Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts

Heroes 4.09 silliness (minimal spoilers)

2009-11-10T20:20:08Z

Ever noticed a close up of a newspaper shown on TV? If like me, you happen to have the time on your hands, it's worth struggling to try and read the rest of the article. As you might imagine, this will never be all about the actual banner headline and so it's fun to see what it says instead. Often it's just an unrelated news story or even the old Lorem ipsum standby but Heroes gave us two lesser approaches this week. Firstly, Noah studying the article on the sinkhole disaster which, when is actually read is an almost startlingly meaningless collection of legalese....

Harder to read but worth the effort is Peter's article about saving the family of four:

...which seems to be filled with some kind of beatnik style free prose and contains such deathless lines as " Any tape recorder can recognise an Avocado pit, but it takes a real blithe spirit to plan an escape from a linguistic parking lot some buzzard (?) toward a pig pen. The only cargo bay requires assistance from a spider"

And how true those words are, even today. This can all be found in column 4, about 3/4 of the way down. Cool huh?

Or maybe halfway down column five with "They need to remember how slyly the abstraction living with a roller coaster gets drunk. The highly paid Hydrogen atom enjoys creating simplistic rock themes with sparse guitar parts and dry baselines. And also enough floor force (?) to make you sick."

"But apart from that, Mrs Lincoln, how was the play?"

2009-11-10T11:43:10Z

Previously on Heroes: Sylar moved into Matt's head for wacky Odd Couple style hijincks, an evil carnie sorority sister tried to kill Gretchen and Peter decided to kick his messiah complex up a notch by taking a power that meant he could heal the sick by the laying on of hands.

I thought this week's episode was a strong return to form after several clunkers. We got the latest update in the frankly baffling tale of Sylar's body that currently has amnesia but For Some Reason dimly 'remembers' being Nathan sometimes. Anyway, we see Sylar's shapeshifting power creepily morphing between Zachary Quinto's and Adrian Pasdar's as he sleeps. I'll spare you the unnerving screencaps. We also see a tattoo on one arm so either Wendi the make up artist wasn't paying attention in covering up AP's or it's supposed to be Nathan's (unlikely). Weird. For the curious, it's one or more words ending in what looks like "...EAVOUR" . When and if the high res caps are out, I'll look more closely. Until then, your suggestions on a postcard, I guess!

Eventually he wakes up looking like Adrian Pasdar and decides he is getting the hell out of this creepy place. He makes his escape in the world's ugliest shirt. (Judging from his outfits all season I can only think he drove over someone in wardrobe's dog). And this time, I won't spare you.

Nice, huh? The wardrobe alone would make joining that creepy cult a non starter for me. Anyway, whatever character is supposed to be lurking behind the eyes of Adrian Pasdar decides to do the smart thing and flies the hell out of there, not to be seen until the end of the ep, more of which later.

We also got Becky's tragic backstory which I thought asked more questions than it answered and which I didn't really care about anyway. Short version: she was raised by carnies after Noah killed her dad in a bag & tag op gone awry. Now she wants revenge on Noah and on Claire. Whatevs!

We also got Peter having the emotional time of his life, rushing about the hospital after a train crash to save as many people as he possibly can with the healing power borrowed from the late Jeremy. Fortunately Peter's a quick study and, as as far we know, isn't accidentally killing anyone when he gets emotional like the erstwhile wielder used to do. It's all pretty touching as the whole process is plainly very exhausting. There's a weird moment when Emma suggest maybe having the power isn't such an ace idea due to this last part and he gives a wry smile and says something like "what? and be ordinary?" which would have worked lot better as a "what? and give up showbusiness?" ironic style punchline if it wasn't delivered by someone who always has this as a sort of shadow motivation for real. I see in all the chaos, he seems to have forgotten about seeing Hiro, btw. However, on a shallower note, the reports I'd received of Milo looking ultra hot in this episode were bang on the money:

^^I really thought (well, HOPED) Peter was going to put this on his head.

But this was totally cute too. AWWW!!

Where was I? I sidetracked myself in all the above cuteness. Oh yeah, Matt finally worked out what all of the rest of us worked out ages ago which was the only way to get rid of Sylar is to kill himself and so manoeuvred his Sylar controlled body into committing suicide by cop. Worryingly, one of the last shots was paramedics trying to administer the shock paddles to Matt's satisfied looking corpse(?). I don't watch the previews so I've no idea if this will be sticking for Greg but I kind of hope it does. I've grown bored with his character and this would make a good note to go out on. We'll see.

Also, Gretchen left saying she couldn't stand the craziness of Claire's life! BOOO! That better not be the last we ever see of her or that just sucks :( Fingers crossed that they wouldn't just wheel a girl on to announce she likes to kiss other girls in a shallow ploy for ratings AND a chance to boast about how diverse a show it is and then bin her rather than develop her as a character. Seriously, she IS coming back, right?

Finally, in a bone thrown to me & likeminded fans, the ep ends with Adrian in Nathan mode, hammering on Peter's door and then all but squeezing the life out of Milo, burying his face in Milo's neck and apparently kissing said neck! As a comparison for you S1 watchers, remember how Nathan does a similar thing to Heidi on discovering she can walk again? Well, just like that only about a million times more intense! :) Hooray! I can only presume that in the circs, TPTB have taken a "oh fuck it, do what you want" attitude to their interactions after previously putting their foot down. It kills me that Adrian plainly nonetheless grabs each and every chance to hug Milo onscreen, regardless of how much the emotional moment actually demands of it. I tell ya, they better be following up this plotpoint next week.

ETA: Why the hell am I telling when I could be SHOWING?

Anyway, overall an enjoyable episode. Here's hoping to many more in the coming weeks.

Casting spoiler conclusion

2009-11-09T19:28:56Z

As posted by blue_berry earlier: Casting Spoiler conclusion

From the article, quoting Tim Kring:

“We talked openly with Adrian about [his departure] several months ago and have kept him abreast of where his arc was headed—he always knew what was going on,” Kring says. “This is a guy who is much loved by us all, and these disparaging reports about the way things were handled couldn’t be further from the truth. Adrian is a leader among the cast, a true friend and a real gentleman.”

Well, that's that then. I don't have much to add to my previous rant because I'm no longer especially angry. I just have the sad feeling I'm watching the show makes the latest in a series of mistakes will in retrospect be seen as them fashioning the nails in their own coffin. Of course I'm very sad that they are getting rid of my favourite actor and I can only hope that the reported circumstances were way less crappy than they were initially reported. Like a few of you have been doing since the end of season two, I will be now hoping he joins a show where they can actually put his talent to good use rather than seeming a bit unsure what the hell to do with him. If I've got the time and the whole thing isn't too depressing, I'll write up my thoughts on what they did with Nathan as a character from season one til now once they've finally put him to rest on the show.

And then, once Adrian is gone, with regret, that is it for me and Heroes. For those of you who write stories, create graphics and draw, I'll remain an enthusiastic supporter of your work as long as you want me. But I can't see me watching the show any more. I'll miss reviewing the new episodes and chatting about them with you more than I can say. And there's stuff in the show I will miss. I'll miss many characters, for example. But they've lost so many other characters and actors I cared about and of the ones that remain, so many of my favourite characters were also characters I thought we saw at their very best when interacting with Nathan. I can't quite see what they'll do with Angela without him, for instance. And much as I love Peter, and think he can support interesting stories without Nathan, he and characters like Noah and Claire are not enough to offset the stuff that has made Heroes so hard for me to enjoy when these few were not around. I won't harp on as to the bad. if you are trying to keep upbeat, that would be me twisting the knife and if you agree, then well, we're on the same page anyway. Good luck, Heroes - I really do hope you get that season 5. I just won't be one of the ones watching it.

Heroes Casting Spoilers - part whatever

2009-11-04T17:00:52Z

You know, the one crumb of comfort I took from all the Heroes casting frenzy was at least I knew where I stood and had some closure. I see we seem to be back at square one but with the bonus of there now being an astonishing amount of anger and hurt generated by the whole thing.

How sucky. I really did think it was all over. And whilst I'm pleased to hope that stuff like the death in the script thing isn't true or that much loved cast members were telling unprompted lies, the prospect of this all starting over again makes my heart sink. I truly wish we lived in either a world of utterly accurate spoilers or none at all! Preferably the latter.

Ah well, I'm going back to not knowing what the hell to think about anything except to reflect on how really nuts the whole situation is. Wake me when the war is over!

A small PS from Adrian Pasdar's YT account re the Heroes Casting Spoiler

2009-11-03T22:31:27Z

I guess most of my f-list who are following this story saw this already, but Adrian Pasdar commented on all the hoopla a little while ago on his youtube account:

"I won't say anything. Yet. Other than that the last four years have been wonderful and ALL the folks that go into making HEROES have treated me professionally and with respect. I am still under contract to NBC/Universal, and will remain so until the end of season 4. On another note, I spent today with Masi Oka at Universal Studios, on the lot, and we had some fun behind the scenes at the Jaws attraction on the Tour... I'll post it in a bit. All I had was my iPhone, so the quality might not be as decent and you're used to... Stay Tuned!"

He is such a class act. I notice that fwiw whilst he is defending his firm (which is admirable and loyal), he is also not denying that the means he discovered he was leaving was accurate. And yet again during what can only be a somewhat shitty time, he's thinking of his fans and looking to post a cheerful video. I really do not think NBC deserve him. And I wish him every happiness in whatever he chooses to do next.

Heroes S4 E8 "Once Upon A Time In Texas"

2009-11-03T17:37:55Z

Hey, trekker? Remember how you were saying that it seems like Heroes secretly yearned for the days when the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys black? Heh. I guess I’m in a bit of a weird place with this episode as I was catching up on show casting gossip JUST before I sat down to watch this. But whatever –the review is as honest as I can make it.

I HATE it when they go back and revisit past glories of Season one in search of (presumably) recreating the former magic. It rarely enhances and often risks rendering much loved episodes crap in retrospect if one doesn’t choose to basically decide unilaterally that the retcon ep didn’t happen. Specifically, Elisabeth Rohm as Lauren just didn’t work for me. In part, this is due to her being astonishingly beautiful yet sadly also quite a shitty actress. I never hated her as much as my fellow Law & Order viewers, (one of whom cruelly but amusingly dubbed her Lawbot 2.0 in tribute to her lack of expressiveness) but she is pretty limited in her dramatic range. For a start, just like opposite Jack McCoy, she really only has two facial expressions: vaguely pleased surprise and that weird thing she does where she sort of talks through a half laugh/half sneer. Let's look:

Mode 1.

Mode 2. Congrats. You are now an expert on Elisabeth Rohm's entire acting range.

Plus, you can make your own fun by repeating her lines back at home in the tones of a Dalek which is how I used to enhance my enjoyment of her on L&O and resurrected here. Good times, good times.

Still, to be scrupulously fair, this was a shitty part for any actress. Not only is it yet another thankless retcon. It is contradicting not only the orginal eps but also the more recent hated (by me) Villains retcon. Where is Elle supposed to be here? Meredith? We didn’t even have the silver lining of seeing Thompson again. Boo. And more than just annoying us with the inference that she was here all the time is how she’s presented. The show actually has to come out with very unsubtle literal exposition about how her hitting on Noah is not about casual sex based on mutual hotness but the result of their mutual deep caring for each other. But this rings utterly hollow. How can it fail to do otherwise? We know nothing about this lady except that she is stunning to look at and she’s hitting on Bennet. So, other than her evident hotness, what other qualities that we’ve grown to know and love about Agent 2.0 are we supposed to imagine he’s being tempted by here? I guess he’s supposed to get marks for finally turning her down but I just thought a bit less of him for being tempted in the first place. I guess this might look very hypocritical from a Nathan fan but it’s not – I never thought anything other than badly of Nathan for cheating on Heidi and that was used in the show to demonstrate that Nathan could be an asshole. But here, I get the impression that the whole plotline was designed to show how noble Noah is. Sorry, but it didn’t work in this regard for me.

I kind of enjoyed the episode as a whole but I doubt it’s one I’ll be rewatching any time soon. I’m literally puzzled by Hiro not being in the photo when he zipped back in time. What’s up with that? Why would his actions in the present day have erased that little tributary in the time stream? Anyone want to help out this thick eared viewer? Since when did they start observing that particular rule of time travel?

After that, I went from being puzzled to again being flat out annoyed they were bending the characters to fit the plot. I swear when Charlie said she was dying I really expected Hiro to say something along the lines of ‘No worries, my little titian haired chickadee, back in my present day, Peter Petrelli is off picking himself up a nice healing ability out of the Company catalogue to cure me – let’s travel back to the exciting world of 2009 and see how he’s getting on and ask if you can have a go of it too, eh?’. But no…I guess asking the psychopathic serial killer will work just as well?! And seriously, how the fuck did Sylar actually cure Charlie anyway? Doctors can see how tumours ‘work’ – it doesn’t mean they can magic them away. Annoying from Sylar’s POV too. He had endless opportunities to kill both Charlie & Hiro whilst they were utterly distracted. He doesn’t need Hiro’s knowledge if he has Hiro’s power – he can go forward to take a look for himself. And I can only presume that the original plan of Hiro’s was to whisk her back to 2009 after being cured by Sylar if his plan had gone off without a hitch because if he didn't, what was to stop Sylar nipping back and killing her for her power once Hiro's back was turned? Honour? But if he was going to take her home, seriously - has he forgotten he hopes to be returning to a healer? Or does he just think Peter is nice but a total flake?

I’m very glad that Charlie told Hiro off but I’m annoyed that she more or less instantly followed it up by taking it all back – that retraction felt contrived because the first bit, she was totally speaking for me and I was nodding along furiously. I mean, when Hiro said to Sylar about him continuing on his path, he was in essence saying off you go on your merry way to kill Jackie the teenager. I guess she just wasn't special enough. (I love Jackie, btw because she kicked Sylar right in the bollocks. In terms of attack points, this puts her ahead of most of the Heroes!) Also, where does Yaeko fit into Hiro’s view of his past actions now? He seemed to forget all about Charlie when he met her which I complained about at the time. Come to think of it, he went ahead and (or so he thought anyway) Broke History for her love too. Now she in turn has been forgotten utterly and Charlie was his one true love again? What the fuck? Adam may have been all evil and obsessive but at least he remembered her for a thousand years!

Oh and I bet I wasn’t the only one making this reflection but Hiro’s words to Sylar about Sylar dying unnoticed, unmourned and without any tears shed were of course not accurate about him because unlike Hiro we know he survived but they did inadvertently reflect the truth of poor Nathan’s fate. Given that the one person who did witness it and should have had those reactions, his own mother chose madness rather than accepting the inevitable. The words reflect Elle’s fate too – Sylar would deserve zero pity for enduring such a fate as he’s given not one thought about inflicting it on others.

The good stuff: we are finally getting more progress on the carnival so seriously, I am very happy about that and looking forward to next week. I’ve belatedly realised that as well as reminding me of Jim Jones in character, physically Samuel reminds me of dopey old Super Hans from Peep Show (see below), which means if I start finding his Jim Jonesness too scary, I can take refuge in remembering this other reference. I thought it was especially good acting from Robert Knepper this week – he really did and look sound very haunted and guilty as he talked about having done something terrible. Good work. Also, I see we found us a Doctor Suresh! If I wasn’t in such a weird place with the show overall, I’d definitely be giving a hoot about this!

Super Hans

Heroes Casting Spoilers Part VI: Mission to Moscow

2009-11-03T16:13:39Z

Well, boo-urns. JUST when I foolishly allowed myself to breathe a bit of a sigh of relief, it seems my initial bleak gut instinct about Auseillo's spoiler being about Adrian Pasdar was right all along. I’m not claiming any points as a seer, of course- Past names I went on to suspect afterwards included Jack, Milo and Greg. Probably if this had dragged on any longer, Mr Muggles would have eventually been named by me as a suspect. Speaking of which, cheers Greg – you sure fooled me with your definite refusal about killing off Nathan on the show the other day, I guess. That was just mean.

Why do they do it? Why do they keep the dross and throw away the quality? This is like opening a banana, chucking the fruit and carefully keeping the skin. So they are getting rid of Nathan whilst presumably assuring themselves what the show really needs is all Sylar & Hiro all the time, characters with all the depth of a puddle. You know what I think happened? I think they decided to wrap this last storyline up a lot quicker than they originally planned. And why? Best guess –they didn’t ever really have a clear idea of the physical mechanics of the arc but more importantly, I think it must have been embarrassingly obvious to TPTB that Zachary Quinto just wasn’t ever going to be capable of handling his end of the rope and they’ve decided to cut their losses and draw a veil over the whole thing [eta: wow! mixed metaphors or what!]. Which fucking sucks so badly. Because due to them investing so much in a shitty actor, they’ve buggered everything up and now they think the solution is to fire the good actor! Nuts. I’m angry at the show but also at myself because really, by this stage did I really expect better from them? Poor Adrian!

I guess in the grand tradition of fucking Adrian over (and by extension the audience one last time), we can therefore look forward to some weakass exit in which the actor who has fucking carried this show for 3 seasons gets to limp offscreen whilst Peter and Claire are sad for an episode. Two eps if we’re ultra lucky. And then I guess they’ll put it all behind them whilst they get on with saving the world from whatever the apocalypse de jour turns out to eventually be. Sigh.

What a shit idea this whole arc is turning out to be. I’ve gone at some length previously as to why I think it was such an utterly dreadful idea, totally mangling the characters of Noah & Angela so badly as to make me scream but the execution sucked too. They managed it terribly as a drama – the audience and the characters are and were just totally out of sync to the point that it is embarrassingly bad. The audience was (I think) shocked and horrified by the finale events but that reaction was given no way of being reflected anywhere onscreen, beyond Angela’s one shocked cry of horror. The shoving of borrowed memories into Sylar’s body seemed to utterly sidestep all further reaction to that event because no-one really knew what in practice it meant. Angela, our ONE focus of reaction obviously saw it as in some way saving him but I for one could never see how it possibly could. Consequently, as invested obsevers, I think we all never got beyond that initial shocked bewilderment – everything else was roughly shoved in the ‘reaction: pending’ file whilst we sat around waiting for the new season to explain what the hell literally happened and what that meant, fundamentally. But it still hasn’t really – instead we kind of got an unsettling notion that in some ways like things were potentially okay. We had Adrian still walking around as Nathan for a start – it is kind of hard to mourn Nathan’s loss when we are sat watching him walking around and talking, oblivious to what happened to him. I was of course aware this feeling was illusory but I was surprised by how when ‘Nathan’ would be seen talking to Peter how frequently I had to remind myself that this was so.

That’s not Nathan, I would remind myself in episodes like ‘Acceptance’. Therefore, things like him becoming angry with his mother for things she did that affected Nathan’s life in Nathan’s past are intellectually bogus for the viewer. And puzzling from Angela’s POV. When she told him somewhat self righteously of the sacrifices she’s made for him (in concealing Kelly’s death, that is), the irony was off the scale. How were we reading that? Did she really think by this stage that allowing Sylar to live Nathan’s life and wear his face was for Nathan’s benefit? Or was she forgetting for a second she wasn’t really talking to her son? Or did the show think she WAS on some level still talking to Nathan? To date, these answers have never been remotely clear and yet without them, there’s no real way to follow the arc.

So I can see why they’re cutting their losses but this means we’ll never really get any natural sense of consequence from the other characters arising from the traumatic finale. It will get buried under the bigger task of trying to figure out what the fuck we’re supposed to be looking at, swapping notes, waiting for the last piece of the jigsaw and THEN….we get to find out what we should have been feeling all along, I guess?

And then once Peter & Claire have had their stipulated Big Reaction, which I’m guessing won’t include such things as cutting off Angela & Noah from their lives, I guess I’m free. I’m finally free of a show that has its creator someone that so despises the people who watch each week that NBC had to more or less assign him a handler whose job it was to ensure he Said Nothing. And not just free of Kring! Free from writers whose contempt from frequently leaked into the Q&A sessions in Behind The Eclipse (which overall were very useful to read, especially when the show was unclear). I’m free of a show that seemed to enjoy nothing better than tormenting its fans over the prospect of their favourite character being killed off at the end of a season. (And yeah, I’m sick of that favourite character always being fucking mine. It’s a huge cast –is there some reason it always had to be Nathan?) But it’s now over and I feel sort of relieved – I can keep my promise to keep watching until Adrian is not in it anymore, plus Peter’s reaction and then I can quit forever. If I want, I’m free!

I guess Adrian’s free of it too. Free from a show that held him in such low regard that it rewarded sterling, beautifully nuanced performances by openly pondering firing him at the end of every season since day one. Think of that! Your boss letting it be known to the world that they can’t make their minds up whether or not to fire you. And then requiring him once deciding he was NOT fired to be delivering the emotional core of the next season. And finally very obviously more or less telling the world that they’d keep him to be their backup prom date just in case they lost out on Zachary Quinto. And yeah, he’s free of a show that he’d worked on from day one which had the epic lack of class in just not bothering to finally tell him he was no longer wanted on voyage by letting him find out for himself in the pages of the script. I do get very upset to think about that. Because of all the possible reactions to that, I can’t really imagine one that doesn’t include him feeling very badly let down and hurt. But still, in a way I’m surprised I’m not sadder than I in fact am about the whole thing. Maybe there’s only so often you can be jabbed in the same spot before a callus forms, maybe the way they’ve been essentially firing him in instalments robbed it of its impact or maybe it’s just I’m relieved it’s all over.

I’d feel a bit happier about it, mind if I assumed he was walking off this show to land the lead of a much better one like he deserves. He may do so of course and I really hope he does because any show would be lucky to get him. However, I’m not sure it works like that. Not only is just being talented and charismatic not always enough and there’s a huge element of luck to this sort of thing but well, Adrian’s always struck me as being a highly mercurial personality. I could just as easily imagine him turning around and announcing he was going to I dunno, devote the next ten years to searching for lost tributaries of the Amazon, attempting to write the Great American novel or even opting to just spend the time with his family having been made sick of acting after this. Ah well, let’s hope for the lead in a hot new show, eh? Or as a close second that he pens a tell all memoir.

Attacked by 'Poker Face' earworm

2009-11-02T13:56:39Z

As *I* don't seem to be able to get the acoustic version of "Poker Face" by Lady GaGa out of my head, I don't see why I should be depriving you good people of the chance for it to get you too. Semi seriously, this is about a million times better than the actual single and somewhat bizarrely shows that far from covering the usual multitude of sins, the extensive autotune & other gubbinry was used to merely give the convincing illusion that this was someone who couldn't carry a tune in a bucket and that she actually has a very pleasant voice. Why wasn't the single more like this version? Weird.

As a wee extra, here's my second favourite actor, Christopher Walken doing a dramatic reading of the song from the Jonathan Ross show in Friday night, giving the project his usual commitment

TV Review - Vampire Diaries & Flash Forward

2009-10-31T19:20:07Z

I'll probably keep watching Flash Forward just because hey, there's nothing else on on Monday nights here in the UK at that time but I doubt I'll be giving it much in the way of regular reviews. A shame because the premise was right up my street but...I'm just rather bored with it :(

One of the many lowlights this week was literally the most unbelievable shootout I've ever seen on tv or film. I mean I know the stars don't get shot and killed (short of playing too hard to get come contract renegotiation) but that escape from the RPG launched at the care was ridiculous. I imagine I'll probably inspect the White Collar bandwagon which I was going to give a miss as I thought I had a surfeit of shows but now I have an emotional show vacancy. Besides, no-one told me it had Bryce from Chuck in it!

The Vampire Diaries otoh, continues to be kind of fun. I think the dialogue in general has got sharper and I think the actress playing Elena is definitely getting better or she's simply growing on me. Either way, I like her more. The chap playing Stefan continues to be a lost cause. I maintain he has only one expression: Broody Staring but eryslash was rightl when she corrected me that he has in fact two - sometimes he gives us ultra Broody Staring too which involves giving his brow a truly heroic furrowing.

I am rather liking the introduction of Bonnie's grandmother for a few reasons. Bonnie is kind of my favourite character so more Bonnie backstory is gravy. Plus, we got to see a photo of Bonnie's ancestor which makes me hopeful for more flashbacks with more long dresses, silly accents and implied raunchy threeways. But mainly with the introduction of her grandmother and her knowledge of the occult and massive library, I think we just found us our Giles. Hooray for that!

I don't have too much to say about Vicky. I didn't like her when she was alive and her being a vampire didn't make her any easier to sympathise with. I DID feel for her brother in his suddenly weary looking to the future and anticipating a life of always worrying what she was up to. And for Elena who knew that he was going to be spared that but via the saddest of means. I continue to like the flashes of humanity in Damon. I don't think he's ultimately redeemable - he's callously killed too many people for me to really want that for him but they make him a more interesting person.

Robert Knepper and his dark past

2009-10-29T06:01:23Z

You know, following up on my earlier post mentioning in rather entitled fashion about how I don't think Robert Knepper is all that, with this might look like I'm piling on. However, I swear I just found this via my general message board home from home, The Straight Dope. Namely, Knepper's chilling earlier work. What? No, not T-Bag! THIS!

Hahahaha! Oh bless! I so wish I'd known this when watching Prison Break because I remember this episode so well and it was hilariously schlocky. So he was once the nice young man that Deanna Troi's ultra annoying mum wanted her to marry. Excellent. I like to think he'll always be Wyatt to me now :)

Awwww! :)

Heroes S4 E7 "Strange Attractors"

2009-10-27T11:06:38Z

Oh dear - after a stack of good or at least solid eps, that one just blew.

I guess I'm pleased that Noah's ridiculous story about the police just letting Jeremy go didn't work because let's face it, the story had some big holes in it. As did that upstairs wall where last week Jeremy fired a shotgun into it. The upstairs should also be soaked in Peter's blood which, although the parents didn't die of bullet wounds would be enough to give any police pause. But on the downside, Jeremy was a) whiny and boring and b) basically a talking plotpoint more than an actual person and had way too useful a power to live. Take care of that healing power, Peter because there's no going back to the well on this one now.

Tracy's story about relating to the horror of accidental murder is all well and good but slightly diminished by the fact we also saw her only a few weeks ago carrying out pre meditated actual murders. Also, I don't think the watery hand on the arm was the smartest of moves around a kid who isn't fully on top of a power that means he kills people when he feels threatened. And do you live in small Southern town? Heroes has a message for you: you live in a shithole (cf. all the disgusted looks Tracy and Noah give to the people (and one dog) and your cops are stupid and corrupt. Thanks. More impressive made up police work this week, I see. This time culled presumably from "In The Heat Of The Night".

The carnival is basically just a creepy superhero version of Jonestown, isn't it? That full recruitment speech to Tracy was so creepy because this is exactly how Jim Jones used to recruit people. ie the world sees no value in you but I do. You're lost but join us and you'll be part of something bigger than yourself, have a new home in a loving family blah blah blah. And the undertone that doing so will increase the power of the man in charge. Yuck. Even if they don't turn out to be mwhahaha evil, this is disturbing. Also, I'm saying right here and now - I don't find Samuel the least bit attractive. I generally don't point out stuff like that because I fear it looks crazily entitled but I'm doing so now because I seem to be so alone in this view. He just looks smug and dirty. And not dirty in a good way, just that he looks like he needs a good wash and probably smells of bad patchouli oil to vaguely offset this fact. Tracy, you went up a good seven places in my estimation for telling him to piss off even if you later go back on this stance. I'm not saying he's not interesting, of course. Just that we're never going out. There, there Samuel, don't cry - you'll smudge your eyeliner.

Tiny annoyance. Yet another example of one character finally agreeing with another only to find they have flip flopped. So after weeks of Gretchen claiming there's definitely something off with Annie's death, suddenly once Claire agrees, she 's all "Claire, come ON" about it. I have very little to say about the hats off to John Carpenter aspect of things. Except to say that for the millionth time Heroes doesn't understand the difference between borrowing plot elements and paying homage to them. In the latter, it's generally accepted that you use the elements in such a way to add something fresh. Even the music was just a pastiche of Carpenter's classic scores (especially Halloween) although nicely done. But there was nothing new added to the sorority poppets in peril dullness here except that there was a bit less tension as one of them can't be killed.

And I have nothing to say about the Sylar & Matt storyline except to observe that if Sylar I must be forced to endure, the moustache twirling version is slightly preferable to the mopey, emo one who vaguely thinks he's Nathan. "I know her, I helped her - she came to me when she was sad!" What? oh pass the sickbag. You've lost your memory, you aren't 6 years old. Grrr. Must we be now doomed to two versions of Sylar haunting us forever? I cannot be the only one who was urging Matt to off himself this week for the greater good of humanity. Oh look, it seems I *do* have stuff to say about these scenes. Stuff like ... Janice apparently didn't believe Matt was on the level and called his sponsor? What? How did that make any sense? GAH!!! Sigh. Will no-one help us!

Heroes sketch

2009-10-25T22:28:41Z

Just one quick sketch, this time of Swoosie Kurtz and her elegantly melancholic face. I don't think I quite did her justice but I did enjoy sketching her - I do hope we haven't seen the last of her but if we have, well what we got was solid gold.

Amusing Heroes advert

2009-10-23T08:02:39Z

Ever watch Heroes and find it that tiny, tiny bit familiar? I bet you do if you're Alan Moore, J. Michael Straczynski or Chris Claremont. But they and you would be wrong. Because this month's SFX magazine has an advert for HMV (biggest seller of DVDs in the UK High Street), in which Tim Kring finally reveals his actual inspiration for Heroes.

So there we have it - all cleared up now.

*Coughs*

Heroes ratings

2009-10-21T19:23:13Z

For those of us who keep a wary eye on the Heroes ratings, you might find this live feed interesting to keep an eye on as the season goes on. As far as I can tell, it's generally pretty well informed and has a good track record in terms of past results of what gets canned or not. Anyway, as of the time of writing, comfortingly, Heroes is apparently doing well enough that it isn't endangered (yet anyway). So yay for that - let us hope for green and then we can all relax. Be warned - there's the odd spoiler for other shows in the headlines for the site visible on the page.

Live Feed's TV Series Survival Status Chart 2009-10

(If in the statistically unlikely event that you couldn't care less if Heroes lives or dies, it also has (I think) all the major network shows so you can follow your own pet show instead)

Heroes S4 E6 "Tabula Rasa"

2009-10-20T15:35:45Z

Can they let us know when we can expect Adrian back, please? The show just is not the same for me without him. The fact that they deemed he had to be credited for appearing this week is in retrospect amusing but it didn’t half get my hopes up. Ah well. Still, goodish episode.

Huh. They mentioned the magic blood. I will resist the temptation to jump at the bait to ask too many pointless questions again about WHY Noah didn’t think of using this for the finale (except just now) As opposed to sanctioning a plan that made everyone including Claire not realise that the man she thinks is her biological father is really Sylar? I was very surprised they mentioned again – I really did think they were just taking a policy of aggressive yet embarrassed silence to the whole subject in the hope everyone would get bored of poking at it with sticks and move on. But no, apparently the magic blood is still an unbeatable weapon in the response armoury…albeit on the one occasion it won’t work because Hiro’s problem is cancer and according to Noah therefore it would only give strength to the tumour. I’m not sure how Noah can know that for sure??. Logically, the tumour is caused by malfunctioning cells so I’m not sure why the healing factor wouldn’t return the cells to perfect working order. (Also, it’s grim but does this mean the healing factor wielders be killed by repeated exposing them to, say Radium? Also, how come tranq darts work on Sylar anyway?) I digress. More broadly, it’s insane if they are only going to remember about this ultra defence on the one occasion they decide it won’t work.

It didn’t strike me at the time, but after I watched, Claire’s scene in general kind of puzzled me. I get that she wants to sort stuff out for herself but she was acting around Noah as if she didn’t have a care in the world. I can understand her not wanting to give her dad all the fine detail on her possible romantic life but she thinks her new roommate murdered the old one just to get closer to her! I wonder if there’s been a bit of shuffling of the episode running order?

On the upside, we got our Noah & Peter roadtrip which was pretty appealing. I would like to have seen a little bit more quality time with Noah and Peter because I think that could be an interesting dynamic. Peter is always so appealing around him, like he’s looking up to him with quiet awe. His ultra respectful yet sad “Thank you, Mr Bennet” from the season one finale is one of my very favourite Peter moments in the whole show to date. With regards the confrontation with the healer/take of life, I wasn’t seriously worried for Peter but the actual shooting with the time freezing, then Peter’s dawning realisation that he hadn’t stopped time QUITE quick enough was both beautifully shot and did convey a real sense of “oh SHIT, how do I fix THIS?”. Mind you, though I wasn’t worried, I’m still not fond of seeing characters I love getting shot and apparently bleeding to death on screen. I guess as a Nathan fan I should be used to it by now. I fear for the future of that boy healer, btw – unless they’ve truly learned nothing whatsoever from the aforementioned magic blood fiasco, that’s way too useful an ability to have on the show for too long . If I was that kid, I wouldn’t be bothering to buy any tweed suits.

It seems a little thing, but I’m actually rather liking some of the little inconveniences that Peter is encountering due to his one ability at a time thing, rather than like last season where there was always being a handy power in place to move him around the plot. Like having to drive to the airport and catch a flight home. It’s not that I like to think of him kicking his heels in the departure lounge, I just thought it was a nice touch and would reflect the reality I’d expect of someone in Peter’s position so nice job, show. I hope it doesn’t have some more tragic echo further down the line where Peter is placed in a situation where he’s painfully aware he could have saved the day if only he had kept some power or other…

Elsewhere, I’m actually rather enjoying Hiro’s arc this season much to my pleasant surprise. I thought his scenes with Emma worked rather well and her power IS seriously pretty. I think we often get to see the best of Hiro when he’s working with more jaded, cynical characters. With him, it means there’s an audience stand in to puncture the excessive quirky if needed but he also tends to bring out softer sides in the tougher characters he meets. His scenes with Nathan in Season one worked very well (for the most part) and I think they do so with Emma this week. Also, again I thought the show was mocking Peter with Hiro’s whole “you’re sure there’s nothing wrong in your life you could benefit from me going back in time to fix?” “Nope!” ARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!! Hulk smash. HULK SMASH!

Eeesh. Okay then – Sylar. Sigh. God, Zachary Quinto really does just have two settings, doesn’t he? Evil quip throwing super villain and snivelling/ maudlin total wuss. You know who I’d have guessed he was channelling if denied all the script clues? Niki Sanders. That was JUST how Ali portrayed Niki whenever she’d find out whatever badness Jessica had done on her watch. Not for one second did I get the impression that I was watching Nathan there. And this isn’t just me thinking only AP can pull this trick off. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Eliza Dushku made decent showings playing each other’s characters in Buffy – it’s doable! And this story just doesn’t work if both actors cannot pull their weight. Also, speaking of Niki, isn’t this threatening to become her story? I hope not – it wasn’t that gripping the first time around to me. Either way, we cannot get Adrian back soon enough.

I was a bit creeped out by the hall of mirrors scene but ONLY because it reminded me of a key scene from the live action Walt Disney movie “The Watcher In The Woods”(youtube trailer - nowadays all your childhood nightmares live on in youtube) which looks ultra hokey today but I swear to God, to six year old me, it was the most terrifying, traumatising thing EVER and was scary as fuck. It had this teenage girl right, suddenly noticing that of all the images in the mirror hall, one in the corner is suddenly not of her reflection but of some blindfolded girl reaching out to her desperately from behind the glass. Eeek! Gradually, all the other reflections turn into this too but the real horror was suddenly noticing that one reflection, apparently to my mind trying to pull her into some terrifying mirror dimension. Brrr. To this day I find what in technical parlance I have dubbed “shit with mirrors” in films intrinsically frightening.

Finally a word on Lydia. EEEEW! There are some things you just should not expect your loved ones to have to do! EEEW! Although I took a wry amusement in Lydia and Samuel’s exchange of the most obvious stage nods in the history of TV. Impressive, but maybe they could be yet clearer still? Just to make sure every person in the audience that Samuel & Lydia are cool with her apparently having sex with Sylar, I suggest that Samuel gives a stage wink and makes the OK symbol with his hand and that Lydia responds with a wink and two thumbs up gesture back to him. Still, I guess the level of the Sylar being that is Nathan probably found both the notion of (okay, adopted) family member AND random woman looking to have sex with him way more oddly familiar than jetplanes or handshaking

Also, another drawing of Adrian from the days of "Profit" .

.

Vampire Diaries episode 6

2009-10-16T19:15:34Z

I've come to the conclusion that I'm not really trusting my instincts that well as to what is good TV and what's trash. All I know is that after giving Vampire Diaries a kicking last week, I thought that this week's was a corker. well, by the standards it holds itself to anyway.

I knew it was going to be awesome when I saw we were being treated to the flashback episode which to my utter joy included Elena, sorry Katherine, Stegan and Damon strutting around uncomfortably like extras from Gone With The Wind. I especially enjoyed the actress who usually plays Elena's attempt at an accent of sorts. That gloriously non specific 'historical accent like what old-fashioned ladies spoke like way back in days of yore" voice. You know how it sounds! So I knew right there and then this week's was going to be fun.

Plus it was better than that because you know what? That twist about Katherine being a vampire, I did NOT see coming so either I occasionally have my off days and this is me akin to being surprised by a twist in the Twilight Zone or that was genuinely a cool twist. I have to say, Katherine seemed a LOT more fun than Elena does, what with the messing with the brothers' heads, turning them against each other and apparently having sex together. I guess she was probably evil what with the biting and all but she kind of seems entertaining. I hope we see more of her.

FlashForward Episode Three

2009-10-15T21:16:40Z

This show's just about keeping me interested. I'm beginning to accept there's not going to be that much depth and that each week I'm going to be shouting at the TV about odd plot turns or what are apparently plot holes. But fortunately as a Heroes fan I can probably deal with whatever FF cares to chuck at me on this score.

So this week's ep. Man, that business with the Nazi was irritating and silly, huh? For several reasons! Firstly, Joseph Fiennes cuts the worst deals in the world. Prisoner all but admitted, 'yeah, I really had nothing much but eh, what're ya gonna do - the vision said you'd let me go so undo the cuffs!". In what world do they reply "...okay." Why is the Nazi the only person who noticed the dead crows anyway? And shouldn't that boy who was watching them fall have collapsed too? WHY is future pregnant girl so dense this week with the "I fail to see any possible significance of the birds being affected too". Gah!!!

On the upside, I was pleased to see that FBI boss Courtney Vance's wife on the show is Zoe from Firefly. Cool. And I am sort of getting interested in the mystery of John Cho's possible demise. It hasn't been made very clear how much in the way of active memory of past time people experience in the flashforward. ie, can they remember how they were feeling? Joseph Fiennes & wifey both seemed to report doing so which makes Cho's fiancee's experience hard to read. Her vision, despite her happiness in it, did NOT seem to feature him that we could see, contrary to her words. But she seemed happy - I wonder if she was dreaming? It looked quite dreamlike.

On a totally different subject, I'd like to wish the happiest of birthdays to linaerys. Her wonderful Heroes stories, plus how engaging, friendly and kind her posts were where what spurred me to start making contact with people here on Livejournal. Have a good one, Lin!

Heroes Casting Spoilers

2009-10-14T16:46:33Z

To add my own belated tuppence worth of thoughts concerning the Blind Item in The Ausiello Files which everyone seems in agreement is about Heroes. Hee, just when you think NBC & Heroes couldn't fuck things up more if they tried, they somehow find a way.

From the article:

"I get that there’s no easy way to lay someone off, but, come on, this is ridiculous: A male series regular on a one-hour drama — a onetime ratings powerhouse — learned that he was out of a job only after reading his character’s death scene in the script!

More clues (or misinformation) in Kristin Dos Santos' column

"Sources over on NBC's Heroes confirm to me that a major death is in the works, and this is not one that will go unnoticed by even the most casual fan."

Greg Grunberg & James the Prop Guy from the show have both confirmed they are indeed losing a cast member, Greg seeming very sad, James being endearingly furious about it all. Like most people, I of course immediately thought "I bet that's Adrian". Just because not only does it seem in keeping with the amount of respect with which they've been treating him all along, but where else can he really go on the show? The only thing that stops me thinking it might be him is the fact that, well - see previous point. Shouldn't he and everyone have else been expecting this given his current storyline? Yet people seem shocked and angry. Hmnn. Plus, is he really so big a name to the casual fan?

Sucks hugely for us of course in the wondering. We're like a bunch of Transylvanian Villagers waiting anxiously for the dawn to see which of our number's been snatched away by Dracula in the night. To keep that analogy going, in that situation there is probably few people you'd WANT to see eaten by vampires but a sliding scale as to how upset you'd be over who was left standing. As it happens, I'd be a flinty hearted villager and if I but only could, I'd be hanging out my window yelling towards Zachary Quinto's window that "he's hiding under the bed and his window's unlocked!" It won't happen. It should but it won't. They'd NEVER be so smart as to keep AP over Zachary Quinto. I wonder about Jack Coleman. I've seen it said that people don't consider him a major name which surprises me as I thought he was one of the most popular characters? If so, I guess he doesn't quite fit the profile, Equally, I wouldn't be sorry if they lost Masi from a story pov. I think his character has only dragged things to a halt since halfway through season one. Again, I don't see them having the guts. I can't see them offing Hayden but I *do* wonder if she might be a factor in them maybe sacking Milo (as an outside bet). It would certainly match the "no WAY" reaction from the cast and crew. I'm not suggesting that the story of her lobbying to have him fired was accurate, of course. But I do wonder if they are not as on such professionally friendly terms as is claimed and that TPTB have decided to put an end to the source of on set bad feeling .

Of course, if they were to get rid of Peter, I find it very hard to think they'd keep Nathan on without him. And weirdly, I think I'd be okay with that on some level. I could finally stop watching and Adrian and Milo would be free to have the chance of finding more rewarding work. I almost have to laugh about it all. Seriously, though - finding out you've been axed by reading the script? Friends played that bit for laughs! Seriously, aren't NBC just the best??

Heroes S4 E5 "Hysterical Blindness"

2009-10-13T15:51:38Z

Very much a mixed bag this week, I thought.

Plot stuff for context: Last week, “Nathan” fessed up to being responsible for the death of a girl who died when they were both teenagers but had forgotten it thanks to Angela & the Haitian’s meddling. Actually, he wasn’t responsible at all but if there’s one thing Nathan doesn’t stint on, it’s deciding stuff is all his fault so he told her mum anyway. Big mistake ‘cos she decided to express her grief by having him shot. Still, you can’t keep a good man down and he just shrugged off getting shot in the chest and clawed his way out of a shallow grave, albeit as an amnesiac Sylar. Amnesiac Sylar is super whiney when the cops arrest him for killing Virginia Gray. He protests he’s like, totally NOT a killer… right up to the point he hurls his interrogator out of a window using TK and off he goes on the lam. Elsewhere, Peter is bored of being all moodily isolated and wants to reconnect with his family. However, much to his chagrin, there is less bunting deployed to celebrate this than he hoped. Nathan is nowhere to found and Angela is freaking out about that instead. Claire thinks her new roommate is a bad guy or a creepy psycho but it was all the work of an Evil Sorority Sister who works for Samuel. Anyway, she kisses a startled Claire who doesn't really get a chance to react. Meanwhile, Samuel & Lydia plot vaguely malign things in ways that are sort of interesting to me but not gripping. Plus, Peter & Emma get closer to each other and it’s totally charming. And Hiro shows up at the end and collapses into Peter’s arms.

Overall, I felt this ep was okay. I’m by now resigned to the fact I’m probably prejudiced against episodes that don’t feature Adrian Pasdar. Whether this is just subconscious spite on my part, ie me wanting to punish the show for leaving him on the subs bench or an honest belief that he really is capable of elevating the quality of whole episodes all by himself, I really am not sure. Either way there was stuff that didn’t really work for me. For example, the interrogation of Sylar felt kind of corny and that female officer (psychologist?) acted in ways that just felt unbelievable. Lowlight - when she asked her colleague to leave the keys to Sylar's handcuffs on the table on way out. I’m not asking for The Wire here, show – just not stuff that verges on the police equivalent of this Mitchell & Webb sketch (youtube link). Some basic research could only help create a better sense of verisimilitude, not to say emotional buy in.

I thought Zachary Quinto's acting was very poor this week too, which is unfortunate because that whole storyline rather depends on the audience being able to not only buy into the emotional side of things but also to literally get a sense of who we're looking at. Still, maybe not entirely his fault - I think in general the directing was very choppy and disjointed so maybe that all had something to do with it. I just know I was thinking “oh stop snivelling, Sylar”. He disgusts me for so many reasons.

I don't know what we're supposed to make of Gretchen now. I would be very surprised if they make their first acknowledged gay character mad or evil but even discounting the 'make Gretchen look bad' actions of Evil Carnie Sorority Girl, she's not shaping up well. For me, the big red flag wasn't the googling or facebook stalkage, it was the whole "Oh, let's not have other friends bit". Yikes! Still, I find it darkly amusing that we are invited to think she is dodgy despite she's nowhere near as bad as West was in her boundary issues. Incidentally, so much for the accuracy of that Jump/Push/Fall test as carried out by Claire, eh?

Speaking of Evil Carnie Girl, that was convenient, huh? Her being all embedded into the very college social hub that Claire would later enrol into. Lucky all that ultra long term planning against this outside bet paid off. Does Samuel realise how evil she is, I wonder? He doesn’t seem to hold the price of human life that highly (sucks if you were just some guest who dragged yourself out to that cocktail party because you felt you should really make an effort to meet more people, for example). But he doesn’t seem sadistic whereas that girl seemed to be really enjoying her gruesome work. I guess on balance her presence means Gretchen is supposed to be good because otherwise Claire has no ally here.

I'm a bit flummoxed by Peter's sudden abandoning of his plans to go all crazy in his self imposed isolation from everyone. What was the point of introducing this plot in the first place? And what has made him change his mind? It 's like they stuck it in the show just so it would be plausible that Peter wouldn't notice there was anything up with Nathan and that now that problem has gone, they've just dropped it all without really bothering with a pay off to it or explanation. On the plus side, I enjoyed Angela's scene greatly with her all quietly panicky about Nathan's vanishing and Peter misunderstanding it and being all annoyed that she just wasn't being sufficiently wowed by his sudden graciousness in allowing her back into his life. It always amuses me how self centred Peter is. He was all “HELLO? Still talking about ME, here!” Poor Petrellis. Neither of them gets what I’d call quality attention from Angela but I think the inner child of each thinks the other one sort of does. Still, stop whining, Peter. If he could, Nathan would tell you Angela’s obsessive attention is waaay worse than her loving neglect. (By the way, Cristine looked ultra gorgeous this week in white – definitely one of her colours.)

ETA: Exhibit "A" of ultra prettiness.

It brings me to another gripe which I mentioned last week but is now getting seriously overplayed. That whole business of having a character make a big emotional plea for connection and being refused. Then, the recipient having a change of heart and going back to say they agree after all…only now the first person has totally done a 180 too and no longer agrees so the conversation recurs with the participants swapping roles. So this week we had Peter reaching back to Angela and Nathan JUST at the point when Nathan no longer can and fear has plunged Angela into an isolation of her own. Previously in the few episodes this season alone we’ve also had Noah asking Peter for help only for it to be reversed and Noah & Tracy doing the same with each other. It’s getting old.

Peter! Being able to see sounds make colours is undoubtedly hugely pretty but let’s face it, it’s pretty small beer compared to being Master Of Time & Space (tm) –grab that power! Grab it now! Go back in time and prevent the finale ever happening in the first place. Then chop Sylar’s head off and dunk the body in battery acid. See how Sylar’s magic moving point of vulnerability aughs THAT one off. Still, just in case it actually does, put his skull in a Lucite bowling ball, like in Mystery Men.

I am really liking Emma, and for this reason she has my sympathy that she's now apparently channelling Dazzler, one of the most gloriously lame heroines ever. Here's hoping she starts trundling around the place on disco roller skates. I’d advise leaving off the disco ball necklace though – it looks like it would fly up and hit you in the face if you ever had to run anywhere. Also, did she have that cello all along and that's how she could play it last week? Was it a gift? Just bought it? She looked vaguely surprised to see it there.

Angela sketch

2009-10-11T15:40:52Z

New Heroes season means a reawakening of my occasional wish to draw people. Just one screencap based sketch here, that of Angela. Just because I occasionally get the hump with Angela and all her wacky madcap schemes it doesn't mean I tire of drawing Cristine Rose's beautifully striking face. If the mechanics interest you, this was drawn with a 2H and 7B pencil. You know, every so often I try using other media like pen or paint and I just never feel that comfortable. So unless I one day take to using oils like a duck to water, I think I'm stuck pencil & me are stuck with each other.

Vampire Diaries episode 5

2009-10-10T09:26:32Z

Man, am I just in too ultra unforgiving a mood this week with all my shows or was this week's Vampire Diaries seriously sub par?

The only thing that I liked /was interested in was Elena's impression of Stefan which made me giggle because she caught his wooden cadences perfectly. Also, Bonnie continues to interest me in her Willow-esque arc. But everyone else either frustrated, bored me or I flat out disliked them. For instance, I am increasingly puzzled by just how nasty they are making Damon if he's going to be any kind of credible rival for Elana. The way they keep presenting his actions with Caroline (and Vicky) is straight out of a stereotypical horror movie. When she ran away into the light (literally) this week, I think I joined the rest of the audience in going "phew! she got away from that utter creep".

Speaking of utter creeps, Elena's sister and the ex-boyfriend would be bugging the crap out of me with their "I'm so over you, you big loser only sort of not really" routine even without the fact that he seems to be just using her to get close to taking down the vampires. I hope they move on from this one way or another soon. At least the plot moved on this week, I guess.

Icons & further thoughts on this week's Heroes

2009-10-09T13:36:25Z

Firstly, Mimesh made me icons to reflect Mohinder's absence (to date) from season four of Heroes. They are seriously awesome, clever, little labours of love and also they make me giggle. Oh, and if you see Dr Mohinder Suresh, please post him back to NBC studios. Or send him to me, I'll take care of him. Thank you.

Secondly, I rewatched Heroes and have more thoughts. Like trying to get my brain round the whole pychometrics power thing that Sylar-as-Nathan has absorbed. I just don't get how that's supposed to work. How come it's zeroing in on Nathan's memories when he touches stuff? I'll grant them the toy plane because presumably few other people ever touched it. (although it would have been amusing if it had granted him a vision of Angela crawling around in the attic saying 'aHA! just the thing for helping him not remember he's really Sylar!') but that poolside? There must be a million memories there. I mean, on this basis, if Matt had hypnotised Sylar into thinking he was Abe Lincoln, would he suddenly remember writing the Gettysburg address if handed the manuscript?

On a related and slightly grisly note (consider yourself warned, gentle reader), it occurs to me that one of the reasons I found the hitman stealing Nathan's ring more upsetting than him being shot was that unlike the body plugged full of bullets, that ring actually belonged to the real Nathan. (And it did. It is just too silly to be asked to believe that the shapeshifting power called a copy into being to complete the resemblance). This gives rise to two gloomy thoughts. Firstly, I guess this means that either Angela, Matt or Noah took the ring off his corpse. So eeeeew. Secondly, if he is in fact wearing the original ring, I'm puzzled how it isn't also communicating the message that the ring 'remembers' its wearer being murdered.

Brrr. How morbid I'm being! To end on a cheerier note, I was amused and very pleased to see that Nathan's memories of playing with that toy plane in the early seventies was accompanied by the strains of Maria Muldaur's 'Midnight At The Oasis', one of the most irritating hit records ever. Usually when shows play hit records of the past, they go for tunes that sound self-consciously cool to the modern ear. Full marks for not doing so here! No doubt if he'd continued rummaging further down that box of memories we'd have been treated to the musical stylings of the Starland Vocal Band, Emerson Lake & Palmer or David Essex.

Also, on rewatching, I giggled at Angela making that cute 'looks left to right' surreptitious glance before hissing "It didn't LOOK like [an accident], dear!" Yeah, Angela - best to make a token effort at being discreet about these things. Far be it from me to question the judgement here and all, but maybe the whole conversation about burying bodies, faking alibis and all other talk of perverting the course of justice shouldn't be discussed at across a bar stool of a busy pub in the first place? Also, what IS Sylar-as-Nathan drinking there? It looks like a glass of milk.

PS: Giving him a toyplane made him resolve right there and then to grow up to be a pilot and he did? I bet Angela kicked herself for not giving a tiny model of the White House instead and thus sparing herself decades of presumably subtle yet tedious manipulation.

FlashForward Episode Two

2009-10-08T17:57:55Z

HMNNNNNN. God, I have got to stop flinging myself so hard at shows that offer the slightest chance of me becoming fannish. The fact that everything is not ship shape in my present fandom doesn't make a new show appear just because I have a fandom shaped hole in my soul. After getting so excited about FF last week, I'm merely whelmed this week. What seemed like worrying signs last week were amplified this week. Stuff like EVERY little thing from the flash being shown to us again whenever a character sees it appear.Even if we've just seen it in the 'previouslies' too. Show, I do not have the apocryphal goldfish memory - I am capable of remembering seeing a burned doll and connecting it with a memory of the exact same burned doll.

Other stuff that was hammered home too much this week. The lady who didn't have a memory of the future either. how long was everyone at home calculating her lifespan? Also, why hasn't John Cho grilled his fiancee about what was in her flash? Surely clues right there eh? And I am choosing to believe that there is a bloody good reason why Jospeh Fiennes is the only one who remembers that the flash happened in his vision. It is too big a hole not to have some explanantion - I'm seriously hoping that is what the post it that says 'who else knows?' refers to and not some detail of the conspiracy.

My biggest worry is that two episodes in and I'm not really finding a character to fully engage with yet - everyone seems a bit cardboard cut out. I need that - I have to have some character no matter how minor a role who I really give a shit about and route for. Or at least care whether they live or die. But so far, to mix my metaphors, they are a bit chess puzzle pieces in nature, being moved around the Big Plot. Maybe that's inevitable due to the nature of the show itself being possibly about the lack of free will but that seems all the more reason to create dynamic, interesting characters. Maybe it's just too early to call and that depth will appear as the show evolves.

Heroes S4 E4 "Acceptance"

2009-10-06T15:38:17Z

Ohh Heroes. I see that I am kind of doomed to zig when most of the fandom zags but I thought this week was freaking great! And makes me reflect that I am reaaaally going to miss Bryan Fuller when he shoves off, which is presumably any episode now. Don’t get me wrong, whilst I think sometimes it’s tempting to think Fuller was responsible for all the good about and TK all the bad, I suspect that for whatever reason that it was probably the tension between his (for the most part) quirky style of writing and Kring’s more earnest, slightly dour style that gave us Heroes at its best. I guess I’ll never know for sure, though.

Anyway, this week’s ep, presumably Fuller’s last hurrah, was a corker. I loved it all, even the ending couldn’t spoil things. That bit didn’t upset me for a few reasons. A) Frankly from the previews (which for once I saw) I expected things to be worse as far as NotNathan was concerned. B) I’ve been waiting for him to turn back into Sylar and that’s probably actually the least upsetting way I can think of them doing it, because it meant I at least got a laugh out of the vampire from the grave imagery. (I don’t approve, you understand – just that being pragmatic, there were worse routes they could have picked). Also C) It meant we had what is one of the very best scenes Heroes has yet given us – Millie & Angela making nice over their glasses of wine, each clearly grimly thinking. “You wouldn’t be smiling if you knew what I did to you”. I guess there’s also a D). I do often get annoyed when peripheral characters die on Heroes with no-one caring about them or what their family go through as a result. That’s there’s no comeuppance for the main characters when they are responsible as long as it’s an accident or even much evidence that they get given any further thought.

In contrast, I thought they beautifully conveyed Millie’s private hell of wondering where on earth her daughter had gone all these years and blaming herself for it. So even though I would have bet the keys to my car that if there was ever going to be any character who would break with this tradition and get some kind of consequence from such an action that it would be Nathan, I didn’t disapprove. (Although this was presumably intended as more of an ‘eye for an eye’ payback to Angela as much as to Nathan) Where there are actions, there should be reactions. Still, having said all this, it IS a bit tough on Nathan when he presumably wanted to tell all or else why bother with the Haitian in the first place?

I thought Swoosie Kurtz was wonderful this week with her quiet, frozen grief behind a steely façade. SUCH an intense scene with Nathan telling her he was responsible for her daughter’s death. Seriously, I just loved her. In a perfect Heroes world, her and Angela would be bitter yet impeccably polite foes who would lunch together and bare their fangs at each other every week. Also, Millie must be kind of rich as well as hardcore, huh? All I know about hitmen is from watching old episodes of Law & Order but I can’t help but think the price for offing a US Senator is probably more than chump change.

By the way, I couldn’t help but giggle at Nathan apparently suddenly realising he isn’t sure which department to ask for when he phones the police to Tell All ("I'd like to speak to someone in the ...Homicide ...Division?"). As a former ADA. I see he is every bit as well informed on the law as Dr Leo Spaceman from 30 Rock is on medical matters. It’s very like when Leo phones 411 and asks to speak to “Someone in Diabetes…repair?” about a patient in a diabetic coma.

I even enjoyed the stuff with Tracy this week. I was kind of amused with the surreal notion that she kind of bathes by becoming one with the bathwater. How zen! I do get a bit frustrated with Heroes’ characters though - they are forever proclaiming that if only they could have their old job back/leave the Company/Rejoin The Company/ Get their family back that they’d be happy and they NEVER are. If anything, they immediately start lamenting they really want the precise opposite, like Noah Bennet tends to do. I’d have way more sympathy for him in Sandra divorcing him if he hadn’t previously implied life with her, Claire , Mr Muggles & Lyle was totally boring. I’ll happily chalk up Tracy’s change of heart to the fact that the wider perspective her adventures have given her also meant that she sees the old life she so wanted back with fresh eyes. Please don’t stick Tracy with Noah, show!!

I was interested that Milo gives Peter what seems like a straightforward “OHH, I forgot!” response to not getting back to Nathan rather than evasiveness. That IS supposed to be read as a total lie, right? I mean we watched Pete screening his call in episode one. Oh and we got yet another signature Heroes bit – one character staring blankly over the shoulder of the person hugging them. Sigh.

I guess it’s a bummer to see him so apparently distant with NotNathan but then again I think it would be weird if he wasn’t given how we’ve seen him behaving this season. For instance I can’t really think of a reason why they would put that brief scene of him also blowing Claire off if not to make the point that this is all about Peter rather than about his family. After all, Claire’s probably the most moral character on the show – I can’t think he’s mad at her.

Having said all that, I think his relative lack of interest in Nathan’s sudden extra powers a bit odd. Let’s face it, he can be forgiven for not going “WAIT – what if you are secretly Sylar just made to THINK you’re Nathan?!” but his virtual shrugging it all off as probably just running in the family is silly. Especially as, much as I’m sure they wish they’d never bothered with it as a plot, Nathan had his flight power artificially added to his genetic structure after he was born.

Downsides because there always are a few. I continue to think that the plot twist from last season means that Angela’s reactions to NotNathan seem really off. I’m not sure what she is supposed to be feeling when she looks at him or they speak beyond that she is focussing her efforts on keeping the Sylar persona in the box. That’s plausible enough. But I don’t get any sense of a wider reaction to him. Does she regard this person as being in any meaningful way her son at all? If not, is she mourning the loss? If anything, she’s giving her usual general air that she despises him and that he’s ungrateful for her sacrifices. I just feel like we’ve skipped a big reaction somewhere and it’s unsatisfying. Although I did like her showing up with the detritus from the garage. Lucky really – goodness knows that cold, sterile looking office could use a few knick knacks about the place. By the way, seriously – what is up with that black disembodied claw clutching a crystal ball that sits in full view on the desk each week?

Anyway, I presume we have seen the last of Adrian for a little while so boo to that but hey, good episode at least and I was worried. Oh, and lastly? Noah, Noah, Noah that really isn’t merely a ‘very nice’ arm – it is an awesome arm ;)

Final Top 5 meme response: sidekicks

2009-10-04T11:02:39Z

wee_warrior asked me to come up with 5 sidekicks. And here they are.
What makes a great sidekick? I guess for me, the key quality here is loyalty and an acceptance that one’s primary function is supporting the hero. Thus, I’ve disqualified otherwise awesome characters like Scully where I’d argue they are more half of a duo of equals. Your top sidekick should as well as being an interesting character in his or her own right, bring out facet’s of the hero’s character that we would not otherwise see. But after that, there’s any number of ways you can be a good sidekick ...

Rick Jones

Sidekick to: The Incredible Hulk, Captain Marvel (x2), Captain America etc

Keen readers of The Incredible Hulk will recall that Rick got his start in sidekick life by being the twerpy teen responsible for the accident that caused Bruce Banner to get caught in the Gamma Ray explosion as he rushed to save his life after Jones had trespassed onto the test range. Ridden with guilt, he becomes a loyal and trusted friend to Banner and a key part of taht comic’s appeal. Went on to serve as loyal sidekick to Captain America and, in a hugely enjoyably run by Peter David, Captain Marvel.
Why's he good? Utterly loyal, knows who the boss is but isn't afraid to speak up if his boss might be losing his way. Usually adds a welcome light touch wherever he turns up, as well as a useful link back to the 'real' world.
Finest Hour: Numerous shining moments but really he’s here because let’s face, this man has given his LIFE to perfecting the art of the sidekick.

Hank Kingsley

Sidekick to: Larry Sanders of The Larry Sanders Show

Another professional sidekick, this time for the insecure, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders.
Why's he good? Well actually, Hank has many (many, many) more faults than virtues. He is crude, stupid, selfish and bitter, swings alarmingly between deep insecurity and overwhelming arrogance. But he loves his boss deeply despite the fact that Sanders for the most part despises him . And though power corrupted when he was finally given a chance to be the Host, he was (mostly) professional at his natural role, The Sidekick. Besides, where would Larry have been if he didn’t have someone to look down on?

Finest Hour: Finally telling Larry & Artie just what crap he’s put up from them with all these years for them in one the most extraordinarily passionate outbursts I’ve ever seen.

Franklin "Foggy" Nelson

Sidekick to: Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil. Matt's best friend from college. For many years also, one half of their legal firm. Usually depicted as a chubby, klutzy amiable loser and thus often underestimated.

Why's he good? His hesitating, genial demeanour conceals a brain easily as sharp as Murdock's. A kind hearted man, like Jones he isn't afraid to speak up and act when he thinks his hero is slipping either morally or mentally. In fact he's pretty much the moral centre of the book. Mind you, his action to engineer the break up of the engagement of Matt & Heather because he thought (rightly) that Matt was emotionally torturing her is something I still wonder about.

Finest Hour: His unflinching loyalty and "imaginative use of a technicality" which foils the Kingpin's plan to get Murdock sent to prison during the classic “Born Again” storyline .

Sir Guy of Gisborne

Sidekick to: Sheriff of Nottingham in the show Robin of Sherwood

What? Villains deserve sidekicks too! I'm referring to the ‘80s version of the character mostly, as wonderfully played by the late Robert Addie (Mordred from Excalibur). Gisborne is the enforcer for the more intelligent but also more lazy and cruel Sheriff of Nottingham.

Why’s he a good sidekick? Because Addie manages to humanise his role by adding little touches of vulnerability and awkwardness. He just really wants to be appreciated for doing a good job and he never, ever is. Instead, Gisborne has to put up with the idle contempt of his boss who plainly regards his EO as something of a prat. The Sheriff underestimates him, I think. Gisborne is utterly on the wrong side but he gives generally gives good advice (usually ignored).

Finest hour: Visibly fretting when the castle has to look just perfect for a visiting emissary from the court of King John. Llike Hank, he gets props for unstinting loyalty in the face of no appreciation or reward.

Mr Spock

Sidekick to: James T. Kirk, Star Trek

Why’s he a good sidekick? Oh where to start. Balances the weaknesses of his more impetuous Captain beautifully making them the perfect team. I always loved the fact that Spock and Kirk never were quite able to see the world through the other’s eyes, but such was the degree of mutual respect, they took it on trust that their way would work even if they didn’t quite understand it.
Finest hour: Making the ultimate sacrifice in Wrath of Khan. Sensibly commuted to not being that ultimate after all. presumably because it was realised that a Spockless Trek would have been the pointless thing ever.

Lord Percy Percy & Baldrick

Sidekicks to: Blackadder

A twofer. I suppose I should really have just gone with Baldrick when considering Blackadder sidekicks as Ballders is the only constant down the centuries, but let’s face, Baldrick is a terrible sidekick. Doubtful if he’d remain with his Master if feudal ties were broken (at one point calls him a lazy, big nosed rubber faced bastard when he thinks he out of the range of hearing) . Plus, he fucks up so many of Blackadder’s schemes, that one might think him some sort of agent provocateur.
Lord Percy otoh is so devoted that he bursts into tears on learning he won’t be Blackadder’s best man. Plus, after literally an afternoon’s ceaseless searching, he invents purest ~~Gold~~ Green in the hope of solving his friend’s money problems. And that’s after he’s discovered his first response of offering up all his money in the world won’t help because Blackadder has already “seen it, pinched it, spent it”.

Finest hour: Same for both – having sex with strange men just to help their ungrateful git of a master.