Heroes 2x01 'Four Months Later'

[meteordust]

Now that this episode has finally aired in Australia, I feel like I can post about it. This is weird, actually, being on a ten day lag. Like calla_s said, it's almost close enough to participate in the discussion, but not quite, and perhaps more frustrating than being months behind. It's also weird for me because I get to watch it before the Aussie airing but after the US airing, which also complicates discussion.

Anyway, I watched it with a minimum of spoilers, and it was hugely fun. If I transcribed my reactions during the episode, most of it would consist of "Woo!" everytime a familiar face appeared.

I loved that Kaito Nakamura was waiting in Kirby Plaza for his son to come back! Heartbreaking. And Ando waiting with him! (Though my sister pointed out: "I don't think he's just sitting there all day waiting. I think he's working in his office and just coming there on his lunch break. Same with Ando, I think he's transferred to the New York office instead of being on extended leave.")

Which is more than can be said for...

Nathan! Oh, Nathan. No wife, no kids, no job, just drinking all day and moping about in Peter's apartment. With that beard.

And that exchange with his mother:

Angela: "He's dead."
Nathan: "You don't know that!"

Which echoes the debate of a million fans during the break.

Incidentally, this reminds me of that classic X-Files cliffhanger with Mulder trapped in the burning boxcar full of alien corpses. All summer, there was no end to the speculation about how he would escape. And next season?

The show: "Oh, he just crawled out through a tunnel."
The fans: "..."

I think it would be amusing if Heroes did the same - if, after all the furious debate about whether Peter and Nathan survived, they just show up, no explanation ever. (My sister: "I wouldn't be amused! I would be angry!")

I also think it's hilarious that Matt and Mohinder are sharing custody of Molly - and yes, there is a mytwoheroes community already. (Oh, fandom. Never change.) But I still think Molly would have been better off with Niki and DL - they know how to be good parents. (And yes, I would trust the ex-stripper and the ex-con to raise a kid better than the ex-police officer and the ex-university professor. Seriously, the apartment looks like it hasn't been cleaned since Chandra's day.)

As for the new characters, I like Maya and Alejandro and Kensei and Yaeko, who are all potentially interesting. I don't like West, who's a bit too pushy and smug. But it's interesting that, with his flying, we've now seen duplication of powers for the first time. Though I don't expect him to end up being Nathan's kid - I think Kring is just messing with us.

So yeah, I enjoyed this episode - but largely because of seeing all those familiar faces again. What I didn't see, and wanted to see, was a sense of something big about to happen, the kind of driving force - of destiny even - that made the first season so compelling. The end of the Season One opener had Peter on the rooftop, ready to step off - a moment so perfect and so right, a moment the whole episode had been building to, that I knew this show was going to be a keeper. The end of the Season Two opener had Peter chained up in a shipping container, amnesiac, which has lots of fascinating story possibilities but not the same sense of wow. (Except for the fanservice factor, and no, that does not override everything else.)

Stories about people with powers are a dime a dozen. Really standout stories are rarer. I hope Heroes can keep hold of what made it special and deliver another season of great storytelling.

Comments

[calla-s.livejournal.com]

It's also weird for me because I get to watch it before the Aussie airing but after the US airing, which also complicates discussion.

Yeah, I was thinking of that too - how most Australians, by now, are watching by means other than the Ch 7 broadcast. In a way things are a bit better now, with our various viewing schedules a whole lot closer together. And yet, fandom moves so quickly - especially US fandom, where the timescale that counts seems to be the few hours between east and west coast airings.

No wife, no kids, no job, just drinking all day and moping about in Peter's apartment. With that beard

The Beard! And I had assumed all break that The Beard must mean he was trapped on some remote island somewhere with no access to shaving equipment. And yet, no. What's the deal, Nathan?

this reminds me of that classic X-Files cliffhanger

Heh, yeah, and Farscape was a bit guilty of that at times too. Great set-up of cliffhangers, dreadfully lame resolutions. "In one bound, Jack was free", as the old radio-play went.

Heroes is very fond of flashbacks, though, so hopefully we'll see more of what happened.

I also think it's hilarious that Matt and Mohinder are sharing custody of Molly

Yes, I had been tossing up whether I wanted Mohinder or DL and Niki to look after Molly. Matt and Mohinder is a great solution. Although it also highlights Child Services' complete inadequacy in the matter of superhero kids. Cause, yeah, Niki and DL *would* be better foster parents, but I reckon the social worker would be even more dubious of them. I wonder if she knows about the Crazy Foreign Scientist? You said it's Chandra's apartment they're staying in, so I guess she must. And Molly *is* better off with people who know what's going on rather than random civilians, but I can see how the failure of these people to be respectable and ordinary looks dodgy to other unsuspecting civilians.

Is West the guy at Claire's school? I didn't like him.

I too liked the episode largely because of getting to see all these characters I like, again. You're right that the first episode of S1 was much more interesting - *Nathan* being the one who flew was completely unexpected, whereas nothing all that startling happened here. I mean, we'd had all this time to speculate about what state Nathan and Peter would be in, and with Nathan's only contribution being The Beard, it was hardly surprising to see Peter in some difficulty at the end. Interesting, I had kind of failed to notice the lack of clothing and the handcuffs initially - I was just all, "Oh yeah, there's Peter. I bet he's got amnesia... WAIT A MINUTE, this is what they call "fanservice", isn't it?"

[meteordust.livejournal.com]

And I had assumed all break that The Beard must mean he was trapped on some remote island somewhere with no access to shaving equipment.

Yeah, that would have been more plausible. I guess he's acting like he's trapped on some remote island though - total hermit, looks like.

Is West the guy at Claire's school? I didn't like him.

I've found *no one* who likes him! And I'm really scared he's meant to be Claire's love interest.