HEROES Season 1 Episode 17 (WARNING: SPOILERS)
“Company Man”

Though I’ll probably be accused of bias, I’m going on the record as saying “Company Man” is one of the best episodes of Heroes since the pilot landed us all firmly in the middle of this brave new chapter of serialized television.
Ted and a hesitant Matt taking the Bennets hostage sets the stage for us to witness HRG’s past, and an explosive past it is.
It’s fifteen years ago and HRG gets a partner, one of “them,” and look! If it isn’t our roguish invisible man.
HRG then gets to adopt a baby girl, thanks to… Gasp! Sulu is evil! And there! That little geeky Japanese boy! And that rooftop looks awfully familiar!!! Is everyone in this world evil?!?
As it turns out though, it appears HRG may be one of the least evil of the bunch. Eric Roberts (yes, Julia’s brother) appears as Thompson, HRG’s immediate superior, and a slimy superior he is (and we all know E.R. can do slimy with the best of them).
There’s more in the flashback, pivotal moments in HRG’s life, and even as we’re privy to that, there’s the whole tense hostage situation at the Bennet home taking place, a stand-off which results in the spectacular destruction of said home from Ted’s minor meltdown (the best protracted fx sequence of the show thus far).
And when Thompson sees evidence of Claire’s powers, all I could think was, “The f*cker saw! The f*cker saw! Now Sulu’s gonna take Claire away!!!”
Man, this episode wrung me out…
Written by Bryan Fuller (co-creator of the sadly short-lived and sorely missed Wonderfalls) and directed by Allan Arkush, this is one of those brilliant hours of television where everything just falls into place. Even the final step HRG takes to ensure Claire’s safety has a nice poetic irony to it.
Fuller and Arkush make it all look so effortless, and my proverbial hat is off to them. The tension is palpable, the performances are top-notch, the episode looks great, and the script is emotionally potent, firmly establishing relationships and conflict, giving characters we’ve already come to know even more depth and complexity. (Mrs. B is an eye-opener.)
Here’s hoping we see more of the Fuller-Arkush tag team in episodes to come.
Given how “Company Man” ends though, I hope HRG’s journey back towards humanity hasn’t been brutally truncated. I also hope this doesn’t mean Claire disappears off the board for awhile. Then again, we do have to get back to the other subplots, particularly Jessica off gunning for Nathan. (It has been two episodes since we’ve seen Jessica. And yes, I know I’m not her biggest fan—shhh, don’t let her hear that—but that particular dangling subplot is distracting.)
And soon… the mysterious Mr. Linderman…

HEROES Season 1 Episode 16 (WARNING: SPOILERS)
“Unexpected”

Okay. I’m officially annoyed with Isaac now.
As appropriate as this episode’s title is, it could very well have been called “The Three Noodges.”
Noodge 1: Mohinder, who is currently doing a Julia Roberts and sleeping with the enemy, unwittingly leading Sylar right to his victims. C’mon, Mo! You’re a smart guy! You gotta see through the mask, dude!
Noodge 2: HRG, who does the big boo-hoo, I never meant to hurt your mother, Claire, I just wanted to protect you. Yeah, bang-up job, Mr. Bennet.
Noodge 3: Isaac. Not only does he lead HRG to Claude, but he pulls an Ana Lucia and plugs Simone. (Dumb a$$. When Heroes started, I really didn’t care much for either Isaac or Simone, but the characters grew on me. And when Simone finally bought into the whole “people with powers” thing, I was genuinely jazzed. And now she’s bleeding all over Isaac’s floor and he’s holding the gun. I repeat: dumb a$$.)
Meanwhile, I’m so happy for Claire, finally getting to unload on dear old Dad in the hospital. Of course, Ted and Matt and the instant e-mail lady have to bust up that party. (You know, I kind’a thought it would take them awhile to actually get down to bidness, but there ya’ go. Now all the Bennets are in deep doo-doo.)
Actually, you know what? Make that “The Four Noodges.”
Noodge 4: me. It only sunk in when Peter first displays telekinesis on the rooftop: he is the most powerful character at the moment. What’s he got? Flight, invisibility, invulnerability, precognition, one-way telepathy (is there a better term for it?), TK, and presumably, control over the space/time continuum—since he already met Future Hiro—and also, whatever other powers Sylar’s managed to suck up. Man, he can kick major a$$!
I should’ve seen it earlier, but there you go. Been too busy getting distracted by the other subplots.
This episode was written by Jeph Loeb (read Superman For All Seasons. Now.) and directed by Greg Beeman (who, in another timeline, is busy directing episode after episode of the hit TV show about Aquaman, Mercy Reef, but in this timeline, is doing a brilliant job on Heroes).
Great episode that amps things up nicely.

Parting shot: If Ando really is heading back to Japan, I’m gonna miss him. And is it just me or have we had enough Stan Lee cameos already?

Parting shot 2: Heroes got 5 nominations at the 2007 Saturns: Best Network Television Series; Best Supporting Actor in a Television Program or Series (Greg Grunberg and Masi Oka); and Best Supporting Actress in a Television Program or Series (Hayden Panettiere and Ali Larter).
Winners will be announced on May 10, 2007.