… And not a moment too soon: The Racialicious Review of Heroes 3.13
By Special Correspondent Arturo R. García, also posted to The Instant Callback
*Warning: Spoilers Ahead*
… Well, at least Volume IV looks promising. Sort of.
You could almost see the hands of writer Jeph Loeb moving everyone around in “Dual,” frantically tying up the loose plot threads of this latest arc, as the decks get cleared for a new status quo when “Fugitives” kicks off in a couple of months.
But the road to get there, creatively and critically, has decidedly been full of lows. And this episode was barely an exception. At the end of the day, Tim Kring’s precious Benetrellis are still standing, though in houses divided, although their respective houses of science, Primatech and Pinehearst are not. And the false family member, Sylar, once again falls hard.
Taking his place, for now, as the Big Bad black sheep is Nathan, who completes the shift from conflicted good guy to conniving bad guy even as his plan to create a meta-human army is foiled by not only his brother, but former employees Knox and Flint. As Pinehearst is about to explode, Peter shoots himself up with Mohinder’s formula in order to save Nathan, a favor Nate rejects, telling Pete, “I wouldn’t have done the same” before zooming back to Washington. Well, okay then.
Over at Primatech, Sylar further re-establishes his dark side, playing an unconvincing game of Saw cat-and-mouse with Noah, Claire, Angela and Meredith. Unfortunately for him (and us as viewers), Sy gives in to his inner Bond villain and threatens to monologue everybody to death before Claire puts him down with a well-timed shank.
As dull as the protracted battle was, though, the confrontation between Sylar and Angela, where she finally revealed her ability (persuasion) and her relation to Gabriel (none), did generate a sense of tension before they were rudely interrupted. But I wouldn’t bet on Sylar’s quest for the truth coming to an end just yet.
Hiro’s quest – to destroy the formula that started this mess of a half-season in the first place – came to a happy ending, thanks in large part to Ando’s newfound super powers. Though that keeps Hiro’s original vision of the two coming to blows in play, as we leave them, things seemed pleasant between not only them, but the happy couple of Daphne and Matt. And watching over them, for no apparent damn reason, was Usutu.
And that was that. Just that flat, just that pat. The housecleaning viewers had been clamoring for happened, alright – but all the characters picked off were ineffectual. C’mon, Meredith? Puppet Master guy? Metal Arm guy? Once again we’re back to the core players – only this time, in “a new direction.” Everything has changed, but not really. For a series that once proclaimed it was defying comic book tropes, the creators sure seem to keep relying on them. Can they afford to do that as the show’s ratings continue to slide?
At this point, “Fugitives,” the next story arc, might be the series’ last hope for retaining relevancy – and more importantly, viewers. The set-up this time has Nathan finally using his political connections, to hand in the rest of the Heroes over to President Palmer WORF. From here, an ominous voice-over explains, the gang “will need each other.” Cue the Guantanamo references!
Hey, wait a second. Super-powered people on the run from a world that fears them? Hmm … why does that sound familiar? Nevermind. One hopes, at least, that banding the Heroes together in adversity will lead to a better-organized set of stories in the next volume. It could work.
But then again, I said the same thing at the start of the season. If Claire starts growing mutton chops and calling everybody “bub,” that’s gonna be the last straw.
The Racialicious Scorecard:
Hiro &; Ando: Reunited, and it feels so good? Ando was indeed the key to bringing Hiro back from the early ’90s and destroying the formula. Funny thing, though: Ando’s powers make him the ultimate sidekick – no powers on his own, but he can charge up anybody else’s skills. Can we dub him The Ornament? Not a strong outing for Hiro otherwise, but – and not that this series doesn’t have enough problems re: violence against women – his at least saying “excuse me” before belting Tracy was good for a laugh.
Mohinder: Daphne stole the formula from him before he could cure his condition; Flint, Knox and Peter trashed his lab and beat him up; he lucked into a cure when he got slimed with the Catalyst; and he got stuck wandering home after everybody else left. Oh well, at least Tracy picked him up. Nowhere to go but up, right, Mo?
Knox: Alas, poor Benjamin, we hardly knew ye or your flaring nostrils. Just as he was making his move and taking on Nathan, Tracy puts the literal deep freeze on him. Really, did he accomplish anything?
Echo DeMille: The unnamed third Level 5 inmate Noah freed in this episode was a character in a couple of webisodes and comic-book supplements to the series. So if you followed that media and liked the character, congratulations: all that character development went toward making your guy a footnote. Way to reward the fans, Mr. Kring.
Usutu: Truly, a moment for the Magic Negro pantheon. Dude’s ghost just appears out of nowhere at Matt’s victory party and doesn’t say a word? Is Matt’s spirit walk over? Has it “only begun”? Why not have the guy offer up one of these?
The Haitian: Normally we’d file him as MIA, but this was so egregious it deserved its’ own entry. Last we saw of the guy, he was sent by Peter to tail Sylar. Not only did we not get a resolution to that chase, but the Haitian didn’t appear at all, despite the chase leading back to his home base. What a suitably lazy note for the writers to close this chapter on.
Images & Character Bios Courtesy Of HeroesWiki.
Previously: Racialicious Heroes Archive.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Lisa J wrote:
I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t get or finds odd the whole Nathan as bad guy then good guy then conflicted bad guy to straight up bad guy. I haven’t seen a good reason for his flip-flopping. And what a hypocrite, one minute everyone should have powers and the world should know and then they all have to be locked up (except for him)? And before it always seemed like he loved Peter and now he feels sorry for him and thinks he’s a dupe. I just don’t get it. Is is an enigma, wrapped in a question marked drizzled in stupidity? Or to be more charitable, erratic (or poor) character development and bad (spazoid) writing.
And yes, thanks to Racialicious I burst out at the re-apperance of the magical Negro, named Usutu even though you would never know that just by watching the show.
By the way, was anyone else irritated that they showed a shot of Mikah with his Mom of many names (who’s names have escaped me right now) long-lost sister of Tracey when we haven’t seen hide nor hair of that child almost all season. Is he maybe coming back, is Tracey’s sister (Nikki it just hit me) miraculously returning or was it something else. And I thought Tracey deserved that punch in the mouth. Though I’ll admit that something about that actress, even when she is playing good, that I find slightly grating so even when I like her character I still kind of want to smack her. Maybe it is those bonded too perfect teeth (or crowns) and that ironed hair.
I say, bring back DL, Micah, Michah’s cousin! And give the Hatian a name for goodness sake.
Posted 18 Dec 2008 at 11:49 am ¶
Lisa J wrote:
Ok, I’m too tired. I meant to say “is it a question mark…” and that I burst out laughing, not that I burst. I also meant to put a question mark after my first quasi run-on sentence in my last paragraph. I have to start trying to edit these things more before I hit “post”
Posted 18 Dec 2008 at 11:52 am ¶
jen* wrote:
Looking at Ando’s power, now, it doesn’t seem that what Hiro saw in the future was really an attack. It seems that it’d be more of a jumpstart – maybe to help him get his powers back?
That’s what I’m wondering about now – does the formula, or Ando’s ability, have the power to restore abilities? Are the abilities that characters get based on some type of latency that is built up into a power? Does Peter have the power absorption ability again, or can he only fly? Does Hiro have any time/space latency that Ando can amp back up into some time traveling goodness?
All I have is questions.
(Is Sylar burnt up? Did the building fall on him and then he get burnt up? Will a piece of rubble dislodge the glass shard? Is Arthur really dead? How does Daphne come back from the past – run backwards? move slow? Questions, questions, questions…)
Posted 18 Dec 2008 at 12:00 pm ¶
SpicyCarrot wrote:
I’m kind of annoyed at Ando’s new sidekick power, but he did only JUST get it. I think that in time, he’ll learn to use his power in more badass ways, especially since we saw him kill Hiro in the future using those red sparks.
I was also really pissed they just dropped the Haitian’s storyline. He was going after Sylar and the show didn’t even bother saying what happened?
Finally, Usutu’s appearance was a real WTF? moment. How does it even make sense? Oh, yeah, Heroes writers…
Posted 18 Dec 2008 at 12:04 pm ¶
Barbara wrote:
I keep hoping that a shape shifting hero will show up again and that will explain Nathan’s craziness.
Usutu’s appearance was beyond ridiculous. It is so exemplary of the phenomenon that it offer to be the dictionary example of “magical negro.”
Posted 18 Dec 2008 at 12:43 pm ¶
Madame Zenobia wrote:
*flashes of 24*
I got the whole “President Palmer” vibe too.
My first thought intitally when viewing that scene.
I had some ‘huh?” moments as most of you have, with Utsusu’s reappearance…mmmmm…..all I could think of was, where’s the damn turtle? Bring the turtle into the scene and my life will be complete! *not*
Enjoyed watching Nathan pipe-kick his brother’s ass. Just because…. The character of Nathan, the constant back and forth of good-conflicted-evil, etc. I don’t understand and am like the rest of you stuck with my hands in the air in a state of WTF?
I read, from an interview with Fuller, that Janice returns with ’superbaby’ in tow and that Sylar’s REAL DAD show’s up.
Also, I read that Peter goes back to working; he’s a paramedic now and surprisingly Claire goes back to school!
*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*
Too little, too late? Methinks so
Posted 18 Dec 2008 at 1:33 pm ¶
jen* wrote:
I think I’m finally getting your presidential references, but I didn’t think Nathan was in the car with the president – just an important official from the Pentagon. I had no thought that Nathan might be influential enough to get a meeting with the Pres.
It also seems like they’ll be throwing Tracy and Micah together next chapter – when everybody gets rounded up. And with that, I just threw up in my mouth a little. Yuck.
Posted 18 Dec 2008 at 2:40 pm ¶
Arturo wrote:
Jen,
Good point. But, as a former Trekker, I couldn’t help but geek out a bit at the possibility that Michael Dorn would indeed be playing the Commander of the High Council. YES. WE. Q’APLA!
Posted 18 Dec 2008 at 3:10 pm ¶
polerin wrote:
Nathan- wtf. just stay bad this time. You’re not being conflicted you’re being neurotic.
Utusu- yeah that was bizarre. I think the reference they were sorta going for was Obi-wan, but it just came off as “uh, wtf?”
Flint- … Ok I get that Flint isn’t supposed to be the brightest in the world, but you’d think that
Knox- at least would have figured out the whole “we wouldn’t be so special” aspect to the whole plan earlier. Which makes the scene where he tells Nathan, “He’s [Peter] the Good guy now.” that much weirder. Since when did he give a shit about supporting the “good guy”. I mean, it was nice to see him kick Nathan around a bit, but the whole scene seemed really forced, especially his death. Personally, if he had to be killed off as a minor baddie, I’d rather have seen him kill Nathan first, and have Tracy be the one in the car.
Hiro – nice to see him be an adult etc, but really, when is the bad-ass non-accented Hiro-with-sword-and-style from season 1 going to appear. I wish they’d stop writing him as naive simply because he has ideals and hope.
Ando – yeah, the nature of his power gives a different spin on the thing that Hiro saw. The betrayal may still be there though, but that time line is pretty much wiped for now.
Over all I hope they tighten up the story a bit. There is potential in the story line, but I have the feeling it’s going to turn into more whining and internal strife. Hope not, and I’ll watch because I’m a sucker like that. Also, overall season note. Thank gods Claire wasn’t the catalyst. That would have been my Muttonchops Moment.
Posted 18 Dec 2008 at 3:36 pm ¶
thew wrote:
“the confrontation between Sylar and Angela, where she finally revealed her ability (persuasion) and her relation to Gabriel (none)”
Angela’s power isn’t persuasion (though they hinted at it the first season), she’s just manipulative. Her power is to see the future abstractly in her dreams is explained in the episode where Author traps her in her own mind.
Her dream power was also the first power Peter absorbed (he dreamed his future flight) in the first episode of the series.
http://heroeswiki.com/Precognitive_dreaming
I think I’m going to miss the Racialicious commentary more than the show during the hiatus!
Might there be someone who can racialiciously review Pushing Daisies?
Still holding out hope for Bryan Fuller’s return in Fugitives.
Posted 18 Dec 2008 at 3:47 pm ¶
Mary wrote:
I’m increasingly convinced Sendhil Ramamurthy shot someone’s dog…
Posted 18 Dec 2008 at 6:12 pm ¶
Amused0472 wrote:
I was somewhat leery of Michael Dorn as the president because I am going to be be really mad if, in the next installation, the black president is easily manipulated by Nathan and simply becomes Nathan’s puppet. He’s just going to take Nathan’s word that these folks need to be locked up? Sounds like some Cheney/Rove-like shit to me.
Posted 18 Dec 2008 at 6:42 pm ¶
Lisa J wrote:
@ Jen and Arturo- I thought Nathan said “thank you Mr. President” when he got out of the car. Also unless it was SecDef or the Chair of Joint Chiefs I don’t think most senior pentagon types get a big limo and motorcade
Posted 18 Dec 2008 at 9:26 pm ¶
Erica wrote:
Here’s a sadly plausible explanation for The Haitian’s disappearance and Usutu’s random face time… the writers got them mixed up. It’s a risk when you’ve got two Magical Negroes on staff.
@Lisa — The explanation for Nathan’s complete inconsistency is simple: he’s an idiot. A very gullible idiot.
Posted 18 Dec 2008 at 10:19 pm ¶
SpicyCarrot wrote:
@Lisa J: yeah, I agree that Nathan addressed the guy in the limo as the president. It felt like it was supposed to be one of those “OMG!” moments, but it kinda fell flat.
Although, yeah, why would a jr. senator who’s never really done anything senatorial have pull with the president?
Posted 18 Dec 2008 at 10:28 pm ¶
Ike wrote:
I have a feeling that Mohinder might end up having the catalyst inside of him since he was thrown into the solution. Who knows? I also thought that Claire’s biological mom would be able to survive her explosion. Isn’t she immune to damage from her power? I also can’t wait to find out who Sylar’s real parents are.
Posted 19 Dec 2008 at 4:47 am ¶
Teabag wrote:
A senator of questionable sanity!
Think about it: He won a seat in senate in a landslide victory despite having been behind in polls, and newspapers were speculating about his mob ties… then he has an accident, his wife leaves him because he has mental problems. He becomes an alcoholic, and the next time he’s in the public eye again, he is mysteriously shot, recovers and becomes a religious fanatic.
If that person gave
me a list of people who he says are dangerous because of their superpowers… sure, I’d believe him!
The president sounds like stunt casting more than anything. His role will probably be dang small and there is a chance he’ll die. It depends how far they want to take Nathan on the supervillain path. (He could end up the next evil president, and for that the old one would have to leave.)
I can’t watch Heroes anymore, I can’t stand the way Mohinder is treated. Peter’s self-rightousness and double standards were showing: all the formula must be destroyed, even if it means Mohinder’s death. But as soon as Nathan is in danger, Peter injects himself. And saves Nathan, but leaves Flint and Mohinder behind in the inferno.
And this is somehow supposed to be good.
Echo’s role in this episode does not surprise me. that’s exactly how I expected it to go down. The webisodes were supposed to introduce us to the villains from Level 5, but the more the focus of this volume was shifted from the titular villains to the Petrelli family, the more obvious it became that Echo would be one of the casualties of this.
It annoys me that Heroes breaks promises like that. I heard earlier today that the character Sparrow Redhouse might appear in Volume 5. She’s a Native American. Her name first appeared in Season 1 on Chandra’s list, and she had a brief appearance (getting rescued by Hiro) in a graphic novel set in the future in Season 1. Since then, it was again and again said that she would appear, or might appear eventually, stay tuned: in volume 2, in volume 3, in volume 4. Now it’s volume 5. Uh, I’m not getting my hopes up.
Posted 19 Dec 2008 at 6:06 am ¶
David wrote:
I quit watching this episode halfway through, so I’m glad I can catch up on what happened here.
The turning point for me was Ando. Supercharging other people’s powers is not a power anyone really wants. Sure, you “help” save the day, but in the process you start looking like more and more of a tool, a cog in the machine, that makes the other guy work.
It’s the ultimate non-power, and after the faux Joker/Saw routine from Sylar, I’m not even sure I’ll be able to turn on Season 4. I’ll have to keep following Racialicious to see.
Posted 19 Dec 2008 at 9:44 am ¶
hvls wrote:
I don’t know, this episode was just plain bad for me. It signaled what I felt about the entire season: it just wasted my time. First there are all of these villians which never get any face time and don’t do anything interesting all season.
Then right after what I hope will be the the last appearance of our African Magical Negro, we have the newest fad: Black POTUS. Four years of every show trying to prove how cool and current they are by having a black president. Black POTUS will be cooler than your average white POTUS and know slang that all the young people use these days.
How long into Fugitives will we have to wait until Mohinder and Tracy start making the Mo’s no longer a monster beast with two backs? She did it with Nathan and see how crazy he was all season. At least now he has a plan that’s all his own. Maybe that’s Tracy’s real power: sleep with a guy so he will become illogical and do things that make no sense. Somehow shortly after that Mo will rise to an even greater level of stupidity that Nathan has not yet reached.
Posted 19 Dec 2008 at 11:07 am ¶
jen* wrote:
Well now – I must’ve missed it when Nate addressed him as Mr. President. But that makes it so bizarre to me – seeing as how he’d only just made the move to Washington.
As for Mo becoming illogical and doing things that make no sense – he doesn’t need Tracy for that, he’s been like that all season! All we can hope for is the opposite effect.
And so I continue to be sucked back in to the Heroes saga….
Posted 19 Dec 2008 at 11:28 am ¶
Sarah wrote:
This episode was so bad for me. I leapt out of my seat and yelled “Oh come ON!” when Knox was killed. I was hoping for some death that episode, but why the cool black man? Why?? I loved how he took out that marine though. Magical Negro moment also made me laugh quite a bit.
I couldn’t figure out how Claire ended up at Primatech with her Dad. I know Arthur just blinked her off somewhere but why would he just put her right where she’d want to be? Does that seem like the Arthur we knew? He’ll happily kill his own sons but returns his grand-daughter to her family?
It was very lame letting Claire stab Sylar in the back of the head. We all know Sylar is going to be fine. He’s freaking Sylar! Those eyebrows of his probably dragged him out of the fire to safety.
I was conflicted about the appearance of the president. What with this series track record of killing every POC that gets some screen time, I imagine he’s going to be killed so that Nathan can fill his empty seat hole. I hope I’m dead wrong, but I’ve gotten to a point where when I see a POC character I start guessing how many episodes they’ll be around for before dying or being forgotten.
Micah where art thou?? I hope you and Monica are kicking butt out there. Come back to us soon, but don’t rely on mommy’s twin to help you. I can’t stand seeing any more of blondie.
Question, if Micah’s parents both have manufactured abilities, what about Monica’s? Is it possible abilities run in DL’s side of the family?
Posted 20 Dec 2008 at 3:28 am ¶
Madame Zenobia wrote:
@Lisa J: yeah, I agree that Nathan addressed the guy in the limo as the president. It felt like it was supposed to be one of those “OMG!” moments, but it kinda fell flat.
Although, yeah, why would a jr. senator who’s never really done anything senatorial have pull with the president?
Maybe because this junior senator is a Petrelli??? *shrugs*
@ Sarah,
I wonder about Micah’s grandmother…Nichelle Nichols’ character—-did they ever explain or say if she, too, was a ’super’ or anything?
Peter’s self-rightousness and double standards were showing: all the formula must be destroyed, even if it means Mohinder’s death. But as soon as Nathan is in danger, Peter injects himself. And saves Nathan, but leaves Flint and Mohinder behind in the inferno.
@ Teabag,
Great point.
The explanation for Nathan’s complete inconsistency is simple: he’s an idiot. A very gullible idiot.
@ Erica, I agree and it’s just damn unfortunate. Nathan has been throttled downhill headfirst since this season began.
Posted 20 Dec 2008 at 12:00 pm ¶
Ishtar wrote:
@ Sarah
“He’s freaking Sylar! Those eyebrows of his probably dragged him out of the fire to safety.”
LMAO…classic line!
Posted 21 Dec 2008 at 5:04 pm ¶
Mikedawc wrote:
Heroes is great and all, but is anybody going to do a review of Battlestar Galactica. The last ten episodes are going to be great; however, I do have some problems with the show because of some of the racial stereotypes.
Here are some of the stereotypes that I can recall from the top of my head: The Asian female and the white male couple(twice, maybe three times), Felix Gaeta who appears to be South Asian does wonders at computers, the paranoid/angry african-american(once, ep. 41), the dragon lady(do south asian women count? ep. 58), the white saviour(ep. 47).
The thing that is great about Battlestar Galactica is that there are a lot of good portrayals of minority characters and women. The show features strong women(quite literally in some instances), an hispanic-american plays Commander Adama, good portrayals of African-Americans who are usually religious(season 2), dragon ladies turning over to the good side(season 1) and a bunch of other stuff.
I might be wrong about some of this stuff, so correct me if I am wrong. Anyways, I think Battlestar Galactica is a great show with some great action sequences, smart writing and awesome visuals even if I don’t always agree with some of the political messages i.e. antiprolife, terrorists as good guys; but I do agree with some like don’t antagonize the military or athiests are the bad guys, not all of them though.
Posted 22 Dec 2008 at 3:03 am ¶
Mikedawc wrote:
Oh, by the way, didn’t one of Micah’s grandmothers have the ability of power augmentation, I think it was from one of the online comics; however, she gets killed by the Company/Primatech.
Posted 22 Dec 2008 at 3:10 am ¶
Jason wrote:
Arturo wrote:
… YES. WE. Q’APLA!
***
Instant classic!
Posted 22 Dec 2008 at 5:40 pm ¶
Jeremy Pierce wrote:
Pupper Master guy isn’t dead. He’s in an episode in Fugitives.
Knox was never an interesting character, though. I’m not sure why he lasted this long. A black guy whose power can only be used violently? I much prefer those with cool powers, but I guess around here black guys with cool powers are just Magical Negroes instead of black guys with cool powers.
The writers have said that Hiro isn’t getting his powers back for a long time. They want to give him some time as a normal the way they did with Peter. In this case, it’s to do a role-reversal with Ando being the powered one.
I think Ando’s power is really cool. It’s much more interesting than some of what they’ve come up with lately (read: Knox; I’d include the shattering guy, but that wasn’t the writers’ fault).
Usutu’s appearance is part of an ongoing arc that hasn’t been resolved yet. Of course you didn’t understand it. They haven’t explained it yet! What they’ve said is that there’s some connection between him and Matt and that we should be asking whether it’s Usutu’s power or Matt’s that leads Matt to keep seeing him. I’m open to an interesting explanation.
To 9: I keep seeing this assumption in this comment threads that the alternate future version of Hiro from season 1, a future that will not happen, must somehow occur anyway. Why assume that? They prevented that future. The dark Hiro occurred as a result of Ando’s death. Do you want Ando to die? I don’t. It’s not clear that the mall future scene is wiped, though. They do have a mall scene in Fugitives, according to spoilers, and it might be that one or something similar enough. As for Claire, she was the catalyst, but she then changed the past, making it no longer true that she was. It’s bad philosophy of time, but the writers have explicitly affirmed it as a time-changing case rather than them being wrong all along about who was the catalyst.
10: Bryan Fuller is returning. His influence will appear around episode 20, I believe.
16: The writers say no. The catalyst is gone. The formula is no more, except for any vials that might have survived the fire. Also, Meredith is immune to fire but not to the collapse of a building on top of her. How they’re going to explain Sylar’s survival is beyond me.
17: Nathan wasn’t elected to the Senate. He was appointed. The election you’re referring to was for the House seat that he abandoned when he thought Peter was dead and it was his fault. So what was the promise you think they broke? All they said, as far as I remember, is that he’d appear in this episode. He did. Sounds like they kept their promise.
24: Gaeta is played by a Latino. I don’t know of any stance on abortion taken by the show, just a decision made by one character for reasons very much unlike those in the current debate. Also, there are atheists on both sides. One Cylon model is atheist, but lots of the humans are pretty unfaithful to the gods and at least atheist in practice.
Posted 30 Dec 2008 at 12:52 pm ¶
Beth wrote:
I love me some Michael Dorn. I hope he actually gets to play a role next season.
Posted 01 Jan 2009 at 5:25 pm ¶
Beth wrote:
@24. I love Battlestar, too.
While we’re talking about other shows, I think it would be great if there was an Ugly Betty roundtable once the show gets started again. Race and ethnicity definitely play a role in the series, usually in nuanced, interesting ways.
Posted 01 Jan 2009 at 5:35 pm ¶