WRITER: Michael Green DIRECTOR: Jeannot Szwarc
CAST: Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli), Hayden Panettiere (Claire Bennet), Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura), Jack Coleman (Mr Bennet), Ali Larter (Niki Sanders), Christopher Ecclestone (Claude Rains), Jessalyn Gilsig (Meredith Gordon), Santiago Cabrera (Isaac Mendez), Zachary Quinto (Sylar), Ashley Crowe (Sandra Bennet), James Kyson Lee (Ando Masahashi), Thomas Dekker (Zack), Jimmy Jean-Louis (The Haitian), George Takei (Mr Nakamura), Noah Gray-Cabey (Micah Sanders) & Adrian Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli)
Claire tracks down her biological mother, Hiro's father demands his son returns home, Sylar escapes, Niki faces a psychologist and Claude teaches Peter how to control his power...There's still lots to enjoy with Heroes, but recent episodes have seen the show slip out of top gear and coast along in neutral. Distractions shows signs the show is heating up again, but it's still disappointing when compared to Heroes' breathless start.
With the series now a bonafide hit, confirmed to be returning for a second season, the writers are probably easing off. They have won a dedicated core audience, so they can afford to take their time and begin building the characters and situations. Unfortunately, the show's flaws become more obvious when they give us time to properly digest events.
Distractions is a split between strong storylines and, well, distractions. Claire's quest to find her biological mother is great, a storyline blessed by its strong links to some series strengths -- Panettiere's girl-next-door pluck, Jack Coleman's enigmatic foster dad and supervillain Sylar.
The great Jessalyn Gilsig makes a strong impression as Claire's mother Meredith, a middle-aged woman living in a trailer park, blessed with pyrokinesis (the ability to control fire). Claire becomes the second hero with a super-powered family after Niki, with the identity of her biological father also raising eyebrows.
Peter Petrelli (Ventimiglia) continues his training with invisible man Claude (Ecclestone), something that chiefly involves drawn out speeches and causing a nuisance on the streets of New York. Ecclestone is a fine actor, but there's very little chemistry with Ventimiglia, whose range extends from wide-eyed naivety and ends with slack-jawed anger. Still, the revelation that Peter can retain the powers of those he encounters sets him apart as a benevolent Ying to Sylar's malevolent Yang. I sense a clash of the titans in the not-too-distant future...
Speaking of Sylar, the show has certainly lacked a threat with the serial-killer locked up in Mr Bennet's stronghold. Here, he escapes and resumes his stalking of Claire, to consume her indestructability, in scenes that fizz with menace and inject some life into proceedings. As Sylar, Zachary Quinto seems more relaxed and, freed from the shadows, gets to act out some cliched but fun "killer in the home" schtick.
The distractions in the episode include another tragic waste of Masi Oka's Hiro. Last week he was contained in a car park, this week it's a warehouse. The writer's decision to cast Star Trek legend George Takei as Hiro's father is great fun for sci-fi fans, but ultimately seems like a way to tread water. Nothing of much consequence happens, and by the time Mr Nakamura departs (in a limo registered NCC 1701, hehe) you realize his appearance was totally unnecessary and did nothing but stall Hiro's storyline.
Likewise, Niki's prison saga seemed like an exciting twist to begin with, but it totally fizzles out here. The possibility for a super-heroic prison break has been ignored and the release of Niki from incarceration is implausible and reveals the storyline was unnecessary filler.
The real rot can be found with Isaac and Simone. Their on-off relationship lacks any passion and I'm sure everyone watching finds the Issac-Simone-Peter love triangle trite and annoying. As Isaac, Santiago Cabrera is better than he was when playing a drug adduct (that shave must have helped?) but he's still the most underdeveloped character. If Peter can retain super-powers, there soon won't be a need for Issac anyway, right? We can hope...
Tawny Cypress is a better actress than most on the show, but Simone is superfluous to events. It's sad when you begin hoping a character would have super-powers if only to add an element of interest to them! The writers should be able to develop engaging "normal" characters, but only Hiro's friend Ando can be classed as a success in this respect.
Overal, Distractions gains merit for its enjoyable Claire storyline, some exciting Sylar moments and Peter training sessions, but everything else is undercooked. I hope the show regains its passion soon, because when it's on autopilot, you really don't care...
Distractions is a split between strong storylines and, well, distractions. Claire's quest to find her biological mother is great, a storyline blessed by its strong links to some series strengths -- Panettiere's girl-next-door pluck, Jack Coleman's enigmatic foster dad and supervillain Sylar.
The great Jessalyn Gilsig makes a strong impression as Claire's mother Meredith, a middle-aged woman living in a trailer park, blessed with pyrokinesis (the ability to control fire). Claire becomes the second hero with a super-powered family after Niki, with the identity of her biological father also raising eyebrows.
Peter Petrelli (Ventimiglia) continues his training with invisible man Claude (Ecclestone), something that chiefly involves drawn out speeches and causing a nuisance on the streets of New York. Ecclestone is a fine actor, but there's very little chemistry with Ventimiglia, whose range extends from wide-eyed naivety and ends with slack-jawed anger. Still, the revelation that Peter can retain the powers of those he encounters sets him apart as a benevolent Ying to Sylar's malevolent Yang. I sense a clash of the titans in the not-too-distant future...
Speaking of Sylar, the show has certainly lacked a threat with the serial-killer locked up in Mr Bennet's stronghold. Here, he escapes and resumes his stalking of Claire, to consume her indestructability, in scenes that fizz with menace and inject some life into proceedings. As Sylar, Zachary Quinto seems more relaxed and, freed from the shadows, gets to act out some cliched but fun "killer in the home" schtick.
The distractions in the episode include another tragic waste of Masi Oka's Hiro. Last week he was contained in a car park, this week it's a warehouse. The writer's decision to cast Star Trek legend George Takei as Hiro's father is great fun for sci-fi fans, but ultimately seems like a way to tread water. Nothing of much consequence happens, and by the time Mr Nakamura departs (in a limo registered NCC 1701, hehe) you realize his appearance was totally unnecessary and did nothing but stall Hiro's storyline.
Likewise, Niki's prison saga seemed like an exciting twist to begin with, but it totally fizzles out here. The possibility for a super-heroic prison break has been ignored and the release of Niki from incarceration is implausible and reveals the storyline was unnecessary filler.
The real rot can be found with Isaac and Simone. Their on-off relationship lacks any passion and I'm sure everyone watching finds the Issac-Simone-Peter love triangle trite and annoying. As Isaac, Santiago Cabrera is better than he was when playing a drug adduct (that shave must have helped?) but he's still the most underdeveloped character. If Peter can retain super-powers, there soon won't be a need for Issac anyway, right? We can hope...
Tawny Cypress is a better actress than most on the show, but Simone is superfluous to events. It's sad when you begin hoping a character would have super-powers if only to add an element of interest to them! The writers should be able to develop engaging "normal" characters, but only Hiro's friend Ando can be classed as a success in this respect.
Overal, Distractions gains merit for its enjoyable Claire storyline, some exciting Sylar moments and Peter training sessions, but everything else is undercooked. I hope the show regains its passion soon, because when it's on autopilot, you really don't care...
