Lower Decks

The following review contains spoilers for Heroes through the current episode, “Building 26″ originally broadcast February 16th, 2009.

After two very disappointing episodes, “Building 26,” third episode of Volume Four: Fugitives, finally displays some promise. There are still plenty of things to complain about (Hiro, for example) but for once there are also a few things to praise. Paradoxically, very little actually happened in this episode aside from additional set up for later episodes. It’s hard to reconcile that with the feeling I had after the episode ended: cautious optimism.

However much I liked “Building 26,” it shouldn’t have taken three episodes for things to finally get underway. Personally, I think the first two episodes of this volume (“A Clear and Present Danger” and “Trust and Blood”) could have been combined into one episode without anything important being cut. We needed a quick introduction to the “regular” lives being led by Claire, Matt, Peter and others. We needed to see Nathan’s forces capturing all our heroes. We needed to see the heroes escape.

We didn’t need Nathan’s lengthy phone conversation in “Trust and Blood.” And we certainly didn’t need Sylar’s constant storyline. But those two episodes have aired, Volume Four is underway, and its best to move on. “Building 26″ attempted to do just that, moving past the plane crash and the teaming up of Peter, Hiro, Matt, Mohinder and Ando. With four running storylines, though, “Building 26″ wasn’t able to spend sufficient time on any of them.

If I had to choose, I would have gotten rid of the Hiro/Ando storyline in India where the two had to stop a wedding in order to fulfill one of Matt’s paintings. It was presumably an attempt to force upon viewers the idea that while the relationship between Hiro and Ando has changed, Hiro’s hasn’t. He’s still the eager beaver he’s always been (except when he was depressed and angst-ridden) and just as heroic as ever, even without his powers.

Yawn. When are we going to see confident, goatee-wearing Hiro depicted in “Collision” and “Hiros” from Volume/Season One?  Given the complexities of time travel I suppose that future version of Hiro may never come to pass due to all the meddling the heroes have done to the time line over the years. But really, Hiro has become a mess of a character, whiny and tiring, and I’m sick of it.

I’m also sick of Sylar (and especially his new sidekick Luke) but the producers of Heroes aren’t going to get rid of him any time soon. I just hope the eventual meeting between Sylar and his father lives up to all the hype. I was thrilled when it looked like Luke had been captured by Danko and his goons but then Sylar had to go and free him. A wonderful opportunity missed.

The Nathan/Abby Collins/Tracy storyline was decent. I could have done without the obvious change of attitude Abby Collins (did everyone recognize Moira Kelly?) had after Tracy broke free and killed an analyst. That she was investigating Nathan at all was unusual given how tight Nathan is supposed to be with the President. If Nathan has the full support of the President, who has the authority to send someone to boss Nathan around?

Tracy, though, finally showed some promise. If only the character hadn’t been written so haphazardly in the past. First she was just a scared woman with a new found ability to freeze people. Then she was a scheming wannabe politician. And now she’s tough as nails with a chip on her shoulder. It would have been interesting if Tracy had simply been written as a regular woman with an ability who is suddenly thrust into the incredible world of Heroes.

Were that the case, there would be more meaning behind Nathan having to chain her up. And it would be much more impressive to see her finally start using her ability in a defensive/offensive — and justifiable — manner. Instead, after seeing her team up with Arthur Petrelli, I don’t really care that she’s in captivity. But it was nice to see her show some real emotion. Maybe she can finally choose a side.

Finally, there’s the Claire/Noah storyline. Claire gets another mysterious text message and goes out to save Alex, the owner of a comic book store. (Is he the owner? He seems quite young. But he was the only one there.) He’s a stereotypical geek, shocked to see a pretty girl walk into his store. After Claire cuts into the palm of her hand and lets Alex see how it heals, he believes that he’s in danger. His ability isn’t helpful at all. He can breath underwater.

Noah tries to convince Claire that she has to be careful, that the government will take her in a heartbeat if she does anything and that she can’t tell her mother. So what does Claire do? She isn’t careful, she does lots of things and she tells her mother all about what Noah is doing. She kicks him out. Claire gets a little verklempt when he leaves but she’s hiding Alex in her closet so she obviously doesn’t care that much.

As “Building 26″ closes, Noah is drugged and dragged away by Peter, Matt and Mohinder. He’s going to get a stern talking to next episode. And to think, he’s only doing what he has to do to keep his daughter safe. Nobody else sees it that way. Poor Noah.

In short, “Building 26″ had two fairly pointless story lines and two somewhat enjoyable story lines. For Heroes these days that’s good news.