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Heroes: Shades of Gray

Nathan: "I have been helping you out all along. You and everyone else."
Tracy: "And doing a fabulous job of it."

Way predictable. I knew every single plot twist ahead of time. But at least it was fun to watch.

I knew Darth Sylar would turn on his young, and I even knew when -- the moment Sylar let it slip that he was immortal and invulnerable. What evil mastermind dying of cancer would pass that up? But it was fun to watch Sylar outwit and defeat Gray. And John Glover was perfect casting; he looked like he could be Sylar's evil superpop, probably because of all the practice he's had as the father of Lex Luthor. I hope this is the end of Sylar's search for his roots. Enough, already. Move it along.

And I knew for weeks that Danko would find out about Nathan and go for Claire, but again, I still liked that last scene with Nathan hovering in the air, holding his daughter in his arms; there was an emotional jolt to it that worked for me. I have every confidence that Danko is no match for Angela Petrelli. Unless Danko has superpowers. They mentioned him unexpectedly surviving an "incident" in Angola. That would be a... okay, a predictable twist.

Apparently, Rebel is an equal opportunity superhero rescuer. The B plot with Doyle the icky puppet guy was also predictable, but less fun. I knew Doyle's conversion was too good to be true. Claire working at the comic book store was semi-fun, although as a sci-fi geek myself, I really dislike the stereotype of us as homely maladjusted losers. So I have a Star Fleet uniform in the back of my closet. I'm still cool, let me tell you. And this is the perfect time to segue into how incredibly cool the Star Trek trailer was (it aired in the middle of the episode). Zachary Quinto looked so Spocky that I couldn't believe it.

Bits and pieces:

-- Superheroes helping other superheroes was a theme, along with superparents and superkids. Sylar and Gray, Angela and Nathan and Claire. And Hiro and Ando and baby Parkman.

-- Geez. Leaving by roof access in front of Danko? Really subtle, Nathan. No, I'm not flying anywhere; I'm just catching my invisible helicopter.

-- The first scene with Claire showed her face pretty much bare, without the heavy adult make-up. I don't think I realized until that moment how overkill it is. She's a beautiful young woman. Do they really need to put that much makeup on her?

-- Yes, I love John Glover, but it was hard seeing suave, handsome Lionel Luthor, one of the two reasons I got into Smallville, as a trailer trash taxidermist. If the character hadn't been so distasteful, I'd be hoping they'd add him to the cast. You know, they should have... as Arthur Petrelli. If they had, that character might have worked.

-- What was that bit about two blue-eyed parents being able to have a dark-eyed child? I thought it was the opposite, that two dark-eyed parents could have a blue-eyed child, not the other way around. Did I completely zone out high school biology?

-- Gotta mention it again. Star Trek trailer, best part of this episode. I watched the trailer three times. I did not watch the episode three times.

Quotes:

Comic book store guy: "Put simply, what type of hero are you?"
Claire: "I don't know."
I'm starting to wonder, too. Claire's stories have been distinctly boring lately.

Danko: "I'm sure you've grown close to the Petrelli family."
Noah: "The Petrellis were never exactly a warm and fuzzy bunch."

Sylar: "I'm sorry. You're just small game."
That poor bunny reminded me of number eight bunny on Lost.

Better. We shall see,

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

10 comments:

  1. I've gone from being completely bored and apathetic about Star Trek to absolutely thrilled with excitement in the space of two trailers myself. I think its probably going to be mostly action/CGI popcorn-y stuff, but I think I'd love to see that. The new trailer is excellent, the one thing that gets me most excited is the wide shot of future San Francisco, it looked actually future, unlike old-Trek. The robo-cop in the second trailer gave me that same feeling too, a lived in feel that Trek sorely lacked.

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  2. They could add John Glover to the cast. Imagine, Papa Sylar, after knowing about the cheerleader from Sylar Jr, goes after her to get her ability as well. Then Sylar Jr does his best to protect her from his father, not because he's a hero, but out of spite!
    I'd watch that!

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  3. I admire your tenacity in still reviewing this show, Billie (and reviewing it well, of course). About 10 minutes into this episode I pulled my beloved laptop close to me and started to answer emails...the next thing I knew, the episode was over, I hadn't paid a bit of attention, and I didn't really care.

    But wow! That Star Trek movie does look incredible--and I've only watched one episode of some Star Trek incarnation, and thought it was unbearably silly. But this movie might just change my mind.

    Heck, that trailer might just change my mind.

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  4. Yeah...I was a little nonplussed about the new Trek film....till I saw a trailer at the cinema tonight (I was there to see "Watchmen"....which was bloody brilliant!). I've never been a fan of the ST movies (loved all the ST shows...and maybe First Contact), but this looks to have all the makings of a good film.

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  5. While the new Star Trek trailer looks epic and awesome I’m still feeling a little, I don’t know… meh, about that whole thing. It’s strange, I’m an old school fan, I grew up with Star Trek. Deep Space 9 is my favourite show of all time. I should have whiplash from bouncing off the walls with excitement so much.

    Maybe I’m still too disillusioned from the unholy trinity of Voyager, Enterprise and Nemesis to care about Star Trek anymore (mind you, love the retro uniforms).

    Help me J.J. Abrams! Save me from my own apathy! Give us this brilliant movie those trailers promise!

    Oh, and Paul is right, Watchmen is ace. If you haven’t already, see it.

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  6. Hi Billie,

    As a UK viewer i'm several episodes behind you but I recently thought I fell asleep while watching an episode (Cold Wars) only to figure out that I hadn't, I just couldn't for the life of me remember how it ended. This is not a good sign, methinks.

    I've also noticed that I get more excited about your reviews than the actual show. I've always loved your reviews but when they're more entertaining than the show they're about I think that its possible that the wrong people are being paid to write for a living.

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  7. I've also noticed that I get more excited about your reviews than the actual show.

    Jo, you made my day. :)

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  8. I`ve been checking your website for a couple of weeks now. I`m a fan of most of the shows you comment about. I must say that after reading such well written and enjoyable reviews you even got me convinced to watch someother shows I didnt know ( like Fringe..I loved it ^^ )
    I`ve never posted a commment ( I was just lurking around) but I just read what Jo said and I felt just the same way!. I wanted you to know ;)
    Looking forward to read your next piece of awesome writing.....

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  9. I'd rather John Glover on Brothers And Sisters to be fair. He works better on that show.

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  10. Thanks so much for the kind words, Esther.

    And Shawn -- you could be right, but I've never seen "Brothers and Sisters." I'm sure that John Glover does a fine job in whatever role he takes on, though.

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