Heroes S1.14: Distractions

[hazelk]

Dad just e-mailed the X-rays of his knee op. Ain’t technology great.

After shamelessly scanning reviews of the Heroes second season opener I’ve been very, very good about not reading posts on the second ep. Mostly this unaccountable attack of virtue is thanks to a vid bunny biting my brain as letting it gorge on any more story could cause a Peter-like overload. So Distractions



Mr Bennet trapped in the cage he made so well. Perfect. I misjudged the guy, he doesn’t only care about Claire. Lyle is still unknown but poor, suspiciously scatty Mrs Bennet, he cares about her. Enough to keep lying – in Buffy fandom memory wipes were so often described as violations but I always thought of them more as lies. The mechanism has invasive implications but the effect is not to force any particular action or emotion but trick it out by withholding information. Still creepy, lies are creepy, but there’s an impersonality to Bennet’s, the company’s evasions not his. Doesn’t mean he’s good.

So Claude controls his power by isolating himself and Peter by connecting, which implies that for both of them power comes from being who they are. Not in this episode but the concept also recalls Claire’s acceptance of her power, making home movies so that she never forgets who she is. Which sounds like good thing but one you could get too much of, the magical healing isn’t all Claire is. Buffy always got stick from fandom for refusing to admit to her Slayer self but being the Slayer wasn’t just something she was it was something she did, a role, a destiny not just an ability. Interesting now I think of it that Buffy also had healing abilities and in some of her most iconic fights she wins not by being able to punch harder but being able to endure longer – I’m thinking of the sword catching moment in Becoming and the potential-training demo in Showtime. Claire just has the healing and yet you could argue that so far it’s allowed her to save more people and incapcitate more bad guys than bigger flashier superpowers like Hiro’s. But it gets silly pitting Hero against Hero, on this show it really does take a village.

Comments

[bradcpu.livejournal.com]

The Bennets parallel Buffy (and Giles=Mr. Bennet) so wonderfully well. I get the feeling the writers are very aware of that parallel as well.

Looking forward to reading more of your thoughts as you progress through the series. You're really getting into some of the very best episodes now.

[aycheb.livejournal.com]

Parallels and anti-parallels together, Bennet has been trying to keep Claire from her 'calling,' it's very well done. I had a sense of things stepping up in this episode already, am really looking forward to next few.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Mr Bennet trapped in the cage he made so well.

That's Bennet in the Company in a nutshell, isn't it?

Re: Bennet and his wife Sandra: I'm more on the violation side of the fence. Not intended as such on his part, but well, Willow didn't see it as a violation, either, you know. Next up for you is "Run!", isn't it? That probably illustrates my preference of term. Oh, and also:

Twenty things Mr. Bennet is not allowed to use as a rationalization for mindwiping his wife Sandra

[aycheb.livejournal.com]

I'm good with calling it a violation but I think the most interesting real-life action to compare it to is a lie, if only because it's not immediately apparent that a lie *is* a violation, a mind manipulation. I don't mean by thinking of it in those terms to excuse Bennet and certainly not Willow.

Back to Bennet the show is doing a really good job of keeping me guessing about what to think of him, at the momment it feels just possible that the mind wiping instructions come largely from his superiors and he might be in the position similar to that of the Arnold Schwarzeneger character in True Lies but if next episode is going to show him in a much grayer light I'll be very happy.

[yourlibrarian]

which implies that for both of them power comes from being who they are

That's a very interesting observation. I'd agree with you, especially if you look at Nikki.

[aycheb.livejournal.com]

Yes, Nikki's practically the opposite of in touch with herself :-)