So Heroes is back with the next chapter: Fugitives. Right from the opening scene the opening episode, “A Clear and Present Danger” had a different feel than last season’s “Villains” arc. It seemed more… quiet.
This was fine with me as it seems (at least in the season opener) that they’re paying more attention to and focusing more on the characters as people. Last season was all about crazy action and characters acting… well… out of character.
There will be season opener spoilers below…
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This season seems to begin at least a couple of months after the end of the last season, and perhaps even longer. Most everyone seems to be trying to not use their powers and live out normal lives. Then there’s Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar) – he’s the latest Washington D.C. hot ticket with the President’s ear and working on a task force to “protect our country.” The public assumes he means from terrorists but he is actually going after our friendly super-powered folks.
They’ve really turned Nathan into a pretty slimey character, regardless of what his intentions are. This is demonstrated especially by the fact that despite his having a black ops team capturing all super-powered people that he is aware of, he offers his brother Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) and his daughter Claire (Hayden Panettiere) a pass.
Hiro (Masi Oka) is trying to turn Ando (James Kyson Lee) into a superhero (complete with spandex costume), and interestingly, Peter runs into Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy) driving a cab. They have a conversation about having super-powered people rounded up and put in internment camps – Peter thinks it’s vile but Mohinder thinks maybe it’s a necessary evil.
Why is that interesting? Because as soon as the Black Ops team attempts to apprehend Mohinder he suddenly has a massive change of opinion on the matter. I could segue here big time but I think I’ll hold my tongue. 
Sylar (Zachary Quinto) is still around (they haven’t explained how the heck he survived the massive fire at the end of last season) and he’s trying to find out exactly who he is. He actually has the coolest scene in the entire episode when the men in black try to capture him. He is one formidable opponent.
Noah Bennett (Jack Coleman) is back and he seems to have reverted to his old tricks from season one.
I was actually quite surprised at the fact that basically everyone was rounded up by the end of the episode. I had expected it to take a few episodes for everyone to be captured, with the possibility that a number of our pals wouldn’t be. As it stands the ending of the episode almost made me feel like we were about to witness a Heroes/Lost crossover. 
Anyway, based on just this one episode it looks like we’re in for an interesting season – hopefully it stays true all season long and there is no shark-jumping.
What did you think… does it look like Heroes is going to return to its former glory?
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47 Comments
Just finished watching the first episode and I thought it was a step in the right direction.
I just want to know how Sylar survived cause didnt he had a rod or something in his head and in the fire at the end of the season?
I think it was a giant shard of glass, could have melted?
Dont they seperate Heroes into chapter or Volumes?
This isnt actually a fourth season premiere is it?
I am pretty happy with the start, even tho it seems very senator kelly to me. I understand with a topic like this, some lines will be crossed in similiarity. I just hope we dont see giant robots searching them out soon. I also found myself behind sylar when it came to his turn. To me hes like magneto now. My guess on his survival is also that the glass simply melted. I cant wait for next week to see the outcome of the crash and the interaction between clair/HRG over his involvement!
It was a good introduction. This scenario (the heroes finally teaming up) is what we were waiting to happen in season one and never materialized. Hope they take full advantage of it.
My only quibble: If Mr. Bennett was so worried about his daughter, why ally himself with someone who’s out to get the heroes? Sure Claire gets a pass, but his experience should tell him that you can’t trust anyone in this series for more than two nanoseconds, let alone Nathan. I’d really like to hear that one explained.
Even if the glass didn’t melt, the coroner would have pulled it from the back of his head. At which point – a la Claire – he would have come back.
What I am most concerned about is Peter. It seems he has to touch people to get their powers. That I am willing to live with.
However, there are some people mentioning that his powers cannot overlap, ie, when he got Tracy’s freezing power, he lost Mohinder’s super strength. If that is the case, then they have neutered Peter completely, and I will be very disappointed.
@Gary
They’re mixing up broadcast times/formats so much now that it’s getting confusing. This is a new chapter, but with the gap between “chapters” I would pretty much say you could call this a new season, or maybe season 3.5?
Vic
If Peter hadnt lost his super strength when he touched Niki, the he would still have been able to fly from touching Nathan and have the super strength, thus being able to go outside the plane and just set it down…
Great episode!
@Joe: Interesting point. I haven’t heard/read, nor think that Peter can only absorb one ability at a time. That would be a huge letdown.
One thing I missed or forgot was when Arthur Petrelli took Peter’s powers away. How did he get them back?? Was it all reverted back to original when Arthur died or what??
@Vic, Its been the same way since season/chapter 1. During season 1 they had a hiatus in the middle, but it stayed the same chapter. Season two was gonna have 2 chapters(with one starting after the hiatus) but thanks to that lovely writers strike they didnt even have the second part of the season. Now on season 3 we finally had a change of chapters after the hiatus
Hope i made sense.
@Dana, He can only have one powers(looks that way atleast) When he took Tracy’s freezing ability he was shocked, and felt pain when he punched that guy. That would also explain why he didnt just fly out instead of holding on. Oh, and he got his power back after he injected himself with the syrum before the place burnt down.
@Dana-Peter got his powers back in the last episode. UselessMohinder brewed up that batch of SuperPower juice. Peter destroyed the lab but there was one vial left. He used it when he saw NastyNathan was in trouble and flew out with him. And then NastyNathan basically called him an idiot for doing so.
So I wonder if Peter has his dad’s power and actually takes other powers or if he is still just absorbing them
@Oscar, Thanks for the clarification on the syrum. And man what a bummer if that is the case with him only possessing one power. I can only assume they have a plan with these changes and will make the best of them!!
Still Lame. So much potential here, interesting charismatic actors and characters, neat premise, god aweful storytelling. If JMS wasn’t such a big shooter now he would have been a great candidate to take the helm (especially since this is a ripoff of his Rising Stars series). Some say the show should have gone darker, a few more optimisitc. Don’t think that’s the problem, it’s the crap stories and WWE like character flips each week and that there is absolutely no sense of loss as if marketing execs run the show (which they do) and they refuse to let a character truely die for fear of losing a marketing chess piece. I’m officially done, can’t even do the fast forwarding DVR thing with it anymore.
Overall, I felt this was one of the strongest starts to a chapter they’ve had within the series. Too often, they’ve resisted bringing all the characters together into one place, and I think that’s been one of the major mistakes within the series. Season Two ended with so much promise, the possibility of the “heroes” uniting in some way. Yes, this seems a very “Superfriends” in concept, but it’s a logical progression to the series. If the past few seasons have made anything clear, it’s that this generation is trying to avoid the mistakes of the previous one… which did unite into a group of “heroes” with a goal to protect the world. I think it’s unavoidable that they have to unite, so then it becomes a question of whether they can do it and not become corrupted by their powers.
One thing I am glad not to see at work, right now, is all the time-travel business. That really got out of control. If they let Hiro regain his powers, I just hope they limit his abilities somehow so we don’t see a repeat of the previous two seasons in which his time-hopping got out of control and confused the story.
@Bill Blume
“One thing I am glad not to see at work, right now, is all the time-travel business.”
Amen to THAT!
Vic
I was actually not happy to see that they started the series off with Ali Larter, but the scene they constructed to set the tone was brilliant and I was immediately pulled in. The dramatic tension seems to be back. The last couple seasons lacked the dark character-driven drama. If the season keeps the tone set by this Volume’s premier, it will be some great TV.
@Vic – To answer your question: Each story arc is a Volume and each episode a chapter. So, the Fugitives premier was Volume 4: Chapter 1.
Oops! I meant premiere (as in season premiere), not premier (as in a foreign leader).
@Mark
Funny, I had the exact same reaction when she was the first person to appear in the episode.
Vic
Nathan is starting to get on my nerves. I hope they kill him off for good in this season (they “killed” him twice until now)
okay, something that’s been bugging me ever since I saw the premiere, are they giving Sandra Bennet the boot? The worst thing a TV show can do is boot someone without literally showing it (ie Monica, disappearing completely). Sandra was one of the best non-heroes, if you will.
I thought it was a great improvment. My biggest problems are Nathan and HRG. Both are characters I was really behind at first, but I think they have really lost touch with these two especially HRG. He had some much development and then to just go back to what he was possibly even worse is sad. I am also disappointed that I still have to deal with Ali being in the show ugh. Maybe they can kill her off and bring her back as yet another character that no one gives a crap about.
I have actually always enjoyed Ali Larter’s character. The character I have, from day 1, wanted to see killed off, is Mohinder. Annoying, wimpy, unbelievable… there’s something about him
I actually really liked the fact that Peter can only have 1 power at a time. It will create an interesting dynamic. Lets say they bring in some other heroes, or villians i guess, to bring down the fugitives as they are running through the jungle. While giving them the slip peter absorbs the power of one of the awesome villians. But now later, if its easier to absorb someone elses power to get through a situation does he get rid of the sweet awesome power that may come in handy later or ditch it for a power that will help out the group now. He will have to make some decisions.
I didn’t like that Parkman now has the seeing the future power. If they were going to give that power to everyone, then why kill off isaac in the the first season. I liked him. And it was a big deal to kill him off because it created that story line of finding his paintings. But with everyone getting his power his death was pointless.
To Vic -
I would like to hear what you have to say about mohinders change of opinion. Because i am pretty sure i would do the same thing even if i said it sounded like a good idea. I am pretty sure he was just thinking, “these guys have guns, i could die”
I do think its headed down the right track though.
@ParrotSoup
What the hell, I’ll pop open a can of worms.
My point was that he was OK with the idea until it affected him personally. What came to my mind was the gun control folks: Talking about how dangerous guns are and how laws should be more restrictive and law abiding citizens shouldn’t be allowed to carry them…
…and then suddenly being faced with a mugger late at night pointing a gun at them and their family, or having an armed robber break into their home in the middle of the night.
Suddenly keeping guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens might not sound like such a great idea after all.
Vic
@Vic
Great analogy! I FULLY agree!
I agree as well Vic. Very Nice!
Can Peter only have 1 power at a time now and does he absorbe it like he used to or like his father did. Cause when he touched Mohindar’s hand it look like he was stealing his power. If thats true I’m happy he can only have one at a time, Sylar is the only on to me that can have multiple powers and I still dont get how he survived. Did the piece of glass in his head just melt or what. Maybe there will be a flashback episode to explain the missing 2 monthes
What if peter is still re-learning and i wonder if he stole those powers or just absorbed them. If he is re-learning, maybe eventually he’ll be able to open up the vault, so to speak, and use which ever he likes, much like his father.
I wonder now, if sylar will be looking for a “brotherhood” to kind of help him out. While he is a formidable opponent, theres only so much one man, no matter how powerful, can take.
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