Heroes: "Close to You" 1/11/10 - Grading & Discussion

[Aragorn]

WHY is Matt and his family not in hiding?

This one sentence made me think about Matt being a WANTED FUGITIVE that the cops gunned down. I guess they forgot about that. I suppose Nathan could come walking through the door in the next episode and they'd forget all about him being dead and the faked plane crash too.

 

[Hermiod]

Question - has Ando used his ability supercharging power for what it's designed for since he used it on Matt and Daphne (i.e. the first and only time) the end of season three ?

 

[HappyDayRiot]

Unless he used it this week, which is the only episode I've not seen, I'm pretty sure he hasn't. I can barely remember him using it at all in fact.

 

[Hermiod]

Unless he used it this week, which is the only episode I've not seen, I'm pretty sure he hasn't. I can barely remember him using it at all in fact.

Spoiler: This week

He blasts Hiro in the head but not to supercharge his ability, just to give him a form of electroshock treatment. Seeing as Hiro's ability is killing him, supercharging it may not be the smartest thing anyway.

According to this (which contains the same spoiler I posted above, just in case), Ando has used the ability in the comics to supercharge a woman's ability to teleport over short ranges to the point where she was able to teleport from Costa Verde to Florida.

 

[HappyDayRiot]

This week's spoiler just sounds like more stupidity on behalf of both characters and writers. Par for the course *sigh* Who writes the comics? They always sound so much better.

 

[Hermiod]

^They're mostly written by the same people who write the show, I believe. Oliver Grigsby has written a few issues of the comic and a few episodes of the show.

 

[Lt. Trull]

Unless he used it this week, which is the only episode I've not seen, I'm pretty sure he hasn't. I can barely remember him using it at all in fact.

I think ando is worried that He'll kill people using his power... hero told him he killed him in the future... but that was before they knew what kind of power he had... with that shock wave approaching I believe hero needed to be super charged to stop it...

but hero didn't stick around to see what happened there.... just the effect of ando blasting him...

 

[Peter the Younger]

Finally saw it. I was going to rate it below average, but for a couple of funny/true lines of dialogue (paraphrasing):

Spoiler: Spoilage

HRG - "The Sylar thing was a mistake. We all realize that."

And:

Ando - "But Hiro saw me kill him with red lightning in the future!"

Mohinder - "Was it in Florida?"

Ando - "No, Japan."

Mohinder - "Then we're good to go."

But yeah, the only way I can watch this show now is as a farce.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

WHY is Matt and his family not in hiding?

This one sentence made me think about Matt being a WANTED FUGITIVE that the cops gunned down. I guess they forgot about that.

Well Matt could use his mind-control powers to convince the authorities that he's not the mutie scum they're looking for. No indication that he's done that, of course, or any way of telling how long his mind control lasts. Maybe it lasts for a day and then they come after him all over again.

Maybe Matt has the most powerful power of all - in theory, it could stop Sylar cold - but it requires constant vigilance to use. He'd be a paranoid wreck by now. His power is theoretically unlimited but in practice, limited by his own human weaknesses.

That's what kills me about this show - there are ways they could construct compelling, gripping drama from these characters. There is no excuse for there to be one boring moment on this show!

Have Sylar forget about the Carnival nonsense and just do what you'd expect him to do - go after Matt as his first target on his hit list. Matt is waiting for him, because Matt is not a moron (none of these characters should be morons!) Janice and Matt Jr. are already in hiding. Matt stays in his empty house, figuring that Sylar will look for him there first.

Then Matt's plan is simple: glom onto Sylar's mind the minute he comes into range and have him kill himself - leave a gun in the foyer or something. Then come out of hiding and finish the job with a chainsaw. Lop of his head, chop him into kibble if that's what it takes.

Of course Sylar isn't a moron either. He knows that what I've described is Matt's most likely course of action. Shapeshifting into Janice won't work - Matt will be scanning the minds of anyone who approaches the house. Sylar can't win a direct confrontation with Matt. A much better alternative: track down Janice and Matt Jr, and kill them. While Matt is waiting for the attack that will never come, the family he thought was safe is in danger.

Meanwhile, Peter is now crazed with vengeance and is hunting down Sylar. (Why isn't he hunting down Sylar?!? Right! Frakking! NOW!) Peter, not Matt, might be the one who has to rescue Janice and Matt Jr.

The writers just need to sit down and think through: what do these characters want? What is their next step? If they are reasonably smart people, and have the capacity to think things through, what will they decide is their smartest move? What will they predict is their adversary's next move?

 

[Hermiod]

^Captain Child Abuse Victim isn't hunting Sylar down because he'd get his ass kicked.

 

[HappyDayRiot]

Hard to kill someone with precog dreaming or whatever useless power he's glommed this week instead of a good one.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

^Captain Child Abuse Victim isn't hunting Sylar down because he'd get his ass kicked.

Trying to avoid getting your ass kicked is a sign of intelligence. Since when does that apply to Peter?

But there's no reason he needs to get his ass kicked. He had the right idea but wrong execution. He needs the right team: Molly and Rene. Molly pinpoints Sylar's location. Rene and Peter go to that location and take Sylar by surprsie. Rene squelches Sylar's powers and Peter shoots Sylar in the head. End of Sylar problem.

Hard to kill someone with precog dreaming or whatever useless power he's glommed this week instead of a good one.

He never should have given up the life/death with a touch power. Assuming he could learn to control that adroitly, that's a pretty good one. Matt's powers are also very good, but need to be wieded by someone in icy control of their emotions - so no good for either Peter or Matt. Too bad Noah can't glom onto powers.

 

[Hermiod]

Trying to avoid getting your ass kicked is a sign of intelligence. Since when does that apply to Peter?

Good point.

But there's no reason he needs to get his ass kicked. He had the right idea but wrong execution. He needs the right team: Molly and Rene. Molly pinpoints Sylar's location. Rene and Peter go to that location and take Sylar by surprsie. Rene squelches Sylar's powers and Peter shoots Sylar in the head. End of Sylar problem.

Except Molly has long since been forgotten after Mohinder packed her off to India and the fact that the Haitian's abilities even work on Sylar anymore is a bit of a retcon.

Besides, then we'd have to live with months of Peter having angsty guilt and brooding.

He never should have given up the life/death with a touch power. Assuming he could learn to control that adroitly, that's a pretty good one. Matt's powers are also very good, but need to be wieded by someone in icy control of their emotions - so no good for either Peter or Matt. Too bad Noah can't glom onto powers.

Frankly I'm amazed they haven't given Noah powers yet.