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Thursday, October 30, 2008

Heroes 3x07: Eris Quod Sum

Villain: The episode title
Anyone know Latin so they can tell me what the hell title means? It wasn't mentioned in the episode. Eris is the Greek goddess of discord, for what that's worth, and my armchair knowledge of Descartes (cogito ergo sum) suggests that sum means "I am" or something to that effect. So something about "being discord", maybe?

Hero: Lyle dunking Elle
That was pretty funny. Go Lyle. Nice to see the overlooked Bennet getting his licks in.


Villain: Elle on a plane
Claire seems to have taken over Hiro's job of doing something dumb every week. Look, I get that the writers needed Claire and Elle to physically get to where the main narrative is quickly, but they could have just dropped them in front of Pinehearst and let us fill in the blanks instead of showing us that Claire was stupid enough to bring an electrically out-of-control Elle on a plane, endangering the lives of all those passengers, even going so far as to taunt Elle while they're flying. The payoff of that scene, Claire and Elle's sisterly bonding as Claire takes the brunt of Elle's power, wasn't worth the idiotic setup. And really, if Elle had just let go of the metal arm of her seat, she probably could have dispersed the electricity as well as Claire did.


Hero: Claire is involved in the main narrative
I often feel that Claire, a continent away, often ends up removed from the main narrative of the show and gets saddled with lackluster subplots and lame characters (*cough* Wes *cough*) so I always appreciate it when she finds her way back into the main narrative and hangs out with her birth family.

Hero: Parkman does good
Hey, Matt the loveable doofus did something effective! And he showed just the right combination of sorrow and nonchalant-ness at the news of his father's death. I'm just hoping he's already aware of Daphne's double-cross (although, honestly, Parkman automatically trusting her enough to NOT read her mind and see that wouldn't surprise or anger me much).


Villain: Sylar gets whomped again
I was a little disappointed that Sylar was taken down so easily by Mohinder. First he was beaten to a pulp by Peter last week and now this. I'll take back this criticism if Sylar not fighting back against Mohinder was part of the "infiltrate the bad guys" stratagem suggested by his slowing of Peter's fall.


Hero: Maya gone for good
Hopefully her amends-making will occur firmly offscreen, making this the last we'll see of the irritatingly doe-eyed Maya. Though I have to wonder, if this was Maya's final exit, what was the point of having her in this season at all? We could have gotten the "Mohinder is becoming a monster" vibe sufficiently from his webbing of the abusive neighbor and drug dealer and subsequent attack on Tracy and Nathan. It's funny: of all the season 2 plots the producers are doing their best to ignore that I wish they wouldn't, they decided to carry over Maya, the one season 2 plot I'd like most to be ignored.


Not much to say about this one. Another steady and enjoyable outing. I'm looking forward to the flashback episode in two weeks.

4 comments:

  1. Another good episode I thought.

    I too was glad to see Maya gone, hopefully for good. Never did see how her powers could have been of any practical use to still be around. Granted last year with the outbreak thing it might have played a role, but this season she was fairly unnecessary.

    Also very curious to see what pa Patrelli is up to. It's kind of interesting to see how they are turning the season 1 baddies into this seasons good guys with Sylar and The Company. However not so much with either yet that there isn't plenty of grey area still.

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  2. For what it's worth...
    "Eram quod es, eris quod sum" is a Latin phrase that is often found on gravestones and translates as "I was what you are, you will be what I am". Good ol' Wikipedia. Seems to go along the lines of Claire and Elle finding a bond and Pa Petrelli taking people's powers, but that's for you to decipher, not me.

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  3. Oh yeah, and the kid's name is West, not Wes. Not sure if that was a typo or not, but either way...West is a lame name.
    And having a giant, looming corporatation whose ways and motives are shadowed in secrecy is fine.
    Having two, who are fighting eachother, and having protagonists choose sides...just makes things confusing.
    I have no idea whether to side with ma or pa patrelli. Since I have no idea whose goals are what.

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  4. I know that the original plan for season 2 (before the strike nixed it) involved the virus actually getting out and I believe Maya's power was supposed to play some role in containing/curing it.

    Still, it's always seemed like a awfully specific power. Flight? Telepathy? Check. I kill people by making black goo come out of their eyes? Doesn't work quite as well.

    What mystifies me is that the producers are working so hard to ignore season 2, even some of the good stuff, yet Maya, the most ignorable part of last season, hung around. I assumed it was for a reason, but just to let her get webbed up and then leave? We could have easily done without her at all, in the end.

    And yeah, Wes was a typo and both names are equally lame. I still like to imagine him cowering in a basement somewhere, afraid that Clare told the public all about them.

    I agree it's well past time that some of either company's motives (but especially Primatech's) becomes at least a bit more clear. I'm hoping this upcoming flashback episode helps illuminate why Ma and Pa Petrelli are fighting each other and what each is after.

    Oh, and thanks Baroness. I suppose I could have googled it just as easily, but I was trying to stimulate the comments. In addition to what you said, I also see some connection to the Peter/Sylar storyline in that phrase.

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