HEROES Vol 5 #7:Strange Attractors/Season4/09

[Truth Seeker]

Strange Attractors

Sylar continues to torment Matt. HRG and Tracy help a young boy who is has suffered many hardships in his life. Claire and Gretchen have a problem with their new sorority sisters hazing them.

[Hand of Evil]

Boring!

[coyote6]

I kind of liked it, at least the Claire third. It moved the plot along (Claire & Gretchen learned whatshername was Invisible Killer Lass), Claire got to be competent while doing so (she was & could have continued to kick the butts of the sorority "kidnappers", she realized that someone was messing with 'em and that it was probably powers, and beat IKL), and got further complications (now IKL is on the loose, and the other two women saw Claire & IKL's powers).

The other parts were a little less fun, in that the protagonists continued to be lame losers (Bennett lost the healer kid, Parkman lost his body) -- but at this point, that's in character for both of 'em. Parkman has always, unfortunately, been a bit of a chump, and Bennett is definitely in the downward spiral. I'm hoping that Bennett will get to hit bottom and rebound to his Batman-esque form sometime soonish. And Sylar-Parkman lets them keep Sylar around as a villainous force, without being the main villain and without (presumably) increasing his set of powers even more.

But the show didn't let deus ex machina/life-death powers kid hang around indefinitely, and his death pushed Tracy towards the circus -- which brings the disparate plotlines closer to coming together.

I do wonder when Samuel is going to get a helmet to wear -- then his Magneto-ness will be complete. Should we start calling him Earthneto now?

Y'know, since they're ripping off the X-Men sooo much this season (Magneto & the Brotherhood crossed with Mesmero's circus, no?), they really do need to go ahead and give him an Xavier to argue with.

Actually, they kind of need Xavier-proxy to give the protagonists a few lessons. And then they need the heroes to remember them.

I wonder if Sylar-Nathan's object reading powers will get a chance to encounter something Samuel's dead brother owned, and find out what really happened to him. Maybe the Xavier proxy is already dead.

So far, this season, I actually like Claire and Peter, which is big change from last year.

[stonegod]

I agree: The Claire section was actually good, with some competence this time.

I'm enjoying the Matt/Sylar bits, however. Matt needs to feel the full consequences of last season's action. And, as said, it lets Sylar be loose without Sylar overbearing the plot.

[wolff96]

I'm mostly with Hand of Evil on this one.

I kind of feel like the only thing they remember from their first and best season was ridiculously slow pacing for most of the season. So in trying to recapture that feeling, they lost most of what made the show good -- interesting characters and plot movement.

It was nice to see Claire being semi-competent. I really couldn't care less about her whole lesbian storyline. Even though invisible-lass caused most of the trouble, Gretchen was *still* a stalker-with-a-crush and now Claire might experiment with her because she "needs her as a friend"? Wow.

Bennett was always my favorite character -- the humanizing viewpoint of the show and the Man with the Plan. I'm not sure who this unemployed, divorced guy is that they replaced him with, but I'd like my old HRG back soon, please.

And Parkman just annoys me. He has one of the strongest powers on this show (behind only the 'Power Trio' of Sylar, Peter, and Hiro, IMO) and he's always been idiotic about it. He's afraid of turning into his father -- that much I get. But this whole "Sylon" storyline just annoys me. (Sorry, couldn't resist the BSG reference...)

*Shrug*

They managed something nearly impossible -- made me intersted in Peter again -- and Hiro hasn't been as annoying this season as he usually is. But the rest of it? Not so much. I guess I watch more out of loyalty than anything else at this point. :P

[Mark]

Part of the problem with this episode was that they obviously began writing with three intentions, one to put Sylar in charge of Parkman's body (which was fairly transparent), two and three were shoehorned Halloween themes, the haunted house Claire and company had to traverse and the small town mob destroying the misunderstood monster, ALA Frankenstein, story with HRG.

Overall, though, it wasn't bad, IMO. I'm glad they got rid of the new healer before it got out of hand. It's good to know a bit more about what the Barker can do, too. Flushing out the invisible girl allows that stagnant storyline to move forward now. HRG can get back to company business with some personal sense that working alone is not as easy as he hoped which brings Angela back into play with some power. Discovering how the Carnival moves needs to be a reveal soon so that we can have someone chasing it with some hope of actually catching it. Obviously, Hiro can find it, so that might be the connection that brings the whole cast together by the end of the season.

[Pseudonym]

Originally Posted by wolff96

I guess I watch more out of loyalty than anything else at this point.

Yeah, I can understand that.

[Fast Learner]

Originally Posted by Mark

Part of the problem with this episode was that they obviously began writing with three intentions, one to put Sylar in charge of Parkman's body (which was fairly transparent), two and three were shoehorned Halloween themes, the haunted house Claire and company had to traverse and the small town mob destroying the misunderstood monster, ALA Frankenstein, story with HRG.

I got much more of a Matthew Shepard vibe from the dragging murder.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Fast Learner

I got much more of a Matthew Shepard vibe from the dragging murder.

That's another way to go.

[Dire Bare]

Originally Posted by Fast Learner

I got much more of a Matthew Shepard vibe from the dragging murder.

I found the whole healer/killer kid storyline to be interesting. The kid is torn between wanting to be free and feeling responsible for the death of his own parents. In the end, he could have killed the asshat deputy and had a good chance of escaping, but decided not to kill, knowing that he had a painful death waiting for him. The event moved the plot forward for both Traci and HRG, and was sad and touching all by itself.

I know these threads tend to be more bitchfests than anything, but I'm really enjoying the whole season so far. The show's not perfect by any means, and still hasn't managed to repeat the lightning-in-a-bottle of season 1, but it's still some of the best TV on right now.

[Kobold Avenger]

There's the theory that Claire will always physically remain a virgin, given her healing powers. This episode actually reminded me about that.

[Fast Learner]

"Her hymen will repair itself" is a lot more accurate, as the definition of "virgin" generally refers to having had intercourse, not a matter of physiology.

They explored the same thing in True Blood, with intercourse always being painful for the young female vampire. That would, um, suck.

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I guess that means being a Lesbian has it perks for her, eh?

Though IIRC, she doesn't feel pain as strong as normal people. I guess with all that stabbing going on with her, that's a good thing.
I was honestly doubtful about the whole "Lesbian" storyline that was alluded to. It seemed like a cheap tactic to get viewers. But it's done pretty tasteful so far. Maybe the choice of actress helps, too.

Aside from that, I enjoy this season more than the previous one. The characters don't feel to make so many stupid mistakes as was known for them. Sure, some things the power-gaming, optimizing roleplayer might do differently, but it's just so much better than it used to.

It's not as intriguing as the first season, but it's still (or again) decent. If it comes to the worst and Heroes is canceled after this season, I think the ending might be more satisfying than if it had happened after the past 2 seasons. Going out on a high note.