It was the episode of Heroes that would explain it all by shuttling us six-months in the past to reveal the genesis of our heroes' powers. How did they come to be? What forces are acting against them? What draws them together? It should have been revelation after revelation if you listened to the previews. So, what did we wind up with in the end? Did NBC trick us again, or did they deliver?
You know from my last go at Heroes that I have some issues with NBC Marketing when it comes to Heroes. We expect marketing to be a little heavy with the hyperbole - if you're going to shout it, might as well shout it loud - but lately when it comes to upcoming episodes of Heroes, NBC has been resorting to just plain lying. So I'll reiterate my position on this: ignore NBC's commercials for Heroes; they're adulterous little tramps who'll do you wrong every time. That said, the latest Heroes was interesting, if not a little below par. Some will no doubt look at it as a much needed "time-out" to examine the people behind the powers; personally, I look at it as a semi-failed experiment that - as seems to be the trend with Heroes lately - probably set up a few things that will be of great interest later on, but lacked the punch to put the episode over the top. The show has received some criticism for its less than sincere way of servicing its ensemble of characters. It seems that each episode has a primary line, a couple secondary lines, then a few 'appearances' that are just inconsequential and usually do less than - at best - illuminate an aspect of the neglected character that was not very interesting. There is always one character the writers seem to have pegged as the one to go light on, and almost always there is at least one or two characters that are completely absent. In the case of this episode in particular, if you're a theorizer like me, that may be significant. Six Months Ago keeps with this formula faithfully, but with slightly more ambition. The clever aspect to this episode is that it is an attempt to show us the beginnings of the characters, effectively the genesis of their abilities, while at the same time we have one character, Hiro, who is still acting from the mindset of the present. Effectively, it is Seven chapters cut together, so it makes sense to recap them that way. So without further ado, here is the recap of Heroes - Six Months Ago: Next: Eden