The Heroes Review 4.18

Posted by Michael Weyer on 02.09.2010

The shortened season reaches its finale with the fate of Charlie, the confrontation with Samuel and a final scene that changes the course of the series.

Well, here’s the finale to an abbreviated season. I’d wish they had a couple more episodes to develop things more but we all know NBC’s track record with good decisions. Given how they need as much programming as they can get after the Jay Leno debacle, I do believe the show will get another year as the final moments promise a game-changer.


Digging Through the Dirt: We open with Claire and Noah still trapped underground as Lauren walks right over the area, staring at the empty space the carnival once was. Claire wants to dig out but Noah says there’s no way, they’ll run out of air…or rather he will. He understands Samuel’s plan, to make Claire watch her father die. Noah tries to talk to Claire, saying that what she saw of his past made him the man he was but didn’t need to happen to Claire. Claire says she doesn’t need to know but he yells “don’t protect me, that’s my job!” Claire snaps at him about how he’s trying to protect her, not just as a father but because the world isn’t ready for the revelation of the Specials. There might be some curiosity but “all it takes is one Sylar and the pitchforks come out.” As air runs out, Noah weakens and makes Claire promise to hide what she really is. As he passes out, Claire claws at the dirt in the wall only to have water pour in, the puddle forming into Tracy. She transforms herself into water to allow Claire and Noah to swim through the tunnel she made before vanishing, overwhelmed by the effort. Lauren is waiting to help them out with a chopper waiting.


The Whacky Duo: We pick up moments where we left off with Sylar and Peter, only now we see Matt was in the kitchen making lunch when Eli and his doubles show up. Matt tries the mind trick but apparently it doesn’t work with the duplicates. They gang up on Matt, threatening to cut him up but then they suddenly disappear as Peter runs to help Matt and Sylar drops an unconscious Eli down. Matt refuses to trust Sylar so Peter uses Matt’s telepathy to read Eli’s mind and know Samuel’s plan to bury Central Park. Sylar remarks that it sounds like something he’d do “back in the day” and Matt snaps “you make it sound like that wasn’t yesterday!” Matt declares he won’t let Sylar go, pushing a thought into his mind. They argue and Matt finally reads Sylar’s mind and realizes the man seems sincere but still has doubts. “I saw your mind, not your heart.” Sylar asks for a chance and Matt agrees, yelling at them to never come back before turning his attentions to Eli.


Saving Charlie: Hiro awakens, telling Ando if they want their old simple lives back, they have to fight for it. A nurse comes in and tells Hiro a woman in a nearby room wants to speak to him, handing him a note with an origami crane in it. Hiro heads to a room and discovers an elderly woman in her ‘80’s who he realizes is the aged Charlie. She reveals how she was dropped in 1944 Milwaukee, getting a job at a munitions factory. She reveals she’s fading form old age and naturally, Hiro has the inclination to go back in time to stop this and save Charlie. Ando tries to talk to him about “you’re doing this for yourself, not her” and Hiro simply replies “absolutely.“ She says it’s tempting but tells Hiro he’s already saved her: Instead of dying young and meaninglessly, she lived a nice full life, happily married with four children and seven grandchildren, one of whom pops in for a visit. Hiro realizes he just can’t rob the world of a wonderful family like this, no matter how he feels. Ando interrupts to tell him about Noah’s call as Hiro looks at Charlie meeting his family and says he has no more quests. But when Ando says Noah’s found Samuel, Hiro gives Charlie a bow, blows her a kiss and answers the call of destiny. He and Ando teleport away as Charlie gives a smile before hugging her visiting family. Awww, so nice to see her have a happy ending.


The Greatest Show on Earth: Samuel is in New York, giving the Carnival a nice pep talk on how “they should aspire to be like us, not the other way around!” and after tonight, the Specials will finally be respected. Edgar watches as Samuel tells Emma of how he needs her to bring the people in. Emma remembers the dream Peter told her about and when she says people will die, Samuel simply shrugs and she realizes Peter was right about him. She tries to leave but Doyle holds her in place (“I always had a thing for blondes.”). We soon see what Peter dreamed of, Emma forced to play her cello to the point of her fingers bleeding, with speakers broadcasting it around Central Park, drawing hundreds of people in. Edgar is suspicious of what Samuel is really up to, noting the news cameras in the crowd as Samuel smiles everything is going to change.

Noah and Claire arrive at the same time as Peter and Sylar, the various Heroes mingling around trying to figure out how to stop Samuel, Sylar telling Peter to trust him to save Emma. Noah is calling Ando when Edgar pulls a knife on him and shoves him aside. Sylar soon finds Emma in the Hall of Mirrors, saying he’s there to save her but Doyle shows up to hold him at bay. Claire rushes in to try and tell the Carnival folk to go but Samuel arrives to stop her, the Carnies not believing her words. Edgar pulls Noah aside and it turns out he’s been onto Samuel the whole time, acting like he’s still part of the family to lure the man in but needs Noah’s plan to stop him. Doyle is threatening Sylar but the distraction is enough to cause Emma to let out a blast of sonic energy that knocks him back. Sylar holds Doyle down as he spits that Sylar is just like him but Sylar replies “No. I’m a hero.” Well, guess we know what the whole “Redemption” title has been about all this time.

Claire confronts Samuel more, telling the Carnies how they make Samuel more powerful and that’s why Joseph kept the family small, to prevent just this and he killed Joseph. Her words seem to sink in with some but when he declares that there’s not one person who believes Claire, Edgar and Noah step up. When Samuel accuses Noah of killing Lydia, Eli (having been “pushed” by Matt) shows up to confess what he did on Samuel’s orders. Claire starts to lead the Carnies away as Samuel snaps at them for their lack of faith and yells they’ll never get far enough. He storms onto the stage, asking if the people want a show and when they cheer, he brings his fists up and the entire Park begins to shake, causing the crowd to panic. Noah and Claire try to lead the Carnies away to weaken Joseph but it’s not far or fast enough. Peter flies in to tackle Joseph, tackling him into the nearby tent. Joseph tries to hurl earth at him but Peter had borrowed his powers during the tackle and fights back. Samuel actually tries to compare Joseph and Nathan, saying Peter’s brother kept him down but Peter fires back “he kept me up.”

A tired Hiro shows up as Claire says he needs to teleport all the Carnies away. Hiro is unsure if he can do this but Ando offers to supercharge him. Noah says he’ll stay as the Carnies join hands with Claire and vanish. As soon as they do, Samuel finds his powers leaving him, Peter smirking “how does it feel to be ordinary?” Peter takes him down with a punch and throws him onto the now-deserted stage, Samuel moaning “you can’t leave me…” and yells “you’re nothing without me!” while it’s clear the reverse is true. Samuel falls to his knees in the deserted carnival as the sounds of sirens echo and Volume Five comes to an end.


Volume Six

Peter and Emma hug and when Emma tells Peter Sylar is with Doyle, Peter fears the worse and races to the Hall of Mirrors. But instead of killing Doyle, Sylar has instead strung him up in lights, smiling at not taking a life. The now powerless Samuel is being carted away by cops as Lauren tells reporters it was just a gas rupture with special effects by the carnival. Claire is annoyed her father is still trying to keep this all quiet, not able to see a world where people like her can be seen. When reporters come to talk to them, Claire looks at Noah and coolly says “people don’t change.” She tells them to keep the cameras on her as she heads to the Ferris Wheel and starts climbing. Noah sighs to Lauren that she’s breaking his heart. Hiro is smiling they can get back to a normal life when he sees Claire. Sylar tells Peter he’s amazed at how good it felt to save Emma without killing Doyle. They see Claire climbing and Sylar smiles “it’s a brave new world.”

Claire steps onto the top of the Ferris Wheel and jumps to the ground. The reporters race toward her as she gets up, snapping her arm into place, the cut on her face healing as she faces the cameras and says “My name is Claire Bennett. This is attempt number…guess I’ve lost count.”

The 411: Once more, the finale could have been better with more time and money but as it was, pretty good. Rather than a knock-down with Samuel, it makes sense to reduce him to the pitiful figure without power and seeing Sylar embrace being a Hero is a nice touch. The Charlie arc was wonderfully done, bringing her story to an emotional close in a good way. Of course, the big moment is the finale with Claire "outing" the Specials to the world which promises some fun next year. While overall rough in places, Season four still showed how the series is better than its many detractors say and can't wait for next year.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]