Watching Heroes

CoolToyReview.com has some high resolution photos of the new Heroes action figures I’ve been reporting on. The images are great quality but I have to give the figures a FAIL in the likeness category. I don’t really think any of these look much like the characters. The costumes are dead on and some of the hairstyles are good but the faces are nearly unrecognizable. I realize they can’t make carbon copies of the actors but I think they could have gotten a little closer. I’ve seen a lot of action figures in my day and these are some of the worst likenesses I have seen.

Take a look at my comparison: 

Claire:  Her hair is off and her face looks nothing like Claire. Look how much lower cut her blouse is. What’s that all about?

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Heroes ratings for Monday were down again. They lost another 500,000 viewers from last week bringing in only about 9.8 million and earning a 4.9/11. I suspect this will creep up with the buzz about this week’s show and the promise of the “Four Months Later” episode. It’s the one we’ve all been waiting for, after all. I don’t have to tell you who won the night, do I? I’ll give you a hint - in involves dancing.  

My favorite Hero, Greg Grunberg, did an interview with Buddy TV this week. Greg talked about how the writers strike is affecting production, Parkman’s newly expanded powers, and his relationship with his TV dad, Alan Blumenfeld (Did you know Alan played Greg’s dad on Felicity, too?).

James Kyson Lee, who plays Ando, will be making an appearance at Pacific Media Expo (PMX) this Sunday, Nov. 11. Lee will greet fans with a “rare, intimate two-hour panel and autograph session.” For more information, you can visit PMX’s website: http://www.pacificmediaexpo.com./ (Thanks to Heroes-TV!)

If you want to be spoiled about who may be dying sometime in the next few episodes, Use Your Ability has a very revealing photo posted. (Don’t click if you don’t want to know!)

Greg Beeman reveals some interesting things about Isaac’s paintings and how they create them in his blog this week and has fantastic photos of cast and crew, as always.

The latest chapter of the graphic novel is called “Quarantine.” It tells the story of Howard LeMay of Homeland Security, who I suspect may be the DHS officer who interviewed Peter in Monday’s episode. I can’t find anything to verify that this was Mark Harelik’s character’s name in that eppy though.

I haven’t seen a sneak peek of next week’s episode yet but I suspect it may surface later today. I’ll share it with you as soon as it’s available.

*Heroes Fans can expect action figures based on the show sometime in 2008. Mezco reportedly says figures will come in 7-inch and a larger deluxe size. Heroes figures in the 3 3/4-inch size will be featured in Mezco’s “Screen Grabs,” dioramas depicting scenes from the show.

*Cristine Rose (Angela Petrelli) talked to Filmnut.com in a live interactive interview yesterday. She talked about her career and fielded some questions about Heroes and her character. You can watch the video on the Filmnut website.

*For an upcoming feature on Heroes, TV Guide wants to know what you are dying to know about the show. Go to TVGuide.com to leave your questions (Limit 2 questions per TVGuide.com member).

*Speaking of TV Guide, Michael Ausiello has some scoop about 2 new characters, one good guy and one bad guy.

*E! Online’s Kristin has a few hints for upcoming episodes as well, including the poop on Mr. Muggles.

*Heroes a Soap Opera? That’s what Mark Perigard at the Boston Herald says.

*Parody Press Comics has a hilarious Heroes parody comic book entitled “Hewoes.” You can watch a video with some of their characters, like the Pastrami brothers and Styler, on You Tube.

*Mark your calendars for October 19 because Greg Grunberg will be stopping by the Tonight Show that night to chat with Jay Leno. Set your TiVo!

*And finally, here are a few scenes from the next episode, “The Kindness of Strangers.”

In our final chapter of ‘Dead But Not Forgotten’, we remember 3 characters who had seemingly minor roles but actually played a major part in the story. (If you didn’t a chance to check out Part 1 or Part 2, make sure you do that.)

Chandra Suresh
(Erick Avari)

Chandra Suresh may have only appeared briefly in the series, but he is still a major player in the story. He was, of course, Mohinder’s father and the author of Activating Evolution, a book which seems to explain the reasons behind the changes our Heroes are going through. He and Mohinder had a strained relationship because Mohinder wasn’t convinced that his father’s theories were true. It wasn’t until after Chandra’s death that Mohinder began to believe in his father. Before his death, Chandra interviewed Gabriel Gray (aka Sylar), whom he referred to a “Patient Zero.” He was driving a cab in New York City while he worked on his research. Although it isn’t obvious, we are led to believe that Sylar killed Chandra in his cab. (more…)

Today I bring you Part 2 of the 3 part series on fallen Heroes. (If you missed part one, click here).  

Eden McCain
(Nora Zehetner)

Eden McCain (aka Sarah Ellis) was Mohinder’s neighbor and confidante who, it turns out, was working for The Company. She had a power that I think we all might like to have - the power of persuasion (which works much like the Jedi Mind Trick). She was instrumental in Isaac’s rehab and worked closely with Bennet at the Primatech Paper location. When Sylar was being held there, she decided to use her power of persuasion to make him shoot himself. She made the suggestion and prepared to hand him a gun through the slot in his cell, but Sylar was unaffected and responded by pulling her through the glass. Fearing that Sylar would take her power, she turned the gun on herself. (more…)

Today I begin a 3 part series on the Heroes and Villains who didn’t make it to Season 2. We’ll take a look at the characters, discuss their relevance and find out where you can find the actors now. Let’s get started…

Isaac Mendez
(Santiago Cabrera)

Isaac was the heroin addicted artist from New York City who predicted the future in his paintings. He overcame addiction with the help of The Company and returned to New York, only to accidentally kill his girlfriend, Simone. In his grief, he turned once again to heroin and painted some of his most disturbing paintings. He predicted his own death in his art and, before meeting his fate, made sure to send out his sketch book and the final issue of 9th Wonders. He was killed by Sylar in episode 19, “.07%.” Isaac’s paintings continue to play a big role in the show, as you will see in tonight’s episode, “Lizards.” (more…)

Could Sylar have a “good side”? Zachary Quinto hints that we might see another side to Sylar in this AP video interview. He also discusses his upcoming Star Trek role: (more…)

Artist Tim Sale, James Kyson Lee (Ando), Co-executive Producer Jeph Loeb,
Dania Ramirez (Maya), Zachary Quinto (Sylar) and Noah Gray-Cabey (Micah) 
in New York City for the Heroes World Tour

During the Heroes world tour, some of the cast members gave us some hints about what’s to come in Season 2 (If you don’t want to know…stop reading now). The Season 2 premiere will be set four months after the events in the season 1 finale. Here are a few clues to what you will see come September 24:

“I’m just trying to get some more power,” teased Zachary Quinto, who plays Sylar, whose trail of blood led off screen in the season finale, after he failed to make New York go “boom.” While the bad guy will continue his evil ways — slicing the heads off “Heroes” and fleecing their special abilities — there are changes ahead.

“The point at which we left the story in season one, and the point at which we begin in season two are vastly different for my character, and for all of the characters, really,” said Quinto…

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Ok, this is a little musing I’ve had tumbling about in my head for a
while. Sylar and Peter both have the ability to absorb other
individuals’ powers. Peter seems to be able to affect this through
proximity and recall, while Sylar feels the need to lop off skull caps
to complete the task.

Claude made a comment while training Peter about, what seemed to me,
there being others with powers like his and how they couldn’t handle
it. He also talks about how they had to find a way for him to be able
to recall his abilities at will. This got me thinking that maybe Peter
and Sylar have the exact same power, only Sylar, in his quest to be
’special’ feels the need to kill them to be able to incorporate the
powers and that also acts as his trigger to be able to recall the
powers.

The only thing that causes me any lingering doubt is that Sylar seems
to be able to sense differences in people, although that ability may
not have been his initially as well, if he is like Peter. It may have
been something he absorbed without knowing.

So my peoples, what do you think. Are we dealing with two heroes with
a similiar power or something else? I’d love to hear some other
theories on this one.

Claire’s fake biological father

The doctor working on Sylar

Of course we knew that Claire’s Biological parents were hired by her Dad (HRG) - but seeing the guy who played her “Dad” appear on last night’s episode as Sylar’s doctor, was a nice shout-out to what we already knew. According to IMDB, the actor’s name is Colby French.

Heroes, NBC, Sylar, HRG, Cheerleader, Claire

Wireless Pt 4 is up over at NBC.com,
so you may want to head over and check it out. This issue nicely wraps
up Hana’s back story and prepares her character for her appearance on
the show. She also has a specific person in mind. One, who if I’m not
mistaken, is in the Vegas area. This character has some awesome
potential and is gonna be fun to see in action. I hope they use the
visualization aspect of her power in the special effects, because that
would be sweet.

Any of you Watchers have a guess as to who she’s gonna hook up with? I
have a few ideas, but I’m curious to see what you think.

Days Remaining until next Episode: 3

Well Watchers, it seems that Wireless Pt 3 is up. I like that the graphic novel fills us in with some of the personality detail for HRG. It still leaves me wondering who exactly he’s playing for. He also seems to be his own little cult of personality, the way people feel loyal to him. Eden and Hana, both seem to exude this type of admiration and respect for him. But enough about HRG.

Hana is going to be an awesome addition to the cast. I’m really itching to see how they blend her in with the current TV story and the rest of the cast. Wireless Pt 3 really gives us a glimpse of Hana in action and I think she be in line to give Ali Larter a run for the money in the tough chic of Heroes competition. Take a few moments and check it out!

Well Watchers, the second part to Wireless is up and they reveal the ability of the newest hero, Hana Gitelman. This new direction seems a little x-filesish to me. I curious to see how it ties in to the other story lines.

On a related note Fangasm is reporting that the role of Hana will be played by Jessalyn Gilsig, of Nip/Tuck fame. From the site:

Okay, so who’s going to play Hana? We’ve been told it is going to be Jessalyn Gilsig. There’s been a lot of chatter that she’s going to be on the show, but none that I’ve found about her being Hana Gitelman.

Time will tell.

Days Remaining until next Episode: 18

Wireless Part One is the thirteenth Heroes graphic novel. In this issue a new hero is revealed before her appearance on the televised series. We are introduced to Hana Gitelman. Hana is the third generation in a proud heritage of national service and she has a personal vendetta against the terrorist that killed her mother and grandmother and put her in the hospital as a child. How will this new hero affect the balance? We shall see.

Michael Jensen and Brian Juergens over at AfterElton.com have a couple of articles discussing the sexuality of Claire’s sidekick Zach. I had originally thought that Zach was an outsider that was crushing hard on Claire, but as of the Episode ‘Homecoming’, it was pretty evident that he was being written as gay. It seems that the creators of the show disagreed despite the characters obvious homosexuality. From the article:

A few things are clear, and can be backed up by evidence from interviews with the show’s creators and in the show’s official publicity materials: Zach was conceived as a gay character, he was developed as a gay character, and as of the November 20th “Homecoming” episode, he was a gay character. And yet a decision was made by someone – be it studio execs, talent management, or otherwise – to “straighten him out”.

Jensen’s article seems to have gotten the attention of Heroes creator Tim Kring. Kring responded to Jensen’s article in this email and follow on story by Juergens:

I am very sorry this has caused concern for the readers of your website. It was certainly not our intention to confuse the issue of Zach’s character being gay.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out and whether or not it will be addressed in the next few episodes. Read the rest of Krings response here.