Episode 21 - Into Asylum
27 July 2009
Review
Synopsis: James Martin, a shape shifter kills four of Danko’s men. Sylar offers to help find him. Danko agrees and they track him to a club. Martin takes Sylar’s form and Danko shoots him. Sylar takes his ability and they claim that Sylar is dead. Angela takes refuge in the church where she was married and confesses to Peter about all the mistakes she has made trying to save the world. Peter shares his anger with God. Nathan takes Claire to Mexico to figure out their next move. To make money Nathan takes on some young guys in a tequila drinking contest. Claire helps him win and they share their feelings over their relationship.
The Good: Once more I applaud Heroes’ attempt to slow things down, add character definition and make the story seem more important than the action.
Danko and Sylar carry the main story forward here as they strike a macabre deal. Danko shows a human side briefly which helps us understand his hypocritical decision (see Best Moment). After forcing out Nathan because he had powers, Danko has now turned to Sylar to help him round up all those with power. It’s a good twist in the tale and there is so much the producers could do with this story and with Danko’s character that it would be a shame if this is all wrapped up by the end of the season. Certainly we can assume that Danko will come to regret his deal with the devil.
Sylar’s motivations are pretty clear. He always wanted to be special and if he is the only one left with abilities, what could be more special? It’s a nice touch to see Danko notice Sylar’s predilection for taking on accents and playing roles (see 114, 115, 210 and 312 for examples). It definitely fits with Sylar’s desire to find acceptance, status and love (as Arthur exploited earlier in the season). Of course Sylar gaining a shape shifting ability and wiping out all those with powers is no new idea. It was exactly what he was doing in the future in “Five Years Gone” (120). It’s encouraging to see the producers moving the story in this direction. It gives you faith as a viewer that there is a grander plan for the story and that your attention to detail is being rewarded.
I liked Noah’s reaction to seeing Sylar’s corpse. He looked deeply suspicious and left looking confused at how Danko could have done it. It would make sense for Noah not to really believe Sylar was dead after what he has been through (113, 302, 311).
Angela finally opens up to Peter and apologises for being distant when he was growing up. She also tells him that no one would believe her when she dreamt of impending disaster and so she turned to manipulation and lies to try and save the world. Her deceptions cost her her friends, her husband and her relationship with her sons. It’s again very rewarding to hear all that and Angela is one of the few characters who has been well characterised throughout the run of the show. Her explanation fits very well with what we have seen from her over the years. It’s also easier to accept her as a good person now that we hear she was always trying to save the world, even when resorting to mass murder (121).
Finally it’s nice to see Claire and Nathan spend some quality time together. Considering the myriad of emotions that they both must feel toward one another, it had to happen at some stage in the show. I like the drinking contest as a plot because it’s rare that we see characters use a non-power related solution to their problems. I also enjoyed a couple of touches of realism in the direction here. First the guy drinking with Claire interrupts her in the middle of a sentence as drunk people do to talk about his own parents. Second the Mexican hostel owner giving Claire a look which says “weirdo” when she explains that she is “only” Nathan’s biological daughter. Like he cares.
The Bad: Despite the effort at characterisation, some of it doesn’t communicate as well as it might.
Peter’s anger at God just didn’t ring true. This is primarily a result of Peter not being characterised consistently. His story in season one was relatively consistent and revolved around him being a deeply caring, selfless idealist. But since then his journey has been less easy to follow. He found a new girl and forgot about her (207). He seemed to be turning into Sylar (305) but then lost all his abilities (306). He tried to prove he could still be a hero by shooting at a bunch of Haitians (311). Then he got a new job (314) before spending the last few episodes trying to convince Nathan to stop hunting people. His anger at God seems an odd target for his frustrations. Most of his problems have come from his family and their machinations. I suppose the real problem with this scene is that “confronting God” should be a huge dramatic moment for a character who is not normally religious (see The West Wing 222). But this doesn’t feel appropriate for where Peter is at. I’m still not sure where he is at either.
That scene also reminded me of Nathan’s religious experience upon waking from the dead (301). It’s difficult to take Peter’s religious belief seriously considering Nathan’s faith has been dropped from the story with no explanation given for his resurrection.
Similarly Claire and Nathan’s confrontations lack an obvious direction or purpose. Her claim that he was supposed to be Super-Man is slightly confused. Does she mean because he saved the world (123) or because she idealised her biological father when growing up? Either way it seems an odd way to hold him to account for hunting those with powers. Also he says he has no plan to save them but in the next scene has one and she rejoins him, which seemed like needless writing.
Finally the murder of James Martin is clumsily handled. It’s not explained why Martin takes Sylar’s form when that could easily attract the real Sylar’s attention. But then Danko shoots him with the door open leading to the club, but no one notices. Even if the shot was drowned out by noise wouldn’t a bouncer be watching the doors? It’s not as if Danko couldn’t flash his credentials to get rid of any inconvenience. Sylar also manages to get out of Danko’s car and up onto the roof of a building in a split second. That isn’t possible. Sylar can’t fly, teleport, jump, run, skip or do anything else physically like that as far as we know. If his telekinesis can suddenly be used to push him through the air then that needs to be explained.
The Unknown: Did Peter make a deal with God in his mind? Or was he speaking figuratively? Who is Angela’s sister and what power does she have? What did Angela dream? Now that Peter has touched Angela, does he have her power?
Best Moment: After seeing three of his men dead on the floor Danko retires to his car. He puts on some music, he grabs a cigarette and we see his hands shaking. It’s refreshing to see him show normal emotions of stress and grief over the deaths of his men. It humanises him and it provides him with a plausible reason to seek Sylar’s help.
Epilogue: Heroes still doesn’t consistently characterise its characters well. But at least it’s trying.
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