"I have a plan. I just haven't thought of it yet."-- Claire (Hayden Panettiere)
Spoilers. My only complaint about the Fugitives storyline itself is how small-scale it feels. Obviously the show is going to focus on its characters, but there's little sense that Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) is leading a countrywide bag n' tag operation. He could have arranged a reunion dinner for his friends and family and caught a good 50% of the people on his hit-list. And why does daughter Claire (Hayden Panettiere) and mother Angela (Cristine Rose) get amnesty, but brother Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) doesn't? I was also hoping we'd meet lots of new characters because of the nature of this story, and Building 26 would be slowly filling up by now, but only Mohinder and Tracy have been detained....
"Exposed" itself was quite enjoyable and even the weakest subplots didn't infuriate, as they're prone to do. One story finds Peter and Matt (Greg Grunberg) mounting an offensive on Building 26 to rescue Daphne, with Peter soaking up Matt's mind-reading ability, so both men can breeze past guards by cloud their minds and persuading them to help. Danko (Zeljko Ivanek) is once again eager to step up the operation and shoot-to-kill (particularly after Peter broke into his home last week), and Nathan is finding it harder to keep his colleague on a tight leash. Mr. Bennett (Jack Coleman) comes to prove his worth as a seasoned super-snarer, by nullifying Matt and Peter's threat by setting the building's alarm off -- attacking Matt's sharpened senses so he can't concentrate on his mind-control.
Elsewhere, Claire finds herself stuck indoors with her mother Sandra (Ashley Crow), who finds out about Alex (Justin Baldoni), the comic-store clerk she's been hiding in her closet to keep him safe from capture. Unexpectedly, Sandra proves to be a useful ally and agrees to help Claire -- particularly when two government agents arrive to snoop around inside, meaning Alex has to be discreetly hidden. Later, Sarah provides a distraction with Lyle (Randall Bentley) to the agents keeping watch on the house outside, allowing Claire and Alex to flee across the backyards -- eventually finding safety at the bottom of a swimming pool after a long chase (where Alex's ability to breathe underwater comes in useful for both, and leads to the inevitable watery kiss.)
The worst story undoubtedly features Sylar (Zachary Quinto) and Luke (Dan Byrd) chancing upon a dilapidated diner that Sylar remembers visiting with his father as a child. A monochrome flashback shows Little Sylar (Joshua Rush) was taken to the diner by his father to be exchanged for cash to the Gray family. Sylar then stirs a latent memory about seeing his father arguing with his mother in their car outside, before killing her with a telekinetic slash across the forehead and dumping her body outside -- proving that Sylar's real father has similar, if not identical, powers to his son. And possibly the same homicidal streak. Well, we know that John Glover is going to be playing this role, so I'm guessing yes.
Generally, this episode was solid but unremarkable. The volume is benefiting enormously from only dealing with two or three storylines at once, and an emphasis on characteristion is more evident. Claire in particular felt more rounded and engaging than she has been in ages here, and Alex possibly her most plausible boyfriend since the show began. Also nice to see Sandra get some long-overdue development, as her character is generally wasted on this show. A brief mother-daughter scene, talking about the possibility of divorce, was particularly well-played. Shame the same can't be said about Lyle, who is once again almost comically pushed into the background. I personally think the writers are missing a trick in not turning Lyle into a troublemaker who stirs up problems because he's jealous of Claire's powers and all the attention she gets.
Perhaps the best part of the episode was the feeling that the story is about to take a sharp turn, with Nathan now having doubts about how his plans are unfolding, Peter having released video-footage of US citizens being hooded and marched onto the transport plane to the press, Danko taking matters into his own hands (by capturing Matt, attaching explosives to his body, and pushing him out into the middle of Washington D.C to frame him as a dangerous terrorist), and the enigmatic "Rebel" now sending evil puppetmaster Eric Doyle (David H. Lawrence XVII) to Claire for help. Quite how they'll explain Eric surviving Sylar's attack last volume is anyone's guess -- but, as we know, nobody's dead on Heroes unless you burn their lifeless corpse, it seems.
Overall, "Exposed" entertained throughout and progressed the story in its dying moments. It wasn't a total success (Sylar's search for his bad dad needs to resolve), Matt and Peter's plan was a bit flawed (why not rescue Mohinder and Tracy while they're in Building 26?), and I'm sure there are people who already hate Claire/Alex. Everything certainly has a different feel after criticism of Volumes II and III -- a stronger focus on the main characters, fewer subplots (no Hiro for the second week in a row), a slower pace and less dumb excesses.
2 March 2009
NBC, 9/8c
Writers: Adam Armus & Kay Foster
Director: Eric Laneuville
Cast: Greg Grunberg (Matt), Hayden Panettiere (Claire), Milo Ventimiglia (Peter), Zachary Quinto (Sylar), Cristine Rose (Angela), Adrian Pasdar (Nathan), Jack Coleman (Mr. Bennet), David H. Lawrence XVII (Eric Doyle), Randall Bentley (Lyle), Ashley Crow (Sandra), Zeljko Ivanek (Danko), Taylor Cole (Rachel Mills), Jonny Siew (Analyst), Joshua Rush (Little Sylar), Natalie Salins (Sylar's Mother), Angela Martinez (Andrea Charles), Dan Shadwell (News Anchor), Jeff Campbell (Male Agent), Jason E Kelley (Agent #1), Frank Maharajh (Worker), Justin Baldoni (Alex Woolsey), Dan Byrd (Luke Campbell) & Kelly Michaels (Guard)
