Heroes: Well, hello, I wasn't expecting that.

Dear Michelle,

This show is so uneven. But I don't really blame that on this season since that's one of the reasons I originally stopped watching it in season one (which I then of course whipped through on DVD). And I hate having to watch an entire episode to get to HUGE reveals in the last five minutes. (Why can't we have those in the beginning or middle and then make something of them? Why does it always have to be a cliffhanger?) I was kinda bored even though when I think about it, a LOT more went on in this episode than in most of the season. And admittedly, no Maya & Loser Brother so it wasn't as boring as it could have been.

So - the ending. Hello Sark in the future as "Adam." Does that mean that Sark in the past as "Kensei" was really some sort of diabolical plan to make Hiro... to make Hiro screw up the future? Or was he there to help Hiro save the future? Was there something that had to be fixed back there? The company is claiming he's bad, and he did kinda seem that way, but it is admittedly hard to see that actor as all-out good. Is it possible that HRG is wrong and the Company actually IS good in some way? Did it seem that Bob was implying to Nathan that Peter left on his own? When is Veronica Mars coming back?

I am bored by Parkman although it was nice that he ramped up his abilities and got Molly out of confinement. I am bored with Suresh's moralizations. Everything going on is questionably gray, not just Bob's actions. Nice to see DL although sadly it was just an illusion.

And as you know, I love West. He's impish and cute and sparkly and even if he does turn out to be evil (which his reaction to finding out about HRG didn't make him seem to me), he's the only character - other than Hiro of course - who has really embraced his abilities and had some fun with them. Oh, OK, I guess Mica and Monica are doing that too. But he seems positively gleeful about it and they seem more like it's hard work.

This show is a lot like Lost to me in that it works much better on DVD when you are whizzing through three or four episodes a night. It just seems like things happen in a way they don't when you are waiting a week between each one, then getting only a few tiny moments with the characters you do like, and lots of time with characters you don't...

Did you read that they have an alternate ending to a December episode so if the writers' strike isn't resolved, they can just END THE SEASON there instead of just ending that story arc. I can't decide if that's good or bad to know.

So...what did you think?

Smooches!

Comments

[Michelle]

Dear Carolyn,

A lot of shows are built like that--huge reveals in the last few minutes. But I thought this episode had a lot of mini-reveals.

Like, for example, Ma Petrelli's power. She appears to be yet another mind-controller, because she was clearly putting those memories back into Peter's mind.

We saw three of the paintings come to life: the one with Peter looking out the window (with a classic That Guy behind him), the one with Niki banging down the door, the one with Hiro and Kensei fighting.

We learned that Bob knows a LOT, and that along with the big reveal (which, I hate to say, I saw coming--but it was still cool) means exactly what the promos said would happen--what I thought was going on isn't really what's going on. The Company may not be evil, and Adam may not be good.

West, however--I'm sorry, I just don't like him, and I think he's working for the bad guys to bring Claire in. His reaction to HRG was, to me, comically overacted. But maybe that's just me.

I don't think that Adam went back to pretend to be Kensei for Hiro to be able to save time, though. I think that "Adam Monroe" was his original name back in the 17th century, he took on "Kensei" when he was in Japan. Cellular regeneration means never aging, so never dying, so he's lived for 400 years...waiting for everyone else to pop up? That's where I get a little confused.

I loved Matt coming into his full abilities and trapping his dad in his own nightmare. I liked that it was all up to him, for the first time since the show began. While I agree with the A.V. Club's "Catholic guilt was all it took" bit, I thought it was still effective and fun to watch Matt finally be strong, and I liked the idea that Pa Parkman was only the beginning of Adam's plan.

As for the virus...damn, that went into play earlier than I thought it would.

Smooches!