Heroes: Fight or Flight

Hiro: "It's like living in a storybook. Only more tiring."

The "really scary villain" club just got two new members.

Cork, Ireland: So Peter essentially just got Caitlin's brother killed. So much for that little romance. The question of whether Veronica Mars would be good or evil has been answered; she's petulant, out of control, and viciously homicidal, and I'm really glad they didn't show her electrocuting Caitlin's brother. Who's "Daddy"? Bob Midas? Another of the original Twelve? It can't be Nathan this time, because he was busy being totally confused in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia: Nightmare Parkman seemed so innocuous at first, but he was a smiling, deceptive, scary, evil bastard. As he told Matt, mind reading leads to "other things." Other things such as Matt and Nathan, trapped in their own minds, experiencing their greatest fears.

Matt was in a prison where he didn't know what crime he committed and couldn't communicate with the guard. But I'm guessing that Matt's greatest fear wasn't really about prison; it was about being a criminal like his father. (Which also says a lot about Matt's career choice.) The bad news is that Matt is like his father, at least in the superpower department. Matt managed to stop the nightmare, which included getting through to Nathan, so maybe his powers are already increasing.

I wonder – do superpowers corrupt? The Twelve originally banded together to save the world, but many of them have turned dark side. Will our current generation of superheroes end up the same way? Will Matt become his father, after all? It was interesting that part of Matt's nightmare included Janice's baby being his. Matt is afraid of passing on something that might be evil, isn't he? Is the baby his, or isn't it?

Nathan was on the rooftop of the Deveaux building, looking down at a ruined New York. (I thought it was snow at first, but it wasn't – it was ash.) I wonder if Nathan's burned alter ego represents his guilt about almost letting New York explode just to further his own political ambitions. His worst nightmare. That makes sense.

New Orleans: Micah came out to his cousin Monica, and her power got a name: muscle mimic, copycat. That makes her exceptionally powerful. She still hasn't done anything superhuman, though. She saw Micah use his power on the television set, and yet I'm pretty sure that later on, she was using a remote. I think she has physical human limits. That makes sense. You can't have Peter Petrellis running around all over the place.

Japan, past and present: When I love a show, I want to love all of it. So I have only recently admitted to myself that I don't actually like this Hiro-in-the-past plotline very much. I keep wanting him to return to the present and get involved in the current efforts to bring down the Company. And I'd love it if he brought Kensei with him, because I do love David Anders. I don't really care about the swordmaster's daughter and the legends of Takezo Kensei. Ah, well.

Bits and pieces:

-- David Anders (a favorite of mine from Alias) and Kristen Bell (a favorite of mine from Veronica Mars) are now in the cast. This is like wish fulfillment. Yes, indeedy, I want my favorite actors from defunct shows to be cast in my new faves, absolutely. If only they could bring in Nathan Fillion, too.

-- I was hoping Kristen Bell would turn out to be a good guy. But no. And she works for the Company, too. Rats.

-- Sign on the wall near the pub: "Try our cooked meats." That was wicked.

-- Peter's passport gave his birthdate as December 23, 1979. It also said he was female. :) If Peter exploded in mid-air, how did he manage a passport and a plane ticket to Montreal?

-- Did we ever learn where Peter got his lightning hands? Did he somehow get them from Veronica Mars? Did they meet before and he just doesn't remember it?

-- Why would Nightmare Parkman have a photo of Bob with the symbol on it if he weren't behind the assassinations?

-- After all he did to get her out and hide her, Mohinder took Molly in to the Company. And now he's recruiting Monica, too. Mohinder, Mohinder, Mohinder.

-- HRG and the still unnamed Haitian are in CGI Ukraine.

-- Niki wasn't doing well in captivity. Actually, Niki was probably doing fine; I think it was Jessica who wasn't all that happy.

-- I heard in a season one commentary that Noah Gray-Cabey is a virtuoso on the piano. So I'm assuming that was really him.

-- Adrian, please keep shaving.

-- Thirteen plus twenty-five equals Matt's age: 38.

Quotes:

Peter: "I could get used to this."
Caitlin: "Right. The guy can throw a thousand volts out of either hand settling for everyday life in a pub in Cork."

Matt: "You can probably get there faster. Because you can, you know..."
Nathan: "I'm not a cargo jet, Parkman."

Veronica: "You know, I've never been in an Irish pub before. Do you have haggis?"
Rick: "That's Scotland, love. We have stew. And mussels. And stew."
I always had a hard time remembering his name. Now it's mud.

They're still in the build-up portion of the season, but I thought this was a good episode,

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

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