TV Review: Heroes Season 3, Episode 4

Episode four “I Am Become Death” begins with Mohinder attempting to reverse his gradual transformation into a hideous Indian Spiderman. His newfound aggression is a nice change from his inane waffling about the science behind the show but, thanks to Ramamurthy‘s wooden acting skills, it‘s no more convincing.

After learning of her creation by the infamous Company, Tracy is pushed to the edge. While her attempted suicide is foiled by Nathan, it was kind of hard to believe any of it, thanks to the god awful green screen effects. The green screen effects in Heroes are rarely any good, but this is another level of mediocrity that the show hasn’t reached since the show’s pitiful recreation of Ukraine in season two. The annoying thing is that Heroes can look brilliant, some of the effects in the show are genuinely excellent, but each time they use a green screen it just looks lazy.

The bulk of episode four takes place in the future, with Peter’s scarred future self (who apparently took a four year trip to the Matrix) revealing that extraordinary abilities have become common, and that the sheer amount of abilities will destroy the world. Then future Peter is shot, which I liked, since his unnecessarily over-dramatic hand gestures were getting on my tits.

Peter then begins his search for the future Sylar, who’s original power is the key to saving the world. After discovering his location from Mohinder (who’s fully transformed into…er…Gollum), Peter discovers that, in the future, Sylar has reformed, and is now a father. The human side of Sylar is something the series hasn’t explored until recently, and having that insight into his character is incredibly refreshing. It goes without saying that Sylar was one of the shows better characters, but giving him a little more depth, and giving us the chance to sympathise with him, was a fantastic move.

Another smart move was giving Sylar’s power to Peter, effectively turning Peter into his nemesis. It’s an interesting development, and having Peter in Sylar’s position could flip the show right on it’s head. If the writers take advantage, this could be one of the best twists in the series so far.

With “I Am Become Death”, season three continues to pick up pace. There’s still quite a lot to pick on, but it’s getting there.

3/5

Is anyone else bored of how Nathan is always the president in the future? I’m looking forward to the season where he becomes a white version of Hancock.