Stronger than the hour that follows it, the first episode of Monday’s Heroes 2010 debut double bill, ‘Upon This Rock,’ focuses on Claire’s exploration of the carnival and her attempts to learn more about Samuel. Spotting that he has her father’s Company files in his trailer, she attempts to break in and take a closer look. Unfortunately the Replicating Man is keeping an eye on her and is determined to stop that from happening.
This tension leads into a small set piece inside the hall of mirrors which Claire uses to confuse her pursuer. Though enjoyable as a piece of irony, this sequence did feel almost underwhelming in how quickly it was over. It is also a little puzzling in precisely where in the hall Claire is standing and where she produces a stool from.
The disappointment this causes could be ignored had what she discovers in Samuel’s trailer been fascinating but instead the revelation there is almost mundane. It is certainly much less shocking than Claire obviously seems to believe it is given that it reaffirms with what Samuel has been saying throughout the season.
Much more successful however are the flashbacks we see to Samuel’s adolescence in which we see him talking with his brother. In these short sequences we hear them talking about a character we have yet to meet and learn more about what motivates and drives him. I suspect that there is more to come and that we may be seeing this character at some point soon.
While Claire investigates his trailer, Samuel attempts to persuade yet another person with abilities to join his family. This time it is Emma, the hospital file clerk, whose ability has previously seemed unimpressive at best.
Pleasingly this episode revealed that her powers extend further than just seeing pretty colors in place of sounds and that her ability has an actual practical use. In this episode we learn what this is and see a demonstration of how it works. What results from this is that the character now feels more important to the ongoing story and no longer quite as out of place as she has seemed in previous episodes.
If the scenes with Emma are the most successful element of this first episode then Hiro’s storyline is the weakest. Still suffering from a mental attack at the hands of Samuel’s henchman, he is unable to communicate except through pop culture references. It is as if the writers had forgotten just how frustrating Season Three’s “Hiro thinks he’s a ten year old” storyline was.
The episode ends with a funeral being held for Nathan which led into a Petrelli family gathering in the second half of the Heroes double bill, ‘Let It Bleed.’
In this episode it seems that the death of Nathan is affecting those close to him as Claire becomes furious with Noah for having been a part of the decision to turn Sylar, her sworn enemy, into Nathan. Elsewhere Peter is being reckless, ignoring his own safety in his grief as he tries to save people from a gunman.
Clearly we are supposed to interpret this recklessness as an indication that Peter is beset with grief. Unfortunately this development loses some of its impact given that we have seen him undertake similar reckless feats throughout the course of this season. That said, Milo Ventimiglia does a fine job of exploring his character’s grief in the quieter scenes he shares with Hayden Panettiere’s Claire.
Elsewhere, Noah is holding super-fast Edgar (Ray Park) captive in an ice locker. He tries to interrogate him to discover what Samuel’s purpose is and appears on the verge of torturing him when Lauren (Elizabeth Rohm) intervenes and tells him that torture will be less effective than just talking with him. In doing so she suggests that Noah may well be as interested in taking vengeance for the injuries he sustained at Edgar’s hands as in the information.
The change of tactics appears to pay off as the three realize they might be able to work to take Samuel down but as they talk Edgar realizes that Noah’s plan would mean an end for the carnival and his family. Escaping and taking the information he had given them with him, the episode does not appear to have driven the story forward although it does remind us of the extent of Noah’s dark side. It also shows us that Lauren is able to get through to him and prevent him from going too far, justifying the storyline from a character standpoint.
Meanwhile at the carnival, Samuel is caught off-guards by the sudden reappearance of a reinvigorated Sylar who has returned in order to kill and steal the powers of the carnies. This results in a tense showdown as Samuel is pinned up against the door of his trailer, appearing almost helpless before he unleashes his own devastating attack on Sylar.
Visually this sequence is pretty exciting but, as with Claire’s showdown in the previous episode, it is all over too quickly. More frustrating still are the scenes that follow in which the reason that Sylar was defeated is spelled out by Lydia.
It turns out that Hiro’s comment to Sylar that he will never be loved have left an emotional scar on him that he cannot shake off, rendering him unable to kill. As revelations go, this one is really frustrating and borders on the ludicrous as it once more turns Sylar into a shell of himself.
Keen to get hold of her powers and discover how he might become whole again, Sylar uses the technique Arthur Petrelli taught him in the previous season to take her power without killing. Quite why he doesn’t do the same to take Samuel’s is something of a mystery however, given that he already knows how powerful it can be. He does however persuade Samuel to use his tattoo ink power to help him figure out that next step and learn where he should be.
The episode keeps back the identity of the person he sees in the tattoo until its final scene. The revelation is far from shocking though it should be interesting to see where this story will go from here. As an ending to a two-hour midseason premiere however it feels disappointingly low-key.
Clearly originally designed to be two separate episodes, neither benefits from being sandwiched together with the other. The first is the stronger of the two hours but both proceed slowly, meandering towards this moment. Given that neither episode contains a huge revelation or set piece, pairing them together has the effect of making them seem less special rather than more so. It also left me feeling tired rather than eager for more.
It’s a shame. Had they been presented separately rather than as an ‘event,’ expectations would have been lower and these episodes would have felt more satisfying. Taken together the episodes make for a frustratingly uneven start to the back half of season four.
– Aidan Brack
