'Heroes' Episode 5

Chapter 5: “Angels and Monsters”

Spoilers Alert

Synopsis: Claire goes to take down her first villain, with her father and Syler closing in right behind her. Mohinder continues to try to undo his transformation — by dastardly means. Hiro tries to get Adam Monroe’s help getting ‘Formula H’ back. An unexpected person is discovered to lead the Company’s rival, Pinehearst — the same company that hired Daphne to recruit people with abilities.

• It turns out Nathan was a guinea pig. While his brothers were born with abilities, he had his given to him — thanks ‘Formula H’ (the unofficial nickname for the formula that gives normal people abilities). Of course, he’s not happy, and Mama Petrelli shows real regret for the first time ever. Of course, she could just be disappointed that Nathan isn’t helping her get back Formula H. Her dream at the ending was really interesting — very creepy.

• Mohinder seems to be going down the ‘Dexter’ road by experimenting on ‘bad people’ — in this episode, a drug dealer — and taping them on the wall, via ‘sticky-goo,’ to get rid of his powers. I really don’t like ‘psycho-Mohinder.’ When I read that he was getting powers, I thought, ‘That should be cool.’ Now, the first thing that comes to my mind every time I see him is ‘Ew.’ Nathan’s comment that “He’s harmless,” when he and Tracy go to see him is kind of ironic.

• After absorbing Future-Syler’s powers, Peter show’s just how out of control he is. He’s all hacked off at Mama Petrelli for keeping secrets away from him and tries to slice open her head. Syler shows more of his good side by saving her. I’m officially off the Peter-liking wagon right now.

• The first time that Claire tries to help and stop some of the villains, of course it goes … well, it wasn’t a success, but it wasn’t a complete disaster — at first. If nothing else, it makes you wonder how she went from the ‘Hesitant Claire of Today’ to the ‘Shoot First Ask Questions Later Claire of the Future.’ It was kind of sweet how she tried to help the ‘villain’ find his family, if a bite naïve. I don’t she’s likely to forgive her Dad for his ruthlessness any time soon.

• Stephan Canfield, a villain with a pretty cool power — he can make black holes — turns out not to be a villain. More like a pathetic guy who can’t control his power. He was probably one of the most honorable person in the episode, when he offed himself rather than have Noah — aka Claire’s dad, aka Horn-Rimmed Glasses (HRG) — force him into killing Syler. The audience knows what Syler’s done, but Stephan doesn’t, and makes him pretty honorable.

• Syler is like the ‘Mighty Mouse’ of the episode with all the victims he has to save. But his motivation is a little unclear. I mean, the last few episodes he’s tried to turn his back on his ‘bad guy’ reputation (last week’s episode proved he could), but I think just when seems like he’s turned completely ‘good’ — he’ll go right back to the Bad Boy fans all know and love. His evil smirk trademark towards the end kind of proves it.

• Anyway, last episode Hiro and Ando opened the coffin that he had locked Adam Monroe in last season, and convinces him to help them get the formula back. They walk into a bar, and almost immediately Adam escapes, only to be caught by Knox, one of the villains that escaped from Level 5. Hiro and Ando run into Knox and Daphne, and Hiro tries to convince the villains that they’re ‘badass.’ Well, Knox says to prove it, Hiro has to kill Ando. So Hiro stabs his best friend with the sword. Besides the ending, his was definitely the WTH moment of the episode. I have no doubt that Ando is not dead — because, really, it would be COMPLETELY out of character for Hiro to do something that cruel. Something’s going on, otherwise I’ve seen everything.

• We meet another level-5 escapee — Eric Doyle, a man who can control other people by having them mimic what he does. Based on the promo for next week, we should see more of him.

• Last thing, since episode two, Linderman, a character that was killed off in season one, has been following Nathan around as his ‘guide.’ Turns out he’s just an illusion cooked up by Matt Parkman’s dad, Maury, who has a more mature version of Matt’s mind-reading ability. And the orders he’s following is Arther Petrelli’s — the father of Nathan, Syler, and Peter, who seems to be on life support in a hospital somewhere. The master plan is to have Daphne to find people with abilities and recruit them for some kind of army. Whoa.

Praise: We definitely saw a lot of what this volume is all about: how the line between ‘good guys’ and ‘villains’ is very blurred, bringing the show to a whole new level.

Complaints: It was a lot like the sudden drop you get after a sugar rush. Last episode was off the charts great, and this one was … eh. Plus, it seems like everything’s out of control, with Syler becoming ‘Mighty Mouse’ and saving each distressed soul while Peter’s trying to kill everyone.

Best Part: Probably the part when Hiro was letting Adam out of the coffin. Hiro’s “Okay, in you go,” every time Adam misbehaved made me laugh.

Grade: B — only thing saving it from a B- was the cliffhanger.

Photo from www.nbc.com