Episode 16 - Building 26
18 February 2009
Review
Synopsis: Abby Collins from Homeland Security tries to shut down Nathan’s operation when she sees the torturous conditions he is keeping Tracy in. Danko cuts Tracy loose and she freezes a guard to death. That is enough to convince Abby that Nathan needs more funding to help incarcerate more of the specials. Ando and Hiro go to India so that Hiro can learn he is still a hero without his powers. Sylar and Luke are surrounded at a diner. Luke helps Sylar escape and Sylar eventually comes back to kill the agents sent after him and rescue Luke. A text from “Rebel” leads Claire to rescue Alex who can swim under water. She rescues him from Noah and then tells her mother about his lies. She kicks him out of the house and he ends up drugged and captured by Peter, Matt and Mohinder.
The Good: It’s nice to see Heroes slow things down and focus an episode around fewer characters so that their stories can sink in with the viewer.
Sylar is again the most interesting character on display. Again his dynamic with Luke brings out some interesting parts of his personality. His yearning for a connection with his father give us a glimpse of his humanity. As does his affection for Luke. It’s a really nice bit of storytelling because Sylar seemed as cruel as ever when he left Luke with the agent, even after Luke had saved him from capture. Then later he returns to kill those agents, steal their equipment and of course saving Luke. In his own brutal way it’s one of the few nice things he has done for someone else.
The Abby Collins plot is very simple but makes its point clearly enough. She doubts the idea that anyone has powers, so Danko lets Tracy escape to prove how dangerous she is. Nathan is left playing good cop to Danko’s bad cop and the tension between the two will presumably be an important story as they hunt down more of the heroes. Collins at least raises some important questions about what rights these people should have as American citizens who haven’t committed any crimes.
Claire telling her mother the truth was a welcome relief from yet more tension between her and Noah. Having seen the family torn apart in each season so far it was becoming very tiresome to see them having the same argument over and over. Claire has complained about all the lies, so telling Sandra makes sense. And Noah being asked to leave gives a good sense of consequence to his duplicitous actions. Claire having to protect Alex should be an interesting story for her. If it is headed down the usual romance route then at least he seems far more real a character than West did on first glance.
The final shot of Peter, Matt and Mohinder capturing Noah is a nice ending which should draw viewers back next week.
The Bad: The downside to this episode is mostly the detail work rather than the direction of the stories.
Although Abby Collins raises some good questions about the legal framework of what Nathan is up to, it seems odd that she isn’t better informed. The President had to have been convinced that people with powers existed and yet she arrives as a complete sceptic. She was assigned to this mission by the White House, so you would think she’d have been briefed on how important and serious it was? Tracy looks very foolish for killing one of the guards. Abby had made it clear she was looking to set Tracy free and yet Tracy wasn’t smart enough to beg for help or otherwise draw sympathy from her. She chooses to kill the guard even though she was completely surrounded. So she basically commits murder which would be a life sentence anyway right in front of the women who could help her. Its poor writing and directing. We know what her actions achieved in the story but this was a foolish way to make that point.
Claire and Noah’s arguments lack much depth. He hasn’t done much to disprove his argument; that he only lies and deceives to protect her. He doesn’t have much other motivation as far as we know. He seems like the sympathetic figure in all this because Claire doesn’t offer an alternative solution. It’s all very well for her to say that they shouldn’t lie and shouldn’t lock up innocent people. But she doesn’t seem to appreciate what he is saying about people like Danko who are threatening to lock her up if she doesn’t cooperate.
The entire Hiro and Ando plot feels pointless and counter productive. The actual Indian wedding story is about as basic and unconvincing as television gets. There is no nuance or believability to the acting or the details of the story. The supposedly bad man hits Ando over the head with a sauce pan, kidnaps him and then hands him back after Hiro punches his in public. There’s nothing less convincing than a supposedly criminal business man being intimidated by Hiro. Then there is the interminable argument about fulfilling the prophetic drawing. Haven’t they realised by now that the drawings always come true? Their debate about how Ando has ruined what the picture told them is entirely unconvincing as a result. The biggest problem I had was Hiro being so selfish. Two episodes ago he was working hard to be the best sidekick he could and encourage Ando to be a hero. Now he is moaning and complaining that it should be his destiny. And again the moral of the story (that he can be a hero without powers) seems superfluous because he was already prepared to do that two episodes ago.
The Unknown: A fax comes to Hiro and Ando telling them to save Matt. We know Matt is with Peter, which implies that the rebel isn’t Peter. So if not, who is he?
Best Moment: Nathan’s agents track down Sylar and Luke and put a gun to the “sweet spot” in Sylar’s head. Luke distracts them enough so that Sylar can knock some agents out, smash open the window, grab Luke and escape. But then he jumps in the car, says “thanks for the address” and drives off. It really was a stone cold Sylar moment as Luke is left to get tasered by the agents. It makes his eventual return much more interesting.
Epilogue: A nice sensible episode of Heroes. They focus on four stories, tell each one logically enough and set things up for next week. With a little more detail work and less silly Hiro stories this could have been really good.
Feedback
Add your comments on this episode below. They may be included in the weekly podcasts.
’)