Heroes – Episode 4-11 Review

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This might surprise some, but I honestly really don’t have anything critical to say about this week’s episode of Heroes. Indeed, despite the lack of action, it was one of the most focused episodes I’ve seen in quite some time. The three stories related to each other through a central theme, and the characters that appeared in the episode were restricted to the bare essentials (consider the fact that there were just as many central characters as there were regulars).

While “concept” episodes such as “A very special Thanksgiving” tend to be a risk, I think Heroes pulled it off. As I alluded to earlier, the episode revolved around three families – the Bennets, the Petrellis, and the Carnival – celebrating the holiday. And while all three families experienced turmoil, they ultimately arrived at three different destinations. The Bennets overcame their conflicts and began the mending process of becoming a modern nuclear family. The Carnival began to implode. And the Petrellis attempted to defy all logic and rationalization to somehow continue to be a family.

In my opinion the Carnival was the weak link of the episode, but at the very least their story progressed.

The high point for me may have been the Bennet family get together. I recall the DVD commentary for a season one episode of Heroes (may have been the infamous “Company Man”) in which one of the producers observed that since season one didn’t focus on any relationships, the tumultuous bond between HRG and Claire acted as the metaphorical “romance” of the season. And that’s a fair assessment: They began happy, they experienced trust issues, they had a falling out, and then they reconciled. And while their general turmoil did become a bit repetitive throughout the second season, they really have developed into the deepest relationship on the series. And with that in mind, I really enjoyed the fact that despite all the lies, deceit, and broken promises, Claire’s father is the parent that truly knows and understands her. Without knowing about their experimentation, HRG recognized how important Gretchen was to Claire. In fact, he went the distance of inviting her to their family dinner, when Claire’s mother wasn’t even really aware of her existence.

Claire’s differing interactions between her parents’ new beaus was pretty telling as well. While she shared knowing stares with HRG regarding her mom’s cartoonish new boyfriend, she remained relatively respectful and friendly with Lauren. Having said that (anybody know that reference?), I do think I would have preferred the HRG/Tracy relationship. If they’re keeping her on the show, they might as well continue with the one thing that was working.

I suppose if I had one negative thing to say about the episode, it’s that I don’t really buy Claire’s temptation to join the Carnival. I mean, it’s not as if this girl is hard pressed to find people like her. Her birth father has abilities, as does her uncle and her grandmother. Through her misadventures, she’s met several others – many of whom keep popping up in her life. Hell, there’s at least one person in her sorority that has abilities. It just seems to me that if Claire wanted to be around people like her, a group of creepy strangers who perform for others wouldn’t be her top option.

But don’t read too much into that rant, it really was a strong episode.

When Peter and Nathan found out the truth about Nathan’s death, I became particularly interested with Peter’s emotional dilemma. Could he continue loving his brother, knowing that he’s actually within the body of a murderous killer (and, indeed, the person who killed his brother)? But by that token, if it’s essentially Nathan’s mind and memory within Sylar’s body, is the exterior “shell” really that significant? Having said that, it’s still Sylar’s mind, heart, and soul. The memories are just manufactured. So is it truly Nathan in there either? To me, these were interesting questions. And I was worried and disappointed that there wouldn’t be enough time to explore these ideas. However, this episode left me pleasantly surprised.

In my opinion, Nathan, Peter, and Angela all hit a homerun with their emotional confusion. Angela surely felt remorse and perhaps regret, but she was still an emotional wreck as she recounted the scenario. It was great how, with tears in her eyes, it was obvious she was a heartbroken mother. Yet her words unsuccessfully attempted to make it seem like this was some sort of public relations decision. Likewise, the eternally optimistic Peter tried his hardest to make sense of this situation in a way that would allow him to keep his brother. And ultimately he realized that his love for Nathan was greater than his hatred for Sylar.

And despite being a tired character (or some would argue an amalgamation of two tired characters), Nathan/Sylar did the best job of wrestling with this impossible situation. As Nathan, he was resentful. As Sylar, he was vengeful. And throughout it all, it felt believable. The thematic symbolism was in full force here as well. While the Bennets were in a cozy apartment, sun shining, the Petrellis were in a cold, lifeless apartment, dark and unfeeling.

Finally, there’s the Carnival scene. Following Hiro’s revelation to Lydia and Edgar that Samuel had killed his brother, this family is slowly but surely beginning to crumble. And like any threatened villain, when he realizes the heat is on, Samuel diverts the attention to one of the people revolting against him. Anyway, just so I understand this correctly, what’s the deal with Samuel’s ability? The more special people he surrounds himself with, the more powerful he becomes?

I will say this, though: While Hiro’s boyish charm is part of the reason why the character became so popular, the writers need to remember that he’s not 11 years old. Referring to every single person by a child-like nickname and squealing when a girl undresses in front of him is taking it a bit far.

Matt Basilo has been writing for Inside Pulse since April 2005, providing his insight into popular television shows such as Lost, 24, Heroes, and Smallville. Be sure to visit his blog at [a case of the blog] and follow him on Twitter.

Matt Basilo has been writing for Inside Pulse since April 2005, providing his insight into various popular television shows. Be sure to visit his blog at [a case of the blog] and follow him on Twitter.