Season 3

[TRu]

Talk about episode 3x13 "Duel" here!

Duel
Airs December 15th, 2008 @ 9PM on NBC

THE HEROES FIND THEMSELVES TEAMING UP AGAINST ONE ANOTHER AND THE GOOD, OR BAD, IN ALL OF THEM COMES TO THE SURFACE

FULL DESCRIPTION

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ROBERT FORSTER, GEORGE TAKEI, BREA GRANT, Jessalyn Gilsig, JAMIE HECTOR AND BLAKE SHIELDS GUEST STAR - In the aftermath of the showdown against Arthur Petrelli, the Petrelli brothers (Adrian Pasdar and Milo Ventimiglia) find themselves battling against one another and Nathan makes a move that will have global repercussions. Meanwhile, Sylar (Zachary Quinto) holds Claire (Hayden Panettiere), H.R.G. (Jack Coleman), Meredith (guest star Jessalyn Gilsig) and Angela (Cristine Rose) hostage at Primatech and a face-off ensues. Elsewhere, Ando (James Kyson Lee), Matt (Greg Grunberg) and Daphne (guest star Brea Grant) continue their attempts rescue Hiro (Masi Oka) -- and Dr. Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) may be their only hope. Ali Larter also stars. Ntare Mwine, David H. Lawrence XVII and Chad Faust also guest star.

VIDEO PREVIEW
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[torchwood991]

why was peter trying to shoot Nathan!!!!!!!!

[Manderlin]

Peter is trying to save the world from blowing up.  Nathan is inadvertantly causing that disaster.

I wanna see that Sylar-Puppet Master battle.  Sylar doesn't really need that power, but still.

[HiroesFan]

Coooooooool........... 

Looks like it's gonna be a cool episode!


Sylar seems to finally 100% back  , Claire carries a big gun  , Mama Petrelli looks shocked  , The Puppet man is back  , and there's gonna be some AWSOME PETRELLI BATTLE 
Though it seemed at start, that third season couldn't rise to the highs of the first season after the  problems of the second season, i think that it's doing well.

By the way, wasn't the name of the episode "War" earlier? Well, it's not that important, as "Duel" sounds cool too!

[Grim Reapster]

Peter is trying to save the world from blowing up.  Nathan is inadvertantly causing that disaster.

Yeah but the problem is that Peter and Hiro are both just assuming that the world gets destroyed because the formula got out. We still don't know exactly what causes it. They could be creating the very same catastrophe that they're trying to avoid.

Peter's already been warned about the Butterfly effect. Maybe that's why he needed to go to the future and learn Sylar's power....so that he could figure out how to prevent something that he himself may have set into motion the first time around....

Of course if that's the case, then he really needs to get his powers back. Otherwise there was no point in him activating Sylar's ability.

[TanyaB]

Maybe the whole lesson is that you should ORGANISE yourself before trying to save the world, because then you end up messing it up 

[GoldenGait]

I'm most interested in the outcome of Peter once again pointing a gun at Nathan.  In the past he loved his brother despite their fights, and saved his life not only during his blast (catching him) but afterwards as well, with Adam's blood.  In the future we see a Scar!Peter who was willing to go back in time and shoot Nathan at the podium before he could reveal his power to the world.  Obviously no love lost between the two of them in that particular future.  Is this when the family divide happens?  Is this the point where Nathan and Peter no longer care to save one another?  Will Peter pull the trigger again this time?

Come to think of it, Peter's killed Nathan twice.  He also sliced his head open in the future after getting PCP'd up on Sylar's power. 

GG

[GoldenGait]

What a great, Sophie's Choice episode! So many tough decisions to be made... Weighing the lesser of two evils at every turn. Save BioMom or Dad? Side with your brother and lose some of yourself, or oppose him and lose him? Give up your father or your grandmother to a murdering psychopath? Take the formula you've been rallying against and live, or stick to your principles and die? Phenomenal end to the volume and year. Applause!

Sylar gets the opening monologue! This needs to be the norm. I've always liked Mono-hinder-logue, and Nathan's was an interesting little experiment, but I love Zachary Quinto's voice, and while we have Mohinder back for the end-of-episode wrap-up, Sylar was the perfect character to bring us in this week. Well written, writers. Very nice.

"Aw, Peter." That's your reaction to your father's murder by your baby brother, Nathan? Wow. Talk about emotionally barren. I liked that Peter called him on it, though: "You sound just like him." *gun cocks* I wish one of the brothers had mentioned the fact that Peter's pulled the trigger before... twice. (Well, one trigger and one head slice.) Ooh, and nice punch, Peter. It's nice to see some good ol' fashioned non-ability beat-downs every once in awhile on this show. And we get a few tonight! Hiro's response to Tracy calling him "Pikachu" was perfect: "Excuse me, Miss." *bows* Only Hiro can get away with sucker-punching a blonde girl and have it be okay.

It was very creepy as Sylar shut down the Primatech facility, taking away the lights, doors, and all hope of escaping unscathed. Sylar's PA evil monologuing was fabulous, too. Very horror movie, trapping them in the facility and pitting them against each other. The question I have (as did my Watching Partners tonight) is how did Sylar get to Primatech so fast? Where are these facilities located? I know Primatech is in Texas, but where is Pinehearst? I think it would be hysterical if they revealed they're directly across the street from each other in some benign office park somewhere. And what happened to the Haitian? Peter sent him after Sylar, and it wasn't like he was too far behind, either. Where was he through all of this, outside the front doors, knocking to be let in?

I adored the "gentle scrunch" instruction and basically the entire scene with Ando, Daphne, and Matt. It was predictable and yet just fine with me that Ando ended up not getting the time traveling power he wanted, but instead receiving an Anti-Rogue ability to magnify someone's ability. Which he's all happy about now ("Yatta!"), but I see him pouting in his usual manner later: "That's not fair--I don't get a power of my own, I can only be a side-kick to boost other people!" Seems he's destined to be Tonto to Hiro's Lone Ranger. Which brings up an interesting point: what happens when he touches Hiro? Time no longer exists? All of time happens simultaneously? Everyone on Earth is transported to Time Square?

SamC watched this episode with me, and when HRG let out the Level 5 prisoners (they only rounded up 3 out of a dozen? I suppose some did die...), he said: "He's a bigger asshole." Using the Level 5 prisoners as bait was genius, though. Could backfire horribly, but all the best plans have that exciting contingency built in. Bait, and if one manages to kill him, bonus! Nice to see Eric Doyle again. I loved his attempt on Sylar, holding him up like a marrionette for a moment until he got owned. Did Sylar take his power? Seems like that would be one he'd like to collect, but it looked like he just killed him and didn't get anything from it. He was onlny holding Angela to the chair later with telekinesis, right? Not suggestion? And now he's also got Metal Man's ability. Interesting.

Sylar locking Meredith in with Noah was amazing. His little monologue through the glass with the big "5" behind him was fabulous, and I actually really liked the idea of making a hero into a ticking time bomb (a la Peter in season 1) by taking the control of an offensive power out of their hands and trapping them in with someone else. This was a great episode for Meredith. I truly enjoyed her here, and those moments are few and far between with her and me. But she was phenomenal. Why do the characters die the minute I decide I really like them? (Except for Knox. I never really thought he was all that interesting.) Though we never did see her die, and we know she's lived through burning buildings before. She would have died if the building collapsed around her, but we saw a standing, burning structure at the end after Claire, HRG, and Angela had gotten to safety. She could have gotten out. Brilliant way to put her power on the fritz: adrenaline shot to the heart. I love the device here.

Nathan saved Peter! Peter's got abilities again! Peter saved Nathan! Everybody celebrate! Peter's back to square one, sure, but I'm still happy he can start being a sponge again. Adrian and Milo are so great when they fight! And I like Nathan much more when he's playing a villain. His alcoholic, bearded phase and his religious phase were both pretty terrible.

How did Mohinder live through the fire? Peter had to fly himself and Nathan out of there, and I'm assuming Flint knew what he was doing when he started the fire and either knew he could survive the flames, or had a direct escape route. But Mohinder was completely doused in his life-saving elixir (which is apparently basically gasoline--maybe this is the solution to today's energy crisis). How did he manage not to go up in flames? (Glad he's back to being a powerless science geek.)

Poor Sylar! Zachary Quinto is such an amazing actor when he really gets going, and the Oscar for tonight's episode goes to him for his performance with Angela at the very end. Sylar held it together so well through the whole debacle at Primatech, and it's only when his "Mommy" says she doesn't love him that he loses it. Zachary does a great job transitioning smoothly from cold-blooded villainy to anger to emotional temper tantrum. Love it.

One of the things I love best about this show is it's penchant for reaching back in time and tying previous plot points to the current storyline. If not directly, at least in reference. I think it's perfect that mid-season 3 we're seeing Nathan set out to do exactly what he was shown doing in our first season flash-forward, 1x20 Five Years Gone. He's going to round up all the special people, and it looks like he's got his eyes on the prize again--Washington, and eventually the Presidency. Some things never change. But now that he's fired Tracy, is she the First Lady we saw in this season's flash-forward? Is that Barbara? When do we meet her? When Tracy gets boring? (Because that train's already come and gone for me...)

So excited for Volume Four: Fugitives. :-) Yeah, a little X-Men 2/3, but still a really good idea. We've seen the heroes find themselves (1), we've seen them battle their parents to find their own place and identity (2), we've seen them come to grips with the fact that it's not black and white and each one of them has some villain inside them (3), and now we're going to see them all thrown together as a unit being hunted down by one of their own (4). No more sides now, just mutually beneficial aid for the sake of survival. Who will be caught first? Who will emerge as a leader among the fugitives (my money's on Peter)? When will Peter get his scar? Who's going to unleash Sylar from his NeckGlass and add his abilities to the pile so they can all avoid capture?

I love this show.

Bits and Pieces:

    * Awesome Sylar: "You're not hunting me, Noah. I'm hunting you."
    * Even more awesome Sylar: "I could have been a nobody... instead of the monster I became." Such an interesting statement; such a reversal from the usual sentiment of wanting to be special. Love it.
    * I liked that they used the rattling sound when Peter was confronting Mohinder in the lab.
    * Glad Hiro got off the roof without any help.
    * Hiro has been "Carp" and "Chef".
    * Claire's wig looked really gorgeous tonight.
    * Cool effects when Claire shotguns the phone.
    * It's very interesting that the son who ended up inheriting Arthur's power wasn't the one who ended up "becoming" him. Peter can take others abilities, but Nathan is the jackass.
    * I liked the solution for rescuing Hiro from the past! Daphne gets to do something useful, and we get a demonstration of just how powerful (and helpful) Ando could be. And we got another Wizard of Oz reference: "You were there, and you..."
    * Hiro was the one who tore the formula in half in the first place! To be split between Kaito and Angela! Very cool. I like how these things tie in together.
    * Umm... Usutu?
    * Poor Sylar. I thought he'd really turn out to be Angela's son with a father other than Arthur. So now... Who are his parents?

*sigh* So long to wait until the next one...
GG

[HiroesFan]

I just watched it, and i feel...empty. it was all so cool, but honestly, when i saw the text: "End of Volume Three", i felt sad. 

Well, there's still something good in the Christmas holidays! It seems like I'm going to get Heroes Season II for christmas present! 

But honestly, what Nathan said in that car... Actually everthing that happened... WAS CRAZY!!!! And sooooooooooo Heroes!

let's see what'll happen 2/2/2009! I can't wait!

[Save The World]

Love your reviews, GG.  But I did see a few assumptions that I don't think we can make quite yet.
A) You did mention that Meredith may be possibly alive and I agree with you here.  They made it seem like she was a goner, but I don't think so.  She survived fires before and is impervious to flame, so I think she's just fine.
B) Mohinder may or may not be powerless.  He wanted to use the "catalyzed" formula to stabilize his power, not make him normal again.  I may be wrong here, but that's what I think.
C) As far as I can figure out, Hiro is still powerless.  He was only getting around that fast because of Daphne.

Oh. . . and in Season 1's "5 Years Gone" Nathan was actually Sylar in disguise.

This was a great episode that wrapped things up much tighter than seasons one or two did, so I applaud the writers for starting to put things back on track.  Everyone was clicking together and we saw villains switch sides to accomplish the greater good even though it was for selfish reasons on their part ("If everyone gets abilities, we won't be so special no more").  This volume waivered a little bit, in my opinion, but overall it was solid.

I thought the forumla being that flamable was a little odd also.  Not something I'd want to put into my body, that's for sure.

When Claire mentioned the back of the head thing again, I almost groaned.  I thought they'd throw that out there but end up shooting Sylar in the forehead (or at least pointing the gun there), but I was pleasantly surprised Claire actually got Sylar in the back of the head.  But, once again, I don't think he's dead.  Not only because of the spoiler section on the forums, but because the "heroes" made the same mistake in season one - left Sylar for dead.  There HAD to have been more people in the holding cells and I don't even think we saw all of the "bait" get killed, so one of 'em probably pulled him out to safety (for selfish reasons, of course).

And speaking of "not so dead after all" . . . did anyone else notice that Arthur's body was missing when Nathan got up off the floor after Pete knocked him out?  I did    Unless I was completely missing him laying there, but I was specifically looking for him, too.  There was a trail of blood leading away from the spot.  So, I really don't think Arthur is dead and we'll be seeing him again.

And we also finally get a confession from Angela that she manipulates people and that her children were a complete disappointment to her.  How cold and . . . well . . . monstrous of her!!

And on a minor note, it still kind of bugs me that we still don't know what Kaito's power is/was.  Or was he just powerless and good with a sword?  Was he his generation's "Thompson"?

And yes . . . Nathan is a complete and total tool.  I thought he could be a good guy . . . but no.  He's cold-hearted just like his parents.  To be ratting everyone out that has an ability while hiding his own?  That's just bitter cold of him.  My DVR kind of cuts off the end and I have to switch over to "My Own Worst Enemy", but I miss some stuff there.  Was that Michael Dorn (Worf) he was talking to?  If so . . . COOL!

I just have to say once again, that I don't think Sylar has all of his abilities that he had prior to Season 2.  If so, he still has a LOAD of powers he doesn't even bother to use.  He preferrs the telekenisis and forgoes all the others.  So why bother collecting all the others?
We've seen him collect:
Telekenisis
Freezing/cold
Liquification
Super Hearing
Nuclear/heat
Discerning an objects history by touch
The shooting things with your hand trick
Electricity
Realilty manipulation (Candice)
Soundwaves
Healing
and who knows how many others.
And yet he relies most heavily on the telekenisis.  

[GoldenGait]

B) Mohinder may or may not be powerless.  He wanted to use the "catalyzed" formula to stabilize his power, not make him normal again.  I may be wrong here, but that's what I think.
C) As far as I can figure out, Hiro is still powerless.  He was only getting around that fast because of Daphne.

Oh. . . and in Season 1's "5 Years Gone" Nathan was actually Sylar in disguise.

And speaking of "not so dead after all" . . . did anyone else notice that Arthur's body was missing when Nathan got up off the floor after Pete knocked him out?  I did    Unless I was completely missing him laying there, but I was specifically looking for him, too.  There was a trail of blood leading away from the spot.  So, I really don't think Arthur is dead and we'll be seeing him again.
...
I just have to say once again, that I don't think Sylar has all of his abilities that he had prior to Season 2.  If so, he still has a LOAD of powers he doesn't even bother to use.  He preferrs the telekenisis and forgoes all the others.  So why bother collecting all the others?
We've seen him collect:
Telekenisis
Freezing/cold
Liquification
Super Hearing
Nuclear/heat
Discerning an objects history by touch
The shooting things with your hand trick
Electricity
Realilty manipulation (Candice)

So many great points!  Couple things: totally didn't think of the fact that Hiro is still powerless and Mohinder's probably not.  Maybe Hiro's power is still in there somewhere, and if Ando holds on long enough he can build it up and bring it to the surface again?  We just can't have a powerless "title" character.

I think in 1x20 Five Years Gone Nathan had already gone off the deep end and was rounding up people with abilities before Sylar took his shape.  Sylar said something to that effect when Peter got all fussy about what he'd "done in my brother's name", and I tend to believe him. 

If (big IF) Angela's not really dead, I'm sure she pulled Sylar to safety (with great difficulty, I know she's no spring chicken and he's a little heavier than a Hermes scarf).  She likes him, and thinks he's useful.  She'd want to keep him, whether he tried to kill her or not. 

Totally didn't notice Arthur's body was missing!  Good catch.

I think Sylar was reset after he took the injectable cure for the Shanti virus.  What I've never understood is why that reset him *with telekinesis*.  But I'm positive he doesn't have super hearing at this point, or reality manipulation.  He killed Candice and then realized he couldn't immitate her. 

Nice review, STW!
GG

[Save The World]

So many great points!  Couple things: totally didn't think of the fact that Hiro is still powerless and Mohinder's probably not.  Maybe Hiro's power is still in there somewhere, and if Ando holds on long enough he can build it up and bring it to the surface again?  We just can't have a powerless "title" character.

...

If (big IF) Angela's not really dead, I'm sure she pulled Sylar to safety (with great difficulty, I know she's no spring chicken and he's a little heavier than a Hermes scarf).  She likes him, and thinks he's useful.  She'd want to keep him, whether he tried to kill her or not. 

Totally didn't notice Arthur's body was missing!  Good catch.

I totally love the idea of Ando "Supercharging" Hiro's power back into existence!

I also didn't think about Angela saving Sylar, but when Claire left the room to go get Meredith she told HRG to get Angela out of there.  Unless the two of them do it together - and I don't see why HRG would unless Angela manipulates him - I don't think this happened.

[GoldenGait]

I also didn't think about Angela saving Sylar, but when Claire left the room to go get Meredith she told HRG to get Angela out of there.  Unless the two of them do it together - and I don't see why HRG would unless Angela manipulates him - I don't think this happened.

My bad!  This is what happens when I try to type and watch the episode at the same time--I miss some things.  I thought Sylar had killed Angela!  Silly me.  Then again, HRG often does morally gray things, and saving a weapon like Sylar might be his style, if Angela could make her case fast enough.  I wouldn't totally discount the idea of them both pulling him out, dumping him somewhere, and coming back to lock his body up later.  Or else Angela immediately stood, straightened her clothes, smoothed her hair, and told HRG that she was fine and he should go after his daughter.  He'd bolt after Claire immediately and leave Angela with Sylar's body. 

Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I want Ando to be the one to restore Hiro's power.  He couldn't gain a time travel ability to go back and save him directly, but this could be "saving" him in a way. 

GG

[guaxini]

mohinder woke up before flint set things aflame, so he probably snuck out while nathan and peter were fighting.  it doesn't surprise me at all that the formula is highly flamable.  from what i saw of the formula on paper it looked like a very combustible hydrocarbon chain to me

[GoldenGait]

My bad!  This is what happens when I try to type and watch the episode at the same time--I miss some things.  I thought Sylar had killed Angela!  Silly me.  Then again, HRG often does morally gray things, and saving a weapon like Sylar might be his style, if Angela could make her case fast enough.  I wouldn't totally discount the idea of them both pulling him out, dumping him somewhere, and coming back to lock his body up later.  Or else Angela immediately stood, straightened her clothes, smoothed her hair, and told HRG that she was fine and he should go after his daughter.  He'd bolt after Claire immediately and leave Angela with Sylar's body. 

Another thought: no-one would have to pull Sylar out.  He could just get buried under the whole Primatech facility and sit there with the glass in his head until they need him, at which point they can go dig him up.  Perfect spot for him, really.  :-)  They know right where he'll be until they need him next.

GG