Heroes Review: Out of Time

A visit to the future shows us a global threat that can be prevented. The key to saving the world may be a certain cheerleader, and…. Wait a minute. Which season are we watching?

Title: Heroes: Out of Time.

Cast

Sendhil Ramamurthy as Mohinder Suresh
Masi Oka as Hiro Nakamura
Hayden Panettiere as Claire Bennett
Milo Ventimiglio as Peter Petrelli
Adrian Pasdar as Nathan Petrelli
Ali Larter as Jessica / Niki Sanders
Jack Coleman as Noah Bennett
Greg Grunburg as Matt Parkman
Katie Carr as Caitlin
Eriko Tamura as Yaeko
James Kyson Lee as Ando Masahashi
Nicholas D’Agosto as West
Stephen Tobolowsky as Bob
Adair Tishler as Molly
David Anders as Takezo Kensei
Alan Blumenfeld as Maury Parkman

Premise

Claire and West’s idiocy last week creates problems for them in this episode. Maury Parkman brings his nightmares to the company, with serious consequences for several heroes. In the seventeenth century, the true relationship between Hiro Nakamura and Takezo Kensei becomes clear, while in the future, Nathan learns about the disaster which must be prevented.

In the final moments, we learn the identity of the mysterious “Adam.”

High Points

The Hiro Nahamura/Takezo Kenzei plot ended more-or-less as I originally predicted, but I cannot say that I’m disappointed. I would have liked more spectacle, but I enjoyed the story and its take on the hero.

More importantly, I like how this plot finds its way into the final moments of the episode. This could be interesting.

Low Points

I want to be fair here. Heroes was derivative from the outset, though it handled modified comic book conventions better than most direct adaptations of four-color heroes. Furthermore, the second season of a series generally lacks the novelty and impact of the first. We’ve seen it before. However, the show’s creators are not merely revisiting the basic premise; they’re reusing plot elements from the first season without the continuity and sense of direction that made that season so compelling. They need to build on their past—- not regurgitate it.

The Scores

Originality: See “Low Point.” 1/6.

Effects: The only effects this week involve backgrounds: future New York and feudal Japan. These have been handled well. 5/6.

Story: Lazy scriptwriting or stressed characters? Suresh, a very bright man, discusses his plan to take down the company over a cell phone from an unsecured room within corporate headquarters (Later, he’ll do something even more problematic, but at least his discussion with Bob makes a kind of sense, and we’re supposed to question his wisdom here). Bob reveals or conceals information as the show’s plot requires.

We’re starting to get a sense of the overall shape, and this shows some promise. 4/6

Acting: 5/6. Overall the acting remains good, but they’re getting some really awkward lines to deliver. Grunberg, in particular, handled himself well in a scene that could easily have felt overwrought; he plays his character with conviction. Likewise, I can believe in Hiro Nakamura, no matter how hokey he sounds. I hope we continue to see the depth he occasionally suggests beneath his childlike exterior.

Emotional Response: 4/6

Production: 5/6

Overall: 4/6

In total, “Out of Time” receives 28 out of 42.

14 replies on “Heroes Review: Out of Time”

  1. Woo
    I thought this was a really good episode. Yeah, we totally saw it coming, but sometimes that can be fun, too.

  2. Immortal?
    Since Takeo/Adam is still alive, and looking his youngish self, does this mean that any hero with regenerative abilities is pretty much immortal?

    Presumably the burnt body we saw in the aftermath of the explosion was Takeo. I’m curious as to how he spent the next 3-4 hundred years.

    Did we ever see any concrete link between the hero "symbol" initially shown on the flags in the first Feudal Japan scene and any actual heroes?

    Not a bad episode, except I totally don’t buy the motives behind Suresh. His transition of sides all seem rather forced to me.

    –Andrew

    • fall guy

      Presumably the burnt body we saw in the aftermath of the explosion was

      Remember what he used to do before the eclipse?

    • Re: Immortal?

      Since Takeo/Adam is still alive, and looking his youngish self, does this mean that any hero with regenerative abilities is pretty much immortal?

      I guess so. It’s a logical outcome – aging is, in a way, just accumlated injury.

      Presumably the burnt body we saw in the aftermath of the explosion was Takeo. I’m curious as to how he spent the next 3-4 hundred years.

      Nursing a grudge against Hiro, maybe. An immortal versus a time-traveler, interesting possibilities there…

  3. #
    Completely rehashed is an understatement. I’m starting to get bored with the whole premise already. I hope the writers know what they’re doing :(

    I’m still holding out for Adam being Peter and his brother’s dad. I’m sure they can come up with some convoluted way to make that happen.

    • Re: #

      Completely rehashed is an understatement. I’m starting to get bored with the whole premise already. I hope the writers know what they’re doing :(

      I’m still holding out for Adam being Peter and his brother’s dad. I’m sure they can come up with some convoluted way to make that happen.

      IIRC, they showed Mr Petrelli’s face on the picture that has been cut up by the assassin. Nathan showed it to Parkman and said, "there’s my dad… and Linderman, and…."

      Am I right, or did I just pick a bad day to quite sniffing glue?

      Anybody???

    • Re: #

      Completely rehashed is an understatement. I’m starting to get bored with the whole premise already. I hope the writers know what they’re doing :(

      I’m still holding out for Adam being Peter and his brother’s dad. I’m sure they can come up with some convoluted way to make that happen.

      I think the "Save the Cheerleader" thing may be a red herring by the writers. If not you’re right, totally inexcusable, but the writers have been pretty good up until now, I have to believe they’re better than that. But even if it is, it sets up a Noah and the Hatian (and maybe Sylar? Would Noah point Sylar at Adam’s direction for his coveted healing ability to save Claire?) v. the rest of the Heroes/The Company, which could be epic.

      At this point personally I’m considering the whole Adam/Kensei = Mr. Petrelli an almost certainty. We’ve never seen Petrelli the elder, except in that one photo where his head is turned and you can’t really see his face well. This cannot be an accident. Peter apparently meets him after the end of last season and helps him break out of The Company’s prison, but perhaps has the memory thing going on and won’t recognize him.

      • Re: #


        Peter apparently meets him after the end of last season and helps him break out of The Company’s prison

        Were did you get that?

        – Not that I’m doubting you, I just never heard that and am wondering if there’s a source out there I missed? – Or was it in an ep and I just missed it?

        • Re: #


          Peter apparently meets him after the end of last season and helps him break out of The Company’s prison

          Were did you get that?

          – Not that I’m doubting you, I just never heard that and am wondering if there’s a source out there I missed? – Or was it in an ep and I just missed it?

          It was in the preview of next week’s episode…looks like the next few episodes are going to concentrate on what happened in the 4 months since Peter went nuclear and the start of this season. They showed snippets of:

          -What happened between Peter and Nathan when they flew up into the sky.
          -Elle and her father Bob with a captured Peter
          -Peter meeting Adam in the Company prison

      • Re: #
        In the first ep of the first season. Mr Petrelli died of a heart attack. He was never shown on camera. I think it is more likely the Adam is Linderman’s Dad.

        I was hoping that that a more subtle interpretation of the the Kensei Story would bare out. That the ‘God Send’ that Kensei needed to straighten him out was Hiro. The way it ended was ok but totally predictable.

        I must admit that the ‘All in the Family’ thing is testing my patience. I rolled my eyes when ‘Nightmare Man’ turned out to be Parkman’s Dad. Anybody taking odds that The Haitian is related to Monica & DL?

        Completely rehashed is an understatement. I’m starting to get bored with the whole premise already. I hope the writers know what they’re doing :(

        I’m still holding out for Adam being Peter and his brother’s dad. I’m sure they can come up with some convoluted way to make that happen.

        I think the "Save the Cheerleader" thing may be a red herring by the writers. If not you’re right, totally inexcusable, but the writers have been pretty good up until now, I have to believe they’re better than that. But even if it is, it sets up a Noah and the Hatian (and maybe Sylar? Would Noah point Sylar at Adam’s direction for his coveted healing ability to save Claire?) v. the rest of the Heroes/The Company, which could be epic.

        At this point personally I’m considering the whole Adam/Kensei = Mr. Petrelli an almost certainty. We’ve never seen Petrelli the elder, except in that one photo where his head is turned and you can’t really see his face well. This cannot be an accident. Peter apparently meets him after the end of last season and helps him break out of The Company’s prison, but perhaps has the memory thing going on and won’t recognize him.

      • Re: #

        I think the "Save the Cheerleader" thing may be a red herring by the writers.

        "Save the cheerleader, save the world." But the world wasn’t in peril last season – just one city, "only .07%" of the world.

        Now, the human race is threatened. Claire’s regenerative ability may be the key to saving it.

        Hiro has just been through an experience which may well turn him darker…so, which future (potential future) was the Hiro who delivered the "Save the cheerleader" warning from, and/or what threat was he warning about?

        Anyway. Interesting story here:

        http://tv.ign.com/articles/833/833343p1.html

        where Tim Kring repsonds to criticism of the structure of this season, and it’s noted that an alternate ending has been shot for the Dec. 3rd episode that will allow it to wrap up the season if the writer’s strike continues.

      • Re: #

        I think the "Save the Cheerleader" thing may be a red herring by the writers. If not you’re right, totally inexcusable, but the writers have been pretty good up until now, I have to believe they’re better than that. But even if it is, it sets up a Noah and the Hatian (and maybe Sylar? Would Noah point Sylar at Adam’s direction for his coveted healing ability to save Claire?) v. the rest of the Heroes/The Company, which could be epic.

        I think the Shanti virus is also a red herring, at least in its current state. The real problem and possible solution will probably center around Sylar’s road trip buddies. Sadly, that also means focusing on stopping Sylar again but it makes more sense than a power-stripping virus mutating to kill "non-specials"…

        Perhaps the company will experiment with mixing whatshername’s virus-like killing power with the Shanti virus…

  4. Painting theory and West Comments
    My husband’s theory, which I think is pretty good, about the painting with dead HRG:

    The man holding Claire isn’t West. It’s Suresh holding her back after he just shot HRG.

    Anyway, West is definitely not a nice person, possibly even a little off his rocker. He’s one of those people who can justify anything – it’s okay to harass Claire because she needs to admit she’s a super so he’s not alone, it’s okay to scare the cheerleader girl because she deserved it, it was okay to use their powers because no one will believe her, it’s okay to come make waffles because… etc. This can lead no where good.

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