‘Heroes’: Parkman and Sylar and ‘Strange’ twists
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The twists, the deceptions perpetrated by so many characters in this ‘Turn and face the strange’ episode of ‘Heroes’ made this a really fun experience to watch. For all of those who believe ‘Heroes’ has dropped off, you’re missing out. Yes, yes ... leave comments below.
Revenge was driving a couple of characters to recklessness on ‘Heroes.’ We’ve seen Matt Parkman take steps toward this with some not-thought-out actions (when he sent Peter after Danko and when he interrogated HRG). His desire to get Danko, to make him pay for Daphne’s death, could have been the thing that pushed him totally over the edge. New (months-old, it seems) developments make it unlikely, but I was hoping that we could see him go Dark Phoenix telepathically on the government, since he’s been the safest character outside of Mohinder on the show.
Safe is what Sylar is not, but he has the same passion to destroy Noah Bennet that Matt had for Danko. But, where Matt’s morality caused him to hold back, Sylar does not have such hold-ups. Usually. Sylar’s devious attempt to destroy Noah might’ve worked on a less observant person, but not our HRG! Serving him divorce papers without the right forged signature on it. Come on! Or, maybe it did work --- just a little -- because that bracing scene pitting a furious Noah against his defenseless, and understandably mad, wife was hard to watch when we kind of knew that she was the real thing. Pretty sneaky, Sylar.
Back to Matt. Forcing Danko to go to the person he cared about so that he could take them out was also pretty sneaky. He did get Danko’s Russian escort to leave him in the end, which may hurt him later, but his suicidal tendencies and morality almost got him killed.
Almost, if not for Hiro to the rescue!!! Yes! Bullet stops in mid-air, and I don’t think Matt could’ve thought his way out of that. We can skip the whole ‘baby-turns-the-car-on-baby-turns-the-car-off’ Hiro-Ando shenanigans. That was all laugh-for-laugh’s-sake stuff -- except for the cool Southern, down-home Japanese trucker. Habla ingles? Where did that come from?!? Anyway, sorry that Ando had to hold that goofy pose to appease Lil Matt Parkman for so long, but heroism takes on different forms. The union of baby Matt and big Matt will definitely restore a bit of self-preservation to the ex-cop’s actions.
Another twist. So, I did say that Noah was smart, but Danko and Sylar played him like Chutes and Ladders! I don’t see how Noah missed the back of Sylar’s head when he shot, or why, if he didn’t miss, Sylar was able to get up, but Sylar’s ‘extra bleeding just for effect’ was brilliant. For a second, I thought that Danko had sacrificed one of his men, but was glad, character-wise, that he hadn’t. Maybe, as a shape shifter, Sylar can now move stuff around internally to avoid being hit in the kill zone? Don’t know.
Now on to the mysterious Coyote Sands. Angela Petrelli says the dusty area is where it all began, and has her sons digging up skeletons in the desert. An on-the-run Noah was told to never ask about the place, but heads right out there to rejoin his Claire bear. And Mohinder’s dad was apparently a scientist doing something while out there, and the strings on the map point to Coyote Sands, so it must be important! We’ll see what the next week, and the last three episodes of the season, brings us.
‘Heroes’ fans should be optimistic. The show is already signed up for at least the next season, so, no, that’s not why. It has picked up this past month with some mystery, action, a couple of deaths, great dialogue (OK, so that was mostly Bryan Fuller), and looks to be on the right track. So much so, that we won’t even mention its troubles here again -- unless it takes a huge step back.
Next week: We know that Angela Petrelli has a sister, Alice, and that she has something to do with bringing them all to Coyote Sands. So, the question is raised ...
-- Jevon Phillips
Photo: NBC
