Heroes 1.16: "Unexpected"

Written by Jeph Loeb
Directed by Greg Beeman

Right off the bat, we meet the newest addition to the superhuman gang: Hana. Hana is more than happy to use Ted the Nuclear Man as a weapon against Mr. Bennett’s organization, which serves to bring him back into the story at just the right time. Matt continues to struggle with his personal predicament, caught between wanting to do what’s right and wanting to protect what’s left of his tattered world. His choices drive a wedge between him and his wife. This simply adds to his desire to find some outlet for his frustration, and Mr. Bennett is the perfect target. Ted and Hana give him one more reason and the perfect opportunity.

Faced with her mother’s worsening condition, Claire may be gathering the desire to fight her father’s agenda directly. That fits right into the Haitian’s plans for a resistance, which in turn may mesh with the developments with Ted and Hana. She’s run out of nearly every other option she can think of, so who else could she turn to? Considering how the episode ended, it looks like she’ll be caught between her family and her desire for answers.

For his part, at the beginning of the episode, Mr. Bennett is sent after Peter and Claude by Isaac, who seems to be operating out of less than altruistic motivations. It also doesn’t help that Isaac’s jealous of someone as mind-numbingly boring as Simone. It still doesn’t make sense that Peter and Isaac would be so taken by Simone, given her utter lack of energy. She’s also not particularly smart. Nathan’s the last person who would lead the charge to expose the super-humans to the public, given his political aspirations and his fear that Peter could become a liability. She was well aware of that fact, so why expect Nathan to change his mind at this stage of the game?

Whatever the case, Peter has managed to learn enough to save himself and Claude when it counts. And of course, that all comes together during the fight in the final act. Frankly, it was fun to watch Peter take out his anger on Isaac, because he was finally starting to use his multiple abilities in concert. Simone’s death should serve to divide them further, but it’s hard to feel bad about her admittedly shocking demise. That love triangle was one of the least interesting aspects of the series.

Somewhat apart from the rest of the interconnected action, Mohinder and Sylar find someone else from his father’s list, a woman in Montana with the ability of “super hearing”. This particular ability threatens to expose Sylar’s dishonesty, which is an unexpected twist. For that matter, Mohinder’s potential inhibitor presents a threat to Sylar’s plans. This episode gives us a better understanding of Sylar’s ability to take on new abilities and adjust to the effect. In this case, after several hours, Sylar was still having difficulty with Dale’s ability. If Mohinder hadn’t been distracted by Dale’s murder, he might have put two and two together. It certainly seems as though it won’t be long.

Hiro’s attempt to act tough is awfully amusing, but it’s a nice bit of character development. It’s just another expression of his emerging heroism and confidence. His assumptions are also challenged by Mr. Grumpy Agent. At least his abilities kicked in when the time was right. That’s an interesting connection to Peter’s situation. Hiro’s decision to leave Ando behind is a test for both of them. (Nice cameo by Stan Lee in the final act!)

In the typical arc driven series, the complication phase of the season arc comes to an end with a major twist, leading into the resolution phase, around episodes 16-18. Certainly the events of this episode point to something major in the very near future. The situation at the Bennett house would be the most sensible place for that to happen, though one would also expect something equally explosive for Peter and Hiro. Things are definitely coming together, and there’s been no end to the surprises along the way. The final six episodes should be one hell of a ride!

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10