Immediate Heroes impressions

[trinityvixen]

Um?

It probably says something really bad about me that I'm genuinely sorry that bad-ass Sylar seems to be gone and that I prefer him to the Gabriel-with-a-reason-he's-evil. Show, this is not how you do it. The reason people like Sylar so much is that he's a credibly creepy threat with no compunction against doing the absolutely most horrifying things. It is not because he is a secretly cuddly man at the mercy of his impulses. Who writes this shit, thirteen-year-old fangirls? Sylar is not Niki, damn it. He is not a wubbie! He's a slobbering psycho AND I LIKED HIM THAT WAY.

(And no, I'm not fooled at all into liking it just because Zachary Quinto played some scenes like he was an overgrown puppy. And I don't forgive it just because he had the fluffy-wuffy hair of cuteness doom. Nope. Not even for a bitty second.)

I'm absolutely stymied. I almost bought it, at the beginning. Sylar was giving Mr. B enough Sylar-patented sly looks to make it seem as though he were only pretending to swallow Mrs. Petrelli's story. But then he seemed genuinely captured by the idea that Mrs. Petrelli was his mother and therefore he wasn't matricidal, which is worse to him than being simply homicidal for reasons that simply boil down to Mommy. Issues. So I could sort of believe that, too--that Mrs. Petrelli was working her convincing mojo on him and forcing the reform while he was also striving to prove that he could live up to Mommy's expectations. (I don't care what the show says her power is, Mrs. P has to have the power of persuasion, like Eden did. It makes more sense with all that she's done.)

But you can't have it both ways. Sylar can't be really, truly, despicably, soullessly evil and just playing at being a house pet and be just a confused boy who needed his mother to tell him how great he was and who wouldn't hurt anyone if she had just hugged him harder. What the shit is this "hunger" nonsense? Sylar has gone after powers with a hunger, yes, but his driving motivation is his narcissistic belief that he's more special than the special people and that he deserves powers more than they deserve to be alive. He's a sociopath with delusions of grandeur who happens to have an ability to back up those delusions. He is not a pawn or a slave to his ability. He loves his ability and how it gets him more power. I get why they want Sylar on the good guys' side--it changes things up! It's wacky! He's Mr. Bennet's partner!?! WTF TIMES TWENTY MILLION BILLION TIMES!?!? But it's just really, really stupid.

FOR THE LOVE OF NATHAN PETRELLI'S GOD, THEY HAVE SYLAR KISSING MR. MUGGLES IN THE PREVIEW FOR NEXT WEEK. This is the "pet the dog" ploy to really convince you that Sylar's not all that bad. GUESS A-FUCKING-GAIN. PET THE DOG: UR DOIN' IT WRONG. Need I remind the show that Sylar went after an eight-year-old girl? I probably should, seeing as they've forgotten Molly Walker ever existed.

It heartens me, however, that Mr. Bennet is the best goddamned actor on the planet. (Jack Coleman's not bad either.) He played resistant/hostile-towards-Sylar-as-partner well enough to avoid arousing suspicions when he caved to the set-up OF MAJOR RIDICULOSITY, but he's still totally pissed off underneath. (But never loses an ounce of his cool.) That redeemed every little scene where he didn't try to kill Sylar. Because it's all for the Claire-bear. (awwwww!) That's how you make what's an apparent dramatic character shift make sense. Also, yay the Haitian! They're almost as cute together as Mr. B and Claude. Speaking of the Doctor, though, how very Who it was for Mr. B to walk into a situation where he was unarmed, going up against people with superior abilities while having a psychotic killer behind him, and he came through it. The collateral damage? Still very Doctor Who. (The Doctor turns strangers into his friends; he turns his friends into heroes; he turns heroes into martyrs.)

I would be very happy, especially after the Sylar character assassination, if this Mr. B found Sylar's weakness and killed him. Have the balls to do it, show!

One thought about Peter: Milo Ventimiglia is the last actor on this show whom I would overburden with the responsibility of playing extra characters. His dearth of acting ability doesn't exactly recommend him for multiple parts.

Also, I think something happened to his face that his jaw now permanently gapes open in a half-sneer all the time.

Comments

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

Also, I think something happened to his face that his jaw now permanently gapes open in a half-sneer all the time.
Yes. That was not an attractive freeze-frame.

I actually like the trying to team Sylar up with Bennet, since they were both the ostensible villains of season one, though we learned then only Sylar really was a villain. I wouldn't put it past Sylar to be playing lost puppy for his freedom. Though the preview for next week--seriously WTF? Is this now a wacky sitcom?

What bothered me about this episode, though, was that Claire's mom seems to have magical non-suffocation powers, cause how else was she not also suffocating? That made no sense. She has fire powers, I buy that she's immune to the heat of superheating the box she's standing in, but why was she also not choking for air? I didn't see any tank of oxygen on her back.

Also, Hiro is turning into a serious dick. It's not cute anymore. And I really don't care about Niki Mach 2. They're retreading so many of their season one storylines...sigh. And next week we also get badly characterized bad-ass Claire again.

[neo-leviathan.livejournal.com]

I could accept Claire's mother being able to hold out with less Oxygen, a combination of "I'm always around fire" and "I knew that I was going to suck all the air out of the place", coupled with fire-powers, I could accept that.

Hiro... he was so genre-savvy at the start, and while kinda bumbling, was well done. He's now turned idiotic.
Opening the safe? Sure, I could accept that, Hiro is the kind to push the Big Red Button, but the rest? All I can assume is that Hiro has had some kind of mental-breakdown due to seeing his best friend kill him *and* finding out that someone can bypass his powers by RUNNING REALLY FAST. He's now gone to "I am right, all else is wrong, disagreeing with my way means that you really *ARE* just pretending to be my friend and are out to get me..."

Alternatively, he's spent too much time around the Brain Lizard.
That Brain Lizard is simply pulling off the biggest Xanatos Gambit of all time, you'll see...

[negativeq.livejournal.com]

Here is my fanwank:

There was plenty of oxygen in there, and Meredith was manipulating Claire into believing the air was running out. She made Claire panic.

I think that was a good lesson - even if Claire can't feel pain (so what CAN she feel? And what sensation is pain anyway?) and can't be killed, she can still be incapacitated. Even if her body is immortal, her body still has survival instinct reflexes. There are ways she can be tortured that doesn't involve physical pain.

Now I don't get what PyroMommy could teach her in terms of combat. Claire has no offensive powers. She'd be better off taking martial arts and ranged weapon lessons somewhere. And let's face, THAT would be useless against most of the power sets we've seen.

[neo-leviathan.livejournal.com]

Also very very possible, Claire isn't exactly the most psychologically sound person around.

As to the "Pyro mummy teaching her combat", she never intended to teach Claire anything, she just wanted to force her to say exactly *why* she's gone superhero.
Doesn't she even admit to deceiving her just afterwards?

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Claire's lack of offensive powers really makes this all seem like horse shit to me. With Peter, at least, we know he was able to defend himself with Claire's powers--he made himself heal too fast for Sylar to cut open his brain the way he did Claire's. Peter could have helped her at least get that far with her powers. Meredith? Can't do shit.

[negativeq.livejournal.com]

That's still a good lesson - Claire should understand her own motivations.

I think the reason Claire doesn't heal as fast is because she has a death wish. I had that impression since her introduction. She is never happy about being a regenerator.

Dude if I had that power I'd pull every jackass stunt in the book! TA DA! OW! I'M OKAY!

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

That's still a good lesson - Claire should understand her own motivations.

Claire should be given motivation. They've used her as the football for too friggin' long. When Sylar attacked her, at least she was involved. She's just sort of meandered along. While she was the only one to originate her powers, it made sense that she was so precious, but then Peter had them and we met Adam and now Sylar has them, she needs something else besides being invulnerable. The no-pain thing isn't enough. That's still too passive.

I think the reason Claire doesn't heal as fast is because she has a death wish

Someone else mentioned this, too, when I was squicked out by the fact that Claire seemed to be getting off on Sylar poking at her brain. I can't believe I'd not made the association between her testing-her-limits stunts and that. I mean, you can just be playing around, but she really seemed to want to be hurt, and now she really really does since not only can she not be injured but she can't feel pain. That's a pain junkie right there. Which explains why Sylar ripping her open went straight to her naughty bits.

Dude if I had that power I'd pull every jackass stunt in the book! TA DA! OW! I'M OKAY!

So you'd be Zoe Bell?

That is honestly the only Peter icon I could ever love.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I actually like the trying to team Sylar up with Bennet

The problem for me is that there is potential there. There was a chance for Sylar to learn from Bennet as Mrs. P wanted him to do. Sylar didn't need to give up on being a creepy ass son of a bitch to do it, though. If he'd been the barely restrained, holding back only because the Company will crawl up his ass if he didn't Sylar, that would have been awesome. Instead, he's suddenly faking a Southern accent and pretending he's Starsky and Hutch all by himself. WTF!?! Plus, without the reprogramming, his interactions with Mr. Bennet would have been even more charged and awesome.

What bothered me about this episode, though, was that Claire's mom seems to have magical non-suffocation powers

THANK YOU. I was like, "Meredith doesn't need to breathe?" They can probably wank it that she doesn't need a lot of oxygen by virtue of the fact that her power generates a lot of smoke, normally, and if she weren't able to breathe in hypoxic conditions, she'd never make it. However, that's entirely too clever for this show because it involves science-y thinking instead of just science-y talking, plus I bet Meredith ends up getting strangled later by Mrs. Bennet and dies. Which I would also like to see.

Hiro was cute until he started being massively incompetent. He knows Daphne is still around, why wouldn't he teleport the fuck out of Dodge?

Re: That is honestly the only Peter icon I could ever love.

[neo-leviathan.livejournal.com]

Hiro was cute until he started being massively incompetent. He knows Daphne is still around, why wouldn't he teleport the fuck out of Dodge?
For the same reason that when Daphne stole the briefcase Ando had to tell him to stop time rather than stand there looking dumb.

BRAIN LIZARD!!

Re: That is honestly the only Peter icon I could ever love.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

The more I think about it, the more I believe it must be true. It's the Hypnotoad of this show!

[neo-leviathan.livejournal.com]

I still think it's *entirely* possible that Sylar is just playing them all for chumps. Look at it from his point of view:


"Wha? Ah fuck, that little Pikachu wannabe zapped me unconcious. Good thing I can heal... WTF? I appear to be tied down and have some kind of drugs pumping into my head to stop me doing much...."
"Huh? This woman, claiming to know all about me tells me that she's my real mother and that I'm adopted? pfft, yeah right, once I get out of this you're so going to be... you're letting me go? You stupid cow! Now where'd I put that telekinesis button... huh? Yeah, ok, another powered person. Could they stop me?... nope, they can read objects. Could be fun, no threat though, why the hell was she brought in?.... Hang on? You're GIVING HER TO ME??
This crazy bitch is going to LET ME GO FREE and FEED PEOPLE TO ME if I play along that I'm a scared little boy with mommy issues who does what I do because I'm some kind of power-vampire and HAVE to eat people?"

*Sniff* it's like all my Christmases have come at once.



And yes, Bennet is very cool. There's a reason why TVTropes lists him as one of the all-time great "Badass Normals"

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

See, I can buy that. Only the show has made it clear that Mrs. Petrelli's little revelation is having a sincere effect. Now, Sylar has a history with this--the only time he was remotely human is when he was around the woman who raised him. But he has since proven that even that isn't an obstacle to his power collection. I'd say that Sylar was pretending, but he goes back into his cell so timidly at the end of the episode, it's like he was disappointed in himself for doing what he always loved doing. WTF, show?

And yes, Bennet is very cool. There's a reason why TVTropes lists him as one of the all-time great "Badass Normals"

They needed to have more time with him mocking the villains and less time spent on, well, everything else.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

Can I also comment on how dumb not!Peter's superpower was? He's Banshee? From the build-up, I was expecting him to have some kind of area kill effect like that other chick. Like if he ever accidentally uses, watch out. But no. He's just shrieky.

Also, this episode benefitted immensely from a lack of Mohinder.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

They had a guy with that power in one of the webisodes. The only way he was successful was if someone stood like right in front of him and waited for him to use his powers on them. But when he was caught and locked away, they muzzled him. Why wasn't not-Peter's body? I don't get how superpowers are negated by these cells they put people in. Because it doesn't seem to, from what we've seen of them constantly drugging Sylar, lest he have powers and, you know, escape.

Also, this episode benefitted immensely from a lack of Mohinder.

Word. If only we could be so lucky next week.

[neo-leviathan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the cells are kinda confusing me too.

Mr Fireball - Sure, they lined his cell with asbestos or other non-flammable material. No issues

Mr Superstrong - Well, if he is unable to absorb fear through a solid barrier, this works too.

Mr Banshee - Yeah.. we start losing out a bit here. We know his room isn't soundproofed, and *glass* isn't exactly hard to shatter. I dont know enough engineering to know what would need to be done here.

Mr Shortlived Telekinesis - From what we saw, it looked like this guy had fine-control telekinesis, but that was about it, no power. He could open a safe, but he couldn't stop Mr Superstrong from killing him. If that was the case then a sufficiently solid cell could probably hold him.


Incidently, this episode has just leant further weight to my argument that Sylar has lost all his powers except Understanding and Telekinesis =)

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I don't understand why Sylar would have lost his powers, unless it was because of being infected by the Shanti virus. Except if that was the case, he ought not to have telekinesis either. WTF.

Oh, and the last guy wasn't a teke user, he was a short-lived master of magnetism. Which makes zero sense with those cells as they have knobs, which probably have metal in them that he could manipulate.

[neo-leviathan.livejournal.com]

He was a magneto? Ah, thats right, they mentioned that last ep.

Well.. it's possible that the doors to his cell had Ceramic components not metal?

I could completely understant Sylar having lost all his powers to the virus, and only getting back 'clockwork'. However, maybe Telekinesis has become so ingrained in his character that it's more of a natural power to him than an assimilated one?
Clutching at straws I know, I think the writers simply wanted to 'reset button' his powers, but couldn't bring themselves to take away his Telekinesis

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

They want a reset on a lot of powers--Peter's and Sylar's are just first in line because they're the most broken. Peter's being reset by having Future!Peter trying not to crush anyone in the past lest he destroy the future. Sylar by the Shanti virus and this bullshit taming job.

[negativeq.livejournal.com]

Is it confirmed Sylar lost all his stolen but TK? If so, WTF?

And btw, did I hear Mr. B say that it's "one of us, one of them" to Mrs P in regards to partnerships? That would imply that Mrs. P kept her power(s) secret from the Company...

Sylar has to be playing them. Has to be.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Who's playing whom, really? I caught the one-of-us logic fallacy in Mr. Bennet's speech, too. I want to know what's up with that, too.

But if Sylar's playing them, why is letting them lock him up again? The Haitian only controls his powers when he got back to Level Five. He could have busted free since they basically let him loose. They're going to be extra cautious now. This is not a good plan if he's faking.

But if he's not, everything is bullshit, so I have to hope there's some needlessly complex long game con going on here. However, it's probably not, and we've a better chance that Mama Petrelli is playing Sylar like a fiddle, not the other way around.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

And, no, there's no confirmation of Sylar having lost all but his teke, but he hasn't used any other power we know that he's collected lately. The show is already playing merry hob with continuity and ignoring whatever interferes with their "new direction" so it's entirely possible they're going to just forget his other abilities.

[arcane-the-sage.livejournal.com]

The German wasn't a Tk, he was magneto.

And the down side of sonic powers is that sound can bounce back, so if the cell was constructed just right then sonic boom hurts everyone.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Presumably, like Meredith not being able to be burned or Ted suffering no ill effects from radiation, he should have been able to scream his head off and not hurt his ears. Remember that no matter what the "real" consequences of power would be, this show is prepared to ignore it.

[neo-leviathan.livejournal.com]

Well, the going timidly back to the cell may have had something to do with the Haitian being around at that point. Sylar isn't dumb, when his choice boils down to "play along and go back to cell on own" and "try to escape, be shot and then locked up and drugged into insensibility", the choice is kinda already made.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I did forget the Haitian was there. Nope, still not buying it.

[neo-leviathan.livejournal.com]

Sylar has a heretofore unknown and unstated addiction to ANZAC biscuits and his cell was baited with them!!!!

Better?

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Better than what the show came up with, yeah.

And now I want ANZAC bikkies, you bastard!

[anirien.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with you about Sylar. All this BS about "the hunger" is stupid and undermines his pre-established character. He is who he is and he does what he does because of his own psychosis which does have to do with his upbringing (ie mommy issues... and daddy issues too). If he is compelled to act like this because his power makes him hunger for more powers, it's not nearly as interesting. I am going to choose to believe that that was just some line of bull that Angela was feeding him to give him a reason to think he could reform, a justification. Yeah.

Hiro and his entire storyline is just pissing me off right now. I just can't laugh at their stupid slapstick hijinks when other serious stuff is going on and the fate of the world is supposedly at risk and they're... the comedy storyline? No. Hiro was always funniest as a fish out of water being himself and interacting with others. This is just forced.

Sigh. If it were not for Mr. Bennett/Jack Coleman I would probably give up on this show. But I heart him and he remains the center of all that is awesome about Heroes. Which is rather ironic given his lack of powers. You'll notice now that any time the show wants to scare the audience they foreshadow Mr. Bennett's death.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Sylar...just...wtf? I'm halfway through re-watching the episode and I've written after every scene involving him: "What the shit?" Then "No, really, what the shit?"

Hiro was being really cute again, which is cool, but he's got Ando feeding him instead of opposing him like Nathan did in the first season, so it's less interesting. Ando is a chorus to Hiro's stupidity. It makes a farce out of this "world-threatening" formula.

Mr. Bennet is beyond badass awesome at this point, and probably is the only reason I'm still watching, too. Because he's pretending to go along with the others who have all lost their marbles but is still doing what he does: kick ass, chew gum, and love his family. And I love how sly Jack Coleman is about it all. All hail!

[neo-leviathan.livejournal.com]

Agreed Bennet largely carries the show, but... call me moronic, but I do hold out some hope for Parkman at this point. If they do things properly from here and he loses some of the WTF attitude, he could pick up quite interestingly.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

They are never giving Parkman any love. Give up on your hope now, my man. They decided long ago that his powers were useless, which is a goddamned crime because they are explosively powerful in ways that are less broken than Peter/Sylar's. I'm pissed about it, too, but I gave in a long time ago.

[neo-leviathan.livejournal.com]

lalalalalalalalaaaaa NOT LISTENING lalalalalalalalalalaaa

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

It's a crying shame, don't get me wrong. Telepaths are ZOMG so powerful. And Matt was starting to cross into the dark side with his being able to push his thoughts out. But they shoved him into the literal desert the same way they've shunted him into the nowhereland of bad plots in seasons prior. Give it up, dude.

[neo-leviathan.livejournal.com]

They've dumped him in a location with an African Medicine Man, who we all know carry more mysticism than a room full of Zen masters debating the existence of Tea with Confucious.

This means one of two things:
1) They've written a storyline involving him going on a spirit journey and learning stuff and doing good. This would mean cool stuff
2) They've lifted a similar plotline direct from another comic to save time. Since every such storyline results in POWER OVERWHELMING!! Even more awesome should ensue.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

You're giving this show too much credit. They are only keeping Greg Grunberg around because he's a sweetheart doll and we love him. Face it:if they gave a shit about Matt, they wouldn't have teleported him to the desert.

[anirien.livejournal.com]

I sometimes wonder if Jack Coleman just vetos all stupid plotlines involving his character. Or if he's just so magical that he can make even absurd storylines make sense.

Sigh. I miss the first season. Not that it was perfect, but when it was good it was really good. Of course the first season kept hitting one of my major story kinks which is disparate characters meeting eachother and finding out how they're connected. I love that stuff. But this show just keeps repeating the same illogical plotlines. I've lost track of how many different versions of the future we've had now. :P

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I sometimes wonder if Jack Coleman just vetos all stupid plotlines involving his character. Or if he's just so magical that he can make even absurd storylines make sense.

That's his superpower: he is made entirely of awesome.

No, the first season wasn't perfect. It took too long build momentum, squandered it wherever it could, and introduced too many disparate characters who we couldn't keep up with then, let alone now that there are more of them and conspiracies, conspiracies, conspiracies all the way down.

However, I share your love of these far-flung characters meeting up and discovering connections. I was actually heartbroken when Niki discovered she and DL were just a eugenics experiment of Linderman's, and I loved Claire being Nathan's (and Meredith's) daughter. It was just neat. But eventually you have to admit that it's all one giant conspiracy (EVERYONE IS A PETRELLI OR A SAUNDERS!) or you're just soap-opera-ing it up. (Which, come to think of it, might be why Jack Coleman is so cool about it because he's used to it.)

We shall have to see, I suppose.

[cbreakr.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised you've put this much effort into talking about the new eps. Every second spent thinking about them is time you'll never get back.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

See, this is the problem with things that aren't complete fail. They have enough good stuff going for them that the parts where they suck really, really piss you off--because it could have been good!

And why are you surprised, really? I write longer things about shows I like even less!

[cbreakr.livejournal.com]

It's that region between good and bad enough to be good that feels insulting for exactly the reason you mention. That said, I can't think of any part of the new season that wasn't a handful of shit thrown at a fan just to see what sticks.

... and touche

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

See, to my mind, there are several layers of fail. There's so-bad-it's-good, good-but-not-getting-it-out-right-thus-frustrating-me, and there's bad-with-no-chance-of-redemption-anything-that-looks-good-is-coincidental-and-probably-won't-go-anywhere.

The one that Heroes is currently on is "Have good ideas, have crap execution." There's enough good about what they want to do that it kills me how badly they're implementing it. The one that you think it's on is "have no clue, try everything." I don't think they're that desperate, but that's not an unfair assumption given the way things are going.