WRITER: Aron Eli Coleite DIRECTOR: Joe Pokaski
CAST: Hayden Panettiere (Claire), Jack Coleman (Mr Bennet), Masi Oka (Hiro), Milo Ventimiglia (Peter), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder), Adrian Pasdar (Nathan), Ali Larter (Nikki/Jessica), Greg Grunberg (Matt), James Kyson Lee (Ando), Zachary Quinto (Sylar), Leonard Roberts (D.L), Missy Peregrym (Candice), Noah Gray-Cabey (Micah), Cristine Rose (Angela), Eric Roberts (Thompson), Ellen Greene (Virginia Grey), Matthew John Armstrong (Ted), Rena Sofer (Heidi Petrelli) & Adair Tishler (Molly)
Hiro tres to save New York City by killing Sylar, Jessica and D.L look for Micah, Sylar visits his mother, Claire decides to leave the Petrelli's and Mohinder is asked to cure a young girl with special powers...The end is nigh and the heroes' stories are beginning to focus, with numerous characters all converging on New York City. Chief amongst them is Hiro, back from the future and convinced he must kill Sylar to prevent disaster...
Meanwhile, Peter is still adamant his leeching of powers will result in catastrophic meltdown, Sylar suspects he's the "exploding man" in Isaac's paintings of the future and Claire realizes "human-reactor" Ted's disruptive power might have something to do with the explosion. So who will be responsible for destroying half the city? It's an intriguing "who's-gonna-do-it?"
Of course, to complicate matters surroudning a simple premise, The Company's Thompson (a well-cast Eric Roberts) elicits the talents of Mohinder in curing Molly Walker, the little girl rescued by Matt way back in Episode 3. It appears Molly could hold the key to stopping Sylar and her "people-locating" power certainly explains why Sylar was keen to get his hands on her during Heroes' early episodes. Her power would have made his quest to track and murder superheroes much easier...
The recent kidnapping of Micah is also very intriguing, as Mr Linderman clearly has plans for the little boy who can control machinery. As Linderman wants to allow NYC to go up in flames, what role will Micah possibly play in the nefarious plot? Is there a real nuclear bomb stashed somewhere that needs fixing, meaning the "exploding man" mystery has been a red herring?
The Hard Part is most interesting for its development of Sylar, who gains a modicum of sympathy with this episode. While he's clearly a deranged psychopath, his actions have always been self-serving, so his realization he's possibly responsible for millions of deaths in NYC speaks to his humanity. The episode then develops his character by showing us his mother, a dotty old lady living in Queens who has big plans for her underachieving watchmaker son. As you expect, his visit ends in ill-choreographed tragedy, which didn't really convince me, but achieved its aim.
Away from the good stuff, a few subplots tick along with slower impetus, particularly Peter and Claire's sugary heart-to-hearts. Nathan mulls over allowing the NYC disaster to happen so he can become President, now spurred on by poisonous mother Angela. Mr Bennet, Matt and Ted arrive in the city to destroy the Company's new tracking facility "The Walker System" (ahem, Molly...)
Poor Ali Larter remains stuck in a rut as Jessica, which is a great shame for the actress. The writers just don't seem to have a handle on her part in the grand scheme of things, forcing her into various lazy plots -- usually involving finding son Micah or husband D.L (Leonard Roberts, similarly wasted). It doesn't help that the pair just don't convince as a partnership.
The multiple storylines are certainly coming together and the occassional hints towards the dystopian world seen in last week's Five Years Gone were nicely handled. The Hard Part is an entertaining episode that wobbles in places and has a few plodding storylines, but the main narrative rattles along well and there's a strong sense that the seasonal story arc is reaching a climax.
