WRITER: Tim Kring DIRECTOR: Allan Arkush
CAST: Milo Ventimiglia (Peter), Zachary Quinto (Sylar), Masi Oka (Hiro), Hayden Panettiere (Claire), Jack Coleman (Mr Bennet), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder), Adrian Pasdar (Nathan), Ali Larter (Nikki/Jessica), Greg Grunberg (Matt), James Kyson Lee (Ando), Leonard Roberts (D.L), Missy Peregrym (Candice), Noah Gray-Cabey (Micah), Cristine Rose (Angela), Adair Tishler (Molly), George Takei (Kaito Nakamura), Tawny Cypress (Simone Deveaux) & Richard Roundtree (Charles Deveaux)
WARNING! SPOILER ALERT! WARNING! SPOILER ALERT! WARNING!
Mr Bennet uses Molly to find Peter, Sylar plots to blow-up New York, Hiro tries to rescue Ando, Nathan leaves the city with Claire and Jessica searches for Micah...As Hiro asked in Chapter 11's Fallout, "How Do You Stop An Exploding Man?" Well, in the season 1 finale he finally gets his answer. After months of cliffhangers and twists, creator Tim Kring returns to join all the dots together; resulting in a finale with moments of brilliance, but one that misfires elsewhere. Ultimately, the weight of expectation after such a marathon build-up was just too much...
That's not to say the climax to Heroes' freshman year is a waste of time. There's enough entertainment and sense of closure to make this worthwhile, particularly with Hiro's storyline, which is the only continuing narrative that has forged an emotional bond with viewers. Hiro's childlike wonder at his abilities, his resolve to "save the world", loyalty to best-friend Ando, family dysfunction and a tragic romance helped make him one of the most popular characters. But also, crucially, a character you want to see succeed.
Peter Petrelli's story has been almost as developed; learning about his power, saving the cheerleader, fearing the NYC explosion, being mentored by Claude, etc. Consequently, Peter's role in the finale is quite strong, bolstered by the huge expectation of another Peter versus Sylar punch-up.
Other characters are less invested in the New York plot, particularly Jessica and D.L, whose rescuing of Micah from the Kirby Plaza is just a diversion. However, it does result in a rather nice cat-fight between Jessica and Candice (who makes herself look like Jessica's evil alter-ego Nikki). An attempt to bring closure to the Jessica/Nikki battle of wills is included here, but it feels tacked on and doesn't do justice to the prolonged mind-games through the season.
Similarly stuck in a rut for the finale is Claire (Hayden Panettiere). Her storyline was superb for much of season 1, particularly regarding her secretive father, but it's clear Claire and Mr Bennet already had their finale with Company Man.
Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) has only recently been given a decent storyline, with his political campaign involving a faustian deal with gangster Mr Linderman. Nathan's decision to allow millions of people to die, so he can assume Presidency in the wake of the disaster, is a big part of the finale. It's actually the main aspect that tugs the heart-strings in the final moments.
Sylar (Zachary Quinto) has been a wonderful villain this year, but he's pushed into the background for much of the finale, along with Mohinder, Matt and D.L That said, he does get a few nice scenes, but it's a shame more couldn't have been done to really build the Good versus Evil component of the finale.
In terms of story, Tim Kring's script is weak in many areas. The greatest disappointment for fans will be the episode's inability to build much momentum or emotional highs. Indeed, for the first half particularly, things are pretty monotonous and only the expectation for an explosive conclusion keep your focus and interest.
A weird trip into the past by Peter (using Hiro's power?) provides a link to the early season, with a return for the now-dead Deaveaux family -- girlfriend Simone Deveaux (Tawny Cypress) and her father Charles (Richard Roundtree). In classic Heroes style, Charles appears to have some kind of ability himself, knowledge of the impending disaster and words of wisdom to get Peter ready for action. It's all very well, but the Deveaux's always seemed to be ill-conceived characters and my opinion hasn't changed despite Kring's ret-con for Charles.
When the final moments arrive, we're treated to an enjoyable but brief fight involving Peter, Sylar, Hiro, Jessica and Matt. As the culmination of a season-long tease, it's disappointing once it's over, although there are a few moments of fun. But there are equal moments of silliness, such as Jessica getting involved without any knowledge of who Peter and Sylar are, or what their argument even is!
There's also a sense of disconnection to events happening. This is New York, the city that never sleeps, but where is everyone? I understand Heroes has a TV budget, but impending doom is made so low-key it's more frustrating than exciting.
Of course, a few moments linger in the memory: Jessica clobbering Sylar with a parking meter, a Matrix-inspired bullet-freeze, Hiro sent spinning through the air and Nathan's airborne entrance. But, while we know the stakes are high, after a season of foreboding, it's a very tepid climax with no conclusion for anyone beyond the NYC disaster.
Fortunately, How To Stop An Exploding Man just about manages to rescue itself with an amusing denouement, as Volume One closes and Volume Two opens, in a sequence fans of Evil Dead 2 will get a smile from.
Looking beyond the finale, Tim Kring's script leaves plenty of room for continuation -- even allowing a popular character to survive death (contrivance bedamned!) I will be fun to see who returns for season 2, as a number of character's fates go unresolved, while little Molly's fearful pronouncement of a villain who's worse than "boogieman" Sylar is exciting...
Overall, there's no denying the finale crumples under the weight of huge expectation. What's most disappointing is that the errors made are so glaring and obvious to anyone with an ounce of comic-book familiarity. Writer Tim Kring has admitted his comic-book knowledge is limited, despite similarities between Heroes and every comic ever written. But that's no excuse for a failure to provide much tension, excitement and thrills. It's a failure of scriptwriting, not knowledge of superhero lore.
So, after 22-weeks carefully setting up the dominos, the final tumble is spoiled by the final domino refusing to fall. While it's frustrating, it doesn't taint the whole season, as Heroes has been great fun. I only hope the writers iron out the problems that bit them here, such as directionless characters (Jessica), poor internal logic (Peter's inconsistent abilities) and the narrative pitfalls of powers like time-travel and clairvoyancy existing...
