Lower Decks

Heroes
“An Invisible Thread
Originally Broadcast April 27th, 2009

So this was the Season Three finale, eh? It was also the end of Volume Four: Fugitives. I’m convinced that most viewers, after watching “An Invisible Thread,” were left with many of the same questions I was. These questions were many and varied. Chief among them: What were the writers thinking? This is what Heroes has become? Are Nathan and Peter the stupidest people on Earth? I could go on.

I’ll be honest. The episode wasn’t all bad. When Peter (as the President) stabbed Sylar (as Nathan) in the neck with the syringe, I felt a surge of adrenaline. And during the brief preview for Volume Five: Redemption, I’ll admit to appreciating the watery, invisible curves of Ali Larter’s bare behind. Other than those fleeting moments, though, my reaction to “An Invisible Thread” was primarily frustration and disbelief.

First things first: after Noah revealed that Sylar could shape shift, why didn’t Nathan, Peter, Claire and Angela come up with some sort of code phrase so they could identify one another? That would have made things so much easier. Rather than simply accepting — apparently on faith — that Nathan was really Nathan, Claire could have uttered the phrase “Are your ducks all in a row?” and when Sylar (as Nathan) didn’t respond with the corresponding phrase “Quack, quack!” she would have known it was Sylar.

Instead, everyone just ran around wondering if they were talking to the real Nathan or Peter or Claire and not Sylar. They had no way of knowing that Sylar could absorb memories, and therefore learn the code phrases, so that’s not an excuse. They were just stupid. Equally stupid was Peter and Nathan’s plan to take down Sylar by flying at him really fast. That’ll work well. Oh, wait.

Nathan deserved to get his throat slit after that.

He didn’t deserve to be resurrected as Sylar-turned-Nathan. Of all that questionable things that have happened on Heroes thus far, this is easily the most questionable. I have been calling for the death of either Nathan or Peter Petrelli for a long time. I didn’t actually think one of them would be killed in the season finale. Part of me actually thought Nathan was going to stay dead. Silly me.

Angela wanting to bring back her son makes sense. It does. Sort of. But Noah? And Matt agreeing to use his ability to facilitate the resurrection was completely out of character. Not that Matt’s character has made all that much sense this season (or in past seasons). But that’s another complaint. So Nathan is alive and well. Or not. He’s already displaying some of Sylar’s habits. He’s interested in clocks, for starters.

It seems obvious that Nathan is going to struggle with Sylar’s cravings and urges during Season Four/Volume Five. Where that leaves Zachary Quinto is the big unknown. It is so frustrating to have Sylar almost but not quite killed off. Will Nathan start seeing Sylar in the mirror? Is that how Zachary Quinto is going to keep earning his paycheck? Because we know NBC and/or the producers of Heroes aren’t going to let him go.

I don’t have much else to say about “An Invisible Thread.” We have an entire summer to get process it before Season Four premieres. Or, if NBC holds the show until mid-season, an entire summer, fall and part of winter. Yay.