ad4m22Adam has completely dropped the ball on this week’s comic, so instead we’re going to take a detailed look at the teaser for Heroes Volume Five: Redemption. Is it redemption for the show? Or the characters? Volume Four took a battering for being poorly handled, poorly written and having the same pace as a snail with one eye. With that in mind, let us return like a battered housewife to the show that works to the opposite of the Star Trek rule: odd numbers good, even numbers bad.
Heroes Volume Five Trailer Breakdown
Story:
So, it seems that this time there’s going to be an actual overarching story, focussing on the Heroes equivalent of the Brotherhood of Mutants, led by new villain Samuel – or is he a good guy? It’s not yet been made clear, but you can bet that it won’t be entirely obvious from the outset.
What we can guess is that Samuel is gathering together a great fighting force of Specials for some unknown purpose, and Hiro Nakamura is a vital part of this plan, while several others are standing in the way of it. The plot device for the story seems to revolve around a Pirates-style compass, and it seems that the group of villains – or at least some of them – can travel through time.
His girlfriend has the power of magic tattoos, while Samuel himself, it seems, is psychic, as evidenced by his burying of a grave and throwing another man against a wall.
They seem to have acquired an assassin of some kind, a man armed with two knives reminiscent of Resident Evil: Extinction. Little is known about this man, apart from his super speed. He is shown twirling those knives at a rate of knots normally seen by fast-forwarding a VHS and knocking seven bells out of Tracey later on. It would be safe to assume that he has something to do with the dead man (the unseen Joseph – whatever the plan is, it seems to be entirely his) and is forced into becoming the group’s killing machine. His knives are shown frighteningly close to Bennett’s face.
Hiro:
Despite his body breaking down from his abilities in the closing scenes of the last episode, he appears to back to good health and up to his old tricks. He has magically regained the ability to teleport – maybe he’s unable to control time as a result? Whatever the reason, we’ll finally have more magnificent excuses to go back and forward in time. What is clear is that he’ll be doing it all alone – maybe bringing Ando along was why his body couldn’t handle it? Perhaps he got an injection of Claire’s healing blood? Or possibly a visit from the Plot Contrivance Fairy has sorted out all his problems?
Claire:
It seems that Claire’s dark side flirtations in Volume Three have been well and truly forgotten. In spite of the fact that she could go down the route of Dr Manhattan – and who wouldn’t want to see Claire lose touch with humanity? – we’re to be subjected instead to the young Miss Bennett instead go to college and find love with another woman. Clearly not happy with the ratings slide, Tim Kring appears to be turning Claire gay in exchange for media publicity.
What we do know about her story for the season is that, besides going gay, she will continue to experiment with her powers, as last seen in Volume Two. Her new lesbian friend suggests finding a dead body – who could this be? We’re shown boring bastard Denko crashing to the ground with a knife wound in his head, could she resurrect him? (Note to Kring: don’t let this happen.) Another shot shows an injured Bennett, could she save him? (She’s done this once already, so that’s a no.) Perhaps she’ll heal Joseph’s unfortunate case of death and we’ll find out more about the man one which the whole story seems to hang. Or, maybe, an entirely new character will come back from the dead. Whatever happens, it will either be a huge story-altering decision or a throwaway gag – what if she resurrects someone who committed suicide? Comedy gold, right there.
Ando:
In spite of the fact that Ando is one of the most likeable cast members, he only gets a short look-in on the trailer, shown kissing someone who appears to be Kimiko Nakamura, Hiro’s sister. Unless having the power of red lightening (or was it power enhancement? Get your facts straight, Kring) has managed to significantly alter his standing in Nakamura Industries, you can bet that this is a fantasy sequence.
He is also shown carrying Hiro on a hospital gurney. Perhaps he rushes to his friend’s aid when the aforementioned body breakdown gets too much?
Bennett:
The most consistent in terms of storyline and one of the only watchable parts of Volume Four, the Man with the Horn Rimmed Glasses is seen very little in the trailer. He seems to have a moment with Tracey in which the two reconcile and seem to be putting aside their differences. He even suggests that the two of them are looking for redemption, so at least he’s still divorced. He is also shown with a nasty gut wound lying on some steps – Claire’s college maybe? – and his fate is uncertain. Will HRG be on the receiving end of a cast cut-down? Pray not, his constant good-guy-bad-guy crossovers are endlessly enjoyable. He’s also shown trapped in a flooding car – is Tracey going to try and murder him? Or is this a vision of the future?
Peter:
Back to being a nurse and still appears to have all the abilities he borrowed from Sylar. Does this mean, though, that he can’t touch anyone else, like the X-Men’s Rogue? Or is it selective? Whatever the case, a brief shot of his hand holding the twirling plot device compass confirms that he is, once again, the crux on which the entire story will hang.
Sylar/ Nathan:
The most predictable of the lot, Sylar is set to remember who he is and finally oust Nathan from the cast forever. He will tangle notably with Angela Petrelli and Matt Parkman, as shown by his holding Parkman junior hostage.
We can hope that this means Nathan will finally be killed off – his story finished in Volume Three. Fingers crossed for a return to form for Sylar, who managed to become the greatest, scariest and funniest villain in TV history in the final parts of Villains (‘oooh… cake!’)
Matt Parkman:
Fatherhood has done everyone’s favourite policeman/ detective/ fugitive/ murderer no favours as he seems to believe that having a baby makes him exempt from the world of superheroes. Happily for us, Angela is on hand to bring him back into the game and, failing that, Sylar turns up to get his kid and, with any luck, bump off his annoying ex/ wife. Also shown freaking out in a police cell – does Sylar kidnap his kid?
Angela:
She’s still dreaming the future and talking cryptically to everyone involved. Let’s at least see the bloody nightmares this time around, okay?
Tracey:
Hell hath no fury like a woman who willingly freezes herself to death, gets shot into thousands of pieces and then reforms with power over water. Everyone’s favourite twin/ mental case is going around and killing those with abilities for some unknown reason. It’s shown that the knife-wielding assassin gets up close and personal with Tracey’s stomach. She won’t die, she’s made of water!
Denko:
Shown collapsing to the ground with a knife wound. Hooray!
Mohinder:
Not shown at all. Hooray!
And that brings us to the end of the trailer. Will it be any good? Only time will tell, and unless we manage to bamf into the future and watch the episode on September 21st, we’ll just have to settle for waiting. Come on, Kring, don’t let us down.
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The only thing i am happy about is mohinder is out of the cast. For me the turning point in the show, and the final straw and the reason i dont watch it anymore, was when mohinder suddenly turned against noah and shot him in the eye, showing no moral fortitude or consistency and basically turning himself into a spavined ratbag with a self righteous gullible stupidity.
He’s still in the cast. His story was awesome in Volume Three, but they didn’t have the balls to finish it – he was turning into a lizard! I can”t remember what he did in the last Volume. Got captured and tricked a lot, I think.