Monday, November 24, 2008

Divide And Prosper!: TIC v. Heroes 3.10!


Cross-posted to Racialicious!
Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

Can you feel it now that spring has come
And its time to live in the scattered sun
Waiting for the sun

-- The Doors

"Everything's going to change today."
-- Arthur Petrelli

Hey, that didn't suck!

In Part 1 of "The Eclipse," Heroes finally trades in most of its' catharsis for conflict, letting loose Teams Primatech and Pinehearst against each other, and themselves, as the darkening of the sun upends everybody's expectations.

Perhaps not surprisingly, it's the people without powers who adjust the best, especially Noah Bennet, who delivers incredibly satisfying pwnings, as the kidz say, to both Sylar and Elle. But the ass-kicking comes at a cost: as foreseen by Mr. Petrelli via Isaac's old powers, Claire, the newly-annointed Catalyst, is shot and wounded, and hospital-bound going into next week's conclusion.

On the other end of the Benetrelli tree, Nathan and Peter are dispatched to find The Haitian and bring him back from Singala his war-torn homeland -- and blunder into some character development! Turns out the human power defuser's brother is one Baron Samedi, local warlord, Level 5 escapee, ally of Arthur and all-around no-goodnik. We learn from the Haitian that Samedi's power is impenetrable skin, which the locals of course assume makes him a god. What we don't learn is where and how the hell Peter learned enough to school Nate on the subject of voodoo. Seeing as how Nathan got himself captured by the Baron, maybe he'll get a more in-depth tutorial before the inevitable rescue attempt.

In the midst of another type of shrubbery, namely the cornfields of "Lawrence, Kansas" (Aside: I've been to Lawrence. It's a college town. With paved roads.)Hiro and Ando help Matt (Park)man up to win the heart, however illogical the reasons, of his pre-destined love Daphne. As speedy as Daph usually is, this subplots nearly grinds the episode to a halt, even after we discover what she was afraid to return to: walking on crutches.

Matt & Daphne aren't the only lovers having a hard time. As the episode draws to a close, Noah draws a bead on the literally crazy-in-love Sylar and Elle. As Gabriel tries to learn his way back around responsibility, Elle keeps trying to tempt him back toward the Loony Side, going so far as to fake a kidnapping attempt to egg him on. Either way, their romantic comedy from hell may end quickly if Mr. Bennet gets his shot off before the stars re-align ...

The Racialicious Scorecard:
Hiro & Ando: Ok, so they're following 9th Wonders all the way to Matt's apartment at the exact moment Parkman and Daphne were going to go look for them, even though, we still don't know who's writing the comic and guiding them along. And seeing them run into their very own fanboys (Seth Green + Breckin Meyer? Good times!) could lead to some laughs. But Ando's increasingly deferential behavior toward a guy who thinks he's 10 years old was disturbing to watch.

Mohinder: It's back to Good News, Bad News for Dr. Suresh. The good news: the eclipse (which seemed to last longer than any in recorded history) cured him of his increasingly dominant mutation. The bad news: now powerless once again, he's commanded by Arthur P. to find a way to restore his team's powers. No wonder Yahoo Entertainment says the poor sod should just be killed off, already.

The Haitian: Anybody else surprised that he and Peter seemed to get each other? In trying to get Nathan to help him, Pete at least acknowledged the Haitian's past service to his family. Hopefully the showdown between the good brother and Baron Samedi (pictured at right) will flesh out both characters – and reveal the Haitian's damn name already.

MIA: Usutu; Knox.

Next Week: Claire goes to the hospital; is she covered under Noah's health plan?
Previously: Racialicious Heroes Archive

Title & Baron Samedi images courtesy of HeroesWiki.
Other images courtesy of Comic Book Resources
Character Bios courtesy of HeroesWiki

2 comments:

Mace Elaine said...

My dear Art, you seem to have doubled a paragraph there near the start.

And I'm quite glad that the nerd duo in the comic book shop (hearts!) noticed the similarity between comic and reality. I was wondering if ANYONE in the world other than Hiro had figured that out.

Arturo said...

Thanks, Mace! Noted and corrected!