Season 2, Chapter 11 - Powerless

So…there’s the end of Season Two. I would say that “Powerless” is better than the sum of the season…the highs were pretty high, but it didn’t drop to the lows that we’ve seen this year.

Let’s start with the Niki/Micah storyline, because it’s been pretty much just filler. The only connection that it had to the meta-storyarc has been the Mohinder was looking for a cure for her, primarily. Beyond that, it’s existed primarily to remind us that, yes, the two of them are still alive, and there’s another hero, Monica, that we may be seeing more of soon. In this episode, the powerless Niki and the powerful Micah team up to track down the captured Monica…and they rescue her. The end.

Beyond that, everything else clicked pretty well.

Mohinder rushes home to find Sylar holding Molly hostage. It’s so nice to see Zachary Quinto back in evil mode, and he really let loose in this episode. Maya inadvertently let it slip that Sylar is powerless, which results in a showdown between him and the good doctor, and you know that Sylar will always win in a staring contest. They end up in the late Isaac’s loft, which now serves as Suresh’s lab.

Bob managed to prove that he is a Grade-A ass. “And to think of all the work I put into raising you.” Man, dude…what did you expect Elle to do after that? After going to Noah, he dashes her image of her dad even more, by telling her that he brutally tortured her to learn the extent of her powers when she was seven. Elle still wants to find a way to please Bob, however, and, discovering Sylar’s location, she hightails it to New York. Apparently she found a teleporter laying around or something, because she made that trans-American trip from California to New York in just a couple of hours. Impressive.

In Texas, Bob makes a deal with Noah. The Bennet family will be completely left alone (yeah, right) if Noah will come back to the company. HRG agrees, and that’s pretty much that. I’ve really liked the Bennet storyline this year, but the resolution was really lacking.

Elle drops in just as Sylar is preparing to be injected with the blood that will heal him and restore his powers. She starts to fire bursts of lightning at him as he runs, but apparently her short range aim isn’t as great as her long range aim (she knocked West out of the air at a couple hundred yards a couple of weeks ago). Anyway, she gets one good shot in before Sylar manages to escape.

The real meat was in the Odessa storyline this week. Leading up to it, Angela Petrelli tells Nathan and Matt that Peter and Adam must be stopped, and even goes so far as to give pointers on how to do the deed to her favorite son. At Primatech, the brief showdown between Hiro and Peter at the beginning was fantastic, but, like I said, brief. It managed to plant the seeds of doubt in Peter’s head that would grow later on. The fact that Nathan could fly created a much more believable excuse for a quick NY-to-Odessa flight, and the scene right after they land was priceless.

Peter uses his telekinetic powers to rip the vault door off the wall, giving him and Adam access to the virus. Hiro pops in again to try to stop them, but he’s no match for Adam and Peter’s combined abilities. As Adam quickly rushes in to “dispose” of the vial, Peter stands guard. Nathan and Matt arrive, and after a brief, but gratifying fight, they convince him that Adam is a nutcase bent on the destruction of the world. Hiro flashes in and manages to “flash” away with Adam, but not before the villain drops the vial. Peter catches it just in time, and uses his radioactive powers to destroy it.

Hiro manages to drop Adam in my personal worst nightmare…being buried alive. Hopefully, this isn’t the last we’ll see of Monroe…to see him in league with Sylar next season would be amazing.

Finally, Nathan is convinced that it is time to go public about the heroes and their abilities. Before he can make his revelation, he is shot down by a sniper. While I really felt like something like this would happen (surely the show won’t let the whole world know about this yet), I was pretty surprised that they capped Nathan. Now, the question remains, will he stay dead? The thing that I hate about the deal with Claire’s blood is that no one has to stay dead for long. I wouldn’t be surprised to see another resurrection next year.

And that’s the end of season two. All in all, it was…pretty middle of the road, I thought. Some of the episodes, like Episode 9, were phenomenal, and in the same league with the best of last season, and some have been filler. But it remains a fantastic drama, and one of my favorite shows on television.

Episode grade: A
Season Grade: B

Volume 3 - Villains

Sylar’s back, baby!