Heroes Episode Review: Chapter 13 (1.13) The Fix

You can’t keep a good hero down. Or villain for that matter. Chapter 13, “The Fix” finds our main characters either in pursuit of someone, or being pursued themselves: a harried Peter pursues the invisible man, Claude (Doctor Who’s Christopher Eccleston) in search of mentorship; Hiro and Ando flee sinister looking Caucasian types; Nathan forms an unlikely alliance with Mohinder in search of the runaway Peter; Matt and the wife pursue some sort of mutual trust; poor D.L. pursues some parental strength, while Niki pursues the strength to keep Jessica at bay; and Claire and her newly befriended (or is that refreshed?) buddy Zach (who may or may not be gay) are in search of clues to Claire’s past.

Missing from the episode: Ted “Radioactive Man” Sprague, who one presumes is still in the Nevada dessert somewhere getting to know his bomb-exploding ways.

“The Fix” belongs to Peter, whose desperate search for help in stopping his impending nuking of New York feels like it’s reaching a boiling point for the poor guy. After all, he’s trained as a male nurse, not as the savior of all of New York City, and possibly the world. That’s a bit much for anyone. Of course it doesn’t help ol Peter that big brother Nate still seems unsure about his role in all of this. One moment he’s embracing his power, the next he wants a cure for it. This guy changes his mind as often as, well, the politician dog that he is.

Over in Sunny Texas (when was this show shot again?), Claire and Zach are still playing tag with HRG, who may or may not (but probably the former) suspect that his brainwashing of his superpowered daughter via the mysterious Haitian may not have taken hold. Of course HRG has other problems, namely some unsavory experimentations on the captured supervillain Sylar, who remains stashed away in some small corner of the Primatech Paper Company building. They make papers there, in case you were wondering. Well, not really, but you know what I mean.

At the heart of “The Fix” is Peter’s quest, with the writers striking the perfect balance of desperation and heroics for actor Milo Ventimiglia, who continues to grow along with his character. The highlight is, without a doubt, Peter’s heart-to-heart with big brother Nate, where the younger Petrelli besieges his big bro to eschew his politician’s ways just this once.

Meanwhile, Masi Oka and the writers continue to embrace Hiro’s place as the show’s comic relief and indefatigable spirit. When the mysterious Caucasian men captures Ando and Hiro chooses not to abandon his buddy, and ends up captured as well, Ando reacts with surprise, to which Hiro replies, “This is how we roll.” Indeed!

And of course, let’s not forget the introduction of a very important figure in Hiro’s life: his father, played by “Star Trek’s” Sulu — George Takei. He sure doesn’t look like a happy camper when we first lay eyes on him, that’s for sure. Then again, maybe he just hates to fly, and I’m sure Tokyo to New York is quite a distance�