Director: Greg Yaitanes
Spoilers. The thing that really struck me about "It's Coming" was its array of impressive special-effects and several slick directorial compositions. Greg Yaitanes helmed this episode and it's certainly a visually impressive instalment (the eclipse montage, Claire's death-defying fall from a high-rise, Sylar's open-armed electrical torture, a frozen-time sequence in a bowling alley, a creepy sequence inside Angela's mind, a mutated man, etc.) Possibly as a result of Heroes budgetary overspends, it provides plenty for the eye… but not as much for the mind. Although there's enough to enjoy. Let's see what the heroes got up to this week:Hiro & Ando: The problem with having a time-travelling/teleporting superhero around are causing serious headaches now. This episode heralds another attempt to nullify Hiro (Masi Oka), after Arthur (Robert Forster) arrives in Africa to steal his powers, but is interrupted by Ando (James Kyson Lee) and a mural depicting a solar eclipse painted on a nearby rock. Hiro narrowly escapes, but his run-in with Arthur has inexplicably robbed him of his memories past the age of 10. So, after Ando manages to teleport them to a Tokyo bowling alley, he has to deal with an even more childlike Hiro (yes, that's possible) and teach him how to use his powers again.
Ignoring the silly idea that interrupting a power-steal results in memory loss (just go with it), it's difficult to fathom what this subplot is supposed to achieve. Hiro is already a big kid, so seeing him act mildly cheekier isn't that different. Also, Ando manages to teach Hiro how to use his abilities very quickly, so he's hardly a restricted force. A few people have already commented on the moment when Ando is seen triggering Hiro's teleportation by forcing his eyes to blink, but I thought the moment was justified -- because Hiro was thinking of waffles, so he obviously jumped to the bowling alley on instinct, because they serve waffles there.
The real nitpick arrives at the end, when Hiro and Ando teleport to a comic-book store and find the latest issue of 9th Wonder (which once again predicts their future). But, HOW? Wasn't 9th Wonder written by precognitive painter Isaac Mendez in season 1, who used Hiro's story as the basis for his comic art? Isaac has been dead for ages, so are we seriously meant to believe he was seeing this far into the future?
Peter & Claire: The powerless Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) is now under the protection of Claire (Hayden Panettiere) from bad-guys Flint (Blake Shields) and Knox (Jaime Hector), who are actually under orders to capture Claire. It was good to be reminded that Peter now views Claire with suspicion (having seen Future Claire kill him), and also good to see Peter actually use some brainpower to defeat people without his near-unstoppable powers.
Arthur & Mohinder: Well, Arthur is present in most of this episode's subplots, but we'll focus on a brief scene with Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy.) It appears that Mohinder can't give regular people superpowers using Kaito's formula without turning them into scaly, slug-like mutants (good make-up for one poor guinea pig.) The chemical bonding of Kaito's formula will assumedly only work when there's a solar eclipse, as inferred here and throughout the whole episode. Hence the portentous title.
Nathan & Tracy: Quite a disappointing plot for these two, as Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) arrives at Pinehearst and confirms his dead father is alive. Once again, he's asked to "save the world", and we have it confirmed that Arthur's big plan is to give half the world's population superpowers so they can "save the world together". From what? The weird planet split seen in graffiti? Whatever the details, Arthur's plan still sounds utterly ridiculous. Anyone with half a brain would realize how terrible it would be if, say, 3 billion were all given super-powers. And it's still not clear how, or why, the whole planet will crack open. Slightly more interesting is a late development for Tracy (Ali Larter), who agrees to help Arthur persuade Nathan to help him.
Sylar & Elle: A simple story, but also the one with the best acting. Having told Sylar (Zachary Quinto) that he can teach him to take peoples' powers without any bloodshed, Arthur throws Sylar into the cell where he's keeping Elle (Kristen Bell). Inside, Sylar allows Elle to viciously torture him for killing her father, until he shows empathy for her plight and is rewarded by receiving her electrical power. This was a compelling little story, thanks to strong performances from both Bell and Quinto, particularly in a tender scene when Elle tries to teach Sylar how to wield her power properly. Indeed, Sylar's development from vicious killer to a reformed character has really started to click in recent weeks.
Matt, Daphne & Angela: The season's most underused character, Matt (Greg Grunberg), is once again slightly alienated from the main stories, although this episode sees him becoming a bit more involved. He arrives at Primatech to save Angela (Cristine Rose) from her vegetative state, by entering her mind and symbolically freeing her from the restraints Arthur has imposed on her. At the same time, Daphne (Brea Grant) informs Arthur about the attempt to free his wife Angela, leading to a battle of wills inside Angela's headspace, between all four.
Some good, dreamlike visuals and symbolism keeps this story interesting, although I'm increasingly frustrated about whether we should be viewing Angela as a good person who deserves rescuing, or an evil person who's getting what she deserves. It seems to change depending on what the episode demands (a la The Company's morality), which is a pain. With so many characters and plots, it's becoming difficult to remember why Matt would want to help Angela, etc.
Overall, "It's Coming" was a visually compelling episode with messy content that didn't always convince, but still remained entertaining. The best subplot was undoubtedly the Elle/Sylar two-hander, which focused on the actors and built on the relationship between them. A romance seems likely, which I'm happy about -- if only because it means Kristen Bell will stick around for awhile.
Elsewhere, Arthur's silly masterplan, the heavy-handed foreshadowing of an eclipse, and a tiresome way to fool around with Hiro, take the edge of what was otherwise a fun little romp. But, seriously, Heroes needs to perform major surgery on itself very soon; the extraneous plots, abundance of characters, hazy motivations, and indeterminate allegiances are becoming difficult to keep a grip on.
19 November 2008
BBC Three, 10pm
Cast: Greg Grunberg (Matt), James Kyson Lee (Ando), Ali Larter (Tracy), Masi Oka (Hiro), Hayden Panettiere (Claire), Adrian Pasdar (Nathan), Zachary Quinto (Sylar), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder), Cristine Rose (Angela), Milo Ventimiglia (Peter), Kristen Bell (Elle), Jaime Hector (Knox), Brea Grant (Daphne), Blake Shields (Flint), Ntare Mwine (Usutu), Robert Forster (Arthur), Sean Yonamine (Japanese Kid #2), Glen Strange (Elephant Man) & Juno Ishida (Japanese Kid #1)
