“One of Us, One of Them”

“One of Us” is a good step into a solid future.  While overall less “exciting” than the premiere it was far easier to digest and therefore easier to get into individual storylines.  That’s not to say that it was perfect, there were certainly some things I wasn’t a fan of, but overall it got me excited about the rest of the volume certainly.

Right off the bat, a problem I have is the reveal that Mama Petrelli is also Mama Sylar.  It just seems like a cheap connection to make just to force drama.  So now Peter and Sylar are brothers?  Sylar is Claire’s uncle?  It is more than a bit overdramatic.  I’m hoping it’s just Mama Petrelli manipulating him.

That being said, the forced partnership between HRG and Sylar is brilliant!  It takes the most interesting characters on the show and puts them together so you know that is a storyline you want to follow.  Their interaction is priceless and overall the two work well together.

Claire’s storyline is mediocre and predictable to be honest, but I am glad for the inclusion of Claire’s birth mother as her motivations and actions are hard to predict.  In turn that will make Claire’s vigilante stance a little more intriguing.  The sequence where she gets inside of Claire’s head forcing her to admit why she wants to hunt bad guys was top notch.

Why has Hiro become stupid?  The whole saga with Speedy and Ando with the Haitian could have been handled better, although I like the building dissension between Hiro and Ando.  Speedy Daphne is a great nemesis for Hiro and she is a great addition to the cast, even if their interaction does sometimes border on over the top cheesiness.  It does work which is what is important.

Parkman’s story with Usutu is both intriguing and disappointing at the same time.  Usutu basically is an African Isaac Mendez without the need for shooting up.  He paints on the rocks of Africa all about Matt, even gets the same freaky eyes, but the one difference is he can share his power a bit as Parkman goes crazy eyed too as he goes on his spirit walk.

Finally the tale of Tracy gets more interesting than Nikki/Jessica ever were.  Tracy tracks Nikki down to New Orleans and we find that Nikki did die in that explosion.  Freaked out by her apparant twin, she doesn’t know what to do….and neither does Micah.  They share a bonding moment as Micah knows Tracy is not his mother.  With Micah’s help, Tracy learns that Nikki and she was born at the same hospital on the same day and was delivered by the same father.  Creepy.

It gets worse.  When she visits the doctor, he admits that he created her.  Hmmm, so Tracy is basically a clone it looks like.

Overall it is a  good step forward, and if the writers can concentrate on the storyline and the characters a bit more, than we could be back in store for a new phenomena.

B

Previous – 3.02

Next – 3.04

Please visit and discuss on our Phatooine Forums!