Heroes: Hiros

"Save the cheerleader. Save the world."

They let Matt go. They didn't let Nathan go, though. He let himself go. Straight up. Nathan unexpectedly shooting directly up into the air was exceptionally cool. I loved his somewhat clumsy landing, too, where he undoubtedly got gravel in his toes. I think that was the moment I realized I was getting into this show.

Nathan liked Hiro. Not a surprise, since everyone likes Hiro. I was starting to warm to Nathan, what with him liking Hiro and flying around in pajama bottoms and all. And then he sold out. He's a bought politician. The way he treated Hiro like a lunatic (nicely, but like a lunatic) was interesting, too. Of course, if you think about it from Nathan's point of view, a strange foreigner who saw him fly was talking about bending time and space and about New York blowing up. But Nathan just keeps acting like he doesn't believe in people with very special gifts, even though he is one. What is it? Denial?

Meanwhile back in a Texas hospital, Claire told her father about the attempted rape, but not about her powers. Daddy Bennet may not be a bad guy, after all; he clearly loves his daughter, and he showed mercy toward Brody when he had his minion mind-wipe him. If Claire were my daughter, I wonder if I would be that merciful.

We got to know Matt a bit better. I really liked the scene where Matt talked the kid out of robbing the convenience store. Matt appears to have forgotten what was done to him. What *was* done to him? I also loved the uncomfortable scene where Matt was trying to be the perfect husband, reading his wife Jan's mind and giving her everything she wanted, especially in bed. Very sweet and incredibly invasive at the same time. When she finds out he's reading her mind, she's going to implode.

Niki's debt is paid, huh? And she can resume her not-at-all-normal life, with her strange, scary husband showing up, even though there are cops outside the house. Is DL Hawkins a killer? Niki said he'd been following her and doing things. Isn't it Mirror Woman instead?

Circular and fun that the last episode ended with future Hiro giving Peter a message, and this one ended with Peter giving present Hiro a message from future Hiro.

Bits and pieces:

-- Nathan touched down at the Fly-by-Night diner in Lake Mead. How appropriate. Nathan has seen Bennet's face. And he didn't get mind-wiped like Matt.

-- Peter can paint the future when he's with Isaac, and he doesn't need drugs. Peter had the white eye thing going on, too.

-- The cops said DL slipped out of his cuffs. People don't slip out of handcuffs.

-- Ando dropped in on Niki. She was pretty nice about it, all things considered. I mean, she could have turned into Mirror Woman and killed him, after all.

-- In the hospital scene, Bennet's glasses lens was cracked. How?

-- Niki is the Incredible Hulk, of course. Dan thinks Hiro is Night Crawler, Claire is Wolverine, Peter is Rogue, and Matt is Xavier. Who is Claire? Nathan? DL?

-- Peter really needs to put some product in his hair. Constantly pushing hair out of one's face can make it difficult to save the world.

Quotes:

Ando: "My jaw is clicking. Did it used to click?"

Hiro: "Using my powers for personal gain. That's the Dark Side."

Nathan: "Early and often."
Hiro: "Up, up and away."
I really loved this exchange. They're character statements.

Peter: "Don't you get it? Everything's connected. We are all connected."

Claire: "I think everyone deserves a do-over at least once in their lives."
Again, more merciful than I think I would be. But she's a hero, and I'm just a writer.

Three stars,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

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