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Saving the World: Redux
The Haitian repaid his debt by saving Peter. Jimmy Jean-Louis by Chris Haston/NBC
Episode Recap: "Four Months Ago"
Bonsoir mes amis! Leah Friedman (Friday Night Lights, among other blogs) in for Casey tonight, and I figured I'd stick with the Montréal theme. I'm thrilled to be filling in for her for the second in what will hopefully become a series of great Heroes episodes. We all know about the griping (and yes, I've done my own fair share of it this fall) about how the season started out, but between last week and this week, I'm hoping we can all agree that the show is back on track. It was certainly a subtle episode by Heroes standards; more along the lines of last season's "Company Man" than anything else, and as a character study of the Petrellis, Elle and the Sanders family, it worked well — most of the time.
First off, thank you Tim Kring for finally revealing just how in the hell Peter ended up in Ireland. We already knew that Nathan saved New York from Peter, but in dueling bouts of self-sacrifice, Peter rescued a falling, burning Nathan and delivered him to the hospital, only to be caught by crazy-ass Elle and "Bob" (Stephen Tobolowsky). After convincing him that they had a cure, The Company locked him up, made him take some dubious pills and allowed Elle to use him as her scratching post. I'd start listening to Adam (aka Kensei) too, if my choice were between him and Elle, the all-but-self-described sociopath, who apparently threatened to kill her psychiatrists. A real catch, that one.
Nathan wasn't much better off than his brother. Severely burned and now considered schizophrenic by his wife (at the suggestion of his mother), it's pretty obvious now why he fell into the deep depression we've seen this season. Yes, Peter and Adam broke out of The Company's prison and saved Nathan with Adam's blood, but Nathan doesn't seem to have much of a will to go on, at least not in this past timeline. (As an aside, when did Peter get close enough to DL to get the "passing through walls" power? Surely their limited interaction at Kirby Plaza wasn't enough.)
But yet again, what does Peter get for rescuing his brother? More trouble that starts with a battle in the streets and ends with the Haitian wiping Peter's mind and leaving him locked in a warehouse module bound for Ireland. Memo to Peter: Sometimes you have to take care of yourself first.
Poor DL. Finally a respectable man, a true civic hero by virtue of his firefighting, he ends up getting killed by a man that his wife — under the guise of another personality — hooked up with at a sleazy bar in L.A. Let's just take a minute now to reread that sentence. Enough with Niki/Jessica/Gina. None of these girls is any good for anyone and they're all ridiculously depressing.
In fact, I'd rather have had less of the three faces of Niki, and more of the back-story of the wonder twins. We've learned so little about them over the last month and a half, but at least now we know why they're wanted for murder. If only Alejandro's new wife hadn't wanted to get busy with her ex-boyfriend at the wedding reception, maybe none of this would have ever happened. I know I'm in the minority, but I quite like the twins. Maya is more convincing as an extremely dangerous and beyond panicked "hero" than last year's radioactive man, and while he was going to take out New York, I'm wondering if she's going to take out the world (could it be that she's a carrier of the Shanti virus that kills 98% of the population?).
And so our intrepid crew have an objective again. OK, so it's the same objective as last year: they have to save the world, but it's not so simple as stopping an exploding man any more. As Adam pointed out, "They've been days away from perfecting [the cure] for 30 years now." But whose side is Adam on, anyway? I'm not sure, but I'm more than willing to spend some time at 121 rue St-Jacques to find out.
Check out clips, previews and tonight's episode at our Online Video Guide.
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Nov 12, 2007 10:59 PM
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Um, how come we got no clue on how the Bennett’s escaped the Company and just managed to move a few states away unnoticed? I mean, if we were going to get how the Wonder Twins developed into the current storyline, they could have at least divulged us on the Bennetts. I know we needed a lot of detail with Peter/Adam’s storyline, but they could have given us a sliver.
Speaking of the whole Adam/Peter storyline, don’t you think Peter would have been smarter at that point to not trust just anyone? Seriously? I mean, he ran into a score of new people along the journey to save NYC….he has issues with his brother, lost his girlfriend, discovered a niece, found out the truth behind his corrupt family and he just up and trusts Bob and Elle? And it takes some voice on the other side of the wall, three months after being kept in a prison, to finally wake him up? It was nice to see the whole story with Peter and Adam. Even though we know the true Adam and the evil he is, Peter doesn’t. And thanks to Adam finding him before Nathan could, the work the Haitian did was useless. But what is Nathan going to think of our new friend Adam? They didn’t skip a beat—can’t wait to see where this goes!
Oh Elle. Cute in a weird way, how she gets her kicks!  Bravo to Kristin Bell. She puts so much fun and life into whatever she does. The character, totally creepy and sadistic; but she added a human side to it. She really stressed it in her acting the need for us to understand her character and why she is the way she is. Love it!
Poor, poor D.L. He was really on his way to becoming a true Hero (I guess he already was one!). That guilt won’t settle with Nikki anytime soon, that’s for sure. So great how they went in depth with that story as well (even though I usually don’t care for the character of Nikki); but now what? Now that she has the virus, where is this storyline going with her and Micah? Is she going to join forces with Monica and make the world a better place before she dies (if she does from the virus)?
Oh Maya and Alex. Too bad I still don’t care about your story whatsoever.
One more gripe—where in the world was Parkman? His wife? Mohinder and Molly? Are we just supposed to believe that they were able to take this girl and put her in public school without them adopting her? Becoming foster parents? How come we got NOTHING on that? How did Parkman and Mohinder even come to decide that they would take care of Molly together? And what about Mohinder’s work with HRG? How did that come about? Because when we first learned of their partnership at the beginning of this season, it sure seemed like they had a flawless plan.
All in all, what a great set up for the last three episodes. I mean, despite my griping, this episode did contain enough to keep me glued to my TV and almost exploding with excitement watching the previews for the last three episodes. But I am disappointed that they cut out too much—Parkman, Molly, Suresh, HRG and Claire (and the rest of the Bennetts), Sylar (they could have at least shown one scene!), Hiro and George Takei, etc.
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Nov 12, 2007 11:01 PM
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The most amazing part about this episode: Mohinder went 4 months without messing anything up!
This is the first time we've seen the Haitian suppress anything other than mind powers. Still seems odd that he's plaiing both sides.
I'm starting to think that when Elle referred to the person she was talking to ont hte phone when she was in Ireland as "Daddy" she was being sarcastic instead of literal, and was talking to Bob. Based on her life story that she told Peter, she was taken from her parents at a young age.
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Nov 12, 2007 11:12 PM
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This episode lost all the momentum granted by the major Kensei/Adam revelation.
Adrian Pasar said this episode would "knock our socks off." There's a banner ad on the TVGuide homepage saying "The Mystery Revealed!" The only thing "revealing" in this episode was Elle's low-cut shirts.
Peter/Adam: I was almost expecting a Portal reference: "The pills are a lie!" I, however, hate that Adam didn't allude more to his time in feudal Japan (I was expecting atleast one reference to Yumiko, at the least...)
I like that the Hatian was actually protecting Peter by erasing his memories. I should have picked up on the necklace earlier...
Elle: Boo. She's not bad-ass, she's just insane.
Maya/Alejandro: WHO CARES?!
Nikki/D.L.: Nothing warrants D.L. being shot pointblank in the chest. Not even Doom music.
Alright, so he didn't die from Linderman's gunshot wound. Big deal. He still dies, plot doesn't change, woo, such a mystery.
And yet we missed a lot of good backstory oppertunities: Why did Matt divorce his wife and move to New York? How did Mohinder and HRG meet up and plan to take down the company? And why did Sylar lose his powers?
I hope Maya and Alejandro die. Soon.
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Nov 12, 2007 11:56 PM
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I thought that Peter absorbs any and all powers of any people he is in the presence of, but whether or not he is aware of the powers and is able to use them is another thing entirely.
"Gina" didn't do much for me. I actually have missed seeing Jessica this season, as much as I initially hated her.
I have a hard time believing that Adam is as evil as Bob said he was.
So Peter was able to repair the memories that the Haitian erased. So I guess he doesn't permanently destroy the brain cells for memory but severely damanges them.
The Haitian's abilities confuse me. What powers can he block? Can he block the healing power, and if so, would it cause someone to die if they sustained injuries?
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Nov 12, 2007 11:58 PM
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I couldn't care less how Parkman was able to "adopt" Molly or how the Bennetts moved away so easily, so I'm glad those stories weren't featured but one thing that should've been addressed in this episode was Sylar's journey.
D.L. being killed by a stranger doesn't add to or change the plot. But it was nice to see him as a firefighter. Nikki's new personality did nothing for me.
The Haitian plays both sides soo well.
I also don't believe Peter and D.L. were ever close enough for Peter to absorb his powers.
Elle is such a fractured girl; immature, no childhood, no friends, and yet so interesting.
I really like the relationship of the twins but their story seems to be an afterthought of the writers. But it's ten times better than Claire's snoozer plot
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Nov 12, 2007 11:58 PM
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I don't believe that show's "jump the shark". Most shows don't have a single moment you can point to and say "Here's where it all turned." They just lose quality little by little as time goes by. But if we look back on Heroes after it ends and try to find that moment, I think for me it's when Elle zapped Peter with her tongue. The Haitian is the last interesting character on the show for me. I just wish he had a real name so I can stop referring to him as "The Haitian".
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Nov 13, 2007 12:10 AM
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Considering all the ways DL could've and should've died, having him get shot again was sort of a letdown. Not exactly a noble death for a hero. I kept waiting for Niki Smith, I mean Gina to rip that guy apart in a fit of rage.
Alejandro was married? Maya was trying to become a nun? Didn't see that coming. It was nice to see that Maya was afraid of losing her brother even before she got her powers. Hard to believe Alejandro was going to turn her in. If only his trampy wife hadn't hooked up with a Lopez-Fitzgerald, all those wedding guests would still be alive.
It was great to see it confirmed that you can't be harmed by your own powers. But after Nathan went all Darkman, I kept thinking that he might end up getting sick like Ted's wife.
I'm still guessing that Adam brought the original twelve together thirty years ago. Has he been locked up since then? Was he being truthful about why they were holding him? Maybe the twelve really came together to stop Adam. I think it's going to turn out that his blood can heal others, but eventually it becomes toxic. It just seems too coincidental that Nathan gets Adam's blood, and we learn that he was one of the first to die from the virus.
The shock therapy scenes with Elle and Peter were a bit creepy. Her brief backstory (coupled with what Bob told Niki) explains why her personality is all over the place. Am I mistaken, or did Adam admit to sleeping with Elle six years ago? Kind of gross.
Why would Angela want to send Heidi and the boys away? Did she want Nathan all to herself because she really thought Peter was dead? Also, I keep thinking that she has powers of persuasion like Eden. The way she kept stroking Heidi's arm made me think of when she was doing the same thing to Claire to keep her from going after Peter. Angela's comments about her husband having delusions of grandeur did sound like Adam, but I still say it wouldn't make sense for that to be true. Though it would explain why Maury didn't kill her. And just what did Angela do to make the Haitian so loyal to her?
I still don't get why Bob is so keen on developing the Shanti virus. Did Adam's appearance thirty years ago stop their progress? Does someone's power determine if they should get the serum, or is it something else?
Now that Michael and Linc, I mean Peter and Adam are free, I can't wait to see how their plan unfolds. Adam reminded me of Sylar, in the way that Sylar latches onto a more powerful person to use their abilities to his advantage.
Speaking of Sylar, does his absence from this episode mean Candice wasn't holding him for The Company? He clearly wasn't in the same facility as Peter and Adam. Maybe another one of Adam's disciples was involved.....
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Nov 13, 2007 12:16 AM
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Glad we got some answers, but most were answers that we could have deduced before. It was nice to get some backstory for the Wonder twins, but I would have liked to have it before I was forced to sit through half a season wondering who the heck the were.
I liked Elle- crazy but interesting to watch. Her back story was interesting- burning houses down and threatening doctors. I was all set to link her to the house fire where Claire was found, but then I remembered that Claire is more than 6 years younger than her, which ruined that theory.
Liked that Peter remembers again and I definitely see why he trusts Adam.
Was Nathan at the Irish pub at the end? If he was, glad to see he's on Peter's trail at least.
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Nov 13, 2007 12:26 AM
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Awesome episode. The stories are finally picking up. I was very impressed with the whole Nathan and Peter's story and the special effects was good too boot.
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Nov 13, 2007 2:04 AM
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Great little TV shout out: did you happen to catch DL's engune number?
Good ol' Engine 54
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Nov 13, 2007 2:26 AM
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Another great episode. I love all the fill in. This is just a quick note. But just wanted to remind everyone asking abuot why they didn't know this backstory and that backstory. They do have one hour to do the show. Better to leave a few and further develop others. I mean, we know Parkman and his wife split and he moved to New York. Don't need to waste episode time on that. Save it for online story or something. And the Bennets. Same here. We know they relocated. But is the how really intersing enough for screen time? No powered person helped them so where would that get us? Again, material of online stories. So 3 more eps before the finale. Oh well. Damn the strike. If the virus breaks out, it won't matter anyway!
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Nov 13, 2007 2:49 AM
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Boring. Time waster. Yawn.
Waaaaay too much NikkiMaja and Paolo for me.
This ship is off course. Help us Obi-Wan, you're our only hope.
I am almost ready to give up. I would rather see Micah's vision of the Heroes acting like the Fantastic Four than this snooze-fest.
And there is NO WAY in hell that DL would pass a background check, let alone get hired in less than a month as a firefighter!! Do a little research, Timmy.
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Nov 13, 2007 3:40 AM
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I can only assume that the Haitian's powers can be used on someone from a good distance, though I've never got that impression before. He always moves in close to someone before using them. I assume this because that's the only conceivable reason I could think of as to why Peter didn't just fly away when running from the Haitian at the end instead of running away on foot. I mean, there were a few times when he had a huge lead on the Haitian and the man was nowhere in sight. So apparently, if that's the case, he doesn't even have to be able to see someone to supress their powers.
I don't know.. I just kept thinking, "Umm... why isn't he just flying away?"
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Nov 13, 2007 4:38 AM
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Elle - Okay, I did not watch VM and I do not like Kristen Bell. Period. They could have gotten someone else to play the role of Elle and I probably would have been fine with it, but Kristen Bell - she's no catch.
The twins - not liking them with Sylar at all... the backstory on them last night was mediocre.
Bennetts backstory - where was it?
Parkman, Suresh, and Molly - and theirs?
I know alot of time was spent on Peter and for that I'm grateful because he didn't have enough focus in previous eppies this season, but I agree with another person --- when did he spend more than a nano second even in the vicinity of DL? They were at least 20/25 feet apart when in the courtyard at the end of season one. So he should now be able to do everything that Sylar does now too, correct?
Mrs. Petrelli - it's no wonder someone wants to kill her.
Niki/DL - gah... as much as I like Niki... she should have been the one killed off or at least she should have gone all Jessica on the shooter. Instead they show her standing there stunned... come on.
The sophmore slump is on... and honestly, when the "season" finale airs in December, when the show comes back, I don't know if I'll be watching... The new characters bore me with the exception of Kensei/Adam and to a point The Twins... but this whole plot of "lets see what we can do to stop a virus from spreading" ... hmmm, maybe I'll go watch Stephen King's The Stand or Virus or something.
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Nov 13, 2007 7:00 AM
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