By Faith McQuinn

Creator Tim Kring said that season two of HEROES was going to be more focused. Tonight’s episode definitely reflected that. The storyline mainly stayed with Claire (Hayden Panettiere), Mr. Bennett (Jack Coleman), and Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy) with the other half of the story covered by Hiro (Masi Oka) and Matt (Greg Grunberg).

After Claire outed herself last week, Mr. Bennet decides it’s time to move. Claire, realizing exactly what her father did at the paper factory, decides she’s not going. Little does she know that Mohinder, Bob (Stephen Tobolowsky), and Elle (Kristen Bell) are after her blood, literally.

Hiro returns to the present, discovers his father’s murder, and decides that he must try to stop it. Meanwhile, Matt discovers his new Jedi mind tricks and uses them to his advantage.

The episode is called “Cautionary Tales,” but maybe it should’ve been called “Playing God” instead. With Hiro trying to stop a murder, Matt controlling people’s minds, and Noah trying to prevent the inevitable, everyone thinks they are stronger than fates and God himself. It turns out none of them are.


Even though it isn’t big on action, this week’s episode packed a serious mental punch. I think it’s up there as one of my favorites. The entire episode I’m waiting to find out exactly who will shoot Noah because we all know Isaac Mendez paintings always come true. When the shooter is revealed, I’m half-shocked and half-not. I won’t reveal who it is for those who haven’t seen the episode, but I must say I’m still a little shaken by the whole turn of events.

What was great, though, was seeing Elle brought down to earth. Since her first appearance on the show, Kristen Bell has made Elle into one beautiful, deadly freak of nature. She may be just as lethal as Jessica (Ali Larter), but at least Jessica’s alternate personality has some sort of moral compass. Elle is cold-hearted to the point of enjoying the torture she inflicts. This week, it was interesting to see Noah throw hear cold-heartedness in her face.

When he tells her that her father, Bob, is the reason she is the way she is, she defiantly declares that she can’t remember a thing. Hmm, is it as if someone plucked those memories out? The look of shock on Elle’s face is exactly what Noah wanted, and seeing her shrink away from Bob at the end just makes her that much more interesting as a villain. It’s wonderful to see that the truth can shock the unshockable.

Speaking of shocked, Matt’s behavior in this episode not only shocked me but disappointed me as well. I figured Mohinder would bend to the will of The Company, but I never thought I’d see Matt turn to the dark side. (I really do apologize for all the STAR WARS references; I can’t seem to help myself.)

When he first tries out his newfound mind skills to get Molly (Adair Tishler) to eat her breakfast, I thought it was cute. There’s an ingenious way to control your kids. Then he goes and takes it a hundred steps further by forcing information out of Angela Petrelli (Cristine Rose). Bad, Parkman, bad! I’d hate to see him turn into his father, but then again…a good storyline do tortured souls make.


With Mr. Bennett out of the picture (for now), I wonder how Claire will fair. Are she and West (Nicholas D’Agosto) going to become Company-fighting heroes? Will she take her father’s place as the head of the household? Will her brother Lyle finally serve a purpose?

With the writers’ strike still going strong, there are only two more new episodes left for me to get any answers. But I predict the coming two episodes will put shame to this one.