Heroes: Collision

by Erin

A Soulful Spike Society Review
www.soulfulspike.com

Nathan: It’s weird having children. It’s like being 2 different people.

Niki: Like, the person that they see and the person that you really are?

Nathan: Something like that, yeah.

There are two separate but connected strands coming together in this episode, like a double helix. We’ve seen each hero figure out what their skill is, and how their pasts (what’s behind them) affects their actions and abilities. Now they are naming themselves, are reconfiguring their identities in light of this new information. Not surprisingly, they are also connecting with one another. Mohinder’s voice over can be summed up in 4 words: who are they now?

The traumatized: Claire as a dead Jane Doe; Matt strapped to a table by Bennett and the mysterious silent guy. The role-playing: Niki as “companion” for Nathan to further Lindermen’s plans, Hiro and Ando as Raymond and Charlie in “Rainman,” Claire as the helpless cheerleader who needs a ride home. The seeking: Peter trying to convince Mohinder of his abilities and the truth of Mohinder’s father’s work; Mr. Bennett and Silent Guy searching and scanning whichever heroes they can lay their hands upon.

Definitions (hero, geneticist, whore, heroin addict, congressman, cop, slut, rebound guy, single mom, rapist, ass, terrible person, cheerleader, “cheap knockoffs of our fathers,” psycho); names or lack thereof (Claire’s name is said over and over again, Mohinder calls himself Dr. Suresh, John Doe is used to describe Chandra and Claire); abilities; all of these are mentioned again and again. All of the heroes struggle with who they are and what they are supposed to do with this new power.

Matt and Mr. Bennett go back and forth, giving each other as little as they can: Matt by first denying he’s “anyone” and then by invoking his job, Bennett by only giving out tidbits (“I’m not part of any organization that has initials”) and then using Silent Guy (who is wearing the DNA strand thing as a necklace) to wipe his memory (I’m assuming).

Niki seems to have the biggest identity crisis of them all. It’s not only the waking up in strange places or the doing violent things you can’t remember; even on an everyday, non-eclipse—induced split personality level, she is struggling to figure out who she is. (Nature abhors a vacuum; another reason perhaps why her power manifested as this alter ego.) Everyone seems to be in a rush to define her: single mother, potential lover, whore. It makes perfect sense, then, that she comes face to face with her alter ego at the moment she takes matters into her own hands (walks away from Nathan Petrelli, whom she’s supposed to seduce to pay off her debt to Lindermen). It may be Micah admitting that he knew what she did in the garage that gave her the strength to walk away; one more piece of herself not split off. (Ordinary childhood curiosity, or does Micah have powers of his own?) Of course, it’s the evoking of Micah by Lindermen that leads her alter ego to walk right back down the hall. And there again is that half a DNA strand, as a tattoo on her shoulder.

Claire starts this episode as a dead Jane Doe, a tree branch impeding her brain’s ability to heal. There are fewer things more traumatic, I would imagine, then waking up in the middle of your own autopsy after being killed by your high school quarterback during an attempted rape. (Although between episode three and four they changed Claire’s dialogue from “Oh Sh-“ to “Oh my God”; what’s that about? If any situation called for swearing, as Kaylee would say, it’s this one.) However, she is remarkably together for someone who wakes up flayed; she stitches herself together and gets out before she can be identified by the medical examiner. She saves her breakdown for the (relative) safety of home. She defines her experience with Brody as “nothing” and it’s only when her friend tells her that the “same nothing” happened to her that seeks out her attacker and gets him to define himself so she can take revenge. Both she and Niki, at least in this episode, both take strong action not just for themselves; Niki does it for Micah and Claire for the good of all the girls in her high school.

Almost everyone, in fact, is taking action in this chapter. The heroes are starting to collide with one another. Literally, in the case of Nathan and Niki, but also Peter seeks out Mohinder and Isaac, Hiro passes right by Niki, Future!Hiro seeks out Peter, Matt comes face to face with Bennett and Silent Guy, and Bennett tracks down Nathan and Niki and decides to take one of them. Hiro, though, thus far the most proactive of the heroes, is “trapped” in Vegas. Ando knows just the right words to get to Hiro: he invokes Peter Parker selling photos of Spider-Man as a justification for cheating. Of course, Hiro overplays his hand during cards (how appropriate) and Ando bragging about Hiro’s superpowers gets Hiro knocked out by a large Texan.

Of course, for all the Vegas shenanigans, I suspect that it’s Hiro who really starts the ball rolling. He has been the most confident in his declarations of self, neither scared of nor in denial of his power. And at the end of the episode, he is the first of the heroes to approach another and start the battle for real. He even has a sword!

Other Thoughts

• Claire: It’s in character that a popular 16-year-old girl would rather be Jane Doe Cheerleader than Claire Bennett, slayer, I mean, supergirl. Yet, like Buffy, the whole “I just want to be normal” shtick gets a little tired after awhile. She’s had ample proof that whatever happened to her is not going to change, that waffles and family togetherness are not going to solve or ameliorate what’s going on. Driving Brody into a wall may not be her “coming out,” so to speak, but it is definitely not a way to remain off the radar.
• Behind Mohinder on the subway, a sign reading: “Don’t’ give your heart to just anyone.” Is that message for him or for Peter?
• Isaac’s paintings: A shadow (Sylar?) stalking Claire on the steps, Peter on what looks like the same steps, and Hiro and possibly Ando under a banner that reads Homecoming. Will that be the site of the first battle?
• Isaac’s arms are very nice, and very not covered in track marks. What’s that about? Is he shooting up between his toes?
• On the subject of Isaac, I thought it was interesting that his eyes were literally clouded, like milky scales over his eyes. It’s a strange choice for someone who is supposed to be able to “see” the future.
• Can we please name the Silent Guy with Bennett already?
• Shallow time: I certainly don’t object to more shirtless Milo.

And I’m out. Check out Sara’s next and most awesome review of episode 5.

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