Heroes: Homecoming

by Sara

A Soulful Spike Society Review
www.soulfulspike.com

I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom.

Bob Dylan

As I rewatched this episode in preparation for my review, part of me couldn't help but wonder why they even bothered with the Mohinder and D. L./Micah/Jessica/Niki subplots. 'Cause myself, I'd wager most folks tuned into this episode wanting to know two things: will Hiro save Charlie, and what's going to happen at homecoming? NBC's always-subtle promo department certainly focused on the latter question over the course of the week, and then in the show's opening moments featured a brief highlight reel told us "Peter solves the mystery of his destiny. And a father will stop at nothing to avert catastrophe. Tonight, their destinies will unite them to save the cheerleader, and save the world..."

So, how's about I just cover our two minor subplots right now, and then move straight on to the heart of the hour?

The biggest step forward in the Sanders/Hawkins family saga had to be when Micah finally spelled out for his dad exactly what was going on with Niki:

Dad, I know she's different I see it too. Something happened to her when you left. It got really bad... Then, sometimes, she'd show up instead of Mom.

She?

Jessica.

Jessica?

Dad, Mom's sick. She can't help herself, she can't control it.

Does your mom know about Jessica?

No, I don't think so. Dad, we can't just leave her. If you still love her, you'll help her.

And since D. L. does indeed, as he assured Micah earlier, still love Niki, he simply said "You're right." Then the two began the long walk back to the car because, as Micah noted not too long ago, heroes don't run: they help people. Thankfully, though, the knowledge that his wife isn't the one to be feared doesn't prevent D. L. from recognizing Jessica still is a very dangerous lady; I was very glad to see him immediately go on the alert upon learning Micah had revealed their location to his mom's other half. If nothing else, D. L. seems to fully understand that underestimating Jessica is the last thing you want to do 'cause it could very well be the last thing you ever do. What we'll have to wait two weeks to see, however, is if even that knowledge will be enough to save his life.

Meanwhile, it appears that at long last Mohinder has gotten off the damn fence and made a decision about both his father's research and its role in Mohinder's own future: as Erin predicted, he answers the question "are you sure you want to quit?" with that resounding "no." But not without another trip or two down memory lane, with Sanjog once again acting as Mohinder's tour/spirit guide both in dreams and in the flesh. Indeed, Sanjog proved wise beyond his years when he first disputed Mohinder's assertion that he had no question, and then, after Mohinder admitted and described his question, told Mohinder he already knew the answer. However, as this still was apparently too vague for our resident scientist (although given the show's tenuous grasp of genetics, I use the term very loosely), Sanjog later returned to Mohinder's dreams to put up a couple of big blinking arrows for the guy as well.

Ultimately, the memory of a conversation he once had with his father finally clued Mohinder in as to which path was his destiny. Mohinder watched his younger self burst into his father's office, excited and full of ideas after reading his father's latest work, only to be brought up short by the coldness of his father's response. Instead of being thrilled his son wanted to support him, Chandra told Mohinder he didn't want him involved, period. Chandra's only explanation was to cite Darwin, who wrote in a letter to T. H. Huxley that "a scientific man ought to have no wishes, no affections, - a mere heart of stone. -" Then he added "that's me, Mohinder that's not you." But now, knowing of his sister's death, Mohinder understood what he didn't at the time: Chandra wasn't dismissing a fellow scientist, but protecting his son. In fact, Chandra was so convinced of the "heart of stone" thing that he used as his password as his own little cilice, a dose of pain each and every time he sat down to work to remind him of the consequences should his resolve or his faith falter.

Yet it turned out to be all for naught: Chandra died estranged from his family, leaving his loved ones with regrets and unresolved issues, and Mohinder ended up plunking his unstoney heart right into the middle of Chandra's research anyway. Now, rejuvenated and filled with a sense of purpose, Mohinder plans to seek out and find the people on his father's list, make sure they know of their special nature, and warn them of the dangers they face. Which would appear to extend beyond someone like Sylar or anyone else who'd see their ability as a threat to be feared; after all, Shanti did die very young, and there were a lot of deceased people on Chandra's list names which were compiled and saved on that particular computer well before Chandra moved to the U.S., much less heard the name "Sylar" for the first time.

Okay. *dusts hands off* Now that we've got all that out of the way...

As the episode began, we watched Jackie and her entourage march into the school's amphitheater to take their place among the red-clad elite sitting clustered together. A few moments later Claire and Zach also headed up the bleachers together. In public. At school. Clearly, there has been a seismic shift in Claire's social status, yet Claire doesn't really seem to mind. She still wears the uniform, but as we learn from Jackie Claire's become a "pariah" among her former friends for her role in sidelining the starting quarterback. Yet contrary to Jackie's assertion, we soon learn Claire is not the "school pariah," but rather the homecoming queen. Then again, since it was the outcast vote that earned Claire the crown one could argue Jackie's descriptor was correct after all what she forgot was that the lower castes outnumber the elite at Union Wells High. In fact, I suspect the revelation that there are just as many, if not more, "different" people as there are "normal" folk was an important milestone for Claire as she continued her journey toward self-acceptance and the realization that "maybe being different isn't the end of the world it's just who I am."

Playing the role of Jiminy Cricket as Claire has made her way toward becoming her real self was our boy Zach, who never wavered in his belief that Claire needed to accept and embrace her differentness, his calm self-confidence serving as a tacit model of the kind of person she could be. Or, as he himself said, " I know who I am. I like who I am. I like who you are. I just...I just wish that you liked who you are... You gotta embrace your inner freak, 'cause the only thing you'll really regret is denying who you really are." As we see shortly afterward, in her final exchange with Jackie, Claire takes his advice to heart; Jackie's sneering jabs at Zach were met with a slight smile from Claire, one that said "Please is that the best you've got?" Claire finally, truly, no longer cared what Jackie thought of her or her friends, emulating the serene assurance Zach evinced during their conversation in her room even as she quoted his words to Jackie: "it's more important to be honest with yourself and happy than popular."

Naturally, that's when her entire world got turned upside-down.

Of course, any discussion of what unfolded in Odessa wouldn't be complete without first examining a small, but important, act of heroism that got lost in the shuffle. After all, we know that if Nathan'd had his way Peter would most likely have been asleep in his New York City apartment while Jackie, and probably Claire, died at Sylar's hands. I realize Nathan's attempt to make Peter's choice for him was motivated by genuine concern for his brother, particularly given the scene Isaac's painting depicts; Nathan's clearly assigned himself the role of family patriarch, and indeed his behavior here echoes both that of Chandra and of Mr. Bennet as they also tried to exert control over their children's futures through draconian means. Which, to me, makes it all the more appropriate to see his efforts undone by the woman in Peter's life, just as Mrs. Bennet's defiance of her husband's edict later unravels all of his carefully laid plans.

In fact, it was Simone who, to me, emerged as a hero in her own right during this mini-drama. Like Nathan, Simone knew how much seeing the painting meant to Peter. She stood right next to Nathan as he examined the image, and understood what it implied just as well as Nathan did. And she was as fully aware as Nathan of Peter's belief that he needed to "save the cheerleader" to save the world; she even shared at least some of Nathan's skepticism, as it was obvious she felt a bit foolish even saying the words when she noted "Peter thinks if he saves the cheerleader... he'll save the world" (and, incidentally, thus becoming the first person to use that now-famous catchphrase in this episode). Yet while Nathan's reaction to Peter's impassioned certainty was full of patronizing scorn (although, being the good politician he is, he also left nothing to chance), Simone was a different story entirely. She simply could not bring herself to write off Peter as having "delusions of grandeur," and ultimately respected him enough to put the decision back into his hands. Hell, she even used the time between Nathan's departure and Peter's arrival to research the critical clue provided by the painting's content: the name of the high school where Peter would find his cheerleader. Then she called Peter to the gallery, told him what Nathan did, and then volunteered every bit information she possessed a photo of the painting, the location of the school, the fact that homecoming was that evening despite knowing that, if Peter was indeed right about all of it, she was essentially handing a map with a big red X next to the caption "You Die Here" to a man she loved. To me, that's pretty damn heroic.

When Peter finally arrived in Texas and the Burnt Toast Café, knowing the critical hour was almost at hand, it was to what had to be disappointing and unnerving news: Hiro was nowhere to be found. I have to believe he was counting on there being another "special" person by his side, someone with a power he too could employ as they worked to save the cheerleader. Instead, he discovered he would have to try and save her as he was, a human without weapons or training of any sort, from a murderer Ando described as reminding him of the bogeyman. Thus it's little wonder we saw a glimpse of real fear on Peter's face as he set off for the high school; he knew he'd most likely die in his attempt to obey Future!Hiro's directive. And yet he went anyway, thus giving the lie to his own assertion that "by myself I'm not really anything."

Peter's arrival at the high school provided the audience with a nice little bit of foreshadowing as to what we were about to see unfold; as he read the clippings and tributes identifying Jackie as the town hero, and subsequently treated Claire (dressed in casual clothes instead of that telltale uniform) with courtesy but nothing more, we realized Peter believed Jackie was the cheerleader he was there to save meaning Sylar would undoubtedly come to the same conclusion as to which cheerleader he was there to kill. That suspicion was confirmed moments later as we saw Sylar standing in front of that same display case, his hand clenching into a fist beneath his broken watch as we heard the ticking that has quickly become his signature sound.

The centerpiece of "Homecoming" was, of course, the sequence of events that unfolded between the moment Sylar shut off the locker room lights and the sickening sight of Peter's crumpled body lying on the pavement. During that three and a half minutes of ever-increasing tension and suspense, we witnessed two deaths, saw no less than four of Isaac's paintings made incarnate, and if you're like me needed a horse tranquilizer just to get your heartbeat back down to a "drank a double espresso" rate of speed. I've now watched this episode four times, including this morning's viewing in preparation for this review, and I can say one thing with absolute certainty: Jackie's death doesn't get any less harrowing with repetition.

The locker room scenes were masterfully shot and edited, crafted with the understanding that the scary stuff left offscreen is usually far more powerful than anything they could show us. They build tension by employing the time honored technique of withholding our first sight of the monster until the last possible moment, first teasing us with glimpses of Sylar's shadow flitting through the frame as Claire's sense of apprehension mounts. Then, when Sylar finally does strike, we get a series of scenes that last long enough to register but never linger on any one detail: Jackie struggling against Sylar's one-handed(!) grip; Claire grabbing Sylar from behind, desperately attempting to save her friend; Claire's body flung sideways, denting concrete; Jackie's snow-white sneakers kicking against a locker door, two feet in the air; her scream; Mr. Bennet's reaction; Peter's determination; Claire's groggy stare; Sylar's finger; Jackie's forehead slicing open; the spray of red against a white banner; the increasing flow of dark arterial blood down Jackie's face, into her eyes; Claire snapping her forearm back into alignment; Jackie silently watching Claire gather the strength to rise, her kicks getting weaker, her cries getting softer; Claire rising to her feet, skin and bones sliding into place; Sylar's realization; Claire paralyzed, caught between the fight and flight instincts; and then Jackie's final, whispery, redemptive command: "Run." And threaded through it all was the ticking of a clock, the clicking and whirring of cogs and gears... until Sylar discovered he'd picked the wrong girl. Then what was a cacophony of percussion dwindled and quieted, until all we were left with was a single, steady tick as Sylar stood over Jackie's body, about to pursue Claire.

Elapsed time? One minute, fifty seconds.

Whoa.

The audience has barely had time to take a breath before Peter and Claire reenact their first encounter, Claire running into Peter mere yards from where they collided earlier. One look at Claire's face, and then at the shadowy figure she gazed at in fear, told Peter everything he needed to know, and without another thought he urged Claire to run, placing himself between her and her attacker in an attempt to buy her enough time to get away. Once again demonstrating he doesn't need a power to be heroic, Peter stood firm against the onslaught of locker doors Sylar sent his way. He then raced to Claire's side, and after helping her gain what appears to be a nice stretch of real estate between themselves and Sylar Peter once again exhorted her to run and find other people, correctly guessing that Sylar would rather fail than be caught. She reluctantly obeyed. And then Peter turned to discover the one flaw in an otherwise solid plan he presumed Sylar would cover the distance between them on foot. But as Sylar attempted to push Peter out of his way, Peter saw his last chance to fulfill his quest and pulled Sylar off the top of the amphitheater with him. Cut to a shot of both of them lying on the pavement, but a pool of blood spreading beneath only one body: Peter's. Fade to black.

What happened next, though, demonstrated the difference between seeing the future and knowing the future. The image we returned to was, appropriately, a shot framed to emulate the perspective of Isaac's painting: Peter's crumpled body, eyes open but unseeing, foot pointing in an unnatural direction, banner and clock in the background. We're left with no doubt that Isaac indeed saw and reproduced an image from the future. Yet what Simone, Nathan and Peter all forgot is that while a picture may be worth a thousand words, it still might not tell the complete story after all, a single cel from a Warner Bros. cartoon might show the Coyote with his hands almost around the Road Runner's neck... but that doesn't mean he actually caught his prey. So we watched along with Claire (who apparently ignored Peter's command in favor of going back to help) as Peter sat up, wrenched his lower body back into place (*shudder*), and rejoined the land of the living. I won't say I was surprised, as I'm sure most viewers had either guessed or realized that Peter had already spent enough time in proximity to Claire to ensure his survival before Sylar even touched him. But it was still neat to see Claire's expression as she watched her own power in action.

However, for all the hype before the episode and all the action during there's one thing still lacking, which Peter helpfully brings to our attention by asking Claire "Are you the one? Saving you, did I save the world?" And Claire, who up until five minutes earlier didn't even know there were other special people out there, let alone that she might have a role in the grand scheme of things, gives him the only answer she can: "I don't know I'm just a cheerleader." Which is when the audience realizes something very important: we still don't know what the damn catchphrase actually means, because we've only gotten halfway through it. Peter has saved the cheerleader great. But we haven't the slightest indication, not even a whiff of a smidge of a hint, as to how Claire saves the world or why she's apparently the only one who can do it. I know, I know: it's absolutely astounding to think the NBC promo department might have mislead us, but that indeed appears to be the case.

So, let's see where we are with all of this at episode's end: Claire's about to confess to her dad what he already knows, Peter managed to pop the last of his bones back into place before being arrested, and Sylar got taken down by a slip of a woman who was about a foot shorter and probably about half his weight the last one was definitely my favorite. And how will these as well as our other cliffhangers get resolved? I dunno, but those teases at Heroes decided to make us wait at least two weeks to find out. Sadists.

Other observations:

· What do these guys have against tights, anyway?

· Cheers to Eden for not only standing up to Daddy Bennet on Isaac's behalf but also playing kettle to his pot, correctly pointing out to him after he told her "your emotions are impairing your judgment" that she wasn't alone in doing so.

· On a related note, I once again have to express my love for the way Eden neutralized Sylar. Just a great series of scenes from start to finish.

· Mmm... Mohinder...

· I know it's wrong, particularly given what I now know of Jackie's fate... but I still can't help but woot when I watch Claire punch Jackie square in the face.

· Loved Mrs. Bennet's little act of rebellion in letting Claire escape, despite the peril it ultimately put Claire into. Perhaps if Mr. Bennet had ever considered taking his head out of his ass and actually confided in his wife, rather than keeping her in the dark about her own daughter and the danger she was in... Or, for that matter, if he'd just taken two minutes to listen to either his wife or Eden they could have told him there was no way grounding Claire was gonna work.

· I'm a big fan of the Claire/Zach friendship and the way it's been developed. But I suspect you already knew that.

· When Mr. Bennet showed Eden the photos of Sylar's handiwork, the first victim was our Charlie. *whimper*

· Poor, poor Ando. Disheartened, yet not despairing, he was left with perhaps the most difficult task of all: waiting. His constant glances toward the shrine, hoping each time he'll finally see some sign that Hiro's managed to save Charlie, just about broke my heart in part because I wanted to see the same thing. I loved his delight in realizing Hiro did indeed succeed in going back in time, and shared his disappointment upon learning Hiro disappeared weeks earlier. The way I see it, by hanging in and keeping his vigil for all this time Ando's proven himself a true friend, and I hereby forgive all his earlier meanness toward Hiro. And despite what he thinks, he is something with or without Hiro around.

· It occurred to me that Peter's power actually saved his life twice, in a way; because Peter had no power of his own to use against Sylar, Sylar had no reason to believe he'd want to open up Peter's skull. So he treated Peter much the same way as he had Claire in the locker room: as disposable. Which in turn meant Peter still had a self to regenerate rather than ending up a corpse with half a head.

· Nope, still not a fan of the voiceovers.

· How is it that when Hiro said to Charlie "My name is Hiro Nakamura" his next words were not "I'm here to rescue you"? I mean, really what kind of scifi geek passes up an opportunity like that?

· And finally, an interesting bit of trivia. Figuring the name of Mohinder's sister was significant, I went and did a little Google-fu. Sure enough, I discovered "shanti" was the Sanskrit word for peace/tranquility/quiet. Out of idle curiosity, I decided to check on "Mohinder" as well. Turns out it's an alternate form of the name "Mahendra," which itself means "great Indra" (formed by combining maha, meaning great, and the name Indra). Indra, as it so happens, is an Indian deity. On to Wikipedia I went. Where I discovered Indra has all kinds of interesting qualities. For example, one hymn in the Rig-Veda reads "Indra, you lifted up the outcast who was oppressed, you glorified the blind and the lame. €� (2:13:12). Another says "He, having found great, splendid, rich dominion, sent life and motion to his friends and lovers. Indra who shone together with the Heroes begot the song, the fire, and Sun and Morning." (3:30:15). And finally, the Wikipedia entry itself states "Indra is an important god in many tales and epics. He leads the Devas (the gods who form and maintain Heaven and the elements, such as Agni (Fire), Varuna (Water) and Surya (Sun), and constantly wages war against the demonic Asuras of the netherworlds, or Patala, who oppose morality and dharma. He thus fights in the timeless battle between good and evil." None of which, of course, is at all germane when it comes to the Mohinder we all know and lust after... Yes, that was my sarcastic voice.

· Hiro's face was so full of happiness and hope when he laid eyes on Charlie, you just know it's not going to end well... Sigh.

· Oh, and I have to confess I got a kick out of Zach's take on throwing pebbles at Claire's window.

I'd say it's way past time I brought an end to this novel. Be sure to stop by when Erin's sure-to-be-excellent review of "Six Months Ago" is online for your reading enjoyment, and I'll see you when I take a look at the Heroes fall finale, aptly named "Fallout." Until then, stay heroic.

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