"Let's get one thing straight. Our lives as we know themare over. We can't go back to anything that we knew."
-- Peter (Milo Ventimiglia)
Spoilers. The intention to imbue Heroes' "fresh start" fourth volume with a different feel was handled better in "Trust And Blood", the first episode written by new recruit Mark Verheiden -- veteran scribe of the highly-regarded Battlestar Galactica. His mark on the show is certainly felt, as this episode felt less like a typical Heroes, and more like Prison Break's manhunt season stitched onto 24 -- with a rogue element of Lost's plane-crash thrown in for good measure. A mix of problems and nuisances remain, but it was nice to feel a sense of competence return to the show...
Claire, Mr. Bennett & Nathan: "Trust And Blood" is told as a flashback from the perspective of Nathan (Adrian Pasdar), who is outlining recent difficulties to an unseen caller, following the crash of the plane transporting detained "supers" to their prison. The Hunter (Zeljko Ivanek) and his team are fast on the scene to round-up the escaped heroes; but Mr. Bennett (Jack Coleman) and Nathan are more concerned about extracting Claire (Hayden Panettiere) from the situation. Nathan also clashes with The Hunter over the rules of engagement -- as he has no intention of harming any of the escapees, but The Hunter takes a more intolerant approach, especially when the heroes start fighting back.
Hiro, Matt & Mohinder: Fleeing the crash-site as a trio, Matt (Greg Grunberg) enters another white-eyed trance and is guided to an abandoned caravan by mystical Usutu (Ntare Mwine)... to find some paper and pens inside so he can draw some predictions of the future. Mohinder (Senhil Ramamurthy) suggests Hiro (Masi Oka) give himself up, and inform Nathan's men that he no longer has any powers, but Hiro opts to fight alongside his friends.This was by far the most listless subplot -- but what did you expect from a storyline that involved Mohinder and Matt? Hiro can also be quite irritating in his blinkered naivety and childish chivalry these days, too. Lines like: "Surrender? Never. I am a warrior" were once considered endearing and fun, but now sound dumb and misguided. And giving Matt precognition still makes no logical sense in terms of power development, and the writers are still under the illusion we care, or get excited, about psychic doodles.
Tracy & Peter: Elsewhere, Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) teams up with Tracy (Ali Larter) to escape The Hunter's army, working together to incapacitate a few soldiers and steal their weapons. Later, they attempt to capture Nathan himself -- by having Tracy contact him by phone and pretend to agree on a bargain: she'll deliver his brother to him safely, if she's allowed to return to her old life.
Oh, and Peter knows Tracy? I'm fairly sure they've never met before, so shouldn't he have incorrectly called her Nikki when he found her? Regardless, their partnership wasn't too bad, and it's nice to have it confirmed that Peter can now only sponge one power at a time. The eventual face-off with Nathan was good -- mainly because we see Nathan's still has a shred of decency (thanking Bennett for refusing to shoot his brother, even though he had a clear shot), and the capture of Tracy will give us insight about what awaited the heroes on the other side of their interrupted flight.
Ando & Daphne: In Tokyo, Daphne (Brea Grant) meets with Ando (James Kyson Lee) over the abduction of her boyfriend Matt. Ando knows that Hiro is currently in Arkansas thanks to the GPS beacon recently injected into his body, so Daphne whisks him back to America, where they become embroiled in the whole situation.
A mild shock of the episode is seeing Daphne, fresh from rescuing a recaptured Claire, ruthlessly gunned down by The Hunter's men. I say "mild" shock, because Heroes has diluted what it means to be "dead" (as there are a variety of ways Daphne could be resurrected in this universe), but if that really was the swansong of Daphne... well, it was a depressingly low-key moment. Her character's been one of season 3's few highlights (despite her bland romance with Matt), so killing her off seems silly. Was it done because super-speed is too difficult for The Hunter's men to combat? She could whisk everyone around the world to safety, one at a time, after all. Matt's reaction to Daph's death was also severely underplayed by Grunberg. In a later scene, there's no sense that Matt's just suffered the tragic death of his "soul mate". Badly mishandled.
Incidentally, Daphne mentions Hiro's previous jump to the future in the season premiere, where he witnessed his own death at Ando's hand. This reminded me: the cracked-Earth graffiti and destruction of Tokyo (and perhaps the planet), is that still in play? How can the Fugitives volume evolve to encompass all that?
Sylar: In an entirely separate subplot, the serial-killer's quest to find his real family continues. Here, a teenage boy called Luke Campbell (Dan Byrd) and his stepmother Mary (Julia Campbell) return home to find Sylar has their husband/father (one of The Hunter's goons) pinned to a sofa. Sylar quickly debilitates the Campbell's with his telekinesis, and probes the family for information concerning the whereabouts of his biological father. However, Sylar is unaware that Luke has been keeping an ability secret from his own family: he can project microwave energy from his palms.
The exact reasoning for Sylar targeting the Campbell's didn't gel with me, but the intention to partner Sylar with a teenage protégé could be fun. It was certainly a surprise to see Luke kill his own father, in front of a stepmother he only tolerates, to side with Sylar. No, it's not a particularly plausible act from a kid who came home to this particularly situation, but hopefully the idea of giving Sylar a cold-hearted sidekick will be as darkly amusing as it sounds.
Overall, a brisk pace, stronger dialogue ("wrong place, wrong time. I could’ve been a flood or tornado -- no difference, actually"), and more creative storytelling (the flashback framing device, superimposed imagery, etc) helped give this episode a different vibe. It seems likely that The Hunter will turn against Nathan when he realizes his hypocritical boss also has an ability (the security camera footage with Tracy yelling that fact to Nathan will probably be the catalyst), and Claire's text messenger "Rebel" brings a last-minute sense of mystery we haven't tasted in awhile. I'm still unconvinced by Nathan as a villain, rapidly growing tired of pointless Angela (Cristine Rose), and incredibly frustrated by Mr Bennett (a character whose inconsistent nature is palmed off as being evidence of a complex personality).9 February 2009
NBC, 9/8c
Writer: Mark Verheiden
Director: Allan Arkush
Cast: Cristine Rose (Angela), Milo Ventimiglia (Peter), Ali Larter (Tracy), Hayden Panettiere (Claire), Greg Grunberg (Matt), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder), Masi Oka (Hiro), Adrian Pasdar (Nathan), Jack Coleman (Mr. Bennet), James Kyson Lee (Ando), Zachary Quinto (Sylar), Ashley Crow (Sandra), Ntare Mwine (Usutu), Brea Grant (Daphne), Joel West (Daniel Simmons), Taylor Cole (Rachel Cole), Zeljko Ivanek (Danko), Julia Campbell (Mary Campbell), Shauntay Hinton (Announcer), Jonny Siew (Analyst) & Dan Byrd (Luke Campbell)
