Weekly re-cap and observations of the extraordinary T.V. series "Heroes"
“VILLIANS” – CHAPTER ONE “The Second Coming”
Air Date
Monday, September 22nd, 2008 7/8c
(The night of one-hundred vignettes (actually only 40)… trying to keep up with the two episodes last night was like running a sprint carrying a bus; stronger for it but totally exhausted in the end!)
Recap of events:
Manhattan, New York – The Future (Four Years From Now)
Future Peter, who is on the run, is confronted by Future Claire in an abandoned warehouse or parking structure in Manhattan. Future Claire points a gun at Peter’s head and tells him that it “must end.” Peter tells Claire that that he is “going back to the day they found out” so that the camps and the hunting of people with powers will stop.
Claire shoots him but Peter stops time and takes the gun away.
Odessa, Texas – Present Day
Future Peter, in disguise, shoots Nathan during an important press conference in which Nathan will reveal that people with incredible powers are moving freely in the world and that they are extremely dangerous. (Thus, revealing the identity of the assailant from the season two finale.)
Claire calls Peter and offers her restorative blood to help save Nathan’s life but Peter who tells her to remain in California. In the meantime, at the hospital, Nathan dies but is miraculously resurrected.
Tokyo, Japan – Yamagato Industries – Present Day
A very bored Hiro diddles with time when he finds himself quest less. A corporate lawyer delivers a DVD which he says is a message from Hiro’s father.
Costa Verde, California – Present Day
Claire decides to leave for Texas anyway but before she can leave Sylar enters the house and stalks her.
Manhattan, New York – Present Day
Mohinder tells Maya that he has given up and wishes to return to India (Where have we heard that before?) Maya becomes angry and her power manifests but she controls it, even without her brother. Mohinder is struck with a revelation that the Adrenal Gland is the key to the powers and experiments with Maya’s blood.
Tokyo, Japan – Yamagato Industries – Present Day
Hiro and Ando view the DVD. Hiro’s father reveals that his “sacred duty” is to become the sentinel of a secret which is hidden in the office safe. He instructs Hiro to “never open the safe!” He admits that one-half of an important formula is hidden in the safe and must be protected. They are told: For the ‘purity of blood use the “light” to safeguard against darkness. Of course, Hiro opens the safe and examines the formula.
Then in a flurry of flying office papers and a flash of speed the formula is removed from Hiro’s hand. He immediately freezes time and follows the trail to find… a Hero with the gift of super speed but she escapes with the formula!
Odessa, Texas – Present Day
Matt Parkman, who is evidently working security for Nathan, finds the gun that Peter stashed and confronts him. Peter shows him the scar revealing that he is Future Peter. Matt then disappears!
Future Peter tells his brother that he must stop him from changing the future!
Nathan visits the hospital chapel and reveals that; “I saw God today! And his message is that we are all connected! To save the world we must save ourselves!”
Manhattan, New York – Present Day
After testing Maya’s blood Mohinder believes that he has found “the source” of the power which he thinks can be given to anyone. From “the source” he concocts a serum.
Odessa, Texas – Present Day
Claire continues to hide from Sylar who finds Noah Bennett’s folder concerning Level 5, Primatech’s underground holding area for villains. Claire attacks Sylar and stabs him in the chest with a knife but he subdues her and as is his nature buzzes the top of her skull off. As Sylar steals something from Claire’s open brain she asks him if he’s going to eat her brain. Sylar’s response? “That’s disgusting!
Sylar heals himself as does Claire and as he leaves he tells Claire that she can never die and now neither can he!
Manhattan, New York – Present Day
Mohinder is determined to use the serum from Maya to give abilities to everyone. Maya worries that it will get into the wrong hands but Mohinder declares that it’s already in the wrong hands! A clandestine organization wants all the power!
Maya implores him to destroy the serum.
Odessa, Texas – Present Day
Nathan tells Future Peter that he was “touched by God” and that God brought him back. He promises Future Peter that he won’t reveal the powers to the world because then they could not do the work of angels!
Linderman makes an entrance and Nathan exclaims, “You healed me!”
Washington, D.C. - Present Day
Governor Malden and Tracy Strauss (a Niki/Jessica look-a-like or the trifecta of bad-ass-babes) conspire to bring Nathan Petrelli into their political stable. The discussion veers subtly towards blackmail.
Somewhere in Africa – Present Day
Matt Parkman wakes up in the middle of the desert with a scorpion crawling on his face. Evidently, Future Peter wants Matt far, far away!
Tokyo, Japan – Present Day and The Future
Ando and Hiro discuss finding the speedster but Hiro refuses to visit the past for fear of being trapped again. He decides to visit the future. When he arrives sirens are wailing and people are running chaotically through the streets. An emergency of some type is obviously in progress. Hiro sees himself and Ando arguing over the formula and Hiro draws his sword but Future Ando zaps him with a bolt of red electricity and Hiro falls to his death.
The world explodes around him and Hiro travels back to the present to escape his destruction.
Manhattan, New York
Mohinder debates whether to destroy the serum or take it himself. After an internal struggle he injects himself with the serum and goes into shock.
Odessa, Texas – Present Day
Mrs. Petrelli confronts Future Peter and asks him what he’s done with Present Peter. Mrs. Petrelli tells Future Peter that since the formula is out it will destroy everything. Something different happens now. “The future is screwed up!”
Present Peter is trapped inside the body of an inmate at Level 5.
Manhattan, New York – Present Day
Upon awakening from the shock of taking the serum Mohinder is mugged and beats off the attackers crushing a gun with his bare hands in the process.
The Mohinder voice over at the end of the episode is the poem “The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats.
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”
“The Second Coming is at hand!”
“VILLIANS” – CHAPTER TWO “The Butterfly Effect”
Air Date
Monday, September 22nd, 2008 8/9c
Part One
Costa Verde, California – Present Day
Claire tells her mother that Sylar will never come back because he got what he came for. Claire cuts herself but cannot feel the pain. She tells her mom that when she feels the pain of an injury it is the only time she still feels human.
Unknown Location – A Possible Future
In a flash forward Mrs. Petrelli dreams of the death of many of our Heroes. Hiro is found on the floor in the doorway of a room in disarray with his own sword through his chest (sighting of the symbol on the sword handle.) Matt Parkman sits in a chair with his throat slit. Peter is seen with his head smashed through a window. And Claire is being strangled by an unknown assailant and is then beheaded. Noah Bennett lays dead on the floor, his signature horn-rimmed glasses next to his body.
It would seem that an alliance has been formed. We see Adam, Jessica, Matt Parkman’s dad and the unknown assailant standing in the hall. Sylar comes up behind Mrs. Petrelli, who is facing the alliance, and smiles.
Peter’s Apartment – Present Day
While Peter constructs a map with string that is similar to Chandra Suresh’s map in Manhattan his mother tells him to return from where he came from.
Manhattan, New York – Present Day
Mohinder has found new powers as he is seen hanging upside down from the ceiling and later crawls up the wall Spiderman-like. He consumes mass quantities of chocolate milk (?) and then seduces an unsuspecting but pleased Maya.
Somewhere in Africa – Location Unknown – Present Day
Matt Parkman is surrounded by savannah and without water passes out.
Part Two
Hartsdale, New York - Primatech Research – Present Day
Elle and Bob watch a video of two agents trying to subdue Sylar in California. In the video they shoot Sylar who shimmies with the injury and then blasts them with an unknown power from the palm of his hand.
Elle implores her father to let her stop Sylar.
Tokyo, Japan – Yamagato Industries - Present Day
Hiro has hired a private investigation agency to find the speedster who has stolen the formula. They uncover Daphne Millbrook who lives at 14 Rue Saint-Jacques in Paris, France. Hiro time warps with Ando.
Washington, D.C. – Present Day
Governor Malden and Tracy Strauss (the Niki/Jessica look-a-like) discuss buying Nathan Petrelli and making him a U.S. Senator.
A reporter confronts Tracy in the parking structure and tells her that he knows she was an internet stripper. Tracy denies that it is her.
Paris, France – Present Day (?)
Hiro and Ando discover that Daphne’s apartment is filled with priceless artifacts and art work that has been stolen including the Mona Lisa. They begin searching for the missing half of the formula.
Costa Verde, California – Present Day
Claire, in an attempt to feel more human, videos herself as she stands waiting on the railroad tracks for a train to run her over. At the last moment Future Peter flies in and saves her from being hit by the locomotive. Claire tells Future Peter that Sylar can now heal himself. She begs Future Peter to teach her how to fight Sylar.
Odessa, Texas – Present Day
Tracy Strauss visits Nathan Petrelli who is found praying in his recovery room. Nathan recognizes Tracy as Jessica who again denies that identity. She tells him that Governor Malden is interested in his abilities. As she leaves Linderman enters and tells Nathan that she is not Jessica but Tracy Strauss.
Linderman tells Nathan that it is God’s plan for him to accept Malden’s proposal.
Hartsdale, New York - Primatech Research – Present Day
Elle begs her father, Bob, to allow her to look for Sylar but she finds him dead in his chair with the top of his head buzzed off. Obviously, Sylar is in the building! Elle runs down to Level 5 and releasing Noah Bennett gives him a gun. Sylar throws Elle against the wall and Noah empties the gun into Sylar who falls to the ground. The bullets clink to the ground and Sylar awakens and throws Noah against the wall. As he attempts to buzz off Elle’s head she explodes in energy and Sylar is caught in the wash.
The prisoners kept at Level 5 are release in the electrical storm but Noah drags an unconscious Sylar into a power blocking cell.
Paris, France – Present Day (?)
Hiro and Ando discuss laying a trap for Daphne as they cannot find the missing half of the formula.
Odessa, Texas – Present Day
Future Peter visits Nathan and tells him that he comes from a future where humans with special powers are hunted and placed in concentration camps. Future Peter begs Nathan’s forgiveness (for what isn’t quite clear) and implores him to “make the right choices (again unclear.)
Washington, D.C. – Present Day
Nathan calls Tracy Strauss and takes her up on the offer to become the Junior Senator of New York with one stipulation – she must work on his staff. She agrees and is then accosted once again by the reported. He shows her a video of her and Nathan Petrelli in indecent repose in Las Vegas. Tracy touches the reporter in anger who freezes instantly and then shatters into pieces when he falls.
Hartsdale, New York - Primatech Research – Present Day
At level 5 Sylar is now captured and being fed intravenously on a table in a cell. Mrs. Petrelli declares that the chain of command has fallen upon her and that Elle is no longer needed.
Paris, France – Present Day (?)
Daphne returns to her apartment to find Hiro and Ando ransacking her stolen goods in an attempt to locate the missing half of the formula. Hiro blackmails Daphne with a trade for her favorite sprinting medallion. And, again she escapes with both the formula and the medallion. Hiro, however, has placed a tracking device in the medallion and sees that Daphne has gone to Germany.
Manhattan, New York – Present Day
The side effects of the serum begin to multiply as Mohinder suffers. He has found himself sensitive to light, is highly dehydrated and worse, his skin is peeling from his body!
Somewhere in Africa – Present Day
Matt Parkman awakes, also dehydrated (do I detect a common theme?), in the desert/savannah of Africa to a talking turtle (or is it?). A voice tells him to use a plant to claim water from its roots. A tribesman reveals himself and tells Matt that he must go on a spirit walk. The tribesman knows Matt’s name and tells him that if he is there then the future is not as he painted it!
Odessa, Texas – Present Day
Nathan plays chess with Linderman in his recovery room. When a nurse asks him who he is talking to Linderman declares that Nathan is the only one that can see or hear him. Is Linderman a figment of his imagination? God? The voice from the abyss? Hmm… stay tuned for more!
Costa Verde, California – Present Day
Noah Bennett and Claire are looking at the list of “Villains” that have escaped Level 5 during Elle’s electrical storm.
The escapees include: Knox, a man that can absorb a persons greatest fears and turn them into incredible strength; Flint, with pyrotechnic powers that can throw blue flame. The German, who can control magnetic energy; and Jesse, who is listed as a sound manipulator but Noah tells Claire that she really does not want to know what he can do.
Claire asks her Noah to let her help find Sylar but he insists that she stay in California and that he has enlisted someone to make sure that she does. Claire’s biological mother (manipulator of fire) has been invited to stay.
Odessa, Texas – Present Day
Present Peter is trapped inside the body of Jesse, one of the escapees from Level 5 and tries to warn Nathan. But the escapees have other plans. In the closing scene the “Villains” are in the middle of a car-jacking. The German beats one of the occupants as Flint throws flames on another.
At Primatech Paper, on Level 5, Sylar is visited by Mrs. Petrelli. During a discussion she says that her other sons were disappointments. Sylar tells Mrs. Petrelli, “You are not my mother!” and she replies, “Yes, Gabriel, I am!”
The Alternative Takes Notes:
1. The Butterfly Effect -
The Butterfly Effect is a phrase that describes the technical notions of chaos theory. The phrase refers to the idea that a butterfly’s wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that may ultimately alter the path of a tornado or delay, accelerate or even prevent the occurrence of a tornado in a certain location. The flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to large-scale alterations of events.
2. Claire and her injuries -
Claire’s attempts to injure herself explained - During “The Butterfly Effect” we find out why Claire has attempted to hurt herself so many times. She declares that when she feels the pain of an injury it is the only time she still feels human. Does this mean that Claire does not want her power? Would she give it up some day to be more human?
3. New “Heroes” or “Villains” -
Okay, I admit, that it is a little difficult to decide who is the Hero or the Villain, so I won’t attempt to. However, there were new characters introduced during the two episodes. I list them here without alignments as I’m certain that their roles will fall into place later on in the year.
1. Daphne Millbrook – Speedster – Super fast speed (think the Flash on uppers!)
2. Benjamin Knox – Can absorbs fears and turn them into incredible strength
3. Flint – Pyrotechnics – Throws flames
4. The German – Can control magnetic energy
5. Jesse – Sound Manipulation – Important because he holds the soul of Peter Present.
6. Ando – Electricity? – throws red bolts of electricity? (This may only be a flash forward power and not actual (but I had to list it!)
7. Tracy Strauss – Freeze Ray – Tracy touches a reporter and he turns to ice and then shatters into pieces.
8. African Tribesman – Future painter – Evidently Isaac Mendez wasn’t the only one who could do this!
9. Angela Petrelli – Predictive Dreams (?) (a hunch on my part – still unproven)
4. The Alliance of Villains –
During Mrs. Petrelli’s flash forward to a possible future we find that many of our favorite Heroes are in danger of being eliminated. It appears that some of the villains have come together to form a group.
Adam, Hiro’s nemesis from the past, Jessica, Niki’s evil twin, Matt Parkman’s dad, who has similar abilities to Matt, and an unknown African-American Man, powers, for now, not revealed, have formed an alliance. From the scene it is not clear if Sylar and Mrs. Petrelli are also in the alliance but it seems plausible.
Mrs. Petrelli could also be in danger but her involvement remains unclear.
5. The formula.
Although it is called half the formula one must wonder who has the other half. Also, how did Daphne know that the safe was opened and that Hiro had the formula in hand?
6. The African Tribesman –
The painting of the Earth exploding is first seen by Matt Parkman in the desert of Africa. It appears once again on a wall in Manhattan after Mohinder takes the serum. Is the Tribesman channeling a tagger?
7. Possible futures -
We’ve now seen multiple possible futures in the show:
(1) New York City evaporated in a nuclear explosion (and taking Peter and Nathan with it – BTW – What happened to Nathan’s burns?)
(2) Sylar pretending to be Nathan and ruling the country from the White House and Hiro as a terrorist
(3) The entire world quarantined after a virus of epic proportions
(4) A future where those with power are hunted and held in concentration camps
(5) Tokyo destroyed in a holocaust and Hiro and Ando fighting over the formula
(6) Many of the known Heroes killed by the Villains (from Mrs. Petrelli’s flash forward dream)
I somehow feel like I’m missing some…
8. Also found on the net:
And Check out the “Heroes repository” while you are there!
