An Invisible Thread
Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 09:05am by GeekBoySo endeth this season/volume of Heroes …
RECAP DETAILS AHEAD (don’t read if you haven’t watched it yet) …
What did everybody think of the season finale? I was definitely entertained, as I have been ever since Bryan Fuller returned to the show partway through the season — and even a bit before that — but have to say, I wasn’t really blown away. The finales for this series have just never managed to please 100%, and part of the reason is because the episodes throughout the season are so uneven, and tend to a lack a cohesive logic and set of rules about how these powers work and when and how people would use them.
Case in point: Sylar kills Nathan, Peter uses Sylar’s own shape-changing power to defeat Sylar, then Matt uses his mind power to convince Sylar that he’s Nathan. Then once Sylar morphs into Nathan, it’s as if Sylar is dead and Nathan is alive. It’s a very clever twist. But does it really make sense? If the plan is to keep Nathan around so that he can influence the President and keep The Company alive, then couldn’t Peter — who currently has shape-changing ability — do that just as easily, and without the risk of Sylar one day remembering who he is? Which we all know will happen, sooner or later.
Another case in point: Hiro is told that if he uses his power one more time, he could die. The Hunter is about to stab Noah in the neck with an elephant tranquilizer. Instead of just bashing The Hunter over the head with something heavy, or Ando zapping him with his Crimson Arc, Hiro stops time and takes the syringe out of The Hunter’s hand, potentially signing his own death warrant in the process. It makes for a dramatic moment, but one that kind of stretches sense a bit. As does suddenly deciding that Hiro’s body is rejecting his power like a virus in the first place. This is the first we’ve heard of somebody’s power acting that way, isn’t it? And why punish Hiro, who’s arguably the most heroic one of the lot?
So I liked the season finale, but didn’t love it.
In the teaser for the next volume, “Redemption”, we see that, as expected, there is still a bit of Sylar in Not-Really-Nathan, when he can tell by looking at it that a clock is running fast. Needless to say, Mama Petrelli seems a bit perturbed by this. And Tracy enters the scene again, this time with a water-morphing power — water and ice being different states of the same thing — and seems to be out to kill everybody who worked at Building 26.
1. Beth said ( Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 9:44 am )
Really great point about Peter. My only way of explaining how they handled this situation (and why they also didn’t just have Claire save him with her special blood; or, Sylar, for that matter as he was right there and unconscious at the time…) is that they realize that Sylar is out of control as a character. That there was nowhere else to take him that was the least bit interesting. I’ve been wanting Sylar – and I adore the actor, mind you – to die for a few seasons now. It’s just that he’s too damn much for them to handle. They don’t know what to do with him. Since they made the point that Sylar has moved his Magic Spot and they have no idea how to actually kill him anymore – this was their attempt at “killing” him.
I really have enjoyed watching the other actors as Sylar the past few weeks of shape shifting. It’s been particularly fun having Adrian Pasdar have somewhere else to go as Nathan so I’m okay with this twist for now.
My favorite scene in the finale was definitely Peter The Shape Shifter.
You’re dead on about Hiro. I don’t get why they waste him so.
2. GeekBoy said ( Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 10:01 am )
Well, I guess my point is, why make Sylar a Senator, and put him in direct contact with the President of the United States? They could have put Peter in that role, and made Sylar a garbage man or something, where his potential for destruction if he ever remembers who he is could be mitigated. For that matter, it might have been funny to make him shape change into something like a dog, and he and Mr. Muggles could become best friends.
I agree, Peter got a great line at the end there (paraphrasing): “Bet you didn’t think I’d take that power, did you?”
As for using Claire’s blood to heal somebody, my guess — and I’d agree — is that Bryan Fuller didn’t approve of that plot turn from last season, and just ignored it. It makes it impossible to kill off any character that Claire knows. It seems like he’s also done away with Ando’s ability to “supercharge” another hero’s powers, like he did for Daphne — now he just shoots red lightning. Again, because it’s too much of a game changer the way they originally wrote it … and wasn’t even consistent with the future flash they did where Ando zapped Hiro and killed him.
I’ve really been happy with some of the course correction Fuller has done in that respect, and I’m hoping for good things from next season/volume, which will be entirely plotted by him from beginning to end.
3. Greater Czarina said ( Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 8:47 pm )
At least they didn’t just say, “God did it.”
4. Maggie said ( Thursday, April 30, 2009 at 1:49 am )
I was entertained, but this show makes no sense. I feel like I’m watching Superman IV.