Lower Decks

The following contains spoilers through the episode “Shadowboxing,” originally broadcast 11/9/09.

I’ve been saying this since I started finally reviewing ‘Heroes’ a mere three episodes ago, during a season that seems like it’s going to be the show’s final year, but I think things are really getting good. The creators will tell you that they started working on winning back the hearts of their fans last season, specifically during the “Fugitives” second half arc, but it’s been evident that they really started pushing the effort with the new season, with new characters, less cluttered storytelling, and more individual arcs for characters that were introduced in the first season, which has been referenced numerous times over the last eight episodes, from subtle references to revisiting a character more directly last episode. Some of this might be seen by regular viewers as an extension of the work the show has done from the start, and perhaps it might best be appreciated by them. No matter what it did, there’s little chance the show might have enjoyed a similar level of renewed enthusiasm that ‘Lost’ did when it made a similar effort at the same stage. Much has been made since ‘Lost’ premiered about the merits of a serialized drama’s chances for popular success, where more answers sooner are appreciated more than a long-term impact waiting to be unraveled (with ‘Lost’ the exception that proves the rule; even ‘Babylon Five,’ the series that arguably began the phenomenon, couldn’t sustain interest past the fourth year of a five-year run). ‘Flashforward,’ for example, a show that seems destined to run for a single season, has lately been on a roll, developing to a remarkable degree its intricate plot, and the critics, dutifully, have noticed. ‘Heroes’ got that kind of buzz first, but once it started spreading a story into multiple seasons and further complications, it lost that kind of support overnight. “Shadowboxing” is an episode that rewards those who continue to stick around.

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The following contains spoilers through “Once Upon a Time in Texas,” originally broadcast 11/2/09.

If there’s a classic element to ‘Heroes’ that the show should never abandon, it’s the episode that flashes back to the relatively recent past (think “Six Months Ago” from the first season, “Four Months Ago” from the second, and “Villains” from the third), a side trip that advances the present by illuminating what’s come before. Like “Six Months Ago,” “Once Upon a Time in Texas” is possible because Hiro literally time-travels (which he often does, and why another tradition, one fans have complained about, is visiting the future), to reunite with a character that was only seen a few times, but remains an individual for whom Hiro holds great affection, Charlie Andrews, waitress at the Burnt Toast Diner.

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The following contains spoilers through “Strange Attractors,” originally broadcast 10/26/09.

The fourth season of ‘Heroes’ is called Redemption, and although you wouldn’t know it by the ratings, the title is supposed to reflect both the arc for the characters and a new path to reconciliation with the fans. You might remember that a similar tack was followed at the beginning of last season, which is story enough to explain the lack of tangible viewership, which in all likelihood means, despite every effort, this will probably be the final season of the series. As one of the remaining and actually enthusiastic fans, I find myself pretty well at peace with this notion. Four seasons is pretty good, especially for a niche show (who knows what even ‘Lost’ would have ended up with had its own creators not announced at the end of an unpopular third season that it had the rest of the story plotted out; the days of this particular brand of fan getting much more, like what used to be routine seven seasons of a Star Trek, much less nine for ‘X-Files,’ are probably long in the past). Regardless of the reaction, however, ‘Heroes’ is still going strong, if playing that get-the-fans-back card pretty strongly.

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The third season finale of NBC’s Heroes just ended on the East Coast. It included a pretty shocking turn of events, one that’s sure to incite a lot of bitter debate among fans during the summer hiatus. There’s no word yet on when Season Four will premiere (NBC has yet to “officially” renew the series for a fourth season but that seems to be just a technicality at this point) so that hiatus might extend into the fall.

Hit the comments with your thoughts on “An Invisible Thread.” Was it a jump the shark moment for Heroes? Are you excited for Volume Five: Redemption? Be wary of spoilers if you haven’t seen the episode.