Director: Anthony Hemingway
"Claire! Thank God. I was so worried. Are you okay?Because if you are, you are so grounded."
-- Sandra Bennet (Ashley Crow)
Spoilers. "Angels And Monsters" suggests there's still life in Heroes; its multi-stranded plot doesn't contain a total dud, and there are signs of direction, purpose and surprise that have been mostly missing until now. Perhaps most importantly, a lot of it actually made sense for once. As usual, let's see what everyone got up to this week:
Nathan & Tracy: A fairly minor subplot, spread throughout the episode, finds Tracy (Ali Larter) confessing to Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) about killing a reporter with her new-found ability to freeze things. The couple later argue with Angela (Cristine Rose) over The Company's involvement in Dr. Zimmerman's experiments on Tracy and her sisters Niki and Barbara.
Both characters don't have much to do compared to everyone else in "Angels And Monsters", but it helps that Pasdar has a conviction and gravitas that's always immersive. I'm not impressed by the constant retconning of Heroes' mythology, though -- as we now discover Nathan was given his ability to fly using Kaito's formula as a child. It all begs the question: why did his power lie dormant until he hit his forties? Or thirties in the cases of Tracy and her identical sisters? What kind of long-term experiment is that?
Claire, Mr. Bennet & Sylar: The most entertaining storyline finds Claire (Hayden Panettiere) striking out on her own, to try and capture an escaped felon called Stephen Canfield (The Wire's Andre Royo); a man with the ability to create miniature vortexes. However, Claire comes to realize that Canfield isn't the maniacal villain she expected -- just a misunderstood family man. The discovery makes her question her father's role in locking up people The Company perceive as being dangerous with shaky evidence. Shades of Guantanamo Bay, no?
Mr. Bennet (Jack Coleman) and Sylar (Zachary Quinto) resume their Friday/Strebek partnership, on the trail of escapee Canfield and unaware Claire's beaten them to the punch. When the four eventually meet, loyalties are tested and questioned -- as Mr. Bennet tries to blackmail Canfield into destroying Sylar by sucking him into a vortex. All told, this was an entertaining storyline -- ignoring the reckless way Claire has decided to play bounty huntress. Did she learn nothing from her mother's lesson last week? As usual, the believable chemistry between Panettiere/Coleman helps (although even that's becoming slightly too schmaltzy these days) and it was great to meet a "villain" who actually has an original power!
Hiro, Ando & Adam: Having unearthed Adam Monroe (David Anders) from his grave, the immortal Englishman is coerced into helping Hiro (Masi Oka) and Ando (James Kyson Lee) find Kaito's missing formula. It's a mission that takes them to a bar where people with "special abilities" can be hired. Inside, they meet up with Hiro's super-quick "nemesis" Daphne (Brea Grant), who is unconvinced by Hiro's decision to join her motley crew, until he astonishes everyone with a show of unquestionable loyalty. During a scuffle with a barman, Adam takes his chance to escape, but is knocked unconscious in an outside alleyway by Knox (Jamie Hector) and bundled into a van…
This wasn't bad, even though I'm not convinced by the decision to dig up Adam after all the mayhem he caused in season 2. Isn't it like fighting fire with fire? That said, Anders' return is welcome because he works well as a sparring partner for Hiro. The climactic moment for Ando was surprising (but, like most things on Heroes, its impact was lessened by knowledge of ways he could survive -- regenerative blood, for instance.) Incidentally, who else thinks Anders has been kidnapped to revive a certain bedridden man we'll meet later? And since when can Hiro teleport people without touching them (see: Adam's coffin scene)? The writers really need to get a firm grip of how they write these powers.
Mohinder & Maya: The B-movie exploits continue for "mad scientist" Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy) and his beautiful girlfriend Maya (Dania Ramirez), as she realizes her boyfriend has murdered a neighbour and cocooned him to the wall in his loft laboratory. That will put a strain on any relationship. Thanks to the web-like cocooning, are we to assume Mohinder's becoming a spider now? This is a sleight story, but the horror overtones are fun and reminded me of the creepy, silly episodes of season 1. It's still ridiculous how fast Mohinder has gone from affable professor to murderous mutant, but plausible character development has never been Heroes' strong suit.
Mr. Linderman & Daphne: A big part of the evolving mythology is introduced here, with Daphne meeting Mr. Linderman at the Pinehearst Company to discuss their plan to get various characters on their side. Is Pinehearst the official name of "The Company", or a different corporation entirely? The episode's most successful moment arrives towards the end, when Mr. Linderman's true nature is revealed: he's a visual manipulation created by Maury Parkman (Alan Blumenfeld), who has been orchestrating events on behalf of the presumed-dead Arthur Petrelli (Robert Forster). Dum-dum-dummm! The best end-of-episode-reveal in ages.
Overall, "Angels And Monsters" was a belated but solid step in the right direction. A lot of its success was down to two factors: the loss of dullard Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) thanks to an induced coma, and receiving logical answers to questions. We even met a Level 5 villain worthy of the hype: Eric Doyle (David H. Lawrence), an obese man who can control people like puppets, and has now captured the confident but alarmingly inept Meredith (Jessalyn Gilsig).
So yes, my faith has been partly restored, because this episode made it easier to believe Tim Kring's staff know what they're doing. Admittedly, it might have just been a fluke (the chance apex of a few storylines, perhaps); but let's look on the bright side...
22 October 2008
BBC Three, 10pm
Cast: Milo Ventimiglia (Peter), Jack Coleman (Mr. Bennet), Ali Larter (Tracy), James Kyson Lee (Ando), Masi Oka (Hiro), Adrian Pasdar (Nathan), Zachary Quinto (Sylar), Hayden Panettiere (Claire), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder), Dania Ramirez (Maya), Cristine Rose (Angela), David Anders (Adam), Jamie Hector (Knox), Brea Grant (Daphne), Jessalyn Gilsig (Meredith), Ashley Crow (Sandra), Malcolm McDowell (Mr. Linderman), David H. Lawrence (Eric Doyle), Alan Blumenfeld (Maury Parkman), Andre Royo (Stephen Canfield), Robert Forster (Arthur Petrelli), Ron Perkins (Arthur's Doctor), Matt Wiese (Milosh), B.J. Clinkscales (Drug Dealer) & Mark Vanselow (Neighbor)
