Heroes 2x02 Lizards

[oyceter]

Oh show, why do you mock us? Whhhhyyyyyyy?! At least I was not the only one who had a quick whiplash moment when Mohinder called his boss Bob.

I think this was in general a very whiplashy episode for me:

• Kaito is actually dead, woe!
  
• Angela is awesome, yay!
  
• Maya's powers are evil, woe!
  
• Hiro nearly drowns Kensei, yay!
  
• We have a magic-wielding Latina healer, woe!
  
• Hiro dons Kensei's mask and kicks ass, yay!
  
• Stupid plotline involving threatening YET ANOTHER woman, woe!
  
• Yaeko kicks ass, yay!
  
• We hear about someone dying in Haiti, woe! (and I swear I will throw something at the TV if Bob dies)
  
• Mohinder cures Bob, yay!
  
• Maya has goopy black eyes of DOOM and only her brother can save her, woe!
  
• Mohinder and Noah play The Other Bob, yay!
  
• West is skanky, woe!
  
• Claire is awesome, yay!
  
• Claire cuts off her toe, ewwww!
  
• Kensei dies, yay! (oh shush. I like David Anders, but today the show is making me very grumpy about race and gender)
  
• Kensei regenerates, woe!

Ad nauseum.

More seriously though, while the race issues were still there in the background, wow, hello there gender issues! Angela was made of win (OMG. Someone please write past Angela/Kaito fic like now?), but then we get woman incapable of doing anything without male help (Maya), creepy stalker West who I think the show is trying to tell me I should like, except he is creepy like whoa and doesn't Claire have a problem with him, you know, standing there staring into her living room? And of course, Peter rescues a helpless woman! Yaeko was cool, but still had to be rescued, and right now her role largely seems to be the motivation for Kensei. Oh show, why? Yaeko as prize wouldn't bug me as much because she did sword-fight, only there was all that other stuff too.

On the other hand, I squeed at the shot of Mohinder, Molly and Matt, and I squeed immensely at Mohinder, Intl. Spy of Mystery!

And BOB! BOB REAPPEARS!

Alas, nameless. But maybe now that he is teamed up with Mr. Bennet (I just can't seem to think of him as "Noah") and Mohinder, he can be on the show more! Please show?

Hiro continues to be made of win, and I love him and his heart on a sleeve so very much. You have no idea how pissed off I will be if Kensei ends up getting the girl and walking off with the glory. I doubt they'll do that to Hiro now that they've done him donning the mask, but who knows... I wish I had more faith in the show, but right now, not so much.

Claire also continues to be made of win, though I couldn't watch her cut off her toe. I mean, ew! That said, I love the little moments they're throwing in for Claire, particularly the moments between Claire and her mom. Claire and Mr. Bennet always have awesome moments (I love the entire scene when she tells him about the car), but not so much with Claire and her mom. I'm really glad Mrs. Bennet is more active now and holding Mr. Bennet up to his promises; here's to hoping that continues.

On the other hand, West's comment about "Yeah, it's written by some Indian guy. I can't even pronounce the name" would have made me throw stuff at him even if I hadn't already disliked him for creepy stalkerness. Honestly. "Chandra Suresh." Four syllables! No letters like "x" or "z"! How difficult is that, asshat?

Comments

[12-12-12.livejournal.com]

I love that Sandra Bennet is so at ease and blasé about Claire's powers. "No need to be flashy." Hee.

[Reposted because grammar is my friend.]

[oyceter]

I know, I loved that line!

[heyiya.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry I keep spamming your journal lately, but it was the first thing I saw on my flist after watching Heroes and clearly I am feeling excessibly commenty.

Irish moll stereotype Caitlin very annoying too... Clearly supposed to be feisty but, well, not very convincing. And this is not a righteous political complaint, but seriously, those accents! Did they hire the same dialect coach as Angel?

I shouted with joy at my TV when Hiro put on the mask and so forth.

Mohinder *introduced himself* to Bob. Didn't anyone ever teach him it's polite to ask someone's name before you inject your blood into their arm?

[oyceter]

Oh, you're not spamming at all!

Did they hire the same dialect coach as Angel?

HEE!

I squealed at the TV when Hiro pulled on the mask! And waved my hands around in excitement! Um, also, I did that when I thought Kensei was dead because that would mean the show actually doing some unpredictable with the plotline and I am sure we all know my feelings about White Kensei.

Sigh. Poor Bob. He is so unappreciated.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

(Apologies if this paragraph is too graphic.) Does Claire have super strength, or does it in fact not take all that much strength to cut off a toe using normal scissors? Maybe I am overestimating how much force it takes, but I suspect I would not be strong enough to do the equivalent to a dead chicken. Also, why not start smaller?

The Kensei storyline worries me. Maybe with his healing they'll go somewhere I find satisfying, but at this point I really want Yaeko and not white dude or Hiro to play Kensei.

I am guessing Maya is this season's Molly: The secret weapon / BFG to defeat the big bad.

When Mohinder appeared mind-wiped, I was pretty sure Bob (the Haitian's name is now Bob for me because of you :) and him had had a talk or at least Bob was in on the plan. I was pleased to be correct (in part because my pet theory for Avatar: The Last Airbender was dashed by the second episode of the third season).

[oyceter]

Ewwwww! Ok, I am now going to try very hard not to think about how much pressure it takes to cut off a digit. ;)

I am so rooting for Yaeko to be Kensei as well, but the show has been doing so poorly on gender issues right now that I'm going with Hiro-as-Kensei as the lesser of two evils.

Oh huh, I didn't think about Maya as weapon. Hopefully she learns to control her powers! That would be much better. And it'd be nice to have a "secret woman acting as weapon to defeat the big bad" be, y'know, active, as opposed to being a threat just by existing.

Oh hey, what was your theory for Avatar? Have handy <span style="color:#333;background:#333">spoiler code</span>!

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Dashed Avatar theory: At the end of Season 2, I was hoping Zuko had gone undercover. I think that would have been awesome.

At some point I should make a post about the voice actors in Avatar. I find it quite entertaining to see what other projects I've encountered them in, and saddened that Mako (voice actor for Uncle Iroh) died. When I saw "The Tale of Iroh", I didn't know the names of the voice actors and thus didn't understand the dedication.

[oyceter]

Yeah, I was sort of hoping that too. Alas, Zuko remains emo and confused!

You should totally make a post about the voice actors! I, uh, didn't actually know who Mako was until Avatar.

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

Claire cuts off her toe, ewwww!

I stared in a kind of transfixed horror when she did that. "...did they just show a toe flying through the air?"

[susansugarspun.livejournal.com]

I was half-expecting the dog to jump for it, just to increase the "eeeeewwww".

[oyceter]

OMG me too!

[oyceter]

I know! I, like many people it seems, totally expected Mr. Muggles to go after it!

[maeve-rigan.livejournal.com]

"we get woman incapable of doing anything without male help (Maya)"

I agree with you on so much about the way Heroes 2 is going so far, but I'm not so sure about Maya and her brother (Alejandro? I think I remember). Isn't it just as stereotypical if he has the evil-power-of-doom and she is the healer, with comfort and absorbing of pain being so frequently associated with femininity? As it is, they're twins and balance each other, must work together. Also, like Niki/Jessica--I hope!--she has to learn to control her power. Looks to me as if it's linked to fear and/or pain or other powerful negative emotions, so that's something she needs to work on. I'm not saying she shouldn't have emotions, but they shouldn't control her. That seems like a message everyone could get on board with?

[oyceter]

Yeah, it is just as stereotypical and annoying if their roles are flipped. But right now, I'm really annoyed about Maya's power first because it feels like a retread of the Niki/Jessica storyline (I can't control my power! And it ends up destroying everything!) and second because show, could we please have ONE WOMAN who can actively control her powers?

Claire regenerates automatically, Niki may have reintegrated enough to use her superstrength now, but for all of S1 we saw her out of control, and now Maya. As opposed to a greater variety with the male heroes: DL can choose when to morph, Nathan can choose when to fly outside of that first time, Hiro can choose when to stop time, Micah can choose to mess with machines, Sylar can choose to do pretty much everything, Peter seems to now be able to do pretty much anything, Matt can choose to read minds, Bob can choose to memory wipe or suppress powers, Linderman can choose to heal things, etc. etc. The one uncontrollable guy with powers was Ted, and even he had it under wraps enough to jump start cars after a few eps.

We had Eden and Hana with controllable powers, but Eden's dead and Hana is -- electronic or morphed or something and in any case, they get almost no screen time. Molly can choose to find people, but again, she gets very little to actually do.

Also, while many of the major male characters had to fight to control their powers at one point or the other (Peter, Matt, Nathan), they all get it under control within a few episodes and are using their powers actively now.

Maya's power may not look so bad individually, but given the show's propensity to a) not have many female characters period, b) kill off a lot of female characters, and c) give female characters passive roles and powers, it's part of a trend.

[jessibot.livejournal.com]

Hee hee hee hee. The toe flying through the air was faaabulous. I think I actually cackled.

Anyway! The set up with Maya did annoy me, but I do still like them as a sibling unit. It would have been nice to have the brother be the 'evil' one, but the whole twins/ying and yang thing is too neato for me to get completely annoyed over. There's a lot to work with there. Although, in the same respect, there's a lot that could go wrong, as well.

Oh, and will Hiro ever have a bad episode? He just keeps getting better and better. And I have to throw in a teeny tiny nod of satisfaction over bound and shirtless Peter. Guh, my brain, guh.

[oyceter]

I do like them as a sibling unit, and the whole "protect your younger sister" thing pings all sorts of buttons (I have one, of course). But I just... gah. I am so annoyed that not only can she not control her powers, she needs her male twin there to keep her in check and to undo her damage!

Hiro = the awesome. I love him so much.

[almeda.livejournal.com]

Maya's older, according to the auntish lady who started to help them across the border and then quit.

Also, did you notice? The show called Bob Bob! In actual dialogue! For reals! I squeed so loud bats heard me.

[oyceter]

Alas, the Bob they were referring to was Mohinder's boss =(. Though I totally had mental whiplash when they did it!

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

In my version of the show, when Claire goes outside and finds Chandra's book in her driveway, left by Stalker Peter Pan, she thinks to herself, "'Chandra Suresh'? What's so hard about that, nimrod?"

Hiro would appear to be playing in the Feudal Japan version of Cyrano de Bergerac, so I have faith that he'll triumph in the end. But, I don't want him to be stuck in the past forever! Maybe he can bring Yaeko to the future when he comes home?

[oyceter]

Hee! I think Claire should have said that.

I want him to go back too, if only for the continuation of the Hiro and Ando Show.

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

Right! Ando!

While I want Hiro to triumph and all, I secretly don't want him to Get the Girl, because not so deep down in my heart, I'm a Hiro/Ando shipper. (Also, I want Yaeko to not be The Prize, but a real character of her own. Which I know won't happen.)

[oyceter]

(Also, I want Yaeko to not be The Prize, but a real character of her own. Which I know won't happen.)

Sigh. Yeah...

[vonnie-k.livejournal.com]

Man, I sympathize on your whiplash (even though it made me giggle. *g*)

I feel somewhat more optimistic than you on the Hiro/Yaeko/Kensei point, not because I think the show is that enlightened when it comes to race issues, but because Hiro talking on the myth of Kensei (and winning Yaeko) would probably fit better with the comic-book hero narrative, to which the show is pretty faithful. We shall see.

The Bob (*our* Bob)/Mohinder/Bennet show = awesomesauce. It went a long way toward mollifying me sadness at Kaito's death.

I have yet to hear from anyone who doesn't think West is a creepy asshat. If they're going to sell him to us as Claire's love interest, they're gonna need some MAJOR character rehabilitation, STAT.

[oyceter]

I feel somewhat more optimistic than you on the Hiro/Yaeko/Kensei point, not because I think the show is that enlightened when it comes to race issues, but because Hiro talking on the myth of Kensei (and winning Yaeko) would probably fit better with the comic-book hero narrative, to which the show is pretty faithful. We shall see.

This is true! I am very much hoping so.

I completely do not get West as the love interest! And now I am less convinced that the show means us to see him as creepy, given the previews from last week.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

I decided to make my post on this ep thematic, and I mostly accentuated the positive, so I didn't get into the tooth-grinding GRRARGH of Maya and Alejandro after all. I suppose I could do an ETA about twins and identity, but every time I think of anything to do with their storyline (and I do mean anything) I go postal.

Oh show. How can you be so awesome/pathetic?

[oyceter]

every time I think of anything to do with their storyline (and I do mean anything) I go postal.

I know! I have been getting grumpier and grumpier. I will think happy thoughts about Kaito/Angela backstory and Mohinder-Molly-Matt and Mohinder-Bob-Bennet instead.