Heroes – What a long strange trip it’s been

by Brett Love

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The lyrics of the Dead seem to be the best way describe season three, because … man … that was one circuitous route we just took to get to that finale. After a host of side trips, it all ultimately came down to a showdown with Sylar. Last week, I made the comment that the Heroes writers had decided to put all their eggs in the big finale basket. That wasn’t entirely correct. They decided to put them all in the back end of that big finale basket. The result was an exciting finish to the season that did bring (most) things to a close, and managed to set the stage for the next chapter, but suffered more than a few missteps along the way. In that respect, it was rather fitting as the season three finale.

So, yeah … a little slow getting going, right? Perhaps part of the problem was the expectation that comes with a season finale, but this just didn’t have that feel. For a better representation of what ‘that feel’ is like, please have a look at the first half of last night’s Chuck. Rather than being blown away by what was happening on the screen, I mostly found myself anxiously waiting for something to happen. Almost as if the show was actively working against itself. A great example is the big showdown with Sylar vs Nathan/Peter. What should have been the action highlight of the season ended up taking place off screen. What the hell?

Of course, I’m probably stating that the wrong way. The show can’t work against itself. This all does boil down to the writers. Along with the eggs in the basket, I also mentioned last week the issue of characters making wild changes from episode to episode to fit whatever story that week’s writer is crafting. Apparently, this week, Sylar’s identity crisis just wasn’t working anymore. So, as with so many things before, it was forgotten. He’s back to being evil and cracking wise. “Claire is going to be so mad at me.”

It is, once again, frustrating. There was some really good stuff here. I still really like the shapeshifting game. It makes each cut between scenes its own little mystery, and it played out very well as Sylar made his move to become the President. (Sidebar – How do you cast Michael Dorn and only give him these tiny little scenes? Really, frickin’ Alex got more screen time than Michael Dorn as the President.) I did manage to guess that Peter had taken the shapeshifting power and beaten Sylar to the punch. But I was caught completely off guard by what came next. Angela’s dream did come true, in that screwed-up, that’s-one-f’d-power, Heroes kind of true. I don’t know that I agree with the notion that they need Nathan to make things right, because, ya know, how’s that worked out so far? That being said, I am a big fan of this latest little conspiracy.

Sylar as Nathan holds all kinds of interesting possibilities. We’ll all be on the edge of our seats waiting for signs of him reverting, and for the eventual break. Because, I think we all could have guessed that Parkman’s Jedi mind trick wasn’t going to hold forever, but they went ahead and showed us anyway. And that gives me pause. I would have preferred not seeing it, at least teasing the idea that it might hold. But that cat only stayed in the bag for about two minutes.

Now we have a few months off to ponder how this could all shake down when the show returns in the fall. The ratings woes the show has experienced over the course of the season put it in a somewhat different situation than its peers. One might think that those falling numbers would signal some sort of a change in the offing, but I’m not so sure. As the finale wound down, a couple things stood out to me. First, Nathan’s was the ‘real’ death that had been hinted at for weeks. But then, how ‘real’ is it?

After all the complaints about the fake out deaths, Kring answered by finding a way to kill off a character, but still keep both of his actors, and in a round-a-bout way, both of his characters. And that, obviously, necessitates a mention of the glimpse of the next chapter. Tracy’s also back. It’s almost like he heard the complaints, and chose to stubbornly throw it right back in the face of the viewers. He is the creator of the show, so it’s certainly his choice to make, and trying to write to the fans wishes is an impossible game. But at some point, those numbers have to be taken into account, don’t they? If half the viewers have left, isn’t a change in direction a good idea?

Continuing down this same path would only seem to bring those same results. But it’s too early to start analyzing what will happen with season four. Perhaps the break will give everyone time to refocus and find the direction that will bring the show back to its season one level. If nothing else, the wrap up to season three does leave things open-ended enough to let the show try something new.