Heroes - 'Hiros' (1x05)

A bit behind on this writeup, so it'll just be some quick thoughts on the most recent episode. This week continues the recent trend of tightening all the narrative threads and allowing the characters to connect with each other. I think this has helped the series quite a bit, the first few episodes were hurt by the fact that we got so little time with everyone. Now, we are able to delve in depth into three or four storylines rather than passing through seven or eight.

Clearly, everything is building to a convergence at Claire's homecoming. Before the episode, I had seen Claire's father as a bad guy, someone who was going to eventually turn on her and use her powers for some scientific purpose in his lab. However, this episode gave me the feeling that he actually does love Claire, and may not betray her to his bosses. The most tangible evidence of his love for her is the mindwipe he performed on Brody, this wasn't something that needed to be done, he just wanted to take revenge on the guy who'd tried to rape his daughter.

Claire herself has already shown a capacity for reckless violence, when they say "Save the cheerleader," they're not talking about saving her life, they're talking about saving her from 'the dark side.' It'd be interesting if she was the one who causes all the chaos we see in the pictures. Claire's definitely a wild card, and so is Nathan who seems to know a lot more about how to use and control his powers than anyone else.

The best moment of this episode is definitely Peter's surprise when he hears Hiro on the phone. It's a great moment, and has me very excited to see everything converge. I think it's smart to provide a climax early in the show, to keep things focused. It's all building to this event in Texas, and I'm eager to see how things develop from there.