Powers Review: Caracas, 1967 (Season 2 Episode 1)

Retro Girl is dead.

In the Season 2 premiere of Powers, “Caracas, 1967,” the show begins tackling the story-line most famously known from the comic series, “Who Killed Retro Girl?”

Fans of Season 1 will remember that Retro Girl is (was?), essentially the world’s most famous hero, or Power, as they are called in this rich universe where heroes are usually not very heroic at all.

Retro Girl never suffered from the dark side of having powers, as many others who fought alongside her did. She was a class act, as we see in her memorial reel, helping others in need and bringing the world together.

Beyond just her own heroism, Retro Girl was the love of Christian Walker’s life, and her death is leaving him with feelings of guilt and a need for vengeance.

While the organization Kaotic Chic is taking responsibility for killing the beloved hero, it seems that her death is opening the door to more mysteries than Walker even knew existed, and the list of suspects in her death are growing. (I’ve already got my own theories.)

Walker, a former Power who lost his own abilities years ago, immediately wants to get to work putting away the person who took down Retro Girl, but everyone agrees that this is a bad idea. So instead of working the case, we watch his rage and guilt boil to the surface as he trashes his home.

Walker has already suffered from great loss. Now to lose the love of his life, the one that he only just reunited with, feels extraordinarily unearned. When you consider that these two were planning their future and making up for lost time, it tugs at your heartstrings.

So while the world is grieving, Walker declares that he won’t rest until he finds her murderer, with the help of the Powers Division or not.

While Walker will have the help and support of his partner, Deena Pilgrim, he won’t find much help from the FBI Agents that have been sent to oversee the investigation by the Powers Division of the LAPD.

Tricia Helfer, who many will remember from her iconic role as Six on Battlestar Galactica, joins the cast as Agent Lange, an FBI agent who is less than thrilled with the team and who, it seems, is looking for an excuse to shut them down.

The scenes between Lange and Cross, head of the Powers Division, are dripping with hostility and it almost makes me dislike Lange…almost. At the end of the day, I love Tricia Helfer, and I root for her in any role to despise her, even if she’s an antagonist.

Additionally, does anyone else think Lange and Cross should be sleeping together to break that tension? Just me? Okay, I can live with that.

Dr. Death is a scene stealer with his explanation of Retro Girl’s death while doing her autopsy (which is proving to be more challenging than any autopsy that anyone has ever performed. An electric saw isn’t cutting through her skin?!)

On traditional ‘superhero’ shows, we see the heroes take serious damage and hits that would leave them with more than a few open wounds, but they never truly seem to be hurt in any way. It’s bothersome to some viewers who need an explanation regarding the impossibility that they could survive a fight unscathed. (Viewers like me.)

Dr. Death explains why each wound matters, why it’s improbable that she’d have been wearing her super-suit, explanations that usually go ignored, and thankfully, he delivers that news in a way that makes me laugh. This show is dark…there are not many laughs to go around. So, thank you, Dr. Death.

Elsewhere in the episode, we see Calista practicing with her newfound powers. As a girl who was abandoned by her abusive father, and who essentially watched her mother die, it makes perfect sense that she would use her new power to get a little revenge on him.

I’m glad that she stops before killing him. Calista has been dealt a hard hand, absolutely, but I was pulling for her not to go too dark too quickly. She’s our window into discovering powers. I’d hate to see her do something, especially this early in the game, that would haunt her undoubtedly bright future.

And what is her future, exactly? There is no bigger fan-girl of Retro Girl than Calista. When we see her breakdown upon discovering that her hero is dead, we can all remember the feeling of losing someone that we loved and admired. I have no doubt that the loss will only help propel Calista forward.

While her role is small in this episode, Zora’s escape from the hospital is also a highlight of the premiere.

She’s been saddled with the worst nurses, who watch videos on-line of their patient taking a beating and laugh about them. I only wish she had exacted revenge on them before leaving. They all deserved a to be taken down a few notches. Zora is more noble than I would be in that scenario.

I’m hoping that Zora, who just lost her endorsements and seems to be on the losing end of being a ‘celebrity power’, will put her abilities to good use now that Retro Girl isn’t around to protect the streets. Will she perhaps step up to bat as a viable replacement?

Now that the major suspect in Retro Girl’s death is also dead (RIP Krispin), we still don’t know what D-Day is, and what that stone was in her hand when she died, it’s obvious that this season of Powers is going to take us on an exciting journey as we follow the heroes trying to figure out what happened and whodunit.

Whether you are a returning viewer to the series or someone experiencing it for the first time, you are immediately pulled into the mystery surrounding Retro Girl. You’ll have no trouble understanding the complexities of her relationship with the show’s protagonist, Walker, her effect on those around her, and most importantly, you’ll find yourself grieving her death along with the rest of the world.

Who will protect the world now that Retro Girl is dead? Who is the next suspect in her murder? Why is Deena surrounded by assholes? Sound off in the comments below!

 

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Powers streams new episodes every Tuesday on the PlayStation Network.

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