Heroes Watch: Adam and Evil

"A little faster on the trigger, slower on the mouth, people!"

What kind of story would it be if the supervillain didn't monologue? Sadly you have to take some liberties with realism. I mean, why couldn't Parkman's dad just put Adam Monroe into a dream he wouldn't be able to wake from? Would have made more sense than putting him in a room with a view.

I hate to be inarticulate, but after last night's episode I really just want to give up on the whole thing. The story is just not compelling, I know they are going to "save the world" again, and there is nothing compelling about any of the side stories which I'm sure will all miraculously tie into the main storyline in some sort of mass meet-up a la last season. Plus you have to wonder what would have happened without the strike if they had played the same storyline out over 22 episodes instead of only 13. How many more random side-stories could there have been just to hear the NBC announcer claim "only 12 episodes left!! This week 5 heroes will die... but which ones!?!?" .. Oh boy.

Of course you COULD put a video of yourself using your powers on you tube, and of course all the commenters would scream fake! Fake! Fake!

People generally disregard anything that radically rewrites their worldview. And once you do reveal yourself, those folks "in the know" so to speak will be on to you... so its unlikely you'll see a second "reveal" video. You'd either be dead or in a lab somewhere.

In reguards to the Superhero genre, I think Pixar's The Incredibles said it best:

"Your identity is your most valuable possession. Protect it."

Protecting the alter ego of a superhero has long been a corner stone of the comic book genre. Much in the same way that movie stars try to protect their private life (to varying degrees of success) superheroes try to protect their private life and their loved ones. Usually the reason ties back into the danger that is involved with the superhero life. Spider-man was traumatized by the death of Gwen Stacey and the same thing would no doubt happen to Superman if Lois Lane was killed as well. (Ditto for the always multiplying X-men, Avengers and powerful-magical-suited-teenagers in Japanese Manga.)

It's an old premise but it still resonates because who wouldn't try to protect their family from evil?

Brian:

If he really can, why doesn't he claim the million dollar prize from the Amazing Randi who offers the prize to, " to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event." Oh that's right, he can't. Unicorns don't exist either.

http://www.randi.org/research/index.html

Some of the usual reasons were already given in this episode: Retaliation strikes against family members, no cover life to retreat to, etc. Then add in the social pariah aspects: you are a freak that the entire world hates, etc.
Although Claire's powers are rather nonthreatening: it's simply tougher to incapacitate her (guns and tasers would be ineffective; you'd need to resort to brute force, i.e. sitting on her chest until you get her cuffed). Although I suppose it would be tougher to take Claire into custody; she'd just dislocate whatever she needed to to get the cuffs into a useful position and then sever her hands and slide the cuffs off the stumps before they grew back.

As far as the actual episode itself? Extremely weak. Much like the third to last episode last season, it exists solely to move the pieces around to their finale positions without any regard for common sense. E.g.: Hiro and Peter literally have all the time in the world to talk things out (since they've stopped time); instead, they each utter a sentence or two and then go after each other. Ridiculous.

A friend of mine has made a great point - they know how to kill Adam. They didn't. Yes, he told Peter that they would have killed him if they could have, but that's what Peter needed to hear to trust Adam.

There are some much deeper lines that we haven't touched on, like why Adam wasn't killed, why the virus wasn't destroyed, what were the various powers of the Founders, etc.

The trouble is, we're not going to get to any of those lines, because we're stuck with the New Orleans gang, Sylar and Maya, and HRG. I know a lot of people like the HRG storylines, but especially this season, I've grown sick of them.

If the company was so worried about helping people, why didn't have have a continuous pump in Adam's arm for 30 years collecting gallons and gallons of blood? If the healing power resides in his blood, it would never expire.

Can't we just get 2 hours of Chuck?

Glaring plot hole alert: the idea that shooting Adam in the head would kill him. Didn't we learn from Claire/Peter's "deaths" last season that the "death" only lasts as long as the foreign object is in their head? In other words, once the shard of glass was removed, Peter healed. Claire even alluded to this in her "hurt" speech to West (who went back to terrible acting school in preparation for this week's episode) - she mentioned being stabbed in the head in her littany of harms that befell her.

(Second in that category: didn't New Orleans girl "learn" kung-fu? Why didn't she use it? Or, alternatively, sneak out the same way she snuck in? God I hate lazy writers.)

This season has been flat out terrible - with the exception of last week's episode, we've seen little in the way of interesting characters or plot, and horrific dialogue all around. I mean, when you have Adrian Pasdar, Jack Coleman, Greg Grunberg, and, ahem, KRISTEN BELL on your show, you OWE it to them as actors (not to mention us as an audience) to come up with better plots, better dialogue, and more fully realized characters.

So how to fix it? Well:
1) This whole Wonder Twin thing was a huge mistake. It should have gone away.

2) Sylar should have died at the end of last season, permanently (or, at least, for a full season). He's too cartoonish a villain - give me nuanced evil, a la "The Others" on Lost.

3) I'm turning the corner on Adam Monroe/Takezo Kensei - I like the Swiftian idea that a man who has "lived forever" (or at least 400 years) would embrace and pursue an agenda that would eliminate all existence (including, you must presume he hopes, himself). Still, I feel he needs a little more power - just being indestructable isn't all that useful....sure he can't die, but he also can't do anything cool in a fight or to force others to do his will.

4) The one saving grace of this show could be Elle in the company storyline. Seeing her deteriorating relationship with her "father", her realization that she has been ruined by the Company and that they turned her into a monster (leading to real remorse, and a battle against her own internal demons)....well, THAT is a plot line worth following.

When we hit the end-of-show showdown between Peter and Hiro, where they could've sorted the whole misunderstanding about whether Adam is good or evil out with a brief 30 second conversation (time is stopped, for Pete's sake!), and instead they proceeded to go at each other with lightening and a samurai sword, I hit the TWOP leve: "Shut up, show!"

But, you know I'll be back next week because *someone will die!* (Please let it be Mohinder!)

Agree with Dave and C. Brown that it does make sense that there isn't mass public awareness of people with abilities - surely a few would try, which would just lead the company straight to them. And nobody else who saw the video would believe them, would just think they are faking it. Other mutants would be scared of being labeled freaks and kept in labs all the time, others would want to protect loved ones from the accompanying dangers.

I was not really frustrated with the episode last night, but I do feel like the season has been pretty lack-luster, it feels like a lot of slow build-up and now there is just one episode left to tie everything together and wrap everything up. Not very satisfying, especially when the tangential storylines are still barely linked together. And where the heck has Parkman been? And why has Peter not tried to contact his brother? I have really enjoyed this season, more so than most other folks, from the blog comments, but it is just not totally satisfying. . .

Agree with Jane that Mohinder should die. I REALLY REALLY can't stand him anymore. I hated him the first season - waffling and whining. I really liked him at the beginning of this season, and then he went to crap again. Whining, no backbone, letting himself be manipulated by basically everyone around him. He serves no real purpose except for being apparantly the only character who knows a bit about science. But I always groan when he starts talking.

I like Mohinder. I identify with him as an idealist. Then again I'm incredibly wishy washy. I would like to see them pare down the cast though or focus more on one character at a time rather than trying to fill as much crap as they can into an episode.

Mohinder is an idiot.

Easy answer to Sylar last night.

"Dude...you touch her and I hunt you down like a dog and stick a shiv in your left eye."

Peter's use of telepathy on Veronica but not on Adam is a major plot hole.

Corey, I completely disagree. Not using the mind meld on Adam is totally in character for Peter.

Peter is both naive and a Good Guy; he doesn't have a cynical bone in his body. You don't use tactics like that on your friends/allies. Adam is a Good Guy, Peter's partner in saving the world and he, Peter, does not doubt Adam. Victoria is a Bad Guy, she made a very bad virus and is part of the Company, so Peter will use what he considers desperate measures to obtain the information.

Nathan would have done it. Peter would not have.

@ Chaddog

I am wondering if Adam Monroe might have more powers than just regeneration. I mean, Parkman could read minds, but then he stretched and was able to trap his father in a nitemare world. The Haitian as a child had originally presented as a memory-eraser, but then he could also dampen people's abilities around him. Peter and DL were both shown sharing their own abilities temporarily with others. Has there been any indication that after 400 years of scheming Adam might have expanded his own abilities somehow?

Love your idea about Elle being a possible saving grace - her arc has real potential to be compelling, interesting, and powerful. And Kristen Bell can do anything, IMO.

I've desperately tried to think of a big-picture reason for Maya and her power to even exist, and Sylar and his manipulation of her. If that storyline doesn't go somewhere fast, I'm gonna be furious that that it existed in the first place, since it has been so slow and basically uneventful.

I do agree with the TVWatcher from EW that Sylar has become a more interesting villian since he has had to rely on his own mind and manipulative abilities, rather than his "acquired" ones, but still - the storyline must go somewhere. The scene where he told Maya about killing his mom was, I thought, well played - he actually told her basically the truth - that he tried to show his mom that he was unique and special, she rejected him, and he lost control. I started wondering if there was any way, in the midst of all his scheming and evil manipulation, if Syler was actually able to relate to what Maya was going through on any meaningful level. Proby not, she is likely just a toy for him to play with, cat-n-mouse style, but their relationship does now have some interesting elements.

Didn't somebody say that the virus can't be passed from person to person? I saw someone mention that on another blog, but don't remember seeing it in the show. It may just mutate and go airbourne. On the other hand, if the virus is going to require a delivery mechanism, I wonder if Mohinder will take the virus from the company to destroy it, Sylar will steal it, and Maya will somehow be his instrument to release it (seeing as how she could infect a whole neighborhood block party with black oil death with a bit of hysterics). I can't think of another semi-plausible way of that storyline playing out. . . Unless Maya comes to her senses and finds some way to absorb the virus instead. The idea of two supervillans both trying to bring about an apocalypse does appeal to me - in an almost Whedonesque sense, like when Wolfram and Hart wanted to thwart an apocalypse because it wasn't THEIR apocalypse. Or maybe the writers have a much, much better idea? We shall see. . .

My hope for the next episode: Maya and Sylar go to Texas to follow Mohinder to the virus. They end up with the virus in New Orleans, and both plot lines are wiped out by the napalm.