Heroes: Dual
I have also seen this episode called "Duel" and "Duality" but nbc.com says "Dual," so I'll go with that.
Man, a lot happened tonight. It's a nice change of pace. I even took notes, so hopefully I won't have to do what I did last week and edit in another couple of paragraphs immediately after posting.
Let's start with Sylar does Saw. They don't get any points for ripping off the concept, but I did like the execution. Er...no pun intended. Really. It was definitely believable for Sylar to want to play with his food. He's a creative guy with a sense of humor and a need to revel in how much smarter he is than everyone else.
The game was a little too focused on Claire, though. I mean, from a story telling standpoint, it made the most sense to put her in the middle because she was the only one with a strong motivation to save the others. However, from Sylar's point of view, she shouldn't be the focus. He doesn't have nearly as much reason to hate her as he does to hate Angela and HRG, yet he spends most of his time torturing her instead.
Also, why not steal the power from the puppet guy? Again, Sylar with puppet power would be horrible for the story, but the character should still have the motivation to acquire the power. Far more useful than appliance melting, and other powers he found worth taking.
Why was Claire instructed to protect Angela, anyway? Is there actually anything Claire can do that Angela can't? I have to believe that Angela can work a shotgun better than Claire, and -again- a healing ability is not an offensive power. And it's not defensive for anyone but Claire. I think it was just HRG's sneaky way of getting the silly teenager to stay somewhere relatively safe without provoking a temper tantrum. As such, I approve.
So, Angela is not the momma...but she knows who is! Fascinating! So Sylar is not a Petrelli, but he's still special. I don't think we have any more old-generation characters laying around, so I'm not sure where they're going with this. ...Yeah. ...I'd dearly love to speculate, but I'm coming up empty. Linderman? Dead. Parkman? Dead. Adam Monroe? -sob!- Dead. Sylar's obviously not of African or Asian decent, so that rules out Kaito and Charles Whats-his-name. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I have no doubt that we will find out eventually, though. Sylar is so not dead. The freaking explosion probably dislodged all foreign objects from his brain.
Speaking of the explosion, Meredith was annoying. Why didn't it occur to her or to HRG to try to direct the heat at something before Claire showed up? Claire and Elle did it with the electricity, and they aren't exactly the smartest girls ever. Also, writers - FYI; adrenaline wears off. How long was she sitting there? Seemed like a while.
Moving on, yay for Ando, the human battery! I like this power for him. He's still not really "special" if he's by himself. So this shouldn't break up the Hiro/Ando dynamic. I did not, however, like the whole "you get the power you desire most" idea. Wishes control genetic mutation? Ugh. It seems like that theory didn't pan out....it shouldn't be canon. Otherwise, jeez, I guess Maya *wanted* her tears of death. And Appliance-Melty-Guy just really wanted to melt things. By that logic, I guess Peter is the smartest Hero ever...he just really wanted to be able to do *everything*. Ando could have aimed for that instead.
Ooh, you know what? If Peter could steal Ando from Hiro, he could probably rule the world.
Meanwhile, at Pinehearst...
This is EXACTLY what I don't want to see from the brothers Winchester, but it really works for the Petrellis. Nathan has totally gone darkside (as Sam would say) and Peter still clings desperately to his moral compass. It kind of hurt to watch Nathan, actually. He may have out-eviled Sylar, and he thinks he's absolutely in the right. His little "Not what I would have done" at the end there, after Peter saved him? Yeah. Broke me. Ouch.
Last week I questioned how Peter would be able to justify using the formula to get his powers back. The writers managed it with flair. Peter would have been willing to give up powers. He only did it so that he could save his brother. Circumvented the ethical issue entirely.
But now how will Hiro get his powers back?
Senator Kelly Petrelli instructs the President that mutants have to be rounded up and put in camps. Ooh, Magneto is going to be so pissed. Seriously. Do we have to steal plot lines directly from X-Men? What next? Claire acquires claws and an adamantium skeleton to go with her healing factor? ...Sorry. I just got distracted by the idea of Claire-as-Wolverine. Far too amusing. She can drink lots of beer and call everyone "bub." It'll be awesome. She's already bad-tempered and small. If only she were hairier.
But really, hasn't Nathan ever read any X-Men? This whole "round up the mutants" idea never works too well. Usually pisses off some freaky people. And then there's the difficulty of tracking them down when they look exactly like normal people. Oh yeah, and YOU'RE ONE OF THEM, NATHAN!!! If he can rat out anyone, what makes him think they won't "out" him?
Does Hiro count as a mutant now that he's powerless? Also, as a Japanese citizen, would we imprison him, or deport him?
Apparently, this formula doesn't even have to be injected. It can be absorbed through the skin. Lucky Mohinder.
Idiot Award goes to Tracy! Congrats. Here's what she did to earn it:
1.) She trusted Nathan.
2.) "We have the formula. We can start over." Seriously? Did you miss all of that CATALYST stuff? You definitely can't start over unless you want to give everyone Mohinder's skin disease.
3.) At the end there, it looks like she decided to hitch her wagon to Mohinder. Yeah. Not ever a good idea. A) He hasn't had much luck with science experiments. B) Sylar is oddly attracted to him - never come between Sylar and his favorite toy. C) Women around him tend to die...Eden died, Maya was technically killed then brought back.
I am very excited for the next volume. Yes, it looks like it's going to be an X-Men rip-off, but I really like X-Men. I'm on board.
I might even try to write some fanfiction over hiatus. I'm thinking, "50 Ways We Can Resurect Adam Monroe (Without Being Any More Crack-Headed Than Usual)." It'll be a lovely series of vignettes detailing what I would do if I could wrestle control of the show away from Tim Kring.
I'm only half kidding.