Shaken & Stirred: Heroes Yammer Belated

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November 06, 2007

Heroes Yammer Belated

So, stuff actually happened -- some of it predictable, much of it problematic... but problematic in the way we know and (mostly?) love. Thoughts?

Posted at 11:58 AM in TV Goodness | Permalink

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I'm glad that the last episode of this chapter is coming early due to the writer's strike. This season is not full of win. It is full of the opposite.

Posted by:JeremyT | November 06, 2007 at 12:16 PM

I was really pleased to find out who "Adam" is, which I didn't see coming. Nicely ties together our excruciating foray into the past with the present in a way that brings some sense of history to all these events.

Really irritated with Niki's entire story line, ditto Claire, and, uh, pretty much everything else. I like West marginally better for his apparently not having known all along that HRG was Claire's father and been manipulating her like I'd suspected he was, but he's still creepy.

The big future scare, I can't bring myself to care. Extinction-level virus stories are so 1999.

Posted by:Karen | November 06, 2007 at 12:59 PM

Yeah, I agree, and I really, really wish they weren't so crap at pacing. There was no need to save up everything for last night's episode. Some of that stuff should have happened in episode 2 and 3. But at least Hiro's back in the present.

Posted by:Gwenda | November 06, 2007 at 12:59 PM

We x-posted. I figured out the Adam thing toward the beginning of the ep, but I'm still relatively happy with it. Especially with Hiro having a nemesis -- that could be interesting.

Agree on all the rest, except I did love Mrs. Petrelli in the future virus scenes. And at least it's Something Happening. The show only works when it's got some balls in the air, so I'm hoping some of this stuff pans out in the next eps.

Posted by:Gwenda | November 06, 2007 at 01:01 PM

I love Mrs. Petrelli whenever she shows up, and of course she's such a tough survivor she would have made it into the future. (What IS her power?) The teaser for the next ep looks juicy, though it's kind of sad the voiceover had to present it as "We're finally going to tell you all the interesting stuff."

Posted by:Karen | November 06, 2007 at 01:35 PM

Because Peter has to have her power too, right? I wondered if it had something to do with the way he remembered. Was she feeding him memories maybe?

I know, although I'd rather they keep moving forward instead of going back.

Posted by:Gwenda | November 06, 2007 at 01:43 PM

It was the best so far this season, I'll give them that. But Wow do they have a problem with the female characters here (as you and so many others have pointed out). Matt gets to learn control, Nikki loses hers entirely; Hiro gets to make a noble romantic choice, Claire gets to be a dupe. It's coming across as agenda at this point.

Posted by:Dave Schwartz | November 06, 2007 at 01:54 PM

Well, you know, we ladies just can't control our emotions. At least they're not killing a woman a week anymore ... :)

Posted by:Gwenda | November 06, 2007 at 02:00 PM

It was Monica's behavior last week that made me flip. Here's an ambitious, confident young woman with an active power, finally. Obviously she just runs off to an undisclosed location several states away to perform like a monkey for a man who won't let her leave, and then lets him inject her with an unknown substance. Maybe if we're lucky there were some Buffy episodes on that iPod.

The chapter's ending hasn't been pushed up because of the strike, Jeremy. From what I understand it was always supposed to end after eleven episodes, but the ending of episode 11 might change if it has to serve as the season finale instead of the chapter finale.

Posted by:Abigail | November 06, 2007 at 02:56 PM

In Entertainment Weekly's online site, Tim Kring apologizes for season two:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20158840,00.html

I was definitely glad to have an episode this week that at least felt like season one.

Posted by:Jeff Smith | November 07, 2007 at 10:33 AM

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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.