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The following contains spoilers through the episode “The Fifth Stage,” originally broadcast 11/30/09.
It may be time for fans of ‘Heroes’ to reach the fifth stage of grief themselves, because it’s not very likely that the show will be returning for a fifth season. Then again, at this point, you either really want to be watching the show, or you just plain aren’t, and it’s funny, because even with so few viewers, it still outclasses the number of fans some of the cult classics of recent years have managed to lure throughout their runs. With a show like ‘Heroes,’ they’re vocal when they’re at their biggest, when they’re building the hype, not necessarily when they’re trying to be constant cheerleaders. You might say the best fans aren’t the ones who’ve stopped watching, but rather the ones who still are, who don’t need constant reassurance that they’ve caught on to something. In that way, even as a declining failure, ‘Heroes’ is still a greater success than you might have been led to believe, fully three seasons past its apparent peak. “The Fifth Stage,” meanwhile, continues to prove that it has far from given up the fight.
Part of what led so many people to stop watching is that they got tired of seeing so many of the same elements, from characters they didn’t like to the Tim Sale art to the apparent unwillingness to embrace change. Even creator Tim Kring suggested that it was never his intention to stick with the same things for so long, that he’d always meant to cycle a bit more rapidly. I never quite understood much of that. Far from losing its value, I found that the more ‘Heroes’ explored the same characters, the richer they got, certainly from a viewpoint of not just their future but their past as well. The second season, much as it began the trend of growing bored with the show, was a treasure trove for those interested in elements like Takezo Kensei and the history of the Company, what amounted to the backstory of the series, which the third season further developed while also deepening the present. Then an episode like “The Fifth Stage” comes along, and gives us the final farewell of a beloved character, a moment that would never have been possible, such rich emotional resonance, if only the pleading of the fans had been listened to, even from earlier in the fourth season.
When you think about it, one of the characters whom the show has stuck by, seemingly (by the cynical view) because the actor portraying him suddenly won a role in a much larger project, has never been until now quite what he appeared to be. Sylar was never even the first season’s main antagonist, but rather someone who had, like every other character, been entangled in a twisting web of conjecture and discovery, something the show took great pains to establish. In the second season, again he was tangential, until again he stumbled into the main story, and again in the third season, until he had so irrevocably entwined himself it was impossible to continue ignoring him. The act of killing Nathan Petrelli in “An Invisible Thread” led him into the crosshairs of two main characters, Matt Parkman and Peter Petrelli, and the fourth season has been exploring that consequences ever since.
So when “The Fifth Stage” finally marks a final stage, it no longer matters, because of what’s transpired throughout the season, that Parkman had the chance to end Sylar’s threat in however dramatic fashion a few episodes earlier, but that Sylar had become Nathan, and vice versa, and what that means for the Petrelli brothers, who have basically been the focal points of the series since the very beginning, memories that are touched on during the hour. Nathan actually comes to much the same conclusions that Parkman did, and I expect the same fans who would’ve loved to see Sylar gone years ago would have loved to see it reported that this is his final appearance, but for the storyteller’s version, for the ‘Heroes’ version, that just isn’t the case. Instead, eleven episodes after his death, Nathan Petrelli has his big goodbye, and it cannot be said to be anything but a classic ‘Heroes’ moment, which isn’t bad for a show that was proclaimed dead longer before he was. Like “Cold Snap” last season, when Parkman had to say farewell to Daphne, this is an episode that could be remembered for a single scene.
But this is ‘Heroes,’ so there’s always more going on. This is a mid-season finale (a month hiatus may recharge fans, or at the very least give NBC and the show a final dignified run come January), which means ‘Redemption’ will last the whole season. This is fine, because Peter now gets to concentrate on revenge, and the saga of Samuel Sullivan marches on. “The Fifth Stage” is another meditation on acceptance, because it marks the point Claire finally joins the carnival, by far its biggest acquisition this season (Tracy and Hiro, certainly no slouch himself, have previously signed up). Claire is the hero who has since the start been trying to find acceptance. She wasn’t Peter, thinking he could fly or Hiro, celebrating his mastery of time, or Mohinder, taking on his father research. She was just a cheerleader who couldn’t die, and recorded many an attempt proving it, with resignation. She found out her dad was HRG, the hunter of people like her (oh, and that her other dad, the biological one, was Nathan, who was arguably worse than HRG). In the episode, she’s given the chance to tell a story to a bunch of children, and ends up choosing the chestnut of the first season, and ends it by declaring everyone happily ever after. It’s what the disgruntled fans wanted all along, really, and it’s what Claire has desperately desired, too, but never managed to find. Her family’s broken up and her experiment in normal college life has been one disaster after another.
We know what’s really going on with Samuel and the carnival at this point, and briefly, it’s referenced by Lydia, but by the end of the episode, it feels good that Claire has found a semblance of normal. Much of the episode, in fact, is spent making the carnival sound good, despite what we know. It almost doesn’t matter that Samuel hints he’s after bigger fish than her. We meet a cool new replacement for his main henchman in the process, the kind of presence that might have jazzed the lapsing fans. We also revisit Doyle, the Puppetmaster, an absurdly reassuring presence at this point, for Claire and for the audience, a key figure from the third season, minor but a great source of continuity. The HRG/Lauren arc is touched on as well (Lauren is a CIA agent, but the season does not seem eager to exploit that angle just yet), while the episode also offers our first real glimpse of the carnival as a working carnival (weird, huh?).
There’s glimpses of the other characters and arcs waiting for us next year as well. Like I was saying last review, I don’t know if it’s the lack of a truly mounting story that fumbled viewers the past few seasons, but there’s been one throughout this season, and those who are still watching are being constantly rewarded. It’s still a great time to be a fan of ‘Heroes.’
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:18 pm
I agree that the show has gotten better this year, but the show just can’t get beyond its obsession with Sylar. And that’s the thing about the show that constantly drives people like me crazy.
Because let’s face it – Sylar serves zero purpose on this show outside of being a force of evil. He can no longer find redemption because he’s turned his back on good too many times. He’s not going to be a good guy, and his arc can only end in defeat. People might love to hate him, but most of us just hate him.
And it all went south a couple of years ago when Sylar took Claire’s power. Because at that point, he’s basically power-raping a teenage girl (the way he did it was very sexual) and becoming immortal.
After that, it’s been one fake death after another…and it’s just tiring. Because there’s nothing left for his character to do…he’s terrorized everyone at some point.
And there have been two clear-cut ways to end his arc and save face. If Parkman’s suicide attempt had worked, it would’ve been a way to end both characters appropriately. Parkman could’ve found the strength to accept his hand, and it would’ve left a very powerful Sylar powerless to save himself. It could’ve been a powerful message to the fans that the safety is no longer on.
That way, there could’ve been the same Petrelli drama – particularly when they learned that Sylar was dead and this alternate Gabriel personality still existed. Because Gabriel still has a chance for redemption. It even could’ve been a way to keep Zachary Quinto as a prominent actor on the show.
Then there’s Nathan’s “sacrifice” this week – which I found utterly disappointing. Nathan makes a difficult decision to “kill himself” – but he does so in a selfish way. He could’ve cut himself into a million pieces (so that the “spot” could’ve been severed) or blown himself up or something…so that he’d kill Sylar in the process.
Or heck…hold on to the body long enough to put Sylar under so that they could figure out the best way to kill him.
But, no, Nathan just gives up…stops fighting…and gives Sylar the chance to escape. Seriously? That’s the hero’s good-bye? It would’ve been like Spider-Man letting Uncle Ben’s would-be killer escape by killing himself instead of just stepping out of the way.
I just didn’t like it…just like I haven’t liked a single thing they’ve done with Sylar since season one…outside of the brief Parkman/Sylar interchanges we saw yearlier this year.
And until the show can step out of the Zachary Quinto obsession, it will never progress. And since the show is so focused on that character, that will be the main reason for its death.
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:48 pm
I just have a feeling whether or not this will be the show’s final season, it’ll be Sylar’s finale.
In a way, it was a symbolic gesture on Nathan’s part, at least as far as the writers were concerned, since the whole scene was recalling to mind the first episode where he and Peter were on the rooftop and Peter was convinced he could fly. But it was really Nathan who could. Peter jumping caused Nathan to play his hand. At this point, Nathan made perhaps his final bad judgment, thinking he could end it or at least his own predicament by jumping. I don’t think he was thinking how best to kill Sylar. I think he must have believed that since he was in control, there was a reasonable chance that he might be killing them both. Clearly, Parkman’s attempt(s) didn’t work. (For all we know, it was Sylar keeping Parkman alive after he was shot.) If Nathan had any reasonable expectation to assume he could plan out a better way, then maybe he would have, but clearly it was a constant struggle to keep his own identity in control.
As for the Sylar fixation, he still serves his basic purpose of maintaining an alternate version of what to do with powers. He’s been as much a victim and villain throughout the four seasons. Granted, he’s made a lot of bad decisions (and he wouldn’t be the only one; that’s how the Company was formed, and how most of the Petrellis operated for years, and what HRG did for a living, etc.), and it becomes a little hard to see how he can redeem himself. But as I said, ending the Sylar arc would be a great way to find resolution was never really found starting from the first season finale, which is what the idea of redemption is all about.
I realize that a lot of viewers gave up believing in the creators a long time ago, but it’s still possible that they know what they’re doing.
December 4th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
I’m not saying they don’t know what they’re doing because they’re at least doing a good enough job with the show to keep me watching. By watching Heroes, I’m admitting that, at least, it’s better than all the stuff that I choose not to watch.
The problem is that the show, at least in my opinion, can be so much better. And a lot of the things that they’re doing (or not doing) are easily fixed. It seems like the writers are scared to do anything with any real consequences. In a lot of ways, it acts like a sitcom…where things might happen over the course of an episode…but you know that things will be back to normal by the next episodes.
With Heroes, it seems like the writers have this idea of an equilibrium…and they’re always fighting to get back to that equilibrium after they do anything significant. It’s why HRG wasn’t killed when he was shot, why Tracy was brought in to replace Nikki, why DL was brought back after he was seemingly killed, why Nathan survived the assassination attempt, and why Peter was saved when he was killed.
And the characters don’t grow. When we saw Future Hiro in season one, I was excited about the prospect of growing to that future. But here we are, four years later, and Hiro is still the same guy we saw. Even Ando was surprised this season when Hiro appeared without his sword. Hiro wanted to save the world, but the best he’s done so far is create Dial-A-Hero. And all he did there was save a cat.
And maybe Nathan really is dead this time, but it’s hard to say that with all the times that people have been brought back. There’s no way to know whether or not Nathan has a secret twin or a clone or something like that.
And while the symmetry from season one was a nice moment…I just can’t get passed the fact that Nathan let Sylar escape. And, from the looks of things, he didn’t even try. The scene wouldn’t have been ruined if the brothers were trying to come up with a plan when Sylar took back over and threw himself over the roof to escape. Or, heck, even if they discussed whether or not they thought the fall would kill Sylar.
But they just ignored it, allowing Nathan to (basically) kill himsef and allowing Sylar to escape unscathed.
Which brings me back to my main point. If Nathan is dead and Parkman is gone and the point for the rest of the season will be to kill Sylar…why not let Parkman make his sacrifice in Texas. Then the struggle would’ve been between Nathan and the amnesiac Gabriel…and maybe Nathan surrendering to Gabriel could have more meaning (since he’s surrendering to someone who is seeking redemption…instead of a murdering psychopath).
They could’ve done everything they wanted to do, and it would’ve let us know that they’re ready to do something important.
That’s all I’m looking for.
December 4th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
I don’t agree that the show has been static, rather that it’s been one of the most creative shows I’ve watched in how it handles change. I already tried to counter the whole nobody-dies argument, so I won’t try that again, but the Hiro from the first season wouldn’t really know what to make of the Hiro from the fourth season. Just because he doesn’t carry around a sword and wear a pony tail doesn’t mean there hasn’t been any change. The Future Hiro you reference came from a timeline where Hiro was forced to harden too quickly, so he became basically the opposite of what he was. The Hiro be actually became had the chance to basically retain the personality we know but take things a little more seriously, in any number of ways, and the fact that he ‘doesn’t carry a sword is one of them, because he traveled back in time and found out what Kensei was really like. And that was just the start.
The show never gets credit for what it does because it never goes for the dramatic, permanent change, and it shouldn’t. To tell the best story it can, it should always have stuck with more or less the same characters it started with. To do otherwise would have lessoned the overall impact of the series arc. We don’t have the same twin anymore, but following Tracy has probably been the most rewarding one, because she has more depth, less needless baggage. We have a vastly different Petrelli family, no more actual Company, and Claire has taken some definite steps away from HRG, which is something the classic “Company Man” actually sought to avoid.
There are other ways to view what the show has done than people generally do, but they’re often overlooked, and so the general opinion is, ‘Heroes’ doesn’t fulfill its potential. Yes, you could do a lot more dramatic things with it, but at what cost?
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