By John Keegan
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Barring any swift resolution to the writers’ strike, this will be the second season finale for “Heroes”, as well as the conclusion to the “Generations” arc. Several plot threads come to fruition, and the threat of the Shanti virus is addressed once and for all. In typical “Heroes” fashion, some of the conclusions may turn out to be little more than a tentative pause, but this was about as good an ending as the writers were going to produce this season.
The Shanti virus arc came together rather well, especially the eventual fight between the gathered heroes (Hiro, Matt, and Nathan) and Peter. The writers gave themselves a bit of a challenge when it comes to Peter; without Sylar to balance him out, he’s far too powerful. Right now, he’s Superman without the kryptonite, which is a logistical storytelling nightmare. Despite that fact, the battle below Primatech was actually more effective than the battle in Kirby Plaza.
The writers managed to use Peter effectively in the end, recalling that the best way to wipe out a deadly virus is to irradiate it to oblivion. It would have been nice for someone to hold Peter responsible for his part in the overall body count at Primatech, since he wasn’t exactly calling for restraint, but this reminded me of every comic book example of a hero being manipulated into villainy. Once the jig is up, the hero slides back into his role with minimal self-reflection. A couple of scenes in the third volume will probably be the extent of his guilt.
The Shanti virus plot thread also pertained to Sylar and his eventual restoration, which was about as shocking as a sunrise. As it turns out, Sylar had been infected with the virus to inactivate his abilities. Granted, he never seemed to be sick, but this is as good an explanation as any. The end result, of course, is that Sylar gets the injection of Mohinder antibodies and Claire regeneration. If Sylar gets to keep Claire’s ability as well, that’s one step closer to matching Peter’s power variety pack.
One cannot speak of Sylar without bringing up Maya, Mohinder, and Molly. Maya continues to be annoying and (thus far) without much purpose, other than to get Sylar from point A to point B. Hopefully she’ll bring something interesting to the table for the third volume. Molly was remarkably resilient under the circumstances. The best material, however, came out of the interplay between Sylar and Mohinder. Trust issues, indeed! It’s always nice to see Mohinder demonstrate some of that supposed brilliance.
It should be interesting to see where Elle goes from here, after her decision to go after Sylar. The writers are slowly but surely making her interesting, as she struggles between the programmed devotion to her father and the Company and her emerging sense of self-determination. It might be tempting to assume that a taste of freedom will bring Elle into the light, but there’s really no way to tell. Elle tends to act on emotional impulse, and if her emotions turn to anger, rage, and hate, that could be a very bad thing.
For now, those emotions have been tempered within Claire, but that may be a short-term situation. Mr. Bennett may have ordered his family to find a way to live on in peace without him, but the entire second volume has demonstrated Claire’s inability to follow rational orders. Considering what happens to her biological father in the end, she could decide to expose the Company more carefully. It would be a shame if Claire’s sense of purpose came to an abrupt end.
One thing is certainly clear: her relationship with West is over. This should have happened a lot sooner. In his apparent final appearance, West displays an incredibly horrible brand of selfishness. After all, he was more than willing to push Claire into taking chances that exposed her in the worst possible way. His urging led to the ruination of her entire life. But when the situation is reversed, and Claire is ready to expose his ability to the world, West is terrified at the notion. In short, West is exactly the kind of overbearing scum that he’s always appeared to be.
Equally disappointing is the treatment of Monica’s character. A character with her ability should be far more capable than the damsel in distress shown in this episode. Considering that her capture was handled by a terrible plot contrivance, her role as victim is doubly annoying. On the other hand, this leads to Niki’s apparent demise. Her entire plot thread of late has been a textbook example of tragic inevitability. Niki has always been one of the weak links for the series, thanks to squandered potential, and while her demise is unfortunate, the only real effect will be on Micah.
In a completely different way, Adam’s defeat has some troubling aspects. While it’s good to see Hiro using his ability with more creativity, I’m not sure how he was supposed to leave Adam in a casket in the same burial ground as his father. If Hiro had DL’s ability, perhaps it would work, but that’s not the case. The end result is quite clever, since Adam will eventually run out of air, but it leaves open the possibility of Adam’s return and seems to violate the scope of Hiro’s ability.
That brings me to the final “death” of the finale: Nathan’s assassination. Again, there are certain logical problems with the scenario. For one thing, while Matt may not have the experience to consider all the security angles, it’s hard to imagine that Nathan, Peter, and Matt would all assume that the Company would fail to move against them. Why wouldn’t Matt be scanning the crowd for signs of trouble? For that matter, Peter is powerful enough to jump back a few moments in time, grab the assassin, and save his brother without missing a beat.
The point is that the Company and its remaining allies (including Angela Petrelli, who was previously established as highly concerned with exposure) needed to make a statement to reassert their place in the scheme of things, and the writers (at least so far) chose to make sure that statement happened, even if it doesn’t quite make sense. Could Peter ultimately save Nathan in the beginning of the third volume? Of course. But if that were to happen, “Heroes” would gain the reputation for using apparent death for shock value. After Mr. Bennett and Maya, Nathan needs to stay dead to preserve any tension in the future.
So, as with much of the “Generations” arc, the finale is a mixture of good and bad, never quite managing to bring the story to a strong enough resolution. This is better than the first season finale, which seemed to miss the mark on nearly every level, but the writers will need to take a serious look at how they plan to close out the third volume.
