Heroes: Fallout

by Sara

A Soulful Spike Society Review
www.soulfulspike.com

Life is a perpetual instruction in cause and effect.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I have to admit, this is a pretty exciting moment. After all, it's the first time I've sat down to write a Heroes review without knowing what comes next. Finally, I can draw on everything I've seen of the show, not have to worry about alluding to something that hasn't happened yet, and speculate to my heart's content about what might take place and where these characters are going. True, this also means I might share guesses or make declarations only to end up looking like an idiot two or three episodes down the line... but I suppose I can't have everything, now, can I?

"Fallout" is the name of this chapter, writ large on the side of Peter's cell. Indeed, fallout is what we and these characters experience throughout this episode not only from the events of "Homecoming," but from various moments throughout the series to date.

"Fallout" itself is a very specific, and resonant, term, obviously used with intention here: for one, it immediately evokes the visions both Isaac and Hiro have had of a nuclear explosion in New York City. Even when used figuratively "fallout" always has a negative connotation; my dictionary defines it as "the adverse side effects or results of a situation." Which is important, particularly in light of the reference Hiro made toward episode's end while looking at Isaac's latest work. His first words were: "Oh, no! What if I step on a bug? I could change history..." Thanks to the Heroes Wiki, I discovered Hiro was very likely referring to a Ray Bradbury story, "A Sound of Thunder;" in it, big-game hunters from 2055 return to their time from hunting... wait for it... a Tyrannosaurus rex, only to discover their entire past was rewritten all because one of the hunters stepped on a butterfly. Chaos theory in action, ladies and gentlemen ( in fact, Bradbury's story appears to be one of the earliest references in popular culture to what would later be called "the butterfly effect."). And to me, that's what this episode is really about: not just the direct impact an event has on the world, but how that fallout sets other, equally important events into motion.

For example, let's take a look at Claire and her father. In "Homecoming," Sylar murdered Jackie and attacked Claire: the event. When it was over, Claire told her dad about her special ability: fallout. Because of Claire's confession, Mr. Bennet revealed he knew what she could do even before she herself was aware: more fallout. Claire's reaction was an understandable one, namely disbelief that her beloved father not only knew but kept silent even after watching the tapes depicting her attempts to understand what was happening to her which, by extension, meant he was aware of her confusion and sense of isolation and yet still said and did nothing to help his struggling child. In that instant of disbelief, a crack was formed in the once-flawless image she held of a father who always did the right thing for his little girl.

Mr. Bennet, trying to explain and make amends, instead let slip he'd "done some things that I am not proud of to keep you safe." Claire all but visibly recoiled, her voice dropping in apprehension as she asked "What kinds of things?" And the crack grew a little wider. Mr. Bennet refused to give her a direct answer. Wider still. Lyle lost his memory of her power mere hours after she told her dad he knew, Zach treated her like a stranger a short time later. And though Claire ran with all her strength from the conclusion she didn't want to draw, you can almost see more cracks spidering out behind her. So by the time the Haitian (and oh, how I hate that term...) told her what he did and that it was at her father's behest, we watched them knowing that while the Claire who stood in her kitchen, wrapped in her daddy's jacket, would never have believed a word, this Claire very well might.

Claire's father, meanwhile, attempted to contain the fallout from homecoming on a number of fronts. First and foremost, he continued doing whatever he deemed necessary to protect his daughter including withholding the truth from the authorities about what transpired in the locker room and the whereabouts of Claire's assailant. Yet in doing so, Mr. Bennet inadvertently set another chain of events into motion: using the Haitian to help maintain his secrets triggered a memory buried in Matt's subconscious, leading to Matt and Audrey staking out the both of them, leading to Matt's discovery that the two men know the name Sylar. And you know neither Audrey nor Matt are going to sit idly by if there's a chance they can capture a serial killer.

Oh, and just in case we were tempted to think too linearly, consider this cause-and-effect: no static, no stakeout. Without the confinement of the stakeout, maybe Matt doesn't get take-out for the two of them meaning Audrey's stray thought doesn't happen, at least not in that setting, and they don't have a conversation about his marriage. And who knows what the ultimate result there will be? Maybe because of her good advice and reassurance Matt will be reunited with his wife sooner rather than later. Or perhaps he'll attempt to be honest with Janice about everything, including his ability. If Janice finds out about that... well, then we have all kinds of various possibilities to consider. So, whereas we might be tempted to think of the event-fallout-result effect as like a series of dominos, it's more like watching the break that opens a game of pool. The cue ball hits the other balls: event. The balls scatter: fallout. What happens as those balls carom off of rails and bang into each other, though... that's when it gets interesting and almost impossible to predict.

More fallout, more effects. Sylar was captured: event. The person or persons Mr. Bennet answered to decided to keep him alive: fallout. Eden didn't like this news, which in turn led to two crucial sequences of events: she rebelled by helping Isaac locate and meet up with Hiro and Ando, leading to their conversation about Hiro's trip to the future and his revelation of Isaac's death at the hands of the "brain man," resulting in Isaac's discovery he actually can draw the future when he's sober, inspiring Isaac to try a full-fledged painting, and culminating in Hiro seeing the sword he's destined to have. The other, more obvious result was her death at her own hand, sacrificing herself to prevent Sylar from gaining an ability which would make him damn near unstoppable. However, the chain might not end there: if Sylar had already begun the process of tapping into her gray matter to figure out what made her tick, then who knows what effect it had on him when the orderly pathways of her brain suddenly exploded into chaos?

Speaking of order and chaos, I suppose it's time to talk about Niki, Jessica, and their fun woodland getaway. Even though by this episode I'd gotten a little weary of this subplot, my admiration for Ali Larter's work has never waned. I love the subtlety of her switches between Jessica and Niki, which I can only compare to Amy Acker's portrayal of Illyria pretending to be Fred. There's nothing showy about Larter's transition from one persona to the other, and many times her features barely even twitch such as when she stared at Micah, lying on the ground in pain. And yet we always know when it's happened, and whether Niki or Jessica is the one we're seeing. Without Larter, I'm not sure I'd even be sold on the Niki/Jessica storyline, much less empathize with Niki's plight as much as I do.

It's also worth noting what it was that triggered Niki's ability to not only reassert her personality but remain the one in command. I mean, Jessica wasn't wrong earlier when she mocked the very idea of Niki understanding control, telling her she wasn't strong enough to get Micah back; Niki wasn't, be it because as much as she wanted to find her child she knew he'd be okay with DL or because even then on some level she believed he'd be better off without her. But once Jessica demonstrated she might in fact be a threat to Micah, then it was no longer about Niki being strong for just herself: it was about being strong for her son. And as any mother will tell you, that's a whole other matter entirely. Niki was also smart enough to realize she couldn't contain Jessica on her own any longer; the method she chose for keeping her other half away from Micah was both logical and completely intriguing. Myself, I can't wait for the first conversation Niki and Jessica have while wearing one of those delightful orange jumpsuits...

And finally, there was the ultimate fallout storyline: Peter's. Frankly, I think what we saw during this episode was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, and that Peter's going to be dealing with the effects of "Homecoming" for weeks to come. Because for all the conversations Peter's had with other special folks, he'd never been so close to so many in such rapid succession: within a span of 24-hours he was either in physical contact with or close enough to touch Claire, Sylar, Matt, Claire again, and finally the ever-cheery Nathan. And none of those encounters were brief, either. So when Mr. Bennet suggested Sylar's absorption of multiple abilities earned him a one-way ticket on the crazy train, it wasn't too hard to make the leap and wonder what effect a similar experience might be having on Peter particularly when the show's opening moments drew our attention to Peter and Sylar's commonalities. Was Peter's physical illness related to all the changes his body has experienced because of absorbing other people's powers, just as Sylar's mental illness is most likely due to the changes he's apparently made to his own brain? Interesting questions, and I can't wait to find out the answers.

Which leads us to the episode's parting bombshell: Peter's vision of himself as Isaac's exploding man. We already know Peter's been having somewhat prophetic dreams for quite a while; as far back as six months ago he "saw" the circumstances of Nathan and Heidi's accident before he even knew about it, and more recently appeared to channel Charles Deveaux's dreams and/or thoughts the morning of Deveaux's death. Important too is that in his dream he not only "saw" Matt dressed in his uniform, which we know he didn't wear in Peter's presence earlier that day, but Niki, DL and Micah as well three people Peter's never even met. All of which lends credence to the possibility that Peter was experiencing another vision of the future.

At the same time, though, we know Future!Hiro believed saving Claire would save the world presumably meaning she'll somehow be able to prevent the explosion in New York City. Yet here she appeared powerless to prevent Peter's meltdown, as despite her obvious concern Vision!Claire simply said "I'm sorry" and ran away. Then there's the part where the city streets were empty; while I could see a place like Sunnydale clearing out on the eve of an impending apocalypse, no way do I buy the idea that every native New Yorker simply dropped everything and headed for the boroughs I've met too many of them for that. So, between the abandoned city, the washed out colors, and the funky audio, there's every reason to also believe Peter's dream functioned more like a regular dream, with all the thoughts and images swirling around his head being rearranged into narrative form. Leaving us with the question we started with: was what Peter saw a premonition? His fears? A dream? And was any of it related to his earlier dreamworld encounter with Sylar, particularly given how prominently Nathan figured in both visions? Intriguing stuff to ponder, no?

Other observations:

· Thanks to Heroes Wiki, I share with you the fact that "Fallout" was the first time every member of the main cast appeared in the same episode. No, really.

· I'd kick myself if I didn't mention the excellent work Hayden Panettiere turned in throughout this episode. Not that she hasn't put in fine performances through the series to date, but it's clear she's really settling into Claire's skin. When Claire talked to her father in the kitchen, her eyes did that slow blinky thing that happens when someone's on the verge of utter exhaustion, and her face when she realized Zach's memory was gone just about killed me. Yet besides the obvious emotions such as those, HP also managed to let us in what was happening on another level of Claire's mind you could see the question "did my father..?" flit through and be discarded by her subconscious right underneath whatever was her primary reaction at the time. Good stuff.

· Hiro and Ando continued to bring much needed comic relief to the proceedings without ever detracting from the seriousness of a given situation. I particularly appreciated the subtler moments, like Hiro straightening his tie just before the bus stopped, and Ando's eloquent eyebrow raise after Hiro made his concentration face in an attempt to encourage Isaac. Plus Ando usually ends up with the best lines, such as the instant classic "I wish destiny would lose our number."

· Speaking of great lines, you gotta love Audrey's whole "canine family" exchange with Matt. The more she appears, the more more appealing I find her character. Meaning she'll probably be dead before the year's out...

· I think at least one of Mr. Bennet's colleagues has seen The Silence of the Lambs a few too many times. But I enjoyed Sylar's attempt to get into the quid pro quo spirit, matching Mr. Bennet's psychological profiling with some of his own. Frankly, I'd call their exchanges a draw, as each managed to get some good button-pushing in; extra credit, though, goes to Mr. Bennet for finding a way to echo Sylar's "I can see how things work, what makes things ... tick" line back at him, hesitation and all.

· Speaking of which, there was an interesting pause when Mr. Bennet spoke of all the other special people he and his colleagues had... met. Makes me wonder how many of them survived such meetings...

· Loved the morph from Isaac's painting to Hiro and Ando's enactment of the scene depicted. I'm surprised they haven't found a way to do that more often.

· Micah's reaction to watching his dad phase through the door was exactly what you'd expect from a kid his age, with his entire expression boiling down to a single thought: Cool! As for DL... well, those were definitely nice arms to have.

· Given my comments on the subject in my last review, you can only imagine how much I appreciated the conversations between Peter and Claire as well as Hiro and Ando about the whole "save the cheerleader, save the world" deal. We still don't have any real answers, of course, but I like knowing the characters are thinking about it too.

· Kudos to the makeup department for their work on Peter. As his brother so kindly observed, he really did look like hell.

· There was some interesting camera work in this episode, like the push/pull effect when Lyle realized he couldn't remember how he got home and the abrupt zoom in as Matt struggled to read something/anything off of Mr. Bennet and the Haitian.

· Still hate that the Haitian doesn't have an actual name we can use. Loved the surprise of finding out the guy can talk, though.

· Didn't miss the voiceover. Like, at all.

· Someone should have told Mohinder that the FBI facility in Quantico is for training; perhaps he'd have had better luck sending the list to Washington, D.C. Then again, probably not. Otherwise, where would the drama be?

· Nice touch, hearing the sound of a sword being unsheathed as both Hiro and the camera focused on his image in Isaac's new painting. He's definitely gotta find that sword...

· Nathan's attitude and demeanor toward Peter when he finally did arrive in Odessa did nothing to ameliorate my anger issues towards him. Just in case you were wondering.

· Finally, one last farewell to Eden, who was full of surprises until the very end. I was touched to learn she'd genuinely liked and mourned Chandra, and that her affection for Mohinder had apparently been legitimate as well. Nora Zehetner did an excellent job of bringing depth and personality to a character who, when you think about it, didn't get all that much screen time, turning what could have been a two-dimensional role into a flesh and blood person we could understand and relate to. With any luck, maybe Eden will show up in flashback or two somewhere down the line. But if not, she's still left an indelible mark on the show's canvas. Plus, the part of "Homecoming" when she took Sylar down will simply never get old.

That's it from my end of things. Be sure to check back after the 2007 Heroes premiere to get Erin's take on what our favorite band of freaks and geeks is up to now. Until then, stay heroic.

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