A Toxic Waltz: TIC v. Heroes 4.3!

Watching "Building 26" took me back to my days as a fugly kid at the roller-rink, watching the popular kids pair up and the floor clear. Yes, this episode was a Couples Skate!

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Sylar and Luke: Our resident Sith and his newfound apprentice did some bonding on the road to ... wherever the hell Sylar Senior is holed up these days. Along the way we got hearty bits of exposition on how Sy does what he does and more subtle-as-a-jackhammer reminders from Luke of how similar the two are to one another. Still, the MVP of their sequences was the car radio: "Psycho Killer"? Good stuff.


Hiro and Ando: The Dynamic Duo traveled to India – how? Who knows? Who cares, right? -- to fulfill one of Parkman's predictions and save a woman (Amrapali Ambegaokar) from marrying a complete dweeb of a “bad guy.” Neither of the almost-intended exhibited any powers, so it's quite possible the whole thing was just an excuse to get Hiro to work through his jealousy of Ando's newfound powers and restore his belief in his own heroism, and to get them a message from Rebel urging them to save Matt – nevermind that they were just hanging around with Matt.

Nathan and The Hunter: Oh, sure, Nate would get some time in with SEXY TORTURE victim Tracy and new boss Abby Collins (Moira Kelly), but it was Danko who arranged for Tracy to briefly escape her tanning salon cell and freeze a poor guy to death. The incident is enough to steer Abby from the path of Liberal Guilt and onto the Petrelli bandwagon.

Claire and Noah: Jack Bauer, eat your heart out! We also learned that Nathan's troops have access to Every Traffic Cam, Anywhere, Regardless of Whatever Network They're On. Thanks to that convenient plot point, Claire was spotted locating a new meta-human, Alex (Justin Baldoni).

Rather than laugh in his face at the fact that he's basically Aquaman-lite, Claire protects West 2.0 from her father, going so far as to hide him in her closet. She also tells a somehow-surprised Sandra that HRG is – get this! -- lying about his job. Fortunately for Mrs. Bennet, she finally stands up for the family and kicks him out. Unfortunately for Noah, he can't even drink away his sorrow in peace, as he's abducted in a blaze of irony by Parkman, Peter and Mohinder. Check, Please!

Next Week: The Not-Avengers and Mr. Bennet spend some quality time together.

Previously: Heroes Racialicious Archive

The Racialicious Scorecard
Hiro & Ando were the only POCs to do anything of note this week, though it's worth pointing out that The Haitian was among those pictured on the list of targets.

Character bios courtesy of HeroesWiki.
Title and Tracy images courtesy of HeroesWiki.
Sylar image courtesy of HeroSite.

Great Expectations: TIC v. Dollhouse 1.1!

WARNING: SPOILER-ISH STUFF AHEAD.

There's still traces of Buffy in Dollhouse, but, thankfully, it's not Buffy goes And so far, it's not bad.

Our girl Faith, of course, is front-and-center as Echo, complete with Watcher handler; there's Fred(!) as a kindly hot/medical type; there's even a creepy variant on the Xander/Andrew type, in charge of mindwiping Echo and the other "Actives" after their latest mission – or, as boss lady Adelle likes to call them, "engagements." But so far, there's little sense of "quirk," and the only Big Damn Hero in the cast, Agent Paul, is, as far as his bosses are concerned, chasing a trafficking ring that doesn't exist.

And that, right now, is the first big angle: will Paul the Fed crack the case and catch the 'House before Echo stumbles onto the truth for herself? If him doing so means the former Caroline has to face the music for whatever Dark Secret she's hiding, do we root for him?

As the pilot, "Ghost," kicked off, we're not told how long Caroline has been Echo, or why she felt forced to sign on with the agency. But, in the midst of her latest assignment, Echo not only walked into another Active's initiation, but was ambushed by the memories of her latest persona, a hostage negotiator, when she ran into the man who kidnapped and (it's heavily inferred) abused her years ago.

Instead of taking her own revenge, though -- which would have been the Buffy resolution -- Echo, in this new persona, instead stands up to the guy and simply finishes her job. It's somebody else who does the shooting. A small change, perhaps, but a very telling one, and one I'm interested to see develop over the course of however many episodes it gets.

"Ghost" was allegedly the victim of Fox's ham-handedness – even creator/geek deity Joss Whedon said to wait it out 'til Ep 2 before rendering judgement. But, sure enough, Whedonites' opinions are already split between "WORST. EPISODE. EVER" and "OMGTEHJOSS!" Between trying to keep the show from getting canceled, of course.

No reason to worry just yet, though; not only did "Ghost" did well enough in the ratings to keep the show safe for now, but, as a pilot, it fulfilled its' own engagement – set up the rules of the game, introduce the antagonists (besides Paul, a former Active has apparently gone off the reservation, in a bad way) and establish Echo as the one to change the game. I'm not willing to write it off just yet.

VALENTINE'S DAY JUKEBOX: The Top 5

Like I said Thursday, contrary to popular belief, I do believe in love songs. But, I don't believe in the hackneyed. So, instead of waxing poetic on things romantic, I give you my favorites of the genre.

At No. 5 is a song we featured in a prior jukebox, "A Tu Lado" by Duncan Dhú.



Tied for fourth place are two songs from R.E.M., which I always thought were related in spirit. Where "Nightswimming" dealt with new love, tentative and wishful, "Leaving New York" was a last plea for a love well-known and almost-lost.





At #3 are The Pogues, who I talked about during the Holiday Jukebox. And just like "Fairytale of New York" was maybe the first Christmas song I really liked, "Tuesday Morning" was maybe the first love song that I truly enjoyed.



In second place is "Don't Change Your Plans," from Ben Folds Five, which breaks my heart every time I hear it, because of the way it weaves together its' protagonist's sense of loss with the simple reasons he loves and misses the girl he can't have -- not because of any falling-out, but because their lives are simply going in different directions.



And at the top, now and always, is a song I fell in love with the first time I heard it, in a sprawling outdoor stage in the heart of downtown San Diego: Woody Guthrie's "California Stars," as covered by Wilco. This is the one you'll hear at my funeral, for sure.

Movietime Thursday!

I don't feel well. My sleep schedule is completely out of kilter. So, a couple of quick things for now before continuing the Valentine's Week Jukebox.

The big item I found today, via io9, was this rumor that the Wachowski Brothers want to do another Superman reboot. As opposed to making a Superman out of Keanu Reeves.


Now, I still maintain that the first Matrix film gave the superhero genre a much-needed kick-start and template when it was released, saving subsequent hero flicks (O HAI X-Men) from the likes of Joel Schumacher. So I'd be interested to see if a Wachowskis take on Kal-El would follow the "grim-n-gritty" template DC reportedly wants to go with in a post-Dark Knight environment. Personally, I'd say that, if DC is looking for a story that can make Superman "relevant" again, Joe Kelly handed it to them years ago.

Across the pond, The Sun is reporting that the new Doctor, Matt Smith, has signed a five-year deal worth a million pounds. Hopefully some of that cash will be spent on upgrading the ol' Police Box:



Finally: while I am all about the Facebook, this video, which The Nerdy Bird turned me on to, can't help but make me cringe a bit. Here's a look at how F-book might play out in our day-to-day:

Tuesday Links

Just a couple of things before getting back to a good Wednesday: U.S./Motherland and Duke/Carolina tonight? Couch Potato ftw!

First, over at The R, our first roundtable discussion of Heroes 4.1 is up and running.

And lastly, this video has me rarin' to get back to school -- for Bat'leth training!

Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | More Video Clips

VALENTINES' WEEK JUKEBOX

It might surprise some of you to learn that I do still believe in love, and in love songs. It's quite true that I'm not really up to to really investing (in any sense of the word) in such things -- at least for now. But the idea itself doesn't repulse me.

Now, when I say "love songs," I don't mean the kind of tunes Da Vinci's Notebook so smartly mocks in "Title Of The Song":



My favorite love songs have a more ... I don't want to say "magical" quality, but something a little out there, an odd combination of delicacy and declaration. So, I thought I'd devote the rest of the week to sharing them with you. Perhaps you might find a slow song you could use to your advantage this week.

To kick things off, a song I recently rediscovered and listened to quite a lot today, "Emotion In Motion," by Ric Ocasek.

Lean On Me: TIC v. Heroes 4.2!

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Cross-posted to Racialicious!

A little dab of Galactica helped keep Heroes on an even keel this week – don't look now, but this makes two consecutive non-heinous episodes!

"Trust and Blood," penned by former BSG writer/exec. Producer Mark Verheiden was all about bonds: the Heroes solidified theirs; Nathan and Noah worked on keeping theirs together; and both Claire and Sylar made new friends.

The episode was told flashback style, as Nate recounted to his mom the events immediately following last week's fateful Oceanic Flight 815 transport plane crash in Arkansas. While the boys and Claire waste no time trying to regroup, Tracy wastes no time before playing Let's Make A Deal, offering up Peter in exchange for her freedom.

Peter, obviously, has other plans. After ditching Tracy and escaping yet another confrontation with Nathan, he emerges as the leader of our fugitive fivesome, assuring Hiro, Ando, Mohinder and Matt that NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN. You'd think Hiro, the comics fan, would just reassure him that things would be back to normal in a year or two. But nevermind.

Poor Matt, of course, already knows the future is changing, thanks to his increasing proficiency with the power he inherited from Usutu. Unfortunately for him, one of his new Etch-A-Sketch visions proves to be true, as Daphne is apparently gunned down by Homeland Security troops. I say "apparently" only because Hiro, the comics fan, could've just reassured Parkman that ... oh, I give up.

Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Sylar goes from having father issues to diagnosing them in others, as he recognizes would-be hostage Luke Campbell as a fellow bad seed – one who can cook him bacon in 90 seconds while tipping him off about the missing Papa Grey. Presto! Instant Padawan!

Claire's new buddy is more secretive. He or she, identified as “Rebel,” says hi via text message, assuring her, “You can still fight back.” Proper spelling in a text? Obviously this person will turn out to be a villain. Let's hope for more OMGs and ILU's in Claire-Bear's future.

However bad Rebel turns out to be, he or she can't be half the bastard Nathan's hired gun, Danko, is shaping up to be. Even as Nathan and Mr. Bennet grapple with the reality of their new roles, “The Hunter” seems to be chomping at the bit for the junior Senator to fail, so that he can take more drastic solutions. And as the episode closes, with Angela refusing to support her son's newfound course, and Tracy calling “You're one of us!” after him, the strain on Nathan is palpable – and, most gratifyingly, believable.

Next Week: Area 42? Kids' stuff. Welcome to Building 56!

The Racialicious Scorecard:
Hiro & Ando: Ando seemed to hold it together, for the most part, but Hiro sounded even more fanatical than usual about Heroism and regaining his sword and whatnot. Definitely a turn for the worse from his usual fanboy antics. It's also a shame Hiro is ignoring his corporate connection again; surely there's some reporter in Arkansas who would love to hear about the government kidnapping a foreign businessman, hmmm?

Mohinder: Not much to do for Suresh this week, aside from seemingly hesitating before joining Peter and the rest of the escapee crew. He did, however, unsuccessfully urge Hiro to leave them behind, telling him, "It's not your fight."

Luke Campbell: Man, the guy's changed a lot since the "Me So Horny" days ... er, wait, wrong Luke.

Usutu: On the plus side, he took a more active role (so much as he could) in assisting Matt. On the minus side, too bad for him people still remember Isaac.

Previously: Racialicious Heroes Archive

Character Bios courtesy of HeroesWiki
Images courtesy of Comic Book Resources