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 12 “Godsend” (WARNING: SPOILERS)

So the next chapter of Heroes has officially kicked off, and it kicks off in grand style.
The confluence of characters continues, and as the tapestry gets more complex, not only does the main story become more involving, but some of the characters become even more interesting.
Seeing Hiro’s reunion with Nathan was a kick, and it’s good to see that Nathan’s humanity is resurfacing. He may be a jerk, but he’s a jerk who genuinely cares for his brother, so there’s still hope yet for Hiro’s favorite flying man.
And finally, Simone seems to be ready to get on the bus! At last! (Though I hope there’s some payoff here regarding Mr. Linderman’s apparent ubiquitousness. Apart from the symbol, Linderman seems to be the other common denominator of the show.)
Having mentioned the symbol, we also get to discover one of its meanings, as well as see Isaac’s “Hiro vs T. Rex” painting in real life! Heh.
But undoubtedly, the best bits of “Godsend” are Claire’s scenes, from her clandestine meetings with the Haitian (who is quickly becoming a character of interest for me; the hole Eden left must be filled!) to her attempts at once more becoming Zach’s friend (which leads to a wonderful reprise of our initial introduction to both characters from the pilot). Hayden Panettiere continues to be one of the best of the ensemble, as we clearly get to see the difficulty a teen-ager would have in her position, struggling with the isolation, dealing not only with her “very own private freak show,” but also with the lies her father has been feeding her, as well as his actions, which have compromised the memories of her family. (I’m also glad to see that Zach wasn’t prematurely written off the show, in light of not just what the Haitian did to him, but also the whole “is he or isn’t he gay?” brouhaha and Thomas Dekker’s having landed the role of John Connor in the TV series, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a spin-off of the Terminator franchise. I just hope he sticks around and isn’t bumped off for his troubles.)
Top all that off with the introduction of Christopher Eccleston* to the cast, and we’re off and running.

* I’ve followed Eccleston’s work ever since I first saw him in Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave. I’m curious to see what he’ll bring to the ensemble, and what sort of chemistry he’ll have with Milo Ventimiglia. (Reportedly, Eccleston’s character, Claude, will become a mentor of sorts to Peter.) I also hope he isn’t the just-one-too-many-characters straw that breaks the ensemble’s back.

Parting shot: Heroes has had an early renewal for a second season. Hurrah!

Parting shot 2: “Godsend” is the first of a straight 7 episode run, then the show goes on another break, after which, the season’s final 5 episodes air consecutively.