Heroes 1x08 Seven Minutes to Midnight

[oyceter]

Ok, I think I'm officially fannish about this show. I've stopped noticing clunky dialogue, or their writing is getting better, I care about a lot of the characters (or maybe it's just because this was Hiro and Mohinder episode), and I keep flailing around and squeeing and yelling, "That is SO COOL!" at the tv.

Getting the non-Hiro parts out of the way first. I mean, they were very excellent as well, and this was a great episode, but the Hiro squee deserves its own section (and probably could take up an entire entry!).

Mr. Bennet is sort of winning me over. Except, you know, the part in which he is evil! And shoots Isaac up with drugs again! And even though he totally uses his fatherly love to manipulate people, he really does care about Claire, which is strange and sweet and makes their father-daughter relationship really, really interesting. Eden is also much more interesting now that she isn't just spunky Girl Friday, and I'm wondering what her power is. Convincing people? I wonder why it didn't work on Mohinder, since she seemed to have tried to use it on him. And Isaac cleans up really nice!

And Mohinder! You are back! You have plot! You have fatherly angst and issues! You are in India! You have a mysterious and angsty past relationship with the head of a genetics company, who is, by the way, female! And I sort of missed it, but I'm guessing that the girl in the photo and in his dreams was his sister? She looks older than five...

Also, Mohinder's dad died at seven minutes to midnight, and it looks like Claire is set to get it then as well? And I keep thinking there was another watch somewhere, but I may have made that up.

I'm getting much fonder of Matt as well, now that he's not creepily telepathically spying on his wife. I was very impressed that he didn't just yell out that his wife was having an affair, or that he hated her and wanted to break up, or whatnot. I like that his current answer to if their marriage is over is "no." Maybe the show will actually be doing something interesting with marriage instead of just sticking in angst and recriminations... Plus, it was neat learning that Mr. Bennet had things to do with Ted the Radioactive Man as well, and wow, it so sucks to realize that a) you are radioactive b) that you accidentally murdered people and c) that you gave your wife radiation poisoning and cancer and eventually killed her. I think he wins at the best angst in the show game so far.

And one of my favorite things about the show so far is how little "OMG you don't believe me woe!" angst that there has been. People prove their power, and that's it. It's really refreshing.

On a side note, I get totally creeped out every time I type "Mr. Bennet" because I keep thinking of Pride and Prejudice.

And Hiro! I love Hiro! I love Hiro because he doesn't have angst! I mean, he does in that he wishes he saved the girl, but he goes and does something about it and he goes forward and is determined that he won't let it happen again.

As a side note, show, will you please stop killing off women, particularly as reasons to give the male characters angst?

I really love the interactions with Waitress Person, particularly her special power being a great reason to go past the language barrier. rachelmanija made a really good point on the use of foreign language in Heroes vs. Lost and how the subtitles make it so that we share the characters' language frustrations. And it's just cool having the waitress meet Hiro and Ando as equals, in a way, because the inability to speak a language so often puts people into a subordinate position. So she can speak English, the dominant language where they are, but she also mostly talks to Hiro and Ando in broken Japanese, so they're teaching her as well. Well, Hiro is.

And Ando! I really adore Ando as well, even though sometimes he is overshadowed by Hiro. I love how he is more practical and less idealistic, but how he goes along anyway. And poor Ando, waiting in the end!

I thought I had cheered loudly enough last week when Hiro rescued DL, but OMG! SQUEE! The conversation with Ando! The conviction that he has to try, even if it doesn't work for him, but that he's got this ability, and he wants to use it to help! I love Hiro so much!

He actually reminds me a lot of an anime or manga hero or heroine. It's the good-heartedness and the determination to try and do better, even though he might not be able to, and it totally gets me.

And ZOMG! Next week is all about Claire! Please oh please oh please, show, let her be proactive and cool and kickass and don't let hordes of men sweep in to save her. Please?

Comments

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

As a side note, show, will you please stop killing off women, particularly as reasons to give the male characters angst?

I just had a thought: she's not one of the cheerleaders, is she?

. rachelmanija made a really good point on the use of foreign language in Heroes vs. Lost and how the subtitles make it so that we share the characters' language frustrations.

Yes ... although it does mean I found myself wondering why everyone in India was speaking English.

Next week is all about Claire! Please oh please oh please, show, let her be proactive and cool and kickass and don't let hordes of men sweep in to save her. Please?

My thought about this was that they're going to fail to save her but, you know, she'll come back to life. Because if having a tree branch lodged in her brain and crashing headlong into a brick wall don't do for her, I find it hard to believe the Sylar will keep her down for long.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I think if Sylar eats or otherwise destroys Claire's brain, she's dead. A stick through the brain put her into suspended animation until it was removed.

Regarding English in India, I'm afraid that the reason is that the actor playing Mohinder only speaks English. However, a lot of upper-class Indians do speak perfect English and may do so among themselves. What's implausible is that everyone would, in separate conversations. If they'd made some conversations partly in English and partly not, that would have been more realistic. In Mohinder's social circle, it's likely that everyone he knows speaks four to six languages fluently, and may do so in a single conversation.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

I think if Sylar eats or otherwise destroys Claire's brain, she's dead. A stick through the brain put her into suspended animation until it was removed.

On the other hand, she regenerates pretty quick. Maybe it comes down to how fast he eats...

Regarding English in India, I'm afraid that the reason is that the actor playing Mohinder only speaks English.

Ah -- I was wondering if it was something mundane like that.

[oyceter]

Ew. Now I have images of regenerating brains and zombies in my head ....

[oyceter]

Ah, actor, go figure.

Speaking of which, do you know if the actor for Ando knew Japanese already, or if he learned it for the role?

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I don't actually know that about Mohinder, it's a guess. I am pretty sure I read that Masi Oka was born and at least partially raised in Japan, so I'd assume he does speak Japanese, though maybe not fluently.

[vonnie-k.livejournal.com]

James Kyson Lee, who plays Ando, is Korean American, but can speak Japnese and Chinese with some fluency. (I recall reading somewhere that his father spent several years in Japan.) I don't speak Japanese, but his accent to my ears sounds pretty damn good.

[oyceter]

Ahhhh! Yeah, his Japanese is pretty good. I mean, I can still tell he has an accent (Masi Oka has less of one), but the rhythms sound about right.

[oyceter]

Yeah, I was wondering that about India too. I know that English is spoken a lot there, but it seemed like there should be more of other languages as well.

[tyreseus.livejournal.com]

I think that other watch you were looking for was on the wrist of shadowy (Sylar) guy in the diner who killed Charlie. It also read 11:53.

[oyceter]

Oh, cool, thanks!

[oracne.livejournal.com]

I've now seen through ep 6, except I missed 5. Hiro is definitely my favorite ("I have a sword!"), and then Claire and Isaac. Ando is growing on me. Kind of bored with doppleganger woman--I liked her kid and husband better (he's like Shadowcat from Marvel Comics!). Peter is cute but also kind of boring, as is Simone--hopefully they get better. And I like Congressman guy because he's Adrian Pasdar, but his character is kinda enh to me.

[oyceter]

OMG, you are right, Mohinder is so Scully!

Also, eeee! More people are watching! I wasn't avidly reccing the show before because of the writing and some clunkiness and etc., but it is so shiny and so fun!

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Ooh, and Mohinder is YUM.

He is Scully!

Hiro as manga character

[almeda.livejournal.com]

aybe that's a sly game the writers are playing with themselves -- the entire show is blatantly a riff on comics and the narrative convetions of same, so maybe Hiro and Ando are intentionally written/shot as if they're in a manga?

Re: Hiro as manga character

[oyceter]

That would be really cool! I can't tell if they've read manga though, since there haven't been any other references; Hiro usually makes US-geekian references instead.

Re: Hiro as manga character

[shati.livejournal.com]

(I'm going back and reading Heroes posts now that I'm finally catching up; I hope you don't mind comments from the past. But they time travel! Like Hiro!)

I've been wondering too -- Hiro's lines keep sounding familiar, like dialogue from a sff anime as opposed to an artsy Japanese film or a regular conversation in Japanese. (Could just be all the use of "unmei" and "chikara" giving me Utena flashbacks, but it sounds like more.) But I don't know if the Japanese scenes are written in English and then translated into Japanese, and in that case it would be the translators, not the writers. And yeah, I haven't seen any references to manga or anime. Too bad.

I liked Hiro before, because he's adorable, but in this episode I loved him, with the language lessons and "I'm sweet!" and especially the argument with Ando. I hope he saves Charlie; in the space of about five minutes she charmed me more than half the regular cast.

Re: Hiro as manga character

[oyceter]

Comments are always welcome, no matter when!

Also, eeeeeee! You are watching Heroes! It is my newest show, and it makes me so happy! Exclamation point!

I can't tell if they translated the Japanese to English or did English to Japanese to English, but it sounds ok.... Of course, this is a non-native speaker saying that, so giant hunk of salt. I so love that Hiro sounds like an anime character though, what with the mention of unmei and chikara and all those things. I keep expecting him to say "Mamoru!" or "Shinjite!" any second.

Tentative question from a monolinguist

[almeda.livejournal.com]

So what do all of those 'totally and completely anime-like' words mean?

Re: Tentative question from a monolinguist

[oyceter]

Rough translations:

Unmei = destiny or fate
Chikara = strength or power
Mamoru = to protect
Shinjite = imperative form of to believe

Re: Hiro as manga character

[shati.livejournal.com]

And currently impatiently waiting for 1x9 to download. It's so shiny and earnest and epic! And clunky, but whatever. And it's delightful seeing -- er, hearing -- subtitled Japanese from the main cast on US TV.

I keep expecting him to say "Mamoru!" or "Shinjite!" any second.

OMG I would die.

Re: Hiro as manga character

[oyceter]

I know! It is very clunky, but it's really very amazing how quickly it improves. By the time it got to 1x11, I was totally suckered in.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Seven minutes to midnight is also a reference to the Doomsday Clock, a publicity device created by an association of scientists which measures how close we are to nuclear destruction.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

And given the context, possibly also a specific nod in the direction of Watchmen, I suppose.

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

And I sort of missed it, but I'm guessing that the girl in the photo and in his dreams was his sister? She looks older than five

I'm pretty sure the child in the photo and the dream was male, and the name on the folder with his photo in it was something like Sanjung Iyer.

I love the show, despite the fact that it has some huge flaws. It's still really engrossing.

[oyceter]

Ah yes! I totally missed the name; from other people's write-ups, it sounds like the kid is Sylar.