Monday November 10, 2008
308
Hiro attempts to delve into Arthur Petrelli's past to uncover the mystery behind him creating a rival company Pinehearst and his hatred towards Angela. Sylar stricken by guilt tries to stop his murderous ways with HRG and Elle vying for his blood. Meredith's training goes up in smoke with the arrival of her brother.
Write a Recap »Hiro goes on a spirit walk with the help of Usutu and looks at the lives of Arthur Petrelli, Flint and his sister Meredith and Sylar before the events of volume 1. In the end, a hero dies while another is in danger. hide show
The flashback episode of this volume, Villains is a chapter many fans have misinterpreted. I was confused the first time I saw it thinking that it wasn't consisted with both chapters 1:Genesis and chapter 10: six months ago of volume 1 but when I watched it again it all makes perfect sense and they are according to the Heroes timeline. Now, you may ask why would anyone want to watch the same episode twice to understand and one may answer: things don't come so easy in life now do they?
Firstly, the chapter begins with Hiro going on his spirit walk following the previous chapter and Hiro goes deeper into the lives of villains to discover what made them villains in the first place.
Beginning with Sylar, time takes us a year from present (that is April 2006) around the same time Chapter 10: Six months ago of volume 1 took place. Sylar (or better Gabriel) has just killed Brian Davis (the guy who gave him telekinesis) and is ready to kill himself. At that moment, Elle appears and saves Gabriel's life. Feeling warm and confortable with Elle, Gabriel begins coming closer to Elle at the point where he reveals to her he has an ability (he doesn't know Elle has one). We also learn that Elle was on an assignment with Noah Bennet to bring Gabriel to the Company. What the Company needed though was for Gabriel's killer insticts to kick off again to see Gabriel's ability up close. And that is Elle's assignment. With Noah's convincing, Elle introduces Trevor to Gabriel, someone who has an ability of his own (to shutter objects using his index finger). When Elle calls Trevor special, Gabriel ticks and attacks Trevor to prove Elle he is special as well (back then the word special caused Gabriel's mind to tick; remember chapter 10: six months ago). Elle attempts to stop Gabriel from killing Trevor and she uses her ability. Gabriel is furious with her but he lets her go and kills Trevor. Noah's pushing orders has created Sylar (and not Chandra Suresh's testing as we thought until now). Six months later we see Elle still regretting what he did to Gabriel who has been killing people and Noah getting into a cab driven by Mohinder (as seen in chapter 1: genesis of volume 1).
Secondly, we look at Flint Gordon's life with his sister Meredith, Claire's biological mom. They live, eighteen months from present day (that is October 2005) a life of crime and thievery. During a mugging, Thompson appears and tazers Meredith while her brother runs away (Thompson is the guy who appeared in chapter 17: Company Man and was Noah's former boss whom Noah killed himself in chapter 22: Landslide of volume 1; he's played by Eric Roberts). 6 months later (April 2006) Meredith is a soon-to-be agent of the Company going on assignments with Thompson to capture special people. During one of them, she realizes her brother is kept by the Company in Level 5 of the Company Headquarters. He has been told that the Company would make him an agent (just like they did with Meredith) but Meredith soon realizes he has been fooled just like she was. Six months later (October 2006) Meredith manages to free her brother from the cell and take a train. On that train Thompson appears and tries to stop them. The result is the trainwreck we all saw in chapter 1: Genesis of volume 1, a trainwreck from which Claire saved a fireman and later Jackie received a medal by lying. Regardless, Flint is put back to Level 5 cell (we never see this scene) and Meredith is let go back Thompson after she tells him the reason she hates the Company so; for killing her little girl Claire who we all know was given to Noah.
Finally, we go deeper into the Petrelli family as we see that Arthur and Linderman were responsible for Heidi's accident (the one we saw in chapter 10: six months ago where Nathan flew while Heidi stayed paralyzed) and Arthur's feelings towards his two sons, Peter and Nathan, a year before present day (April 2006). Nathan is investigating everything that has to do with Linderman (and that is why the accident happen in the first place). Furthermore, Arthur shows no sympathy for his youngest son Peter who thinks is a disappointment. When Angela accidentilly hears a conversation between Linderman and Arthur where they plan to kill Nathan, Arthur uses his telepathy and puts thoughts into Angela's head. Linderman, on the other hand not being able to stand Angela's manipulation by Arthur, heals Angela's scars and helps her save Nathan. Angela poisons Arthur and orders the Haitian to take Arthur to Level 3 of the Company. Nathan however appears at that moment and Angela agrees with him when Nathan says his father had a heart attack. Nathan goes to Peter and tells him about their father's death and a small ceremony is being held at the Petrelli house. A doctor announces Arthur dead but as it turns out he's working with Arthur who seems to have faked his death for the last year (until April 2007 when Arthur got Adam's ability). Six months later (October 2006) Peter leaves the same cab, Noah enters (just like in volume 1, Chapter 1: genesis).
Overall a great episode. I really love these flashbacks episodes especially when they connect with stuff we have already seen. The confusion and the frustration with this episode is inexcusable, I think. Look at the dates in the episode. They all make sense. Key facts: We now know what made Sylar a killer (Noah not Chandra), what made Arthur create the rival company Pinehearst and his hatred towards Angela and what made Flint pick the villain side. What was not included in this great chapter was Knox's background and his connection with Matt which seemed about right to be inserted in this one. These deleted scenes came later on as a webisode but hopefully it will be included in Heroes season 3 DVD within the Villains chapter. For now, enjoy this magnificent episode.
An interesting, if slightly flawed, episode that takes one of the show's most endearing staples messing about with chronology and plays continuity keepy-up with it. hide show
An interesting, if slightly flawed, episode that takes one of the show's most endearing staples messing about with chronology and plays continuity keepy-up with it. Rob Fresco is clearly having a wail of time, sewing together minor plot points from episodes, nay seasons, back with our contemporary cast of characters and their situations; so we get deft nods to the pilot with HRG first stepping into Mohinder's cab and Meredith causing the fire that Claire ran through, as well as an opportunity to explain some of the more niggling questions that have hung high over the heads of certain players in the cast for quite some time. Angela's distrusting malice is at least on its way to being afforded some context; Arthur's death is given an enlighteningly sinister backdrop (how eerie is that scene?); and, of course, Flint and Meredith are revealed to be, shucks, faaaamily which, well, is kinda obvious now we all think about it. Plus we get to see Eric Roberts again which can only be a good thing where 'Villains' stumbles slightly, however, is in the execution of Sylar's story which, despite admirable attempts by all involved, comes across as rather cack-handed. The key to the problem lies in the inclusion of Elle: while there is a nice foreshadowing line in 'The Butterfly Effect' when the two meet in Level 5 (go on look it up!), I just don't buy that the two were involved. Perhaps it's that they have zero chemistry. Maybe it's the way it smacks of revisionism: all too often in Heroes, the production staff seem determined to connect the current state of play to what has come before, regardless of whether it makes logical sense. It's as if they feel the need to erase 'the new' by making it 'the old' but of course, progression is the natural course of an on-running narrative and characters can weave in and out without having to have been there all along. Still, a good effort and kudos for the fan-pleasing attention to detail: changing the show title to the episode title, what scamps!
This is how flashbacks should be done, things we've never seen but that's critical to the story. hide show
I love flashbacks in Heroes, so interesting and always informative and important (unlike Lost's endless retelling of the pointless minutiae of people's lives we don't even care about!). And my favourite of all: lots and lots of juicy Nathan and Peter scenes and fascinating background on characters we know too little about, like Meredith and Gabriel.
18 Months ago What a great scene! Peter making snide comments during his father's speech, Nathan insulting Linderman to his face. I love the Petrelli Brothers and we've seen too little scenes between them in season 3 so this entire sequence is delightful. 6 months later, when their father died, Nathan commented it was a good thing Arthur didn't know his sons were about to betray him newsflash, Nate, he did know. Realizing Nathan was going to come after him too, Arthur decided to try one last time to convince Nathan to back off and if that didn't work, to kill his own son.
One year ago Meredith is Flint's sister!! Both siblings have pyrokinesis! We're seeing more and more of this, members of a family with the same powers. Look at the Petrelli men: Arthur, Peter and Gabriel all have the same power: they can take other people's powers: Arthur can take powers permanently, Gabriel can absorb powers by touching the brain and Peter is the refinement on their powers, he just has to be in proximity.
After killing for the first time, Gabriel tried to hang himself. He's saved by Elle! Certainly explains how they know each other! Bennet knew about Sylar before he became a serial killer!! They were watching Sylar because his power of transferring power is so rare (little did they know it runs in the family!). Elle continues to cultivate a friendship with Gabriel, even as he is fighting his compulsion. Astonishingly, this is a whole new side to Elle, not the psycho we've known until now. Bennet pushes Elle to introduce another Special person to Gabriel, so that they can see him kill. It was Bennet that turned Gabriel into a serial killer!
Elle justifies 'introducing' Gabriel to another Special person by comparing it to the AA. Trevor has a very cool power, can blow things up. By showing off Trevor's power and going on and on about how special he is, Gabriel snapped. They got what they wanted, to see how he takes another's power.
The mystery of how Bennet found Meredith so easily to protect Claire is explained: Meredith was captured by Thompson and recruited! She does brilliantly her first time out but discovers her brother has been caught. "God gave you a big sister instead of a brain." The fight between Flint, Meredith and Thompson is what caused the train crash from the pilot! The fire that separated Meredith and Claire was started when the Company came for Meredith. Knowing that Claire survived, Thompson decides to let Meredith go.
On the night of Peter's graduation, Arthur refused to go. Nathan shows up to see if his father will got to Peter's party but Arthur's more interested in Nathan prosecuting Linderman. The request barely gets out of his mouth and Nathan immediately refuses. As an ADA, Nathan was incorruptible. It wasn't Linderman who tried to kill Nathan, it was Arthur!! But Nathan assumed it was Linderman. Peter tries to calm Nathan but Nathan threatens his father straight to his face. I love Peter and Nathan together and this is just one of those perfect scenes, where you see how close they are and what a calming influence Peter is on Nathan. It's one of those casting miracles, when you just get it right. Milo and Adrian are just so perfect together. What a delicious scene, just wonderful.
Nathan was out for blood and Linderman got squeamish. Arthur actually mentioned the 'plan for New York'. Angela overhears them plotting to kill her son and freaks. Arthur is very powerful, you actually see her eyes go bloodshot as he controls her. He can even erase her memory! Of all people, it's Linderman who intervenes. Angela poisons Arthur, with the Haitian in the room to keep him in check. Then Nathan shows up and sees him, assuming a heart attack. Angela blatantly lied to Peter, saying it was suicide.
It's beautifully done, seamlessly following on from events we've seen in flashbacks and even scenes from the pilot. Like Peter arriving at Nathan's office after talking to Mohinder in the cab, then Bennet climbing in. Arthur is taken to the hospital and the doctor lies to Angela and Nathan, saying he's dead. At the funeral, we see the scary, cold woman we know as Angela Petrelli. Very sweet when Peter and Nathan talk about the dog. "He hated that dog."
In the present, Hiro wakes up and finds Usutu dead, and comes face to face with Arthur Petrelli.
What a great episode, definitely the best of season 3. Like the previous episode, this is the old Heroes, done completely in the same style and spirit. Excellent.
Great episode and worth the watch for the Villains past :):) hide show
Once again went back in time. Not very far back in time; just about a year or so. In fact, the stories in Monday's episode paralleled events we've already witnessed, and even crossed over at times. That was an interesting and fun little twist. Through Hiro's vision, three storylines played themselves out, and they were all impressive. Sylar's back-story (and Elle's and Mr. Bennett's) was tinkered with yet again, and we were given more information on Claire's birthmother Meredith. We also learned more about Arthur Petrelli, his relationship with his family and how he ended up confined to a hospital bed. In "Villains," we learned that Bennett was trying to catch Sylar in the act of killing someone to steal their power. He pushed Elle into making this happen, even after she argued that Sylar might be saved. And then, when Sylar turned to the dark side, killed and went on the run, Bennett was completely nonchalant about it. Now fast-forward to what we know has happened since. The Sylar that this episode wants us to believe Bennett virtually created goes on a killing spree, making Claire his primary target. Did we ever see Bennett's guilt for creating this monster? Has he ever taken responsibility for putting his own daughter's life on the line? Our new knowledge of their history completely changes how we're supposed to see their present and it just doesn't work. Add to this Elle's involvement, and I'm completely at a loss. Sylar and Elle, in this flashback, appeared to have a fairly strong relationship. Yet, when the duo did battle earlier this year, there was no hint that they had a past which was a little dissapointing :( But otherwise it was nice to see them together, I think Kristin and Zak are good together. The episode also gave us a glimpse of Meredith's life before she reunited with Claire. She was a thief with her brother Flint and she was recruited by the Company to become an agent. But then Eric Roberts' Thompson let her go. Of all the stories, I thought learning more about Arthur Petrelli would be the most interesting. Instead, we really didn't get a lot of new information.The fact that Arthur ordered his son Nathan to be killed was a bit shocking! The rest of the story became fairly repetitive until Angela poisoned the old man's soup. This set up Arthur's apparent death and showed us how the rest of the family had no idea he was still alive.
In this episode, we finally get to see what Hiro is seeing in his vision, only this time, it's not the future he is peering into. hide show
In this episode, we finally get to see what Hiro is seeing in his vision, only this time, it's not the future he is peering into. Warning, spoilers contained below.
It was interesting to see that Meredith's brother is Flint, the dude with blue flames who escaped from level 5. What is more interesting is when we see Sylar trying to kill himself after his first murder and Elle comes in at the right time and saves him. What really surprised me was that Angela was the one who tried to kill her husband, because she was defending her son. So all along, even though Angela seems pretty twisted, maybe she was just trying to do some good. To me it seems all the Petrelli's are pretty much the same, they all try and take things into their own hands, and take drastic measures to do what they think is right. This episode only confirms this, showing how Angela handles what she found out about Arthur. What was exciting and shocking to see at the end of this episode, was Usutu having his head cut off (which I kind of support his death, because they never should have brought back a copy of Issac) but what's more shocking was that Arthur was the one who killed him. And right at the end Arthur grabs Hiro and is taking his power. I just hope Hiro gets away, because if Arthur can time travel as well, who knows if there is any stopping him. This was a great episode, despite it being mostly a flashback. Great way to tell the past without having Hiro actually go there and mess it up.
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