Episode 17 - Cold Wars
27 July 2009
Review
Synopsis: Matt gets inside Noah’s head and sees how he came to work with Nathan and Danko. From this information Peter finds Noah’s secret storage locker, but there are cameras inside. Although Peter escapes it attracts Danko’s men to the area and they capture Mohinder and Matt. Peter confronts Danko and shoots him in the arm but Nathan arrives to talk him down and he flees. Peter rescues Matt from Nathan’s men after discovering that Daphne is still alive. Nathan uses Daphne’s injured state to coerce Mohinder into helping him. We learn that Noah is secretly working with Angela. Matt paints the future with Washington being blown up and himself covered in suicide bomber explosives.
The Good: I give the Heroes writer’s huge credit for the conception of this episode. They focus on one story as Noah’s motives come into sharp focus and as a result we learn more about how Danko, Nathan, Mohinder and Matt all feel about what is going on. The echoes of Company Man (117) are strong (the black and white flashbacks being the most obvious) but very welcome. The focus on individual characters and their emotional reactions to the wider arc plot is an ideal plan to make the rest of the season really matter to the viewer.
Noah remains a man of mystery and credit to him for the emotionless way he plays the role. Its ironic that he comes across as mysterious because the motives of doing good and protecting his family which were fully explored in Company Man remain as true here as they have done throughout the shows history. Ultimately it would seem Noah is working with Angela because he believes that what Danko and Nathan are doing is wrong but he wants to work for good from the inside. Its predictable but consistent characterisation. However there is a hint to more depth thrown in. Noah admits to Angela that “this is all I’ve ever known.” We see him lost at home in Costa Verde doing crossword puzzles and forgetting to use a coaster. We get the strongest possible impression that deep down for all his good intentions, he is now addicted to being on the road and in the game. It’s a fascinating glimpse into his psyche and owing to Heroes patchy record of characterisation this may turn out to be the only time it is addressed. But credit for addressing it at all.
Through Noah’s flashback memories the writers are able to fill in some important details in the arc plot. Nathan gets a chance to make his case for wanting to find a way to take powers away from people in order keep everyone safe. It’s good to hear him voice his altruistic aims (though see The Bad) because simply locking people up didn’t seem a very loving solution for those who have never used their abilities to harm others. Nathan also points out that his powers were given to him, so he can reasonably assume they can be taken away. It’s a nice link to the revelations of earlier in the season and helps make those hastily abandoned stories seem more relevant.
Seeing Danko’s cameras extend everywhere from Nathan’s state dinner, to Noah’s storage locker even to Danko’s own room shows a necessary thoroughness which allows us to take their hunt more seriously. Showing Nathan acquiring Noah’s files on those with powers (313) also helps explain that little plot hole. The tension between Noah and Danko is pretty solid stuff too. Danko is pretty polite and pretty convincing when he makes the argument that the Company’s methods were not successful. And Noah has a good retort when he says that the wider world didn’t know people had abilities therefore his twenty years of work were effective enough. Danko noticing how fast Nathan arrived is a nice sign post toward the inevitable confrontation once Danko realises that he can fly.
There is more good character interaction between Mohinder and Matt. Matt is driven by his anger over Daphne and is therefore willing to hurt Noah to find out who is responsible. And finally someone mentions Mohinder’s bad behaviour earlier in the season (putting people in cocoons, helping Arthur experiment on others etc). Seeing Mohinder racked with guilt over what he had done is the only way that we can reasonably accept him as the good guy character once more. The idea of him working for Nathan to take away people’s powers has tremendous echoes of season one (120) which should please long-term fans.
The Bad: I don’t enjoy criticising Heroes. I really don’t. Having advocated they slow the story down and focus on one character at a time it feels almost rude to put the boots in on the mistakes which they make along the way. But…
It is funny how a couple of months ago Nathan wanted to give powers to marines so that they could save the world (311). He claimed then that it was impossible not to want to save the world by giving everyone powers. Now his view is the opposite and taking those powers away is the “only” solution. It’s not this u-turn, or even the speed of it which bothers me too much. It’s that there isn’t a thorough explanation of his change of mind leaving the viewer to conclude that it just makes for a better story this way.
The last time we saw Matt (315) he literally said “I want them to pay for Daphne.” Now he yells “This isn’t about Daphne, this is about me helping everybody.” He’s fooling no one so it just looks like lazy scripting. Daphne being alive is no surprise to anyone who has watched Heroes long enough. The way her death was breezed over made it obvious that something wasn’t right (315 again).
One of the common problems with Heroes is the lack of definition when it comes to each character’s powers. We have seen Matt create a new reality for people he is fighting (307) and then just simply give them instructions which they are compelled to follow (315). So his claim that Noah has been trained by the company to resist him is just too convenient. I have no problem with that being true, but why does Matt believe that? It would be more plausible if Matt had begun interrogating Noah and then drawn that conclusion independently. As stated it just felt like it was there to serve the drama of the plot rather than reflect what Matt actually believed.
Surely Mohinder or Tracy would have blurted out that Nathan can fly by now?
Even with these smaller details pushed to one side Heroes ultimately fails to find the emotional resonance with this episode that they did with Company Man. There are so many reasons for this. First is just that Company Man came after sixteen episodes of build up where as these flashbacks are covering the events of a few weeks and to us three episodes. Then there is the “twist” that Noah is working with Angela. That doesn’t mean much to us. Although Danko is painted as the bad guy and Arthur was before him, Angela has still done very little to make herself likeable. She did collude in the plot to blow up New York so Noah working with her can hardly feel like the untainted good side. You can argue that they are morally grey characters but Heroes hasn’t earned enough respect for me to believe they would be capable of pulling that story off.
Beyond Noah’s emotional resonance the show just lacks a sense of consequence. The final scene shows Matt as a suicide bomber destroying Washington. He has painted a huge mural on the floor which looks exactly like Isaac Mendez’ painting of New York. It’s such a clear signal that like New York didn’t blow up (123) neither will Washington. Each of Heroes volumes has predicted an apocalyptic event and on each occasion it hasn’t come true. So now all the detail poured into Danko and Nathan’s operation can essentially be seen as pointless. We now seem sure to end this season with their operation swept away and Washington surviving this event unscathed. Daphne coming “back from the dead” reminds you that no one popular dies on this show. It’s that sense that nothing you are seeing will really change the show that undercuts all the brooding drama surrounding Noah’s motives.
The Unknown: What is Angela’s goal in all this? What is Noah’s and what have they planned together?
Best Moment: Peter shooting Danko. It was nice to see Peter show some willing and Danko reacted with pain but there was no overt dramatisation of the moment. No music, no screams. Just blood pouring out of Danko’s arms as Nathan desperately tries to convince Peter not to shoot again. Nice grittier action.
Epilogue: The producers of Heroes clearly worked hard on this episode. The focus was strong, the details were better than usual and the whole episode had a gritty, dark feel to it. But the final moments remind you of the formula which underlies the show and undermines its attempts to be dramatic. Until Heroes can prove that its stories have consequence it will remain hollow.
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