What I'm Watching: Heroes

Heroes: Season 2, Episode 9 “Cautionary Tales” (C+)

I went into this episode feeling a lot better about the show, but maybe my sunny attitude was affected by the fact that nearly the entire episode takes place in the bright outdoors. The action certainly looks nice, but I am still a bit fuzzy about some of the writing. I have had enough of Claire’s preachy speeches about how she wants to live her life, and I think it is definitely time for her to leave town and hook up with some of the other heroes (and I do not mean West!). West’s bonding with H.R.G. happens way too quickly after West was deathly afraid of him. The scene that truly kills me is when H.R.G. is about to shoot Mohinder and West says in the most high-pitched voice I have ever heard a guy use: “Mr. Butler, what are you doing?” I tell you, this is not a good episode to be a blonde, since chances are you will get kidnapped or tied up. The hostage-exchange goes down way too quickly, and you would think that after that wicked idea H.R.G. had to stop Elle’s powers from working without the help of one Haitian, he would be a bit smarter than to let Elle so easily untie her hands and use her powers. Mohinder’s decision to shoot H.R.G. makes little sense, and it seems that for him to shoot him in the eye would have been an extra effort. The last scene is sort of awesome, but who is pulling the strings?

As for the rest of the story, we are still missing a number of characters, including the most powerful and intriguing ones, Peter and Sylar. Matt’s powers continue to evolve, but I wish that he would try a bit harder rather than just noticing that they are there. Hiro needs to move on from his time in Japan and start looking for the next invincible villain he will have to try and kill. I think that to reenergize this show, some major reformatting needs to happen. The teaming up of the heroes almost worked a few weeks ago when they tried to take on Maury, but I think if this show takes a cue from “X-Men” it could be headed in the right direction. Put them into pairs, for instance, Claire and Peter, Hiro and Nathan, Matt and Adam, and best of all, Sylar and Elle. I am rooting for that day.