Heroes 3x21 "Into Asylum" Discuss and Grade

[Daneel]

Clare needs to go away. Preferably last week. Add "can hold 22 shots" to her list of overwhelming and utterly useless abilities. Noah's your real dad, you brat. Claire bugs me. Can you tell?

I never would have guessed. I doubt you'll get your wish anytime soon, however, especially since she's the only pretty girl they've got on the show now.

Yeah, I've also wondered what's up with Nathan's other kids, his sons (I've also wondered if they have any powers themselves). I guess Nathan's still separated (divorced?) from his wife. I do hope they bring her and their kids back some day.

 

[Mr Light]

I thought this was another redeeming episode which took pains to establish each character's motivation and give them nice little moments. I particularly liked the pairing of Danko and Sylar... we see the seduction of Danko to something he was anathema to earlier, and we get a great glimpse at Sylar's intelligence and deductive reasoning.

Hell, even Claire and Nathan were given a good turn, shockingly. Nathan realizes the err of his ways and wants to redeem himself... not only with the super-hunting but also with keeping his fatherhood of Claire a secret. And Claire gets to have a bonding moment with evil daddy minus the rebellion and histrionics. And her not being able to get drunk was a laugh.

And Peter even gets a nice moment where he has a chat with God about him not holding up the deal. It was a moment that actually managed to surpass Barlett cursing out God in Latin in West Wing... kidding! And Angela gets a nice moment talking about the difference between helping and actually caring about it, and more of her backstory. I wonder which apocalypse in particular she first saw as a young woman?

 

[Meredith]

its the first time Danko was a real character & not a cypher.

so do you all think HRG will buy that really being Sylar in the bag?

HRG guy is gonna do a DNA Test, and have the good on him, you just watch.

When Sylar becomes a woman, is she anatomically correct and fully functional?

He did mention it is cathartic, moving from an outie to an innie and back would certainly be kinda interesting.....

 

[startrekwatcher]

"Too little, too late".

That is what I was thinking as I watched this episode. It was certainly a step up from the bulk of this volume but I kept asking myself if that was enough. And I just don't think it is.

The show isn't compelling like it needs to be to get me to re-invest in it. I think they are trying to some degree but what can you do at this stage when the writers are trying to correct an "arc" already in progress where they essentially want to get across to the viewers "that the six episodes before episode 20 were pointless so forget about it and let us start over in midstream and stitch together something semi-interesting".

How else do you reconcile the kindler gentler remorseful Nathan? I just can't make the leap that he started all this and wasn't just targeting those who might misuse them but everyone including friends like Matt and his own brother and now he sees the error of his ways.

Also you can tell they are trying to make some effort with the characters but really when you are having to reintroduce them all over again and the character scenes aren't that interesting I don't think there is much you can do. I mean Claire and Nathan bonding in Mexico--meh. Claire might forgive him for what he was involved with but I'm not his kid and I can't. Some of the Angela/Peter scenes were just okay.

I did like the idea of Sylar working for Danko which plays off of events depicted in 5YG where Sylar killed those with abilities being rounded up by the government. But I thought Sylar had Candace's ability so no real need to be a shapeshifter. I guess the writers must have forgetten about that.

Who knows these last few episodes might make me change my mind but it would take some really impressive work to do that. Otherwise I think NBC should just end Heroes now.

I'll give it an Above Average although it resides somewhere between average and above average but really with so much other more interesting programming out there I just don't know if I'm interested in committing an extra hour for a show I'm not all that riveted by.

 

[Snaploud]

How did Sylar get in and out of the car (telepathy, teleportation, superspeed???)?


Strategically, it probably makes sense for Sylar to avoid using his original body type, but he's too vain to do so (plus, the fans want to see Quinto's face)...

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Yeah, they needed to get it together before now. Too little, too late with an ever exciting 24 and Dancing With the Stars to compete with. Nathan's turnaround is awfully quick (though his descent into villainy by turning on the others was equally as quick and unearned), but Fuller's trying to do damage control the best he can. Above average--for Heroes--is my rating.

 

[Alex1939]

"Too little, too late".

I just don't know if I'm interested in committing an extra hour for a show I'm not all that riveted by.

I don't even really watch all the much TV, particularly TV shows, but I'm agreeing with most of your post.


I was done with this show. Off the dvr. I had no plans to watch it again. Then I have a friend that watches tell me I need to watch last week's episode.

So I do, and it was better, but I just didn't really enjoy it. Decided I'd check it out tonight since I was home and bored... but I really didn't enjoy any of this episode except Sylar.


At least the shapeshifter did something cool with his powers, like get laid with hot women. Because I can't understand why these characters are so lame and boring. If anyone had Parkman's abilities... I'd think he/she would already be a multimillionaire, at the least.


So, I think I'm really giving up this time. I hope all the heroes get rounded up and Sylar kills them all. Then we can have a spinoff show called Sylar. And some new breed of heroes can emerge to challenge him. New heroes that would actually be interesting.

 

[Yoda]

Below average. Boring stuff.

I think I could come up with a better shapeshifting plan than to morph into Denko as far as ploys to pick up chicks go.

 

[startrekwatcher]

Then I have a friend that watches tell me I need to watch last week's episode.

So I do, and it was better, but I just didn't really enjoy it.

Last week's episode is probably the best one this season but it wasn't particularly outstanding. An episode like that on a solid program would have been just a good solid episode but it only shone here because of all the middling fare that came before.

Fuller might just be interested in wrapping up this season and getting it over with and save all of his creative energy for a fourth season much like Coto did on Enterprise. Although this would be the fourth relaunch for the series where the viewers were promised the show is going to be good again. First you had season three, then the Fugitives volume, then Fuller's return with episode twenty and now next season. I don't know how many times you can keep promising that and never coming close to delivering.

 

[DontFeedPhil]

Below average. Boring stuff.

I think I could come up with a better shapeshifting plan than to morph into Denko as far as ploys to pick up chicks go.

I think just about anyone would be better to shapeshift into other than Denko who looks like hes got cancer....

 

[Daneel]

As I mentioned before, I really wish they'd explain what kind of power Sylar used in that early scene when he was in Danko's car... or was it just an illusion/projection of himself? That kind of bugged me. Also, when did the shape-shifter touch Sylar (as he seemed to need to touch someone to take on their form)? I suppose he could have touched him in the club at some point, but I think Sylar would have noticed. Did he briefly knock Sylar out? That too seems unlikely.

Regardless, I did enjoy this episode and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season. I was checking out the upcoming episodes on IMDB, and it seems we're going to be seeing some familiar faces in the coming weeks.

Spoiler: Returning characters in the next few episodes.

-Ali Larter is listed as being in the next few episodes, so I guess Tracy is still alive. Actually, it looks like the upcoming episode "1961" will also see the return of the doctor who "created" her, so perhaps we'll get more of an explanation as to her background.
-John Glover is appearing again as Sylar's father for the episode "I Am Sylar".
-The season finale, "An Invisible Thread", sees the return of both Dana Davis as Monica Dawson and Christopher Eccleston as Claude, the invisible man (I was hoping he'd come back)

Apparently, the season will be over before May, which is a Sweeps month. How odd. I wonder why that is?

I have to say, it's nice to actually be somewhat excited about this show again. Still not quite at Season One level of interest, but this is a nice boost.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

did claire get her hair done on her way to mexico or something? it was a very character driven episode and it was effective enough. im also wondering how sylar was able to get out of the car so fast. probably some sort of unexplained telepathic projection he obtained.

i find it amusing how people keep saying they're gonna quit watching the show week in and week out, yet they keep coming back for more. i heard all this when Lost was in its slump, and its corrected itself and the people have rejoiced, i think in time this show will too. Still no paradigm shift in improvement, but it'll be gradual that's for sure, we just have to be patient. and i do think Fugitives has been alot better than Villains and Generations,

Spoiler: potential spoiler

Volume 5 is supposedly called Redemption, so hopefully the name will be fitting in more ways than one.

 

[Yoda]

i find it amusing how people keep saying they're gonna quit watching the show week in and week out, yet they keep coming back for more.

For me it's sometimes fun to watch a show that I once enjoyed but is no longer any good. It was almost as fun bashing Enterprise at times as it would be to have a good Star Trek show. Not sure what it is, I assume it's in geek DNA

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

^now there's a show i gave up on. actually i did however catch the finale and well yea. holodeck program. such a cop out.

 

[Dream]

But I thought Sylar had Candace's ability so no real need to be a shapeshifter. I guess the writers must have forgetten about that.

Nope. In season two Sylar had lost his power when he killed Candice so he wasn't able to learn her ability. The writers probably thought illusion was too powerful.

Looks like Shapeshifting has a limit since Sylar's clothes stay the same whenever he changes. So Sylar can't be Nathan wearing a suit and tie one moment and be Claire in a dress seconds later. But I doubt he needs the power at all since he could kill anyone on this show right now.

I thought it was a nice character episode.

 

[Hunter X]

It was decent, better than a lot of stuff from the past two seasons. But I suppose that's already been said.

My favourite bit, though, was Nathan's taking-off-the-shoe gag in the hotel room during his touching drunken speech. He sat down, took one shoe off, moved to the bed to take off the other one, gave up after a while of talking and just lay down with one shoe still on. Just thought it was a nice counterpoint to the more serious stuff going on in the actual dialogue.

 

[FALCONX0N]

I have to say, this felt more like a season 1 episode. Gradual building tension, focus on characters, etc. Maybe it was just that there was a scene or two of 'creative power usage,' finally That's what I liked about this show! Clarie finally decided that there are more uses to 'complete tissue regeneration' than cutting off your toes! I'm still waiting for her to stop bitching about being unable to help out the rest with real superpowers, and realize that with her ability, she could train herself to olympic level physical capacity in an afternoon, or utilize weaponry that normal human beings can't... But that'll probably never happen, considering how god-awful she sounds when she tries to be all badass. (Well, that, and I don't think standards and practices would find the idea of a 18 year old girl hefting around an anti-tank rifle which shatters her collarbone and mangles her arm every time she fires it as amusing as I do)

 

[Checkmate]

I have to say, I really appreciated the music in these last two episodes, too.

I'm glad they have Fuller back and bringing everything back into focus again. I'm upset that I'll never get to see another episode of Pushing Daisies, but I'm glad someone, somewhere recognizes how fantastic he is even if his pet project shows don't appeal to the mass audience. As much a tragedy as that is.

 

[Mr Light]

Re: Danko... He's also really short with an abnormally large skull I call him Mr. Potato! How would Claire's abilities allow her to learn to become an Olympic level gymnist in an afternoon? That sounds like Micah's cousin from Season Two who can mimic anything she sees...

 

[TheBrew]

I gave this one an excellent, not because the drama was so great, but because I really enjoyed each of the characters. In fact, IMO, Noah was the weakest character of the ep which really says something. I had a good time and was able to connect with the characters again. This almost dropped off my radar, but now I'm interested in seeing it next week again.