I’ve been a bit hard on Heroes this season, and I don’t think I’m alone, but tonight I saw a little bit of hope. I was genuinely caught by surprise at the end of this episode. That’s not to say that I enjoyed every bit of this episode, but I have to give the writers a little bit of credit for crafting this little twist, which clearly had been in the works since this year’s premiere.
If you caught the big preview at the end of the premiere, you saw the scene with Samuel asking a young woman about Claire and her status, implying that someone at college was spying on Claire. I, like many, inferred that this would be the ultra-creepy and stalkerish Gretchen, as it seemed to be a natural fit. Boy, was I wrong.
It turned out that the young woman who was working for the Sullivan Brothers was Becky, the sorority girl, as delightfully played by Veronica Mars vet Tessa Thompson. I thought it was pretty clever that Becky had been toying with Claire since the beginning of the season, killing her roommate, spying on her, and leading her to Gretchen’s suspicious browser history. You can do lots of fun things when you’re invisible.
What did this mean for creepy Gretchen? Oh, it meant that she really was a stalker, professing her love for Claire and smacking her on the lips. It came off as a cheap stunt. The only problem, though, is that two women kissing was a cheap stunt about ten years ago. Now, it’s barely worth mentioning. In any case, I am curious as to where these revelations will lead. Is Claire going to explore a relationship with Gretchen? I doubt it. Will Becky continue to keep an eye on Claire? I’m guessing that she will.
It also appears that things might be picking up some momentum with Samuel’s storyline. At the end of the episode it appeared like the circus had found the next member of their family. With Sylar/Nathan on the run, lost, confused, and quite powerful he’s the perfect subject to be manipulated by a shady group of carnies, right?
What did you think of this episode? Are you encouraged? Did you suspect Becky? Surprised that we still haven’t seen Mohinder?
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Oct 12, 2009 @ 21:05 EST5EDT
Excited that I still haven’t seen Mohinder is more like it.
I’m with you, and didn’t see Becky coming. Moreover, I didn’t really see Sylar ending up at the Sullivan Bros. so quickly.
Also, giving Peter a storyline I actually care about for the first time in SEASONS was a big help.
Agreed, Becky as the baddie was definitely a surprise. I’m really enjoying the Emma subplt and how it builds…. the visuals of color are VERY well-done, and the cello pieces are very evocative of Forever Knight’s background music. Best in-joke of the night…. the kids choir in the hospital performing most of “The Greatest American Hero”
All they really need to do is to get William Katt to guest star again … If Nikki/Jessica/Tracy hadn’t killed him.
Tessa Thompson is so cute! She reminds me of Tootie from the Facts of Life. I was absolutely shocked when they made the reveal, though I wish they set her up in the first episode of the season rather than the one they reveal her to be the killer. I’m glad to see that they aren’t use the exact same plot point they used for the last few seasons and are letting the characters grow a little bit.
Also Louise Fletcher needs a much more prominent role, I love her! Maybe with the Emma love interest for Peter we’ll see more of her. Let’s just hope she doesn’t go the way of Caitlin and have Peter get her stuck in some terrible alternate universe.
I agree that this episode was a step in the right direction, but I do have that nagging voice in the back of my head pointing out that super-powerful Sylar getting amnesia does sound a whole lot like super-powerful Peter getting amnesia…
Well, I finally sat down to watch all of this season’s episodes– I had been putting it off since I was worried about not liking it, yet still get sucked in for yet another season. Midway through the premiere I started fast-forwarding until I got to Claire’s plotlines, which was surprising since I couldn’t stand her for the last few seasons. Anyway, after watching/fast-forwarding through all 4 episodes, I finally made the decision to delete Heroes from my season pass. To all of you still watching, I hope that this season does improve and give you what you’d like to see. I’ll keep checking in on the episode reviews, and if it looks like things are vastly improving, maybe I’ll start watching again. Good luck!