Heroes.

[theweaselking]

Specifically, the last episode of Season 1. Yes, I'm a little behind schedule.

What the FUCK was up with that? Were the writers mad that they ran out of hickory-smoked horse buttholes, and needing to take it out ?

So, you have Peter being prophesied to be the only person who can stop Sylar. And yet, he does *nothing* except whine. He doesn't even distract Sylar - Sylar is totally able to handle anyone and everyone else while simultaneously choking Peter and giving a monologue.

So, really, Peter's ONLY PURPOSE is to stand there and get stomped. Wheeee. And then he explodes. So, what you're telling me is that he was totally unnecessary, and that everything would have been better if he hadn't been there at all? Yay. That's TOTALLY good TV, right there.

Oh, hey, Jessinikkica. She resolves her issues, blindsides Sylar, save her family - and then promptly abandons them, when one second more would have left Sylar dead and her family free forever. And, of course, she CHOOSES to walk off, let Sylar go, leave him free to do whatever he wants - which necessarily involves killing her, her husband, and her son.

And then we get to Sylar. Sylar's the monster heel. He's the killer with no face, the man who cannot be stopped. He's the killer who can't be found, who gets stronger with every kill. He takes your powers, your identity, and your soul. He was the first person to talk to Chandra Suresh. He fooled Mohinder and killed right under his nose. He killed Peter Petrelli *twice* when Peter got in his way. He escaped from The Organisation when they had him down, and from Mohinder when *he* had Sylar down, too. He escaped a dozen traps and, barring Hiro's changing of the past, took over the world, became immortal, and, after eating Claire, feared nothing to the point where he went to simultaneously face down *two* Hiros and Peter, all at once.

So why is it that, despite his ability to neutralise Peter at a thought, kill Parkman with his brain, throw Bennet around, and toss Hiro into a panicked transportation back to the 17th century, and beat *the man who can stop time* when surprised, TWICE, he can't manage to think of anything to do when given a good five seconds thinking time *and* forewarning of the exact time and place of the attack?

Bullshit. What a total copout ending. And then, even then *after* they've wasted all their buildup and made Sylar look like a complete loser, they leave him alive? After *both* defining that no two people have the same power, a regenerator, AND a healer?


And, of course, then there's the "power of love" ending. Newsflash: Peter can fly. He doesn't need Nathan. He can go deep into orbit himself, with no help, and so Nathan doesn't need to sacrifice himself. At all. And HE KNOWS THIS.

Gah. The rest of the series was pretty good, but that last episode? Crap. Total crap.

Comments

[eididdy.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[flemco.livejournal.com]

The question I've posed again and again:

What happened to Claire's hymen?

[lurkerwithout.livejournal.com]

You're Harry Knowles?

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I don't think she's had reason to worry about it, yet.

[torrain.livejournal.com]

Why would anything special happen to it?. <-- (helpful link)

[catsidhe.livejournal.com]

Actually, I have seen speculation that the attempted rape scene, way back when she is killed (but gets better) the first time, that her revenge on the rapist jock is that he succeeds in penetration, but then her hymen grows back, severing his penis in the process!!1!

Possibly not on a family network, though...

[bellacrow.livejournal.com]

I basically missed episodes after he saves the Cheerleader, should I try and watch them to catch up or will this do? If this will do where can I find an explanation of Jessnikki?

[itlandm.livejournal.com]

Jessinikki is fairly well explained, but utterly tangential to the plot (such a plot as there is). She and her family seem inserted for political correctness, and she manages to just barely fail at that as well.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Up until the last episode, it's pretty good. Nikki/Jessica is pretty simple: They're independent, in the same body. Jessica is super-strong and psychotic. Nikki is just Nikki. Jessica locks Nikki in a little box, takes over the body, becomes a professional hitman, gets her son kidnapped, and the through The Power Of Wuv Nikki beats he up and takes over the body again, this time permanently, and discovers that she, Nikki, is also super-strong.

And, really, the last episode wrapped up everything it had to wrap up. It just did so in a BAD WAY, that was really far out of keeping with the rest of the series.

[eididdy.livejournal.com]

Excepting the parallels to the Incredible Hulk, it irritated the hell out of me that her "super power" was that she had MPD.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Her super power was super strength.

She *also* had lame-ass overdone hackneyed impossible NEVER HAPPENS IN THE REAL FUCKING WORLD MPD, and because of the rules of Stupid "Dramatic" Insanity, only her evil twin could use the power except when she was really surprised and defending her son.

[eididdy.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know her power wasn't literally MPD, but it only manifested when she was the other personality, hence the reference to the Incredible Hulk. At least in the beginning, in order for her character to be "super" she also had to be crazy. Not that her super strength wasn't a casualty of the finale either. What power was it that Sylar absorbed that allows him to shrug off the blows of someone who can demonstrably bend people in half hitting him with a parking meter?

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Telekinesis?

That's why he was able to pull it loose and grab it in the first place. A telekinetic "oh god make it STOP" could have let him survive the first hit, and she never delivered the second.

Also Sylar is extremely strong, although we're never certain if this is a superpower on its own or if he just uses telekinesis while touching you.

[eididdy.livejournal.com]

Alright, I guess he could have been using that to cushion the blows. First decent theory I've heard even if it does make Sylar's TK even more of an "I win" button than it already is. I just couldn't see how he took (three?) punches from super strength (IIRC they did something that basically screamed "Peter just absorbed her power!") and just kept right on going.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I just saw it a few days ago. I think she only hit him once, and he was looking at her with his arms up when she did.

And Nikki had him down and helpless and had the parking meter reading to crush him, and chose not to. Instead, she dropped it and ran away because DL couldn't wait the three seconds it would have taken for her to finally kill Sylar.

Worst.
Episode.
Ever.

[eididdy.livejournal.com]

I thought that was kind of random too. Then I realized Nikki wasn't over there to help, she was over there as a plot device so they could add her strength to Peter's library. Once that was done, her purpose in even fighting Sylar was over, not that she really had a purpose in fighting Sylar. Her issue was with Alex and the Droogs Linderman, and that problem had already been solved.

[bellacrow.livejournal.com]

weird,so we'll never see Jess again. Ok, hmm, thanks, for the summary! I'm just going to start the new season and not worry about what came before then. my main curiosity was these two.

[itlandm.livejournal.com]

In all fairness to Sylar, he may be far off the deep end but he just recently killed his mom and may have a bit of a subconscious deathwish or at least a need to be punished, which may account for him not taking the necessary measures to avoid the prophecy. Even crazy people have subconsciouses, you know.

Peter just standing there and exploding, however... that was too much. Of course, the point was to redeem Nathan, whom a goodly number of the viewers must have on their to-die list by now. Chances are they both come back in season 2, because, you know, Peter CAN FLY. So at some point out of view he takes off on his own and explodes far enough away from his brother. And with his Clairomancy he can probably regenerate from just his skull if needed, so he'll be back too. With a nasty scar, because you can regenerate missing hearts and lungs and stuff, but not the skin on your face.

In episode 2, Sylar will return, skulking around in the shadows while our heroes fight the Bogeyman who you knows where you are if you think of him. Sylar, now raving mad, will follow as Peter makes his way to the final showdown, and then grab the Ring and fall into the crater accidentally distract the Bogeyman at a critical moment or something.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Sylar was the Boogeyman. The "worse than the Boogeyman" is, I'm fairly certain, the Haitian.

[itlandm.livejournal.com]

Perhaps. He has certainly not been played to his fullest in season 1.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

The thing is, the Haitian is like Peter and Sylar and *unlike* everyone else on the show: he has more than one power. He can steal memories *and* he can make almost everyone else's powers not work.

That's a red flag, to me, that he's much, much more than he seems to be, even if they hadn't shown him playing a much deeper game than everyone else up until that point.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Unless the same ability that lets him mess with access to memories also lets him mess with access to powers, which raises the question of what other functions he can crew with.

[atlasimpure.livejournal.com]

Nah, his power is the ability to interfere with the functioning of other people's brains in a pervasive manner. In theory, all of the powers in the Heroes universe are telekenetic/telepathic. My biggest problem with the Haitian was his total Dues Ex existance, his powers were 100% unstoppable when it was convenient and then mysteriously on the fritz when it wasn't.

[eididdy.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping it's a new character, especially since I pretty much view the Haitian as a plot device and not a character.

[atlasimpure.livejournal.com]

qft

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Oh, and: the version of Peter who has the scar never met Claire. He never went to Texas, he didn't save her, and so he never absorbed her power. He almost certainly got himself wounded and scarred *before* he ever got in arm's reach of Sylar to pick up the Regeneration trick.

And it's interesting to note that, with one exception (Ted and the nukes[1]), Peter only ever absorbs powers that are *IN USE* when he's next to them. He doesn't fall down with his brain exploding when he gets next to Sylar, for example, despite Sylar having the super-hearing-lady's powers. It's possible that Future-Peter got wounded against Sylar, and only picked up Regeneration *after* Future-Hiro stabbed Sylar and Sylar needed to regrow his spleen. Then Future-Hiro is thrown away, Peter explodes, all the witnesses but Sylar are killed, Peter and Sylar regenerate, and everything goes to hell right on schedule.

[1]: And, given that that's Ted and because it's the only exception, one could reasonably assume that Ted's power is constantly on at a very low level, especially when he's nervous - like when he's about to break into The Organisation's headquarters.

[jl-williams.livejournal.com]

He cancered his wife to death, remember.

[ceramufary.livejournal.com]

No scar -- the scar's only 'cause he hadn't met Claire in the alternate future, right? Didn't save the cheerleader. :)

[itlandm.livejournal.com]

He might have picked up the regen power from Sylar. They should have been met each other in the alternate future since Sylar posed as his brother. But yeah, it is possible that people with atomic powers don't get hurt from them. The original atomic man immune to radiation poisoning, unlike those around him, but an explosion is a bit different... or perhaps not?

[jl-williams.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Good premise, decent build, shitty ending.

[torrain.livejournal.com]

Me, I have a pet theory about what really happens. It requires one minor change--specifically, Peter either *cannot* meet Ted, or *must* absorb powers from Sylar.

Once either of these two conditions are met, what you have is Sylar going to Kirby Plaza where he is going to blow up New York on his way to becoming President/God. He and Peter begin the great battle, and it really *is* a great battle. Climax of the series, splash page across the screen, good versus evil--

--and Peter starts absorbing Ted's power from Sylar. Sylar's got astounding control over every power he acquires. Peter does not. And Sylar is beaten down and rather out of it, because good was triumphing and hey DL and Jessica and Matt were there so Peter had the advantage of also being able yo use *their* powers (which Sylar can't do). But Peter is still about to explode and kill New York, because he's not really good at having enough control to *not* use someone's powers when they're around, especially not the first time he meets them.

And Hiro kills Sylar. (That Sylar was badly beaten by Peter is one of the reasons he could actually do this, rather than being flicked across the Plaza like a fly.) And with Sylar dead, Peter stops uncontrollably channelling Ted's power, and the city is saved.

You've got prophecy fulfilled but with a twist, the factually correct statement that Peter is the only one who can stand up to Sylar, a reiteration of the idea that Peter's defining elements are his compassion and empathy rather than his raw power, both Hiro and Peter being critically important, and the presence of everyone there *mattering*.

(By the way? Gabriel Grey is the absolute coolest villain's name on the goddamn planet.)

[torrain.livejournal.com]

(If Peter does meet Ted, due to the fact that Ted's power goes out of control when the power's owner gets emotional, the intensity of beating up Sylar causes him to start turning into the Human Nuke. You could also toss in some emotional involvement--perhaps Nathan's convincing Claire to trust him was immediately followed by him grabbing her and them flying out the window to go find Peter. Whereupon they find Sylar instead and Nathan bravely defends his daughter. He doesn't even have to die doing it, although I'd be hard-pressed to imagine what besides Peter immediately showing up could save him.)

[skington.livejournal.com]

My take on Peter not flying away was that part of a side-effect of not being to control his radioactive power was that he couldn't control any of his other ones either - which is why his brother had to step in.

And the prophecy was "Save the cheerleader, save the world" - Sylar at this point doesn't have super-healing, which probably made a difference earlier on.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

It's not exactly "prophecy" when the guy from the future has mapped out what it will take to make Sylar mortal.

However, it's really important to note that Hiro's prophecy is *wrong*. Future-Hiro stabbed Sylar, but Sylar regenerated and Hiro was forced to teleport away, and then the explosion happened and Hiro thinks Sylar did it. He thus travels back to tell Nathan that keeping Sylar from becoming a regenerator will stop the explosion, when it *never* was Sylar who exploded in the first place. Future-Hiro is wrong.

And, really, regardless of Sylar getting stabbed and healing versus getting stabbed and not healing, Hiro really shouldn't have been able to stab him the way he did, with appearing, screaming, getting a "You?" reaction, and then running right at Sylar from about 5 meters away. Sylar's a telekinetic who is fast enough to stop *bullets in flight* from someone he didn't consciously know was there - he's pulled that trick repeatedly. He can't stop a man with a knife? If Hiro had stopped time, sure, but he *didn't*.

[torrain.livejournal.com]

Hang on, *did* future Hiro stab Sylar?

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Yes. Future Hiro stabbed Sylar, and Sylar lived because he'd killed Claire and could regenerate. Future Hiro tells Present Hiro this, in the future.

Future Hiro ensures that Sylar doesn't kill Claire, and also Sylar doesn't kill Linderman, so Sylar cannot regenerate, is not a healer, and there are no healers living to heal him. This means that, upon being stabbed as Future Hiro wants to stab him, Sylar will die.

Present Hiro then stabs Sylar, just as Future Hiro did. However, the Sylar that Present Hiro stabs is not a regenerator. He thus "dies".

To Future Hiro, Sylar's death means that Sylar will not explode, and so the world will be saved. Future Hiro *does not know* that it was Nathan who exploded. This tells us that Sylar forced Future Hiro to do exactly what Present Hiro did - flee through time before the explosion. Future Hiro's Sylar was alive and well when he made Future Hiro run. Present Hiro's Sylar was dying of a gutshot when he made Present Hiro run - but the principle is the same.

[eididdy.livejournal.com]

Third paragraph: dear god, thank you. I was beginning to think I was the only one who thought that was ridiculous.

BTW, my thread on the finale, which contains a ginormous debate about why Peter couldn't fly while blowing up.

[kafziel.livejournal.com]

About the former ... Peter was channeling Ted's power, and couldn't shut it off. Now, maybe it's just me, but I can't recall a single time in the entire show where he used two powers at once. Switching back and forth in rapid succession, sure - Future Peter throws one Homeland Security guy with telekinesis, then stops time - but never two simultaneously. So I took it as him being unable to fly until he stops going nuclear, which he can't do.

[eididdy.livejournal.com]

He's done it at least twice:

In the episode where the Haitian and Bennett attempt to capture Claude while he and Claude are on the rooftop, he uses telekinesis and invisibility and then (I think) invisibility and flight. If you notice, the Haitian and Bennett leave the goggles on until after Peter and Claude go off the roof, but then have no problem watching them fly off.

In the same episode, he's invisible and throwing paint cans via telekinesis.

Also we have to assume that he can use Claire's regeneration power constantly because she uses it constantly. IIRC, he's yet to be shown using a power in a way that the original user is unable to use it.

[caerlas.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the finale was a big let down. I was waiting for Sylar to send Hiro flying when he charged. The delayed reaction defied reason. I think I can speak for most everyone when I say that I was hoping for a showdown that would actually show what we all imagined was going on behind closed doors in the alternate future when Peter and Sylar fight.

The problem is they gotta be so damn secretive now with plot elements that even the actors aren't allowed to know what's happening from week to week. So how can you plan and choreograph and do post prod for a supercool super-power showdown months in advance when the actor's can't know the outcomes until sometimes less than a month before it airs?

[normanrafferty.livejournal.com]

NBC science fiction tends to suffer from bad fight direction, and for confusing intelligence with incredibly hushed, grave performances.

The joy of science fiction is that it's supposed to stretch your brain, to think about what might be possible. The tragedy of science fiction is that many sci-fi fans are apologists for flaws in a story product. The horror of science fiction is that this gives us shows like Heroes with a hardcore fandom who "turn their brains off" to swallow elephants while gasping at gnats.

I wanted to like Heroes, but it needs a Sam Raimi or Joss Whedon to embrace the low-budget values and to bring out the human element.