which is partly what I meant by calling Peter Dawn, in the end he was the damsel rather than the hero
Oh, he's the damsel through most of season 1. The one episode where Peter does the traditionally heroic thing of facing his death to save the girl is Homecoming and there, too, he does so not by striking a blow, but by dragging Sylar down a roof, i.e. sacrificing his own life (as he doesn't know about regeneration). Otherwise, you have him getting rescued, fainting, being in a coma, and getting rescued again all over the place, all traditionally "feminine" storytelling motifs, which is a subversion I haven't seen often remarked upon. He's even Sleeping Beauty not just once but twice (in "Godsend", when Nathan kisses him, and in ".07%", when Claire removes the proverbial splinter to awake him). This, btw, fits with Peter's definition as an empath - it's the emotional connections he forms that make a difference.
My own comparison back when I first saw the episode to a previous character wasn't Dawn but Luke Skywalker in "Return of the Jedi". (As opposed to Luke in "Star Wars".) In RotJ, Luke doesn't strike any decisive blow, doesn't blow up anything and does not kill the villain; what he does is by being there and having faith in someone triggering a redemptive action.
You know, the final cockroach shot was neat but in as much as it implies the return of Sylar I wish they hadn't done it - he has his moments but The Company is a much better villian.
God, I so wish they had killed Sylar off for good in the s1 finale. Thankfully, he isn't much in s2 (basically three episodes dispersed through the 11 we've had so far), whereas the Company is very present indeed, in every episode, and in fascinating ways, too.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-12-09 07:25 pm (UTC)Oh, he's the damsel through most of season 1. The one episode where Peter does the traditionally heroic thing of facing his death to save the girl is Homecoming and there, too, he does so not by striking a blow, but by dragging Sylar down a roof, i.e. sacrificing his own life (as he doesn't know about regeneration). Otherwise, you have him getting rescued, fainting, being in a coma, and getting rescued again all over the place, all traditionally "feminine" storytelling motifs, which is a subversion I haven't seen often remarked upon. He's even Sleeping Beauty not just once but twice (in "Godsend", when Nathan kisses him, and in ".07%", when Claire removes the proverbial splinter to awake him). This, btw, fits with Peter's definition as an empath - it's the emotional connections he forms that make a difference.
My own comparison back when I first saw the episode to a previous character wasn't Dawn but Luke Skywalker in "Return of the Jedi". (As opposed to Luke in "Star Wars".) In RotJ, Luke doesn't strike any decisive blow, doesn't blow up anything and does not kill the villain; what he does is by being there and having faith in someone triggering a redemptive action.
You know, the final cockroach shot was neat but in as much as it implies the return of Sylar I wish they hadn't done it - he has his moments but The Company is a much better villian.
God, I so wish they had killed Sylar off for good in the s1 finale. Thankfully, he isn't much in s2 (basically three episodes dispersed through the 11 we've had so far), whereas the Company is very present indeed, in every episode, and in fascinating ways, too.