One of Us, One of Them
Written by Joe Pokaski; directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan

Four of the Level 5 escapees, of which PresentPeter is imprisoned in the body of Jesse, lay siege to a bank. That brings Noah Bennett into the fray, with a partner mandated by Angela that, let's just say took liberties with someone dear to him. Hiro and Ando's pursuit of Daphne leads them to Berlin, while Tracy Strauss comes to grips with exactly how in the hell she froze a guy to death.

I actually hold out hope for a good episode tonight; Mimica-Gezzan directed some of Battlestar Galactica's standout ones, including the Emmy-nominated-for-writing Occupation/Precipice. He also helmed You Can't Go Home Again, Fragged, Home (Pt 1) and The Captain's Hand.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PaulHan,

Clips from tonight's episode now online. SPOILERIFIC to the max...

No Maya. No D!ohinder. Instantly better than last week. The Hiro/Ando/Daphne storyline was a little too slapstick, but things moved forward on a lot of fronts. Liked them planting the seeds of EvilFutureClaire, and maybe the HRG/Sylar teamup won't be as cringing as I had feared. And "I created you."? X-Files, anyone? Better than last week.

And a future-peek up next?

Co-MVP's: Jack Coleman, Hayden Panettiere

I wish I could say that this episode was better than last week, but I can't. I was so bored, and everything was just so stupid. I'll watch next week, but if I'm not impressed than I'm done. There's just too many better shows out there.

C-

You're more forgiving than I, Bazookka Joe. I am breaking up with Heroes. This was a long time coming. I was sure I was done with it after last season, but decided to give it another shot, mainly because of Kristen Bell(run for your life, find something that won't waste your talent). Well, she wasn't even on tonight, so that helped make this decision even easier. This was the last episode of Heroes I will ever watch. What garbage. And why do they continue to introduce more characters when they can't even handle the ones they already have? The cast is splintered about and most of the stories make no sense and I couldn't care less about 3/4 of the cast. These writers are freakin clueless and it shows on the screen as the product is a complete mess. Seriously, what is this show trying to be?

I expect the ratings to continue to drop like a stone. This show has flat out become so stupid.

Buffy, it appears they are holding the last 4 appearances of KB toward the back end of the Villains arc. She won't be on until the October 20 episode at the earliest.

That episode was kind of boring and the storylines were kind of stupid.

My biggest problem was Sylar. I mean, what the f... In the last episode, they caught him. Okay. But now, he is suddenly a good guy? What? And he talks smoothly with the local policeman? Why? It's like, "oh that Sylar with his nice suit and thick eyebrows, who knew that he was so cool and able to get past the guards so easily?" Ha ha, yeah, yeah? No.

As someone who has not seen Veronica Mars or even Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I cannot see what people see in Kristen Bell. And her Elle is an annoying character so it does not bother me that she is gone for a few weeks. Unfortunately, Daphne reminds me of Elle. Hiro and Ando's storyline is more fun, but I am not too sure about their dynamic with Daphne. "You, my nemesis friend, are evil and going to bring about the destruction of the world!" "You're like Robin, here's some popcorn ha ha ha!" Although he was not given as much a chance to "shine" (insert winking emoticon here), James Kyson Lee continues his reign with one of the most laughable performances on primetime television.

That Claire plot was weird. It was uncomfortable watching that mommy-torture scene, not to mention that there is a weak reason for her manipulative biological mother to be there in the first place.

As has been the cast with recent episodes with Heroes, the acting could have been stronger and the dialogue was poor. Gets a C- from me too. But don't worry, NBC, if I lived in the States and was a Nielsen household, you would be getting my ratings all season long.

"Should have gone with Sprint."

This was definitely an improvement over the dreary first two episodes.

I appreciated the humor in Hiro's storyline.

And, again, fantastic work from Christine Rose and Adrian Pasdar with very thin material. God bless 'em for bringing their A-game every time.

The Niki/Tracy, "I created you" thing is mildly intriguing.

But, man, I'm sick of time travel/alternate future storylines. UGH.

And the repetition is annoying (which I mentioned last week). Apparently Future Ando has Elle's electricity powers in a different color, Daphne looks Elle with a different haircut.

And don't get me started on turning Sylar into some kind of cop-show sidekick. Obviously Mrs. Petrelli is controlling him somehow, but that was almost too much.

I don't know, man... the disjointed storylines just don't have much cohesion or propulsion. It's so different from season one, which had an addictive inevitability to each strand of the story; what the hell happened?

I'm thankful that the Heroes writers are starting to improve, albeit slowly, with each episode this season from the second season.

No Mohinder was nice for once, and Maya I have a feeling she's going to be much more of a supporting character this season due to the fan response to her last year.

We wrapped up the storyline with Micah at least, thank god. Hopefully we won't have to see him anymore.

5.7 rating, 8 share last night. About 9.3m viewers. Chuck's bombing worse than Worst Week; they lost almost 3 million viewers from last year's premiere episode.

But as long as we embrace reality sh!t like DWTS, I nor anyone else have a right to complain. Let Cloris Leachman make an ass out of herself. Let Warren Sapp act like a diva off-camera, as a few folks are suggesting he's doing. If H.L. Mencken were alive, he might paraphrase one of his most famous sayings; "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people who watch DWTS."

I have to say I thought the episode improved over the premier which improved over last season, so still headed in the right direction.

The only storyline (that was shown last night) that I'm not feeling is the Sylar one. Turning him into a "good" guy type sidekick to HRG just doesn't work for me.

I still think the show is trying to do too much. The need one central storyline and get all of the cast involved with that. You would have thought they learned that last year.

quote:

Originally posted by jss0058:
I have to say I thought the episode improved over the premier which improved over last season, so still headed in the right direction.

The only storyline (that was shown last night) that I'm not feeling is the Sylar one. Turning him into a "good" guy type sidekick to HRG just doesn't work for me.

I still think the show is trying to do too much. The need one central storyline and get all of the cast involved with that. You would have thought they learned that last year.

I agree, I think everyone has to agree the way the first season ended with the cast coming together was really the best type. It's an ensemble show they need to have more ensemble story lines.


I really think Sylar has out stayed his welcome, great storyline for the first season, but his storyline never changes and is getting stale. Yes, Heroes' writers, we get that he's a complicated villain. But decide what you're going to do with him and move on.

quote:

Originally posted by PaulHan:
5.7 rating, 8 share last night. About 9.3m viewers. Chuck's bombing worse than Worst Week; they lost almost 3 million viewers from last year's premiere episode.

But as long as we embrace reality sh!t like DWTS, I nor anyone else have a right to complain. Let Cloris Leachman make an ass out of herself. Let Warren Sapp act like a diva off-camera, as a few folks are suggesting he's doing. If H.L. Mencken were alive, he might paraphrase one of his most famous sayings; "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people who watch DWTS."

I wouldn't blame "Heroes" drop in viewers on "DWTS"- I would blame it on the disastrous second season. I know lots of people who gave up on the show and don't have the time or patience to come back.

And I wouldn't insult the intelligence of the "DWTS" audience...that's snobby and ridiculous. Feel free to insult the intelligence of Sarah Palin supporters instead!

BTW, I am sticking with "Heroes" for the time being, but they need to stop truncating the really interesting storylines (Villains on the loose, Peter trapped in one, Claire's journey) so that they can spend time on the stupid ones (the walkabout, Hiro's incredible stupidity is not amusing!). If they don't, I will also stop watching- and not because I prefer another show, but because I have limited free time and I don't want to waste it being frustrated.

smileynate, doesn't Mama P look a little like Palin, without the glasses if she were 20 years older??

I don't get this show....It's a freaking superhero show...why aren't they being superheroes? Why are they taking so long to use all the easy material they have? Don't they have like a million copies of comics where they can copy everything from....they're already taking the powers away from every superhero they can find, why not copy everything else.

This misteries are all starting to drag, and I agree, they need to bring the cast together....Let Nathan fly NewNikki to New Orleans, I don't know....make this thing exciting....throw some rays, fly a bit, don't the bring the ridiculous painting again....why are they repeating themselves? Why didn't they put Claire's mom in action? Throw some flames at her to see if she burns or not...

And I say get rid of Sylar, Suresh, Maya and Parkman. They drag the show so much, they're boring. And I wouldn't die if they take away Hiro and Ando too, it's always they same "humorous" thing and nothing else is done...

And to whoever asked about Kristen Bell...it's pure fanboy talk...these people even go as far as saying that ratings are going down because they don't show Kristen Bell enough....who? the girl who couldn't get Veronica Mars out of the miserable ratings that got it cancelled? Don't get me wrong, I adore her and Veronica Mars and the reunion we had on Heroes, but bringing her back is going to help? Why? How? The only reason I want her around is because her power was cool, but I don't need Veronica Mars here again, and that's all she ever did...it was the exact same character only with electricity on her hands....

I'm gonna keep watching, but it's not getting any better....I don't expect this show to come back next year the way is going...

While I don't think the show is anywhere near it's prime, I think it may have one year left after this simply because it's ratings are one of the few shows that keep NBC from crashing and burning. (Note the ratings for Chuck and Life.)

Ugh.

Characters on this show don't have personalities or make decisions; they enact plot twists. Sylar, working for the good guys, at the insistence of Angela Petrelli, who facilitates Sylar's latest murders -- a senseless story development, and my patience is spent. I've liked Hiro in the past, but his seemingly silent-comedy inspired storyline with Ando is unbearable (there's a poster for Buster Keaton's "The General" -- Keaton's estate should sue), and the Daphne character is dead on arrival. The Nikki/Tracy storyline leaves me cold; there's little chance it'll be worth the aggravation. Still not buying Nathan's newfound religious kick. The sole bright spot: Meredith's mother-daughter torture session in a storage container, which is thoughtful about the characters and their relationships and well acted by Jessalyn Gilsig and Hayden Panetierre. But it's not enough. I'm done with this show until Kristen Bell makes a return appearance, and then maybe never again.

Grade: C

I agree.

I NEVER give up on shows, ever. Even through the horrible times, I always insist on getting through. So when everyone said that this third season is back on track, I got very excited and thought that this would be great. It's not. The first two episodes were good, but not great. This third episode was not too good. The storylines are just not as compelling. Matt and the weird Jamacian-African guy is really weird and it's not making sense at all. Nathan becoming the holy man is just being really stupid and it's a filler storyline. Niki and her whole "Now I'm Tracy, now I'm Niki" thing is odd. Hiro and Ando were pretty cool in the first season, but now it's just stupid. Sylar becoming "good" is WAY WAY WAY off balance. That's not how it's supposed to be, I like him way better evil (how weird is that). Peter in the other people's body is like wtf. And Mohinder becoming a hero is...UGH!!! They specifically said he would never become a hero and look what's happened. I hated him before and I hate him more now. The only good storyline at this point is Claire and her biological mother. That is interesting and the only thing that keeps me watching. I'm tempted to just watch those parts.

I don't know how much more I may be able to take.

Grade: C+

moviefan, I'm a lot like you. I almost never give up on a show I've started watching. But in this age of countless viewing options and countless opportunities to catch up (streaming video, DVDs, torrents), a heavy TV-viewer has to draw the line somewhere, and I'm drawing it here for "Heroes." If I hear a report of an improvement that really is an improvement, or if Kristen Bell does something awesome, then I'll tune back in. Until then, I'll be grateful to have that extra hour in my week.