Heroes 1x06 Better Halves

[oyceter]

I have to admit, I half watched this because I was attempting to keep the ninja rats from escaping and because most of it was on Niki, who I'm still not that interested in. On the one hand, yay, DL is not evil! More points for good racial politics on the show and multi-racial relationships! On the other hand, boo for still not so wonderful gender politics. I keep wanting to slap Niki on the head, and oh, I felt so, so sorry for Micah seeing that last fight. It could almost be a metaphor of divorce turned real.

I am also growing strangely fond of Claire's dad, creepy though he may be. A very large part of this is because Claire obviously loves and trusts him and because he really does seem to love Claire. I felt so bad for her sitting there with her bio-parents.

The Hiro-and-Ando show continues to rock, especially with Hiro's remorse over not being able to save people. You know, usually I like taking apart tropes, but I love how straight Hiro and Ando play the superhero thing. Hiro really, sincerely wants to help people, and that is why I love him so much.

Though him geeking out over having a sword in the future didn't hurt either.

But my favorite part was Hiro telling Ando that you don't have to have superpowers to be a superhero, and that of course Ando was one, and that it was clear Hiro thought Ando was one the entire time. I am so, so glad the term "sidekick" never got mentioned.

Mohinder, alas, still has no plot, despite his hotness, although he does get some nice sarcastic moments. He has the nicest voice.

Perky girl Friday is thankfully evil, which makes the perkiness more forgivable.

Also, I missed the crucial last cliffhangery moments.

Comments

[loligo.livejournal.com]

I missed the end, too, but I've been told that Miss Perky went to Isaac's place and got him to let her in, claiming to be "a big fan of his work".

[oyceter]

Oh huh! Thanks!

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

Though him geeking out over having a sword in the future didn't hurt either.

What'd I say? Of course the man wants a sword. Because swords are cool. Man, I cannot wait for the Hiro-learns-to-use-a-sword training montage.

[oyceter]

Of course he does! I would totally want one too!

Also, the training montage obviously must be set to bad eighties music.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

D.L. may not be evil, but he *is* a criminal. The other black men we have seen are the mindwiper guy and the would-be congressman's security guy: hired muscle. I'm not impressed, especially since D.L. potentially fatally *penetrated* Niki last night.

I am still enjoying the show, but I have yet to be convinced about its racial politics.

[ponygirl2000.livejournal.com]

Was the congressman's aide security? I assumed he was the campaign manager since he was discussing election strategy with him.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

I assumed security because he had one of those thingies in his ear like the secret service wear, and because he was ordering people to drag Mohinder away. But I missed the first 3 eps, so there may have been exposition about him that I missed.

[oyceter]

I am hoping that DL won't have killed Niki, and I was giving a bit more leeway just because the writers seemed to be setting him off as a sympathetic character (and I was so, so scared that he was just going to be a stereotypical deadbeat dad blah blah blah). But yes, you are very right about the hired muscle/bad guy/escaped convict thing. Mostly I am hoping that because of the multiracial cast that there will be more black male roles that break the stereotype later on.

I'm more leery about the gender politics than the racial ones, but I think a good deal of that is because my current expectations for good racial politics in genre TV is so low that it really doesn't take much to make me happy. That is rather sad, actually =(.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm sure Niki's not dead -- she's a main character, after all.

The gender roles are problematic, particularly in the way that both Niki and Claire, while having superheroic abilities, are so passive: neither has control over her gifts. But for some reason, the race stuff is sticking out more to me, probably because the show has such a determinedly multiracial cast.

I'm glad that Eden is in league with the bad guys. Maybe she will eventually have a personality and some agency, too.

[oyceter]

Argh, yes, the gender roles. And then there is poor Simone, shunted off to the side while being a part of a romantic triangle...

[actoplasm.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I noticed all the couple on the show are multi-racial, which is just really nice. I did feel a little more for the cheerleader in this episode. And you have a point about her dad, we were discussing it, and maybe he's not necessarily evil, but just trying to find out about all the hero powers too.

And great icon btw. Hiro continues to be everything that is great about this show.

[oyceter]

Hee hee, I love my icon muchly. I am a very big fan of the multiracial relationships, though I am also hoping for more POC-POC relationships as well. All permutations are good!

[thelastgoodname.livejournal.com]

I really didn't like Perky Girl before we knew she was working with (for?) Claire's Dad. Now that we have a bit more context for her, I like her so much more.