Thurston McQ wrote:I'm leaving the US for a week with my father on some island...

Well don't go and get yourself Lost.

Since Ipsy is slacking again....here's the latest BTE

Anyone watch last night? I liked the episode. Probably the best of the new chapter. Loved that John Glover is Syler's pop. I hope we get to see more of him. He's great.

Anyone that watched, did they reveal who "The Rebel" is? Was it the person with Claire at the end of the episode? Seems like that is what they are telling us, but maybe that was just a coincidence?

I've heard the next new episode, (in 2 weeks), is supposed to be even better than this one. Looking forward to it!

I'm still here, too. Thanks for picking up the slack, Teek. I also liked this week's episode and I liked John Glover, too. I'm going to be a snob and say that I remember him from before Smallville was even a glint in someone's eye and he played a Trill terrorist on Deep Space Nine.

Oh yeah?? Well I remember him from before DS9 was a glint in someone's eye when he was the Magnavolt saleman in Robocop 2!



I had to confirm that his Robo role was pre-DS9, so I was looking at his IMDB page...I forgot that he was in Scrooged. I love that movie!

If we wanna talk John Glover, we should start a new thread....

Back to Heroes. Ipsy, who do you think is the Rebel? Is it Nathan as is implied at the end of this week's episode? If it is, why was he under-mining his operation from the get-go? Makes no sense.

Also, what is Pop Gray's power? It seemed like he was whistling to sort of mesmerize his prey. So is that one of his many powers, and some sort of mimicry, (a la Sylar and Peter), is his original power? I wish he would have been able to get the regeneration power so he could have healed himself. Though Sylar did give him a clue to where he got it. Maybe he'll go on a journey of his own to find the cheerleader???? That could be cool.

I don't think Nathan is Rebel. You're right; that wouldn't make any sense. I think Nathan's intentions were straightforward at the beginning of this volume, but now he's realized he's gotten over his head and he can't control, uh... what's his name? The Hunter. *looks it up* Danko! That's his name.

I have no idea who Rebel, is, really. I'm just glad to see the writing back up to its first season levels. And, I'm glad that Janice Parkman is coming back. I kinda had a thing for her in the first season.

Oh, and Samson Gray's ability is the same as Sylar's original. He's taken the abilities he has in much the same way Sylar has.

Ipsilon wrote:I don't think Nathan is Rebel. You're right; that wouldn't make any sense. I think Nathan's intentions were straightforward at the beginning of this volume, but now he's realized he's gotten over his head and he can't control, uh... what's his name? The Hunter. *looks it up* Danko! That's his name.

I have no idea who Rebel, is, really. I'm just glad to see the writing back up to its first season levels. And, I'm glad that Janice Parkman is coming back. I kinda had a thing for her in the first season.

Oh, and Samson Gray's ability is the same as Sylar's original. He's taken the abilities he has in much the same way Sylar has.

Janice is decent looking, but I did not like her. She was such a beeyotch to Matt that I was happy to see her go. Bet she didn't see the mind-reading husband coming when she started an affair with his partner! Oh, and if its not Matt's kid, why the heck did she name it after him?? Or did I miss where she said it IS his kid?

Samson, cool name. Don't think I caught that when I watched. I thought that he had the same original power. So that whistling/mesmerizing thing was just one of the many he's picked up along the way. Is the ability to slice open someone's head part of the original ability, or is that one that was learned along the way? If it's not, then that the first few kills/power stealings had to be messy.

Yeah, I think they're just employing symmetry as a story-telling tool and Samson found telekinesis along the way like Sylar did. Samson's name was on a mailbox at the house Sylar went to a couple episodes back. When he was ambushed by the special forces guys.

Looks like I will have about a quarter of a season to catch up on when I am finally able to sit down and watch them all.

Have any Fuller episodes aired, yet?

I see that viewership has been building up slightly these last two or three episodes (since "Cold War"'s all-time Heroes rating low). That could be a good thing.

Don't know if any of them have been influenced/written by Fuller, but the last 2 or 3 episodes have been really good, (I have not seen last night's episode yet).

I'm hoping the trend continues and we get back to the level of the first season.

I've talked to a couple people in the last couple weeks who stopped watching in season 2 and haven't gotten back on board. One gave up when they killed off Elle, (so I'm not the only one who's a fan!). I tried talking them into getting back into it, but to no avail.

Last night's was a repeat. Next week is new. I'm not sure why.

I'm pretty sure next week is the first new Fuller episode, so I am definitely catching up before then. I'm a Fuller fan. You may have already figured this out.

You are? Really? I had no idea.

Ipsilon wrote:Last night's was a repeat. Next week is new. I'm not sure why.

Really? Damn. I was looking forward to a new Heroes to watch tonight. Lost did the same thing last week. I was looking forward to a new episode for 2 days, and BAM, repeat!

Riddle me THIS, Excelsioriors:

How many Bryan Fullers did it take to write tonight's episode of Heroes?

Give up?

The answer is . . . Hey, MoFos! Bryan Fuller wrote the shit out of tonight's episode of Heroes!

(And I haven't even seen it, yet!)

I had to read wiki synopses to catch up in time to watch tonight's episode.

And . . . damn.

Fuller shook some shit up. I know his script is just a cog in the predetermined narrative's wheel, but it says something about the team's confidence in him as a storyteller that they gave him this episode.

Minor spoilers follow.

I wasn't crazy about certain elements (they/Fuller crib/s a moment from Superman Returns, for example--though I think it works pretty well. It made me a little teary eyed), but I liked it on the whole more than I have liked anything else I have seen in the current season. I need to watch the episodes between this one an the first one of the new year (can't believe I've gotten so far behind!). Despite having read up on what happened in the interim, it's currently little more than a jumble of hastily read plot points. From all I've read, the last few episodes have been executed pretty well, despite the ratings drop.

I'm glad to have Fuller back, but it may be too late (from a ratings point of view). I hope not. Fuller needs to be on a series, and it might as well be Heroes.

Fuller brought Swoozie with him. I like that.

Ando in a wheelbarrow!

It was pointed out elsewhere that people actually seemed to use their powers in intelligent ways in this episode. Ma P., Parkman, Micah, and Tracy (how do you folks interpret that wink?) got themselves out of pickles by using their noodles somewhat effectively, which seems to be something that happens infrequently on the show.

I wonder how the "Rebel" reveal would have been handled by the other writers. I haven't had an opportunity to see the shows that feature the "Rebel" buildup, but I imagine they try to make it a big mystery and build tension around the eventual revelation. Any character who would refer to him/herself "Rebel" already struck me as a bit of a choad from the synopses. I'm glad Fuller handled the revelation pretty dismissively. They could have gone the big, end-of-show, cliffhanger reveal route, but they didn't. They showed some chutzpah.

So, anyway, I thought the episode was pretty solid. It was no "Family Man," but it was a worthy entry. Again, though, I am discovering myself to be a bit of a Fuller fanboy, so the usual impartiality of my judgment may be compromised.

* * *

I made the DTV (via box) switch. It's frustrating as fuck. There's a lot of interference on certain channels (especially if I stand in certain spots, or walk past them), and I have to turn the volume all the way up just to hear (and there's a headache-inducing hiss and pitch squeal that goes with it).

This week's BTE.

Last night's episode was pretty good. I liked that Micah turned out to be "Rebel". He was an underused character in the first couple seasons, in my opinion.

When that "Superman" scene started I was pissed! I was like WTF?!? Now he can fly too? But I liked how they handled it.

I liked that they gave Hiro his powers back, (or part of them). Kind of messed up that Matt Jr. could turn on the time control, but not the teleportation. Odd. Now they need to get Matt Jr. hooked up with Peter so he can get his full power back and start gaining powers again so he's ready for his next match-up with Sylar, (rumored to be in the season finale).

As I said a couple weeks ago, I think they are finally back on track and each week builds on the previous and gets better. Hopefully it continues and volumes 2 & 3 were the typical "sophomore slump".

***********

By saying "I made the DTV (via box) switch.", do you mean DirecTV? If so, it sounds like you either have a defective box, or more likely they didn't align the dish correctly. They should come out and fix the dish for free, and if that doesn't fix it they should give you a new box for free. Either way, I would call customer service. I'd also complain about the headaches and tell them you want some sort of compensation. I've gotten lots of free goodies, (movie channels, discounts, etc.), for much less.

Actually, I'm not sure what I'm saying. I'm saying I got one of those free boxes everyone is supposed to get for when television makes its switch to digital. I guess I should have said I "went digital." Since we have to do it, anyway, might as well do it now, right?

So it turns out you still need your fucking antenna with these boxes! One of my antenna ears is broken. Maybe that's the problem. That you even need an antenna is stupid, I think.

Bah.

Some channels come in just fine. Some have interference--sounds drops, pixels jump, etc. Some don't come in.

My roommate has one in the living room, and it works about the same as mine.

Week 19's BTE

Ah, you got one of the converter boxes. I know nothing about those because I use DirecTV and they have been feeding my TV a purely digital signal since I signed up with them 5 1/2 years ago. Sorry I can't be more help.

You could try PMing Ulic, or putting a post in his "Multimedia" thread. He may be able to help.

This episode wasn't action-packed, but I still enjoyed it. Was this our first genuine shape shifter? I know we've had people who could create the illusion of looking like other people in the past.

As far as I know, this was the first shapeshifter. I liked that it was so painful. No Odo-shifting here!

Thurston McQ wrote:This episode wasn't action-packed, but I still enjoyed it. Was this our first genuine shape shifter? I know we've had people who could create the illusion of looking like other people in the past.

What happened to spoilers?

It's been two days. Statute of limitations!

Damn statute! I thought it was a week.

I wonder if a male shapeshifter could get pregnant while in a female form.

Furthermore, if the male shapeshifter *could* get pregnant while in female form, I wonder what would happen to the baby when he shifted back to his natural state.

Thurston McQ wrote:I wonder if a male shapeshifter could get pregnant while in a female form.

Furthermore, if the male shapeshifter *could* get pregnant while in female form, I wonder what would happen to the baby when he shifted back to his natural state.

Wow. You have a strange and twisted mind Thursty. But now that you've brought it up, I do wonder what would happen. Maybe you could submit this to the weekly Heroes Q&A over at CBR??

Speaking of which, here's
BTE Week 20.