Heroes: Cautionary Tales

Hiro: "Every hand I extend in kindness is his hand. And every blow that I strike for justice is his fist."

This was an emotionally resonant episode with a powerful, unifying theme. Fathers, and what they give their children. Good fathers, and not so good fathers. Kaito Nakamura made his son into a hero. Noah Bennet protected his adopted daughter from evil so that she could become a hero, too. And Bob Bishop? He made his daughter into a monster.

Hiro and his father, Tokyo and New York: Even though it was established in "Six Months Ago" that Hiro can't change the past (which was why I found 1671 Japan so confusing), it made sense that Hiro would use his powers to try to save his father. I finally warmed to Kaito Nakamura; I thought it was just wonderful that he used his final moments of life to give Hiro love and validation, to tell Hiro he was proud of him. Hiro's new wisdom and maturity becomes him. He's learned so much.

Claire and her father, Costa Verde: I hated seeing the loving relationship between Noah and his Claire bear dissolve. Fortunately, that estrangement didn't last long. He just had to die to bring it back.

The death of HRG only mildly freaked me out, since the set-up with Claire's blood was obviously going to bring him back. I wasn't surprised that Mohinder shot him, either, since the paintings pretty much said he would. Mohinder, who is now devastated that he's committed murder, didn't really "go native"; he was just frantic to stop the virus, to cure Niki with Claire's blood. Mohinder is an interesting character. He's the only major character without a power, and he's also our narrator. He sort of represents the normal humans in the story.

So. West. Not so bad, after all. He's just young and impulsive and dealing with a superpower. Sandra observed perceptively that Noah and West are a lot alike: stubborn and determined (as well as unusually tall). West took Noah down (or up) with what I can only describe as a flying tackle, and carried Noah a thousand feet into the air, without superstrength. Pretty impressive. I liked Noah and West putting aside their differences and joining forces to rescue Claire. It actually made me like West, just a little, and for the first time.

Matt and his foster daughter, Brooklyn: Oooh. Mind control. Will Matt's powers corrupt him? (Shades of Willow Rosenberg.) It was bad enough that he did it to his boss and to Angela, but he also did it to Molly, and that's a significant betrayal. His selfishness was what originally put her in Maury's mind prison, too. Yes, we got a hint in "Five Years Gone" that Matt had it in him, but I don't like the idea that Matt may already be turning into his father.

Elle and her father, Costa Verde: My questions about Adam and Bob were partially answered: they're both monsters. Adam killed Kaito Nakamura. And Bob victimized and tortured his own daughter, and turned her into an executioner. In the space of just a couple of episodes, I've acquired some major sympathy for Elle. She is still crap-tastically scary, but there's actually a chance that she might be a human being.

The Elle/Claire prisoner exchange, and what Noah said about Elle, made me think. Elle and Claire are two sides of the same coin, much like Peter and Sylar in season one. (Elle and Claire even look somewhat alike. You don't suppose they're half-sisters? A lot of the gifted ones are related, and we don't know who her mother was. Could be Meredith, right? Nah. Probably just another of my crazed theories. I've been doing a lot of that lately.)

Okay, back to my regularly scheduled paragraph. Elle was once a normal girl, and what Bob did twisted her, and took away her memories. Noah protected Claire from the Company because he didn't want Bob to do to Claire what he did to Elle. If Noah and Sandra Bennet had raised Elle, what would she have been like? Is Elle really a sociopath, or is she redeemable? I must admit that I would absolutely love to see Elle change sides, and she seemed pretty pissed at Bob in that final scene. We shall see.

Bits and pieces:

-- I have to point out that the cereal Molly was eating was called "Bits 'n Pieces." :)

-- Lots of names. Bob and Elle have the last name Bishop. Papa Petrelli's first name was Arthur. West's last name is Rosen.

-- The only members of the original twelve left alive are Angela, Bob, Maury, and Victoria Pratt. Which means that Micah's great-aunt Uhura isn't one of the twelve, after all. Who is Victoria, and what's her superpower? Maybe she's Garbo. All she wants is to be left alone.

-- Elle said much the same thing about Mohinder that she did about Peter: "He's adorable. Can I keep him?" She sees people as toys. Interesting that both Peter and Mohinder were defying her at the time.

-- During the early "Costa Verde" scenes, I could see the Santa Monica pier in the background.

-- The sequence set at the funeral of Hiro's mother seventeen years ago was beautiful and moving. Loved little Hiro at the funeral. Practically a reflection. So cute, and excellent casting.

-- Noah's eye reconstructing was really, really creepy. Excellent effect. Dan was wondering about DL. If Claire's blood can raise the dead, how long will it still work? What about the seriously decomposed dead?

Quotes:

Noah: "Claire's right. It's all about me." It would seem he's right. Why else would Bob bring him back? Revenge? Torture?

Elle: (to Mohinder) "What's your superpower? Punching bag?"

Nakamura: "We have the power of gods. That does not mean we can play god." We still don't know what his superpower was, but it wasn't bending time and space.

Noah: "No offense, Mohinder, but your word isn't what it used to be."

Noah: "Did you pack Mr. Muggles' doggie bath?" Mr. Muggles continues to be comic relief extraordinaire.

Angela: "The truth is, our generation mortgaged our souls to protect yours. Show a little respect for that. Get over your daddy issues and leave us be."

This was a beautifully written, acted, and photographed episode. I especially thought the scene where Noah died was just stunning. Four out of four stars,

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

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