Heroes - A Clear and Present Danger
Volume 4, Chapter 14 - “A Clear and Present Danger”
I love Heroes and am so glad that it’s started back up again! Now, on to the episode report.
With Nathan’s crazy ideas, that is just not cool he was put in charge of homeland security. But then again, what would they call his wacked out plan of rounding up everyone with powers to “protect” the rest of society? The way he was acting in the interview, he just does not seem okay. And again, what made the President trust him about this in the first place?
As soon as Tracey saw that the window was cracked I knew that some people had to be there to capture her. That was a real tense and good opening to set the theme/mood of this volume. For a minute I thought that Nathan was the head guy in that group because they focused in on his eyes and then Nathan’s eyes on the TV, but once he started to call Nathan obviously I knew that I wasn’t right.
When I saw that Hiro had gotten him and Ando a old firehouse for their secret hideout I went, “they’re Ghostbusters!” That was awesome, Hiro setting up that place, getting (making?) Ando a costume and an Ando-Cycle, and setting up the computer system. I thought that he used Charlie’s name for the password at first. Though Ando was right that HIro was doing this because he doesn’t have his powers anymore, I think that it’s good that Hiro found a way to be helpful in the crime fighting stuff. I cracked up when he injected Ando with the GPS chip, but that totally proved useful - that they both have them - later in the episode.
I’m a little disappointed that Claire got her GED in some ways, I kind was interested in how prom might go for her, but then again, it is probably best for her to just be done with high school. From what I had heard about this volume, I was thinking that Claire and Angela were actually going to go visit various colleges to check them out for her, which sounded both weird and amusing. But I guess that won’t be happening. I had also been thinking that it would be cool if Claire went to school around Chicago, but that’s based on my bias of being from here and thinking it would be neat to have the city included in the show (which it very briefly was in a webisode of Heroes Destiny). I liked that Claire clarified which of her dads agreed with Angela that getting her into college was the best thing for her, the best chance at her living a normal life. Though I really should have seen that as a tip off that all three grownups are in on Nathan’s plan, I mean, when have the three of them ever discussed something like that before? Did not at all see it coming that it was Nathan’s people that caused the man in Memphis to mysteriously disappear, and more importantly, I SO did not think that Angela was on the phone with Nathan and that she’s in on the plan. Bet she’s not going to be locked up.
I knew that this volume Gabriel/Sylar was going to be trying to track down his birth parents or find out more about them, and so when I saw him walking into that watch shop I thought that maybe he was just going to various watch shops to see if his father ran any of them. I did not expect that he had found his adopted father. Martin Gray is an ass! What kind of a father walks out on his family saying that he’s going to get a pack of cigarettes and never returns? I thought that he was going to be a nicer guy because it seemed like Gabriel had looked up to his father, based on when Gabriel was talking to Virginia about him in volume 1. Interesting how Gabriel/Sylar quoted Angela to Martin with the saying he couldn’t be the son of a watchmaker and a woman who collects snow globes. I wonder how old Gabriel was when his father left them. I wouldn’t bet any older than 10, but probably younger than that, and I’m doubting any younger than 4. Looking on the Heroes wiki I noticed that apparently Gabriel/Sylar asked his father if his address is here he lived 27 years ago, so that makes me wonder if Gabriel is supposed to be 27, or if that’s the number of years ago that he walked out on them. I figured that Gabriel was older than Peter and at that point in the story Peter is, I think, 27 but will be 28 later that year, so maybe they’re the same age? Or Gabriel/Sylar is somewhere between 31-37, but I can’t see him as being older than 31, which is about how old Mohinder is at that time and I don’t think that he’s older than him. Anyway, moving on, it was definitely a surprise to me that Gabriel’s birth father is the brother of his adoptive father, though that does make sense since the name of the watch shop that Gabriel worked at as “Gray and Sons” so he must have at least one uncle. Also, it makes sense that Gabriel has watchmakeing in his blood, and that he’s biologically a Gray. This makes me wonder about the theory that some fans have, that Gabriel’s original power was empathic mimicry and that he got the intuitive aptitude from his adoptive father. This causes me to wonder about that because I’m assuming that his birth father does have a power, it’s quite likely that his adoptive father/uncle would also have a power. Intuitive aptitude also makes sense for a watchmaker/watch repairer to have. I felt bad for how sad and lonely little Gabriel must have been after his dad left.
Matt and Daphne are adorable. I like that Daphne is working as a messenger, and the deal with them supposedly trying to not use their powers and just live normal lives seems like it could lead to some Bewitched like antics. How is it though, that they’re now living in Mohinder’s apartment, and apparently he isn’t? That just seems weird to me. I wonder who Matt is working as a body guard for. Or maybe he is working as a body guard for a variety of people, like if some bigshots come into New York they hire him for protection or something?
Poor Peter. I’m pretty sure that if I was a paramedic I’d have reacted just like that to not being able to save someone. It seemed significant, like it was foreshadowing a larger event this season, that his co-worker told him that he can’t save everyone. Of course that won’t stop Peter from feeling like he can and soul save everyone, nor will it stop the guilt if he can’t.
I absolutely loved that Peter got in a cab driven by Mohinder and that they had a re-doing of their first conversation in the first volume. That was awesome! Also, I liked that they gave Peter his coat back. I like that coat, and perhaps this means that they’ll let Gabriel/Sylar ware his awesome coat from the first season. Of course we’d need to get to colder months though, since in the Heroes timeline it’s like, June or so of 2007 In which case, does Peter really need to be wearing that coat?
Back to Mohinder though, it’s strange that he hasn’t really had contact with anyone, or so he says, in a couple of months. Where has he been living? As my brother commented, Mohinder needs to learn that the person who gets into his cab after Peter leaves is dangerous. Last time it was Mr. Bennet, and then now it’s that creepy hunter guy who I can’t remember the name of. It was cool how Mohinder used the cab door to smack one of the guys, and then as a shield from the bullets. I enjoyed that Mohinder went running off then too, much in the same style he did when he fleed from his cab in volume 1 after Mr. Bennet freaked him out. I kept thinking that he would use his awesome crazy jumping power to jump off of the parking garage, but maybe that’s too much of a jump or him to handle? I really thought that Mr. Bennet was saving Mohinder and I was all “Yay!!!” cause I like it when they work together and that seemed like such a cool resuce, but then WTF? Mr. Bennet is working for Nathan’s creepy capture team? That caught me off guard. The only thing I can figure is that this is his way of making sure Claire stays safe.
How did Matt’s turtle get out of its aquarium/cage/whatever? The new development in Matt’s power is sure an interesting twist! I had seen the clip of him talking with Claire about the drawings on the Bonnie Hunt show earlier that afternoon (Greg Grenburg was on there) and I thought, based on what was shown, that Matt had become a medium and could use the powers of those who he channeled. But, I guess that is not the case? It seems maybe Usutu just chose him to carry on his power before he died, or maybe because they had such a bond his power transferred to him or something like that? It is worrysome though because prophets of the artistic sort don’t seem to last very long on the show - excepting for Peter and Gabriel, though neither of them can use that power right now.
Of course Ando would try to use the Ando-cycle to pick up girls - from a strip club! I totally thought that HIro was going to get captured when he was on the phone with Ando. I bet Ando will be able to save him, and maybe help some of the other captured people escape. Maybe Ando can get Daphne to help so that they can travel wherever it is really really fast? I bet Ando is glad now that Hiro put the tracking chip in both of them. I wonder who else Ando might be able to get to help him rescue Hiro?
I wonder how Claire knew where Matt lives? Had she ever been there before? I can’t remember her going to the apartment, excepting for in the future from volume 3. But anyway, it was nice she tried to warn/save Matt. Was the first drawing he was looking at of him and Daphne, or of Ando and Daphne? See when I first saw the episode I thought that it was Matt and Daphne, but then I kinda thought that the drawing didn’t really look like Matt, though that can be the case sme of the time with the art on this show (and the graphic novels sometimes), for example the drawing last volume in the faces of evil painting that looked like Tom Selleck or Alejandro, but turned out to be Gabriel/Sylar. Then, on a second viewing, my brother noted that he thought it was Ando and Daphne, and I agreed that it did look more like Ando than it did Matt.
Peter should stop hugging family members! First he hugs his father and his powers get sucked away, and then he hugs Nathan and he gets electro-shocked, drugged, and sent off to where ever the captured powered people are being sent to by Nathan. But of course he actually shouldn’t, as it would be totally out of character for Peter to stop hugging his family. Again, I was surprised about Mr. Bennet’s direct involvement in carrying out this plan. I really do hope that Nathan and Peter can get along again. It’s sad how crazy Nathan has become.
The home of Samson Gray is certainly a creepy place, what with all the taxidermy. Could Samson have been in there? Maybe using some kind of sneaking into that shadows power or something? I ask that because of the still smoking cigarette Gabriel/Sylar found in the ashtray. Also, I guess that maybe Virginia was keeping Samson up to date about his son, hence the picture of little Gabriel and the snow globe? Who is Gabriel’s mother anyway? In repeat viewing of episode 12, my brother and I noticed that Gabriel/Sylar’s lie detecting power does not go off when Arthur responds to his question of “You are family?” or something like that, and Arthur responds “Of course -” It only goes off when Arthur says, “I’m your father.” This makes us wonder if maybe Gabriel/Sylar is still part of the Petrelli family somehow, like maybe his mother is Arthur’s sister or something. I hope we get to find out about Gabriel/Sylar’s bio-mom eventually.
Gabriel’s fighting off of the guys from Nathan’s team was pretty awesome, though I can’t figure out how I feel about his using Elle’s power so much. On the one hand, I think that that shows his love for her, somehow, and I figure he has to be thinking about her every time he uses it, which I would think would make him sort of melancholic? And in some really messed up way it’s like she’s protecting him or something? But on the other hand it just makes me sad. I mean, I know that he got it through empathy and not from killing her, but he still did kill her. I miss Elle, and I miss them together. Also, it seems like Elle’s power is now maybe his second favorite to use, after the telekinesis, making it the two murders that have probably made the biggest impact on him. I wonder, too, if because he got Elle’s power through empathy he has to be thinking about her or feeling like her in some way to use it? I’ve always thought that with Peter’s power had to be feeling some emotion that is very much a main characteristic of the person he got the power from - though I’m not sure he figured that out, but if you look at the various scenes of him using powers he seems like he’s got the signature emotion of that person when he uses their power. I think I wrote about that in an earlier entry.
So I’m betting that Gabriel is now going to take the identity of that guy from Nahan’s team, Daniel whatever his last name was, and he’s going to sneak into the group of guys from Nathan’s team in order to maybe save someone else with powers? Namely, that kid he’s supposed to be picking up and going on road trip with.
How were that line of captured people with powers walking into the plane if they were all drugged? It seemed like that drug really messed up Claire’s ability to walk since two guys had to kind of be holding her up when they brought her over to Nathan. And were those bombs set on each of the captured people? Minus Claire.
Claire’s escape from the car was awesome. Loved the kicking the driver in the head, and here sneaking onto the plane. Good thing she can run pretty well. It was amusing though that the security guys on the plane didn’t seem to hear her. I loved that Peter knew that it was Mohinder next to him based on looking at his hand.I I’m thinking that it was the thumb ring. Peter’s good with details it seems. It was funny how Claire put Hiro’s hood thing back on and moved along until she found Peter, though he was the next guy. Back to Peter, I think that his power is different now. It seems that he only gets people’s powers when he touches them. He touched Nathan before he flew again, he didn’t get Mohinder’s strength until he held his hand, he got Tracy’s power after he touched her hand, etc. I’m not sure if he touched Claire though, but I’m really hoping he did because it wold definitely be a good thing for him to have that power back ASAP.
That was freaking shocking that Mr. Bennet was in the cockpit of the plane!!! What the hell? Claire was so take-charge with her holding up the plane but that was so distracting for both her and her dad to find each other there. I did not expect that at all!
I felt so bad for Peter, unknowingly causing the plane crash thanks to Tracey. That’s all Peter needs, more guilt, more being unable to save everyone. I wonder if that person who flew out of the plane was anyone we knew? I’m thinking probably not, but who knows. And then Mohinder risking his live to hold on to Peter. What a dramatic way to end the episode!