Shaken & Stirred: Belated Heroes Yammer

October 16, 2007

Belated Heroes Yammer

Anything to say about The Kindness of Strangers? I haven't watched it yet, but will today.

Posted at 11:05 AM in TV Goodness | Permalink

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I didn't love it, but I liked it? I think West is related to Syler. I don't have any basis for this except they have similar looks and watching either one of them is like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. And I think this season is all about the bloodlines.

I'm glad they didn't drag out the little girl's boogeyman mystery, and I'm eager to identify every single one of the people in that photo. For once I'm actually interested in Matt's storyline. I like the idea that a character who's kind of faded into the background up til now might turn out to be a key player.

Nathan is really hot.

DL dead and Niki going in to the company to get cured (neither of which appeared in this episode) are stupid plots that can still be redeemed if it turns out these people are in contact after all, and it's part of a plan to take down the company. I am very partial to this idea, and want to believe it's true. Because if it's not, then we're just seeing a lot of stupid.

Oh that Sylar, he's so bad. He's so very very bad. No, seriously, he's just plain bad. Why is he still around?

And why doesn't anyone just go directly to Mrs. Petrelli, who obviously knows everything, and ask her point-blank what the deal is? Seems like that would save an awful lot of hassle. The entire season could probably wrap up in a couple of episodes.

Posted by:Karen | October 16, 2007 at 12:07 PM

I agree with pretty much everything in your reaction. West has NOOOOOO chemistry with Claire and I am so hoping that he is meant to be a bad guy and that he is outted soon. Making Claire's storyline focus on her boyfriend is about the most uninteresting thing they could do with that character.

I heart Mrs. Petrelli.

Actually, I thought this episode was light years ahead of the others so far... which is saying something, since there was no Hiro.

I really like the New Orleans characters, and the new power is very interesting. (I don't think D.L. is dead, btw. I believe they're pretending he is.) Micah!

Like you, I have to believe that Niki is in cahoots with the boys trying to bring down the company. How much do I love Mohinder and Matt's lovenest? SO MUCH.

Sylar = bored and twins. Have big rock fall on their car and kill all of them, please. Interesting theory on Sylar and flyboy being related. I could see it.

Mysterious attacker? Could it be Peter doing it unconsciously or something. Given the generational theme that seems unlikely, but Kristin Bell hunting him down next week has to come from somewhere.

At least in this ep it felt like there was some momentum and I started to worry for people again. That's what I was missing.

Also: Kristin Bell!

Posted by:Gwenda | October 17, 2007 at 10:54 AM

Huh. I stopped watching after the first two awful episodes this season. ("Dad, I just want to be NORMAL."/"You have to be careful, Claire. I'm working in this crappy store so you can have a normal life."/ "Hm. I think I'll backflip off this high things and break my legs AGAIN and hope no one sees. I'm good at keeping secrets.") Ugh! Is Claire not the most accident-prone superhero EVER?? Are you saying it's getting good again??

Posted by:Laini | October 17, 2007 at 11:20 AM

I would say that episode four gives me hope it's getting good again... but I need a couple more eps of at least the same quality to take it off life support. Next week has Kristin Bell though, so things are looking up.

(Also, I know: WHAT ARE THEY DOING WITH CLAIRE?!)

Posted by:Gwenda | October 17, 2007 at 11:24 AM

Yeah, Kristin Bell!

To clarify, I also believe that DL's purported death is part of the plan to bring down the company. His family doesn't even like Niki, so maybe he was instrumental in connecting her with Uhura. And Micah seems pretty cheerful for a kid whose beloved dad just died; I think he's in on it. I want to believe.

Mohinder and Matt's lovenest is the best.

Posted by:Karen | October 17, 2007 at 11:24 AM

Focusing on the characters who are actually doing something (Matt, Mohinder, Bennet, Nathan) as opposed to being stuck in neutral (Hiro, Peter, apparently Niki) was a step in the right direction. It's an indication of how desperately this show needs to keep the plot moving that this is true even though Matt and Mohinder are far from the show's best or most interesting characters. Of course, there's still Claire's odious storyline, and the deadly dull twins, now with extra Sylar, but I guess we can't have everything.

After all the dispiriting treatment of characters of color on this show, I thought the Dawson family were a refreshing change. They're poor, but clearly functional (and if I'm not mistaken the reason that grandma is raising the kids is that the parents were killed in Katrina, not that they're deadbeats/drug addicts/in prison), and Monica is bright and ambitious. I do, however, wonder what Niki was thinking dumping her son on people who clearly have enough problems of their own.

Posted by:Abigail | October 19, 2007 at 03:10 PM

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E. Lockhart: Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, The
You might think the world doesn't need any more boarding school novels, but if you haven't read this one then you're wrong, wrong, wrong. E. Lockhart has surpassed herself with this fable of a girl coming into her own and challenging the boy's club at her prep school -- while falling in love with its members at the same time. Lockhart never simplifies or skirts gender issues and power dynamics, and lets Frankie be realistic instead of a treatise disguised as a character. The sly omniscient narrator tells the story perfectly, and leaves hope that maybe one girl can change the world. More novels as funny and true and perfect as this one, please.
Kathi Appelt: The Underneath
Appelt's first novel is a beautiful, magical fantasy for younger readers that will instantly become a classic. Seriously. I can imagine this book being in classrooms right alongside Charlotte's Web in a hundred years. The writing is poetic in the good way, and there's a lamia. Children are going to absolutely fall in love with Appelt's equally kind and brutal universe, where love conquers most, and it can take millenia to come to your senses.
Jincy Willett: The Writing Class
With her second novel, Willett matches the perfect pitch and execution of her brilliant short stories. Every writer will want to read this novel--very little wincing is involved, but expect a great deal of laughter. C and I found ourselves reading pieces aloud, after howling provoked the "what's so funny?" question. As with any good writing workshop or class, the characters become more appealing as you get to know them, and ultimately what she has pulled off is a satisfying mystery, and a satisfying exploration of humanity. Amy Gallup is a character to remember.
Karen Joy Fowler: Wit's End
A new novel by Karen Fowler really is something to be excited about, unlike many of the writers for whom such praise gets bandied about. (If you're smirking because you think you know something about her work from the title--not the book--The Jane Austen Book Club, please go sit in the corner and read any of her novels. You're welcome.) This is an unmystery-like mystery, concerned not so much with dead bodies--though there are plenty--as with the mysteries of healing and the heart, politics and people. How is it that a writer gets a lens on the present that's as revealing as the one she employs in historical fiction? Now that's a mystery. Highly recommended.
Steve Erickson: Zeroville
Steve Erickson novels are often like dreams, or revelations, or discovered artifacts, or written just for you. Zeroville's no different, although it is perhaps the most readily graspable example of his work to date. The Rosetta Stone is there; the secret decoder ring is a film projector. The dizzying Hollywood confidential stylings will make your inner film geek happy, but the uncovering of a truly mythic cinematic story--since cinema has existed forever--of sacrifice and redemption is even more memorable. See also: this review.
Ursula Dubosarsky: The Red Shoe (Neal Porter Books)
Set in Sydney during WWII, this wonderful novel travels between the view from inside each of three sisters. Dubosarsky perfectly captures the differences that come from being the younger, older, or middle child. Perfectly conjuring the period, and yet creating a completely accessible story, the narrative contrasts chapters focusing on the family with interstitials from the Sydney newspapers of the time, stories of polio, the H-bomb, and a defecting Russian spy (who happens to be in hiding next door). Nothing here is heavy-handed. Everything is perfectly balanced. It's a beautiful, beautiful novel. See my full take here.