Heroes Commentary 4x17 - The Art of Deception
Tricksy Heroeses!
Man, for a second there, at the beginning, I thought Samuel was wearing a villain’s cape. Which would have been a little OTT, even for the carnival. He seems all confusilated that all of his “family” is mad at him. I mean, what? You kill 200 people and your family is scared? WTH is that? Lydia sets him straight, but Samuel can’t handle the fact that she’s been filling in for Joseph as the trusted empath. Because Samuel wanted an exterior hire for that, but Lydia promoted herself internally, biatch!
You know, wanting to “prove your worth” by “any means necessary” is kind of a contradiction in terms. Normally you can’t prove you’re not really a mass-murdering psychopath by killing other people. Unless, of course, you’re Samuel Sullivan.
Dream sequence! Oooo! I see, Doyle is the one making Emma use her powers until she bleeds. That’s hella freaky. And Sylar coming to save her sounds marginally less psycho this time around. I think as the future draws closer, the dream becomes clearer and clearer…
Peter looks sexy in PJs. Let him be in PJs more often!
Emma won’t talk to Peter anymore because she’s on a 21 hour car drive to the Cirque de Hoyay (tm tiptoe39).
Ma Petrelli doing Nathan’s headstone is more than a little creepy. I mean, how many times has she probably prepared that order form, considering how often Nathan’s come close to death? And yes Angela, you were incredibly selfish for bringing Nathan back the way you did. You’re damn lucky Peter has some new people to save or he’d probably be taking you to task some more. While I appreciate her words of wisdom that one isolated good act doesn’t make someone a good person, she could also apply that to HERSELF!
Sylar at Matt’s - Matt has the most hilarious “my head again?!” freakout. “That’s so two months ago.” Thanks for the timeline catch up, and for the meta reference the show has for dropping consequences without warning.
Sylar is really, really inadvertently scary (and sexy) when he’s being hospitable. Being all casual around Janice and smiling just creeps me out. Doesn’t anyone on this show bother to explain what the crazy, superpowered serial killer looks like so their family and friends know when to run, hide, and call for help? No? Damn, characters, get it together! You’ve had four fucking seasons with this psycho trying to kill your tantalizing asses!
Huh. Basement projects. Gotta say, there’s not a lot in that basement, Parkman.
Hmm, Sylar’s not thinking things through, is he? “Matt, I want you to suppress my powers. Because even though I’ve killed dozens of people, essentially shot you five times at the end of the first season, threatened Molly, tormented you for months inside your head, made you lose your job, made your body kill another person, threatened your family, fucked your wife, got you shot and nearly killed again, and then threatened your wife and child again, I can’t see how anything could go wrong by putting myself completely in your power and at your mercy.”
While I appreciate Matt trying to trap Sylar in his own mind, the last time he did that (to his own dad), he got out again eventually.
And then going Cask of Amondillado on Sylar’s ass? Uh… if you truly suppressed all his powers, including regeneration, it’s going to start to smell. And if you didn’t suppress his regeneration, Sylar will always be there, waiting. This is the house you live in with your wife and son, Matt. Fucking THINK!
Peter must save Emma, and having a new mission has let him put aside his “burning need to hear Sylar scream” in order to work with the guy, even to the point of diving into his trapped head. Oh Peter, you lemming. Matt fucking warned you! And, as an aside, taking powers without permission is hella rude!
Claire is going to be petty instead of sharing information with her dad, and Gretchen is the one that has to set her straight. Despite Gretchen’s initial stalker creepiness, she’s not entirely a bad person. Still a bit controlling, but a better person that Claire’s had in her life in a long time.
Lauren opens the door and start’s doing the “Your dad’s in the shower washing up after a night of hot sex” dance, except really it’s the “I’m trying to hide a plot” dance. Damn, I really would have liked to see the consequences from the first. Claire seems to take exception to her dad trying to take in a wanted criminal and storms out in a huff. She must have a lot of huff, because damn, she storms out leaving them behind a lot.
Back in the dorm, Claire wants to go mano-y-mano with Samuel. Gretchen brings up the whole, “You should go to class.” And something completely awesome, that Claire has said, repeatedly, that she wants a normal life. And going after the carnival is not having a normal life. That’s what’s frustrating about Claire. She rails about not being able to be normal, and then throws herself headlong into every not-normal situation she can find. She can either drop the heroic shenanigans, or resign herself to being Peter Parker with the credo that “with great power comes great responsibility.”
Gretchen, apparently, is not quite as enamored with being Supergirl’s girlfriend, if it’s going to involve lots of angst and absences. Some people are suited for that kind of lifestyle, and some are not. Gretchen is not. Claire should respect that. She does not.
Instead she demands to borrow Gretchen’s car. What the hell? Ok, in college, I had a six-year-old Ford Explorer. Not the best car in the world, but it was in good shape, and it was mine. I never let anyone borrow it, because they weren’t insured under my insurance, and that was my responsibility as good car owner. I still have that car to this day, and it’s still running because I took care of it. Not let emotionally unstable friends drive it on a 21-hour drive across state lines to a carnival full of people with abilities. Bringing it back with a full gas tank does not compensate for the wear, tear, and potential danger to the car. And, yes, obviously there’s potential danger to Claire too just from her destination. But still, no one borrows my car, bitch!
Claire argues with Samuel to surrender, putting forth a decent argument about wanting to keep the carnival intact, but saying he’s got to take responsibility. Huh. Sounds like almost everyone on the cast, the speaker included, could use the same speech. Just saying.
Ever-so-conveniently, Noah kept his phone on so Claire could get him on board with the whole surrender thing. Bad operational etiquette, Noah!
Samuel goes to surrender his ass with a big, heartfelt speech, which ends in a hail of blazing gunfire. Claire should have started screaming that it wasn’t her dad doing the shooting, because Noah “Badass” Bennet would have never shot Samuel in the shoulder. He’s not that bad a shot. He would have never shot Claire. And he would have never randomly shot around children. It’s a damn good thing Samuel had a huge distraction ready in Lydia’s death to keep anyone from thinking rationally about the whole damn mess.
Eli cleverly keeps his prime self out of the way of Noah’s gun, and kicks Noah while he’s down. Bad Eli! Bad!
Claire races off to get a medkit when she sees Lydia is down. Why didn’t she just start screaming for a syringe? Because not every medical kit has one, but in a carnival as big as this, someone is bound to be a diabetic or has some other condition that would require a syringe. I know Claire’s blood could cheapen death, but if the writers are going to introduce the damn stuff, they better fucking USE IT! And, by the way, where the hell is Amanda? Lydia’s daughter should have been at her mother’s side when she’s dying. I know she’s way down there on the list of important characters, but it doesn’t fucking matter because she’s blood family. Then again, considering what happened with Nathan and his sons…
(Quick aside, where the hell is Becky the Sociopathic Sorority Sister? Shouldn’t she have been doing some kind of happy dance at Claire getting shot in the neck? Invisibility must be such a convenient power for the writers when characters just randomly disappear.)
That was stone cold of Samuel to use Lydia like that. Smart, considering she’s the one the rest of the carnival listens to, and the only one who could implicate him in Joseph’s death, but still, stone cold. Extra stone cold was kissing her as she was dying to let her know his eeeeeeeeeeeeeevil plans.
Poor Lauren! The only person she can call for help is Tracy Strauss. Damn, things must really be sucking if that’s your only backup. (Isn’t she supposed to be at the carnival anyway? What’s up with that?) What about Peter? Or Matt? Wait, never mind, they both hate Noah right now. Pauvre girl, all shot and alone in the dark. That is a scary, scary situation to be in. I bet the carnies would have ripped her limb from limb.
But of course, Samuel doesn’t want that to happen. He just played the greatest card that any despot can play, creating a horrible “foreign” enemy to stir national pride and fervor and make them forget about any little excesses of his. And because of that, he can look especially noble for preventing the carnies from hurting Claire.
Ew. Samuel decides that Noah needs to go to the Hall of Mirrors with Damien of the Awesome Dreads and Unspecific Mind-Affecting Powers while Claire needs to be put in his trailer. Ew! EW!!! This can only end in more pseudo sexual assault on Claire, and I’m really, really getting tired of that.
Huh, Edgar shows up to mourn Lydia. How the hell does he know? Did Amanda call him on the Product Placement Phone to let him know her mom and his former squeeze had been shot dead? And why exactly is he all blasé around Samuel? “Sammy, never mind that I know you murdered your brother and lied about it, and that you accused me in front of the rest of the carnival of that same murder. Never mind that you drove me away from the only family I’ve ever really had and I went to Noah and got beaten up for it. I’ll just go along with your eeeeevil charisma and hate Noah Bennet and weep over Lydia and we’ll forget there was ever any tension between us.”
Emma shows up after having followed her Magic Compass. Now, if I were her, I’d return this carnival for a full refund, because it clearly is not how it was described in the catalogue. Samuel described a place where she could be accepted and use her powers openly in a loving family. What she gets is the aftermath of a war zone. Not exactly what I’d call a good impression, eh?
Man, for a second there, at the beginning, I thought Samuel was wearing a villain’s cape. Which would have been a little OTT, even for the carnival. He seems all confusilated that all of his “family” is mad at him. I mean, what? You kill 200 people and your family is scared? WTH is that? Lydia sets him straight, but Samuel can’t handle the fact that she’s been filling in for Joseph as the trusted empath. Because Samuel wanted an exterior hire for that, but Lydia promoted herself internally, biatch!
You know, wanting to “prove your worth” by “any means necessary” is kind of a contradiction in terms. Normally you can’t prove you’re not really a mass-murdering psychopath by killing other people. Unless, of course, you’re Samuel Sullivan.
Dream sequence! Oooo! I see, Doyle is the one making Emma use her powers until she bleeds. That’s hella freaky. And Sylar coming to save her sounds marginally less psycho this time around. I think as the future draws closer, the dream becomes clearer and clearer…
Peter looks sexy in PJs. Let him be in PJs more often!
Emma won’t talk to Peter anymore because she’s on a 21 hour car drive to the Cirque de Hoyay (tm tiptoe39).
Ma Petrelli doing Nathan’s headstone is more than a little creepy. I mean, how many times has she probably prepared that order form, considering how often Nathan’s come close to death? And yes Angela, you were incredibly selfish for bringing Nathan back the way you did. You’re damn lucky Peter has some new people to save or he’d probably be taking you to task some more. While I appreciate her words of wisdom that one isolated good act doesn’t make someone a good person, she could also apply that to HERSELF!
Sylar at Matt’s - Matt has the most hilarious “my head again?!” freakout. “That’s so two months ago.” Thanks for the timeline catch up, and for the meta reference the show has for dropping consequences without warning.
Sylar is really, really inadvertently scary (and sexy) when he’s being hospitable. Being all casual around Janice and smiling just creeps me out. Doesn’t anyone on this show bother to explain what the crazy, superpowered serial killer looks like so their family and friends know when to run, hide, and call for help? No? Damn, characters, get it together! You’ve had four fucking seasons with this psycho trying to kill your tantalizing asses!
Huh. Basement projects. Gotta say, there’s not a lot in that basement, Parkman.
Hmm, Sylar’s not thinking things through, is he? “Matt, I want you to suppress my powers. Because even though I’ve killed dozens of people, essentially shot you five times at the end of the first season, threatened Molly, tormented you for months inside your head, made you lose your job, made your body kill another person, threatened your family, fucked your wife, got you shot and nearly killed again, and then threatened your wife and child again, I can’t see how anything could go wrong by putting myself completely in your power and at your mercy.”
While I appreciate Matt trying to trap Sylar in his own mind, the last time he did that (to his own dad), he got out again eventually.
And then going Cask of Amondillado on Sylar’s ass? Uh… if you truly suppressed all his powers, including regeneration, it’s going to start to smell. And if you didn’t suppress his regeneration, Sylar will always be there, waiting. This is the house you live in with your wife and son, Matt. Fucking THINK!
Peter must save Emma, and having a new mission has let him put aside his “burning need to hear Sylar scream” in order to work with the guy, even to the point of diving into his trapped head. Oh Peter, you lemming. Matt fucking warned you! And, as an aside, taking powers without permission is hella rude!
Claire is going to be petty instead of sharing information with her dad, and Gretchen is the one that has to set her straight. Despite Gretchen’s initial stalker creepiness, she’s not entirely a bad person. Still a bit controlling, but a better person that Claire’s had in her life in a long time.
Lauren opens the door and start’s doing the “Your dad’s in the shower washing up after a night of hot sex” dance, except really it’s the “I’m trying to hide a plot” dance. Damn, I really would have liked to see the consequences from the first. Claire seems to take exception to her dad trying to take in a wanted criminal and storms out in a huff. She must have a lot of huff, because damn, she storms out leaving them behind a lot.
Back in the dorm, Claire wants to go mano-y-mano with Samuel. Gretchen brings up the whole, “You should go to class.” And something completely awesome, that Claire has said, repeatedly, that she wants a normal life. And going after the carnival is not having a normal life. That’s what’s frustrating about Claire. She rails about not being able to be normal, and then throws herself headlong into every not-normal situation she can find. She can either drop the heroic shenanigans, or resign herself to being Peter Parker with the credo that “with great power comes great responsibility.”
Gretchen, apparently, is not quite as enamored with being Supergirl’s girlfriend, if it’s going to involve lots of angst and absences. Some people are suited for that kind of lifestyle, and some are not. Gretchen is not. Claire should respect that. She does not.
Instead she demands to borrow Gretchen’s car. What the hell? Ok, in college, I had a six-year-old Ford Explorer. Not the best car in the world, but it was in good shape, and it was mine. I never let anyone borrow it, because they weren’t insured under my insurance, and that was my responsibility as good car owner. I still have that car to this day, and it’s still running because I took care of it. Not let emotionally unstable friends drive it on a 21-hour drive across state lines to a carnival full of people with abilities. Bringing it back with a full gas tank does not compensate for the wear, tear, and potential danger to the car. And, yes, obviously there’s potential danger to Claire too just from her destination. But still, no one borrows my car, bitch!
Claire argues with Samuel to surrender, putting forth a decent argument about wanting to keep the carnival intact, but saying he’s got to take responsibility. Huh. Sounds like almost everyone on the cast, the speaker included, could use the same speech. Just saying.
Ever-so-conveniently, Noah kept his phone on so Claire could get him on board with the whole surrender thing. Bad operational etiquette, Noah!
Samuel goes to surrender his ass with a big, heartfelt speech, which ends in a hail of blazing gunfire. Claire should have started screaming that it wasn’t her dad doing the shooting, because Noah “Badass” Bennet would have never shot Samuel in the shoulder. He’s not that bad a shot. He would have never shot Claire. And he would have never randomly shot around children. It’s a damn good thing Samuel had a huge distraction ready in Lydia’s death to keep anyone from thinking rationally about the whole damn mess.
Eli cleverly keeps his prime self out of the way of Noah’s gun, and kicks Noah while he’s down. Bad Eli! Bad!
Claire races off to get a medkit when she sees Lydia is down. Why didn’t she just start screaming for a syringe? Because not every medical kit has one, but in a carnival as big as this, someone is bound to be a diabetic or has some other condition that would require a syringe. I know Claire’s blood could cheapen death, but if the writers are going to introduce the damn stuff, they better fucking USE IT! And, by the way, where the hell is Amanda? Lydia’s daughter should have been at her mother’s side when she’s dying. I know she’s way down there on the list of important characters, but it doesn’t fucking matter because she’s blood family. Then again, considering what happened with Nathan and his sons…
(Quick aside, where the hell is Becky the Sociopathic Sorority Sister? Shouldn’t she have been doing some kind of happy dance at Claire getting shot in the neck? Invisibility must be such a convenient power for the writers when characters just randomly disappear.)
That was stone cold of Samuel to use Lydia like that. Smart, considering she’s the one the rest of the carnival listens to, and the only one who could implicate him in Joseph’s death, but still, stone cold. Extra stone cold was kissing her as she was dying to let her know his eeeeeeeeeeeeeevil plans.
Poor Lauren! The only person she can call for help is Tracy Strauss. Damn, things must really be sucking if that’s your only backup. (Isn’t she supposed to be at the carnival anyway? What’s up with that?) What about Peter? Or Matt? Wait, never mind, they both hate Noah right now. Pauvre girl, all shot and alone in the dark. That is a scary, scary situation to be in. I bet the carnies would have ripped her limb from limb.
But of course, Samuel doesn’t want that to happen. He just played the greatest card that any despot can play, creating a horrible “foreign” enemy to stir national pride and fervor and make them forget about any little excesses of his. And because of that, he can look especially noble for preventing the carnies from hurting Claire.
Ew. Samuel decides that Noah needs to go to the Hall of Mirrors with Damien of the Awesome Dreads and Unspecific Mind-Affecting Powers while Claire needs to be put in his trailer. Ew! EW!!! This can only end in more pseudo sexual assault on Claire, and I’m really, really getting tired of that.
Huh, Edgar shows up to mourn Lydia. How the hell does he know? Did Amanda call him on the Product Placement Phone to let him know her mom and his former squeeze had been shot dead? And why exactly is he all blasé around Samuel? “Sammy, never mind that I know you murdered your brother and lied about it, and that you accused me in front of the rest of the carnival of that same murder. Never mind that you drove me away from the only family I’ve ever really had and I went to Noah and got beaten up for it. I’ll just go along with your eeeeevil charisma and hate Noah Bennet and weep over Lydia and we’ll forget there was ever any tension between us.”
Emma shows up after having followed her Magic Compass. Now, if I were her, I’d return this carnival for a full refund, because it clearly is not how it was described in the catalogue. Samuel described a place where she could be accepted and use her powers openly in a loving family. What she gets is the aftermath of a war zone. Not exactly what I’d call a good impression, eh?