Heroes Discussion – “How To Stop An Exploding Man”
The first season ends tonight. It’ll be released on DVD and HD-DVD on August 28.
38 replies on “Heroes Discussion – “How To Stop An Exploding Man””
More character than combat Great way to end the season: this was about the character choices far more than it was about the combat. Also, Adrian Pasdar rocks. Spoiler guard on: I’m betting Candace survived the assault and chose to play possum when she knew she’d lose: had she actually been killed, she’d have reverted to her true form, which she openly says is huge.
Also, Noah? I’ve been betting he’s going to turn into a Professor X type since about the fifth episode, and the associations with that name seem to bear that out.
Finally, between Hiro’s final destination and Molly’s comment about the other, I’m primed and ready for season two.
Re: More character than combat Not since Galactica did an atmo jump have I been so enthralled by my television. They did a nice job of wrapping up the season, putting a few hooks in for the next (not counting "Generations" as a hook, since it is actually V2), and finally bringing together all of the Heroes.
They each made a grand entrance in the last act. I especially liked it when Nikki intervened, but only until Peter gained her power and took back the fight. Hiro succeeded (Yatta!), and Nathan redeemed himself. I hate to see Adrian Pasdar leave the show, but not even Linderman could bring him back after that (though, maybe if they find a Cathy Jean). I expected Peter to fall from the sky. Honestly, the show would be better off without his character (as he’s too powerful), though I really like him.
There were some little things that bugged me. I was troubled by not seeing a fat Candace, so I agree with your assessment. I was glad to see Nikki reconcile with Jessica (or is it the other way around) and keep her power.
I’m not sure why Peter needed Nathan to fly him out of there, other than maybe he was just too distracted. We’ve seen him use multiple powers at the same time before, haven’t we? It seemed a bit contrived for the big finale. But, I guess its better to love a dead Nathan than hate a living one.
Also, I can’t believe Sylar got away. Not only was no one watching the crime scene, but he got stabbed through the heart! He doesn’t have any healing that we know of.
It seemed pretty clear that Sylar knew Peter was to be the bomb. I didn’t really understand why he wanted it to happen, other than maybe him just being completely nutso.
Great work Heroes! It’s going to be a LOOOONG summer.
Re: More character than combat I think the point about peter not flying away was supposed to be, that he was using all his ablity and concentrating on not blowing up – he was afraid that if he tried to use something else the "blowing up power" would simply take over entirely.
Re: More character than combat
Also, I can’t believe Sylar got away. Not only was no one watching the crime scene, but he got stabbed through the heart! He doesn’t have any healing that we know of.
I think the tracks on the ground indicate someone dragged him away, not that he crawled under his own power.
Re: More character than combat
Great way to end the season: this was about the character choices far more than it was about the combat. Also, Adrian Pasdar rocks. Spoiler guard on: I’m betting Candace survived the assault and chose to play possum when she knew she’d lose: had she actually been killed, she’d have reverted to her true form, which she openly says is huge.
Also, Noah? I’ve been betting he’s going to turn into a Professor X type since about the fifth episode, and the associations with that name seem to bear that out.
Finally, between Hiro’s final destination and Molly’s comment about the other, I’m primed and ready for season two.
I’m so excited about next season now. That episode was truly excellent.
Was it just me or was the Kensei played by George Takei? I only got a glimpse of it once, but that would be interesting…
We still have no idea what Peter’s mother’s power is. Also what is the cockroach?
Re: More character than combat
I’m so excited about next season now. That episode was truly excellent.
Was it just me or was the Kensei played by George Takei? I only got a glimpse of it once, but that would be interesting…
We still have no idea what Peter’s mother’s power is. Also what is the cockroach?
Cockroach?
Re: More character than combat
Cockroach?
In the last shot of Volume 1, the camera focuses on the manhole cover into which Sylar has presumably slithered. Sitting on top of it is a cockroach. I think this is just a piece of symbolism, referring back to the first episode where Mohinder describes the cockroach as the perfectly evolved creature. The parallel to Sylar should not be lost.
Rest of this comment spoiler-guarded: So, Hiro has gone to the past, carrying Takezo Kensei’s katana. This could lead to some interesting possibilities. We know from the story told in the previous episode that Kensei begged a dragon to teach him to fight, and made him the greatest swordsman alive. Suppose for a moment that the true history of the man could be that he died because of some action of Hiro’s. As a result, in order to maintain history (as the loss of such an important figure could cause massive timeline damage), Hiro is forced to assume the mantle of the man. Additionally, we were treated to a total solar eclipse, just as in the first episode. There was a strong indication that this event was related. Consider the possibility (in Hollywood-logic) that the total solar eclipse is responsible for their condition. Could this be an indication, then, that Hiro is actually the first to "Ascend", in the present. He is then hurtled into the past and becomes Takezo Kensei, whose feats can now be easily explained by Hiro’s powers, and inadvertently becomes the first of the genetically advanced humans. An interesting thing to note would be that if Kensei’s sword which Hiro takes to the past is the sword that is LATER used by Kensei, then it could explain why the possession of that sword is necessary for his use of his abilities.
Re: More character than combat
Rest of this comment spoiler-guarded: So, Hiro has gone to the past, carrying Takezo Kensei’s katana. This could lead to some interesting possibilities. We know from the story told in the previous episode that Kensei begged a dragon to teach him to fight, and made him the greatest swordsman alive. Suppose for a moment that the true history of the man could be that he died because of some action of Hiro’s. As a result, in order to maintain history (as the loss of such an important figure could cause massive timeline damage), Hiro is forced to assume the mantle of the man. Additionally, we were treated to a total solar eclipse, just as in the first episode. There was a strong indication that this event was related. Consider the possibility (in Hollywood-logic) that the total solar eclipse is responsible for their condition. Could this be an indication, then, that Hiro is actually the first to "Ascend", in the present. He is then hurtled into the past and becomes Takezo Kensei, whose feats can now be easily explained by Hiro’s powers, and inadvertently becomes the first of the genetically advanced humans. An interesting thing to note would be that if Kensei’s sword which Hiro takes to the past is the sword that is LATER used by Kensei, then it could explain why the possession of that sword is necessary for his use of his abilities.
Spoiler tagged for reference to the last episode and some guesses about season 2: Actually, he left Kensei’s sword with Ando, saying that the sword was not important, it’s the man. Basically, Hiro had developed a mental block that wouldn’t allow him to use his powers without the sword, a block which he has since worked past. The sword Hiro used on Sylar was the one Ando originally took from the swordsmith’s shop.
I’m not sure we have seen Peter use two powers at once. He always had to come out of invisibility before using any other powers, a case in point being that he wasn’t able to block Sylar’s glass shards in Mohinder’s apartment.
Did you notice that we didn’t see Peter explode close up? It leaves open the option for next season that Nathan flew him up to a safe height, dropped him, and flew clear. The ads for the finale never said that one of the heroes would die, and given the malicious glee with which the marketers have spoiled that kind of surprise all season I wouldn’t be surpised to find out that everyone survived.
Re: More character than combat
…he wasn’t able to block Sylar’s glass shards in Mohinder’s apartment.
While not totally disagreeing with you, I think this instance was just a very stupid mistake/plot device.
Did you notice that we didn’t see Peter explode close up? It leaves open the option for next season that Nathan flew him up to a safe height, dropped him, and flew clear.
Excellent point. We do know that Nathan can fly very, very fast. Something I forgot to ask above, though, is, wouldn’t there still be massive radioactive aftereffects, like radioactive rain?
As for Hiro in the past and the eclipse, this discussion has led (Babylon 5-biased) me to draw parallels to the Minbari not born of Minbari. Though, I don’t think Hiro will stay in the past, and I don’t think he’s the type to plant his seed before he goes. Then again, there might be a damsel in distress!
The cockroach and the eclipse were great storytelling flourishes on a very outstanding episode and season.
Re: More character than combat
wouldn’t there still be massive radioactive aftereffects, like radioactive rain?
though possible i would think it unlikely for several reasons. spoilerage follows:
rain is caused by particles in the air, namely a cloud that attach to water molecules and at a certain point they become too heavy and fall as rain.
an explosion like what we saw was very high up in the air and at that height the sheer power should literally blow away any particles in the air around it.
lastly, the explosion took place in new york city which is on the very eastern part of the east coast. the prevailing wind travels from west to east on a global scale. an explosion high up in the sky would blow the radiation to the sky above the atlantic ocean. thus most any fallout rain, if there were to be any, would come down over the ocean.
Re: More character than combat
Cockroach?
In the last shot of Volume 1, the camera focuses on the manhole cover into which Sylar has presumably slithered. Sitting on top of it is a cockroach. I think this is just a piece of symbolism, referring back to the first episode where Mohinder describes the cockroach as the perfectly evolved creature. The parallel to Sylar should not be lost.
I must have looked away for a couple of seconds… They definitely left some stuff open and ready for Season 2. Very solid season ending.
Re: More character than combat
So, Hiro has gone to the past, carrying Takezo Kensei’s katana. This could lead to some interesting possibilities. We know from the story told in the previous episode that Kensei begged a dragon to teach him to fight, and made him the greatest swordsman alive. Suppose for a moment that the true history of the man could be that he
Let’s not forget Issac’s painting of Hiro facing off with a T-Rex holding a sword.
I wouldn’t be suprised if Hiro is Kensei and the legend of the Dragon comes from him transporting himself and a bunch of old-tyme peasents *way* back in time.
Re: More character than combat
Let’s not forget Issac’s painting of Hiro facing off with a T-Rex holding a sword.
Let’s also not forgot that we’ve already seen the source of that painting. (He faced off against a stuffed dinosaur in the museum where he stole the fake sword from.)
Re: More character than combat
Cockroach?
Hey!
Maybe THAT’s Mrs Petrelli’s power. She turns into a cockroach. THAT’s how she knows what’s going on everywhere… She’s been a ""fly on the wall"" at every major meeting of heroes.
— Or, am I just going over the edge? Could be either way. :0
Re: More character than combat
Cockroach?
Hey!
Maybe THAT’s Mrs Petrelli’s power. She turns into a cockroach. THAT’s how she knows what’s going on everywhere… She’s been a ""fly on the wall"" at every major meeting of heroes.
— Or, am I just going over the edge? Could be either way. :0
She certainly is a cockroach in one sense of the word. Heck with Linderman and Eric Roberts character "dead", Mrs. Petrelli is the last great cockroach that we know about. Not that they can’t find more if they need them for the story.
I don’t know who the older black gentleman was, or how he could see Peter. I’m not sure exactly why they even included that scene. The only thing that it does is confirms to Peter that his mother is in on the bomb plot. But knowing me, I probably missed something.
Re: More character than combat
I don’t know who the older black gentleman was, or how he could see Peter. I’m not sure exactly why they even included that scene. The only thing that it does is confirms to Peter that his mother is in on the bomb plot. But knowing me, I probably missed something.
That was Simone’s father Charles Devreaux, founder of the Devreaux Society that does something supposedly good. He dies in the first episode.
Re: More character than combat
That was Simone’s father Charles Devreaux, founder of the Devreaux Society that does something supposedly good. He dies in the first episode.
The scene may also do more than that. When training with Claude, Peter learned that he accesses a person’s powers by thinking about how that individual makes him feel. We also know his mother has powers that are, as yet, unrevealed. Finally, we know what he was thinking right before he collapsed: Claire was with his mother. Could he have accidentally triggered his mother’s powers without even knowing what they were? Charles was vague about how this came to be, so it was either Charles or Peter’s mother who was the original source of the ability, since Peter’s only ability seems to be the absorption of other abilities.
Re: More character than combat
That was Simone’s father Charles Devreaux, founder of the Devreaux Society that does something supposedly good. He dies in the first episode.
When training with Claude, Peter learned that he accesses a person’s powers by thinking about how that individual makes him feel. We also know his mother has powers that are, as yet, unrevealed.
No, we don’t know that. Some suspect that. The writers have said "When did we say she had a power?"
Re: More character than combat
No, we don’t know that. Some suspect that. The writers have said "When did we say she had a power?"
Didn’t she say something like, "You’re special, like your father. And like me." to Claire?
Re: More character than combat
I don’t know who the older black gentleman was, or how he could see Peter. I’m not sure exactly why they even included that scene. The only thing that it does is confirms to Peter that his mother is in on the bomb plot. But knowing me, I probably missed something.
He’s the man Peter wastaking care of before his power manifested, and the dead father of Peter’s dead ex. Since he’s in on the whole thing, he must have a power. Like, astral projection or something. Explains how Peter talks to him, and how he knows he’s there.
Re: More character than combat
Cockroach?
In the first episode Mohinder talks about a cockroach. Then there’s a cockroach in Syler’s cell, and later one in Parkman’s cell. And now in the second to last shot of the season into the sewer where Syler’s body was dragged (or Syler dragged himself there?). There may have been more but I missed 3 or 4 early episodes.
This is how a season should end. The recent trend of good solid shows to end with ridiculous cliff hangers every year were blown away by this solid ending.
It wrapped up a long series of story line for the year, while opening entirely new story lines.
I’m so tired of waiting six to eight months for the story line to wrap up only to drag it out somewhere else. Lost, Battlestar, Stargate, many others all do this and it really makes you want to say ‘go fark yerself’ to the show because it takes forever to come back and not watch.
I was ready to bash my TV in if they’d ended with Peter’s hands flashing and him going ‘oh heck now what’ and claire firing the gun or something stupid. Was so happy to see them end it right for once.
Re: This is how a season should end. I felt the same way! I started the episode thinking "If they do some of that Lost-type crap I have to stop watching this." But they came through with flying colors… even giving us the setup for next season. How many other shows do that?
Re: This is how a season should end.
The recent trend of good solid shows to end with ridiculous cliff hangers every year were blown away by this solid ending.
Not a lot I can say that hasn’t already been said. This is about as close to a perfect season ending as I can imagine. The people involved in this show need to give themselves a huge slap on the back, it grabbed me from the first episode to the last and never let me go. I have never felt the sort anticipation for a new episode for any show as I did for this one, which is all the stranger since it ran on MONDAYS. It actually made me hope the weekend would end sooner, which is just insane.
Boo. Marlise and Myself both were disappointed.
Stuff: Shoot Peter! Take his dead body away, lock it in a bunker that can withstand a little nuke, and then pull the bullet out. Let him learn to control it, and then everyone can go live happily ever after. Or let Peter fly away on his own. Or fly him into the sky and drop him. Any of which wouldn’t have been a stretch to think of.
And why isn’t anyone checking if their horribly brain eating killer is really dead?
I was happy with the lead ins for next season, but there was a lot that disappointed me. And I like Peter’s character. You need that one Godlike being, even if he just decides to go off in the woods and meditate, and only pull him out for Dues ex Machina stuff. Though we don’t need his mouth. I don’t know why, but Peter’s mouth doesn’t fully open on the left side, and it’s really unnerving after a while.
Re: Boo.
Stuff: And why isn’t anyone checking if their horribly brain eating killer is really dead?
If I’m right about Peter’s mother’s power being a sort of time travel, then maybe Sylar is dead, and momma’s taking him back to Linderman. Heck, maybe momma’s power is the same as Peter’s, and both she and Peter snatched Hiro’s power, and she used that to bring Sylar back to life herself. She could even be the person Molly was talking about who was worse than the Boogeyman. Here’s an idea: Momma and Peter have the same powers. Charles’ power was to see the reality of any situation, hence his ability to see invisible Peter. Momma has mimicked that power, and uses it to see Molly, but uses some other power to keep Molly from seeing her. Then, her plan doesn’t just involve sacrificing Peter, it involves disposing of the son she can’t manipulate, but who would be able to stop her, so that she can maintain control of the country through the son she can manipulate who would be unable to defeat her. Thus, she can now take on Sylar as a surrogate son. They wouldn’t even need to explain why she didn’t bring Peter back to life when he faced Sylar; she could let Sylar blow up, and eliminate a threat earlier. It could also be her way of testing the limits of Claire’s abilities, especially given their similarity to the abilities of a dead man I suspect to be Claire’s biological grandfather. There are possible explanations for everything at this point. I enjoyed the season more than enough to give them a shot at providing those explanations next year.
Re: Boo.
Stuff: And why isn’t anyone checking if their horribly brain eating killer is really dead?
If I’m right about Peter’s mother’s power being a sort of time travel, then maybe Sylar is dead, and momma’s taking him back to Linderman. Heck, maybe momma’s power is the same as Peter’s, and both she and Peter snatched Hiro’s power, and she used that to bring Sylar back to life herself. She could even be the person Molly was talking about who was worse than the Boogeyman. Here’s an idea: Momma and Peter have the same powers. Charles’ power was to see the reality of any situation, hence his ability to see invisible Peter. Momma has mimicked that power, and uses it to see Molly, but uses some other power to keep Molly from seeing her. Then, her plan doesn’t just involve sacrificing Peter, it involves disposing of the son she can’t manipulate, but who would be able to stop her, so that she can maintain control of the country through the son she can manipulate who would be unable to defeat her. Thus, she can now take on Sylar as a surrogate son. They wouldn’t even need to explain why she didn’t bring Peter back to life when he faced Sylar; she could let Sylar blow up, and eliminate a threat earlier. It could also be her way of testing the limits of Claire’s abilities, especially given their similarity to the abilities of a dead man I suspect to be Claire’s biological grandfather. There are possible explanations for everything at this point. I enjoyed the season more than enough to give them a shot at providing those explanations next year.
As of yet, we have not seen any two people with the same power twice, have we?
I’m going to tune in next year, I think the end of season was complete and okay, just that the characters did some dumb things. I don’t even necessarily think they were out of character.
Re: Boo.
Peter’s mother’s… could even be the person Molly was talking about who was worse than the Boogeyman.
I’m pretty sure Molly said "he".
Here’s an idea… Charles’ power was to see the reality of any situation, hence his ability to see invisible Peter. Momma has mimicked that power, and uses it to see Molly, but uses some other power to keep Molly from seeing her.
Not bad. She would have the Haitian’s power as well (which is whom I first thought Molly meant). But, then Mrs. Petrelli would also have known Peter was there, and thus would have done more between that time and "now" to derail his heroism.
I think I’ve got it.(well Most of it) I think that simone’s father’s power is the same as Peter’s (thus he said ‘I always thought invisibilty would come in handy" or something to that effect. It’s also why he can see Peter. Just as peter could see the invisible man originally. Also the invisible man upon realizing Peter could steal powers said, "oh, another one of those." Peter went back in time with Hiro’s ability because he needed to (ala his regeneration after fighting Sylar the first time)even though he doesn’t quite know that hiro can go back in time.
I believe sylar is not dead, although the lack of his corpse would be a huge oversight. Niether is linderman. There is a connection. If there is a ‘Peter’ you have to have an equally powerful ‘sylar’. There are some plot hitches though: 1. Future hiro said that Sylar didn’t die because he regenerated, but in that reality Claire was still alive so he couldn’t have stolen her power. 2. future peter had a scar. How can he have a scar if he can regenerate? 3. Yes Peter should have been able to fly away or at least teleport himself to the Bikini Atoll or something. 4. How does the mind reader not know Mohinder is hiding behind a hospital bed with a Gun?
However I am sure that Peter’s Mom has Powers. Claire’s parents both had powers, Molly’s parents did, as did Micca’s(sp?).
By the way, any theories as to what Hiro’s father’s powers are? The best one I have heard is "the power to teach people things very rapidly". That power would suck.
All things said and done, a great season finale~! For the reasons already mentioned.
Disappointing Ending I really think that the writers where surprised that the show lasted the season. And was picked up for a second. Because how things played out justed didn’t make sense.
Why didn’t Peter just fly away himself? If Syler wasn’t dead why didn’t he just go NUKE himself? And what kind of lame battle sequence was that? They should have pulled out all of the stops. I wanted to see a every power they each collected represented. It made sense that Sylar would make short work of the others, because this was a battle one Peter was equipped to fight. But they didn’t pay that off. For the most part Peter looked like a punk.
Re: Disappointing Ending
Why didn’t Peter just fly away himself?
I’ve seen it postulated elsewhere that Peter, and Heroes in general, can only use one power at a time. Don’t know if this has ever been stated specifically by anyone involved with the show, but thinking about it, I’m pretty sure we’ve seen Sylar use more than one power at a time (you could say he’s an exception I suppose), but not Peter, so I find this as a pretty decent explanation, if true.
I was also kind of disappointed with how the writers handled Peter at the end. Peter gaining all these powers and becoming uber-powerful, coming to grips with this, overcoming his fears, getting out from his brothers shadow/mothers boot, has to me been one of the more interesting story arcs of this season. This theme held right up to Peter’s last run back to Nathan, where he finally realized what his family was doing. Time travelling back to talk to Devereaux (or whatever that was) seemed to inspire him to act like a Hero, much like Hiro’s own quest.
But while Hiro got his moment in the sun, what does Peter get? His brother has to come in and bail him out yet again? Why, just so Nathan can be redeemed? If you want to redeem Nathan have him fly in and get killed by Sylar, further inspiring Peter. Or better yet, don’t redeem him, keep him "evil", it would have been much more interesting having Evil Nathan the Senator going into next season.
I really thought it was unfair to Peter as a character. Hell even Jessica got to make peace with her other self and help save the day, but Peter’s legacy in Season 1 is still just "I can’t control my powers". You’re right, to me it kind of smacks of the writers not knowing how to end the story well while still moving most of the characters forward going into next season.
Re: Disappointing Ending
I really thought it was unfair to Peter as a character. Hell even Jessica got to make peace with her other self and help save the day, but Peter’s legacy in Season 1 is still just "I can’t control my powers". You’re right, to me it kind of smacks of the writers not knowing how to end the story well while still moving most of the characters forward going into next season.
I read somewhere that the original plan was to feature different characters each season, but that these actors and their characters were so good, that the plan had to change along the way. I think the biggest fault of the season, which is a problem for comic books in general, is that–as I said above–Peter was too powerful. While I don’t think the finale really reeks of haste or poor quality, I can agree that it does cheat Peter of what his character has earned.
Re: Disappointing Ending
I was also kind of disappointed with how the writers handled Peter at the end. Peter gaining all these powers and becoming uber-powerful, coming to grips with this, overcoming his fears, getting out from his brothers shadow/mothers boot, has to me been one of the more interesting story arcs of this season. This theme held right up to Peter’s last run back to Nathan, where he finally realized what his family was doing. Time travelling back to talk to Devereaux (or whatever that was) seemed to inspire him to act like a Hero, much like Hiro’s own quest.
I am just picking your post out to respond to for no good reason.
I just don’t agree with this. Sure Peter has been through a lot but at his core he is still just a kind and gentle person, a guy who wants to take care of older folk on their deathbed. You can’t expect these events to turn him into a uber badass, this would be contrary to his nature.
Could the rest of them taken Sylar if Peter had not been there? I think maybe not, none of them would have had the power to stand up to him long enough to hold his attention and let Hiro get in close and take him out. Sure Peter didn’t go toe to toe with him like we all would have wanted, but he did stay true to the character, which I can respect more. He kept Sylar busy while the other guys did their parts. It was a team effort.
I think it was handled very well.
Re: Disappointing Ending
Could the rest of them taken Sylar if Peter had not been there? I think maybe not, none of them would have had the power to stand up to him long enough to hold his attention and let Hiro get in close and take him out. Sure Peter didn’t go toe to toe with him like we all would have wanted, but he did stay true to the character, which I can respect more. He kept Sylar busy while the other guys did their parts. It was a team effort.
I think it was handled very well.
Most important, it was handled in a way that was consistent with the rest of the series so far. Most of the heroes are still uncomfortable with their abilities which makes the big, direct, power-on-power action less plausible, and in a battle like that Sylar would probably have cleaned their clocks – including Peter, who was still so tentative with his abilities that he couldn’t control what he got from Ted (like Ted, this will probably be corrected with time – maybe time spent in the middle of nowhere like Ted was doing when Hana found him).
Anyway, I thought the episode was great and I’ll be looking forward to the revelations we’ll be getting next season.
Can’t reconcile something In the final show, Peter explodes. However in the recent show where Hiro and Ando go into the future, both Peter and Sylar are still very much alive after the explosion. So who exploded in that alternate universe?
Re: Can’t reconcile something
In the final show, Peter explodes. However in the recent show where Hiro and Ando go into the future, both Peter and Sylar are still very much alive after the explosion. So who exploded in that alternate universe?
Peter said he did, and he survived thanks to Claire’s ability (he saved the cheerleader in that reality, but it wasn’t quite enough by itself to save the world).
Re: Can’t reconcile something
In the final show, Peter explodes. However in the recent show where Hiro and Ando go into the future, both Peter and Sylar are still very much alive after the explosion. So who exploded in that alternate universe?
Peter said he did, and he survived thanks to Claire’s ability (he saved the cheerleader in that reality, but it wasn’t quite enough by itself to save the world).
I thought Hiro said Sylar did, even though he stabbed him he was able to regenerate?
Re: Can’t reconcile something
I thought Hiro said Sylar did, even though he stabbed him he was able to regenerate?
They didn’t have the temporal logic quite worked out. Sylar was alive because he had Claire’s ability after killing her, but Peter really did save her and it was Peter who blew up and survived. Of course, in that reality, Hiro didn’t realize Sylar survived until after the fact, so it could be that the real change was the survival of Linderman, who healed that Sylar to use in place of Nathan. There were enough instances of misinformed characters in that future that we can’t really assume everything Hiro was told was actually true.
More character than combat
Great way to end the season: this was about the character choices far more than it was about the combat. Also, Adrian Pasdar rocks. Spoiler guard on: I’m betting Candace survived the assault and chose to play possum when she knew she’d lose: had she actually been killed, she’d have reverted to her true form, which she openly says is huge.
Also, Noah? I’ve been betting he’s going to turn into a Professor X type since about the fifth episode, and the associations with that name seem to bear that out.
Finally, between Hiro’s final destination and Molly’s comment about the other, I’m primed and ready for season two.
Re: More character than combat
Not since Galactica did an atmo jump have I been so enthralled by my television. They did a nice job of wrapping up the season, putting a few hooks in for the next (not counting "Generations" as a hook, since it is actually V2), and finally bringing together all of the Heroes.
They each made a grand entrance in the last act. I especially liked it when Nikki intervened, but only until Peter gained her power and took back the fight. Hiro succeeded (Yatta!), and Nathan redeemed himself. I hate to see Adrian Pasdar leave the show, but not even Linderman could bring him back after that (though, maybe if they find a Cathy Jean). I expected Peter to fall from the sky. Honestly, the show would be better off without his character (as he’s too powerful), though I really like him.
There were some little things that bugged me. I was troubled by not seeing a fat Candace, so I agree with your assessment. I was glad to see Nikki reconcile with Jessica (or is it the other way around) and keep her power.
I’m not sure why Peter needed Nathan to fly him out of there, other than maybe he was just too distracted. We’ve seen him use multiple powers at the same time before, haven’t we? It seemed a bit contrived for the big finale. But, I guess its better to love a dead Nathan than hate a living one.
Also, I can’t believe Sylar got away. Not only was no one watching the crime scene, but he got stabbed through the heart! He doesn’t have any healing that we know of.
It seemed pretty clear that Sylar knew Peter was to be the bomb. I didn’t really understand why he wanted it to happen, other than maybe him just being completely nutso.
Great work Heroes! It’s going to be a LOOOONG summer.
Re: More character than combat
I think the point about peter not flying away was supposed to be, that he was using all his ablity and concentrating on not blowing up – he was afraid that if he tried to use something else the "blowing up power" would simply take over entirely.
Re: More character than combat
I think the tracks on the ground indicate someone dragged him away, not that he crawled under his own power.
Re: More character than combat
I’m so excited about next season now. That episode was truly excellent.
Was it just me or was the Kensei played by George Takei? I only got a glimpse of it once, but that would be interesting…
We still have no idea what Peter’s mother’s power is. Also what is the cockroach?
Re: More character than combat
Cockroach?
Re: More character than combat
In the last shot of Volume 1, the camera focuses on the manhole cover into which Sylar has presumably slithered. Sitting on top of it is a cockroach. I think this is just a piece of symbolism, referring back to the first episode where Mohinder describes the cockroach as the perfectly evolved creature. The parallel to Sylar should not be lost.
Rest of this comment spoiler-guarded:
So, Hiro has gone to the past, carrying Takezo Kensei’s katana. This could lead to some interesting possibilities. We know from the story told in the previous episode that Kensei begged a dragon to teach him to fight, and made him the greatest swordsman alive. Suppose for a moment that the true history of the man could be that he died because of some action of Hiro’s. As a result, in order to maintain history (as the loss of such an important figure could cause massive timeline damage), Hiro is forced to assume the mantle of the man.
Additionally, we were treated to a total solar eclipse, just as in the first episode. There was a strong indication that this event was related. Consider the possibility (in Hollywood-logic) that the total solar eclipse is responsible for their condition. Could this be an indication, then, that Hiro is actually the first to "Ascend", in the present. He is then hurtled into the past and becomes Takezo Kensei, whose feats can now be easily explained by Hiro’s powers, and inadvertently becomes the first of the genetically advanced humans. An interesting thing to note would be that if Kensei’s sword which Hiro takes to the past is the sword that is LATER used by Kensei, then it could explain why the possession of that sword is necessary for his use of his abilities.
Re: More character than combat
Spoiler tagged for reference to the last episode and some guesses about season 2:
Actually, he left Kensei’s sword with Ando, saying that the sword was not important, it’s the man. Basically, Hiro had developed a mental block that wouldn’t allow him to use his powers without the sword, a block which he has since worked past. The sword Hiro used on Sylar was the one Ando originally took from the swordsmith’s shop.
I’m not sure we have seen Peter use two powers at once. He always had to come out of invisibility before using any other powers, a case in point being that he wasn’t able to block Sylar’s glass shards in Mohinder’s apartment.
Did you notice that we didn’t see Peter explode close up? It leaves open the option for next season that Nathan flew him up to a safe height, dropped him, and flew clear. The ads for the finale never said that one of the heroes would die, and given the malicious glee with which the marketers have spoiled that kind of surprise all season I wouldn’t be surpised to find out that everyone survived.
Re: More character than combat
While not totally disagreeing with you, I think this instance was just a very stupid mistake/plot device.
Excellent point. We do know that Nathan can fly very, very fast. Something I forgot to ask above, though, is, wouldn’t there still be massive radioactive aftereffects, like radioactive rain?
As for Hiro in the past and the eclipse, this discussion has led (Babylon 5-biased) me to draw parallels to the Minbari not born of Minbari. Though, I don’t think Hiro will stay in the past, and I don’t think he’s the type to plant his seed before he goes. Then again, there might be a damsel in distress!
The cockroach and the eclipse were great storytelling flourishes on a very outstanding episode and season.
Re: More character than combat
though possible i would think it unlikely for several reasons. spoilerage follows:
rain is caused by particles in the air, namely a cloud that attach to water molecules and at a certain point they become too heavy and fall as rain.
an explosion like what we saw was very high up in the air and at that height the sheer power should literally blow away any particles in the air around it.
lastly, the explosion took place in new york city which is on the very eastern part of the east coast. the prevailing wind travels from west to east on a global scale. an explosion high up in the sky would blow the radiation to the sky above the atlantic ocean. thus most any fallout rain, if there were to be any, would come down over the ocean.
Re: More character than combat
I must have looked away for a couple of seconds…
They definitely left some stuff open and ready for Season 2. Very solid season ending.
Re: More character than combat
Let’s not forget Issac’s painting of Hiro facing off with a T-Rex holding a sword.
I wouldn’t be suprised if Hiro is Kensei and the legend of the Dragon comes from him transporting himself and a bunch of old-tyme peasents *way* back in time.
Re: More character than combat
Let’s also not forgot that we’ve already seen the source of that painting. (He faced off against a stuffed dinosaur in the museum where he stole the fake sword from.)
Re: More character than combat
Hey!
Maybe THAT’s Mrs Petrelli’s power. She turns into a cockroach. THAT’s how she knows what’s going on everywhere… She’s been a ""fly on the wall"" at every major meeting of heroes.
— Or, am I just going over the edge? Could be either way. :0
Re: More character than combat
She certainly is a cockroach in one sense of the word. Heck with Linderman and Eric Roberts character "dead", Mrs. Petrelli is the last great cockroach that we know about. Not that they can’t find more if they need them for the story.
I don’t know who the older black gentleman was, or how he could see Peter. I’m not sure exactly why they even included that scene. The only thing that it does is confirms to Peter that his mother is in on the bomb plot. But knowing me, I probably missed something.
Re: More character than combat
That was Simone’s father Charles Devreaux, founder of the Devreaux Society that does something supposedly good. He dies in the first episode.
Re: More character than combat
The scene may also do more than that. When training with Claude, Peter learned that he accesses a person’s powers by thinking about how that individual makes him feel. We also know his mother has powers that are, as yet, unrevealed. Finally, we know what he was thinking right before he collapsed: Claire was with his mother. Could he have accidentally triggered his mother’s powers without even knowing what they were? Charles was vague about how this came to be, so it was either Charles or Peter’s mother who was the original source of the ability, since Peter’s only ability seems to be the absorption of other abilities.
Re: More character than combat
No, we don’t know that. Some suspect that. The writers have said "When did we say she had a power?"
Re: More character than combat
Didn’t she say something like, "You’re special, like your father. And like me." to Claire?
Re: More character than combat
He’s the man Peter was taking care of before his power manifested, and the dead father of Peter’s dead ex. Since he’s in on the whole thing, he must have a power. Like, astral projection or something. Explains how Peter talks to him, and how he knows he’s there.
Re: More character than combat
In the first episode Mohinder talks about a cockroach. Then there’s a cockroach in Syler’s cell, and later one in Parkman’s cell. And now in the second to last shot of the season into the sewer where Syler’s body was dragged (or Syler dragged himself there?). There may have been more but I missed 3 or 4 early episodes.
In all cases the camera focused on it.
http://heroeswiki.com/Cockroach
This is how a season should end.
The recent trend of good solid shows to end with ridiculous cliff hangers every year were blown away by this solid ending.
It wrapped up a long series of story line for the year, while opening entirely new story lines.
I’m so tired of waiting six to eight months for the story line to wrap up only to drag it out somewhere else. Lost, Battlestar, Stargate, many others all do this and it really makes you want to say ‘go fark yerself’ to the show because it takes forever to come back and not watch.
I was ready to bash my TV in if they’d ended with Peter’s hands flashing and him going ‘oh heck now what’ and claire firing the gun or something stupid. Was so happy to see them end it right for once.
Re: This is how a season should end.
I felt the same way! I started the episode thinking "If they do some of that Lost-type crap I have to stop watching this." But they came through with flying colors… even giving us the setup for next season. How many other shows do that?
Re: This is how a season should end.
Not a lot I can say that hasn’t already been said. This is about as close to a perfect season ending as I can imagine. The people involved in this show need to give themselves a huge slap on the back, it grabbed me from the first episode to the last and never let me go. I have never felt the sort anticipation for a new episode for any show as I did for this one, which is all the stranger since it ran on MONDAYS. It actually made me hope the weekend would end sooner, which is just insane.
Boo.
Marlise and Myself both were disappointed.
Stuff: Shoot Peter! Take his dead body away, lock it in a bunker that can withstand a little nuke, and then pull the bullet out. Let him learn to control it, and then everyone can go live happily ever after. Or let Peter fly away on his own. Or fly him into the sky and drop him. Any of which wouldn’t have been a stretch to think of.
And why isn’t anyone checking if their horribly brain eating killer is really dead?
I was happy with the lead ins for next season, but there was a lot that disappointed me. And I like Peter’s character. You need that one Godlike being, even if he just decides to go off in the woods and meditate, and only pull him out for Dues ex Machina stuff. Though we don’t need his mouth. I don’t know why, but Peter’s mouth doesn’t fully open on the left side, and it’s really unnerving after a while.
Re: Boo.
If I’m right about Peter’s mother’s power being a sort of time travel, then maybe Sylar is dead, and momma’s taking him back to Linderman. Heck, maybe momma’s power is the same as Peter’s, and both she and Peter snatched Hiro’s power, and she used that to bring Sylar back to life herself. She could even be the person Molly was talking about who was worse than the Boogeyman. Here’s an idea: Momma and Peter have the same powers. Charles’ power was to see the reality of any situation, hence his ability to see invisible Peter. Momma has mimicked that power, and uses it to see Molly, but uses some other power to keep Molly from seeing her. Then, her plan doesn’t just involve sacrificing Peter, it involves disposing of the son she can’t manipulate, but who would be able to stop her, so that she can maintain control of the country through the son she can manipulate who would be unable to defeat her. Thus, she can now take on Sylar as a surrogate son. They wouldn’t even need to explain why she didn’t bring Peter back to life when he faced Sylar; she could let Sylar blow up, and eliminate a threat earlier. It could also be her way of testing the limits of Claire’s abilities, especially given their similarity to the abilities of a dead man I suspect to be Claire’s biological grandfather. There are possible explanations for everything at this point. I enjoyed the season more than enough to give them a shot at providing those explanations next year.
Re: Boo.
As of yet, we have not seen any two people with the same power twice, have we?
I’m going to tune in next year, I think the end of season was complete and okay, just that the characters did some dumb things. I don’t even necessarily think they were out of character.
Re: Boo.
I’m pretty sure Molly said "he".
Not bad. She would have the Haitian’s power as well (which is whom I first thought Molly meant). But, then Mrs. Petrelli would also have known Peter was there, and thus would have done more between that time and "now" to derail his heroism.
I think I’ve got it.(well Most of it)
I think that simone’s father’s power is the same as Peter’s (thus he said ‘I always thought invisibilty would come in handy" or something to that effect. It’s also why he can see Peter. Just as peter could see the invisible man originally. Also the invisible man upon realizing Peter could steal powers said, "oh, another one of those." Peter went back in time with Hiro’s ability because he needed to (ala his regeneration after fighting Sylar the first time)even though he doesn’t quite know that hiro can go back in time.
I believe sylar is not dead, although the lack of his corpse would be a huge oversight. Niether is linderman. There is a connection. If there is a ‘Peter’ you have to have an equally powerful ‘sylar’. There are some plot hitches though:
1. Future hiro said that Sylar didn’t die because he regenerated, but in that reality Claire was still alive so he couldn’t have stolen her power.
2. future peter had a scar. How can he have a scar if he can regenerate?
3. Yes Peter should have been able to fly away or at least teleport himself to the Bikini Atoll or something.
4. How does the mind reader not know Mohinder is hiding behind a hospital bed with a Gun?
However I am sure that Peter’s Mom has Powers. Claire’s parents both had powers, Molly’s parents did, as did Micca’s(sp?).
By the way, any theories as to what Hiro’s father’s powers are? The best one I have heard is "the power to teach people things very rapidly". That power would suck.
All things said and done, a great season finale~! For the reasons already mentioned.
Disappointing Ending
I really think that the writers where surprised that the show lasted the season. And was picked up for a second. Because how things played out justed didn’t make sense.
Why didn’t Peter just fly away himself? If Syler wasn’t dead why didn’t he just go NUKE himself? And what kind of lame battle sequence was that? They should have pulled out all of the stops. I wanted to see a every power they each collected represented. It made sense that Sylar would make short work of the others, because this was a battle one Peter was equipped to fight. But they didn’t pay that off. For the most part Peter looked like a punk.
Re: Disappointing Ending
I’ve seen it postulated elsewhere that Peter, and Heroes in general, can only use one power at a time. Don’t know if this has ever been stated specifically by anyone involved with the show, but thinking about it, I’m pretty sure we’ve seen Sylar use more than one power at a time (you could say he’s an exception I suppose), but not Peter, so I find this as a pretty decent explanation, if true.
I was also kind of disappointed with how the writers handled Peter at the end. Peter gaining all these powers and becoming uber-powerful, coming to grips with this, overcoming his fears, getting out from his brothers shadow/mothers boot, has to me been one of the more interesting story arcs of this season. This theme held right up to Peter’s last run back to Nathan, where he finally realized what his family was doing. Time travelling back to talk to Devereaux (or whatever that was) seemed to inspire him to act like a Hero, much like Hiro’s own quest.
But while Hiro got his moment in the sun, what does Peter get? His brother has to come in and bail him out yet again? Why, just so Nathan can be redeemed? If you want to redeem Nathan have him fly in and get killed by Sylar, further inspiring Peter. Or better yet, don’t redeem him, keep him "evil", it would have been much more interesting having Evil Nathan the Senator going into next season.
I really thought it was unfair to Peter as a character. Hell even Jessica got to make peace with her other self and help save the day, but Peter’s legacy in Season 1 is still just "I can’t control my powers". You’re right, to me it kind of smacks of the writers not knowing how to end the story well while still moving most of the characters forward going into next season.
Re: Disappointing Ending
I read somewhere that the original plan was to feature different characters each season, but that these actors and their characters were so good, that the plan had to change along the way. I think the biggest fault of the season, which is a problem for comic books in general, is that–as I said above–Peter was too powerful. While I don’t think the finale really reeks of haste or poor quality, I can agree that it does cheat Peter of what his character has earned.
Re: Disappointing Ending
I am just picking your post out to respond to for no good reason.
I just don’t agree with this. Sure Peter has been through a lot but at his core he is still just a kind and gentle person, a guy who wants to take care of older folk on their deathbed. You can’t expect these events to turn him into a uber badass, this would be contrary to his nature.
Could the rest of them taken Sylar if Peter had not been there? I think maybe not, none of them would have had the power to stand up to him long enough to hold his attention and let Hiro get in close and take him out. Sure Peter didn’t go toe to toe with him like we all would have wanted, but he did stay true to the character, which I can respect more. He kept Sylar busy while the other guys did their parts. It was a team effort.
I think it was handled very well.
Re: Disappointing Ending
Most important, it was handled in a way that was consistent with the rest of the series so far. Most of the heroes are still uncomfortable with their abilities which makes the big, direct, power-on-power action less plausible, and in a battle like that Sylar would probably have cleaned their clocks – including Peter, who was still so tentative with his abilities that he couldn’t control what he got from Ted (like Ted, this will probably be corrected with time – maybe time spent in the middle of nowhere like Ted was doing when Hana found him).
Anyway, I thought the episode was great and I’ll be looking forward to the revelations we’ll be getting next season.
Can’t reconcile something
In the final show, Peter explodes.
However in the recent show where Hiro and Ando go into the future, both Peter and Sylar are still very much alive after the explosion. So who exploded in that alternate universe?
Re: Can’t reconcile something
Peter said he did, and he survived thanks to Claire’s ability (he saved the cheerleader in that reality, but it wasn’t quite enough by itself to save the world).
Re: Can’t reconcile something
I thought Hiro said Sylar did, even though he stabbed him he was able to regenerate?
Re: Can’t reconcile something
They didn’t have the temporal logic quite worked out. Sylar was alive because he had Claire’s ability after killing her, but Peter really did save her and it was Peter who blew up and survived. Of course, in that reality, Hiro didn’t realize Sylar survived until after the fact, so it could be that the real change was the survival of Linderman, who healed that Sylar to use in place of Nathan. There were enough instances of misinformed characters in that future that we can’t really assume everything Hiro was told was actually true.