awesome
9.5
"Superb"
Heroes undergoes another turnaround from really good to iffy to pretty good again. Now, I get the sense that Heroes really wants to turn itself around. A Clear and Present Danger started it, now Building 26 is gathering the momentum. I can't comment on how it corresponds to Season One, and I don't think I should, but if Heroes continues this track, it will be in pretty good shape. The episode is less involved than Trust and Blood and in here, it's a good thing, because Heroes cranks up the intensity and suspense from last episode to an edge-of-your-seater. Nathan, Hunter, and government crew hole up in their lair Building 26, keeping tabs on their progress for the hunt of heroes. The heroes' credit cards are frozen, cities are being monitored, yet through all that, things aren't going too well for Nathan. He only has Tracey so far, Peter slipped almost literally from his grasp, Sylar is still elusive, and all heroes from around the world are picking up the hint that something is wrong and doing their best to stay hidden. Once again, Nathan can't make up his mind over if the heroes should be caged or experimented on or tortured or all of the above. All I know is Nathan just wants them locked away from society. Yeah, great plan. Pinehearst was way more organized than this. However, Nathan is much more dangerous. He is blindly hunting everyone good or bad and doesn't care over whoever will get hurt. At Costa Verde, Claire is moping around, ashamed at hiding away like a scared little girl. Sandra is still under the impression Claire and Noah have taken the two-month break scouring colleges and asks Claire about it. Claire storms to her room like a punk and Noah comes to reprimend her. Claire's sick and tired of lying to her mother, that's reasonable, but she doesn't understand what Noah's trying to do. Hunter has put Claire on a short leash. She can be home but if Hunter sees any sign of her aiding or being involved with stopping the hunt, he will round her up. Noah tries to explain this to Claire but it falls on deaf ears. I see where Claire is coming from but she has to stop being such a brat and understand how Noah feels. Noah storms out and Claire gets a text message from the mysterious Rebel telling her to find someone named Alex. She finds Alex work at a comic store and convinces him, showing her powers, that they need to leave for Noah is coming for him. Claire pulls some sneaky manipulation and Alex and her sneak off. Meanwhile Sylar and Luke are on a trip to find his father. I've warmed to Luke since last time but he is still extremely annoying. He views his journey as a roadtrip. I don't blame Sylar too much on being aggrivated. Sylar is quick to inform that this is not a trip but a mission and if Luke wasn't useful, he'd be dead. Luke just doesn't get the hint that Sylar very well means what he says. There is some witty banter over Luke reinforcing that yes, Sylar is a serial killer. He has a motive, a pattern. Serial killer. Something we've known since, ever, but still nice to hear. Hiro and Ando land in India, puzzling through Matt's painting of them, and somehow it involves stopping a wedding to a bride that is being forced to marry someone she depises. Ando convinces her to call it off to Hiro's protest. Hiro feels it is his destiny to stop it, not Ando. Claire and Alex manage to avoid Noah and Claire informs him on the hunt. Alex admits his power: he can breathe underwater like a fish. And I thought Luke's power was stupid. At least Luke can do some sort of damage with it. I like this episode but the Heroes writers have got to be more creative than gill-guy. Claire realizes Alex and her escaped on his car and they flee just before the brigade closes in. They might not have wanted to park near a survellience camera anyway. Hunter realizes Claire's involvement with their prey and corners Noah on the find. Sylar at last stops at a diner to Luke's happiness. Anything to please the unwanted sidekick. More great Sylar "lessons" showing Luke how to control his powers. At least Sylar understands the whole power-responsibility. Luke informs Sylar more abou his father: his father likes to observes birds and took Luke out often. This leads to a Sylar flashing to a time where he was on a wagon near a tree. Sylar rediscovering his humanity. It continues when Luke asks why Sylar wants to find his father. Sylar wants to know where he came from, who he is, and why he is why he is. He's been lost since Heroes day one. Luke knows Father sold Sylar for money. Sylar wonders what kind of person could do that. Luke only knows that Father liked him because maybe Luke reminded him of Sylar. Luke gives Sylar some leeway and writes down Father's address. Sylar asks why Luke trusts him not to kill him. Luke believes it. The brigade busts into the diner out for Sylar and Luke. Luke thinks on his feet and rats Sylar out while Sylar causes some damage to the diner. Luke catches up, grinning, not realizing Sylar's through with him. Sylar leaves him behind to the brigade. I know Luke is a pain-in-the-butt but he didn't deserve that. Hiro mopes that he's not the hero anymore, which Ando calls him on. He's upset that Hiro can't stand that he is Ando's sidekick. Considering the turmoil Hiro inflicted on him throughout the years, Ando isn't undeserving of that credit. The fiance threatens his bride and Ando steps in only to be kidnapped. The bride decides to marry him to save Ando but Hiro calls the wedding off at last minute, assuring her it is her choice. The fiance gets violent and Hiro fends him off, the vision. Fiance decides to call everything off and Ando is returned. Hiro realizes he came here to discover that he can be a hero without powers. Great but how about letting Ando be a hero? The true mission is revealed later when Bride tells them Rebel left them a fax, informing them to go after Matt. A voice of reason storms into Nathan's mission looking to pull funding. She doesn't believe in heroes and reads him the riot act and he shows her Tracey only to find she is an old friend of Tracey's, strengthing her resolve. Nathan tries to convince her that heroes are dangerous but he needn't have bothered. Tracey busts out and freeze-cuts a man. Tracey just lost any support the heroes had. Tracey feels Nathan intentionally let her go but that wasn't Nathan's plan. Hunter set that up so Tracey could prove that she is a monster, knowing she could kill someone. Nathan finally gets the idea that Hunter is ruthless. Noah chews out Claire to stay out of his way or she'll get hurt but Claire yanks on her leash by informing her dad that he can't control the heroes or her. She'll do what she pleases, thank you. Sandra acts sweet to Claire so Claire spills just what Noah has been doing and Sandra has had enough. She's through with Noah's lies. Noah walks in to Claire's room to tell her Sandra kicked him out. Claire feels bad and she should, she caused the mess. Noah doesn't blame her and realizes he should take time to sort out his priorities. He leaves while Claire gives a hiding Alex a blanket. Ouch. Sylar returns for Luke, spleening the brigade. Sylar informs Luke that he only came back to stop the tracking but Luke knows otherwise. Sylar is progressing. Still killing but at least he's progressing. Noah checks in to a hotel and asks for a drink and is drugged by who else?: Matt, Mohinder, and Peter looking for answers. An honestly interesting episode that proves that Heroes still has it and is showing more steps to get to perfection. The storylines are manageable and followable, even though the Ando-Hiro storyline was kind of boring, and by cutting screentime, it adds to the suspense. Claire is showing some iniative and Sylar is becoming more and more human and relateable as his father search finally gets intense. Next week, Matt will probe Noah's mind to see what's in there. Sounds promising. Heroes rocks once more.moreless
