Commentary: Heroes 3x16, Building 26
Feb. 19th, 2009 11:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brighteyedjillAnd now, tonight’s exciting episode of Heroes.
Previously on Heroes: Nathan is duplicitous, Sylar gains an apprentice, and the Heroes brain trust assembles!
Claire and family (yes, all five Bennets together again!) are eating waffles, which is the only thing anyone eats in the Bennet household. It’s a good thing these people don’t need protein or vegetables. Bennet tries to explain consulting work to his son, but fails, because what the hell is consulting?
Bonus points for an appearance by Lyle and Mr. Muggles, but demerits for still trying to lie to Sandra. Didn’t you learn in Season 2 that that will not end will? That woman will bitch-slap you, Noah, believe it. HRG gets all srs bzns about Claire’s college classes, and tosses a community college brochure at her. He’s signed her up for English lit, history, and Spanish. Which is ridiculous, because if he knew her at all, he’d know to sign her up for Japanese, Intro to Bio (remember the manatees, dad!), and… yeah, maybe history. So she can, y’know, learn from past mistakes.
The Hunter puts up more pictures on his cheerily named “Wall of People I Will Hunt Down and Kill.” He mentions that the Patriot Act has netted them access to traffic cameras in 50 states (and the District of Columbia!), which will become important later. Nathan, fresh from his Starbucks trip, gives a pep talk powered by a double espresso. The Hunter is unimpressed.
Luke tries to tempt Sylar with pie, which is a strangely savvy move, but Sylar is not swayed. Luke’s not stupid enough to think that Sylar will keep him around once he’s no use anymore. He points out, helpfully, that Sylar’s sort of a serial killer. Sylar denies it until Luke starts naming all the warning of signs of serial-killerage, and Big Sy snaps, “Okay, technically I’m a serial killer!” Oh yeah, and here’s where it’s a good thing that those traffic cameras the Hunter mentioned exist on every god-forsaken highway all around America. Way to catch those people running red lights on a car-less interstate in butt-fuck Ohio somewhere, dudes.
Claire goes to a comic book store, because apparently everyone in the world works at comic book stores. And Mr. Alex, for your information, there are female comic book geeks. Girls go to comic book stores all the time. Sometimes. Occasionally. But not never. Hater.
Claire sees HRG and suspects that he’s not coming in for the newest issue of Ninth Wonders. Claire provides a distraction, and Alex makes a run for it. HRG stops to pick up his glasses before calling for a team.
Hiro, meanwhile, has gotten to New Delhi, despite having his assets frozen and no passport. Also, I imagine Ando didn’t stop to get his passport stamped when he ran over the Bering Straight with Daphne. But nevertheless, they made it to India in time for Ando to convince the bride to call off the wedding.
“Eagle Rock Prison is inadequate for our needs,” says Nathan. Oh Lord, please put some more heroes in prison together and satisfy my prison kink, kthx. Nathan wants his new homeland security friend to make it more like Genosha. The Hunter hates the world, and especially bureaucrats, but he probably doesn’t hate that Ms. Homeland Security is putting Nathan in his place.
Sylar threatens to kill Luke, but Luke decides to play one of his, “I know your daddy” cards and proceeds to tell Sylar tales of his childhood ornithology outings. Oh yeah, and that as a baby Sylar was sold into white slavery for cash money.
Ms. Homeland Security (or Abby, as she calls herself) recognizes Tracy in a room that looks vaguely like my apartment in winter (i.e. full of space heaters), and then promises to shut down the operation. Good luck with that, lady.
In Costa Verde, Alex and Claire go on a date to the beach in Alex’s cool convertible. Unfortunately, they do so in front of one of the government’s crazy traffic cameras which, again, is cleverly placed to catch people who run red lights in an alley behind a parking lot. Claire gives Alex a quick briefing on Being on the Lam 101. I’m surprised she doesn’t think to advise him to go for a long swim and never come back, since his power is breathing underwater. Claire actually shows some smartness and advises Alwx to ditch the car, which is awesome, because someone needs to be the brains of this operation!
In New Delhi, Ando is enjoying the hero treatment, but Hiro is angsting about losing his chance to regain his powers. Which is not terribly heroic, since if the girl was saved, it shouldn’t really matter who did it or how. However, he hasn’t long to angst, because the groom comes looking for revenge, hits Ando with a pan, and carries him off. Hiro must run to the rescue.
In Diner Town, Luke sucks at keeping a low profile. Sylar wants to school him in the rules of the Dark Side. He’s expounding the Creed of Sylar, which is interesting, since I think the writers have been confused about this for years now. And poor Sylar has had no one to open up to before, since everyone hates him. I think he’s enjoying having a disciple, and he’s going to be pissed when someone kills Luke.
Ah uh-oh, here come the bad guys, all ready to kill Luke and whoever else needs killin’. Luke provides a distraction long enough for Sylar to get away from the bad guys and avoid getting shot in the back of the head. However, he locks the station wagon and leaves Luke to get tranquilized. Cold, Sylar. Cold. But in character (?!) so I’m okay with it.
In New Delhi, the wedding is back on, and Hiro is secretly glad that he gets another chance at disrupting the wedding. He does so by bursting into the ceremony, punching the groom, and drawing a knife, thereby enacting the moment in Parkman’s drawing. Look, he can solve random problems without his powers! Which is better than when he would cause random problems with his powers, but only slightly.
Nathan is rocking the vest while trying to convince DHS agent Abby to not shut down his operation. Meanwhile, Tracy prepares to provide an object lesson by freezing some poor aide and killing him. I’m not sure what she wanted to accomplish, aside from providing a narrative function. But uh… what did Tracy stand to gain by throwing away her human shield and killing someone in front of the one person who could have stopped the madness? Hmm… Perhaps that was one problem the writers just chose not to solve. (My skepticism was high during this commercial break, but the writers brought me back from the brink of irritation… Wait for it.)
At Building 26, Abby is totally sold on Gitmo-ing the shit out of these crazy magic people. Nathan gives himself a mental high five for his manipulation skills, and wishes that he’ been the one to think of siccing Tracy on an intern.
Back in Costa Verde, Claire gives Sandra the lowdown on Noah’s extracurricular activities and probably lays the groundwork for a Bennet divorce. Bennet walks in with Indian food and marital strife. Ruh-roh.
Oh wait! Perhaps the writers HAVE given Tracy a brain! She was doing what she knew “Nathan” wanted. Thank you, Heroes! Even if it wasn’t really Nathan who planned it.
Meanwhile, the Van of Abduction is a rockin, but when Command comes a-knockin’, we discover that Sylar has come back to rescue his apprentice. Awesome! And can I say that Zachary Quinto looked 100% badass in that outfit, carrying Luke away from that crime scene? I’ll be in my bunk.
Hiro has finally discovered that he doesn’t need powers to be a hero. And the Rebel (or destiny, whatever) comes knocking. Or faxing. His next option was to send a message via Daniel Faraday’s mother, so it’s good the fax got through.
HRG breaks the news that he and Sandra are going to separate. And he’s going to move out for a while. I don’t know why Claire is surprised at this outcome. It’s all your fault! You caused your mom and dad to break up! Don’t listen to all those counselors telling you it’s not your fault! Ehem, sorry. And props to Jake Coleman for this scene. Don’t despair, HRG! There are more waffle breakfasts to come, I can feel it. But in the meantime, props to Sandra for not taking your shit anymore.
Back on The Road Trip of Evil, Luke tries for a chick-flick moment, and Sylar mutters something about a laptop and turns on the classic oldies so he doesn’t have to admit his warm fuzzy feelings for Luke. The next words out of their mouth are, respectively, "Bitch" and "Jerk."
In Building 26 (it’s right above sub-level 27), The Hunter was really the one who planned Tracy’s non-escape. Nathan is a little irritated at being out-maneuvered, but he’s still rocking the vest.
In a bar, HRG drowns his sorrows and makes eyes at the barmaid. But then goes down like a chump because he’s been ROOFIED! Peter, Mohinder, and Matt conspicuously lead him out of the bar.
So, I’m excited! Characters are getting smarter. Also, they can change and grow. Plus there are moments of awesome (Jack Coleman, ladies and gentlemen), badass (Sylar in SWAT gear) and teh pretty (Nathan and his vest). Next week looks to be awesome, too. Hooray, Volume 4 seems to be in recovery!
Previously on Heroes: Nathan is duplicitous, Sylar gains an apprentice, and the Heroes brain trust assembles!
Claire and family (yes, all five Bennets together again!) are eating waffles, which is the only thing anyone eats in the Bennet household. It’s a good thing these people don’t need protein or vegetables. Bennet tries to explain consulting work to his son, but fails, because what the hell is consulting?
Bonus points for an appearance by Lyle and Mr. Muggles, but demerits for still trying to lie to Sandra. Didn’t you learn in Season 2 that that will not end will? That woman will bitch-slap you, Noah, believe it. HRG gets all srs bzns about Claire’s college classes, and tosses a community college brochure at her. He’s signed her up for English lit, history, and Spanish. Which is ridiculous, because if he knew her at all, he’d know to sign her up for Japanese, Intro to Bio (remember the manatees, dad!), and… yeah, maybe history. So she can, y’know, learn from past mistakes.
The Hunter puts up more pictures on his cheerily named “Wall of People I Will Hunt Down and Kill.” He mentions that the Patriot Act has netted them access to traffic cameras in 50 states (and the District of Columbia!), which will become important later. Nathan, fresh from his Starbucks trip, gives a pep talk powered by a double espresso. The Hunter is unimpressed.
Luke tries to tempt Sylar with pie, which is a strangely savvy move, but Sylar is not swayed. Luke’s not stupid enough to think that Sylar will keep him around once he’s no use anymore. He points out, helpfully, that Sylar’s sort of a serial killer. Sylar denies it until Luke starts naming all the warning of signs of serial-killerage, and Big Sy snaps, “Okay, technically I’m a serial killer!” Oh yeah, and here’s where it’s a good thing that those traffic cameras the Hunter mentioned exist on every god-forsaken highway all around America. Way to catch those people running red lights on a car-less interstate in butt-fuck Ohio somewhere, dudes.
Claire goes to a comic book store, because apparently everyone in the world works at comic book stores. And Mr. Alex, for your information, there are female comic book geeks. Girls go to comic book stores all the time. Sometimes. Occasionally. But not never. Hater.
Claire sees HRG and suspects that he’s not coming in for the newest issue of Ninth Wonders. Claire provides a distraction, and Alex makes a run for it. HRG stops to pick up his glasses before calling for a team.
Hiro, meanwhile, has gotten to New Delhi, despite having his assets frozen and no passport. Also, I imagine Ando didn’t stop to get his passport stamped when he ran over the Bering Straight with Daphne. But nevertheless, they made it to India in time for Ando to convince the bride to call off the wedding.
“Eagle Rock Prison is inadequate for our needs,” says Nathan. Oh Lord, please put some more heroes in prison together and satisfy my prison kink, kthx. Nathan wants his new homeland security friend to make it more like Genosha. The Hunter hates the world, and especially bureaucrats, but he probably doesn’t hate that Ms. Homeland Security is putting Nathan in his place.
Sylar threatens to kill Luke, but Luke decides to play one of his, “I know your daddy” cards and proceeds to tell Sylar tales of his childhood ornithology outings. Oh yeah, and that as a baby Sylar was sold into white slavery for cash money.
Ms. Homeland Security (or Abby, as she calls herself) recognizes Tracy in a room that looks vaguely like my apartment in winter (i.e. full of space heaters), and then promises to shut down the operation. Good luck with that, lady.
In Costa Verde, Alex and Claire go on a date to the beach in Alex’s cool convertible. Unfortunately, they do so in front of one of the government’s crazy traffic cameras which, again, is cleverly placed to catch people who run red lights in an alley behind a parking lot. Claire gives Alex a quick briefing on Being on the Lam 101. I’m surprised she doesn’t think to advise him to go for a long swim and never come back, since his power is breathing underwater. Claire actually shows some smartness and advises Alwx to ditch the car, which is awesome, because someone needs to be the brains of this operation!
In New Delhi, Ando is enjoying the hero treatment, but Hiro is angsting about losing his chance to regain his powers. Which is not terribly heroic, since if the girl was saved, it shouldn’t really matter who did it or how. However, he hasn’t long to angst, because the groom comes looking for revenge, hits Ando with a pan, and carries him off. Hiro must run to the rescue.
In Diner Town, Luke sucks at keeping a low profile. Sylar wants to school him in the rules of the Dark Side. He’s expounding the Creed of Sylar, which is interesting, since I think the writers have been confused about this for years now. And poor Sylar has had no one to open up to before, since everyone hates him. I think he’s enjoying having a disciple, and he’s going to be pissed when someone kills Luke.
Ah uh-oh, here come the bad guys, all ready to kill Luke and whoever else needs killin’. Luke provides a distraction long enough for Sylar to get away from the bad guys and avoid getting shot in the back of the head. However, he locks the station wagon and leaves Luke to get tranquilized. Cold, Sylar. Cold. But in character (?!) so I’m okay with it.
In New Delhi, the wedding is back on, and Hiro is secretly glad that he gets another chance at disrupting the wedding. He does so by bursting into the ceremony, punching the groom, and drawing a knife, thereby enacting the moment in Parkman’s drawing. Look, he can solve random problems without his powers! Which is better than when he would cause random problems with his powers, but only slightly.
Nathan is rocking the vest while trying to convince DHS agent Abby to not shut down his operation. Meanwhile, Tracy prepares to provide an object lesson by freezing some poor aide and killing him. I’m not sure what she wanted to accomplish, aside from providing a narrative function. But uh… what did Tracy stand to gain by throwing away her human shield and killing someone in front of the one person who could have stopped the madness? Hmm… Perhaps that was one problem the writers just chose not to solve. (My skepticism was high during this commercial break, but the writers brought me back from the brink of irritation… Wait for it.)
At Building 26, Abby is totally sold on Gitmo-ing the shit out of these crazy magic people. Nathan gives himself a mental high five for his manipulation skills, and wishes that he’ been the one to think of siccing Tracy on an intern.
Back in Costa Verde, Claire gives Sandra the lowdown on Noah’s extracurricular activities and probably lays the groundwork for a Bennet divorce. Bennet walks in with Indian food and marital strife. Ruh-roh.
Oh wait! Perhaps the writers HAVE given Tracy a brain! She was doing what she knew “Nathan” wanted. Thank you, Heroes! Even if it wasn’t really Nathan who planned it.
Meanwhile, the Van of Abduction is a rockin, but when Command comes a-knockin’, we discover that Sylar has come back to rescue his apprentice. Awesome! And can I say that Zachary Quinto looked 100% badass in that outfit, carrying Luke away from that crime scene? I’ll be in my bunk.
Hiro has finally discovered that he doesn’t need powers to be a hero. And the Rebel (or destiny, whatever) comes knocking. Or faxing. His next option was to send a message via Daniel Faraday’s mother, so it’s good the fax got through.
HRG breaks the news that he and Sandra are going to separate. And he’s going to move out for a while. I don’t know why Claire is surprised at this outcome. It’s all your fault! You caused your mom and dad to break up! Don’t listen to all those counselors telling you it’s not your fault! Ehem, sorry. And props to Jake Coleman for this scene. Don’t despair, HRG! There are more waffle breakfasts to come, I can feel it. But in the meantime, props to Sandra for not taking your shit anymore.
Back on The Road Trip of Evil, Luke tries for a chick-flick moment, and Sylar mutters something about a laptop and turns on the classic oldies so he doesn’t have to admit his warm fuzzy feelings for Luke. The next words out of their mouth are, respectively, "Bitch" and "Jerk."
In Building 26 (it’s right above sub-level 27), The Hunter was really the one who planned Tracy’s non-escape. Nathan is a little irritated at being out-maneuvered, but he’s still rocking the vest.
In a bar, HRG drowns his sorrows and makes eyes at the barmaid. But then goes down like a chump because he’s been ROOFIED! Peter, Mohinder, and Matt conspicuously lead him out of the bar.
So, I’m excited! Characters are getting smarter. Also, they can change and grow. Plus there are moments of awesome (Jack Coleman, ladies and gentlemen), badass (Sylar in SWAT gear) and teh pretty (Nathan and his vest). Next week looks to be awesome, too. Hooray, Volume 4 seems to be in recovery!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 05:56 am (UTC)At this point in the episode, my Dad quipped, "Ando just got pando'd!" XD
The next words out of their mouth are, respectively, "Bitch" and "Jerk."
LMFAO So true! Man, that's genius!
no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 10:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-21 12:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 12:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 10:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 05:31 pm (UTC)LOL.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 10:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-21 07:24 am (UTC)I'm really, really digging this guy. He's dark and uncompromising and a very convincing badass. And in a weird way, I find him really sexy. Wonder what that says about me?
In New Delhi, the wedding is back on, and Hiro is secretly glad that he gets another chance at disrupting the wedding. He does so by bursting into the ceremony, punching the groom, and drawing a knife, thereby enacting the moment in Parkman’s drawing. Look, he can solve random problems without his powers! Which is better than when he would cause random problems with his powers, but only slightly.
Heroes wouldn't be Heroes if our adorable characters didn't cause at least 75% of the problems they're scrambling to resolve. But am I really the only one who noticed the femslash vibes between the two lovely Indian women? I thought the bride gave her friend a Very Significant Look when she told her grandad she wanted to be free to pursue her desires. I was all ready to give Heroes cred there, but maybe I was imagining it?
Nathan is a little irritated at being out-maneuvered, but he’s still rocking the vest.
So true. Vests normally leave me cold, but this is the power of Pasdar.
I love your recaps so much. I always get a giggle from them. But, on a completely different note, congrats on your multiple wins at the awards this year! You've got lots of shiny banners! And you deserve every one. I squeed out loud when I read the list and saw your name over and over. *hugs*
no subject
Date: 2009-02-25 05:32 pm (UTC)Yeah, I don't think you're imaging the Very Significant Look. I didn't see it, because about 30% of my attention is always on writing the meta during my first watch of every episode, but the people I was watching with totally called it out. But Heroes is usually so obvious with its everything that I wonder why they didn't make it a little more overt? Who knows.
Oh, and thanks for the congrats and the squees! The banners are super pretty. And, I saw that a certain someone got some runner-up titles in no less than three categories, am I right?
no subject
Date: 2009-02-23 11:21 am (UTC)because what the hell is consulting?
bWahhhhhhhhh, as an insider, i am telling you , we are hired to break things down, and then getting paid, to build up, what we broke previously *g*
no subject
Date: 2009-02-25 05:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-23 01:35 pm (UTC)Oh, and those traffic cams are in the most convenient places, no? I do love how they had them pointed at a parking lot when Claire was rescuing Alex.
I know about the prison kink dear. I totally want so see a Heroes version of The Rock, with Mohinder as Nicholas Cage, and Linderman as Sean Connary.
Your lambasting of Claire's tears for the tragedy she blatantly created is spot-on. It IS all her fault, really. We all know it. HRG was still rockin' the acting in that good-bye scene though.
Sylar/Luke Supernatural moments FTW, totally!
no subject
Date: 2009-02-25 05:28 pm (UTC)And yeah, cameras, what? I was willing to let go the one on the deserted highway, ut under an underpass? Seriously, show? Get another device.
Prison. Kink. Men locked up? Together? Sexual tension? How can I resist? You know what other fandom has potential for awesome prison action? Supernatural. Yeah, I said it.