It’s Time To Play The Feud!: The Racialicious Review of Heroes 3.9

By Special Correspondent Arturo R. García, also posted at The Instant Callback

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

Well, it took ‘em long enough.

You can always tell the storyarcs on Heroes are heading toward a resolution when the good guys figure out they should give this whole “teamwork” thing a try. And as everybody is keeping an eye on the coming eclipse, those fightin’ McMahons Petrellis are at the heart of the conflict. Here’s how the sides have been drawn:

Team Daddy Issues:
• Arthur
• Sylar/Gabriel
• Elle
• Knox
• Flint
• Tracy Strauss

Team Mommy Dearests:
• Angela
• Peter
• Claire-Bear
• Nathan
• Parkman
• Daphne

Unaccounted for? Some heavy hitters: Hiro & Ando; Noah Bennet; Meredith; The Haitian and the seemingly more stable Suresh, though the latter is now working with/for Arthur at Pinehearst, where he and we learn that the Meta-Formula Nakamura-Sama was hiding actually had three components – and Claire thinks she’s the missing “catalyst” — a heck of a leap in logic, but we’ll just go with it for now.

Hiro and Ando were knocked out of the game by Arthur himself, as Papa Petrelli’s ambush in Africa left Hiro thinking and behaving like a 10-year-old boy, and barely able to teleport himself and Ando to safety. As a result, Ando must now go from sidekick to mentor and babysitter. As Young Hiro begins to learn his way around his powers, he picks up a copy of everybody’s favorite first-season plot-device, the supposedly concluded 9th Wonders! Once again, this week’s issue just happens to follow the Dynamic Duo’s journey. But with Isaac dead, who could be writing it? Never mind that, it’s also showing the eclipse!

Speaking of mooning over somebody, Gabriel and Elle rekindle the epic romance that neither they nor us seemingly knew ever existed before last week’s episode, as Electronica Mars is all “You killed my father, prepare to die!” and Gabriel is all “My bad, I had the power munchies.” After several rounds of shock treatment, fan-service, and therapeutic power-absorption by Gabe, all is good and she’s snuggling up to his surprisingly hairy chest. It’s the stuff of music: Sylar and Elle, sitting in a cell, what the H-E-Double-L?

Elsewhere on Lover’s Lane, Parkman has the best week of anybody on the show: not only does he help free Angela from Arthur’s mental imprisonment, but he gets a confession of love from Daphne, who is still scared stiff of being returned to whatever prior life she had before being picked up by Pinehearst. Whatever her reasons, she’s seemingly picked her side, as has most of the cast, as we’re all just waiting for the next eclipse to change the game once again …

The Racialicious Scorecard:
Usutu: Ok, so it wasn’t a red herring. Killed via mindscape by the ubiquitous Arthur Petrelli, Usutu is back to being Silent Mystic Black Man, as he appears to Parkman while he’s in Angela’s mind, despite being decapitated. Was this the writers’ way of letting us know he’ll keep mentoring Matt from beyond the grave?

Hiro & Ando: Ignoring the question of why Arthur let them live while beheading Usutu (and thanks for the multiple shots of the head!), the boys find themselves on the outside looking in with Hiro in 10-Going-On-28 mode. What are the odds that Ando will remember that he was dating the sister of a CEO and call in a favor?

Suresh: Crossing the line seems to have brought him back from the brink. Sort of. This week, Mohinder was sensible, though growing desperate, with his experiment. Of course, his test subject is an unfortunate, unnamed actual person. But, at least the poor guy isn’t webbed up to a wall. What was in the shot Suresh gave him?

Knox: For a guy with a college education, he’s a disaster of a henchman. Not only are neither Claire nor Peter scared of him anymore, but the Benetrellis (thanks, Hexy!) escape in the sewers. To be fair, though, that was Flint’s bad. Will he get to actually kill somebody before the season is over?

MIA: The Haitian.

Next week: Uh oh, Noah’s back. Somebody’s in for it.
Previously: Racialicious Heroes Archive

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