Two Down, One To Go

With Battlestar Galactica now over, and only a season and a half left of Lost, is it possible that there'll come a day when Heroes will be the only sf hourlong show I watch? If that turns out to be true, I'm glad to report that the latest episode, "Cold Snap," was good news.

The show isn't back to its first season level, but it may have turned a corner. It could be that Bryan Fuller, who's taken over the show and wrote "Cold Snap," may know what he's doing. It's still the same show, but it felt like a semi-reboot.

The main problem in the past, aside from lack of originality, was the lack of consistency--characters did whatever fit the moment, and the plot went one way then another. Fuller has concentrated the situation so it's clearer, and the characters have fairly straightforward, rational motivations. (When you're in the middle of fantasy, you need to establish a ground to stand upon.)

First, he established the enemy. There's been so much confusion as to what they can and can't do, and who's in charge, that simplification was necessary. Now that Nathan is out (at least for a while--we'll see how he tries to mix in) you have Danko clearly running things--a good thing, since he's the alpha villain right now. But you've also got subversion coming from Noah, which also works, since it's never been quite clear where he stands. (He's also one of the most consistently good characters they have.)

I admit I was a bit confused at their starting point. It's been two weeks, but did I miss an episode? I don't recall Danko having captured all these Heroes, and keeping them in artificial comas. And I thought Sylar was waiting to talk to Danko. I guess he left him a present of the Puppeteer, but that's not the same thing.

Another good thing was they actually managed to make Tracy interesting. Niki was enough trouble, but Tracy was always dull. (What was not interesting was her bringing up Abu Ghraib and Che Geuvara--the less real world stuff in this show, the better. The show even had a line about how Guevara led a revolution, but right now we're in a rebellion--this was spoken as if it had meaning.) She escaped and had some inner life. Her talent also mattered. In the end, she did what's right and sacrificed herself to save someone else. (Sort of like Boomer in BG.) Her death was not a big deal, however, since her talent was boring and we know there's yet a third version of Ali Larter out there, so she'll be back (unless Fuller doesn't like her). Let's hope she has a better power. (Or can Tracy re-form, like Robert Patrick in Terminator 2? After she shattered, we got a wink out of what was left of her.)

Through Tracy we found out who Rebel was. As predicted on this page, it was Micah. It made sense, considering how he controlled all machines. I didn't like Micah that much in the first season, but a passable first-season character looks pretty good right now. (I wonder if Walt will make another appearance in Lost? It would be nice, if they had the time, to somehow have Walt see his dad again, while we're at it.)

Hiro and Ando starting making sense again, for the first time in quite a while. We now see they're saving Matt Parkman's baby, who has the ability to turn things on. (A bit like Micah, but not quite the same. At least he can't draw the future, a power they should never have, but which they've given to three Heroes.) We also got to see Matt's wife again--is she coming back? Hiro was the audience favorite, but as he became more infantile, he became more unbearable. Once he lost his powers, you wondered why he's around any more at all. Well, he got back his powers, thanks to the baby. But because he used to be too powerful, Fuller has wisely limited them a bit. Ando also seems to be able to throw fireballs now, which wasn't quite his power earlier. It'd be best to return him to sidekick--I've long said a balance of power/no power works better for the show--but I don't see Ando returning to his former status.

Mohinder was there, but not doing much. He was mostly a fall guy, and someone in the background to help Parkman. Speaking of which, we had the last chapter of Parkman and Daphne. I'd grown to like her a bit and was surprised when she bit the dust. (Good fake-out with Tracy dying--you didn't think there'd be a second.) This does follow the pattern of any babe who's not an original lead buying it. Parkman did what he could, but when he met her in Paris and he started flying, I figured something was up. It was him inside her head, just before she died. (She did die, didn't she? She flatlined, there's no cheerleader around to save her.) The whole scene was one of the better things Heroes has done--if Matt and Daphne were a well-developed couple at this point, it would have even been more moving. I suppose getting rid of her frees up Parkman for his own plotline, and also gives him a motive for revenge, which is all to the good. I just hope they don't do the obvious and have him go back to his wife and search for his baby. He does have his wife on the mind, as he proved with his cover story for Daphne. (The Gwen Stefani story is better.)

Meanwhile, Angela Petrelli is on the run, and so are her boys. We didn't see Nathan, but I'm guessing all the Petrelli's are regrouping. Peter and Angela end up at the top of the Statue Of Liberty, with Peter asking what they do next. My guess is they walk down the stairs, if Peter's new sole power is his mother's.

No sign of the Cheerleader, though she'll be back. I don't think Noah can openly protect her any more. And no Sylar, which is fine with me. He's an audience favorite, but I thought after he played a big part in the first season they should have moved on.