While I’ve enjoyed the idea behind the “heroes lose their abilities” short story arc, like I said last week, this eclipse plot device is inherently flawed. First and foremost, it’s revisionist history. No matter how many times they tell us that the eclipse in the Pilot activated everybody’s ability, we already know that virtually every character had already exhibited their powers to various degrees (hell, an entire season one episode was devoted to that notion). Along with that, we already know that several characters had abilities long before that eclipse (the Petrelli parents, Kato, Adam, Bob, Meredith, etc.), so why weren’t their powers de-activated during that eclipse as well? I can just imagine how that conversation went.
Writer #1: Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if the characters lost their abilities?
Writer #2: Yeah, like that “What if?” episode of Party of Five where we find out where all of their lives would be like if their parents never died?
Writer #1: Not really. But how can we have every character lose their abilities, only to get them back shortly thereafter?
Writer #3: Hey, don’t we use an eclipse in our opening credits?
Writer #1: Brilliant!
I also couldn’t help but cringe a bit when Claire came back to life. The episode in which Peter and Future Peter went five years into the future, Future Peter was shot, and killed, because his abilities were being negated by the Haitian. With that, the invincibility/death rule was established: When you’re dead, you’re dead. If your abilities are brought back AFTER you’re dead, big poop. You’re already dead. Yet in this episode, Claire is quite decidedly dead (by the same means as Future Peter, no less), yet she’s able to heal herself and come back to life. This seems like a direct contradiction of something they established, like, a handful of episodes ago.
I tend to adhere to the belief that once a character goes into the future, his preventative actions – no matter how major or minor – can completely reshape what we see. Nevertheless, I can’t help but wonder at what point Sylar’s happy future existence became an improbability. It certainly seems unlikely, at this point, that Sylar would have a son and name him after HRG, while raising him in the Bennet household. And after spending most of this volume turning over a new leaf, I find it curious that they would have him return to the dark side so close to the end of this arc. I am curious, though, what made the writers put a halt on this story. Sure, they kinda sacrificed a lot of the backstory they had already established (sound familiar?), but I was getting pretty into the reformed Sylar. And I think a lot of other fans were, as well. At the very least, it was something compelling and unforeseeable.
Speaking of Noah the Offspring, is he now a thing of the past…er…future? Last week I remarked that I now believe that Elle is the mother, which many people already assumed. If that’s the case (and that’s a big “if”), it appears that she’s now dead. So, one might assume, the same can be said for their unborn (and possibly yet-to-be-conceived) child.
And while I really have enjoyed Sylar’s character this season (I’m always a sucker for those complex, gray area characters), I can’t help but roll my eyes at how easy it is for other characters to manipulate him. What, you’re my mom? Great, I’ll do what you say. Oh, you’re my dad? Awesome, sign me up for your team! Wait, they’re not my parents? Let me rethink this whole thing…. I am going to have to assume, though, that Sylar used his Dead Zone ability when he kissed Elle, and realized that she does, indeed, know more than she says about his past.
One thing I will always be a fan of is HRG. I just love how much quicker he is than every other character on the show who never seems to learn from their lesson (COUGHhiroclairepeternathan
mohinderparkmanCOUGH). Upon seeing that Sylar and Elle couldn’t use their abilities for some reason last week, he immediately deduced that Claire wouldn’t be able to use hers either, and as such threw him to the side in an act of protection. Then this week, after realizing that Claire was able to heal herself after dying, he anticipated the arrival of Sylar and Elle. Oh, and THANK YOU for actually bringing up the fact that Sylar killed her father.
I will say this: The Haitian is beyond a shadow of a doubt my favorite minor character. Hell, I like him more than many of the major characters. He seems like one of the very few supremely loyal characters. Sure, he follows orders from people who may not be straight out “good,” but all of his actions seem to be for the greater good. I also can’t help but wonder if Nathan’s comment about how no brother should feel the burden of having to kill their brother is foreshadowing something. I kinda hope not, because I don’t see them killing off Peter, and we can’t end EVERY volume with Nathan presumably being killed.
And while I love Seth Green, I couldn’t help but be disappointed with that particular bit of stunt casting. It reminded me of Jay and Silent Bob inexplicably making a cameo in Scream 3. It really takes you out of the moment, killing the suspension of disbelief, screaming “you’re watching a TV show!” That being said, I LOVED the conversation between the two comic book guys about how many times Hiro and Claire have met and whether or not Kirby Plaza counts. Only because I’ve actually had that conversation.
Matt Basilo has been writing for Inside Pulse since April 2005, providing his insight into popular television shows such as Lost, Heroes, Prison Break, and Smallville. You can visit his blog at A Case of the Blog.
