Hayden Panettiere by Trae Patton/NBC
Episode Recap: "The Kindness of Strangers"This wasn’t the strongest episode of the second season, but it did offer some insight. Not every chapter of a story is meant to be entertaining. Each chapter has a purpose: Some may hold solutions, while others bridge the gaps between clues. I know many have complained about the increase of characters. The truth is, in order to have death, we need more life. I can’t think of a former Hero I am ready to part with, so if a newbie bites the dust, I won’t feel so bad. However, I’d like Micah’s cousin to stick around for a while. Not the bratty wrestling fan — the other cousin. Monica Dawson is a fast learner. When Monica sees something — a somewhat simple task (I’m sure she can’t regenerate or fly by viewing) — she can mimic it. For example, she carved a tomato into a rose and used a "pro" wrestling move on a thief. I think she can only perform this “power” when she sees something o...
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Peter has made some new friends. Holt McCallany by Chris Haston/NBC
Episode Recap: "Kindred"I always doubted Candace’s “death.” In the season finale, she was lying on the floor defeated and lifeless, but it didn’t make sense. If she had died, her body would have changed to its original physical appearance. From the remarks she made about her weight and eating habits, I knew she wasn’t the thin, pretty brunette from last season or the tall redhead from this episode. Sylar proved my theory correct: she was an older, overweight woman. We know this, because — and please, stop reading if you haven’t watched the episode yet — he killed her.Sylar returned and he’s weak. Why can’t he use his powers? Has he simply forgotten how, or are his injuries so severe that his body can’t handle it? I think it has something to do with the Company. The Company has something to do with everything.Monhinder’s new workspace is Isaac’s old apartment. Nice move NBC, you saved money and time on settings and ba...
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Can Mrs. Petrelli be saved? Cristine Rose by Trae Patton/NBC
Episode Recap: "Lizards" Warning. This is your SPOILER ALERT! If you have not watched this week’s episode, please do not read this blog/recap until you do . . . Leapin' regenerating lizards! I jumped out of my seat at the end of the show and did a happy dance. This episode was all about the heroes we know, love and have missed!We knew Peter survived. We also knew he got a haircut and lost his memory. Does “the box” really hold his past? I’m glad to see he still has all of his powers. When Caitlin was washing off his blood, I thought, “Why hasn’t he healed yet?” And then: ta-da! The blood was gone and no marks remained. I was surprised to see that Mr. Nakamura’s death made California news. Did that shock anyone else? I know the guy was a big time CEO in Japan, but he was murdered in New York and I don’t see why his death was front page news in Cali (maybe because the west coast is closer to Japan?) — but I’m glad it did, because ...
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Can't get enough of Heroes? Thanks to cast member Adrian Pasdar, fans can get a special behind the scenes look at some of their favorite actors from the show. Pasdar has posted a series of videos on YouTube under the name "Buckshotwon." "They're little snapshots into the life of what we do when we're not filming," he says. The videos range from simple — Hayden Panettiere shopping for shoes in Paris — to stylized — Milo Ventimiglia and Jack Coleman doing an improv Pellegrino commercial during an airport layover. Of course, Pasdar has his favorites. "There's a cute one of Hayden at the Georges V Paris playing hide and seek with the camera," he says of a piece filmed during the Heroes World Tour. Another fave is shot through the sunroof of a limo containing Ali Larter. One of Pasdar's best subjects is pal Greg Grunberg. "My stuff's really silly," says Grunberg of the videos featuring him. "That's a side of me people don't really see on the show." If the postings seem t...
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Will this be the last we see of Mr. Nakamura? George Takei by Chris Haston/NBC
Episode Recap: "Four Months Later...." (September 24, 2007)Of all the shows I follow, this was the premiere that had me fidgeting in my cubicle all day. I have never missed an episode. I nearly fell out of my chair when I received an email this past summer, saying that I would be the new Heroes blogger. This blog is important to TV Guide and Heroes fans alike. I myself used to read it every Tuesday morning before and after meeting my co-workers around the Heroes water-cooler. Needless to say, I hope I live up to all of your expectations, because this show just gets better and better!First off, the symbol. You know what I’m talking about - the RNA strand that pops up everywhere. Tonight, it was painted in red on Mrs. Petrelli and Mr. Nakamura’s (may he rest in hero peace) torn photos, drawn by Molly, fashioned around Peter’s (he lives!) neck and carved within the handle of the famous Kensei/Hiro sword. So, what exactly does it mean? One known fact: When you receive a p...
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Masi Oka, Heroes
Question: Now that the season has ended, I can't help but wonder which actors on Heroes have a good shot at Emmy nominations. Masi Oka pretty much goes without saying, but Jack Coleman and Zachary Quinto have been equally memorable in their roles and are just as deserving of a nod. But do they have a chance, too, or has Hiro's popularity rendered them obsolete? On another note, I'd like to give a little shout-out to Greg Grunberg as Matt Parkman. His performance is certainly not award-worthy, but the guy's a better actor than people give him credit for. Case in point: His portrayal of an evil version of Parkman, in which he was able to be menacing without going over the top.
Answer: Everyone at TV Guide loves Greg Grunberg. What a great guy, and so deserving of his success on the show. (Who else could survive taking all those bullets in the chest?) As for Emmy hopes, let's figure Masi Oka can survive the genre jinx and break through. I'm not convinced it will happen, but it should.
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For months, the thing about Heroes that bothered me most was Milo Ventimiglia’s hair: specifically, that dreaded dangling forelock Peter Petrelli kept playing with, as if in thrall to a fetish. I’ve long wanted the boy to get a haircut. But not like this!Quite the horrifying climax to the March cliff-hanger (no new episodes until April 23), as Sylar pinned that dupe Mohinder to the ceiling while slicing into Peter Petrelli’s skull to see why Peter ticks like Sylar, only less murderously. Blood drops from Peter’s forehead onto the floor, followed by that hank of hair. I cringed, then I cheered. Well done.The episode was a crackerjack thrill ride with one reversal after another. Simone rising from the dead? Shut up! It’s really Candice, the slinky shape-shifter! Mrs. Bennet betraying her hubby, in cahoots with The Company? Shut up! It’s really Candice, the slinky shape-shifter! What fun.By the way, I love how the writers have evolved HRG from sinister man...
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There’s a reason Heroes gets first billing over 24 this week in describing Monday’s explosive episodes of these head-to-head thrillers. (In one, a man-made bomb went off. In the other, a man WAS the bomb, and he set off a firestorm of plot complications.) Simply put, Heroes blew 24 away in what was easily the freshman fantasy’s finest, most sensationally entertaining episode. It was one of those turning-point, game-changing episodes that could launch an already successful show to the top tier of can’t-miss TV (a status some bestowed on Heroes even before it hit its recent stride).Not that 24 was playing dead. But even detonating the bomb in an assassination attempt against President Not-David Palmer wasn’t enough to rouse this show from its midday stupor. (Spoiler alert: According to the previews, it looks like the blast was effective enough to take Wayne out of commission long enough for Vice President Cy Tolliver McEvil to take charge for a while.) What a ...
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I had been anxiously awaiting the outcome of the situation we were left with last week: Ted and Matt had HRG up against a wall… his own wall, where his happy little family picture hangs untouched, lying to anyone who enters. Inside the Texas home, questions were rising higher than the heat from Ted's hands. It was cool to see how Ted and Matt got into the house in the first place. That radioactive power comes in pretty handy for B&Es. I loved the scene between Matt and Claire when Matt was slowly piecing together bits of the past and Claire was too scared to say much out loud so her thoughts became Matt's only guidance. Meanwhile, Ted was going ballistic. (I wonder how it felt for Matthew John Armstrong to be pointing a gun at his real-life wife.) Luckily for Parkman, without The Haitian around, HRG's thoughts were a lot clearer. Interesting how quickly the tables turned and HRG and Matt were working together to get Ted to believe them. "If you're not back in an hour, look ...
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Tonight on Heroes, H.R.G. asks Mohinder, "Are you on the list?"
First there was "Save the cheerleader, save the world." Now we have, "Are you on the list?" But the current catchphrase for NBC's Heroes (returning from hiatus tonight at 9 pm/ET) could just as easily have been, "Peter is the bomb." That's what Vince Manze suggested. As president and creative director of the NBC Agency, the marketing firm that handles Heroes, Manze is responsible for the show's attention-grabbing slogans. "I brought up the idea of ‘Peter is the bomb' at a group meeting, and it got lots of laughs," recalls Manze. "Then I said, ‘Hey, I'm serious!' It didn't fly." Since the slogan was due to hit the air in December, when Heroes was moving into six weeks of repeats, Manze also thought of a Santa Claus tie-in — something along the lines of, "Are you on my list?" That didn't fly, either. This, after all, is a wei
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