Lower Decks

The following contains spoilers through the episode “Close to You,” originally broadcast 1/11/10.

NBC was up to some schedule maneuvering this week, and the topic of ‘Heroes’ came up. Everyone’s sort of been expecting that the series is going to be cancelled pretty soon, but at least for the moment, the network is still standing by it. Maybe, like someone suggested, it’s only to maintain the small audience that’s still hanging in there, or maybe NBC still sees real worth and/or potent ional in it. It was only last season the “Villains” arc prompted a significant promotion from the network, and “Redemption” may still prove, in some way, to serve as the storyline that gets everything back to where the fans are happy. There’s a chance the fans might come around again. This was a night that saw the arc progress back in a forward direction, after the mini-climax several episodes ago when the Sylar/Nathan situation was finally resolved.

Several times since, the writers have had characters state how big a mistake that was, and it might be that they are also acknowledging that they’ve been doing some unpopular things (you’d be hard-pressed to hear me say that they’ve made mistakes, because I still believe that ‘Heroes’ is one of the great TV shows, which I might reiterate is not the way I first thought when I first started watching at the start of the first season). This time, it comes from an exchange between HRG and the returning Matt Parkman, whom we haven’t seen since “Brother’s Keeper.” Some of those still watching wondered why he didn’t die an episode earlier, “Shadowboxing,” when he seemingly sacrificed himself in a hail of bullets that might have taken care of Sylar as well. I tried arguing that it would have been unsatisfactory for both the characters and the theme of the season, leaving too many unresolved (if, admittedly, “realistically abrupt”) issues , but you can always count on the same reaction from a dubious audience. This week, however, Parkman finds himself once again being drawn into a story bigger than himself, perhaps for the first time truly relishing the unexpected possibilities of his powers, being just a little curious about where they might take him.

It’s interesting to be back to that point, which really hasn’t been an aspect of the show since the first season. The alienating second season featured some new characters who were either afraid or not all that interested in the possibilities of their powers, and the third season was all about being on the run because of them. There just hasn’t been a lot of breathing room, or much in the way of a positive view of what the series is all about. What’s funny about “Close to You” is that it studies through a variety of the characters the potential of the powers to be useful again. Ando, for instance, helps break Hiro and Mohinder out of an institute and away from pursuing hunters by employing his seldom-explored super-charger ability (the red sparks, in other words). Hiro gets his mind and his time-traveling ability back, but apparently he’s still dying. So that kind of sucks.

But Peter gets to help the viewer understand how Emma is important, right before he smashes the cello Samuel gave her for his own ends (originally intended for the lost love, Vanessa, who becomes an integral part of the season after this episode), that would have turned her into an unsuspecting siren (even though she quite intentionally draws Peter in for a visit with it). He steals his own mother’s precognitive ability during “Close to You” to help see the future (a possible one, anyway), for all the good it’ll do him. It’s always the unexpected that gets in the way on this show, unexpected but always woven firmly into the story. Sylar’s about to become Nathan? He spent the previous episodes getting lost in his new shape-shifting powers. There’s always something going on; it’s only a matter of paying attention and figuring out what it is. A lot of what ‘Heroes’ does is obvious, but it’s the way that the show consistently works the unexpected that keeps it interesting. My favorite moment of the first season was how Nathan apparently sacrificed himself to save the day in “How To Stop an Exploding Man.”

There’s always more, always something else to learn, and that’s why it’s been worth it to keep the same core characters around, because there’s plenty to do with them, and all the greater worth to finish their stories rather than keeping the series around with new characters who will simply repeat what we’ve already seen. Wasn’t that the big complaint about some of the later Star Treks? It’s so hard to keep up with the cynicism of some fans…