Heroes Review – “Close to You”
Last week’s double whammy of Heroes action didn’t do too much to progress the story and both episodes failed to live up to the generally pretty good standard set by Season Four. Instead of focusing on just a few characters, the show instead rammed as much as possible down our throats, with many of the scenes being silly or even useless. Granted, Heroes had been on hiatus for about a month and I suspect that this was NBC’s way of getting everyone back on board, but last week’s episodes were certainly a regression in terms of quality. Hiro was speaking in nerd-riddles, Peter vowed revenge on an impotent Sylar, and Claire did stupid Claire stuff as usual.
This week’s episode – “Close to You” – thankfully returned to the formula of featuring just a few characters from the Heroes universe. Keep reading for the full review. As always, there will be spoilers.
“Close to Me” started with Noah and Lauren hanging out and trying to find out where Samuel is. Noah, for some reason, is convinced that Samuel is the most evil guy in the world, and so his search has turned into something of an obsession. Of course, Noah could go to Claire and get the compass she stole from him (which would lead him right to the carnival), but since he and his daughter are understandably on terrible terms, he refuses to reach out to her. Lauren and Noah find out somehow that Samuel’s obsession, Vanessa Wheeler (the girl he’s been drawing over and over like some deranged stalker), actually grew up with Samuel. Before heading out to California to find her, though, Noah stops by Matt Parkman’s to ask for his help.
In true Matt Parkman form, Matt’s decided to stay home and cook Ratatouille while his wife goes out into the world and works. I guess that Matt’s character has some depth and complexity to him, but it always pissed me off that the guy with the best power (because let’s face it, telepathy trumps just about anything besides multiple powers) is the biggest pushover in the world. I always thought he’d be a great villain. Maybe have Samuel kill his kid or something so that he’s filled with rage and turns to the dark side, so to speak.
Anyway, with the help of Parkman’s mind control, Noah convinces Vanessa to spill her guts about Samuel. They knew each other when they were younger, and Vanessa went through a phase where she really dug bad boys (what girl doesn’t?). Vanessa helps Parkman and Noah set up a sting to catch Samuel – during which multiple man makes an appearance and gets tazed – but Samuel is ultimately able to escape by throwing a crap load of earth in Noah’s direction. Why didn’t Samuel kill Noah? He could kill his own brother, but not a guy pointing a gun in his face?
As for Vanessa, she ends up at the carnival, held against her will.
Meanwhile, brain-scrambled Hiro is checked into a mental hospital by Ando as part of a plot to rescue “Dr. Watson.” Watson turns out to be Suresh, who is locked in a straight jacket in a cell because, well, that’s where Hiro put him so that he wouldn’t mess up the future by changing things in the past. For once, Hiro demonstrates some thoughtfulness. Ando manages to switch Suresh’s meds with aspirin, but in doing so swallows the meds himself. Without the effects of the meds, Suresh is able to break free from his straight jacket and cell (but somehow has a hard time dragging Ando around – WTF?), and the three friends escape to the woods.
Oh yeah, Ando is busting electronic locks left and right with his red lightning power…but wasn’t that supposed to supercharge others’ powers? Later, he uses it on Hiro’s head and totally de-scrambles everything – so Hiro is back, I guess – but where the eff did that come from? It seems as though Ando’s red lightning can do whatever the writers think is convenient. With Hiro in his right mind once again, the three teleport to Noah’s place, just as he’s a about to start messing around with Lauren. Great timing, a-holes.
The last storyline this episode featured Emma who – using Samuel’s teachings – was able to lure Peter to her place by playing the cello. Peter’s compass tattoo had been acting up thanks to Lydia “calling on him,” and so he freaked the eff out when he saw the same design on Emma’s cello. Angela somehow shows up and she, too, freaks the eff out at the sight of Emma. It turns out that Angela dreamed that Emma would kill thousands of people, and because he wanted to see the dream for himself, Peter steals Angela’s power.
In the dream, Emma is playing her cello at the carnival while screams of agony surround her. Soon, Sylar shows up and tells Emma that he’s there to save her. Could Sylar be after Emma’s power of luring others with powers? Because that’d be great if he got it. After awakening, Peter goes to Emma’s and smashes her cello to bits, and a pissed off Emma tells Peter to go away.
Nothing spectacular this week, but I was glad to see Heroes was back to the pacing and structure that it had abandoned last week. Things are finally starting to come together, as everyone seems to somehow be a part of Samuel’s plan. We’ll see where it goes, but I’m particularly interested in how Sylar plays into all of this.
I’m not sure what’s up with Ando’s power. I remember a couple seasons ago (the Peter’s dad one) we saw him ‘kill’ Hiro with it when Hiro took a look to the future. So it probably has some power beyond just supercharging others which would make the locks fine plot wise, no idea about the descrambling though.
I found the only major part of the episode I liked was the Hiro/Ando/Suresh bit, though I’m still puzzled about a) how mind-addled Hiro was on the ball enough to stuff Ando in a closet, and b) considering that Ando had about 3 seconds to switch the meds (and almost got caught), how in the hell did Hiro get him in a closet without any of the “storm troopers” noticing?
The Noah/Parkman arc was just too silly for me though. So Noah went through the trouble of finding and recruiting Matt, tracking down Vanessa, approaching her and making Matt change her mind, then creating a trap for Samuel (who he knows is powerful and dangerous) in order for them to MAYBE capture him or follow him to the carnival? When he KNOWS all he needs is the compass possessed by the daughter he should be reconciling with anyways (and possibly someone with powers – like Matt, who was pretty easy to convince)? Efficiency fail on Bennett.
Even if it made sense to go to all that trouble, why leave Parkman IN THE GODDAMN CAR when Noah is staking out the meeting between Vanessa and Samuel? He can READ PEOPLE’S MINDS! Don’t you think that might be useful figuring out what Samuel is up to? Or preventing him from getting away?
That being said, I guess the Peter/Emma arc was alright. I like the foreshadowing about Peter being the one who can challenge Samuel for the leadership of the carnie crew, and I didn’t expect Emma to be a villain (though I guess she isn’t, YET). But I just don’t like Angela. She seems to be a sort of reverse deus ex machina, showing up just to throw another curve ball at Peter when he doesn’t have anything to do in the storyline.
My apologies for the long-winded rant.
First off: The lightening has been Andos power that hes been using since season three.
Second Off: Ando swallowed the medicine NOT hiro which explains the reason why Ando was in the wheelchair
@ Jihad
1. Yes, I know, but its effect has changed quite a bit.
2. Yeah, you don’t read so good.
@ Bert
I never thought of Angela like that, but wow, that’s the best description I’ve ever heard.
As for Noah going to all that trouble…first off, I do agree with you. But if I can play devil’s advocate, I don’t think it’s THAT bad. I can understand why a dad would go so much out of his way to not risk ruining his relationship with his daughter forever. Effeciency fail nevertheless, though.
Why didn’t Noah just have Parkman convince Claire to give him back the compass she took back? All he had to do was think “Give the compass to me.” and he could give it to Noah.
So Emma believes Samuel about how he knows someone with the power to see others from far away but she couldn’t possibly believe Peter about his dreams of the future? And if he wants to be a big time hero or whatever, he should of just kept Claire’s power.
And about the “next week” thing where Sylar makes out with Claire…I’m assuming its because he doesn’t want to be alone or some shit and she’s the only one that’s going to live as long as him but couldn’t he just meet someone he really liked, and give them the power to be immortal too? He cuts their head open, alter their brain like he does his own, and they pop back up.
Yeah… Sylar has Lydia’s power now… which requires the physical contact… and he’s got the telekinetic skills to kinda force you into doing what he wants… or might have taken doyle’s power… although doyle is pretty alive, so that’s unlikely… really doubting claire is a willing recipient of said kiss, or that it is romantic in nature…
@ Madison
You’re right, it’s not THAT big of a deal, just the engineer in me coming out. They clearly have to find ways to advance the story without resorting to Matt reading people’s minds all the time. Wouldn’t make for a good TV drama storyline I guess.
And thank you, Angela is starting to get almost as annoying as Claire. I don’t know if it’s just me, but the writing for female characters on Heroes just doesn’t seem as meaty as the leading man parts.
@ Rob
I think you bring up the major question I have about Peter. What’s preventing him from gathering say, Ando, Hiro, Claire, Suresh, Parkman, and Angela together and touching them ALL at once? That would make him a pretty tough match for Sylar or Samuel. Did I miss something about him only being able to absorb from one person at a time? If that’s the case, then why didn’t he take all the powers from Sylar’s body when Nathan’s mind was controlling it?
Ando is basically based on electricity so i think that’s supposed to explain why he’s able to do all these things he’s been doing.
Ando’s power can supercharge, and therefore overcharge—like a generator, simply output electricity that happens to be red.
now the mind scrambling, that was discussed by mohinder yet everyone seems to have missed it. Ando asked mohinder what the doctors would have done to hiro, and mohinder answers that it would most likely have been shock therapy. He then gets ando to perform the same technique on hiro to see if it would work to fix his issue…which, suggestively, occured because it was damien’s power being conflicted by hiro’s tumor.
There people, electric shock therapy—–not secret power effect #3
@ Dylan-
Ah, thanks for explaining. Still, I don’t think that the “heroes'” abilities are electrical in nature (in fact, didn’t Suresh discover it was due to something with a gland in the brain and adrenaline?), and electric locks aren’t really the same as, you know, human brains.
But it makes a bit more sense, I suppose.
Sylar hasn’t killed anybody lately so I’ve been really bored watching heroes. It’s like they’re looking for excuses to make him a good guy but decide against it at the last second and he’s left looking like an idiot. He should kill Parkman so the entire world can bow to his will, but nooo that’s way too cool for Heroes. 🙁
I felt really nerdy because I knew what Hiro was talking about and Ando’s powers are still a mystery to me, apparently red lightning can be used to heal people? Then again if inFamous taught me anything…
Noah and Claire should be shot into the sun because I’m really sick of them. Emma can join them and so can Samuel if he doesnt stop pretending to be a good guy. PLEASE DO SOMETHING COOL.
Peter should get off his ass and get his powers back and have an epic fight with sylar and Angela can just sit there and be kickass.
Personally this season has been VERY slow moving but I suppose that’s the price of having so many separate storylines.
How I wish sooo many people would stop criticizing the show.. Here’s the thing.. Noah doesn’t want to use his daughter like a doll. He doesn’t want someone to just jump in her head and force her against her will. He’s betrayed her enough already.
And about the ando healing hiro… he didn’t.. Watch the episode again and hear what suresh said! People are always lookin for reasons y heroes isn’t a good show, how about you start lookin for reason y it IS improving!!