Angela: "I lied. It's not your mother's recipe."The episode title is "Villains," and it's part of a volume entitled "Villains." Do you think maybe this episode was about the villains?
At least it was worthy of what this series used to be. And I loved how it was like puzzle pieces snapping together, or like Lost when they blend old footage and new bits to form a more perfect flashback. A lot of stuff makes more sense now. Some stuff doesn't, but that's okay.
The biggest revelations were about Arthur and Angela. We finally found out what was going on with Angela, and now I like her again. In a way, Angela used to be a lot like Sandra Bennet, permanently mind-messed and under her husband's control. She does love Nathan and Peter, and she was the one that nearly killed Arthur. Go, Angela. Although I can't really reconcile this with early season three's Mommy Monster whose favorite son was Sylar. But moving right along.
Apparently, Arthur can not only screw up your head, he can actually rip it off. All of the other villains were given good sides and reasonable motivations for their actions – except for Arthur Petrelli, who seems to be the Antichrist. I wonder if trying to kill Nathan and Heidi was what turned Arthur to the dark side of the Force? He didn't even seem conflicted. I mean, I think most evil people would feel just an itsy bit conflicted about killing their own child.
Elle and Sylar have a past. I loved that. It was fun watching her fight Noah in hopes of keeping Sylar a good person. Full of guilt after his first kill, Sylar actually tried to hang himself. That was rather endearing in a creepy sort of way. Elle was a total sweetheart, almost cuddly and kitteny; she so didn't want to corrupt Sylar. Yes, I loved it, but it didn't really jive with her earlier persona. This was supposed to take place before she was frying people in Ireland, after all.
There was a lot about Meredith, and I enjoyed those segments, too. Yes, she was a bad girl, but she loved being a Company agent – for awhile, anyway. And she tried to take care of her brother, Blue Hand Flint. (That means Claire has yet another superrelative.)
Linderman wasn't so bad, either; he kept trying to talk Arthur out of killing Nathan, and he healed Angela. And Thompson had a good side, too. He let Meredith go – coincidentally, right in front of the burning train wreck where her daughter was about to do her first good deed. Even though Meredith didn't see Claire and wouldn't have known her anyway, that was really lovely. It was fitting somehow that it was fire Meredith set herself.
And in an interesting reversal – or actually, was it a return to what he was before? Noah was pretty darned evil. Sylar's rampage was probably Noah's fault. He was practically cackling with glee as he watched Sylar rip the top off his second victim. Bad Noah, no biscuit.
Bits and pieces:
-- Really loved the new opening title screen.
-- In the scene where Thompson let Meredith go, there was a sign for the Burnt Toast Diner.
-- The late Trevor was a human gun. That was fun. Certainly more fun than the guy with the iron fist. Meredith's power of burning things is sort of a nasty, wretched power to have, unless you're lost in the woods and need a campfire. Give me Claire's or Nathan's any day.
-- Peter's overhanging forelock was back. Neigh.
-- Anyone else expect Usutu's disembodied head to open his eyes and talk?
-- Sylar has more books than I do. Not many people have more books than I do.
Quotes:
Elle: "Say something."
Sylar: "Forgive me."
Flint: "These people been nice to me."
Meredith: "They're tricking you because you're dumb. You remember what Daddy used to say? God gave you a big sister instead of a brain."
Arthur: "You're my wife, Angela. I know you like I know my own heart."
Angela: "Really? So what am I going to do now? Am I going to kiss you, or am I going to kill you?"
I guess Arthur's heart was really, really mad.
Despite some teeny tiny character inconsistencies, this was a great episode. Three out of four stars,
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
Hi Billie,
ReplyDeleteYou've just hit upon my main gripe with Season 3. Character inconsistency. I do love the show. But as you say, some of the newer revelations just don't sit comfortably with what's gone before.
Now I know that awful things happen to good people and sometimes they can turn bad. But everyone good turning bad and everyone bad turning good?
Future Peter shoots Nathan....future Claire tries to shoot Peter.....future Ando kills Hiro. And on the other side of the coin we have present day Nathan (who's always been ambiguous at best), suddenly finding God....future Sylar's a lovely fellow.....past Linderman seems quite nice all of a sudden....past Angela seems to have some love after all....Elle was actually quite charming once.
My point is, I can swallow that some will snap and go over to the dark side. But virtually everyone? We'll have Molly disembowelling Matt next and Arthur Petrelli singing Kum Ba Yah.
Paul