Heroesville – Heroes 3-23 “1961″
We’re at the Coyote Sands Relocation Center, and Mohinder’s dad, Chandra, greets the new arrivals. (Wait, people being welcomed to their new homes by a doctor in the past? Are we sure we’re not watching Lost?) Among them are Angela and Alice Shaw. Alice is played by the girl who plays Sarah Silverman’s adopted/real daughter, by the way. Chandra’s really trying to make it sound fun at Coyote Sands. He introduces Dr. Zimmerman. Hey, we know him! That’s the guy that Tracy tracked down, the one who manipulated the DNA of Niki, Tracy, and Barbara.
We then meet some other famous faces as they come to greet Alice and Angela. There’s Charles Deveaux, who we know as Simone’s father, Daniel Linderman, who we know from trying to convince Nathan that destroying New York was a good thing, and Bob Bishop, better known as Elle’s father and also “Ned! Ned Ryerson!” Anyway, Charles embarrasses Bob in front of Angela, while Alice starts to freak out a little. She’s not thrilled about being separated from her parents. Also, she didn’t think to pack clothes, and special note is made of her love of Alice in Wonderland. (Seriously, I’m watching Lost, right? I’m so confused right now.) We learn that Angela believes she’s here to cure her nightmares. As Alice starts to feel better, the rain stops. Does she control weather? That would be an awesome power.
Back in the present, Angela tells the assembled cast that her parents and sister all died at Coyote Sands, and if they can’t solve their differences, history will repeat itself. She explains that people with powers were brought there to be “cured”. So, this is basically an internment camp? That’s dark. Angela has been dreaming about her sister lately, which she takes to mean that she has to find some remnant of her sister for a proper burial.
By the way, several people have complained about Clare’s bangs over the last few episodes. That’s not the kind of thing I usually notice, but now I can’t not see them. This is strange, because the bangs theoretically make her look more like Elle, which should be a good thing. And yet, I am not sold.
Angela reveals that the Company was originally formed to hide the existence of the Heroes, including destroying all record of Coyote Sands. She wants to go back to the old methods of mindwipes and murder, rather than a planned governmental genocide. Peter’s not in favor, so he files off with Nathan in pursuit.
In 1961, Angela wakes up from a nightmare, and the three boys show up. She’s freaked out by them, but Linderman uses his power to heal an old scar. (Seriously though? They couldn’t find a guy who looked a little bit like a young Malcolm McDowell?) Charles thinks they’re the rats in this maze, but Bob things they really will be cured. When pressed, Angela talks about her most recent nightmare and says that Chandra Suresh can’t be trusted. Alice mentions a time when she was mad at her father and his car was destroyed by hail. Yep, she thinks she can control the weather, and she’s afraid of what Chandra might do.
In the present, Angela and Claire talk about how great Claire is, which is really the only kind of conversation that interests Claire at all. Angela alludes to something she’s deeply ashamed of, and then a mighty wind kicks up. In sort of a neat effect, the color is washed out on the slamming door and the exterior scenes, making it look a little like the 1961 black-and-white flashbacks. Angela runs out into the story and cries out for Alice.
Nathan follows Peter to a diner. This show has more diner scenes than any other series. Well, except for Seinfeld. And Alice, I guess. There is an awkward silence until Nathan berates Peter for running away again. Peter does the whole pot/kettle thing, because that’s exactly what Nathan did. Nathan really wants them to make amends and move beyond all of it, and then the Emergency Warning System kicks in to announce the storm.
Bennet’s out in the middle of the particular Nor’easter, and he gets hit with more than a few bits of furniture before he finally falls and gets picked up by Mohinder. Mohinder is suspicious of him, what with Nathan trying to arrest him all the time, lately. He didn’t know about Angela’s connection to the place – he’s just there to figure out what his dad was doing there, and he’s not liking what he finds.
In 1961, Chandra wants to have a talk with Angela. Note the wonderfully creepy slogan painted over the door “Home is not where you live, but where they understand you”. Chandra takes her into a room for an old-time ESP test, and Angela does quite well. Not because she can read minds, but because she dreamed about the test. For the tenth time this episode, she mentions that her dreams are sometimes confusing. She then tells Chandra that she dreamed he was going to kill everybody in Coyote Sands. Not out of malice, but because it’s going to get out of his control.
Back to the present, Angela is convinced that Alice is alive and angry. Claire isn’t convinced though. She thinks it’s just a storm. Well, sure. When something weird happens that focuses on somebody else, she’s comfortable dismissing it. The Petrelli boys fly in just as Angela runs off and the storm dies down.
Talking to Bennet, Mohinder compares his father to Dr. Mengele, but Bennet tells him that Chandra was a good man, and he shouldn’t jump to conclusions. The Petrelli clan finds them and they split up in their search for Angela. Peter and Mohinder check out a dilapidated building, which is the perfect place for Mohinder to throw a pity party. Well, his recent unethical experiments and collaboration with Arthur Petrelli certainly aren’t the opposite of evil, you know? Peter tells him that everybody can be redeemed “even Nathan”. Ha! It’s so great that they’re talking about completely different things and trying to force the other one into their conversational loop.
Nathan and Bennet agree that they’ve made a mess of things. Bennet shows admirable restraint in not adding “but mostly you”. He catches Nathan up on the recent happenings with Sylar and Danko. Claire starts talking about the normal life she’s missing. She doesn’t remember the last book she read, or the last movie she saw, and then she admits that her recent activities have been stupid. She threw herself into a world she wasn’t ready for, and paid the price.
In 1961, Charles tries to talk Angela into leaving the camp with him. She’s all for leaving, but she won’t leave without Alice. Charles outtalks her, so she lies to Alice and tells her she’s just going to hang out with the guys. Angela tells Alice that she dreamed she’d be safe. Liar!
In the present, Angela finds some old books in a cellar, including her sister’s copy of Alice in Wonderland. A bedraggled woman comes down the stairs. Despite her resemblance to Crazy Cat Lady from The Simpsons, she is Alice, and she’s played by the awesome Diana (Wonderfalls) Scarwid. Man, Fuller comes back to the show, and he brings all his friends with him.
Back to the past. The kids snuck off the camp and went to a diner, probably the same one where Peter and Nathan had their scene. Charles takes her hand to dance, and well, this is 1961. Townspeople don’t take kindly to mixed-race dancing. Charles apologizes and tells them to pretend that it never happened, and sure enough, they do. So, he’s got a little bit of the Maury Parkman magic there. In Season One, the only hint we got as to his power was that he could communicate with Peter’s dream form. It really seems like all the mental powers are related – if you have one, you have the potential to develop them all. Witness the way Matt’s powers now include Isaac’s future-painting. Anyway, the Emergency Broadcast System announces a storm, and Angela knows she has to get back to Alice.
The sisters talk in the present, and Alice has gone a little nutty. She’s almost a bag lady – she steals clothes and food and lives in the ruins of Coyote Sands. She says she stayed there to keep the world safe. Angela asks her what happened that night. When she left, Chandra came for Alice…
…which throws us to a flashback. As soon as Chandra tries to give her an injection, the weather goes crazy. One of the doctors is struck by lightning, and Alice runs away. A guy who seems to be Alice’s father comes to her rescue. He knocks Chandra down with a beam from his hand, then gets shot. Meanwhile, the whether worsens as Alice hides. We see a quick shot of the sign outside the lab, which shows it as “Building 26”. Hey, just like the building Nathan was using! Anyway, that’s what happened. Alice lost control of her power and wiped out Coyote Sands in an artificial natural disaster. That is pretty grim.
Angela offers to bring Alice home and says “I have socks for you”, a callback to the first episode when she was arrested for shoplifting socks. Nice job! She tells Alice that she steals socks when she feels overwhelmed, to remind herself of the simple ways to protect those she loves. I probably should have mentioned earlier that Alice’s feet were cold at the beginning, so Angela gave her socks. How was I to know that it would be hugely important? Angela then admits that she lied to Alice that night, which is sort of weird. I mean, she said she wanted to hang out with kids her own age, which is exactly the truth. Unless she means she lied about her dream that Alice would be safe. OK, that makes perfect sense. Carry on! Alice freaks out at this revelation, and the wind kicks up with a vengeance. A bolt of lightning strikes Mohinder, as Angela tries to talk her down and introduce the family. Suddenly, the wind stops. Alice runs up the stairs and disappears into the outside world.
Once all has calmed down, Peter presents Mohinder with an old film reel of his father. See, if Mohinder would take two seconds to look into it, he’d probably realize that his father was actually trying to do what he thought was right, and was not the monster Mohinder now believes him to be. Instead, Mohinder elects to remain alone, in Coyote Sands.
In the flashback, Angela, Charles, Linderman, and Bob decide to form an organization, a Company, if you will. She talks about the necessary evils involved in keeping the secret, and darned if she doesn’t sound a little bit like Nathan. Actually, and this may not have been the intent, this episode does a lot to advance Danko’s viewpoint – one person with powers killed all those people in a moment of panic. Luckily, our heroes take this as a reminder of the importance of staying in secret. Nathan offers to go back to Washington and talk to the President, and then they notice the live Press Conference on the diner TV. It’s Nathan! And what he’s saying sounds like he’s announcing his run for the Presidency. (What year is this set in? They keep calling 1961 “Fifty years ago”. Is Heroes set slightly in the future, and they’re talking about the 2012 elections?) I told you Sylar would be awesome as a shapeshifter!
Hey, remember when Sylar disguised himself as Nathan and became President in the future? That was messed up! And now, well, it looks like it’s happening. Of course, this turn of events won’t lead to exactly that future, since some key players in that future are now dead (Niki, Hana Gitelman), and in that future, Sylar used Candice’s illusionary powers to impersonate Nathan, rather than Richard’s shapeshifting. Still, even if it results in a slightly different future, that was still a really messed-up future.
Two episodes left this season! And now we’ve got Sylar running for President and an emotionally unstable weather controller out there somewhere. Hopefully next week, I’ll be a little more timely….
