RW644 - MCU Rewatch - Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

 

In this episode of The Marvel Cinematic Universe Rewatch, Cory and Eoghan eat pizza balls and watch memory machines as they discuss Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Trailer:

Our Favourite Trivia:

This movie was originally meant to be before Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) before the COVID-19 Pandemic forced the schedules to be altered and for this movie to ultimately come after it.

Sam Raimi initially didn't want to direct any future superhero films, having lost faith in himself due to the critical and audience backlash he received from Spider-Man 3 (2007) due to studio interference from Sony. However, getting the call from his agent about this film encouraged him to try again, as he had thoroughly enjoyed the first Doctor Strange film (as well as the character himself) and wanted to see if he could live up to the challenge of meeting the audience's expectations once again.

Director Sam Raimi previously added two references to the character Doctor Strange in Spider-Man 2 (2004):

• Joe's Pizza (where Peter Parker is working at the beginning) and the billboard showing Mary Jane are located on Bleecker Street (where Doctor Strange's Sanctum Santorum is located).

• The name of Doctor Strange is suggested to J. Jonah Jameson as a possible name for Dr. Octavius, to which Jameson replies: "But it's taken!"

Director Sam Raimi previously described the sequel as "the most complex movie" that he's ever worked on in his career. So, it seems that Kevin Feige was aware that simplifying certain moments such as the musical battle would've helped in lessening the confusion behind complex concepts that were introduced in the movie. This is also in line with Raimi's previous reveal that the sequel's original runtime was two hours and 40 minutes, hinting that many more scenes were 'simplified' throughout production.

Sam Raimi has observed that due to the chaotic production process, he and the screenwriters essentially figured out the movie during filming, with the ending being conceptualized about halfway through the shoot.

The one-eyed tentacle monster in the film is known in the Marvel comics as Shuma-Gorath, who was named from a phrase in the Robert E. Howard short story "The Curse of the Golden Skull", published in Spring 1967. Due to rights issues between Marvel and Howard's estate, the film has the monster renamed Gargantos, after a sea monster in the Marvel comics. The creature was already briefly introduced in the Marvel Universe, in the episode What If... Captain Carter Were the First Avenger? (2021).

Xochitl Gomez wanted to remain faithful to the source material despite playing a younger version of the character than is seen in the comics, and said her journey in the film begins with the character having been alone for a long time and "running away from her uniqueness". In the comics, America Chavez is originally from a place called the Utopian Parallel, which is shown when the audience sees both of her moms with her as a younger child.

Vertically, on the front of America Chavez's denim jacket, is written "Amor es Amor". This is Spanish for "Love is Love". The quote is a popular slogan of the LGBT community. She also wears the pride flag as a pin on her jacket, which was said to be so she could gauge the level of tolerance in each universe.

In the comics, Earth-616 is the designation for the mainstream Marvel universe. The term was first used in The Daredevils #7 (Jul. 1983), published by Marvel UK, and its origin has been subject to debate. That issue was written by Alan Moore, and his son-in-law John Reppion said he chose the number at random "because people always seemed to be talking about 'earth 2' or 'earth 4' but never any higher numbers." However, the issue's artist Alan Davis said the number was chosen by previous Captain Britain writer David Thorpe as a reference to the number of the beast because he "wasn't a fan of the modern superhero genre." Though most versions of the Book of Revelation identify the number of the beast as 666, in some ancient Greek translations it is written 616.

It was rumored that Tom Cruise would appear as the villainous version of Iron Man known as Superior Iron Man as part of the Illuminati, since Cruise was originally in the running to play Iron Man in Iron Man (2008) before Robert Downey Jr. was cast.

In Wanda's dream, her boys are wearing blue and red just like they did in WandaVision (2021). This a nod to the comics where they become the teenage heroes, Wiccan and Speed and those are their primary colors.

The Darkhold has appeared previously in the Marvel TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013) and Runaways (2017), but a line from Wong in this film implies they were copies of this original transcription and that the true Darkhold was not a book but Wundagore itself.

The Darkhold's history is tied very closely to Wanda Maximoff/The Scarlet Witch in the comics. In the comics, Earth used to be controlled by these super powerful beings called the Elder Gods and the most powerful and evil one of them was called Chthon, he became the first dark magician and the originator of chaos magic, the force that powers the Scarlet Witch. The elder gods eventually turned into demons and monsters, except for Gia who gave birth to a god eater called Atom who cleansed the Earth of the demons. But before Chthon left Earth, he poured all of his hatred and malice into the Darkhold. Over the years he tries various ways to escape exile and return to Earth through a portal on Wundagore mountain, which is also seen in this movie. Wundagore is the same place that a scientist Herbert Windam, called the High Evolutionary, built a refuge for his evolved animal experiments who he called the Anti-Men. When Chthon entered Earth again, the Anti-Men fought him off, but the moment he was pushed back into the void, was the same moment the twins Wanda and Pietro Maximoff were born on Wundeagore Mountain. Chthon put a bit of his essence inside of Wanda which allowed him to control her later in life. In this movie, it shows Wanda being taken over by the Darkhold and Chthon who has been manipulating her with chaos magic all along tempting her to be reunited with her boys.

In their first travel across the Multiverse, Dr. Strange and America Chavez cross exactly 20 different alternate realities, traveling from Earth-616 to Earth-838, including a dinosaur world, a skeleton world, a bee world, a sea world, an animated world, a high-tech pipe world, and a paint world. In addition, one of them can be seen (for a couple seconds) Living Tribunal's head. In the comics Living Tribunal is the most powerful cosmic entity, in charge to preserve a perfect balance in the Multiverse.

This is the MCU film debut of the superhero group The Illuminati. In the comics, the Illuminati were a secret group composed of the leaders of the superhuman community; Doctor Strange, Tony Stark and Namor the Sub-Mariner were founding members. In the MCU, the Illuminati are unique to Earth-838, the counterpart of the Avengers: members include:

• Karl Mordo (reprised by Chiwetel Ejiofor from Doctor Strange (2016))

• Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell, reprising her role from the animated Disney+ series What If...? (2021))

• Black Bolt (played by Anson Mount from the television series Inhumans (2017))

• Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch, previously seen in Captain Marvel (2019))

• Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic Four, played in the MCU by John Krasinski)

• Charles Xavier (Sir Patrick Stewart from 20th Century Fox's X-Men Franchise)

• Formerly Stephen Strange.

When Dr. Strange meets Christine Palmer from Earth-838, she claims to be an expert in multiversal theory who works for "The Baxter Foundation". In Marvel Comics, the Baxter Foundation is a government-funded institute for scientific research set in the Baxter Building, where the Fantastic Four live.

When Strange and Chavez go to Kamar-Taj looking for protection, a large green Minotaur can be seen as an apprentice. He is Rintrah, a Minotaur that hails from the planet R'Vaal. He first started as a humble cloth weaver and eventually became Doctor Strange's apprentice after the two bonded when Rintrah was tasked to return Strange's cloak of levitation back to him after another sorcerer, Enitharmon the Weaver, mended it.

When in the fallen dimension, Dr. Strange and Sinister Strange have a magic duel where they use two classical music pieces as spells: Dr. Strange uses "Symphony No. 5 in C Minor" from Ludwig van Beethoven while Sinister Strange uses "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" from Johann Sebastian Bach. These were the opening numbers used in Disney's Fantasia 2000 (1999) and the original Fantasia (1940), respectively.

When Strange meets Reed Richards he says "The Fantastic Four, didn't you chart in the 60s?". A group called The Fantastic Four had a #6 R&B hit in 1967 with "The Whole World Is A Stage". This is also a call back to the first movie, Doctor Strange (2016), where he answered music trivia questions in the operating room.

Sam Raimi's 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 car makes a cameo in the fallen dimension of Sinister Strange. The car has appeared in all the Raimi movies.

In the living room of the Wanda-838, the TV shows a cartoon featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Walt Disney invented the character in the 1920s, but when Universal Pictures took the rights to Oswald away from him, Disney invented Mickey Mouse instead, who soon completely eclipsed Oswald in popularity. In Earth-838 it appears that Mickey Mouse was never invented, and so Oswald remained popular on TV.

In the first post-credits scene Charlize Theron plays a white-haired woman who recruits Strange to fix an incursion caused by his multiversal travels. This woman is Clea, who, in the Marvel comics, is a powerful sorceress, daughter of Prince Orini (Olnar's son, former ruler of the Dark Dimension) and Umar, Dormammu's sister, making Clea Dormammu's niece. Clea is a long-time ally, love interest, and eventual wife of Stephen Strange. Clea even becomes the Sorcerer Supreme in the fifth and final issue of the limited comic series, "The Death of Dr. Strange" (January 2022). Clea uses a magic knife to open a portal in the air, where the Dark Dimension can be seen.

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RW643 - Heroes Rewatch S04E12-13 - Rock Bleed

In this weeks episode of The Heroes Rewatch, Cory and Tom enjoy natures wonders and keep their enemies on ice as they discuss season 4 episodes 12 & 13, Upon This Rock and Let It Bleed.

Chapter Twelve 'Upon This Rock':

Volume: Five 

Written by: Juan Carlos Coto

Directed by: Ron Underwood

Original airdate: January 4, 2010

Synopsis: 

Claire, on clean up duty at the carnival, talks to Lydia about how Eli creeps her out with the way he seems to always be watching her, but Lydia says it’s just because she’s new there. She gives Claire breakfast to deliver to Samuel, and in doing so Claire sees that Samuel has her father’s files. Samuel ushers her out of the trailer quickly and tells her he needs to head into the city, telling Eli to keep an eye on her, that she isn’t allowed to leave. Claire overhears Lydia and her daughter fighting, noting that it’s the one thing making it feel like a normal place. She asks if she knows why Samuel wanted her here. Lydia just says it has become an obsession. Claire tries to get into Samuel’s trailer but Eli is there, watching her, still following her throughout the day. Later she runs from him and into the hall of mirrors, and ends up getting the jump on him, knocking him out and turning off his duplicates. She gets into the trailer and finds an old picture of Samuel and Joseph but then Doyle shows up and takes control of her, pinning her against the trailer wall, ready to kill her for trying to mess up what Samuel is doing. Claire manages to get through to him about how Samuel is planning something that isn’t good and he lets her go. She goes to Lydia who all but confirms that Joseph was killed by Samuel and that she is scared for all of them, begging Claire to find someone to help them. 

Meanwhile Hiro has made his way to Tokyo, babbling nonsense, mixing up his different fandoms, and stops a man from mugging a woman, but is then arrested since he holds a knife he used to stop the mugging. They take him to Ando after they find Hiro’s business card with the address of Nakamura Industries. Kimiko wants to call a top neurosurgeon to help her brother, but Ando is convinced that Hiro’s babbling are clues and they go to get Hiro’s comics to figure it all out. As Hiro continues his nonsense clues, Ando manages to work out the clues to find a psychiatric hospital in Florida that Hiro needs to get to in order to rescue someone.

Samuel goes to the land he picked out and looks at a giant rock there, thinking back to a time in his childhood when he tried to move it and his brother Joseph just made fun of him. Later, in the city, he finds Emma, who just found out that she had been rejected for med school this year. She is reluctant to let Samuel into her apartment, but he tells her that he is the one who’s sent her the cello, showing her his compass tattoo, a design that is also on the cello. As they talk inside, he tells her that she has a true gift that she doesn’t quite understand yet and asks her to use it to try and find a man for him he’s been searching for. They go to the park and he tells her to concentrate on the man while she plays and her music and power will bring him to her. The man, Ian, approaches slowly and when Samuel talks to him, the man touches a tree and turns the color of the brown leaves back to green, revealing his power to make things grow. Samuel gives Emma a compass if she should ever want to find him and he leaves with Ian. 

Eli finds Claire after she speaks with Lydia, and grabs her with his duplicates, holding her captive till Samuel returns. Samuel admonishes Eli, angry that he would do that, telling him that she isn’t a prisoner and can leave if she wants to. Claire confronts him about his brother and he confesses that he lost control and shows remorse. Together they go with Ian to the valley area and after making water come up through the earth, Ian starts to make the surrounding dry rocky area suddenly grow into a vast grassland with flowers and trees.

Claire finally checks her voicemail and learns that Nathan died in a plane crash and attends a funeral with her father, telling him she isn’t giving the compass back. Peter gives an emotional speech as Nathan is given the full military funeral, and finally laid to rest. 

Back-issues:

Director Ron Underwood is a working TV director these days, but back in the 90’s and early 2000’s he directed quite a few hit movies, including Tremors, City Slickers, Heart and Souls, Mighty Joe Young, The Adventure of Pluto Nash and Stealing Sinatra.

Chapter Thirteen 'Let It Bleed':

Volume: Five

Written by: Jim Martin

Directed by: Jeannot Szwarc

Original airdate: January 4, 2010

 

Synopsis: 

At Nathan’s wake, Peter talks with fellow mourners about the tragic accident that killed his brother, but is uncomfortable with the staged death he took part in. Angela talks with Peter and she tells him his anger needs to be controlled and don’t go for revenge as it will just get him killed, alluding to Nathan’s wishes.

Bennet goes to pick up Claire for the wake, but she is angry at the lie he took part in making Sylar into Nathan and asks him not to go. 

At the wake, Claire and Peter talk and she accidentally cuts herself but doesn’t heal because Peter has left the Haitian’s ability on. She doesn’t want him to turn it off however because this is the first time she’s felt pain for a long time, and it’s nice to have something normal. Later, Claire faces off against Angela, telling her she can’t believe anything she says anymore. Angela turns it around to Peter and asks her to be the shoulder to cry on that he needs. Claire goes to the roof to find Peter but only finds his police scanner reporting an active shooter nearby. She rushes off to find Peter there, tending to an injured woman. She takes over helping her as Peter goes to find the gunman. The gunman however finds Claire but Peter shows up and directs the shooter’s attention towards him, telling him that he understands the man’s motivation, explaining all about Nathan’s death and how he is looking for revenge too. Just as he thinks he is getting through to the man, the shooter aims and shoots Peter. Later, we see Peter on a gurney talking with Claire, happy that he managed to take the shooter down after being shot. He asks for Claire’s healing power but she tells him no at first, telling him that he needs to stop risking his life so much, and that she can’t always be his safety net. She tells him he’s not honoring Nathan’s memory and Peter admits that he misses his brother. Later Claire relents and gives Peter the healing power and he asks Claire to call her old friend West, and later we see that Peter has copied his power and starts to fly off into the sky.

Bennet returns home to his apartment and opens the window to let some air in, but instead, Edgar comes sneaking in. Bennet, walking away from the window, suddenly turns around and tasers Edgar until he passes out. He puts him in a freezer at a friend’s restaurant and calls in Lauren for some truth serum. He starts torturing Edgar for info on Samuel but Edgar isn’t talking. Lauren calls him out on the methods being used, telling him that honey tastes sweeter than vinegar, and that perhaps simply talking with Edgar may reveal better results, given that Edgar didn’t kill him right away and that he doesn’t have a compass to return home. Bennet agrees and changes his methods and Edgar, while reluctant, comes around and tells him what Samuel did to his brother. Bennet suggests a partnership and Edgar agrees. However later, after Bennett and Lauren explain that it will be a raid and everyone will be rounded up, Edgar changes his mind, not wanting the entire family to be broken up. Lauren explains it’s more of a cult but Edgar isn’t buying it and gets out of his restraints and escapes.

At the carnival, Doyle is thrown through the air and into Samuel who was using his ink to paint a picture of a woman. Doyle reveals that Sylar has returned. He faces off against Samuel and pins him to the wall of the trailer with his telekinesis, but Samuel keeps him talking, telling him of his plans for the people with powers that he’s gathered. Syalr decides to kill Samuel, but he can’t for some reason. Samuel takes the chance to attack him with the ground below him, eviscerating his face and causing Sylar to pass out. 

Samuel puts Sylar in Lydia’s trailer and tells her to help Sylar figure out what is wrong. She goes to Sylar and starts to try and seduce him, as she uses her power to see his desires, and that he wants love but doesn’t feel worthy. Sylar takes Lydia’s power and sees her desire that she wants to use Sylar to kill Samuel. 

Sylar asks Samuel about the woman in the drawing and he tells him she is named Vanessa and he is afraid she will reject him for the things he’s done. Samuel says that they are the same, not good, but not all bad either, trying to persuade him to stay. Sylar asks for a tattoo to see what it says and if it shows him staying, he will stay. Samuel makes the ink and injects it, and Sylar sees a picture of Claire appear on his arm. He leaves the carnival and begins stalking Claire outside her dorm room window. 

Back-issues:

This is the first series episode written by Jim Martin, but he previously wrote and directed webisodes for Going Postal, The Recruit and Slow Burn.

Heroes EU:

Starting Over 

Doyle's fate is in the hands of Samuel and Joseph.

The Trip Part 1

Hiro's scrambled brain leads him on a weird, wonderful trip to Florida.

Further Resources:

Heroes IMDb

Heroes Wiki

Heroes Graphic Novel Wiki

Contact Us:

Send in your feedback to TheRewatchPodcast@gmail.com
Follow the show on Facebook Instagram Threads TikTok or Bluesky

Support the Show:

Head over to our TeePublic and/or Redbubble stores today and buy some merch! Every item sold sees a small return to us, and covers our hosting costs. We appreciate every purchase.

RW642 - Heroes Rewatch S04E10-11 - Thanks Fifth

 

In this weeks episode of The Heroes Rewatch, Cory and Tom are feeling grateful and slowly dying as they discuss season 4 episodes 10 & 11, Thanksgiving and The Fifth Stage.

Editors Notes:

Last week we thought Eli was actually Samuel, but given the context of these episodes we see this is the likeness of Todd Stashwick. They do look similar though.

Chapter Ten 'Thanksgiving':

Volume: Five 

Written by: Adam Armus & Kay Foster

Directed by: Seith Mann

Original airdate: November 23, 2009

Synopsis:

Samuel watches the retrieved film of his birth, witnessing his powers working even before fully born. Hiro knocks incessantly at his door, facing off against him aggressively. Samuel tells him he could kill him but then he’d never find Charlie, ordering him to set the table for Thanksgiving.

Angela arrives at Peter’s and while he pushes her for information about what is going on, she refuses, telling him and Nathan to set up the table and she will talk with them at the dinner table. Peter tells her how they found Nathan’s dead body and she tries to cover it up as being a shapeshifter, but Peter pushes things further with the information he got from Parkman. Sylar/Nathan gets aggressive with Angela but she threatens to not reveal anything and leave if they continue. As they get the table, Sylar/Nathan has a momentary issue trying to maintain his Nathan face. Sylar/Nathan refuses to play nice so Angela finally reveals what happened. Sylar/ Nathan understands that he isn’t really Nathan, but Angela says he is, because he has Nathan’s mind and memories and that’s all that matters.

Sylar/Nathan calls Angela and Peter out on their behavior and how they know he isn’t their real family. Suddenly his power starts to go haywire as electricity erupts around his body until he falls down and rises up with Sylar’s face and forces them to sit at the table. Sylar taunts them as he eats, finally threatening them and starting to cut off Angela’s head but Nathan’s personality and mind starts to assert itself to gain control. After a battle between his two halves, Sylar/Nathan’s face shifts back to Nathan and he runs away, flying out the window. Peter tells Angela he will bring him back, and that while he wants Sylar dead, he wants his brother back alive even more. 

Bennet talks with Claire on the phone while he shops for Thanksgiving, learning about Gretchen’s leaving. He begs her to come along because Lyle won't be there, and his ex wife is coming with her new boyfriend. Bennet bumps into Lauren while shopping and she gives him pointers on shopping since he’s clueless, and he rizzes her up, inviting her to the dinner as well.

As Claire shows up for the dinner, she tells Bennet she needs to talk to him, but they’re interrupted by Lauren, and then the arrival of Sandra and her new boyfriend Doug and their dogs. Toasts are given and awkward small talk had about how they each met their significant others until Claire finally reveals she is thinking about dropping out of college, something that sparks a heated argument between all involved until Claire finally pushes back against Doug’s cheery attitude by cutting her arm deeply and then healing while Doug passes out. Sandra and Lauren share a moment with Lauren telling her that this dinner was Bennet’s way of letting Claire know she has a family that loves her. Claire is surprised to see her dad is still pursuing people with abilities and tells him that no one understands what it is like to be someone with an ability. He warns her against Samuel but she pushes back against him until he reveals that he invited Gretchen to the dinner as well as she shows up at the door. As the day goes on, she and Claire catch up on things and Bennet asks Lauren out for a proper date. Claire heads out with Gretchen and asks her to go with her to find out where the compass leads.

Hiro sets the table with Lydia and he explains how Samuel broke his promise. Edgar questions where Joseph is if Hiro fixed the past. She takes him to her trailer and changes for dinner in front of him, explaining that she needs to be close to someone to use her ability. He understands that and by using her ability manages to activate his time travel power, taking them back to the past before Joseph was killed, eight weeks ago. They witness Mohinder leaving and then a confrontation between Joseph and Samuel in which Samuel gets angry at him for hiding his ability from him. Joseph reveals Samuel doesn't just have powers, but has the power to kill millions but refuses to tell him how, leading Samuel to use his powers to throw a rock at him and kill him. Samuel is distraught at his actions while Hiro and Lydia time travel back to the present.

Back in the present, Samuel starts the Thanksgiving festivities but is wondering where Lydia is, learning she went to find Hiro. She tells Edgar what happened despite Hiro begging her not to. At the dinner, Samuel starts talking of a traitor amongst them and Edgar steps up to accuse him of killing Joseph. Samuel turns it around, with Hiro unwilling to confirm the incident because he fears he won't ever see Charlie again if he does. As Samuel prepares to kill Edgar, Hiro stops time and tells Edgar he needs to get away to fight again another day. Later Samuel calls Hiro out on saving Edgar, but Hiro stands up to him, telling him that while he is powerful, so is he himself. Samuel doesn’t take kindly to the threat and calls forth the man who unlocked Sylar’s mind to his past weeks earlier and he grabs Hiro’s head. Hiro begins to experience flashbacks from the past few weeks until he finally comes to and says he must save Watson, and says beam me up Scotty before disappearing. Samuel and the man look on in shock, not understanding what happened.

Chapter Eleven 'The Fifth Stage':

Volume: Five

Written by: Tim Kring

Directed by: Kevin Dowling

Original airdate: November 30, 2009

 

Synopsis: 

Lydia goes to Samuel and tells him that she knows the truth but given that she has a daughter to protect, she won't expose him. Eli interrupts them, having been called there by Samuel to be his new right hand man and for a mission to retrieve Bennet’s files on the carnival.

As Bennet goes over his notes on the carnival and the compass, Lauren shows up, offering to pick him up for their date. As they talk about his research, he discovers that Claire took the compass. Lauren offers to use her CIA contacts to try and find her by triangulating her cell phone signal. As they try to find further information, Bennet brings up their past together and how she mind wiped herself, shocking her. They are interrupted by Eli who uses his ability, creating duplicates of himself to enter the apartment. Lauren leaps into action, finding Bennet’s hidden gun and the two retreat to his bathroom where he has more weapons stashed away. When they exit the bathroom armed however, Eli is gone, along with Bennet’s files.

Angela goes to Peter and tries to get him to accept Nathan is indeed dead, despite what she tried to pretend. Peter refuses to accept it, and having called the Haitian in, copies his power and goes to find Sylar. As he enters an elevator, a nurse steps into it with him, greeting him, but then reveals himself as Sylar, lifting him up and holding him against the wall. He throws Peter when the door opens but Peter runs away, with Sylar stalking him round a deserted area of the hospital, complaining that Peter planned to inject him in the neck again to subdue him. Peter gets the jump on him and when Sylar goes to throw him aside with his telekinesis, he finds he can’t, and Peter attacks him., explaining he can cancel out his powers and erase his mind now. Peter uses a nail gun to nail Sylar to a board and continues to beat on him, telling him to give Nathan back. Sylar doesn’t give in, causing Peter to start to use his mind wiping ability to start to erase his mind and hopefully pull Nathan to the surface. Eventually, Sylar’s face shape shifts to Nathan’s. The two talk and Nathan tells him he’s tired, not just physically but tired of trying to hang on. Together they head up to the roof where Peter once jumped off, with Nathan saving him, just a few years earlier, reminiscing about everything. Nathan tells Peter that he isn’t really Nathan, that it’s Sylar’s body, and while Peter won’t believe it, Nathan tells him he can’t keep holding on. Nathan/Slyer surprisingly jumps over the edge of the balcony, but holds on, telling Peter that it’s over as he lets go and falls to his death below. Once he lands however, being far enough away from Peter, his powers kick in and he is healed, running away and escaping from Peter while waving sarcastically at him.

Claire and Gretchen make it to the carnival and are welcomed by Samuel and told to look around and enjoy themselves, telling them that he and his family move from town to town, making money with the carnival to live, until they can find a more permanent place to settle down in. He gives them some popcorn and tells them to not make any decisions until later after they’ve finished it all. They make their way to Lydia who tells them that people ask her questions and she shows them what they need to see. Claire asks if she is supposed to be there, and Lydia takes Claire’s hand as a tattoo of Claire appears on her back, and the title the indestructible Girl written below it. Lydia tells her this is what she desires. Gretchen is suspicious but Claire is impressed that everyone is able to live out in the open, not trying to hide their abilities. They watch as a man tries to win a stuffed animal by knocking down milk bottles, arrogantly explaining his prowess as a minor league ball pitcher but he misses every time, walking off frustrated. Claire tells Gretchen to watch the game runner’s hands and it shows that he is manipulating the ball so the man can’t win. As they continue to watch, the game runner allows a young girl to win a giant prize. Samuel shows up to invite them to visit behind the scenes where they all live and while Gretchen doesn’t want to, Claire is ready to see it.

Later, they see Samuel telling the carnival children stories, entertaining them. They discuss how the carnival people are exploiting their abilities but Claire only sees the positive side of it. They are interrupted by Doyle, who reveals that he tried to live a normal life but it just didn’t take, until he found his way to the carnival and is happier than ever, able to be himself, powers and all. Samuel asks Claire to tell the children a story of her own and while she’s reluctant at first, she eventually gets into it. Gretchen admonishes Samuel for playing with Claire’s emotions but he easily counters her arguments. Once Claire is done with her story, they are confronted by the man who lost his money earlier on the games, and he attacks Samuel for stealing his money with rigged games. He punches Samuel, but Samuel doesn’t defend himself, waiting until Claire steps in and confronts the man. As the man breaks a bottle and attacks her, he slashes her face, cutting her, but is shocked to see her immediately heal. Claire smiles as the man freaks out and runs away. Samuel explains to Claire that he didn’t defend himself because they are very careful when dealing with the outside world, saying the path of least resistance is sometimes the wisest. He tells her how he’s been raised his whole life to be a second class citizen and doesn’t want that anymore. He continues to manipulate Claire’s emotions until she finally tells Gretchen she is going to stay and not return back with her that night. Gretchen understands seeing how much Claire feels like she found a place she really belongs and they say goodbye, driving past a pick up truck that holds the dead body of the angry customer from earlier. Samuel talks with Lydia who tells him she isn’t sure that Claire will be useful to him, but he says it isn’t Claire that he is after. The next day, Samuel talks to the whole family, telling them he has found the area that will someday be their permanent home, a place where they will not be oppressed anymore, but not until they have gathered the rest of their family together with them.

Back-issues:

Kevin Dowling is an American director, writer and producer of features, television and theatre. His film debut was an Australian film called The Sum of Us, starring Russell Crowe and Jack Thompson, and it won 17 awards including "Best Feature" at the Montreal and Sydney Film Festivals, four Australian Critics Awards including Best Picture, and six A.F.I. nominations. He followed it up with the film Mojave Moon, starring Danny Aiello, Anne Archer, Michael Biehn, Angelina Jolie, Alfred Molina and Jack Noseworthy. He’s since been a working TV director on a lot of series, and a theatre director, including the stage adaptation of The Sum of Us.

Todd Stashwick plays Eli. He is known for several roles, most notably 12 Monkeys in which he appeared in the majority of the episodes as Deacon (the journey of a time traveler from the post-apocalyptic future who appears in present day on a mission to locate and eradicate the source of a deadly plague that will nearly destroy the human race). He has a number of credits to his name for animated movie and TV voices, such as Phineas and Fern, Tom and Jerry, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and even a live action version of Kim Possible. He’s also had guest appearances on shows like The Originals, Criminal Minds, CSI: Miami, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Curb your Enthusiasm, Weeds, Reba, Crossing Jordan, Warehouse 13, Star Trek: Enterprise, and Star Trek: Picard to name just a few.

Heroes EU:

Prodigals Part 2

Eli sends Tracy away from the Carnival — to an uncertain fate.

Prodigals Part 3

Tracy's mysterious mission for Samuel takes an unexpected twist.

Requiem for My Brother

A look at the man, the Senator, and the brother.

Bloodlines Part 1

Joseph's quest to find the root of Samuel's power goes terribly awry.

Bloodlines Part 2

Joseph meets up with Danko — and pays Arnold a fateful visit.

Further Resources:

Heroes IMDb

Heroes Wiki

Heroes Graphic Novel Wiki

Contact Us:

Send in your feedback to TheRewatchPodcast@gmail.com
Follow the show on Facebook Instagram Threads TikTok or Bluesky

Support the Show:

Head over to our TeePublic and/or Redbubble stores today and buy some merch! Every item sold sees a small return to us, and covers our hosting costs. We appreciate every purchase.

RW641 - Heroes Rewatch S04E08-09 - Shadow Keepers

In this weeks episode of The Heroes Rewatch, Cory and Tom consider new friendships and save old ones as they discuss season 4 episodes 8 & 9, Shadowboxing and Brother's Keeper.

Chapter Eight 'Shadowboxing':

Volume: Five 

Written by: Misha Green & Joe Pokaski

Directed by: Jim Chory

Original airdate: November 9, 2009

Synopsis:

As the sorority pledges freak out at seeing Becky turn visible and Claire healing, Claire comes up with a cover story for their water bottles possibly having been drugged, telling them that she saw them being attacked by wild dogs, which Gretchen backs up by saying she saw the two of them making out. The girls agree that must be what happened and they all agree to keep quiet. 

Back at their dorm room, Gretchen freaks out about what happened and worries about how Becky is out to get her. Claire shows her how baby powder could make Becky visible while she goes to the sorority house to find her. Upon arriving, she sees the girls from the scavenger hunt but they have no memory of what happened as she looks to see her father and the Haitian have arrived to help at Claire’s behest. Bennet sends her and the Haitian back to the dorm room, since Becky won't be able to use her powers if the Haitian is there. Bennet enters Becky’s room and begins searching it, finding one of the carnival’s compasses. When he realizes Becky just entered the room, he draws his stun guns and faces off against her. She reveals herself and starts telling Bennet who she is and how she watched him kill her dad and now she is here for revenge. As Bennet goes to stun her, some sorority girls enter the room and Becky goes invisible as Bennet leaves.

Back at the dorm room, Gretchen has packed and wants to leave, not ready to make this type of thing her regular everyday life the way Claire has. Claire asks the Haitian to go with her to the airport to make sure Becky doesn’t show up to hurt her. After he leaves, Samuel shows up and reveals to Claire that he knows about her thanks to his “niece” and begins telling her how Bennet killed Becky’s father when he was looking for Becky years ago, causing Becky to have mental and emotional issues. He explains he has surrounded himself with people with abilities to make life comfortable for him and them. Bennet shows up and holds him at gunpoint, but recognizes his role in hurting Becky as a child and asks him about the compass he found. Samuel explains Danko killed his brother and that they just want to stay hidden from him and people like him. Bennet handcuffs Samuel, preparing to take him into his car while he tries to prey on Claire’s emotions. Bennet is suddenly attacked by an invisible Becky and as she also attacks Claire, Samuel grabs the stun gun and shoots Becky. Bennet recovers and holds them both at gunpoint, pushing Claire aside so she wont get hurt, but at Claire’s pleading, he lets Samuel and Becky go. Bennet and Claire return to her dorm room where he tells her she deserves the best and wants that for her as they kiss goodbye. Bennet returns to his apartment and continues his investigations into the carnival and Samuel.

Meanwhile, Peter has been using his new healing power to save patients in his ambulance that would have likely died, but the power seems to drain him physically each time he uses it. At the hospital, Emma is tasked with trying to help an injured patient while a doctor is rounded up, but she decides she can do the sutures that the patient needs. Peter sees her from afar, but is distracted as he sees another patient that needs his immediate attention, again using his ability and draining himself. Emma sees him and has him sit to rest but Peter wants to get back to helping people. He mentions he saw her doing the suture earlier and asks her about it as she reveals that she dropped out of medical school. 

Later, Emma finds a young girl passed out on the floor and calls for help. Peter comes running and she tells him she needs a thoracotomy. As she begins administering the anesthesia, Peter uses his power subtly and heals the girl, but sweating heavily, tells Emma that she saved her. Later, she shows him a picture of her nephew who drowned while she was babysitting him long ago and is the reason she dropped out of med school. He gives her a tiara from the young girl they saved, and she thanks him for saving her as well. Peter encourages her to go back to school and later Emma goes to her closet and pulls out her own doctor’s coat, considering.

Sylar, in control of Matt’s body, tries to get on a plane to fly to New York to find Peter Petrelli for stabbing him with a syringe and to get more answers. Luckily, Matt used his power over Sylar to have him unknowingly pack a gun in his bag, resulting in him being detained. After he gets out hours later, he rents a car and starts to drive, but Matt eventually causes him to not see a piece of metal on the road which causes his car to have a flat tire. Sylar tries to fix it but is having problems doing so until a tow truck driving by stops with the driver Hank offering to help. Matt lords his control over Sylar but Sylar decides to kill Hank to force Matt’s hand into telling him what happened to his body. Sylar goes to the Burnt Toast diner and threatens to kill the waitress unless Matt tells him the truth about what happened. Matt finally gives in and tells him everything and who was involved. Sylar goes to leave but once outside it’s discovered that the waitress called the cops on him due to Matt taking over again and causing him to doodle a death threat on his napkin. As the police hold Sylar off at gunpoint, Matt takes control and makes Sylar pretend to draw a gun, causing the police to fire and take him down.

Nathan/Sylar sleeps at the carnival but his face keeps shifting between his two sides. He awakens and sees the face of Nathan in the mirror, and quickly gets dressed, walking around the carnival for a moment before flying away. Peter returns home and begins taking down his wall of newspaper clippings about his various rescues. He answers a knock on the door and is surprised to see Nathan rush in, claiming he thinks he’s in trouble. Samuel and Becky return to the carnival and he promises her that she will get her revenge eventually. They're interrupted by Lydia who tells Samuel that Sylar is gone. 

Back-issues:

Misha Green has been working her way up, having penned scripts for many TV shows. Recently, she has created and developed the shows Underground (about the American Civil War), and Lovecraft Country. She is currently writing and directing Tomb Raider 2, a sequel to the 2018 reboot, and is developing a remake of Cleopatra Jones (1973).

Chapter Nine 'Brother's Keeper':

Volume: Five

Written by: Rob Fresco & Mark Verheiden

Directed by: Bryan Spicer

Original airdate: November 16, 2009

 

Synopsis:

Nine weeks earlier, Mohinder is teaching again in India, living with a woman named Mira, and having a normal happy life. He is still plagued by thoughts of his father’s work as he has held onto the box of papers and film that he found at Coyote Sands, much to his girlfriend’s annoyance. To maintain the peace with her, he tosses it all away in the trash and the two walk off together. Later that night however, Mohinder can’t help himself and retrieves the box and watches the film titled Samuel, starting to understand his father’s research. Chandra discovered that people with abilities emit a kind of force when gathered together, giving them possibly even greater power. The film documents the birth of Samuel and how seismic disturbances occurred more and more as they neared his birth.

Mohinder uses his father’s research to create a compass that can hone in that invisible force, but Mira is fed up and tells him to leave. Mohinder goes to find Samuel and while he does find him, his brother Joseph sends Samuel away so he can talk with Mohinder alone. Joseph reveals that he has been trying to hide Samuel’s powers for 40 years and wants Mohinder to leave and burn the film so the truth is hidden. Samuel however overhears their conversation. 

Mohinder returns to his motel room and contacts Mira to tell him he’s coming home, finally giving up on his father’s work. He begins to burn the film but time stops as Hiro shows up and switches the film with a dummy copy. Samuel, having heard the conversation earlier with Joseph, shows up, demanding to see the film that Mohinder has just started to burn, but Mohinder refuses, leaving Samuel to crush a rock and use the pieces to impale Mohinder, killing him. Samuel leaves, and Hiro comes out of a hiding spot, revealing to Mohinder he actually came back too late once already and saw Mohinder killed, which prompted him to go and find a Kevlar vest to put on Mohinder this time, saving him from death. 

He asks Mohinder to hide for 8 weeks so that Samuel doesn’t think he’s alive, but Mohinder refuses, recognizing Samuel as a threat to everyone. Hiro takes drastic measures and uses his powers to arrange for Mohinder to be placed in a mental asylum under sedation to keep him out of the way and not endanger Charlie’s life. Hiro returns the film to Samuel in the present, but Samuel doesn’t return Charlie right away, telling him only “soon.”

Tracy meanwhile sits in a coffeeshop staring at a poster for the Sullivan Brothers Carnival. A conversation with the waitress turns contentious and Tracy’s powers begin to activate on their own, freezing the cup she is holding. The waitress is visibly shaken and Tracy hurriedly runs out, going to find Bennet for help but only finding Claire. She tells her of how her power is out of control and she finds herself starting to freeze herself. Claire puts her in a hot bath and makes hot tea for her but it’s no use as the water starts to freeze in there as well. She starts freaking out and ends up freezing Claire solid. As she tries to get Claire into the bath, Claire’s foot breaks off and Tracy sits down, distraught, but Claire manages to heal herself and thaws out. Together they sit and bond, talking about what’s going on and Claire reasons that it is likely not a physical thing affecting her, but psychological. Tracy tells Claire about Samuel, and having a place where she belongs and Claire reveals she too has met him, and has been wondering if a normal college life really is for her. Tracy later meets with Samuel and he starts up a conversation with her about how to use her abilities to help everyone.

Peter and Nathan return to his offices and learn of the cover story their mother provided for him, that he was away on vacation. The Haitian shows up and warns Nathan to stay away while he speaks with Peter, giving him an address for a storage room where Peter and Nathan soon travel to. Upon opening a box in the room, they find Nathan’s dead body, the throat sliced open. As he touches the body, he begins seeing glimpses of what happened and learns that Matt Parkman was involved and the two head to LA to find him. Nathan’s assistant however tells him that Matt is under guard in a hospital for attempting suicide by cop. 

When they arrive at the hospital, they sneak in and Peter uses his ability to heal Parkman and he wakes up but warns them to get out, telling them about Sylar. Matt is erratic, looking insane, as he talks with them and with Sylar. They find the idea that Nathan is actually Sylar unbelievable but Sylar takes over Matt’s body and begs Nathan to take his hand so he can get back to his own body. Peter tries pulling Nathan away but Nathan slams him against the wall with telekinesis, starting to understand why he has extra powers. Nathan moves closer to Matt/Sylar in the bed but a cop comes in and yanks Nathan away, with Nathan’s hand brushing against Matt/Sylar as Matt returns to total control of his body and Sylar disappears. Nathan flicks the cop away, grabs Peter and the two fly out the window. Matt meanwhile, has managed to use his powers to convince a cop to wheel his bed to the morgue, then takes his uniform and wipes the man’s mind so he can get away. He calls Janice and tries to explain things before leaving the hospital. 

Landing out on a mountain, Nathan starts to try and understand what has happened to him. Pete refuses to leave him and copying his flying ability , they fly home together.  Once there, Nathan asks Peter if he could ever really look at him the same way, knowing that while he may look like Nathan, he is actually Sylar.

Back-issues:

We’ve seen director Brian Spicer before, he directed 6 season 1 episodes of Seaquest DSV, and a lot of other TV show episodes. He also directed Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie in 1995.

Heroes EU:

The Painted Lady 

Lydia reaches out to bring Amanda back into the family fold.

Prodigals Part 1

Tracy embarks on a secret mission for Samuel.

Webisodes:

Episode Title: Slow Burn Part 9

Written by: Oliver Grigsby

Directed by: Chris Hanada and Tanner Kling

Original release date: November 23, 2009

Synopsis: Sent by Samuel to take Amanda from her mother, Caleb pays a terrible price.

Episode Title: Slow Burn Part 10

Written by: Oliver Grigsby

Directed by: Chris Hanada and Tanner Kling

Original release date: November 30, 2009

Synopsis: Samuel's plans to separate Amanda from her mother fails, but Amanda chooses to stay anyway.

Further Resources:

Heroes IMDb

Heroes Wiki

Heroes Graphic Novel Wiki

Contact Us:

Send in your feedback to TheRewatchPodcast@gmail.com
Follow the show on Facebook Instagram Threads TikTok or Bluesky

Support the Show:

Head over to our TeePublic and/or Redbubble stores today and buy some merch! Every item sold sees a small return to us, and covers our hosting costs. We appreciate every purchase.