VIDEO: ONCE UPON A TIME IN TEXAS

ONCE UPON A TIME IN TEXAS by doc39

Of all the Heroes story line...this is my favorite. Once Upon A Time In Texas


Synopsis: Three years in the past Samuel finds Hiro and warns him of the consequences of saving Charlie. But Hiro proceeds, using Sylar to destroy her brain tumour. But Samuel spirits her away and tells Hiro that he won’t get her back unless he helps him. Also in the past Noah considers having an affair with fellow Company agent Lauren. He doesn’t though because he loves his family.

The Good: Heroes tries to capture the magic of season one and of its greatest episode ever (110) as Hiro heads back to a time when the show made sense.

On that basic level this episode worked to capture the attention. By returning to a time which viewers are familiar with the episode does keep you glued to the screen. Though I suspect like me, most fans were wishing that Hiro would accidentally ruin the timeline creating a new future which would be better than the one we have now.

Instead Hiro’s innocent morality is left to carry the episode. On a simple level he remains a sweet and likeable character. I particularly liked the way he told Sylar that he would die alone. He was clearly conning Sylar all along and had no intention of telling him anything relevant about the future. But instead of simply sending Sylar on his way he took the opportunity to point out where Sylar would end up emotionally. Almost urging him to change his ways to avoid the horrific fate of…loneliness. Such is sweet Hiro’s way.

The highlight of the episode was Charlie realising what Hiro’s actions really meant (see Best Moment). It was one of those rare moments when the Heroes writers actually voice the consequences of their characters actions. It was all too fleeting a moment. Hiro emoted his pain and confusion at Samuel’s betrayal well. Samuel too seemed genuinely pained at the murder of Mohiner and whatever else he was up to. He is certainly a more well rounded and plausible villain than Sylar.

The Bad: Lots of little things built up to rob this story of the success it could have had. First and foremost is just the ridiculous idea that you can “manage” the past. Every little thing Hiro did would have radically changed the future. It also seemed odd that Hiro hadn’t thought through how to cure Charlie’s brain tumour. If he loves her that much he should have recalled that detail.

Then there was Sylar’s part in the plot. The producers clearly think that he is the answer to Heroesevery problem. This is the third incarnation of the Sylar character to be featured this season. He really isn’t as intriguing and entertaining as they think he is. Once more the show just looks a bit pathetic with its “fight” scenes which consist of Hiro wheezing back and forth behind Sylar. At least kick Sylar or knock him over or something. Sylar looks like a moron for not just killing Hiro and taking his power when he had the chance or for thinking Hiro would honour the deal when he can change time. And as for his ability to destroy brain tumours…well what can I say? The lack of explanation for how each ability works is poor.

The problem at the core of this story is that Hiro isn’t an interesting character to watch in long stories. He is honourable and likeable but his dialogue is basic as are his emotions. The idea of seeing Samuel put him to work while he pouts and complains isn’t an intriguing prospect. Ditto Mohinder, whose character was changed every half season. Perhaps Samuel killed him because he thought he could do a better job doing the opening voice overs?

Noah’s story seemed irrelevant but I don’t know that for sure (see The Unknown). It certainly felt it and a good example of that was his confrontation with Hiro. It served zero purpose and just screamed “time filler.” I also don’t like the idea of a human going to the Haitian for something so trivial as a bit of heart ache and awkwardness. Losing memories should be portrayed as a horrific event.

The Unknown: The Noah storyline seemed entirely irrelevant. I couldn’t quite put it in “The Bad” because I don’t know if it was entirely useless. It certainly felt meandering as it took place and didn’t seem to have any relevance to his current predicament in our present. He did reveal his desire to teach English but unless Heroes is about to go in a very dull direction I don’t think we will see him quoting Shakespeare again soon. His almost-affair story felt like a way to pad out the trip to the past and if so it was a shame. Particularly as Lauren was one of the few Heroes supporting characters who seemed like a believable, likeable, real person.

So what’s Mohinder been up to?

Best Moment: Charlie’s life has been saved but she isn’t happy. She points out that as lovely as it was for Hiro to save her, he just allowed Sylar to continue on his path of murder. It’s a fantastic point to bring up and she can see that Hiro is being selfish. If he really wanted to right the wrongs of the world then he should have killed Sylar. Her guilt trip really worked because it suited her morality and Hiro’s naivety so well. Sadly she soon forgave him and seemingly gave up on her misgivings.