A number of years ago, when it first came out, I started to read Robert Jordan?s Wheel of Time. I finished book seven and realized I had ploughed through 700 pages (or so) in which NOTHING HAPPENED. I never bought book eight. I didn?t feel like sacrificing that much of my time to something that wasn?t going anywhere. I don?t know what Mr. Jordan is up to now, but I don?t believe he?s finished the series yet.


Heroes isn?t like that, thankfully. Something always happens. Questions that are brought up in one episode are answered in another, and those answers give rise to even more questions. And of course, Heroes only chews up an hour of your time instead of a week. This is a good thing. On with the show?

This time Mohinder talks about violence. Not a good sign for the extras and bit players, but it means some serious action ahead for the audience.

I still don?t know how Peter managed to put all the paintings in the right order. Maybe Isaac painted numbers on the back. The missing painting is the key, which is a neat plot device to bring Simone back into the story right when it seems Peter and Isaac are getting along well enough to make common cause. Ah, conflict. It?s the only reason we?re interested in stories, and the love triangle has to be one of the oldest conflicts going.

Hiro?s reaction to discovering he?s going to get a sword is great fun to watch. He?s looking forward to a dark and terrible future because he gets a sword out of the deal. Waffles! (Once the name of a common breakfast food, now an expression of joy or excitement). Ando makes a good foil, something not obvious from earlier episodes, grounding the flighty Hiro in the real world. I doubt the Japanese actually have a phrase for ?talking out of your ass.? I think the translators playthings a little loose sometimes.

I was surprised to see Cowboy back again. If he wanted payback, why did he let them go in the first place? I?d have beaten them to the point where they understood I was serious about things, and then told them what I had in mind. I wouldn?t have beaten them, made them walk back into town, and THEN threatened them again. Idiot plot: the stranded at the diner bit was necessary so Hiro could meet Nathan and Ando could meet Niki. Cowboy gets the idiot plot award for this week.

Good effects in the stopped time card game. I don?t know how they did the cards-stuck-in-the-air thing, but it worked. I?ve noticed that when Hiro stops time in Vegas, there?s always someone breathing out smoke near him. A chance for the digital effects department to justify their budget, I guess.

The money launderer was named Ernie. I wonder if the guy with him was Bert? Regardless, Ikin turned them both into lasagna. Along with Cowboy, it seems. I wonder if Cowboy?s men are going to find out what happened to their boss and blame Hiro/Ando? That could complicate things considerably. But Cowboy?s men are probably like Mohinder?s photos of Sylar?s apartment: threads left dangling because they?ve served their purpose. I don?t think Hiro?s upset enough with his inaction. He seems merely disappointed in himself, and comes out of it when Ando suggests a do-over. Me? I?d freak. The door cracked, and blood dripped out. Some armed, dangerous men died gruesomely in the next room. I wouldn?t be able to sleep for weeks.

I?d spend my waking hours slapping Ando for interrupting my concentration when I was trying to stop time and prevent the massacre. Or I?d tell Cowboy?s men where to find him, and they could kick him again.

Every week we see her, Claire hurts herself. I don?t know how the kid would have survived childhood without her gift. ?Mom? Dad? Can you pick me up at the usual entrance to the hospital? I tripped on the way to school, ran into Mr. Johnson?s hedge trimmers, got mauled by Mrs. MacCreary?s pit bull and stumbled into the street where a school bus ran over me. They?re saying it?s only going to take four to six years to heal this time. Dr. Johnson in the morgue says thanks for the cupcakes. Oh, and my cheerleading sweater is going to need some ironing. Good thing Tide(?) is so good on bloodstains.?

She mentions that her cheerleading career is scissor-kicking off the field. That?s news. What offense need one commit to get oneself removed from the cheerleading team? I can?t guess. In my high school, our cheerleading team had such low morale they whispered. Our glee club was treated for depression. Seriously, I wonder what?s happened that the squad is putting Claire on waivers.

The whole Claire thing has a special appeal to me as an adoptive father. My sons, who were adopted at six and nine, really want to be reunited with their ?bio parents.? Decent phrase too: ?bio parents.? I?ve tried (believe me, I?ve TRIED) and I haven?t come up with anything that sounds less clumsy than that. I?d settled on ?first parents,? but I?m going to go with ?bio parents? from now on. They were pretty small when they were taken into custody, and years have gilded their memories of their bio mom and dad. Part of me dreads the day the boys meet their ?bio parents? and discover just how distorted those memories have become. That?s going to be hard on them. The other part of me is looking forward to it because it?s sick of being unfavorably compared with someone who neglected them.

? But all that?s my hang-up, and I am not a nice man.

Claire?s conversation with Zach is the most believable one I?ve seen them have. Her description of her dad?s possible reaction to her ability illustrates something most of us who survive childhood have figured out: our parents are never quite the people we think they are. They had a life before we came along that was quite different from the one they had after our arrival, and there are many things we?ll never know about them. The scene is funny because, of course, we know Mr. Bennet better than Claire.

Jack Coleman?s Mr. Bennet is my favorite character on the series, and his performance here just reinforces that. I had to show my wife the scene where he eavesdrops on Claire?s conversation with her bio parents. His wife asks him if he should be doing that, and his double take shows a conflict between guilt and need that?s resolved with a simple, ?Yes.? A funny, but telling, moment. This is also a character so Machiavellian that he?s planted Eden as a mole in Mohinder?s world, orders brain wipes on people the way I?d order fries and a soda, and has recruited some fakes to play his daughter?s bio parents. Yet, when Eden tells him about Hiro, he finds it ?Cool.? He?s a study in contrasts. I wonder where the broken glasses came from? Were they broken in an earlier episode? Maybe when Mohinder bolted from the cab in the second one?

Interesting point: Bennet has done such a good job separating his personal and professional life that he?s almost in Niki?s MPD class. Yet after Peter?s warning, we can see that those lives are going to collide. It?s going to make for interesting viewing when he has to choose between job and family.

We?re given some subtle hints that Zach, shall we say... dances on the other side of the street? First, there?s the offhanded remark a few weeks ago about him having an erection in the boy?s shower, and now, when asked point-blank whether he?s flirting with Claire, he denies it in a way that makes it clear the thought really didn?t ever enter his mind. Were I sixteen again, and in his situation, the thought of flirting with Claire would loom so large in my mind that I doubt any other thoughts would be able to wedge themselves in. Of course, they?re just friends, and there are a lot of beautiful girl/shy guy relationships like the one portrayed here. Just because I?ve never been in them doesn?t mean they don?t exist. I?ve never been to New Jersey either but I?m pretty sure it exi... okay, bad example. Zach also refers to Claire?s revealing her ability as, ?coming out.? It?s circumstantial evidence, but it makes me wonder.

When Sandra reveals that the Bennet?s last attempt to find Claire?s parents failed, we can see the tip of a wedge that?ll come between father and daughter. Bennet keeps pestering Claire to trust him, but it seems he?s not ready to make it a two-way street. More conflict in the future. I?m looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

Mohinder the lizard/plot device returns! My shock is considerable! Mohinder the man is a twit. Nora Zehetner is gorgeous and should call me right after Ali Larter hangs up. The scene in the Suresh apartment is interesting because there?s a hint of genuine affection between the two characters. When Eden calls Bennet, and Bennet hints that there?s more she could have done to keep him in the country, she doesn?t defend herself. She merely reports his departure and changes the subject. I suspect she?s developing feelings for him, and that?s going to complicate her assignment. Even more future conflict!

But of course, all of this stuff is filler. This episode was all about Niki, Ikin, Micah and D.L. It's nice to see the frantic switching between story lines slow down a bit and allow us to concentrate on one for a while.

Ikin?s finally out of the closet (wonderful little visual metaphor there) and the gloves are off. I do love the mirror tricks. It seems Ikin is growing stronger, and coming out at less predictable times. I?ve read where the crew refers to her as ?Jessica.? I?m not crazy about that name. ?Ikin? isn?t perfect, but ?Niki and Jessica? sounds a little to close to a celebrity couple who turned their lives and marriage into a televised train wreck.
I keep wondering why Niki doesn?t throw out every mirror in her house. I would if I kept seeing someone else in them.

I got a little tired of D.L. suddenly appearing behind Niki. The first time it was creepy. Second time, it was neat. Third time, it was predictable. Doesn?t he ever just walk straight up to people? Nice effect though, the way he phases in and out of things. Less cheesy than the same trick on Mutant X. Where would we be without digital processing? (I?d be unemployed). Nice visual bit with the wedding rings while D.L. is on the couch. It kind of sums up their relationship: D.L. never took his off. Niki did, and just because she put it on again doesn?t mean it?s there to stay.

The gradual revelation of Niki?s part in D.L.?s frame-up was a timely payoff and confirmation of conclusions to which most of us had already come. It explains where she got the money for the car and that shiny chrome shovel. I'm glad the writers didn't spin this one out after most of us had it figured out. That mystery?s been cleared up. Now I just want to know why Ikin decided to frame her husband. Were there no other suitable candidates for framing? And why does she make such a mess when she kills? The look Larter puts on her face when she dismisses the murders is so sly it?s scary. She?s been criticized for her acting, but I?ve enjoyed her work so far, and this episode could not have been easy for an actor to pull off: sitting against a closet talking to no one and wearing different personalities. Ikin and Niki are opposites, and she pulls them both off well enough that the performances are convincing.

I want Micah?s comic collection. Rare first (only) editions, I?m sure. How much does the kid know about Niki?s other half? More than he?s told Niki, for sure.

The final battle between Ikin and D.L. was quite short. I expected the creators to draw this one out: a real Marvel slugfest. I?m pleased they didn?t. Real people don?t draw out fights. Real people put their opponent down as fast as possible. Micah was, of course, the deciding factor. His future looks to be a tough one. A lot of kids are witnesses to domestic violence, and every one of them comes out of the experience changed. Now we?ve got Micah, who not only watched his parents try to kill each other, but one of them has been revealed as a super strong homicidal maniac and the other can reach through bodies. If the writers have any love for veracity, that?s going to stunt his growth.

Notice that by convincing Niki to grab the suitcase and try to run, Ikin's brought about the very situation (D.L. taking Micah) she told Niki she was trying to avoid.

Interesting thing about Heroes: you?re always left wanting to know what happens next, and Monday night seems a long way off.