The Hard Part
Aug. 8th, 2009 09:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lathanyHeroes episode 21.
Summary: Hiro and Ando read the comic and discover it is missing pictures; so they go to Isaac's apartment to ask him what the conversation is. However, they find Isaac dead and Sylar there - he hears their hearts, but they teleport away before he sees their faces. Sylar is disturbed by his own latest picture - his encounter with Ted which he links to the exploding man. He rings Mohinder to ask for help, but puts the telephone down on hearing Mohinder ring 991 on his mobile. Hiro wants to leave Sylar until after the election, as in the comic, however Ando says they should do it now and start to follow him. Meanwhile, Matt, Bennett and Ted steal a car to continue their journey to New York. At the Petrelli house, Claire is planning to leave for Paris, but Peter convinces her to tell Nathan about Ted. Nathan hears her out and promises to ring the FBI, but instead calls Linderman. The other two go to his office to find him talking to Bennet's boss - whom Claire recognises - at which point she reverts to her original plan of leaving. Following his conversation with Sylar, Mohinder meets with Bennet's boss again, but tells him that the Company will work with him to find Sylar - as they need Mohinder's formula. The boss agrees, but introduces Mohinder to Molly, who has an ability to find people, but is dying of the same condition that Mohinder's sister contracted. In Las Vegas, DL discovers that Linderman has taken Micah and is furious, he will get his son back. Niki convinces Jessica to go help. Together, they find Linderman gone from his art basement, but evidence that he has been tracking them their whole lives, plus a note of the Petrelli election in New York. Meanwhile Micah tries to escape from his fake mother, fails, but this means Candice reveals herself and her power to him. Back with Hiro and Ando, they follow Sylar to his mother's apartment. Sylar wants his mother to accept him as he is, but she refuses to do so and says he can be so much more. He then shows her his abilities, but she sees them as a sign of damnation. Growing scared of him she attacks him with scissors but Sylar accidentally kills her with them. Hiro bursts in at this moment, stops time, tries to kills Sylar, but time starts up again and Sylar stops him and breaks the sword with his freeze power. Hiro teleports himself and Ando away before Sylar kills them. Mohinder studies his father's research as his father had found a cure - but too late for Shanti. He eventually realises that the cure is in his own blood and gives Molly a drip of it to cure her. Meanwhile Nathan has a visitor - his mother - who, it turns out, is also in on the bomb plan and is there to give him reassurance. Back at the Petrelli house, Peter gives Claire a gun and tells her than he can deal with Ted, but she is the only one who can get close enough to kill him - she will need to shoot him in the back of the head where the glass was. She is unconvinced until he shows her his own drawings - of the explosion and of Ted at Kirby Plaza. The two then go to Kirby Plaza where they meet Bennet, Matt and Ted just arrived in New York. The episode ends with Peter absorbing Ted's power.
Comments: I'm not particularly big on this episode as it's mainly about moving people into place and setting up all the encounters which have now been predicted. Probably the two best parts are meeting Sylar's mother (and gaining an insight into his upbringing) and the bond forming between Claire and Peter. This episode's big downfall is the scene where Hiro fails to kill Sylar due to time restarting for no apparent reason.
Cast list absences: All the main (still alive) characters are present. However Bennet has the smallest role in, I think, any episode since the start of the season and Matt's presence is pretty minimal too.
Claire/Peter: This makes for a good pairing - similar to Ando and Hiro in many ways (although less of a humour thing!). Peter's reasons for sticking around actually make a lot of sense having watched carefully - he's drawn pictures that suggest Ted is the one who explodes (and, as he says to Nathan, his dreams of flying weren't what actually happened). Therefore he's sticking around to stop Ted from exploding and he's arranged for Claire to stop himself from exploding (through being prepared to kill him). I also like this because it's a good demonstration in the series of Claire acting her age in comparison to others - she's constantly trying to work out which of the adults she should best take guidance from.
Mr Bennet/Matt/Ted: Barely get a look in. Ted has better control of his power when starting the car. Also there's a nice, dialogue-less bit at the end with Matt recognising Peter.
Ando/Hiro: One of the better bits of the entire episode. Ando is fired up from knowing more about the past - through his experiences in the future - and knowing he will die. Hiro, meanwhile, still wants to give Sylar a second chance.
Mohinder/Molly: Interesting plot and good to see Mohinder lay down his approach to the company. Pity it seems unlikely that he'll keep the upper hand for very long.
Nathan/Angela: Nathan still needs convincing and it's fascinating that his mother has been in on the scheme all along. It's not, however, clear at what point she (or Linderman) realised it was Peter who exploded - perhaps not until Peter saw a vision of it himself. There's a nice line or two in here - Angela talks about people needing Nathan's strength and practically echoes Future Hiro's sentiment to Peter from the train - "Can you be the one we need?"
Jessica/DL: Some actual good scenes for these two, finally. They get to do some real Hero ability stuff and find out more about Linderman. Also, Jessica is now taking advice from Niki - perhaps because her way didn't keep Micah safe either.
Sylar: Fascinating insight into his life. A religious mother who was over-ambitious for her son. This was far and away the best part of the episode for me. As was Sylar's belated conscience emerging - he really didn't want to kill millions of people. Also, first proper use of the ice power on screen (although off-screen he has already killed Molly's father with it and also uses it against Peter in Five Years Gone).
Summary: Hiro and Ando read the comic and discover it is missing pictures; so they go to Isaac's apartment to ask him what the conversation is. However, they find Isaac dead and Sylar there - he hears their hearts, but they teleport away before he sees their faces. Sylar is disturbed by his own latest picture - his encounter with Ted which he links to the exploding man. He rings Mohinder to ask for help, but puts the telephone down on hearing Mohinder ring 991 on his mobile. Hiro wants to leave Sylar until after the election, as in the comic, however Ando says they should do it now and start to follow him. Meanwhile, Matt, Bennett and Ted steal a car to continue their journey to New York. At the Petrelli house, Claire is planning to leave for Paris, but Peter convinces her to tell Nathan about Ted. Nathan hears her out and promises to ring the FBI, but instead calls Linderman. The other two go to his office to find him talking to Bennet's boss - whom Claire recognises - at which point she reverts to her original plan of leaving. Following his conversation with Sylar, Mohinder meets with Bennet's boss again, but tells him that the Company will work with him to find Sylar - as they need Mohinder's formula. The boss agrees, but introduces Mohinder to Molly, who has an ability to find people, but is dying of the same condition that Mohinder's sister contracted. In Las Vegas, DL discovers that Linderman has taken Micah and is furious, he will get his son back. Niki convinces Jessica to go help. Together, they find Linderman gone from his art basement, but evidence that he has been tracking them their whole lives, plus a note of the Petrelli election in New York. Meanwhile Micah tries to escape from his fake mother, fails, but this means Candice reveals herself and her power to him. Back with Hiro and Ando, they follow Sylar to his mother's apartment. Sylar wants his mother to accept him as he is, but she refuses to do so and says he can be so much more. He then shows her his abilities, but she sees them as a sign of damnation. Growing scared of him she attacks him with scissors but Sylar accidentally kills her with them. Hiro bursts in at this moment, stops time, tries to kills Sylar, but time starts up again and Sylar stops him and breaks the sword with his freeze power. Hiro teleports himself and Ando away before Sylar kills them. Mohinder studies his father's research as his father had found a cure - but too late for Shanti. He eventually realises that the cure is in his own blood and gives Molly a drip of it to cure her. Meanwhile Nathan has a visitor - his mother - who, it turns out, is also in on the bomb plan and is there to give him reassurance. Back at the Petrelli house, Peter gives Claire a gun and tells her than he can deal with Ted, but she is the only one who can get close enough to kill him - she will need to shoot him in the back of the head where the glass was. She is unconvinced until he shows her his own drawings - of the explosion and of Ted at Kirby Plaza. The two then go to Kirby Plaza where they meet Bennet, Matt and Ted just arrived in New York. The episode ends with Peter absorbing Ted's power.
Comments: I'm not particularly big on this episode as it's mainly about moving people into place and setting up all the encounters which have now been predicted. Probably the two best parts are meeting Sylar's mother (and gaining an insight into his upbringing) and the bond forming between Claire and Peter. This episode's big downfall is the scene where Hiro fails to kill Sylar due to time restarting for no apparent reason.
Cast list absences: All the main (still alive) characters are present. However Bennet has the smallest role in, I think, any episode since the start of the season and Matt's presence is pretty minimal too.
Claire/Peter: This makes for a good pairing - similar to Ando and Hiro in many ways (although less of a humour thing!). Peter's reasons for sticking around actually make a lot of sense having watched carefully - he's drawn pictures that suggest Ted is the one who explodes (and, as he says to Nathan, his dreams of flying weren't what actually happened). Therefore he's sticking around to stop Ted from exploding and he's arranged for Claire to stop himself from exploding (through being prepared to kill him). I also like this because it's a good demonstration in the series of Claire acting her age in comparison to others - she's constantly trying to work out which of the adults she should best take guidance from.
Mr Bennet/Matt/Ted: Barely get a look in. Ted has better control of his power when starting the car. Also there's a nice, dialogue-less bit at the end with Matt recognising Peter.
Ando/Hiro: One of the better bits of the entire episode. Ando is fired up from knowing more about the past - through his experiences in the future - and knowing he will die. Hiro, meanwhile, still wants to give Sylar a second chance.
Mohinder/Molly: Interesting plot and good to see Mohinder lay down his approach to the company. Pity it seems unlikely that he'll keep the upper hand for very long.
Nathan/Angela: Nathan still needs convincing and it's fascinating that his mother has been in on the scheme all along. It's not, however, clear at what point she (or Linderman) realised it was Peter who exploded - perhaps not until Peter saw a vision of it himself. There's a nice line or two in here - Angela talks about people needing Nathan's strength and practically echoes Future Hiro's sentiment to Peter from the train - "Can you be the one we need?"
Jessica/DL: Some actual good scenes for these two, finally. They get to do some real Hero ability stuff and find out more about Linderman. Also, Jessica is now taking advice from Niki - perhaps because her way didn't keep Micah safe either.
Sylar: Fascinating insight into his life. A religious mother who was over-ambitious for her son. This was far and away the best part of the episode for me. As was Sylar's belated conscience emerging - he really didn't want to kill millions of people. Also, first proper use of the ice power on screen (although off-screen he has already killed Molly's father with it and also uses it against Peter in Five Years Gone).
