While I’ve mostly supported Heroes this season, I have been critical of the past few episodes. But I must say, this volume finale delivered in spades. In my opinion, this episode was everything that the entire arc should have been. For the most part, the allegiances and motives were clearly defined, and there really did seem to have a central theme that tied everything together. It was exciting and exhilarating, and stayed true to the general continuity and mythology of the series. And while all of the deaths were secondary (or thirdary) characters, they at least managed to off a few people.
One thing I especially appreciated was the duality (hey, that’s the episode of the episode!) of Peter and Nathan’s conflict. Nathan was rallying to make abilities available to everybody, believing that these extraordinary powers would be crucial in life and death scenarios. Peter, meanwhile, believed that giving people abilities would be dangerous and destructive. In the end, however, it was Peter who was forced to inject himself with the serum in order to save himself and Nathan, while Nathan ultimately decided to imprison those with abilities. I am curious what motivated him to take such a severe stance (granted, we didn’t see the entire list, so who knows if family members Angela, Peter, and Claire were included). But hey, Michael F’N Dorn is now on the show, so it’s all good. Worf all the way!!
It occurs to me that my favorite scenes of this entire volume have probably been the Sylar/Claire stalking scene from the premiere, and the Primatech Paper lockdown from this episode. Of course, both of these scenes featured Sylar at his psychological, psychotic best, and Claire in a sympathetic and vulnerable position. Sylar in particular is so great in this role that I can’t help but wonder if they should have just let him play it throughout the entire season, instead of essentially rewriting his backstory and ability in order to make him a hero for only a few episodes. I’m still undecided on this matter.
And by the way, Claire, when you’re locked in a building with the most powerful entity in the universe, who happens to be a psychopath with a vendetta against you and your family, and you’ve only got six shots to try to stop and kill him….it might be a good idea to not waste one of them on the telephone. Absolutely brilliant.
I also really liked the trapped in fire scene with HRG and Meredith, because it ultimately showed that despite his flaws, which have really been at the forefront this volume, HRG is not a cold blooded killer. And in that regard, he isn’t the same as Sylar. He sees Meredith as a human being and recognizes that she’s the birth mother of his adoptive daughter. Speaking of which, I enjoyed the fact that, despite all of their differences, Claire and HRG always end up together. In the end, they’re constantly looking out for each other.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The most interesting thing they can do with the Hiro/Ando relationship is strip Hiro of his powers, and give Ando abilities. Which is what they’ve done. For the past three seasons, Hiro has been the, well, hero, and Ando’s been the envious sidekick. Now they’ve completely mixed up the dynamic, and I’m eager to see how they handle it. And, surprisingly, the comedy team of Ando, Parkman, and Daphne was phenomenal. Who’da thunk it?
While I am really happy that this volume tied up a lot of loose ends, I am somewhat disappointed that so many things were tied up in a neat little package. Don’t get me wrong, I’m actually pleased that Peter has his powers back and that Hiro doesn’t. But this is most apparent with Mohinder, who not only survived the inferno, but was also cured of his abilities. Honestly, this character has served his purpose. I’ve made countless comparisons between Heroes and The 4400, but I think this one point is worth mentioning: The original mystique of The 4400 was “who abducted them and what gave them these abilities?” We found out the answer to those questions in the first season (with supplemental information on the latter half provided in later seasons). The point is that the “how” regarding their abilities was answered, and the show moved on.
With that in mind, I’m not sure Mohinder is a necessary character. Do we really care WHY these people have abilities? Honestly, seeing frustrated Mohinder in a lab, getting all snippy with the people around him, has gotten old. He is, without a doubt, the single most expendable character on the series. And to tell you the truth, I think they had a great “out” for his character. The man became obsessed with his own visions of grandeur, deciding against better judgment to give himself an ability. This turned into a murderous monster (literally) that really only cared about curing himself. In the end, in a roundabout way, his own combustible creation kills him.
Another thing: I haven’t read any spoilers, and I certainly don’t want to know any, but I don’t think for a moment that Sylar is really dead. So his “death” only seems to water down the rules they’ve established with Claire’s ability even further.
Anyway, the masterminds behind Heroes have a massive challenge to overcome. I personally thought the first few episodes of this season were fantastic, yet it wasn’t enough to get those hard to please fans to get past the negativity leftover from season two. Volume four has the unenviable task of not only maintaining their current audience, but also blowing that audience away to the extent that word of mouth will bring back those old viewers (and in a series such as this, fans often say “I already missed most of the last volume, so why bother?”) Hopefully their “back to the basics” philosophy works. I’m certainly rooting for them.
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.
