"Heroes" Episode 6

Chapter 6: “Dying in the Light”

Spoiler Alert

Synopsis: Hiro gets his first mission from Pinehearst: kidnap the Seer from Africa. Matt leaves Africa to rescue Daphne, who’s on a recruiting streak for Pinehearst company. Claire and her mom go to rescue Meredith (Claire’s biological mom) from the Puppet Man. Peter tries to take on the guys at Pinehearst to rescue his mom — only to make a shocking discovery. Nathan and Tracy visit Mohinder, who has a sinister use for them.


• Claire finally shows her stuff. After what seems like a lifetime of being the victim, she finally gets to catch a bad guy. True, she and her mom get caught into the clutches of the Puppet Man, Eric Doyle, but her power finally had some use. I’m a little curious as to why Claire’s mom hesitated shooting her daughter in the forced “’Round-and-‘Round-the-Gun-Goes” game, if she knew Claire couldn’t die. I’d like to hear more on the Meredith/Doyle history—Doyle’s definitely a piece of work, probably the scariest villain next to past-Sylar. Looks like we might see more of Meredith if she’s being hired to be Noah Bennet’s (Claire’s father) partner.

• Nathan and Tracy are drugged by Mohinder, who want to use them for his experiments, when they visit him for help. Applause to Tracy for using her power to escape the bonds, but it looks like next episode she and Nathan are going to have a heck of a time getting away.

• Matt somehow manages to fly home thanks to his “Spirit Guide,” the turtle (I think this his really hilarious), and meets Daphne at an airport, where he tries to rescue her from getting killed in the future. I’m not sure that Matt should have just blurted out everything he saw in the future (especially the whole “soul mate” thing) because you could tell she was uncomfortable. It looks like the road to romance will not be easy one — but it’s always better that way. Matt was so sweet you wanted to hug him. Daphne was right — he’s too good-hearted to be part of a company like the evil Pinehearst. And so it she, it seems like — I mean, she steals stuff, but she doesn’t like killing people, which is more than what you can say for the other villains. I think the only reason she working for them is because she needs them to help someone else.

• I knew there was no way in hell Hiro would stab Ando — using the fake sword and blood was a clever plan. Poor Hiro — I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten a concussion from all the times he’s been hit in the head this season — twice in this episode by the African man. Of course, it turns out it was a test. I liked the African’s statement that Hiro was relying too much on his powers and that he needed to use his head. I think it applies to all the heroes — especially Peter at this point.

• Sylar takes Peter out of his coma to help their mother, which may or may not have been a bad idea. I definitely like Sylar a whole lot more. He’s really trying hard to change, and his fondness for his mother — who he hardly knows — shows it. I’m wondering why he was given up for adoption, though. It sucks that he lost the fight against Peter, because for once I actually wanted him to win. Peter’s so nuts now that I’m not sure it’s safe having him outside the company.

• Peter … ugh. He was never my favorite, but now he's just annoying. I mean, he blames Sylar for the hunger when it was Peter who forced Future-Sylar to give him is power in the first place, and then when Present-Sylar tries to stop him from going into Pinehearst with his guns drawn, he beats the crap out of him. I hope loosing his powers will be a humbling experience because I my really sick of his “I know all” attitude.

• Arthur Petrelli’s power is definitely interesting — apparently he can suck life force and powers from others. Not only did he kill the immortal Adam Monroe (rather anti-climatically, considering the man lived for 400 years), but in a WTH moment, he steals Peter’s powers by hugging him. He kind of has another version of Peter and Sylar’s power: Peter can mimic powers, Sylar kills to steal powers, and Arthur can take powers away completely.

Praise: A good episode. I really feel after the “Sophomore Slump” of last season, “Dying in the Light” proves the writers are really on track to making the show as good as the first season, by having some plot development, a little bit of action and mystery, a heck of a cliffhanger, and showing how ordinary these characters really are on the inside.

Complaints: This episode Peter wasn’t that smart at all. I mean, sure he thought Arthur (his father) was dead, but why would Peter hug him? I mean, father or not Arthur’s the head of an evil company — wouldn’t Peter think something was up?

Best Part: Like I said, the Daphne/Matt exchanges were sweet, but I think the best part was the fight between Peter and Sylar. Peter’s obvious enjoyment of beating Sylar up (not to mention his, “I’m the most special" statement) shows how the two of them have literally switched roles since the beginning of the season.

Grade: A