Chapter Six - Better Halves

[yellowqueen22]

Hiro (Masi Oka) and his buddy embark on their heroic journey to New York, when they are stopped by a Vegas high-roller who offers them a deal they can’t refuse. As H.R.G (guest star Jack Coleman) sets up a meeting for his daughter Claire (Hayden Panettiere) with her biological parents, she hopes that questions about her newfound indestructibility can be answered. Meanwhile, Isaac (Santiago Cabrera) receives another confusing call from Hiro, but Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) is there this time to pick up the phone and relay a life-saving message. Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) bids farewell to Eden (guest star Nora Zehetner) as he heads back to India to bury his father. An unexpected visitor shows up at Niki’s (Ali Larter) home.

[InLove_with_Chloe]

So, Eden is a bad girl, huh?

Aaaargh, I somehow knew it.

[ShelbyKent]

Originally posted by InLove_with_Chloe
So, Eden is a bad girl, huh?

Aaaargh, I somehow knew it.

Just keep watching.......

[InLove_with_Chloe]

Originally posted by ShelbyKent
Just keep watching.......

Oh, great....thanks.





ALSO:
HOW GREAT WERE ANDO AND HIRO AGAIN, HM?
I simply loved how Ando consoled Hiro when he felt bad cause he couldn't save those Poker-playing gangsters..... That was so sweet.
True friends, I like it.

[Nospam]

Originally posted by ShelbyKent
Just keep watching.......

Just wait until she meets Niki, who convinces her to start stripping in Vegas.

[ShelbyKent]

Originally posted by Nospam
Just wait until she meets Niki, who convinces her to start stripping in Vegas.

Shall we name the eppie "Good Girls Gone to Vegas"?

[Nospam]

Originally posted by ShelbyKent
Shall we name the eppie "Good Girls Gone to Vegas"?

I was thinking more along the lines of "Vegas Strippers Gone Wild XXX", but yours works.

[InLove_with_Chloe]

OK......gotta watch those DVDs now!!!

[goldengait]

Better Halves Episode Review

We open with Mohinder’s voice over: “Evolution is an imperfect—and often violent—process. ” I had an Evolution and Biology professor in college who would always say, “Evolution is a blind watchmaker. ” I never understood what he meant, and I still don’t, but every time I hear Mohinder’s beginning to this episode I expect him to finish my professor’s phrase. Which then always gives me a little mental image of Sylar with the white eyes when he’s painting…. Anyway, this had nothing to do with anything, so now onto the actual review. If anyone can explain why evolution would be a blind watchmaker, I’d be glad for the enlightenment.

I was so happy when the story started moving along with some purpose. It took six episodes, but the show finally found itself a direction that involved more than one or two characters at a time and had a bigger (albeit extremely vague) possible impact and effect. I love the look of pure geek excitement followed by superiority on Hiro’s face when Ando relays the message that he came back from the future and had a sword.

HRG didn’t need to immediately run out and find fake bio-parents for Claire. He’d told her he had just made initial contact with the adoption agency, and that the process could take awhile. Wouldn’t it have been better and safer if he’d left it for awhile longer? C’mon, man, procrastination. Get on board. And I feel so bad for Sandra Bennet when she’s trying to overcompensate about how close she and Claire are… You know HRG is pulling the strings here, but it’s so painfully obvious this poor woman has no clue what really goes on in her household.

DL and Niki’s connection to Linderman and the extensive backstory of the $2 million job confused the hell out of me on first viewing, and I remember thinking it was very badly done. On subsequent viewings I realized the whole story is actually laid out quite elegantly in this episode. The first conversation we finally see between Jessica and Niki in the mirror is awesome. Ali does a great job of playing the two of them differently, and the hair and make-up departments put the finishing touches on perfectly.

Originally the writers were going to take Zach and Claire’s storyline and expand on it by having Zach come out. They decided not to flesh it out entirely onscreen, but they had already been setting it up for a few episodes. A very sweet scene appears in this episode as Zach walks Claire home and tells her he hopes her bio-parents aren’t freaks too, because he likes that she’s special. She asks with a laugh if he’s flirting with her, and he says, “No… believe me, no. ” He follows up by asking if she’s going to “come out” to Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, and the whole moment is very sweet and hesitant. I’m glad they didn’t try to add one more storyline to the multitude they were already juggling, but I can see how it would have made for a few really nice scenes. These two have a cute kind of onscreen chemistry together, and Zach being gay works just fine without it ever being expressly stated as fact.

I love what a large part of Heroes is shot in another language with subtitles. The only other show that I know of that does this as much as Heroes is Lost. I love the universal feel of a show with this many international characters. Plus, come on, Masi is adorable to listen to when he speaks Japanese. And James Kyson Lee improves vastly over the course of the season. I feel so bad for Hiro when he fails to save the gamblers and for the first time feels guilt and responsibility concerning his power. It’s like someone deflated him.

And speaking of the murdered gamblers, it is VERY cool when you realize the person who did the slaughtering on the other side of the door was Jessica. Yikes! Good thing Ando shuffled Hiro away when he did! There’s no way those two would have survived against her. She tore one guy in half! Literally in half! Holy crap.

Woah! We finally get confirmation on what we’d been thinking for awhile about Eden—there’s something fishy about this chick! And poor, gullible Mohinder is just a pawn. And now HRG knows his little girl is involved… Plus, Peter’s put himself on the radar as a possible bird-man like his brother, but HRG has already tried to wrangle a visit with Nathan, so flight running in the Petrelli family is not really news.

The final scene in Niki’s bedroom as DL’s power is revealed is wonderful! Nice to see his power, fun to see Jessica toss him around the room, and Noah steals the scene with his scared run toward his fallen mom. This kid is good! I’m amazed at the scene-stealing capabilities of the three cast members under 18 years old (Adair, Noah, and Hayden). I also love how the end of the scene was shot with tilted camera angles, it was very effective.

Bits and Pieces:

* Cool line: “When you left, I became another person. ”
* Another cool line: “No hustle. Japanese people very lucky. ”
* I’m still loving the little blue Nissan Versa.
* Great snarky line for Sandra: “Is that what you’re callin’ ‘em? The ‘bio-parents’? That’s so cold, and impersonal, and fitting. ”
* The Bennet house is awesome. Check out that kitchen! I’d kill for that kitchen! Mutant Espionage and Torture must pay well.
* Cool how Isaac brushes away the paint to reveal the helix on the shoulder of his painted Niki/Jessica. But uh-oh! Don’t open the door! This one’s trouble, I promise.

Til next episode, or visit my website for more reviews!
GoldenGait