Heroes Episode Review: Chapter 2 (1.02) Don’t Look Back

Episode Review: Chapter 2 (1.02), “Don’t Look Back”
Reviewed by Super Ordinary Guy

Part I. The episode starts off where the last one ended, with the dreamer Peter Petrelli falling and a voice over by the actor playing Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy). Suddenly Peter awakes to find his brother Nathan looking over him. Peter asks his politician brother what happened, and Nathan relays the story that Peter tried to commit suicide to which Peter denies. As Peter believes Nathan flew, Nathan tries to convince him that he fell onto the fire escape and that Nathan climbed up to retrieve his injured brother. Adrian Pasdar, who plays Nathan, does an excellent job manipulating his voice to portray his character. When he speaks his answers are short, crisp but with a raspy quality. You get the feeling you’re not supposed to like this guy, something his voice amplifies.

This just in: The Odessa Register reports on their front page that a “Train Derails, Explodes.” Claire Bennet, the lovely blonde high school cheerleader talks with her adoptive father about finding out about her birth parents. Claire even hints that she wants to know what her parents can do, which seems to worry her fake daddy. And don’t tell Claire that cheerleading isn’t hard work, because it is hard, treacherous work as she later proves. The extremes some of our heroes reach to prove a point.

Mohinder Suresh comes home to his apartment to find a pest exterminator with fancy electronic equipment and a nice handgun. Cockroaches are the least of Mohinder’s problems. The good news is that Mohinder gets a cute sidekick, but was she really a friend of his father?

The story skips off to tell of Hiro Nakamura’s visit of the Big Apple. An excited Hiro anxiously greets random ‘Yorkers with various phrases such as “Go Yankees.” Thank you, Hiro, for jinxing the Yankees. Hiro stops by a news stand to see a 9th Wonders comic book, with his arrival to New York plastered across the front. A moment of hilarity ensues as Hiro takes off after paying for the comic with Japanese currency.

Part II picks up with Hiro’s hectic escape through the streets of New York. When Hiro stops he reads the comic version of what happened to Hiro in “Genesis.” Skipping to the end, he learns about the genius behind the artwork, complete with a handy address to go with the name.

Isaac Mendez and Simone Deveaux are found back in Isaac’s apartment. The last time we left off with these two, Simone was calling in an overdose the previous night. I wonder why he isn’t in a hospital or why the police haven’t investigated a phone call claiming an OD, but oh well. As Simone dutifully watches over him, Isaac goes on about the need to stop the cataclysmic event he had painted in the previous tale, by warning someone, anyone to stop it from happening. Ever the voice of reason Simone replies, “Isaac, you can’t paint the future. No one will believe you.” Simone, distraught over watching her father slowly fading away tells Isaac he must choose between her or the drugs and his fantasies.

Back in Odessa, we find that Claire already has a nemesis, Jackie, a fellow cheerleader vying for the affections of a certain star quarterback. As Zach tries to tell Claire something, the principle requires the ladies’ attention. In Las Vegas, Niki awakens to a phone call from her son and two dead shylocks in her garage/entertainment studio. The anticipation builds as she begins to watch the video recording of the incident. Ali Larter (Niki) does an exceptional job reacting violently as she watches herself get slapped by the goon. Just when we think some important clues will be revealed as to what is going on…STATIC! Truly a stroke of genius on the writer’s part. Shortly thereafter she awakens in her car four hours later in a different area with a fresh set of clothes. When she has a conversation with someone close to her, the name DL pops up a few times as a possible explanation for the dead bodies. As Niki says, her only course of action is to run.

Part III opens with Mohinder conversing with his sidekick, Eden, who uses pleasing adjectives such as “eccentric” in describing Mohinder’s father.

In Texas, a lineup of cheerleaders including our heroine and her evil counterpart are asked which one saved a man’s life. In an effort to keep Claire from taking the glory, Jackie steps forward to great acclaim. Hayden Panettiere (Claire) shows off her acting skills in asking about the health of the said individual. Hayden’s facial expressions and eyes are filled with meaning and complexity, something which makes HEROES such a joy to watch. During football practice, Claire meets up with Zach and he informs her of the missing tape showcasing her “talent.” Just then, Claire gets nailed by a player and she lands on the ground with her head displaced 180 degrees. Quickly and daintily, Claire swivels her head back into position.

Part IV checks back with Niki and her son Micah. They are going on vacation, and as Niki opens the garage she finds a cleaned studio with a set of keys and an unbroken mirror guiding her to a red convertible in her name. On the certificate of ownership we see a red heart with the message “IN THE TRUNK, FOLLOW THE MAP.” Remind me never to become a shylock, the health benefits stink.

In a New York hospital, we see Peter drawing on a piece of paper with the helix symbol from the comics, with one stick figure floating and another stick figure with a tie observing. In comes Mother Petrelli to disclose many secrets. First, father Petrelli committed suicide due to his depressive state. Second, she finally admits to Peter that he is her favorite. Another superb acting performance out of Cristine Rose, who plays Peter and Nathan’s mother Angela.

While still in NY we see Hiro visiting the gifted Mr. Isaac. As Hiro roams through the apartment, we begin to see the terror. As Hiro finds a gun on the apartment floor, I myself start screaming at the TV “Don’t pick it up! Don’t! Nnnoooooooo!” Apparently Star Trek never had an episode where a phaser should’ve never been handled. Predictably, a dead body is found. Somewhat unpredictably, the body belonged to Isaac Mendez. Hiro again captivates the fan base by swooning as the scene cuts to commercial.

Part V finally introduces Matt Parkman, a LAPD cop who can hear people’s thoughts. Outside of a crime scene involving a serial killer, Matt hears the inner dialogue of a small girl. Lead by her silent cries, he finds her in a secret room in the house. During this we learn the possible name of the serial killer, Sylar, via an outspoken conversation by 2 agents. Hidden, scared, and confused, the little lady thinks that Matt hurt her mom and dad.

Back at Mohinder’s bachelor pad, we learn that his father had been working on a mathematical theorem using human genomes and DNA migration patterns. As the phone rings, Eden comes upon the realization that “Papa” Suresh had messages, one of them from an evil sounding Mr. Sylar. Little miss sidekick also finds a portable USB drive, which also proves greatly useful to Mohinder. On the flash drive is a way to find these super-powered individuals and the reason why someone would want “Papa” Suresh dead.

In Los Angeles, Matt is being questioned by 2 agents how he found the girl. We find out that Matt is dealing with marital issues, and has failed the detective test 3 times. Apparently, this information combined with the ability to overhear a conversation aloud between 2 agents and an ability to find a missing girl is cause enough to arrest a police officer of such a gruesome crime. And cops wonder why some people are afraid of them?

Part VI starts with Niki following the map to a secluded area. As Micah sleeps, Niki uncovers what her alter ego wanted her to find — very old dead bodies barely buried right beside a road. I know the road is secluded, but can’t alter ego Niki bury them a little farther away than that? And deeper too? There’s nothing wrong with taking a vehicle off-road a few hundred feet.

Checking up with Claire, her adoptive father (played by Jack Coleman) is waiting for her to come home to tell her he’s started the process of finding her birth parents. As he calls her Claire Bear, it makes it even more believable that they’ve been close for years. When he finishes his conversation with Claire we find out what he was watching beforehand and who has the missing tape all at the same time.

Back in NY, the Petrelli brothers talk on the top of a rooftop. Nathan finally reveals that they both can fly. At first Peter doesn’t believe him, but after he realizes he’s levitating Peter becomes overjoyed and hugs Nathan. Adrian Pasdar (Nathan) shows off his acting prowess during the hug by conveying facially that Peter’s exuberance was going to be trouble for him. The expression in his eyes says it all. The screen swipes downward to show the stick figure drawing Peter penciled earlier. The buildings were a bit displaced, but the greater meaning of the picture hints that Peter’s power might be something more than just mere flight.

While still in NY, we pick up Hiro being questioned by the cops about the murder of the artist Isaac Mendez. It escapes me as to why they’re not questioning one of their own instead. Maybe that’s just another difference between the coastlines. Hiro smiles as they mention the “Merry Marvel Marching Society.” I love this character, especially when he breaks out the “Live Long and Prosper” on them. Although, is that proper thumb placement? Oh well, a call (hopefully not collect for Ando’s sake) to Hiro’s friend Ando begins the realization that Hiro not only teleported himself to New York, but also into the future. November 8, not October 2 as Hiro’s watch asserts, or 37 days into the future to be exact. The newspaper for November 8 has a headline saying “Petrelli Wins in Landslide.” As a huge explosion rocks NY, Hiro quickly teleports himself back to Japan and hopefully back in present time.

Sendhil Ramamurthy doing the voice over at the end makes the episode complete. I can only hope that HEROES continues this trend. In all, a wonderful episode from a promising new show.