Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Eris Quod Sum

This season really is almost a complete reboot of the series. The ones we were sure were villains are becoming heroes. The ones we trusted as heroes are becoming villains. And characters we thought were gone are still orchestrating events. Interesting. Highlight below to see my thoughts:

If you haven't already busted out a Google search on the title of the episode, it comes from Horace (the Roman poet) and it means "you will be what I am." It seems fitting considering the direction that Arthur is moving. He wants to be able to give people abilities meaning that they will become what he is. The logical conclusion of that argument, though, is that they will also become power hungry and evil. A point that Arthur seems unwilling or unable to see. Assuming that Arthur really is the problem…

This is probably going to get some of you going, but hang with me. I know what you're asking right now. You're asking why I would even suggest that Arthur isn't the problem. He's got both halves of the formula. He's already said that he wants to be able to give powers to the world. He's pulling together a team of "villains." What else is there to question? A lot, actually.

First, what was Angela really trying to accomplish when she sent the Haitian to Germany with her half of the formula? Second, why did Angela want to destroy NYC in season 1? Third, do you really think that she has lost her taste for power? Nothing in this show is ever what it seems. HRG turned out to be a passionate guy fighting to protect his adopted daughter from the company that he worked for. Gabriel has turned out to be a guy that's just trying to figure out the world around him and trying to learn how to control "the hunger". Arthur turned out to be alive and in seclusion rather than dead. Maury turned to love his son enough to sacrifice himself for his well being. Why wouldn't it make sense to think that Arthur really is trying to save the world and that at this present time he has to take Peter's powers away because it's the only way to avoid a fight and succeed in his mission?

He did kill Adam and put Maya in a position to be of negligible effect to the show. For both of those things, we should praise him. Instead, we assume that he's the bad guy based on the words of Angela Petrelli. The lady that we were all certain was a criminal mastermind right up until the point that Arthur turned out to be alive. All I'm saying is, think about it.

While you're pondering that, note these other observations. Maury is dead, so Daphne and Nathan should not see any more visions of Linderman.

Matt and Daphne are together and seem to be attracted to one another (at least in Matt's mind). Is Daphne really still working for Arthur, though? She seems to be, and I still wonder what they have on her. The bigger question is, does she really fall in love with him in the future, or was she still just working undercover in Matt's vision?

In the future, Daphne, Claire, and Knox all go after Peter with Matt's consent. How does Claire end up working for Pinehearst and turning on Peter? Does she go bad or does he?

And how the heck is Peter going to get his scar? I thought we might have seen it when he went out the window, but no such luck. It was cool, though, that Gabriel stopped his fall and allowed him to survive. It tells us that Gabriel is not completely riding the Arthur express to loony town, but Arthur's comment on Peter's survival lets us know that realizes what Gabriel did.

Also, how will Peter get his powers back? He has them in the future, so something is going to happen. Can Arthur give them back? Or will Mohinder's formula enable Peter?

Speaking of the Petrelli's, Arthur claims that Angela tried to kill Gabriel after she had a dream of what he would become. Do you think he's telling the truth or is he just trying to manipulate Gabriel into working for him?

It looks like next week we'll be going to back to the past. My guess is that we'll be seeing through Hiro's eyes as he is on his vision quest with Usutu. I wonder how many of these questions will be answered with a little more backstory?