Review: Heroes - 1961

The digging party continues as they discover more and more bodies. And digging up bodies means they're digging up the truth, which means black and white flashbacks! I really like the flashbacks in this show because they make it pretty easy to know when you're in the present and when you're in the past. This was one of those episodes that fill in a lot of details about the company, the Petrelli family and family relationships. We're back in 1961 where it's revealed that Angela has a sister named Alice, and they're treated by Chandra Suresh (father of Mohinder). Alice is her little sister and is a big fan of Alice in Wonderland, but also can control the weather a la Storm. Charles Deveaux, Daniel Linderman and Bobby Bishop are there as well, so we're bringing back all the characters that have made an appearance in the future. But they all realize that something is amiss about the place they're at, and Angela probably the most because she warns the others not to trust Suresh. Interesting. Angela is part of an escape from the compound. This violates her promise of never leaving her sister, prompting Deveaux to tell her to lie. Angela's lying to protect others streak starts with her sister, which explains her penchant for relying on it the rest of her life. That was the one lie she should've never told though because Alice believed it and never left the Coyote Sands compound. Angela finds her in the present day looking surprisingly well considering she had been there for 50 years. Anyways, she was the catalyst for the camp being wiped out. She killed a guard with a lightning bold inadvertently which set off a chain of events where the guards and mutants got into a fight with everyone dying but Alice. Meanwhile, back in the present Nathan is trying to confront Peter about their divide, and I'm glad they're finally addressing this. Peter finally realizes that Nathan isn't half bad and decides to forgive him for his past transgressions. Since we're at the end of the season, it will have to wait until next season for their inevitable falling out again. Claire is finally grown up. Her speech about her being an idiot trying to help her dad really established herself as a wiser person. I thought the writers did well with scene where both dads (Nathan and Noah) realize their mistakes in not raising Claire better. It was a nice touch for her to find the Alice in Wonderland book jacket but no book. Mohinder has tracked down the ghost of his father to Coyote Sands and comes across a battered Noah as a result of the surprise storm. He was seeking to find answers (in what appears to be a never ending quest for the academic) and initially thinks that his dad is a monster. It's only until Angela learns from Alice what really happened that night Angela left that Mohinder learns that his dad really did want to help, but things got out of hand. The obvious parallel is the present day with Nathan, wanting to help those with powers but watching the plan quickly unravel. As the five of them (Peter, Nathan, Angela, Claire and Noah) plan the formation of a new company (sorry, family), they see that Nathan is in Washington giving a spiel about change. Of course it's not Nathan but Sylar, and unless I'm missing something Sylar never touched Nathan so how did he shapeshift into him? Does his power allow him to shift into anyone he's ever touched in his life? Does he even need to touch anyone at all to become them? The theme of parent-child has never been as readily apparent as this episode. This is awesome. The new breed of heroes are dealing with the same difficulties that their parents did, however they are dealing with it without the knowledge that their parents had. The timeless practice of the parent imparting their wisdom on the child is really on display here. There was no Ando, Hiro or Parkman, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing (and it looks like we'll be seeing them next week). I've said it before and I'll say it again: when the writers focus on these main characters the show is phenomenal. This was quite possibly the best episode of the season so far, and it really filled in a lot of the details about the Heroes universe as well. Next week is the zillionth showdown with Sylar (and presumably Danko), but the last two episodes look to be pretty dramatic. Overall score: 92 out of 100

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