to ignorant. The writers haven't quite made up their mind about him, but there are signs he's more open to this underbelly of life now.
Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) can be an effective everyman hero one week, then reverts to sulky annoyance the next. He's not on best form in this episode, totally outclassed by the envigorating presence of Christopher Ecclestone's Claude.
Claude (named after Invisible Man actor Claude Rains) looks set to be a mentor figure for Peter. It's interesting to note that Claude's knowledge suggests "special people" have been around far longer than first though. The premise of Heroes suggested everyone's power was initiated by a solar eclipse, but that is something that seems to be getting pushed aside increasingly. Ecclestone is good fun, although the best from him is undoubtedly to come. It's just unfortunate the writers feel the need to throw the word "mate" into his dialogue every few seconds to accentuate the fact he's British. They need to watch how 24's Morris O'Brian is treated...
Yet again, the most natural and endearing presence on the show (alongside Masi Oka) is Hayden Panettiere's Claire. Here she tries to find her birth mother with the help of Zack, something that turns out to be far easier than you'd expect! The reveal of her real mother (yep, she has a power...) is the best reason to watch this episode.
But who am I kidding. Heroes is a serial drama and therefore every episode has something worth watching for. The Fix contains nuggets of information from writer Natalie Chaidez, but it's meandering and lacks a strong narrative spine.
