Tweet
This is my favorite episode. Possibly of any of the shows I’ve watched religiously over the years. But definitely my favorite Heroes episode. This is the only show that can get away with having a completely AU episode, removed in time and space from the current plot, and still have it actually fit into and advance the very same plot that it’s removed from! Amazing! It’s like the writers got together and decided they were bored with how slow the first season seemed to be progressing, so they figured they’d write an AU fanfic and have good characters be evil and get Niki and Peter to make out, and basically try to get every true fan to jump around like a lunatic in their living rooms while watching it all unfold. Well done, writers, mission accomplished. So if this review just turns into a sappy love letter to the writers, creators, and actors…. Oh, who am I kidding, “if”? It’s gonna be.
As cool as it is to see who died and who survived as a badass in the future, no-one tops Future!Hiro. The hair, the sword, the low voice (sans accent—by the way, when is that going to start fading in our current storyline?), no glasses, and the very prickly disposition… It’s all perfect. Even the soul patch. Good on ya, Masi, those two characters don’t even seem like they were played by the same person. Way to demonstrate your range. Nice moment: when Hiro claims he is scared of his future self.
Now, I’ve been a Grunberg fan since Alias, and while Greg plays an adorable nice-guys-finish-last character, I was so happy to see him get to be an ******* in this episode. He does the jackass G-man bit well, and I loved the wardrobe choice of the long black overcoat. The only problem I had was with the total lack of explanation of how he got to this point. I know they only have 42 minutes or so, but every other future character was believably advanced, and I see no reason for Matt to have become this by-any-means-necessary kind of guy. Was he hand-picked because of his previous work with the FBI? Did The Company turn over their files on him and get him recruited? One line would have satisfied me, but alas, the only reason I can come up with is the writers thought it would be awesome. Which it was.
Ando. As one of two past characters thrown forward, he didn’t do much compared to Hiro, but that’s okay with me. He usually doesn’t do much, so this was in keeping with his character. And as I’ve mentioned before, I think it’s hysterical how hard up poor Ando is for some female lovin’. If he were a dog, he’d be the annoying little kind that humps your leg every time he sees you, wags his tail too much, and rather than chasing the mailman, hides from him instead. So his enthusiastic, “Niki, it’s me, Ando! Do you remember?” was pitch-perfect. Other than that, I just enjoyed him for his effect on the other characters, as per usual.
Now for Niki. I like that since Micah’s death she’s gotten a little more….up front about her stripping, but that wig has to go. I’m sorry, but that thing was distracting. At least it was only on for a couple frames during her dance. And the treat we got for putting up with it was the look between Niki and Hiro as she notices him in the audience. Awesome, both of you. What was most amusing about Niki, though, was the fact that even five years into the future, she’s still a whiny, sad, why-me kinda gal. This girl is way into self-flagellation, and doesn’t look like she’s ever going to change. Here’s hoping her character evolves a little bit more in the actual storyline, or else she’s going to get very boring, or killed (don’t get me started on 2x11 here—read that review for my thoughts on this subject).
One of the top five moments of the episode was the first bar conversation between Niki and Peter. His materializing after pulling the glass to himself was fantastic, and while it had already been revealed that Niki is his girlfriend, it was entirely different to actually see them making out. Fanfic moment if there ever was one. I think it seemed especially hot because, in a show with very little romance, there isn’t a lot to compare it to. This kiss, I think, even outdoes Jessica’s seduction of Nathan, and therefore sets the bar for Sexy on this show. This also means Niki/Jessica has had both Petrelli brothers… Do you think she or Nathan ever told Peter about their night together in Vegas? Nice moment: the precision control Future!Peter has in order to pull the TV plug with an almost imperceptible nod of his head.
Milo gets the silver medal for his Future!Peter in this episode. Masi squeaked by with the gold, but Milo did a wonderful job making Peter very believably completely different. And the scar! (Kudos, writers, for setting that up since 1x04 Collision. That’s some damn spiffy continuity and forethought.) The hair was great, the way he carried himself, the muscle tone and mass (which Milo must have been quite stealthy about accruing over the course of the season, because I swear he wasn’t built that way from the beginning), and the monochromatic wardrobe all worked perfectly without ever feeling over the top.
The familiarity with which Future!Hiro and Future!Peter address each other makes me really want to see more of their story over the five years we skip here. I bet they were on the winning side of some kickass battles, and I’m super-curious to know how the guy who can heal manages to attain such a huge scar. And if Hiro’s power progresses to the point where he can pop in and out of time and space with minimal effort, will we get to see a Nightcrawler-like sequence at some point, with him materializing and vanishing again several times over in one room and taking out a whole mess of guys? Not sure they have the budget for it, and I know the fanbase would cry party-foul because of the obvious imitation, but… still, it would be extremely fun to see.
Mohinder has a beard. :-)
Upon first viewing, the reveal that Nathan was actually a shape-shifting Sylar caught me completely by surprise. I took that thing hook, line, and sinker until the exact moment one morphed into the other. Even then I think I was confused for another couple seconds before it dawned on me completely.
...I can be extraordinarily gullible sometimes.
But! On second viewing, I was amazed at how dense I had been considering Adrian’s perfect imitation of Zachary’s Sylar. In the audio commentary for the episode on the DVDs it was mentioned that Adrian had Zachary record the lines so he could deliver them in proper Sylar fashion. And it showed! The best Sylar delivery was during his talk with Claire: “For all I know, I’m the most special person there is.”
Claire. Another pure fanfic moment, with her living in hiding as a brunette. I think I’ve read that one a couple times, actually. (Except she’s usually pining for the lost love of her Uncle Peter… ::shrugs:: To each his own.) I enjoyed the idea of her storyline, but it didn’t seem as fleshed out as the other ones.
And I just can’t say enough about the final two minutes starting when Sylar!Nathan pulls Peter through the door. Peter’s slide along the hall was (okay, ineloquent fan moment approaching, avert your eyes) SOOOOOO COOL! (You may now resume reading.) I’m not sure how they managed that turn within the slide, whether it was wires, a mat, or just a lucky toss of Milo by a big stunt guy named Curly, but it was very pretty. The Nathan-Sylar morph, on the other hand, could have been prettier, in my opinion. But I don’t care too much, because once they light their hands up and start down the hall toward each other, all is forgiven, because we’re going to see an epic battle--! Nope, wait, no, we’re just going to see a colorful light show as Mohinder tries to keep the door closed. ::grins:: But I bet the epic battle we’re not seeing is pretty badass, don’t you think?
Considering Sylar is my favorite character, it’s interesting that my favorite episode only has Zachary Quinto in it for about a minute and a half. However, it’s a fantastic minute and a half, and the only negative is that they made his hair look like Sonic the Hedgehog. I’m serious. Go back and look.
Other Sweet Badass!Peter moments include #1: His freezing of the room and kidnap of the recently captured Hiro and Ando. Nice to have you back in the game, Pete. #2: His instinctive, effortless movement of the chair out of his way as he re-enters the room after walking out on Nikki. So subtle I missed it the first time. #3: The raid on The Company’s building. This also doubles as a Sweet Badass!Hiro moment. Opening up and relishing a good fight, tossing guards about like nothing…very nice. And all with that don’t-f*ck-with-me look on his face. It was like a bullet-less, sunglasses-less Matrix scene.
Bits and pieces:
* Every time they show New York destroyed by the bomb it gives me goosebumps. The CGI team that works on this show is fantastic. And kudos to the actors who react so nicely to the green screen.
* Nice delivery: “Is it any stranger than being able to read someone’s mind?” “…Yeah. It is.” Love ya, Greg.
* Another nice Greg delivery as he unfreezes to find Peter has popped out with his two recent captures: “What?” There aren’t a whole lot of quoteable lines as written in this show—what makes them great most of the time is the interesting delivery.
* HRG looks funny in wire-rimed glasses. So is he WRG in this episode?
* Does Mohinder seem like an insanely loose canon to anyone else? He gets an idea in his head about the “right thing to do” and heads blindly in that direction without a second thought. Thankfully it worked out for the best in this episode, but…where is his loyalty, really? He seems to turn on a dime!
All in all, this is the 10/10 I compare all other Heroes episodes to. Gold stars for everyone involved.
Thanks for reading, and for more of my reviews, check out my website!
th*****engaitbridge.blogspot.com
Til next time,
GG
As cool as it is to see who died and who survived as a badass in the future, no-one tops Future!Hiro. The hair, the sword, the low voice (sans accent—by the way, when is that going to start fading in our current storyline?), no glasses, and the very prickly disposition… It’s all perfect. Even the soul patch. Good on ya, Masi, those two characters don’t even seem like they were played by the same person. Way to demonstrate your range. Nice moment: when Hiro claims he is scared of his future self.
Now, I’ve been a Grunberg fan since Alias, and while Greg plays an adorable nice-guys-finish-last character, I was so happy to see him get to be an ******* in this episode. He does the jackass G-man bit well, and I loved the wardrobe choice of the long black overcoat. The only problem I had was with the total lack of explanation of how he got to this point. I know they only have 42 minutes or so, but every other future character was believably advanced, and I see no reason for Matt to have become this by-any-means-necessary kind of guy. Was he hand-picked because of his previous work with the FBI? Did The Company turn over their files on him and get him recruited? One line would have satisfied me, but alas, the only reason I can come up with is the writers thought it would be awesome. Which it was.
Ando. As one of two past characters thrown forward, he didn’t do much compared to Hiro, but that’s okay with me. He usually doesn’t do much, so this was in keeping with his character. And as I’ve mentioned before, I think it’s hysterical how hard up poor Ando is for some female lovin’. If he were a dog, he’d be the annoying little kind that humps your leg every time he sees you, wags his tail too much, and rather than chasing the mailman, hides from him instead. So his enthusiastic, “Niki, it’s me, Ando! Do you remember?” was pitch-perfect. Other than that, I just enjoyed him for his effect on the other characters, as per usual.
Now for Niki. I like that since Micah’s death she’s gotten a little more….up front about her stripping, but that wig has to go. I’m sorry, but that thing was distracting. At least it was only on for a couple frames during her dance. And the treat we got for putting up with it was the look between Niki and Hiro as she notices him in the audience. Awesome, both of you. What was most amusing about Niki, though, was the fact that even five years into the future, she’s still a whiny, sad, why-me kinda gal. This girl is way into self-flagellation, and doesn’t look like she’s ever going to change. Here’s hoping her character evolves a little bit more in the actual storyline, or else she’s going to get very boring, or killed (don’t get me started on 2x11 here—read that review for my thoughts on this subject).
One of the top five moments of the episode was the first bar conversation between Niki and Peter. His materializing after pulling the glass to himself was fantastic, and while it had already been revealed that Niki is his girlfriend, it was entirely different to actually see them making out. Fanfic moment if there ever was one. I think it seemed especially hot because, in a show with very little romance, there isn’t a lot to compare it to. This kiss, I think, even outdoes Jessica’s seduction of Nathan, and therefore sets the bar for Sexy on this show. This also means Niki/Jessica has had both Petrelli brothers… Do you think she or Nathan ever told Peter about their night together in Vegas? Nice moment: the precision control Future!Peter has in order to pull the TV plug with an almost imperceptible nod of his head.
Milo gets the silver medal for his Future!Peter in this episode. Masi squeaked by with the gold, but Milo did a wonderful job making Peter very believably completely different. And the scar! (Kudos, writers, for setting that up since 1x04 Collision. That’s some damn spiffy continuity and forethought.) The hair was great, the way he carried himself, the muscle tone and mass (which Milo must have been quite stealthy about accruing over the course of the season, because I swear he wasn’t built that way from the beginning), and the monochromatic wardrobe all worked perfectly without ever feeling over the top.
The familiarity with which Future!Hiro and Future!Peter address each other makes me really want to see more of their story over the five years we skip here. I bet they were on the winning side of some kickass battles, and I’m super-curious to know how the guy who can heal manages to attain such a huge scar. And if Hiro’s power progresses to the point where he can pop in and out of time and space with minimal effort, will we get to see a Nightcrawler-like sequence at some point, with him materializing and vanishing again several times over in one room and taking out a whole mess of guys? Not sure they have the budget for it, and I know the fanbase would cry party-foul because of the obvious imitation, but… still, it would be extremely fun to see.
Mohinder has a beard. :-)
Upon first viewing, the reveal that Nathan was actually a shape-shifting Sylar caught me completely by surprise. I took that thing hook, line, and sinker until the exact moment one morphed into the other. Even then I think I was confused for another couple seconds before it dawned on me completely.
...I can be extraordinarily gullible sometimes.
But! On second viewing, I was amazed at how dense I had been considering Adrian’s perfect imitation of Zachary’s Sylar. In the audio commentary for the episode on the DVDs it was mentioned that Adrian had Zachary record the lines so he could deliver them in proper Sylar fashion. And it showed! The best Sylar delivery was during his talk with Claire: “For all I know, I’m the most special person there is.”
Claire. Another pure fanfic moment, with her living in hiding as a brunette. I think I’ve read that one a couple times, actually. (Except she’s usually pining for the lost love of her Uncle Peter… ::shrugs:: To each his own.) I enjoyed the idea of her storyline, but it didn’t seem as fleshed out as the other ones.
And I just can’t say enough about the final two minutes starting when Sylar!Nathan pulls Peter through the door. Peter’s slide along the hall was (okay, ineloquent fan moment approaching, avert your eyes) SOOOOOO COOL! (You may now resume reading.) I’m not sure how they managed that turn within the slide, whether it was wires, a mat, or just a lucky toss of Milo by a big stunt guy named Curly, but it was very pretty. The Nathan-Sylar morph, on the other hand, could have been prettier, in my opinion. But I don’t care too much, because once they light their hands up and start down the hall toward each other, all is forgiven, because we’re going to see an epic battle--! Nope, wait, no, we’re just going to see a colorful light show as Mohinder tries to keep the door closed. ::grins:: But I bet the epic battle we’re not seeing is pretty badass, don’t you think?
Considering Sylar is my favorite character, it’s interesting that my favorite episode only has Zachary Quinto in it for about a minute and a half. However, it’s a fantastic minute and a half, and the only negative is that they made his hair look like Sonic the Hedgehog. I’m serious. Go back and look.
Other Sweet Badass!Peter moments include #1: His freezing of the room and kidnap of the recently captured Hiro and Ando. Nice to have you back in the game, Pete. #2: His instinctive, effortless movement of the chair out of his way as he re-enters the room after walking out on Nikki. So subtle I missed it the first time. #3: The raid on The Company’s building. This also doubles as a Sweet Badass!Hiro moment. Opening up and relishing a good fight, tossing guards about like nothing…very nice. And all with that don’t-f*ck-with-me look on his face. It was like a bullet-less, sunglasses-less Matrix scene.
Bits and pieces:
* Every time they show New York destroyed by the bomb it gives me goosebumps. The CGI team that works on this show is fantastic. And kudos to the actors who react so nicely to the green screen.
* Nice delivery: “Is it any stranger than being able to read someone’s mind?” “…Yeah. It is.” Love ya, Greg.
* Another nice Greg delivery as he unfreezes to find Peter has popped out with his two recent captures: “What?” There aren’t a whole lot of quoteable lines as written in this show—what makes them great most of the time is the interesting delivery.
* HRG looks funny in wire-rimed glasses. So is he WRG in this episode?
* Does Mohinder seem like an insanely loose canon to anyone else? He gets an idea in his head about the “right thing to do” and heads blindly in that direction without a second thought. Thankfully it worked out for the best in this episode, but…where is his loyalty, really? He seems to turn on a dime!
All in all, this is the 10/10 I compare all other Heroes episodes to. Gold stars for everyone involved.
Thanks for reading, and for more of my reviews, check out my website!
th*****engaitbridge.blogspot.com
Til next time,
GG