I usually pride myself on comprehending Heroes’ sometimes complicated storylines, and even earlier this season I wondered how anybody who paid attention could be confused. That being said, I have to admit that I was having a somewhat difficult time following everything that was going on. When Arthur appeared on the rooftop 16 years ago, was that Arthur from 16 years ago, or was that present day Arthur? I presume it was present day Arthur, since he alluded to his war with Angela. But how did he get there? As far as I can tell, he didn’t have the ability to time travel.
For that matter, how did Claire get to the balcony in the first place? Isn’t that Charles’ balcony (or is it Isaac’s?) Shouldn’t somebody be living there? I also don’t quite understand how Claire preventing her child-self from receiving the catalyst saves the world. What difference does it make? It’s not as if the world is in peril because Claire was given the light. Along with that, why was Hiro’s father so determined to give the baby the catalyst? I understand that he thinks Hiro is immature, but is the only other possible option a baby girl who is yet to exhibit any abilities whatsoever? Is that really the only other choice?
And finally, since enough people seem to be aware that Isaac’s comics are forecasting the heroes’ every move, why haven’t the villains splurged and gotten a subscription to this prophetic publication?
How’s this for irony? After all the comparisons that have been made between Heroes and The 4400, Chad Faust, who was one of the stars of the hit USA series, now appears on Heroes as one of the super marines. Although, c’mon, broaden your horizons a bit with these new abilities. I mean, Mohinder injects himself and immediately exhibits super strength. Now super marine is injected and he does the same.
The scenes with Hiro and Claire with their past selves were actually quite great. I especially loved Hiro and mini-Hiro doing their classic mannerisms in unison (although neither could see). And as one might expect, the real heart wrenching scene was between adult Hiro and his mother. I’m not quite sure how to interpret Claire’s interaction with her father, 16 years in the past. On the one hand, it shows that HRG, deep down, always wanted to care for and love his adoptive baby. On the other hand, I kinda like the idea that Claire was handed to him as an assignment, and he had every intention in the world of treating her as such. But, after even days of knowing her, he became so attached and enamored that she became his daughter. Part of me likes the idea that HRG fell in love with her, and was not talked into loving her. That being said, HRG deciding to hang up the phone and embracing the idea of becoming a father was rather sweet.
Oh, and I really loved the dual monologue with Claire and Hiro both rallying off their respective plots in order to save the universe.
I really haven’t decided how I feel about this whole Sylar thing. They say that life is a journey, and not a destination. That seems to imply that you should enjoy what happens along the way, and not necessarily where things end up. I admittedly have eaten up the complexity of Sylar’s character this season. I mean, I couldn’t help but tip my hat to the writers for creating a volume titled “Villains” and turning their head antagonist into one of the heroes. Who saw that coming? But if Sylar was ultimately going to become the lead villain again, I feel like it would have been more fun for us to just watch Sylar track down various people to accumulate this mass collection of powers. I really just don’t quite understand why 75% of the season was spent turning Sylar good, only to bring him back to square one. Despite that criticism, I really did love how Sylar didn’t even bother cleaning himself up after brutally murdering people. I also appreciate the kinship that he has developed with Peter. While they may not be brothers, they really have grown over the past volume. I’m not sure they care for each other, per se, but I do believe that they have compassion and empathy towards each other. Even a season ago, I think they would have harmed each other if given the opportunity. Now, I’m not sure they would without a direct motive (as illustrated in this episode).
Along those same lines, I do believe that Sylar killing Arthur was, in a way, a gift to Peter. When he told Peter that he’s not a killer, I think he meant that. I really believe that Sylar eliminated Arthur so that Peter didn’t have to (that isn’t to say that Sylar didn’t have his own motivations, of course). I appreciated, though, that when push came to shove, Peter WAS willing to pull the trigger.
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.
