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
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Mary wrote:
LOLOLOLOL!!!! It’s almost worth getting these terrible episodes of Heroes just to read the grade-A snark the next day…
Seriously, between:
a) Claire never making any decisions about her own future,
b) Niki turning into skanky schoolgirl “Gina” last year,
c) Elle deciding she’s totally hot for the guy who SLICED OPEN HER FATHER’S HEAD,
d) Sandra Bennet being just hunky-dory staying married to the man who turned her brain into Swiss cheese,
e) Maya’s hookups with both Sylar and Suresh,
I’m not sure if the treatment of women or of minorities on this show bugs me more. Like I was saying on one of the earlier Heroes threads, just because there is MORE writing for white characters doesn’t mean it is BETTER writing… there’s just more crappy writing for the Benetrellis (ha!).
Not that I’m offering that as an excuse for the wretched treatment of characters of color this season.
Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 1:19 pm ¶
Renee wrote:
I am extremely angry that Hiro was turned into a 10 year old boy. What is it with the infantalizing of POC? In season one we were introduced to a future badass Hiro that was much different than even the Hiro before the transformation. When are we going to see this change even begin to occur? Why is it that has remained the same and not changed at all? It seems that Peter can leave the wide doe eyes behind him but a man of color cannot. They need to fix this racist nonsense quickly.
Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 1:34 pm ¶
Madame Zenobia wrote:
I’m being lazy and reposting what I posted in the roundtable thread:
I regressed myself, like Hiro, and actually watched this -ish last night. I can honestly say that I felt absolutely nothing one way or the other. It’s clear with the parting shot that our ‘teams’ have been assigned. The Heroes vs. the Villains and betwixt the two (or on the perimeter of all, however you want to look at it) lies those ‘extra characters’ that are only there to ‘exist’ for the sake of either side.
Oh and also, had an eye-rolling moment with Peter and Claire and almost popped my eyes out of my sockets when Claire realized that SHE was the catalyst. Yeah…uh-huh…didn’t see ‘that’ one coming. *insert all kinds of snark and sarcasm here* Just another ploy to keep this annoyingly annoying character (in my opinion) relevant.
My choice for catalyst: ANDO.
Now how awesome would ‘that’ be? What a twist that could’ve been? He finds out not only is he the ‘key’ but he’s also has some sort of power that doesn’t reveal itself until that moment!
*sigh*
Instead he’s playing au pare to Hiro’s regressed self. *weeps inwardly*
Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 1:47 pm ¶
Mary wrote:
Renee, that pissed me off too. I am starting to seriously pity the actors of color on this show – Masi Oka surely can’t have been happy to be portraying such a buffoonish mutation of his character.
At least James Kyson Lee is hot.
Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 1:50 pm ¶
Erica wrote:
I’m curious about what Arthur did to Hiro. If it was “ordering” him to forget the last 18 years of his life, that fits in with his power. If it was forcibly removing the memories, that’s more of a Haitian thing, which implies Papa Petrelli has power-sucked and killed the Haitian.
Either way, Hiro’s right back to Season One Doofus Hiro.
Ando is totally my favorite this season, and was well up there previous seasons as well. He has no powers, and is fine with that. He’s the voice of reason. He’s the patient friend who puts up with mistrust (and spitballs). And he also does his best to kick some ass when needed.
“IT’S COMING…” I wish it would just get here already. Because if I have to watch one more dreck-filled love scene between Pscyho Princess and Am-I-Evil-I’m-Not-Sure, I will throw something at the TV.
Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 2:17 pm ¶
tj wrote:
anyone else notice that they are repeating storylines from season 1?
Hiro discoveres his powers.
Hiro and Ando find a comic book and follow its instructions.
Save the cheerleader, Save the world . . . !
Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 2:19 pm ¶
Mr. Noface wrote:
People still watch this show??!!?
Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 2:28 pm ¶
jen* wrote:
Well, according to logic, the Haitian shouldn’t be dead because he suppresses other people’s powers. But then, logic was thrown out the window at the beginning of the season, so why should we expect it to return now?
I thought last night would be my last episode, but then – I also thought last night was the eclipse. So, I think I’ll wait for the eclipse. I spent the show between ‘Whaaa?’ and ‘Come on.’
I didn’t find it funny for Hiro to be reduced to a child, my intense hatred for all things Petrelli only intensified, and the strangely incestuous link between Clair-bear and Peter is starting to gross me out.
I second Mme. Zenobia’s choice for catalyst. Why the *beep* would Kaito choose the cheerleader? Although, if he did, Sylar already knows Clair’s the catalyst – and so does Papa Evil. [What a sucky way to go]
I’m wondering – if everybody loses their powers with the eclipse – is this when Ando gets his?
Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 2:40 pm ¶
Radfem wrote:
Didn’t Kaito originally have custody of Claire-Bear and give her to Noah (back during his Horned Rimmed Glasses days) in a flashback episode with a young Hiro in the background?
I thought some of them had their powers six months before the eclipse? After all, didn’t Claire-Bear’s real mother fight it out on a train before the eclipse and even Claire-Bear was throwing herself off of construction sites before the eclipse?
I think Clair-Bear’s probably the catalyst because Syler saw that she was different but I think Ando would be a better choice. He’s the best character on the show. I think he’ll end up being the most powerful person as well down the line. I think Hiro’s almost nonredeemable at this point, the victim of character assassination and I think Ando killed him to protect the world in the future vision.
I think the actors are trying but the episodes are poorly written. Lost had several seasons like this. Heroes seems to be extending that pain even further.
Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 7:31 pm ¶
LTP wrote:
I am so, so disappointed with this episode. Worst one so far, even worse than last weeks in my opinion.
Hiro went from series hero to comic relief. His subplot of being a 10 year old boy reads like it was written by a 14 year olds fan fiction.
I rolled my eyes hard at Sylar’s monologuing. And why did it take three tries to burn his undershirt?
Disappointing.
Posted 19 Nov 2008 at 2:56 am ¶
LTP wrote:
PS. Anyone who might have this recorded or downloaded it to watch it go open it back up and do me a quick, immature favor.
In that very last scene where Aurthur is drawing madly, just before we get to see what it is he was drawing… pretend you didn’t see the pad of paper he was holding, like I did, and then try and guess what he was doing. Took me until the reveal to figure out what was actually happening.
Puts a whole new spin on the earlier scene of him intently watching Sylar and Elle’s security camera sexual tension.
Posted 19 Nov 2008 at 5:18 am ¶
Peter Pixie wrote:
I said it last week that the previews of this week nearly made me cry. but here’s the deal. last week they were all ‘Eclipse is Coming!!’ and made it appear to be coming in this last episode. Which is didnt. Many of you have already made points to the ongoing and NEW issues created.
I know I would like to say that after the midseason break I would be done with this series, but its too much of a train wreck to ignore how the network will decide to let it die.
ON BRIGHTER NEWS: Battlestar Galactica is coming back for a close! And I figure Im the lost toaster.
Posted 19 Nov 2008 at 10:12 am ¶
Madame Zenobia wrote:
***In response to Jen,***
I didn’t find it funny for Hiro to be reduced to a child, my intense hatred for all things Petrelli only intensified, and the strangely incestuous link between Clair-bear and Peter is starting to gross me out.
They’ve been grossing me out since Season 1.
I second Mme. Zenobia’s choice for catalyst. Why the *beep* would Kaito choose the cheerleader? Although, if he did, Sylar already knows Clair’s the catalyst – and so does Papa Evil. [What a sucky way to go]
I’m wondering – if everybody loses their powers with the eclipse – is this when Ando gets his?
I think it would be AWESOME if Ando (who like someone stated above is the VOICE OF REASON) would get powers and make all these ‘I’m so special’ characters LOSE their ‘specialness’. I’m beginning to abhor the majority of them. Give them a little power, give them an inch and they take a friggin’ LIGHT YEAR. Give them a taste of God-ness, then take it away with the Eclipse.
I’d like to call this: ADAM MONROE’S REVENGE. Lololol But Kring will find a way to keep the boring, annoying and mundane ‘special’ and by those attributes, I refer primarily to Claire, to a certain extent Peter, to Meredith and to Tracy.
***In response to Radfem,***
I think the actors are trying but the episodes are poorly written.
I can agree. But it still doesn’t make Peter/Claire scenes any more bearable.
***In response to LTP,***
I rolled my eyes hard at Sylar’s monologuing. And why did it take three tries to burn his undershirt?
I know, right! And why not burn his pants, too? I swear I LOLed while watching that scene. Unfortunate that my mind focused on ‘that’ and not all the raw ‘emoting’ going on. LOL.
Posted 19 Nov 2008 at 11:44 am ¶
jgrl wrote:
I interpreted Hiro’s regression into a 10 year old boy to be the writers’ way of biting back at the viewers. I think the writers are trying to show that “hey, we weren’t infantilizing Hiro before – THIS is infantilizing Hiro.” I only hope that he snaps out of it soon, grows up, and stops being wide-eyed wonder boy.
I actually think Sylar and Elle are cute together. I don’t exactly find it that believable/likely that Elle would be all goo goo eyes for the guy that killed her dad just recently, but Elle isn’t quite “right” anyway (that’s one of the things I like about her). Also, the writers aren’t big on logic anyway, as many others have pointed out.
I also like Daphne/Matt. I want more screen time for the tortoise, though.
Finally, I don’t get why the promos are all like “the last eclipse gave them their powers….” – no it didn’t! Many characters had powers BEFORE the eclipse (hey, Adam Monroe/Kensei had them hundreds of years prior!). Unless they are trying to say that after each eclipse, some new characters get their powers…but how many eclipses are there?
Posted 19 Nov 2008 at 12:15 pm ¶
B wrote:
I cosign on the hotness of James Kyson Lee, and agree that he would be waaay better as the catalyst. Claire was arguably a catalyst, in a symbolic if not literal sense, for the first season (”save the cheerleader”) so it seems too obvious for her to be one now.
Posted 19 Nov 2008 at 12:45 pm ¶
Radfem wrote:
I just wish Ando would get his powers and zap Hiro.
I think the weird factor is from the actors being an item in real life and not keeping it out of their performances onscreen. When they break up (and these set flings never last) I guess we’ll all know it.
Posted 19 Nov 2008 at 2:41 pm ¶
hvls wrote:
I feel that if I have to watch another episode of the wonderful, expanding Bentrelli family, I will scream. Just wait, the big twist next season is how Parkman is Angela’s mother’s uncle’s siters’ wife’s third cousin. How come we haven’t seen any focus on the POC families. Parents in those families just die: DL, Suresh’s dad, Kaito. Istead of adding to the two white families, why can’t we learn more about Hiro’s sister and if she has any powers? Or find out what’s going on with Micah in NO?
I think I finally figured it out- Hiro is the catalyst. It’t the only reason why he and Ando haven’t gone the way of Micah and every other POC on the show. Or been killed like the this season’s Magical Negro by Papa P (he wouldn’t want to risk someone close to Kaito just in case). Soon in Issac’s posthumonous comic, it will show Ando getting his powers from Suresh’s formula and Hiro’s blood. Ando will then kill Hiro to prevent what ever bad thing we saw happening in the first episode of the season. If I’m right, the it shows that Kring does sometimes think that POC matter almost as much and the Bentellis, but only when he can kill them off. At this rate, the show will be all white by the begining of season 4. How long do you think Know will last?
Posted 19 Nov 2008 at 5:41 pm ¶
polerin wrote:
Yeah, the treatment of Hiro irked me, though it was slightly disjointing to have the same basic thing happen in the episode of Twin peaks I was watching tonight. That whole scene was so poorly set up that all I could think was “Damn, Ando got some serious air for a mundane.”
Meh.
Anyway, if Clair and her magic heal-everything blood is the catalyst I’m going to be awful upset. They’ve already used that trick once. Arg. At least Parkman had a good week. I have a soft spot for people just trying to do the right thing (TM).
Posted 20 Nov 2008 at 2:17 am ¶
Madame Zenobia wrote:
http://tv.ign.com/articles/931/931067p1.html
KRING shoots his mouth off
Posted 21 Nov 2008 at 1:59 pm ¶
Mr. Noface wrote:
I have one question about “The Haitian” that has bugged me since season one (and if anyone can give me any incite that will calm me down, it would be much appreciated). If I remember correctly, Parkman was the first person to use that term in reference to Jimmy Jean’s Character. My question is this; how the heck did he know that this (at that point) mute black man whose mind he cannot read, was Haitian. The dude could have been any ethnicity at that point, so where did the term “The Haitian” come from. Never mind the fact that after three seasons we still don’t know the character’s proper name, how the heck did people who didn’t really even know him, know to give him the aforementioned moniker in the first place. Is it bad writing or what?!
Posted 21 Nov 2008 at 2:13 pm ¶
Andrea R. wrote:
I’ve been re-watching the first season (it was a gift and I don’t have tv) and it’s badass. Anyway, when Parkman first met “The Hatian” he referred to him as a guy at the bar, not a black guy or a Hatian guy. “The Hatian” refers to his past to his country of origin. I do remember an episode exploring that how Noah, or HRG “discovered” The Hatian and brought him back, and that’s why everyone calls him The Hatian. I don’t however remember if Parkman was part of that story telling or not, like if HRG told that story in-front of Parkman. I’ll have to go through the episodes and keep an eye out for that.
With that said, I used to be a huge Heroes fan, but man, my patience sure is waining. The only good part about this episode was Parkman getting into Mama Petrellis mind and all the craziness that ensued. Other than that, I don’t like the soap opera it’s becoming. If I wanted that much romantic drama, I’d watch Grey’s Anatomy. Oh right, that shows going down the crapper too.
Posted 21 Nov 2008 at 2:39 pm ¶
Andrea R. wrote:
Should have read my post before hitting “post”. Eek! Sorry.
Posted 21 Nov 2008 at 2:40 pm ¶
Arturo wrote:
Hi Madame Z,
Here’s a follow-up on Kring’s latest remarks.
Posted 21 Nov 2008 at 3:36 pm ¶
Madame Zenobia wrote:
Thanks Arturo. I just read the ‘apology’ on LiveJournal. Perhaps Kring should just remain “quiet”. I think that would be his best bet now. Fans keep this show afloat; this is more evident now than any other time. He would be wise to remain mute from here on out LOL
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 9:06 am ¶