It's official,folks;NBC has pulled the plug on Heroes,making this last season truly the last. There is some talk of a movie to be made that would tie up the looser ends of the series but the ifs and whens of that is still up in the air.
While this series wasn't able to keep up the buzz generating by it's first season,there remained plenty of compelling characters and interesting plot lines to hold the interest of those who stayed tuned to the show.
Part of the reason for Heroes' second season stumble may have been the network's last minute yanking of a spin-off Heroes miniseries that planned to go into the origins of older characters and the creation of the secret watchdog group at Primatech Paper. That set of episodes was meant to crossover into the mainframe of the second season but without it,the writers had to do a hasty retreat,leaving some story lines angles not fully developed.
From that point on,other flaws cropped up such as characters who either annoyed audiences or seemed to go nowhere fast,subplots that veneered away from full connection to the central theme of the season and imaginative ideas that didn't come to full fruition. "Why did you keep watching Heroes then,Lady T?" Well,my answer is this:hope.
That and many of the characters,who I bonded with and wanted to find out what their ultimate destiny would be. While there were some folks that I wasn't sorry to see take their final bow(Nathan Petrelli really wore out his welcome),at least four of the regular players were the ones that made me look forward to Monday nights. As a farewell salute to the show,here are a handful of fan tributes to the fantastic four of Heroes:
PETER PETRELLI: Most people can easily identify with being the younger sibling of a more financially successful brother or sister and having your elders pit you both against each other for love and approval.
Not everyone also had to compete with super powers,however,and Peter's empathic nature, combined with his instant ability to absorb the powers of others affected by those mysterious eclipses, had to play rough to keep up with his literally high flying politician brother Nathan.
Peter's inherent goodness made him a target for many a villain but his worst enemy could be himself,taking on the blame for unforeseeable mistakes and well intended errors in judgment. By the final season,Peter went back to his old ways and became a paramedic, using his powers to save lives directly. His real victory was in accepting the death of his brother and making peace with enemies both inward and outward. Peter was truly the best person that the Petrellis had to offer the world:
CLAIRE BENNET: The cheerleader that once needed saving,despite her incredible healing and regenerative powers,was a early on mainstay of the series that frustrated fans vent upon for her occasionally moody ways. Hello,she's a teenager-moodiness is as natural as breathing during that period of time!
Not to mention the additional burden of discovering that you have super powers and are being raised by adoptive parents,one of whom rounds up mutant folk like you for a living,plus your real dad's a sneaky politician with a sinister psychic grandmother along for the ride and your birth mother is a literal fire starter being stalked by a creepy puppet master guy. That enough reason to be angsty for you?
Claire's determination to be just a "normal" girl lead her down some dangerous paths but by the end of last season,she was accepting her status as a super heroine and beginning to own her weird. It's fitting that Claire got the last word in at the end of season four but it would have been nice to see where she was going to go from there:
HIRO NAKAMURA: The true heart of the show,this seemingly harmless office drone achieved the heroic heights of his dreams by becoming "the master of time and space".
Aided at times by other super powered players and his best friend Ando,Hiro made many a Walter Mitty fantasy come alive by having tragic love affairs,fighting enemies throughout time and saving the world from more than one deadly fate.
Even with such harsh hits from the reality of his surroundings,Hiro held on to his sweetness which tempered his developing warrior nature. He may have appeared to be a pushover at times but Hiro always came through when it counted:
SYLAR: Also known as Gabriel Gray,who started out as a humble watch repairer with an uncanny knack for instantly knowing how things work,this first villain of the series became the sinister showman that everyone loved to fear.
His twisted charms carried him through many a convoluted plot line and even when rendered powerless for a time,proved to be just as dangerous as he ever was. Other Big Bads cropped over the seasons but none of them outlasted Sylar,who found a way to fit in and out of their nefarious plans.
Towards the end of the final season,Sylar had a redemption arc that bonded him with his longtime adversary Peter and seemed to heading down a more righteous road. That would be interesting to see,yet as many Sylar followers would attest to,he's at his very best when being bad:
Fare thee well,Heroes-it was good while it lasted.The wonder and awe that Heroes inspired on TV audiences will stay strong even when there are only DVDs and sci-fi marathons to remember this exciting series by.
There are other supporting characters who deserve mention as well,such as mind reading cop Matt Parkman,former secret agent and loving father Noah Bennet,determined scholar Mohinder Suresh,young techno wiz Micah Sanders and wonder triplets Nikki/Jessica and Tracy Strauss,an political ice queen who lived up to her name. Hopefully,this last video clip will present them at their best:
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