Season 2 Episode 5

Now we’re kicking.

There was some trepidation by many, myself included, that Heroes was hitting a bit of a sophomore slump this season. Things were building, but they were building awfully slow. Those fears can finally be put to rest after “Fight or Flight”. Heroes is back to its Season One glory.

Let’s start with Monica’s storyline. It’s anything but subtle that she is searching for her purpose in life, and these powers are going to give her an outlet to find that purpose. I really liked the scene with her and Micah on the piano. (Did you know that Noah Grey-Cabey, who plays Micah, is a real-life piano virtuoso? True story.) The jump rope, though…not so much. I mean, come on, you can do anything, and you go jump roping? Eh…whatever. Anyway, in the midst of one of her many soul-searching moments, there is a knock on the door. Mohinder is there…but is he there to give her answers, or to “bag and tag”?

Because our Dr. Suresh may be in deeper with The Company than he would like to be. With Molly locked in a coma, he takes her to the only place he thinks may be able to help her. And now he may find himself even more indebted to The Company than he wanted to be. I’m really excited to see the outcome of this little twist.

Now we can get into the real meat of the episode. First up, Peter. After finding that he’s being hunted by this new girl, Elle (more on her later), the Irish dudes send Peter into hiding. While they hide out in Caitlin’s apartment (Peter, you smooth devil), he finally convinces himself to look in his box, in which he finds his passport, a plane ticket from New York to Montreal, and a picture with Nathan. This seems to trigger his latent Isaac Mendez ability of precognitive painting, and he creates a painting of two shadowed figures standing in front of a church in Montreal.

Meanwhile, Elle (played by Veronica Mars’ Kristen Bell) is on the search for Peter. She asks around at the docks where Peter was found, and is led to the bar where he is hiding out. Now, even though you can never really definitively declare a character’s allegiance on this show, I think it’s safe to say that our girl Elle is a pretty mean little cutie. I mean, I was just getting to like Ricky, and then Elle had to go all Return of the Jedi on him. *Sigh* Teaches me not to get too attached. Her father is calling the shots, but who could he be? I’m betting it’s someone we already know. Bob, maybe?

And now, my favorite storyline of the night. Matt and Nathan venture to Philadelphia to track down Parkman’s dad, the Nightmare Man. What an appropriate name. Parkman shows his son that mind-reading is just the tip of the iceberg, and that he can go much deeper with some practice. Rather than just telling him this, though, he does what any father would do. He locks his son into his worse nightmare and pits him to a death match with his friend. How sweet. I was absolutely nuts about this scene. Nathan is hurled back into his darkest memory, a shattered New York that seemed even more nightmarish than when we saw it last season. He has to face down his disfigured ghost. Parkman, meanwhile, is facing his fear of being locked up and of leaving his family duties behind him. When they are finally pulled from their visions and realize they are fighting each other, they decide it is time to take the fight to The Company.

There was no Claire this week, and only enough Hiro to remind us that, yes, he is still alive.

The subtitle for this season is “Generations”. That’s definitely becoming more involved in the storylines as we see how deep these abilities run in storylines. Between the Parkmans, Petrellis, Nakamuras, Sureshs, Sanders and even Elle and whoever her dad may be, we’re seeing that this story runs deep in the bloodlines of the characters.

Finally, after four episodes, Heroes is back on track.

The Online Novel this week is a depiction of the nightmare that Molly Walker is locked in.