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Heroes: A Clear and Present Danger
by Jason Hughes, posted Feb 3rd 2009 3:30AM
(S03E14) Now that's more like it! Yes, we're only one hour into this fourth volume ("Fugitives") of Heroes, but already we're looking at a vastly improved product. We're no longer fragmented trying to keep track of a million different seemingly unrelated storylines. Everything's connected, there's a very common and familiar enemy that needs to be dealt with, and it's a natural progression from where we've come.Nathan's progression to the point we see him tonight has been handled pretty well. From the beginning, he was always portrayed as kind of a dick who felt pretty differently than Peter about abilities and those with them. Now we see just how strongly he feels. The addition of Zejlko Ivanek (Damages) as the man in charge of the hunter squads is a great casting choice. Already he brings an intensity to the role that's much appreciated. It's early to say, but this reminded me so much of the tone and atmosphere of the first season that I think we can declare Heroes back.
Yes, it still has its logic flaws, such as the apparent change to how Peter's powers work, but as all comic book fans know, you can ultimately explain away any inconsistency. It's comic book logic, so it's illogical by nature. You can even get a "No Prize" for coming up with an explanation for a writer's screw up. With Peter, it's easy enough to say that since he lost and regained his power through an artificial stimulant, that they've come back in a modified way.
What this might mean is that he very well could have a very limited power set now. No longer does he absorb powers just from proximity. Apparently, he has to touch someone to get their ability now, which means he may only have Nathan's powers, and now Tracy's and Mohinder's. But then again, we don't know what he's been up to the past several months, and as we saw when he got Jessica's power, it may happen whether he wants it to or not upon physical contact.
It's good to have Mohinder back on the side of "good," such as it is. We can explain away his behavior by saying he was driven insane by his power. Still, he did some pretty dastardly things. I wonder if super-strength is the limit of his abilities now? I'm also very pleased that Hiro seems to be remaining powerless for now, and word is he will stay that way for awhile. The time travel element was making things too complex and ridiculous after the first season. Now we can have a straightforward linear plot happening in one era.
It's also good that we seem to have streamlined the cast a bit. Matt now has the artist's precognitive abilities (I hope he keeps Usutu as a guide in his head), and we're keeping things tight to our core cast. That's not to say that there may not be a few new faces underneath those hoods on the plane. In fact, I hope that there are, because this is a good and natural way to introduce them to the cast and the show. I bet the guy that flew out the hole Peter accidentally made was someone new ... and now dead.
Damn, it was just so good to see Heroes this good again. NBC did right by promoting this as the new season of Heroes, even though it's just the continuation of the third. Better for people to think this is all new. Maybe they should have put it on after the Super Bowl instead of The Office. It was tailored perfectly as a new introductory episode to the series. I guess, though, they did the next best thing: promoted the hell out of it during the big game.
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