Overview:
By way of an 18-hour flashback, we watch Sylar losing his ability to distinguish himself from the people he shapeshifts into, eventually settling on Nathan and plotting to assume the president’s identity. Inbetween, we see Sylar morphing into Aunt Gray and having a conversation with himself (!), averting death even after Željko plunges a knife into the back of his head (!!) and briefly giving Micah a place to stay (!!!). Meanwhile, Matt returns Baby Matt to Janice, then realizes that his dream of a happy family life won’t be an option until he shuts down Goon Squad Central. Which Hiro and Ando were haplessly attempting to achieve until Hiro’s time-freezing gave him a nosebleed and a killer migraine.
Review:
It almost goes without saying that this is an hour in which Heroes becomes The Sylar Show. Depending on your perspective, this is either what makes the hour a spectacular success or an automatic failure. Either way, the watchword this week is irony.
There’s a line of dialogue fairly close to the start of the episode when Sylar notes how “ironic” his predicament is. It’s “ironic” that stealing people’s identities is what gives Sylar the chance to acquire new abilities and to once again become even more omnipotent. The real irony is that in this context, ironic is pretty much synonymous with contrived, and although shapeshifting affords Sylar the chance to acquire more abilities, it also gives him the opportunity to permeate every storyline, every character arc and every remote corner of the show.
Which, on a show that has already demonstrated unequivocal devotion to its central villain over the seasons — to a point where nothing can kill him and where writing him out ceases to be an option — this is impressive. And ironic.
And (again, ironically, some might say) in spite of an hour featuring Sylar in almost every scene in one guise or another, the inescapable impression we’re left with is that of a character whose arc has come full circle and returned him to a stage of development we saw him reach nearly two years ago. Which is to say, Sylar wants to be special, Sylar wants power, and Sylar is bad. And although this (perhaps ironically) is the culmination of a season in which vast amounts of screen time were allocated to embellishing the character and to challenging our assumption that he couldn’t be humanized, what’s remarkable (and, in a way, ironic) is the way the episode’s other storylines convey more about their characters than the storyline and the villain monopolizing the episode.
Which is a long and roundabout way of saying that while I enjoyed a lot of this episode, it’s largely Sylar himself who detracts from that enjoyment. Zach Quinto gives a superb performance as Sylar. Ellen Greene and Adrian Pasdar give equally superb performances as Sylar. Gabriel Olds and Noah Gray-Cabey also give superb performances as Sylar. The problem is they’re all playing a character whose arc has been extended to a stage where there’s very little left to explore, and who — as this episode proves — has outstayed his welcome.
Previously on Heroes …
We met this guy. Or not. The show seems to be hoping it can fool us into thinking we met him by slotting the detail into the backstory. It isn’t a plothole, and I find it quite interesting that Željko’s willing to sacrifice yet another of his agents to accommodate his alliance with Sylar, but there’s something revisionist about it. It would be one thing if a line of dialogue was slipped into the episode to establish it –”Donner’s dead, so I’ll give you a new agent to kill and replace” — but the way it’s inserted into the Previously montage, as if it’s something we should have already known, it either outrages viewers because it’s a blatant retcon or bewilders viewers because they can’t figure out how their memories got so hazy.
We cut to Agent Taub’s apartment and rewind 18 hours.
Great focus, particularly with the eyeball darting around to convey Sylar’s anxiety. Sets up Sylar’s vulnerability, and offers a glimpse into the problematic everyday side of these abilities: if you could shapeshift as easily as Sylar does, how long would it be before you started shapeshifting without realizing it? Smart writing, and an interesting question to raise.
We cut from Sylar ripping out a tooth to Matt and Janice talking on the phone. I leave you to decide how ironic that is, but it seems more important to note that although calling Janice from a pay phone at his motel prevented Goon Squad agents from tracing Matt, the call would almost certainly have been monitored at Janice’s end and given Željko a heads up that Baby Matt was on his way home. It’s touching to watch Janice cooing to her son over the phone, and I don’t think anyone at Goon Squad Central could have predicted quite how fast Matt went from coast to coast this week, but it still wins Matt a *PING!* Dumb As Award for alerting agents that, yes, THE SUPERPOWERED BABY IS ON HIS WAY BACK TO THE HOUSE THAT’S ALREADY UNDER SURVEILLANCE.
Matt tells Janice how good it is to hear her voice, and as much as the sentimental piano wants us to believe that this is a Meaningful Moment between the characters, I feel obligated to point out that Matt probably told Daphne the same thing everytime he called her, which would explain why Daphne told Ando that Matt “always calls.”
Not that Matt seems to think this is in any way disrespectful to the woman he professed his love to four episodes ago, and not that Matt thinks it’s in any way offensive to start working his charm on his ex-wife when Daphne’s body is still warm, and not that the show wants us to even remember that Daphne existed when it’s so blatant that Matt wants to win Janice back, and no, not that ANY of this bugs me IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER.
Sorry. This is going to be the big rant of the review.
As arbitrarily as Matt this week goes from believing he can put his vendetta behind him to realizing that he needs to confront the problem, it’s easy to buy that fatherhood changed Matt. As much as the Janice and Daphne issue grated with me, this part of the storyline — Matt’s compulsion to forsake recklessness in order to take care of his son and ex-wife — rang true.
Matt: “I’m afraid that I’m gonna miss out on this guy’s childhood. I’m afraid that I’m not gonna see him take his first steps or throw his first baseball. I want him to know that he has a father. This little guy’s a game-changer.”
Aw. For the kiss Matt plants on the kid’s head, for the delighted giggle Baby Matt lets out, and for the idea that Matt’s already planning to watch his son grow up. Which is probably as much of a source of worry for the show’s casting department as it is for the character, because at the rate the Reed twins are growing, chances are they’ll be throwing their first baseballs by the time Season Four goes into production. Which will work out fine if it turns out that the superpowered Touch and Go Baby ages at an abnormal rate, but if the show plans to keep Baby Matt around, it’ll be interesting to see how it gets around the issue of an actor ageing faster than the show’s production schedule can accommodate.
The episode reaches its first Sylar-centric scene. The dialogue is solid, the acting is good, the details are perfect, but there’s something about Sylar playing the petulant kid to Željko’s patient mentor/father that makes the storyline ponderous. The moment you see Sylar sulking on the bench at the garden, you know it’s going to be a slow scene. As good as the actors are and as much as they’re a pleasure to watch, even they can’t make a scene in which Sylar whines about his issues compelling.
Željko explains that he’s doing his best to throw agents off the trail and help Sylar maintain his cover, Sylar moans about the side-effects his shapeshifting is having, and Željko reads our minds by suggesting that Sylar remain in the same unremarkable form he selected as his cover.
Sylar: “I don’t like being a nothing!”
^ ^ Actual dialogue! I added the exclamation point, but all that really does is reinforce how juvenile Sylar’s behavior is in this episode. Compromising his cover in order to fuel his need to feel special doesn’t make Sylar a villain with a fatal flaw so much as a child trying to gain attention. I don’t feel inclined to sympathize with the character — or even to hate him. I just want to tell him to grow up.
Which is probably what Željko wants to tell him too. The astounding thing is he continues to tolerate Sylar, and — more astoundingly — to show him compassion.
It’s tainted by our awareness that Željko would drown puppies and throttle kittens if he thought they had abilities, but the way Ivanek plays the scene — with a father’s understanding for his recalcitrant son — I can’t help wondering why he’d bother. We know that Željko despises every member of the superpowered population, and yet he’s not only tolerating the most contemptible member of the species, but actually sticking his neck out for him. We know that the one of the few things Željko cares about is his team, and yet he’s not only lying to them to protect Sylar, but actually sacrificing them for him. And as clear as Željko’s goal might be — ensuring that people like Clint Howard are captured and neutralized without losing a dozen commandos — there’s something objectionable here which goes beyond the story. It’s bad enough that Željko’s basically sanctioning and enabling murder, but what’s worse is that he’s helping to perpetuate the character’s lust for power. In spite of getting stabbed in the chest, injected with the Shanti Virus and manipulated by Angela and Arthur, Sylar’s quest to acquire abilities and increase his influence continues undeterred. The fact that Željko is helping to enable it makes us hate Željko, but perhaps for the wrong reason. It’s not so much that he’s working with a monster; it’s more that he’s indirectly assisting the show with its adamant insistence on keeping this monster around no matter what.
All of that said, this …
… is both the sickest and, in all likelihood, the coolest chyron the show ever came up with.
We cut to a scene in Richmond, Virginia, where we meet Clint Howard. Clint Howard’s IMDb page is longer than most of my reviews, but I know him best from his appearances in just about every incarnation of Star Trek, so it made for an especially delightful (if disappointingly brief) cameo. Props to the show for an incredible set, which, with the warm tone and abundance of dog statues, resembles a Bizarro Canine Central.
“Get out now! Rebel.” Rebel has learned to use lower-case typeface, which is encouraging. I probably would have abbreviated the message to “GTFO! — Rbl,” but that just goes to show why I’m writing about a TV show instead of coordinating members of the superpowered population. Even more remarkable than Rebel’s diplomacy is the fact that he’s evidently helping supers who’ve never been introduced on-screen, making the scope and scale of Micah’s one-man effort all the more impressive.
Neat effect. I still can’t comprehend how Sylar could go after a party trick like this and turn down a crown jewel like technopathy, but if you look at it from a character standpoint — that Sylar’s trying to reassert that he’s the guy who rips people’s heads open and steals their abilities — it’s less about the ability and more about doing what Sylar does best.
You’re not sure whether to vomit or applaud. As gross as it is, it’s so brilliantly realized — from the streaming sunlight to the blood-spattered shirt — that the coolness almost offsets the nausea. It’s also an extremely cool nod to “One Giant Leap” …
… when we discovered Sylar’s penchant for wall-scrawling.
Željko returns to Goon Squad Central and finds Sylar …
… again wallowing in self-pity and self-indulgence and self-everything. Zach Quinto works the moist eyes as well as ever, and Željko’s conciliatory tone is as much of a pleasure to watch as ever, but this felt like a retread of the same scene we got at the garden, at least as far as Sylar’s me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me trip goes.
Sylar hands over Clint Howard’s PDA, and it’s established that Rebel is still in D.C. Convenient for the plot, but you could argue that it demonstrates sound strategic thinking on Micah’s part, because the majority of the Goon Squad captures are probably taking place in and around the city.
Željko reminds Sylar that he’ll want his help capturing Rebel, and Sylar’s like, “My help or Agent Taub’s? You only love me for who I become instead of who I am!” OK, he doesn’t say that second part, but the implication is there. Sylar then whines about one of his eyes remaining blue after he morphed back to his usual self, and I really wish I could send another text to that PDA, because this one would say, “STFU! — Rbl.”
Željko: “Past five years, I’ve lived eight different lives, with wives and girlfriends, spoke six different languages. But at the end of the day, I still know who I am.”
Good dialogue, elaborate without being overwrought. The flipside is I can’t help wishing we knew who Željko was, and this is another instance of the show dangling that lamentable lack of characterization in front of us. Did all of those “different lives” involve exterminating people with abilities? Was he always such a heartless b*****d? Did he always have someone waiting for him in a house with a picket fence when he needed to get away from Project Genocide? I think it’s fair to say that these questions are more interesting than anything relating to Sylar in this scene, but I also find it sad that we’re coming to the end of a 12-episode arc in which the lead villain has gotten very little in the way of backstory.
Sylar couldn’t care less, and “What’s your point?” pretty much translates to “How does that have anything to do with me?” Željko suggests finding an anchor to help Sylar remember who he is. I’d suggest this, particularly since it would give Sylar an opportunity to look at himself all day. Which, incidentally, might distract him long enough for the episode to return to the rest of the characters.
Sylar identifying the make of Željko’s watch was a nice touch. There’s something sad and regretful about the way both actors play the moment, to the point where you wonder whether you should let the performances and the sentimental music fool you into feeling sorry for the characters.
Hiro and Ando visit the Apartment of Clairvoyance, apparently because Hiro has caught on to the location’s motion detectors and decided that getting captured is the best way to find Goon Squad Central. It’s infinitely more dramatic than, I don’t know, following Željko from his apartment to his workplace.
Ando reveals that his new superhero alias is “Crimson Arc,” which Hiro derides as “ladylike” for the connotations. Which, well, indeed. Nicely played, writers.
Watching Hiro and Ando play with the taser darts in frozen time is cool, and hearing Ando call Hiro a “fascist Superman” is amusing, but in the penultimate episode, you’d think the show would have something bigger in store for the characters. There’s a hint of it later on, but when the bulk of the characters’ scenes involves them discussing who’s Batman and who’s Superman, I can’t help thinking the time could have been better spent. On a Željko flashback, on one of Angela’s dreams, on Mohinder uncovering what’s on the film reel at Coyote Sands, or even on Matt talking to Baby Matt as he makes the trip from Pennsylvania to California.
Goon Squad commandos come to my rescue. Hiro freezes time, then discovers that if he’s touching anyone when he freezes time, they’ll remain unfrozen. Which … is sort of obvious, isn’t it? Maybe it’s just me, but this didn’t feel like the Big Twist it was made out to be. I took it to be a part of Hiro’s ability that went without saying.
What doesn’t go without saying is Hiro’s willingness to let agents plow tasers into his friend. The only mitigating factor is Hiro’s half-hearted apology before he restarts time. Under other circumstances, I’d consider it an attempt to turn Hiro into a morally gray character who inflicted pain on his friend to achieve a greater good. But in a scene that involved the characters discussing who was Batman and who was Superman, it’s hard to take the thematic work behind the scene seriously. All I see is Hiro aiming frozen taser darts at Ando and letting commandos shoot him. Which kind of makes me despise Hiro even more.
Anyway, we learn that Sylar requested evidence from the “unsolved murder” of Mama-Gray-turned-Aunt-Vivian-turned-Aunt-Gray. As much as it pains me to revisit one of the show’s darkest hours, I feel obligated to point out that in “Truth and Consequences,” Alejandro managed to find an online newspaper article which revealed that Gabriel was wanted for the murder of his mother. I can just about buy that the case was never solved and the charges were dropped, but I think that needed to be established here if the show wanted to avoid the inconsistency.
You’re not sure whether to say ew or aw. On the one hand, it’s his dead aunt’s cardigan he’s smelling. On the other hand, Quinto sells the part with enough sadness that you feel for the guy, if not to the point where you forgive him then at least to the point where you briefly ignore his viciousness over the course of the series and his self-involvement over the course of this episode.
Welcome back, Ellen Greene!
It’s wonderful to see the actress back on the show, even if it’s only for one episode. It’s even more wonderful to see her return in a role that makes sense, because as much as Sylar might have cared about Elle or Angela, Virginia’s probably the one who defined Sylar’s personality — his aspirations and his inferiority complex — more than anyone. Ellen Green nails the nuances of the performance, bringing flamboyant sincerity to the role at the same time as underlying pretense. You can believe that this is what Virginia would say, but at the same time you know Sylar’s putting words into her mouth and making her say exactly what he wants to hear, even if he doesn’t realize it.
Quinto and Greene are effectively playing the same character, although Greene has the challenge of playing her own character played by Sylar playing her own character, which is to say she needs to play the character the way Sylar would want her to be. What follows is Sylar’s usual self-gratification, but the acting is so good and the premise behind the scene is so oddly compelling that for once it flies. Which is bizarre, because Sylar trying to elicit praise about his specialness from himself is even more grotesque than trying to elicit it from Željko. I can’t figure out if it’s the brilliance in the performances that makes this work so much more effectively, or if it’s the prospect of Sylar losing his mind that makes us more inclined to tolerate his self-involvement. Whichever it is, this is where the episode picks up its pace.
Sylar-as-Taub accompanies Željko to a random building and the commandos shut down the power grid to Technopath HQ.
There’s something admirable — and almost unbearably sad — about Micah living by himself. The implication seems to be that Micah’s no longer in contact with any of his family and that he’s had to become independent as part of the save-all-supers gig. On the one hand, it makes him look like even more of a selfless hero. On the other, it makes him look like a selfless hero who left behind what little family he had in order to help strangers.
Would Micah have known about Sylar’s identity crisis? Unless he used surveillance to listen to their conversations or unless either Sylar or Željko documented the details online, I can’t think how he could.
Micah: “You’re one of us. People with powers. We’re all connected. You don’t have to be alone.”
My heart breaks because of the character’s adorable optimism, but there’s something commendable about a teenager who looks into the eyes of a mass-murderer at a moment when he’s expecting to get his scalp sliced off and then tries to reason with him.
Sylar: “You’re all alone, Micah. Family’s all gone. All you have left are these machines and your false hope.”
Did Sylar know who Micah was before he got to the apartment? He might have known about the supers on the Wall of Fugitives and about Micah’s family based on the files at Goon Squad Central, but based on the way he zeroes in on these details the moment he picks up Micah’s cell phone, it’s possible that Sylar used Bridget’s clairsentience on more than one occasion tonight.
Micah: “They don’t know you. They can’t see how special you are. You can save us all.”
I can’t decide whether the writers were laughing their asses off when they wrote this, or whether, in their minds, there was a chance that an idealistic kid like Micah could awake a sense of humanity in Sylar. Given the instances when Sylar clearly enjoyed killing his victims, I’d say there’s little hope that even Micah could achieve that. But then, it’s also been established that Sylar doesn’t think of himself with labels like “serial killer” or “villain,” so it’s possible he’d be just as willing to help people if, in the end, it gave him the same sense of power and dominance that ripping people’s heads open gives him.
Whatever the explanation, there’s something momentous about this scene. It isn’t just that it ramps up the episode’s tension and makes us wonder if Sylar’s about to redefine the word irredeemable by scalping Micah; it’s also that one of the youngest and most incorruptible heroes encounters the show’s poster child for consummate evil and survives, and that Gray-Cabey’s charisma matches Quinto’s and makes us wish more than ever that Micah had a more prominent role on the show.
The same cannot be said for Hiro, who has the good sense to accompany Ando in the Goon Squad Prisoner Transport Van but not enough sense to — and I can barely bring myself to write this — REMOVE HIS GLASSES.
Don’t even try to tell me Hiro needed them. He spent the better half of Volume Two in feudal Japan without them. This is played purely for laughs, and it ends up with Ando having to step in with a bout of Force Lightning to zap the commandos into unconsciousness.
It’s a cool effect, but it could have tipped the van over and it could have gotten all of the commandos in the van killed. And as contemptible as those commandos are for their association with a corrupt government program, they’re only doing their job, and they’ve been put in danger to enable a joke made possible by Hiro’s immense stupidity. Hardy-bloody-har. And *PING!*, because if that doesn’t earn Hiro another Dumb As Award, I don’t know what does.
We return to Technopath HQ, where Micah’s running along a pier and being pursued by Željko’s commandos. Was the Sylar-as-Micah reveal too soon? It’s a cool “Ohhh, I see!” moment when we see the real Micah flinch at the sight of his impostor getting shot, but I couldn’t help thinking that the image of Micah taking a taser dart and toppling into the river would have been more effective if we’d been led to believe it was the real Micah.
Željko: “This was very unlike you. Why didn’t you kill him, take his power?”
Sylar: “My head’s already spinning with the powers I have. I thought talking to machines seemed like overkill.”
Meaning what? That Sylar was afraid of an ability as big as Micah’s? That he knew he could handle Clint Howard’s disintegration, but that his system would go berserk if he tried to add technopathy? That he won’t be acquiring new abilities until he’s got a handle on the shapeshifting? That he’s acquired enough abilities to take a step back and make do with what he’s got? Whatever the explanation, it’s a turning point for the character. It suggests he’s nearing the saturation point he told Claire he’d reached while masquerading as Nathan in “Five Years Gone.”
Sylar returns to Taub’s apartment, where …
… OK, I have to screencap this, because if I don’t, no one will believe it’s true:
The superpower serial killer invites the kid to stay at his apartment?!
And the kid agrees?!?
There’s trusting, and then there’s plain Dumb, and I didn’t think Micah had it in him. *PING!* Chalk one up for Micah for being astute enough to know he’d met a near-omnipotent menace who salivates for special abilities and for then deciding it’s safe to crash on the guy’s couch. Oh, Micah.
Amazingly well done. The transition between the characters is so fluid that you look back at how Martin struggled to shift even once and you balk at it. The scene also sparkles for the way it was set up, with the chessboard adding a neat visual complement to Sylar’s character arc, particularly when Sylar’s playing both sides of the conversation with himself.
Sylar: “This doesn’t feel right. It’s not who I am. Why would I save him?”
Virginia: “You saved him because he’s a lost little boy. An orphan like you.”
It’s effective because of the parallels, but it also demonstrates how Sylar’s thoughts have bled into separate personalities, to the point where he now needs separate identities to rationalize his thoughts and justify his actions. Such a short sequence, but on a visual, creative and thematic level, it’s one of the highlights of the episode.
Micah puts the notion of impersonating Nathan and telling the president that he’s “made a big mistake” into Sylar’s head. Which is a laudable attempt on Micah’s part to sway the über-villain, but which also makes me wonder whether the key catalysts in Sylar’s meteoric rise to power were his bats**t-crazy aunt and a high-minded kid. Chances are Sylar would have come up with the same plan sooner or later anyway, but the way this story plays out, with Micah putting the idea into Sylar’s head, I can’t help drawing a parallel with Chandra showing up at Gray & Sons and putting notions of an extraordinary existence into Sylar’s head. By that logic, you could argue that Micah’s indirectly to blame for the repercussions to Sylar assuming Nathan’s identity.
Sylar visits Petrelli HQ, rummages through Nathan’s drawers and finds … a toothbrush? Not as comical as Sylar foraging through the garbage to find Nathan’s coffee cup, but it explains how Sylar pulled it off.
Sylar: “He was born with a silver spoon. He was given everything: money, schools, family.”
Virginia: “Yes, but you have a gift. You’re special!”
Intriguing, largely because it raises the question of whether Sylar would trade places with Nathan if he could. The gist throughout Volume Three was that a sense of belonging motivated Sylar to cooperate with Angela and Arthur. The irony this scene highlights is that regardless of upbringing and wealth, the privileged brat turned out to be as much of a jerk as the traumatized misfit.
Sylar confesses to Virginia — and to himself — that he killed her.
Subtly played by Quinto. The furrowed brow suggests he’s figuring it out for himself even as he confesses it to Virginia.
Sylar: “How can I be special? How can I be anything when I killed the only woman who ever loved me?”
Perfectly delivered. Regret over losing her, satisfaction from killing her, and the suggestion that Sylar’s self-deception has ended. The impression we’re left with is that he’s as confused as ever, but that if Sylar can convince himself that Virginia forgives him, he can forgive himself.
Perfectly played. You realize that Sylar’s figuring it out at the same time as Virginia is, and that her reaction mirrors his. Hearing Virginia forgive “Gabriel” offers Sylar a chance for closure and advances the character — if only by a baby step — beyond the apocalypse-painting stage he reached at the end of “The Hard Part.”
Meanwhile, Matt traverses 2,000 miles with Baby Matt strapped in the back of his car. As far as we know, Matt never once stops to make the Ando Face, or even to change Baby Matt’s diapers, and arrives at Janice’s apartment in L.A. looking as refreshed as he did when he got into the car in D.C.
You’ve got to be kidding us, show.
Matt asks Baby Matt if he missed his mom. Sadly, we don’t get a chance to gauge Baby Matt’s expression in response. Matt goes on to insist that he can’t “put a [Parkman] Whammy on Mommy and make her forget everything and make her forgive [him],” which would be noble of Matt if the mention of it didn’t immediately signal that he at least considered the option.
Janice profusely thanks God — and Matt — for bringing her son back to her. Which, aw.
Then Matt makes eyes at Janice, and it’s as if we can hear Daphne shrieking from her grave and telling Matt to go to hell. Because, wow. It’s been, what, four episodes since she died? Two episodes since he was willing to kill Željko to avenge her? And in the show’s chronology, it’s barely been days since she died. Have I got that right? I can’t believe I do, because if it’s true then the show just turned Matt into the biggest d*%k ever.
I’m not saying I ever bought into the romance between Matt and Daphne, but this is as if the show’s pretending she never existed. The way Matt’s gazing at Janice now is the exact way he was gazing at Daphne a few episodes ago. Overlooking story details from the first season is one thing, but pretending that a recurring character who’s only just died wasn’t involved with one of the main characters — a character who’s now blatantly making advances towards his ex-wife? I’m sorry, but my BS Detector is ringing loudly enough for Matt to hear it from either coast.
As moving as it is to see the family reunited and the kid in a group hug with his parents, this is offensive — to Daphne, to the care that went into crafting Daphne’s character arc, and to the viewers who were invested in her romance with Matt. This effectively effaces Daphne from continuity and makes the show look like it wants us to think that Daphne was the rebound girl who helped Matt to see that his true love was his wife all along.
Which not only makes Matt look like a hypocrite for telling Daphne he loved her and for creating Daphne’s fairytale landscape and insisting that they were meant to be together. It makes the show look hypocritical for implying that Matt “got over” Daphne, his relationship with her and her death fast enough to make eyes at his ex-wife as soon as he saw her again.
I want to believe that I’m overreacting, that Matt isn’t ready to dive back into his relationship with Janice and that he’ll at least acknowledge that he thought he was in love with someone else LESS THAN A WEEK EARLIER. But my cynical side says the show wants to pretend that elements of this season never happened, and that this is sadly one of them. I hope I’m wrong, because if I’m not, it’s a slap in the face to Daphne and to every character whose story she played a part in.
Sylar-as-Nathan calls the same press conference we saw on the TV at Coyote Sands last week and issues a stinging attack on President Worf for being too busy to take his calls. Which will probably come back to bite Sylar in the ass when Worf rips his spinal cord out and wears it as a trophy. I’m not sure even Sylar and his regeneration could withstand Worf.
The scene at Coyote Sands is brief, but it gives the episode a sense of completion by ensuring that all of the story threads and character arcs at least make a brief appearance. It’s also worth noting that Angela draws on Nathan’s entire operation as an example of why rushing in without help is a bad idea, that Peter’s willing to look past his resentment towards Nathan to help him stop Sylar, and that Noah immediately approaches the situation from a strategic standpoint and considers that Sylar will expect Nathan to show up to prevent him from meeting the president. All of which are consistent with the characters’ arcs leading up to the episode, and just go to show that, minor complaints aside, all of the arcs leading up to the finale have been crafted with care.
I find it telling that Hiro actually smiles when he points out to Ando that they’ve found Goon Squad Central. I guess he’s happy to have found the place at all, or that he’s glad to have the opportunity to rescue people who need his help. But then, you could equally argue that he’s smiling because this is a chance to Fulfill Destiny and Be A Hero and Defeat The Bad Guys and Do What Must Be Done according to The Hero’s Path. And if that coincides with helping people who’ve been drugged and locked away and tortured, that’s a bonus.
Which seems mean, I know, particularly when Hiro agrees to make Ando an equal member of their partnership and when he freezes time …
… and ends up with a debilitating headache and a bleeding nose for his trouble. I want to say I sympathize with the character, but after the way he acted throughout this episode — and throughout the majority of this volume — I’m going to have to settle with saying that I merely feel bad for him.
We return to Matt, Janice and Baby Matt in L.A., and Matt decides that he has to “face them” and “end this” before he and Janice can “have a life together” and enjoy “everything that [he's] been searching for.” At the risk of repeating myself, he was “searching” for exactly the same things with a different woman until she died. The way Matt has essentially transposed the same dream into a different setting — right down to the kid and the happy family home — speaks to the character’s apparent ability to whammy himself as thoroughly as the people around him.
Nathan reaches Petrelli HQ, goes straight for the gun in his drawer …
… discovers that his suave impersonation has already checked the removal of weapons off his to-do list, and delivers the line of the night when he tells Sylar, “Get the hell out of my body!” Funny, not least because it reinforces how powerless Nathan is to stop Sylar from taking over his life.
Incredibly well shot. If that was split screen or a CG face superimposed over a stunt double, I can’t tell.
Pasdar looks like he’s having a blast playing his evil self, and after a volume spent looking conflicted and guilt-stricken, the chance to play a character who relishes his villainy is probably a welcome change.
The neat part is that Pasdar then gets to switch back to the conflicted and guilt-stricken version of his character, and to glare at Sylar and grit his teeth with such hatred that it looks like it’s bringing tears to the guy’s eyes.
The reference to Sylar absorbing Bridget’s ability was a nice nod to continuity, and coupled with the shapeshifting, the ability finally seems to serve a purpose beyond demonstrating Angela’s willingness to serve human sacrifices to keep Sylar’s Hunger in check. The fact that Sylar can now gather the information he needs to know the people he impersonates makes his attempt to slot himself into their lives all the more plausible.
Moment of False Drama #1:
This is it! This is the moment the volume’s been building up to! Poetic justice! Nathan paying the ultimate price for his arrogance! Sylar making the key element of the “Five Years Gone” future a reality!
Goodbye, Nathan! You were a delightful jerk! We loved you, we hated you, we loved to hate you! We’re sorry you won’t get to see your sons grow up and we know your brother will miss you, but we hope to see you in many flashbacks and dream seq-
Wait, Željko’s just going to tranquilize him? Well, THAT was one way to build up our hopes and fears and bring them crashing down. Well played, show.
V.O. Mohinder rambles about the meaning of life while we watch commandos burst into one of the barracks at Coyote Sands and taser Mohinder. Hiro’s nose continues to bleed, Matt works the Parkman Whammy on the agents raiding Janice’s home and shrouds his family, and, perhaps most intriguingly …
… it looks like Noah, Claire and Angela have been ambushed by Goon Squad agents. The only clue that makes me wonder if it isn’t a cop-out …
… is the fact that Angela seems to have been dreaming while the ambush went down.
Aaaaaand it’s time for Moment of False Drama #2. And if you hated Sylar before this episode, this moment’s really going to be torture for you.
Look! Željko killed him! Knife to the back of the head! Stabbed in the brain! Dead! DEAD!
DEAD! WOOHOO!
Wait, WHAT?!
WHAT?!
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?
But, the … the knife, the … the back of the head … the … he … the … Why? … WHY ISN’T HE DEAD? The knife to the back of the head should have killed him, shouldn’t it? He should be dead, shouldn’t he? Why isn’t he dead? WHY, SHOW, WHY?!
OK, I’m done here. I’m too speechless to even articulate my indignation.
Looking at this episode objectively, it was a mixed bag. It had a lot of weak moments: some tedious scenes between Sylar and Željko early on, Matt pretending he never knew Daphne, and Hiro getting his friend tasered and smiling at the thought of rescuing people who are suffering.
But then, it had Sylar having conversations with himself, it had Ellen Green playing Sylar’s imaginary version of Virginia, it had Sylar meeting Micah, and it had Nathan denouncing Sylar as a psychopath. None of which are quite enough to make up for the weaker moments, but enough to make for a fitting penultimate episode to the season, weaving together the various story threads and building on the character arcs.
The main judging point is of course the character in the episode’s title, and in spite of the ubiquity of a character who outstayed his welcome on the show around the start of the second season, Zach Quinto carries his plethora of scenes in “I Am Sylar” with incredible flair, to the point where the worst thing you can say about the character is that he’s been overused, and to the point where the worst thing you can say about the actor’s performance is that we’ve gotten too much of a good thing.
Either way, what this episode demonstrates is that as great a villain as Sylar has been, his character arc has run its course, and his story has come full circle.
3.5 out of 5
Next week: on Monday night, as a one-time event for the season’s final episode and in addition to the KryptonSite forum, HeroSite will launch a discussion thread in this blog. The thread will open the moment the episode finishes on the East Coast, and I will be providing screencap duty for the episode as soon as it airs on the West Coast. The aim is to give you, our readers, an immediate outlet on this site to discuss the episode as soon as it airs, and to open up a forum for the same debate, speculation, analysis and constructive bashing that you’ve come to expect from HeroSite’s blog all season.
Let’s hope for a great finale, and I hope to see you then.
You’ve summed it up. On to next week.
Otto, good review. But doesn’t Nathan deserve a Dumb As Award for going back to Washington alone? Even with a gun, he’s no match for Sylar.
I think the reason Sylar survived has to do with the shape-shifting altering his DNA and body. Either the kill spot isn’t in the same spot or it doesn’t exist anymore.
That’s a good explanation, actually. It’s still annoys the hell out of me. But, at least it’s plausible.
I thought that same thing-except that the whole notion in this episode that Sylar’s DNA changes when he shifts is wrong. Bennet had Martin-as-Sylar’s DNA tested and it came back as Martin, despite him having died in Sylar’s form. So DNA shouldn’t change when a shape shifter assumes another form.
Well he dose grow an extra tooth, so he could not develop the off switch or have 2 off switches, both needing be off for him to die. either way the tooth dose give some credibility to the theory
i think this epiode shuld be a least a 4 it was one one of the best f the season and the acting was incredible , but still awesome review¡
Otto,
Hiro - Charlie - Princess What’s-Her-Face
Peter - Cute Irish Gal - Leaving-her-in-the-future-that-doesn’t-happen-probably
Matt - Daphne - Janice
This is what Show believes constitutes a meaningful relationship. I can’t believe you’re finding fault.
Great review.
Just one thing, I think it should be …
Peter - Simone - Caitlin
… to keep with the format.
I’m amazed that it’s almost the end of the Volume and you still haven’t named anyone for the “Dumb As…” award. It seems to me like Hiro’s the most likely candidate, which is a real pity. Back in your review for “How to Stop an Exploding Man,” you even said that Hiro would be the character most remembered from the show. It’s so sad to see such a great character degraded as he has been this season.
If not him, I’d kind of like for Danko’s team to get the Dumb As award. You’ve already given them two or three awards and they haven’t improved much since then.
Nice review Otto!
I really liked this episode, well, not so much but is good anyway…
The “identity crisis” whole thing was one of the most annoying scenes of television for God’s sake! The actors were superb, but Sylar talking to himself/his mom was argggg!
The scene in Nathan’s office was cool, dramatic, but, when Sylar was refering to Claire as precious… mmm… I’ll just say that I want to see them sharing a couple of lines, who knows what Sylar is planning!
And like I always say, I hope somebody finally kills Mohinder… haha in this ep. he was useless as always, and in the next maybe they’ll give him two lines of dialogue…
Can’t wait to the finale, I feel like crying… hehe
I loved this ‘Sylar-centric’ episode and give it a 4/5 ..held my interest start to finish… totally enjoyed your review, Otto … chuckled quite a bit…Thanks! =)
: )
Loved the review, Otto. You always seem to eloquently point out things that are troublesome to me.
Such as And as clear as Željko’s goal might be — ensuring that people like Clint Howard are captured and neutralized without losing a dozen commandos — there’s something objectionable here which goes beyond the story. That and the part before it was my main issue with Danko agreeing to work with Sylar. It hasn’t been so bad to make me stop watching (what could happen next week might), but it irked me.
This episode was not very interesting to me. Oh, poor Sylar. Doesn’t know who he is. Boo hoo. Why couldn’t his pity party have been slightly reduced to allow us a proper reconciliation of the Petrelli Brothers? (Which, granted should have happened last week.) I also can’t help but wonder if they didn’t insist on such small volumes, they could have included Danko’s backstory. But se la vie. Part of me is hoping that with Season 4 only being 18 or 20 episodes, they might try for another single volume season, but I doubt it.
The only times this episode got interesting to me was when Micah showed up and then later when Nathan made his appearances.
I must admit I giggled at Hiro setting up unwitting Ando. I believe the show was, per usual, playing it for laughs. Ando going on and on, while Hiro just calculated the best way to set him up.
But my cynical side says the show wants to pretend that elements of this season never happened, and that this is sadly one them.
Unfortunately, the show has a history of this, but usually it happens to Peter. It also makes me wonder why did they throw Daphne in with Matt anyways? While I didn’t mind her with Matt, she seemed to have pretty good chemistry going with Hiro and Ando. Yes, I didn’t care for her initially, but I did end up liking her. Oh well, just another case of wasted potential.
I’m very nervous about next week. This show and its track record with “wasted potential” is worrisome. The prevalent theory I’ve been reading of what people think is going to happen, I do not like at all. It’s hard to know who or what to believe. I’ve been struggling to get myself to cautiously optimistic.
Regardless of what happens in the finale, I will be looking forward to your review.
Thanks for posting.
Otto, great job as usual.
I’m so tired of Sylar. We knew, of course, that he’d be making it to the finale, but it was mean of the show to give us that one brief shining moment of hope. Quinto is great in the role, but you’re right when you say his arc has run its course. Personally, I think that happened a while ago; I don’t think he should’ve survived the Season 1 finale, but I’m probably in the minority there. Sylar, to me, since the beginning of Season 2, has been like an evil, omnipotent hamster. Because the show lavishes so much attention on him, he is constantly going through these journeys and quests that would have Hiro salivating (except for the whole evil thingy). He comes through whatever the life-changing event or process du jour is, discovers something deeeep and meaningful about himself, and, within one, or maybe two, episodes, goes back to being an evil brain-eating power monger. EVERY time. Kills his “mom”… brain-eater. Loses his powers… brain-eater. Learns Angela is his long-lost “mother,” tries to become an agent, and part of a family…brain-eater. Meets his long-last “dad,” Arthur, and achieves empathy, learns to love Elle…HER brain-eater. Remembers his real dad ripping open his real mom’s skull, finds pathetic remnants of said dad, vows never to be like him…brain-eater. He is a totally circular character; there is no real development. Even with the best actor, and the most delicious eevill, that’s gonna get boring after awhile. Sporadic, inexplicable moments of mercy or, more likely, caprice, such as with Nuke, Claire and Micah don’t make much of a dent in the whole.
But it’s a damn good thing he didn’t eat Micah’s brain, because that would be the end of the line for me. Seriously, bye-bye show! He is easily one of my favorite characters. He brings a real innocence and idealism to the show that is much more effective and sympathetic than Hiro’s contrived “Hero’s Path,” Claire’s teenage angst, and even Peter’s clumsy attempts at heroism. Throughout this entire volume, who’s been the character who has been out there fighting the good fight, saving people big and small, and risking his own life and freedom, and even, apparently, leaving his home and family behind? Micah. I wish Gray-Cabey had more of a presence on the show, but Micah’s character has been strongly present throughout, and I think the volume is much better for it. That kid walks the walk. His parents would be unspeakably proud.
Steve made a point about the way the show treats relationships, and while I think he’s right, I think it doesn’t go far enough. I think that Matt conveniently brushing off his memories of Daphne is an example of the way the show treats unsuccessful sub-plots: it pretends they never happened. All of Season Two’s plots and S2’s new characters…never happened. Matt/Daphne romance…never happened. Matt’s precognition, Usutu’s declaration that he has been “chosen”…apparently never happened. They occasionally mention and make oblique use of Bridget’s clairsentience, but conveniently gloss over the fact that Angela FED HIM BRIDGET’S BRAIN. (I’ve never really forgiven them for that; Angela is ruthless when necessary, but I still think that was entirely out of character.) Now, in some ways this isn’t a bad thing, because these were largely unpopular or unsuccessful plots, but to just ignore them altogether is just lazy writing and bad characterization, and it was at it’s worst here. Matt nearly killed an innocent woman three weeks ago over Daphne; no matter how much he still loves Janice, you just don’t shrug that off.
I don’t like Danko. I’ve never liked Danko. Željko is great, but I hate his character, and not in a “love-to-hate-him-JR-Ewing” kinda way either, but more of an “OMG-I-wish-he’d-STFU-Arthur-Petrelli” kinda way. I just want him to slink away and I hope he gets seriously roasted, toasted and julienned in the finale.
Ellen Greene was incredible!!! I miss “Pushing Daisies.”
Can’t wait for next week. I do think it’s gonna be really good.
Take care.
My mistake. I just saw that Sylar DID make a reference to the Bridget-brain-feeding. I still hated that it happened that way, though. ;^)
Great review, Otto! I have to say, I think I might just count on you way too much to explain to things to me, but I was hoping you would have a theory on why Sylar can suddenly morph clothing. He loses the vest when he goes from Taub to himself, and he shifts from Virginia to Sylar switching clothing (he could be putting it on, although, ew, but also it could all be in his head, which I’ll buy at a stretch). Most obviously, he switches from a Nathan suit to what he was wearing earlier as himself. And since his interaction with Nathan is NOT in his head, what is going on??
100% agree about the Janice/Matt scenes. I understand that she might want him back, especially with the discovery that her son is his, and in gratitude for returning Baby Matt (even giving her son Matt’s name seems indicative of residual feelings). HER reactions make sense. But his??? WHAT ABOUT DAPHNE???
In regards to the knife failing to kill Sylar, I think it’s a minuscle spot that causes death–wasn’t that mentioned on the show? I thought Danko just missed, although, if so, poor man, despite his military expertise a jock and cheerleader were more successful at finding the spot.
I found the Danko/Sylar dynamic incredibly interesting. There was a surprisingly deep connection there, and Danko seemed to be really reaching out to him. One idea I had was that part of Danko does want to have relationships and connections to people, and he does want to be a good person in some ways (like with his girlfriend). And I think he hates to be with people who look down upon him and think they are better–Noah, Matt, Peter and Nathan all fall into this category, so that’s why Danko has been so impersonal with them. With Sylar, he doesn’t feel judged and they are equals, so he opens up more. Alternately, Danko has been planning to kill Sylar throughout the episode and was just manipulating him, which makes him…the 1,000,000th person to do so on the show.
Or, both theories are utter crap, and I’m okay with that too.
I thought this episode was incredibly compelling and I might even have given it a 5 for that. It also addressed longstanding problems in the show, like the unequal dynamic between Ando and Hiro. But I also respect your rating–I think I may just be fonder of Sylar as a character.
And tell me I wasn’t the only one who thought “That’s what she said” when Nathan says “Get the hell out of my body!”
Great review
They always are.
You directly spotted what would make the awesome/aweful, that this episode is simply the Sylar show. I’m one of those who are getting a bit tired of Sylar and I was kinda hoping this episode would change my mind. Ultimately, I enjoyed this episode, but I still have mixed thoughts about it.
Small things first :
Waiting for next week.
- Matt : It makes sense that he wants to protect his kid and his ex-wife, but Daphne gotta be rolling he eyes in her grave. Unfortunately, all characters introduced in V2 are dead or evaporated into the air, and V3 seems to be heading this way too… And I won’t talk about those poor women involved in Heroes relationship.
- Hiro/Ando : Getting a bit tired of the duo talking. But the “glasses” scene was funny
- Micah : the kid is awesome but dude… Sylar is a serial killer.
Sylar :
- I think Aunt Gray was the right call for the identity crisis. Ellen Greene was great. I’d have loved to see Elle but the fact that he was smiling when he was slicing her head open kinda makes it hard for me to beleive he ever cared about her. Same for Angela who he probably forgot about the moment he learnt she wasn’t his mama.
- A parallel with Danko’s backstory would have been nice. No matter how you die, Farewell Danko :(.
- I think most of the performances were solid this week, but I had a hard time buying the identity crisis. Sylar hardly took any decision himself during this season so it’s not surprising he is going insane, on top of being psycho.
- I still agree that Sylar’s arc has gone full circle since nothing really new was learnt this week. Seriously, it took him 2 seasons to boo-hoo over killing his mother ? while he is okay with the several other people he killed, even the unpowered ones? It’s still better than him whining about his inexistant Hunger or about being a monster. And I don’t doubt anymore about his pure evilness. Whatever happened to him probably just rushed him into his killing spree, which would have happened anyway.
Sylar’s powers :
- I don’t really care about the clothes thing. I’d make a better use of my time than seeing him change clothes.
- He can’t be killed? I find it hard to beleive that either Danko missed the spot when Claire could hit it and I doubt shapeshifting allows him to modify his brain. They gotta resurect Canfield to send him in a blackhole, but I’m not even sure that will get us rid of Sylar.
- Overall he is too powerful. Offensively, TK was already putting him above the other, and electricity just made it worst (desintegration just makes him god-like if he ever uses it). Now that he has regeneration (and no weak spot ?), he is clearly unstoppable . I’d be interested to know how they plan to kill him, if they ever plan to (which is not anytime soon).
Well, one more episode to go. Let’s hope it doesn’t let us down.
(and makes the show look like it wants us to think that Daphne was the rebound girl who helped Matt to see that his true love was his wife all along.)
Go back and watch 320. Daphne tells Matt that he deserves the real thing. The show set the Janice thing up then. I’m not saying a few lines of dialogue would hurt (or even - ideally - a scene where Matt and Janice visit Daphne’s grave and he says ‘She saved me’), but given how fast Matt fell in ‘love’ with Daphne, and how he never got closure with Janice, I don’t see it being unfeasible that they’d get back together.
Great review, by the way.
Great review, Otto, look forward to these every week.
I REALLY wish this episode had ended with Danko killing Sylar for good, and then next week’s episode could be all about shutting down the operation, especially with the President seriously irked at Nathan. Instead, from the preview that was shown after the episode, it seems like it will all be about stopping Sylar. I’m guessing (did not read any spoilers) that Danko will be dead in the first few minutes of the next episode, and from there on the entire episode will be Sylar-centric. (Hasn’t this been done before? In Volume 3, they killed Arthur in the second-to-last episode, then in the last episode, Sylar takes Primatech hostage and everyone has to work together to stop him. And of course, in Season 1, Linderman was killed off in the second-to-last episode, and the finale ended with everyone working together to stop Sylar).
It seems likes a recurring theme in season/volume finales to have the villian killed off early, and then the finale is about all the heroes working together to stop Sylar. Of course, Season 2 was different, but the writers like to forget about that season, and who knows, if there wasn’t the writers strike, maybe Adam would have been in the second-to-last episode and the finale would have been all about Sylar.
So… they turned Sylar into Smeagol?
Episode 3.14 finally aired here, last night. At 10:30pm. Which I found out about by casually scanning the tv guide at 9:55pm. No advertising, no write-up, no advance warning, nothing. Rather sad for a show that used to command the 8:30 or 9:30 timeslot, frequent promotion, and high visibility as part of the station’s format. Still, it is better than being dumped in the 11:30pm end-of-ratings-season timeslot - you don’t want to see what passes for after-midnight ads down here, you really don’t.
As pointless as it would be to keep Sylar around any longer, it is Matt I most want to see killed off and removed from the show. My reasoning? Well… see everything you’ve said, previously and above, about Daphne, Usutu’s instant painting lessons, Dumb As Parkman, Diamonds are Janice’s best friend, etc.
I hope they bring back Molly next season. Though the way the writing is going, Jackie Wilcox would not surprise me.
Oh, geez. Otto, I was going to knee-jerk email you right after the episode aired, but then I knew it would be pointless because you would say exactly the same things in the actual review that I was going to say, and I was right.
I’m going to make things short and simple. David Lawrence XVII was on here, so I’m guessing that there are some people on the “Heroes” staff who DO read these blogs.
I have been one of the show’s most devoted followers and fans since October 2006. I was the first person ever to comment on an Otto Berkeley blog (I think that’s true). I’ve defended the show against pretty much everything. While I thought the fatalistic implications of Isaac’s death were unfortunate, I reconciled myself to them and moved on. While I thought that ditching a love-interest character in the non-existent future and then having the main character whose love-interest she was completely and totally forget about her was shabby and insulting in the extreme, Tim Kring told us that it was leapfrogged and I eventually (kind of) accepted that. Because there were always moments of brilliance to compensate, I moved past all of those things and more.
But I’m drawing the line here, “Heroes.” If this season finale is not the last for the character of Sylar–the last for GOOD, not just the last with Zach Quinto playing him–then I’m done with your show for good and I will not come back for even one episode of S5. I mean that. Seriously, to take away the last vulnerability–to make him truly omnipotent in every way? I don’t know of any religion that believes in an ominopotent Satan. It’s just wrong.
Ando’s “power augmentation” has been woefully unexplored in the volume. Seems to me that this might prove very useful in the final battle, particularly if it involves Baby Matt “turning off” Sylar’s powers–seems like he might need an And-boost to hold that, similar to the Haitian having trouble holding off Arthur in V3. It’s an idea. Who knows if they used it. Then again, it might be as simple as “Buffy-takes-out-The-Judge-with-a-rocket-launcher.” We’ll see.
And dear God, why can’t this show do romance correctly? It’s truly a great mystery. We KNOW that Bryan Fuller can write a beautiful love story. So I just don’t buy Kring’s argument that it can never happen on this show. The character they need to do it with is Claire–with a better personality than West and more staying power than Alex. It’s my challenge, show–I know you can do it. That is, if you do the RIGHT thing and kill Sylar for good and I end up still watching.
Even Kring has to know by now that the character’s usefulness and effectiveness–the villain “shelf life” if you will–has reached well beyond the expiration date. It’s time, Tim. I hope you realized this when you were shooting the episode. I really do, btecause I don’t want to put my vow into practice. It will break my heart. But I have to stick to it. I’ll try to stop by on Monday. Excellent work, Otto. I’d even go so far as to say it may be your best work of ANY review to date.
(But I’m drawing the line here, “Heroes.” If this season finale is not the last for the character of Sylar–the last for GOOD, not just the last with Zach Quinto playing him–then I’m done with your show for good and I will not come back for even one episode of S5. I mean that. Seriously, to take away the last vulnerability–to make him truly omnipotent in every way? I don’t know of any religion that believes in an ominopotent Satan. It’s just wrong.)
So you’ll be around for S4, but then leave as soon as S5 comes around?
^ ^ Aw, you beat me to it!
We’re glad to have you around for at least one more season, Kelly.
You know I meant S4–make that V5, that’s what I was thinking, but I am serious about giving up if the character isn’t done.
“I am serious about giving up if the character isn’t done.”
^ ^ While I’m not at quitting the show level yet, I’ll be very irritated if I have to watch a season with Sylar being the primary focus.
I just realized that they have managed to make Sylar both the protagonist and the antagonist of the show…well no use for everyone else now I suppose :/
Aye - I can’t blame you really, KellyH. While Sylar isn’t a show-killer for me, (I find him very amusing) I’d trade him for Adam/DL and Isaac in a heartbeat.
Well, you said it for me Otto, “It almost goes without saying that this is an hour in which Heroes becomes The Sylar Show”
And I wasn’t buying it. I can’t really see what they can do with Sylar anymore. Zach Quinto’s great, his dialogue is usually pretty solid, it’s just that Sylar has become stale. What’s even worse — SPIOLER ALERT — is that Kring has already confirmed that the lead-in to season 4 will be Sylar shapeshifting into someone. Huh, wonder who that could be? Certainly it’s not the most OBVIOUS character that everyone has been predicting since the beginning of volume 4. [/sarcasm] — End of Spoilers.
Anyway, it irks me that one of my top 5 favorite characters (Nathan) will probably have to pay the ultimate price for the show’s Sylar fetish. I think they’ve worked themselves into a huge hole with Sylar. Sylar was never meant to be this big a character, in fact the original plan was to kill him at the end of season 1. He became such a fan favorite however, they decided to keep him. But in season 2, as clearly evidenced by the Goo Twins plotline, they had no idea what to do with him. I’m also not sure they knew what to do with him in volume 3 either, with the whole Sylar-Petrelli-Nope!-Not-Really story compounded with the “redemption” arc that went almost nowhere, it seemed to me like they were keeping him as a fan service. And if some of these fan theories are true about Matt switching Nathan and Sylar’s minds and putting them in the opposite bodies are true then…wow, I hope to God Fuller doesn’t let them do that. When Sylar pulled that knife out of his head? I. Was. MAD.
Moving on to Daphne. Really, Matt? REALLY? It’s kind of like they’re trying to pull a Caitlin with her, or in other words, trying to forget she existed. What makes it worse is that people actually like Daphne. I get that he wants to be there for Lil’ Matt, it’s actually nice that there’s a father that actaully wants to be there for his child (looks at Nathan, Arthur, and Maury) but that doesn’t mean you have to get all hot for your ex right away.
Great review as always Otto
Spot on! Sylar should have gone the evolutionary way of the Dodo after Peter and Niki gave him the big smack down and Hiro impaled him with the sword.
Exaclty! Had they killed Sylar, they would have had a great opprotunity to build up Adam as the new Big Bad. I think it could have worked well, and had they got rid of Sylar sooner rather than later, his fanbase would have not of grown so large, thus preventing the huge drop in ratings they will expeirience if they kill him now. Sadly, Sylar’s fanbase is so vast at this point killing him would probably end up in a ratings downslide, which is proably why he’s still here. All comes back to that very deep hole I was mentioning. I thought (hoped) that maybe Zach Quinto’s growing movie career would force Sylar to leave — but instead of actually having the guts to kill him, they decide to make this pseudo-FYG thing to keep the door open for Sylar’s return.
Sorry, seems all I do lately is Sylar rant, but I still like reading the reviews
Yes, the problem is that, parallel to the character, the storyline has mushroomed completely out of control. Even if they didn’t kill Sylar in 1.23, they could’ve weakened him or limited him somehow, making for effective, occasional “shocking reappearances” that would be exciting, and not detract from the main storyline. “Buffy TVS” was always good about having a new Big Bad every season, while still maintaining overarching continuity. With Sylar’s growing omnipotence, it’s impossible to see any of the other villains in the show (even the US gov’t) as truly serious threats, because Sylar eventually trumps them all, and worms his way into almost every storyline. As Otto says, it’’s just gotten repetitive and dull.
I, too, was hoping Quinto’s movie career would prompt him to leave the show, even though I like the actor. I think it would be better for the show in both the long and short term. I hope you’re wrong about his fan base being so large that it would so negatively affect ratings if he did leave. I’m concerned about the spoilers I’ve read regarding the finale. On the one hand, it sounds very exciting, and like a terrific set-up for V5, but the way the seem to be planning on dealing with Sylar is worrying.
Ah well, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Leigh, if that spoiler is true, I’m considering not even watching the finale. Have you ever gone to the addictive TV tropes wiki? There are several tropes that describe Sylar, none of them positive: Karma Houdini, Villain Sue (although they actually used that one more for Arthur), Draco in Leather Pants…it’s really disgusting.
The bottom line is that a show called “Heroes” shouldn’t be so obsessed with its villain. How do we count the ways…he should have NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER have been given Claire’s power. It made the entire Season 1 arc and its most familiar catchphrase essentially pointless. And then they kept finding ways to make the omnipotence greater and greater and greater…
Is Kring freakin’ serious??? Killing off a deep, complex character like Nathan so that they can keep up their desperate need to keep Sylar on the show.
If anybody can confirm for me that this spoiler is true, then please let me know so that I don’t have to bother wasting my time on the finale. I have reached the Sylar saturation breaking point and I just can’t take it any more, no matter how much I care about the other characters. Kring has to be sent a message that keeping Sylar is costing the show its most devoted fans if he really believes that he has to keep Sylar to retain them.
Can someone please confirm for me that this spoiler is true? If so, I won’t even bother wasting my time on the finale and I’m already done. Kring needs to be sent a strong message about this, and I’d hope that other fans would make the same commitment that I am. I’d rather devote my energies to the “Save Chuck” cause than deal with Sylar anymore.
The biggest mistake was giving him Claire’s power WITHOUT KILLING HER. Kind of made the entire Season 1 arc and its most recognizable catchphrase utterly pointless. Sylar trumps Adam. Sylar trumps Arthur. Sylar trumps Danko. I just. can’t. take. it. ANYMORE! I mean, SERIOUSLY??? Killing off one of the show’s most complex and interesting characters for the sake of their Sylar fix? Going back to the FYG scenario in order to further emphasize that life is hopeless and no heroic effort has any point? They already came dangerously close to that when they killed Isaac and they almost lost me then. I only have so much patience with shows, even shows I love. If this is the case, then there was no bright side to the demise of “Pushing Daisies.” And that may be the saddest thing of all.
Anybody ever visit the TV tropes website (very addictive)? Sylar fits several tropes, none of them positive: Karma Houdini, Villain Sue (although they used that one more for Arthur), Draco in Leather Pants, and worst of all, The Wesley (which is worse than The Scrappy–that was Maya).
Bottom line is that a show called “Heroes” should not be so OBSESSED (shout out to Ali Larter) with its villain. How they could think this is OK is beyond me. I don’t even want to watch the finale now. And I probably won’t.
Sorry, thought my first post got lost in the ether and double posted. But if it emphasizes my rant, fine.
KellyH,
“If anybody can confirm for me that this spoiler is true, then please let me know…”
As far as I know, it hasn’t been confirmed. When it comes to this part of the finale, it’s all still speculation.
“Is Kring freakin’ serious??? Killing off a deep, complex character like Nathan so that they can keep up their desperate need to keep Sylar on the show.”
Perhaps the show planned to kill Nathan off one way or another at the end of this volume, and perhaps this simply dovetailed with plans to align the story with “FYG.” I’m not saying I like it any more than you do, but from TPTB’s perspective, perhaps it’s less a case of “We’re killing off Nathan so Sylar can stick around,” and more “We’re killing off Nathan because he was responsible for capturing, incarcerating or killing everyone in this volume, and Sylar just happens to be the way we’re going to do it.”
Raissa,
“You’ve summed it up. On to next week.”
Ouch! Was anything in this one working for you? I wonder if this is an example of Susan’s point a few weeks back — that if all of your favorite characters take a back seat so other characters can take center stage, there’s very little to appeal to you. There was at least a little HRG …
Michael, thank you. I was on the fence about giving Nathan the Dumb As Award. He needed to get to D.C. as fast as he could, so he might have decided he didn’t have time to be weighed down carrying anyone. And he didn’t want to put anyone else in danger while he fixed his own mess.
I justified the gun by figuring that even if Nathan didn’t get a chance to take the shot, Sylar wouldn’t risk exposing himself by getting shot and regenerating in front of a group of government officials. We know that Sylar can “suppress” the regeneration (as per 3.22), but Nathan didn’t know that. So Nathan’s thinking might have been, “I’ll point a gun at Sylar-posing-as-me, tell him to come quietly, he’ll agree because he needs to cover his ass, and everyone will think he’s just a crazy guy with a mask.” Maybe?
alvaro, thank you, and fair point about this episode. I agree, the acting was outstanding. It was mostly little things that made it only an OK episode for me.
Steve, thank you, and valid point about the show’s track record when it comes to meaningful romance. Also, “Princess What’s-Her-Face”? Love that.
Will H.,
“I’m amazed that it’s almost the end of the Volume and you still haven’t named anyone for the “Dumb As…” award.”
There’s still time! And yes, Hiro does seem to be the leading candidate. I’d still say that in spite of two less-than-stellar episodes in a row (at least IMHO), this has been a very good volume for consistent character development and well-crafted story arcs, which is why everyone’s behavior has made sense for the most part. That could still change, though.
“Back in your review for “How to Stop an Exploding Man,” you even said that Hiro would be the character most remembered from the show. It’s so sad to see such a great character degraded as he has been this season.”
Sad but true, and thankee for the shout-out to an older review. I’d still say there’s some truth to that statement. If it isn’t Hiro who’s the face of the show, it’s got to be Claire or … Sylar. Which I guess explains why Sylar’s now unkillable.
“If not him, I’d kind of like for Danko’s team to get the Dumb As award. You’ve already given them two or three awards and they haven’t improved much since then.”
I did consider giving Sylar a Dumb As Award for putting his feet up in Danko’s office with the door wide open. Then I remembered how Sylar walked right through the building without anyone recognizing him in 3.21, and it didn’t seem so dumb anymore. Those Building 26 agents aren’t the brightest bunch, are they?
Hayley, thank you. I didn’t enjoy the episode quite as much as you, but there were definitely parts of it that worked for me. I know what you mean about the aaargh! reaction to the Sylar/Virginia scenes. It was a great concept and it was brilliantly realized, but it lacked any new substance to pull us in. That’s why I feel this episode demonstrates that the show has mined the character’s arc for all it’s worth. When they have a great concept and great performances and still struggle to say anything new about the character at the center of it all, I think there’s definitely a problem.
“And like I always say, I hope somebody finally kills Mohinder…”
Poor Mohinder. I didn’t mind him in this episode; small doses, I guess.
Sheindie, thank you. I’m glad you liked the review even when you enjoyed the episode so much more than I did. (I am curious about one thing, and I hope it doesn’t come out sounding wrong: how much disagreement is there between Sarmy members when it comes to the character? If members don’t enjoy an episode like this, is it considered heresy to you guys?) Thanks as always for reading.
Susan, thank you.
“This episode was not very interesting to me. Oh, poor Sylar. Doesn’t know who he is. Boo hoo. Why couldn’t his pity party have been slightly reduced to allow us a proper reconciliation of the Petrelli Brothers?”
This was pretty much my feeling. It’s not that the episode was dull, but I didn’t think the character deserved this much focus so close to the finale. I love how the show has streamlined its episodes to concentrate on only a few story threads in each episode, but in the season’s penultimate episode, I wonder if it might have been better to waive that approach and range more widely.
Looking at the way the volume has been structured, though, it does seem like every character has had at least one episode to shine: HRG had 3.17, Claire had 3.18 and 3.19, Matt and Tracy had 3.20, and Peter, Nathan and Angela had 3.21. The only exceptions seem to be Mohinder — who’s had close to NOTHING to work with all volume — and Sylar — who got the central storyline in 3.19 AND 3.24.
“I also can’t help but wonder if they didn’t insist on such small volumes, they could have included Danko’s backstory.”
Very interesting point. I can’t imagine how Volumes Three and Four could have been merged, but if Volume Four had been a 23-episode arc the way Volume One was, chances are the villain would have been fleshed out a lot more than he was here. Maybe Danko would have become unkillable too.
Re: the end of Daphne: “Oh well, just another case of wasted potential.”
See, THAT’S what bugs me so much about Matt “getting over her” and going back to Janice so quickly. I probably wouldn’t have minded if it was Simone or Yaeko whose role had been effaced (which they pretty much were). But I really liked Daphne, I saw potential for her as a series regular, and to see her not only killed off but removed from continuity altogether seems like flipping the bird at the character. There must have been a more thoughtful way to achieve the same outcome. As Ian suggested, even one line — Matt: “There was someone else, and she saved me” — would have been something.
Kevin, thanks, and you’re definitely not in the minority when it comes to wishing that Sylar’s story had come to an end in 1.23. It seems to be one of the most divisive topics, though. As someone mentioned in the comments thread last week, you’ll get a different reaction to the character depending on which part of the web you visit. I think it’s perhaps an instance when fan response is a b**ch to gauge for TPTBs, because the reaction to the character and to this episode seems to be pretty evenly split.
Your post perfectly illustrates how repetitive Sylar’s character arc has become over the seasons, and how transparent that repetition has become. At this point, I’m not sure how many times TPTBs can continue to take the same approach before even devoted fans of the character become weary of it. I also really like the point you made about how Sylar’s screen time could have been allocated to another character; if Hiro had gotten anywhere near this much attention, he might have turned out a completely different character.
“Throughout this entire volume, who’s been the character who has been out there fighting the good fight, saving people big and small, and risking his own life and freedom, and even, apparently, leaving his home and family behind? Micah.”
Word. And I can’t help finding it sad that so much of this story was relegated to Offscreenville.
Clarkie, thank you. With Sylar’s clothing, I took the implication to be that he’s gotten so good at shapeshifting that it now extends to attire as well as physiology. It’s a cop-out, but a convenient one, I guess; as Pas said, watching him change outfits in a closet would have gotten a little tedious.
Re: Sylar’s weak spot — yeah, exactly what you said. If Claire could find it in 3.13, and if Sylar happened to find Peter’s weak spot in 1.19, and if Rapist!Jock Brody happened to find Claire’s weak spot in 1.03, how on earth could Danko miss it now? If it isn’t connected to the shapeshifting (as Michael suggested upthread), it’s just another example of the show bending statistical probability in Sylar’s favor.
Re: the Danko/Sylar dynamic: yeah, I agree, that part of the episode was intriguing. I really like the point you made about Sylar and Danko being on an equal footing. I hadn’t noticed that, but you’re right. Danko was probably planning to kill Sylar all along, but it’s got to be a happy coincidence for him that he found one member of the group he despises to (sorta) confide in, and who, paradoxically, actually seemed to get him.
Pas, thanks. I think we’re of one mind when it comes to this episode — good, but not great. I love the point you made about the Volume Three characters vanishing from the story. Only exceptions I could come up with were Doyle (webisodes) and (POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT!) Tracy. I wonder if that’s evidence of the show responding to Season Two criticism and taking it too far? They heard us complain that there were too many new characters and decided not to hold onto any new characters at all. Hopefully that will change next season.
Ian,
“Go back and watch 320. Daphne tells Matt that he deserves the real thing. The show set the Janice thing up then.”
Point taken, but Matt shouldn’t have taken Daphne’s words so literally! When Daphne told Matt to let her go, I can’t believe she meant, “Let me go — and go straight back to your ex-wife and forget about me.” I also can’t believe that Matt thought that was what she meant. If he did, he’s an idiot.
I agree, it wasn’t unfeasible, but I think it was too abrupt and it was too soon. It didn’t feel to me like the show had earned this step in the plot. Next volume, with a chyron that reads “X Months Later,” sure. But not so soon after Daphne died and Matt was willing to kill to avenge her.
Jason, thank you. I’m with you on the call to take a few of the characters out of the show this week. They wiped a whole bunch of characters off the board in 1.22, and at this point, leading into the finale, they’re still playing with all of them. Which makes me wonder how much material the show will need to condense into one hour next week. Perhaps thinning the herd in this episode would have made their lives easier. And I agree, they’ll almost certainly kill Danko off within the first few scenes next week.
Myrystyr, I’m so glad you’re finally getting a chance to see this volume. I hope we haven’t ruined it too much for you by giving away the details, but thank you as always for continuing to read and post, even when you hadn’t seen the episodes.
Yes, the show did indeed borrow from LotR, but it turned out to be a pretty nifty homage, so I don’t think we can complain.
KellyH,
“Oh, geez. Otto, I was going to knee-jerk email you right after the episode aired, but then I knew it would be pointless because you would say exactly the same things in the actual review that I was going to say, and I was right.”
Hah! Yeah, I think we’re on the same page on this occasion. My loathing for the character doesn’t run quite as deep as yours, but after this week, I’m closer to the He-Must-Be-Stopped! camp than the Why-Not-Keep-Him-Around-A-Little-Longer? camp. I hope the show doesn’t lose you, but I have to say, I just can’t see them killing him off.
“Excellent work, Otto. I’d even go so far as to say it may be your best work of ANY review to date.”
Thanks, man. I appreciate that.
Otto - I have to apologise for how blunt the ‘go back and watch 320′ was. Especially as you watch these eps more times than I do (and pick up on more.)
As for Sylar… yeah, this ep should’ve gone to Mohinder. He’s in dire need of some direction. I can’t see him being written off the show this Volume, so I’m hoping and praying that, in Volume V, they start writing for him better. You get the sense that Sendhil must be craving a ‘Cold Snap’ style episode for Mohinder - something that goes back to his great his work was when he was confronting Sylar in S1.
Raissa,
Ouch! Was anything in this one working for you? I wonder if this is an example of Susan’s point a few weeks back — that if all of your favorite characters take a back seat so other characters can take center stage, there’s very little to appeal to you. There was at least a little HRG …
That’s part of it. I’m also generally bored and already looking forward to S4. I’ve enjoyed pieces of S3 — performances, themes — but the whole has left me sort of blah, even when well executed. I’m looking forward to Fuller being there from the ground up next year, to the on-line stuff over the hiatus, and to writing fanfic.
Re: Micah — While he may be distanced from them, I refuse to believe that Nana and Monica aren’t two of Rebel’s agents. After all, Monica and Nana are Micah’s only adult guardians, and there are powers in that family, even if we’ve never seen Nana’s. They have a double stake in how the kid gets from A to B, even if off-screen. It’s an internal logic thing. Frankly, given the internal logic, it should’ve been Nana with the cryo-kenesis. Nichelle would’ve brought a graceful, steely gravitas to the parking garage scene that would have augmented the CGI in itself, and not just served it, as Ali’s performance did, solid as it was.
Ian,
“I have to apologise for how blunt the ‘go back and watch 320′ was…”
No worries, buddy. I took it exactly as you meant it.
I disagree completely. I thought this week’s episode was very good. I enjoyed the Sylar/Danko scenes. Matt’s scenes were unbearable considering he forgot all about Daphne. Micah was amazing as always. 5/5 for me!
I thought maybe Sylar’s power has evolved, due to him shifting into other people.
Oh and Otto, I forgot to thank you for clearing up that Agent Taub thing. I thought I was going crazy; I was sure I’d never seen that bit that they slid into the “Previously On…” segment.
I didn’t even know the review was up!
As a dedicated Sylar fan, I was crazy about this episode, but torn.
Positives:
Quinto’s performance…wow. I’ve said it before, this man earns his paycheck every week. Even if his character is overused and doesn’t relate to the current plot, you can’t say that he’s not one of the best actors on the show. This was really what I hoped Shades of Gray would be.
Return of Micah. Ditching Noah Grey-Cabey was a mistake on the writers. He’s proven to be a great asset, and he’s growing up to be a real character on the show, and not just some kid that tags along. His scenes with Sylar were excellent. And I know this is minor, but I was so glad when he actually left the apartment instead of hanging around with Sylar and his “mom.” Someone who actually made a smart decision. I would’ve fled, too!
The “fullness” of the episode. When you think about it, a lot happened in this hour. We saw Micah, Sylar went to Washington, he gained a new power, Matt found his wife, Hiro & Ando went to Bldg 26… it was eventful without a lot of action. But in my opinion, that was not a bad thing.
The conversation between Sylar & Danko at the office. I guess I’m in the minority here, but that was one of the best scenes. It’s easy to say that Sylar was whining about his life, but I didn’t see it that way; it seemed like genuine fear over what was happening to him. Sylar is the type of guy who asserts control in his life, and when he’s shapeshifting in his sleep, he’s clearly out of control. For once, this had nothing to do with that ridiculous “hunger,” he’s literally becoming someone else and he can’t stop it. That’s why those little details had such an impact; the color of his eyes, the extra tooth in his mouth. They were just smaller things adding up to something more. And this isn’t something he can blame his parents for. It’s an ability he willingly stole for himself.
Sylar’s expression after he realized he’d shapeshifted into his mother. You knew that he knew he was officially going bonkers.
Negatives:
Hiro’s douchey behavior. Wow, I am really sick of him. Something I think we forget is that Hiro is such a kid at heart. Very idealistic, black and white beliefs (good guy/bad guy) and such a follower of the comic book idealogy. The problem is that his childlike attitude becomes immature and gets in the way of what really needs to be done. Despite that Ando is really his equal, Hiro doesn’t want to admit it; he’s like a kid who doesn’t want to share his toys, and considering the heroism he’s capable of, it’s getting sickening. I didn’t feel bad for him when he nearly passed out.
Hiro & Ando’s bitchy bickering. Ok, we get it. They’re the married couple of the show. Please stop that now.
Danko stabbing Sylar, only because the audience knew it was crap the moment it happened. Sylar is so powerful now, any attempt to kill him rings as false, despite the times he actually should have been dead. What did the stabbing prove? That he’s still powerful? That “spot on the back of the head” doesn’t really exist? Danko just has poor aim? What was the point?
Micah thinking Sylar was a good guy. Whatever gave him that impression? I know he’s young and naive, but he did see Sylar try to kill everyone at Kirby Plaza, right? And it felt too convenient that he knew all those personal things about Sylar. Height and weight I can see, but how would he know about Sylar’s feelings? Could he get all that from a computer? Bugged me.
Matt trying to mack on his ex with Daphne barely dead. Matt is such a family man and wants to be loved and appreciated, but that was cold, and this is coming from someone who hated the Matt/Daphne storyline. Seriously, writers…can we give him at least a few months before he hooks up with someone else? That was just tacky.
Neutral…
I’m torn on Sylar shapeshifting into his mother, only because it got a little confusing. But I am glad they didn’t literally bring her back from the dead. Quinto & Greene were flawless in the execution, but the scenes were weird as hell.
I’m not completely biased. When it comes to Sylar’s future on the show, I can see the sense in officially killing him off, but I admit, I wouldn’t like it. I know that people are really sick of him being so mopey and all about self-discovery, but the truth is, what other direction can they take him? Botched as it’s been, the past 2 seasons have been an attempt on the part of TPTB to make Sylar more of a person, as opposed to the cold hearted serial killer. Even if they improve his character, I doubt he’ll ever go back to being what he was in the first season. For one thing, had Sylar just stayed that way, he would have been boring. You can only slice so many heads and take so many powers before viewers are all “Ok, what now?” So they have the Sylar-as-a-Petrelli plot, which could have worked, but they f*cked it up. Tried getting him a girlfriend, and they messed that up, too. Didn’t work as a Company Man, definitely won’t work as an FBI agent. Plus, his plots are too removed from the rest of the story and come across as boring and repetitive. My point is, if he does become Nathan, and given that the next volume is called Redemption, it makes sense if this is where they take him.
This show needs a strong villain, and besides Adam, I really don’t know of any. Arthur was boring, Alice was psycho, and the level 5 people were just weak.
But B.—a show called “HEROES” can’t be so obsessed with its villain to the point of abandoning ALL conventions of dealing with a villain in serial television. Nobody learned a thing from Joss, I guess.
But Sylar HASN’T developed as a character, despite all the introspection and mopey self-discovery. He ALWAYS goes back to being a psychotic brain-eater sucking up the power of weaker characters. It has ALREADY reached the point where that cliche is boring.
The show DOES need a strong villain, but Sylar’s story has just played out, IMO.
I normally just read these things, but I have to say that with all the whining people are doing about Sylar, whine about the recycled plots of the so-called “heroes.” How many times can Claire be mad at Noah, then happy with Noah, then mad at Noah again? How many more times is Hiro going to babble on about “saving the world” and “a hero’s destiny is…?” How many more Ali Larter’s are there going to be?
I was a fan of Sylar since he first appeared because I’m a big “villain” lover. Is he being overused…unfortunately, yes, but tell the writer’s to do something new with their “heroes”… Otherwise, change the title to “I Am Sylar” and keep it focused on him because honestly, with the way things have been going, I would rather watch Sylar’s progression than Peter’s, Claire’s, Hiro’s, etc…
“Sylar HASN’T developed as a character, despite all the introspection and mopey self-discovery.”
Kevin, I disagree that Sylar hasn’t developed. I think it’s just that his development becomes redundant if it always ends with him slicing heads open. I think the fact that Sylar regrets killing Virginia at the same time as cherishing the memory of killing her is evidence of complexity. The fact that Sylar suffers from an inferiority complex and craves a sense of belonging in spite of his near-omnipotence is evidence of complexity.
Sylar has become a complex character. If he hadn’t, I think we’d *all* be tearing our hair out and wanting him off the show by now. The problem is it means squat when it always leads back to the same place — which is to say, Sylar always goes back to ripping people’s heads open and being eeevil. I think it’s that formula which you mention that undermines the character development, and it’s why the show has hit a brick wall with the character’s arc.
Leigh,
“I thought (hoped) that maybe Zach Quinto’s growing movie career would force Sylar to leave…”
Kevin,
“…the problem is that, parallel to the character, the storyline has mushroomed completely out of control…”
I wonder whether the character’s prominence throughout this season was intended to “compensate” for his absence in the back half of Season Two because of Trek. But if that’s the explanation for the show forcefeeding us so much Sylar, you’d think they would have reworked the character arc after we lost the Sylar-lite second half of Season Two.
Just a thought on B.’s point about us needing a strong villain: if the show did introduce a completely new villain next season, how inclined would we be to compare that new villain to Sylar? I think this is the pickle the show’s in, because as overused a character as Sylar might have become, he’s raised the bar when it comes to compelling and “complex” villains. If they try to give witty one-liners to a new villain, I imagine we’ll end up saying, “Oh, Sylar wouldn’t have said that, he’d have said this…”, and no matter how creative a way the show finds for the new villain to terrorize the mains, I can see us saying, “Oh, Sylar would have done this so much better…” Which ties in with Leigh’s point, because I don’t think we would have been in that position if the show had killed him off sooner. It could be that introducing a new villain — no matter how compelling — will inevitably invite unfavorable comparisons.
B., I really like the point you made about Micah becoming a character in his own right instead of “just some kid that tags along.” It seems like that’s a recurring pattern on the show: relatives to the main characters — HRG, Angela, Sandra, Micah — end up becoming equally (if not more) popular than the characters they were intended to support and complement.
Re: the Sylar/Danko scene at Building 26: “I guess I’m in the minority here, but that was one of the best scenes. It’s easy to say that Sylar was whining about his life, but I didn’t see it that way; it seemed like genuine fear over what was happening to him.”
True, and point taken. I probably would have found it more effective if it had come either before or instead of that first scene at the garden. To me, it seemed too similar a set-up; I kind of said, “Oh, here we go again…” But I agree, it was a nicely done scene, and it illustrated how Sylar’s lust for power and ambition to become someone else have come back to bite him in the ass.
“Danko stabbing Sylar … What was the point?”
To dangle that carrot in front of fans like KellyH and then rip it away from them.
“Micah thinking Sylar was a good guy. Whatever gave him that impression?”
Just a thought: could Micah have hacked into Primatech’s files and surveillance as well as Building 26’s? It’s possible Micah knew about Angela’s moderate success in “controlling” him, and it’s possible he knew about Sylar’s half-successful mission as a Company agent in 3.03. It might have given him the idea that Sylar can be swayed to help people with his abilities under the right circumstances. And Sylar did give Micah a place to stay when he had nowhere to go in this episode. As Angela said in 3.13, Sylar’s “malleable.”
“Angela said in 3.13, Sylar’s “malleable.”” and “weak”… Not sure he apreciated either of those words, but both are true, and he just keeps prooving it ^^ The appropriate way to “control” the “weak”and “malleable” Sylar is the word “special”.
It’s also worth noting that Micah knew about Monica’s ‘dreams’ in S2. Methinks he can see, to a degree, how people work as well as machines.
As for a new villain - nah. Me and my bro figured it out. Set S4 a year after S3, and have Adam reappear. Create a little mystery about how he showed up again.
Never gonna happen, Ian. The rift between the “Heroes” producers and David Anders was apparently quite acrimonious.
KellyH - oh? First I’ve heard of that. Any chance you could explain?
Sorry if I’m being slow, but I didn’t really get that comment. Were you agreeing with me about Zach Quinto’s movie career forcing him to leave?
But here’s a thought, you know what would make Sylar better? An equal opponent. After down-sizing Peter (which I’m all for, don’t get me wrong) it left no one with any kind conceivable chance against Sylar. Every villain needs an enemy that at least has a hope of defeating them — either by superior smarts (haha, that’s so Peter right?), a special weapon, an ability that trumps something particuarlly useful to the villain, etc.
And whoever said Micah needs more screen time? True dat.
Leigh, you’re not slow, I’m probably just not making much sense.
The way it was told at the time, the gist was that the second half of Season Two (if it hadn’t been derailed by the strike) would have featured very little of Sylar because ZQ was filming Star Trek.
So, I guess the point I’m trying to make is that if an actor’s movie career clashes with the show’s scheduling, the show can work around it when it wants to. The solutions are (a) to kill the character off (Elle), (b) to quietly forget about them (Claude, bar the occasional oblique mention, such as in 3.08), or (c) to give them more screen time than any other character on the show when they’re next available … which might explain why we’ve seen so much of Sylar this season. When people say the show loves Sylar, this is an example of how the show loves him enough to tailor the broader story arc to accommodate the actor’s schedule.
The problem is that Sylar getting astronomic screentime isn’t good for the other characters (even those he didn’t kill), but not for him either (which is demonstrated by some people getting tired of him because he always ends up slicing heads open). To me, he is a complex character, but with no real evolution. Nothing against ZQ though, he’s great as Sylar.
I’m okay with characters killed and not just written off, but it’s how they handled it sometimes that bothered me.
ie. Adam in a coffin was perfect at the end of S2, leaving a window open if they wanted him back. But they brought him back, only for us to see him 5 mins before he got reducted to dust by Arthur (great trade by the way…).
Also, it took Gabriel/Sylar 20 sec to go from holding Elle’s hand to killing her. Yet we didn’t even get a sentence explaining why he did it. And “Sylar is evil” isn’t enough for me :).
I know it’s ridiculous because I know it’s not the case, but some people think they’ve been kicked of the show. And based purely on how they’ve been written of, I understand how they came with that conclusion.
I know about Dracy and Tracy surviving, but just didn’t know if I should talk about spoilers :). The (little) problem I have with V2/V3 characters’ evaporation is that : First, they don’t necessarily have to kill a recurring character to write him/her off, but it happens 9 out of 10 times. Then the “evaporation” factor : it seems like dead/dissapeared people never existed, and more of all, didn’t even slightly influence any main character, which is kinda worst than them just being dead.
That’s what I was waiting for with Daphne’s death. I’m 100% with Matt when he wants to protect his son, and Janice, but the “I want to get to know you” just made me rolleye… It’s just too fast… RIP Daphne
Micah : One thing that bothered me at first in S1 was his overall optimism, before I remembered he was just a kid. But helping Doyle then wanting to help Sylar is a bit too much. There’s a line between protecting “special” people, but helping out serial killers still doesn’t feel right. Maybe it’s just me though.
Sylar ! (I write a lot about him for a character I am getting tired of). I was okay with him surviving, if they came up with something interesting for him, but 3×24 was not (at least not for me). It’s getting same old same old. The real thing that bothers me, is that his arcs, that are going in full circles, eat ALL the screentime. I guess I’ll eventually be okay with the deaths of interesting recurring characters, but not if it gives us more “Sylar has daddy and mommy issues”. Now he is crazy, uninteresting, and can’t die… Woohoo!!!
Mohinder has no interesting storyline in this volume, but at least, he barely appears, which is why he doesn’t bother me.
I just hope the finale isn’t rushed, while they could have spared us this Sylar show and give us a 2 part finale…
I wouldn’t blame KellyH for giving up over Sylar. Personnally, even when the show was at its worst (some episodes in V3, or anything involving Maya in V2), there was always at least one character or a storyline that made me coming back for more. Unfortunately, that was never Sylar. They should just give him a spin-off, which while less interesting than a SuperElder spin-off with a VO from Cristine Rose (”How I met yout (Grand)Father” ? lol) would at least get us rid of him.
Ruined? No… forewarned is forearmed!
Since a second Star Trek rebooted film has apparently been given the greenlight, and most of the actors for it signed three-film deals, it would make sense for ZQ to bow out now to focus on that. Except, I’m getting a weird “we are all Sylar” vibe about next episode and next season.
Something else I’ve noticed: Kring&co seem to have a love of “reality shifts”, to use an old Dungeons & Dragons term. They start developing storylines, lead characters along, then change their minds and drop it. Or change how things work. “We’re not doing that any more” and “We’re doing it like this now instead”. Which is okay if you’re running a D&D game for a group of friends who get together every now and then, as no one minds and everyone’s there to have fun, but for a network show costing millions per episode and with millions of viewers… kind of sloppy, don’t you think?
Anyway… thanks again, and keep up the good work.
Pas, just thinking out loud here, but a thought on this, re: Sylar:
“To me, he is a complex character, but with no real evolution.”
I think this ties in with the point Kevin was making upthread about Sylar’s introspection always ending with psychotic brain-eating. I agree with both of you, but what puzzles me is that this seems like a paradox — that in spite of gaining complexity, the arc fails because it always leads back to where the character started.
I wonder if that could be said for several of the mains, though. Jess (welcome, BTW!) mentioned the Claire/HRG merry-go-round, and Nathan’s gone from jerk to villain to hero to villain to jerk throughout the series. It strikes me as if the only consistent character arcs have been Peter (idealistic dreamer whose ability and family history messed everything up for him, and who’s now just trying to help anyone any way he can), Mohinder (dedicated to studying abilities and screwing up a lot), and Hiro (dork incarnate whose flashes of insight come whenever a family member is involved). The sad part is that two of those three semi-consistent arcs belong to characters who’ve more or less exclusively been defined by comic idiocy (Hiro) and stupidity by ignorance (Mohinder). And those ~*consistent*~ character arcs haven’t led to complex or evolved characters any more than Sylar’s arc has.
What stumps me is that Sylar’s been given more attention than almost anyone; we know more about his background, his motives, his insecurities and his aspirations than any other character on the show. I wonder if it’s exactly that overexposure that caused this backlash towards the character. Or, perhaps, it’s the predictability of the brain-eating M.O. that people have gotten tired of. Or it’s that the show needs to take the character out of the circular routine Kevin mentioned and take him in a direction that doesn’t involve psychotic brain-eating. Or, as KellyH suggested, it’s simply that every villain has a shelf life, and Sylar’s has reached its expiration.
“Nathan’s gone from jerk to villain to hero to villain to jerk throughout the series.”
^ ^ When you put it that way it almost makes me feel guilty for liking such an inconsistent character =/
I really wish Peter would get more development. The writers obviously don’t how to deal with such a powerful hero (they do it fine with villains, but look what has happened to Peter and Hiro). In a way, the writers don’t write straight-up heroes very well, which is pretty ironic, seeing as the title of the show is Heroes. Villain or “morally gray” characters (Sylar, Noah, Angela, Nathan, Doyle, Adam, etc.) are much more liked by the fan base than the “hero” characters (Claire, Hiro, Peter, Matt, etc.). That’s part of the reason I don’t want FYG to happen — it turns all of our *for the most part* morally sound characters into bada**es. Like Future Hiro, Future Peter, Future Matt, or even Future Claire in IABD. Say what you want about Claire being whiny (which I agree with), but one of her positives is that she has a good sense of what’s right and wrong, even if she doesn’t always follow her knowledge very well
I think society in general has been dissuaded from liking heroes. Think about Heroes for instance, everybody’s favorite is probably Sylar, Noah, Adam, Angela or something of the sort. Look at Lost, everybody loves people like Ben and Charles Widmore. The all-around nice guy character is almost seen as “weak” or “boring” in our society. We don’t get Luke Skywalkers very often anymore or even good Harry Potters. Our society is experiencing antihero overload. I’m not saying I’m not guilty — antiheroes have great appeal — it’s just that it seems there’s really no old fashioned good guys that aren’t … stupid.
Let’s not give Ben Linus too much credit - he’s one of the few entertaining parts of Lost. Everything else has been minimalised so that he can shine.
I agree with you that , morally grey characters are more popular, and more compelling. HRG is the perfect example, with a backstory (at least partly) explored. What I liked was how they started from “Anonymous Trenchcoat Guy” with a double life as Daddy Bennet to a morally grey character with his personnal motives, and an evolution from “Company Man” to switching side against the Company for personal reasons, all being possibly tied up. And I sure hope they’re not over with him.
Sylar, on the other hand, was almost always black. What also bugs me is that he isn’t really open to interpretation. Except IABD “How the hell can he have a kid”, I hardly stopped to wonder “why?” because most of it can be answered by “he is evil” or “mommy/daddy issues”. And someone saying “I’m never really gonna change” doesn’t really makes me want to know what he’ll do next.
Also agree on the fact that the “nice” characters are, so far, not as complex than Sylar is.
Nathan, to me, isn’t really inconsistent. After the bomb plot, he mostly flip-floped between what he thought was right, and what WE perceived as obviously right, which seemed more interesting for me than seeing Sylar power-farming. He isn’t the least interesting character, and I somehow wish he isn’t gonna die :(.
Hiro (S1 and 2), Mohinder (S1 and 2) and Peter (S1, V4) had nice arcs but also lame ones (V3 mostly, V4 for H also). It’s kinda hilarious that their idiocy is what made possible the virus (P) and the whole V3 (H,P) arcs (and don’t get me started about SpiderMo and Maaaaya >.<).
Again, it can’t be a good sign for the characterisation of some of the main characters if recurring/peripheral/dead characters interest me more…
Ultimately, the potential is still here for an eventual fourth season, so if it happens, I’ll definitively be back. But, once again, where they take Sylar in S4 is a factor that can, to me, drag an episode down by itself, if it still doesn’t go anyywhere. There’s a chance in that I case I’ll just tolerate/ignore him.
“I agree with you that , morally grey characters are more popular, and more compelling.”
^ ^ I love morally gray characters, I just think it’s a shame that they can’t write “nice” characters without them being a) complete imbeciles or b) not nice at all. Like Claire is SUPPOSED to be nice, and the writers want us to think she’s a hero, it’s just that that message is never in the least conveyed to the audience and all they ever have her do is whine/act immature. Peter is also a complete moron, as evidenced by the imfamous “Why didn’t Peter just phase through the vault?” scenarios. However, the biggest travesty is Hiro. Hiro used to be fun, likable, caring, and one of the few characters to truly embrace his abilities. Now he’s just poor comic relief with reppetitive dialogue to boot. (Seriously, I want to rip out my hair every time Hiro says something is his “destiny” or “part of the hero’s path”)
“He isn’t the least interesting character, and I somehow wish he isn’t gonna die :(”
^ ^ I hope so to. But then again, I’d rather him die than have some of these crazy fan theories come true. Matt switching Nathan’s mind into Sylar’s body and vice versa? That would be…I don’t even know what that would be, but it’s certainly not good, not good at all…
It’s indeed a shame that “nice” characters, specially on a show called Heroes, aren’t as compelling as morally grey ones. But It’s also why I wish some of the recurring characters had a chance to develop. At least they were interesting
Word on Claire.
I definitively miss S1/S2 Hiro, for all the reasons you said. S3 Hiro is the complete opposite, and I personally found 95% of the comic relief they forced into his storyline not fun.
Same with S1 Peter, who was naive, but not completely dumb, opposite to V2/Most of V3. But they took an interesting direction with him in V4, even if the downgrading of his power leaves noone able to fight Sylar.
Like you said, I’d rather see Nathan die than some of that crazy fan theories come true too. Once again, I think Nathan’s death would be too obvious, but I thought the same thing with both deaths clearly shown in “Our Father” promo pics, and we all know how it ended up. (Am I the only one who think they could make a better job with the promo?)
They say they have great storylines coming for all the survivng characters in S4 (if it happens), so I’m hopeful they’ll do it right this time, but they gotta realize it’s the last chance they’ll get from NBC. That’s where I’m counting on Fuller to be the one who “filters” the great ideas from the bad ones that pop up from the mind of the 50 writers (and I still think they’re too much), thing that was obviously missing for a while
I am a huge Sylar fan, but I admit that this episode was a little over-saturated. I keep up with the spoilers and I feel that next season’s villain will not be Sylar in another form. If I followed the spoilers correctly they said there was going to be a new female baddie. I have a feeling that something is going to happen that won’t “kill” Sylar in the typical way. The thing people seem to forget is that since his weakness is emotional and mental that would be the place to hit him. Someone with mind powers like, um, Matt could be very effective in that area. If they keep Sylar around than they would have to do something with him that doesn’t redeem him, but that puts him more in the grey area. I could see other characters accepting that they are stuck with his whinny, egocentric rear end. Of course that won’t happen until after he stops butchering people on a regular basis but I feel that he’s getting to the point where he could stop and it be feasible. Since I have a feeling Peter is going to get all his power’s back than you would also need him around for the balance. Those characters compliment each other and killing Nathan and/or Sylar off would leave something lacking for Peter’s character. I doubt very much though that Sylar will make it to the president. I wouldn’t blame him if he went to find Micah so the kid could help him sort out his sanity since Techno-Kid seems the only one that would put up with him at his moment. (I’m not talking another redemption-arc if done right, although Micah’s price would probably be “You have to be a good person.” Sylar: “If it keeps me from muttering to myself in a straightjacket - I guess…”)
As for the Matt story line, CAN I STRANGLE HIM NOW PLEASE!? I too have a problem with him forgetting Daphne as much as I like to see Janice again. I just hope that they mention her again at the very least once.
I can’t wait to see Nathan and Peter take on Sylar together. Its good that the brothers have relatively made up and I will miss Nathan if it is the case that he is the dead one even though I hated him most of the show. Him and Peter brought something to the show that was necessary. Of course it could also be HRG, and I would miss him too. Actually all the characters I can see dying I would miss. (sigh) That sucks. That means I doubt its going to be Mohinder.
I’m iffy on Tracy’s return since I barely enjoyed her character. I hope they do it right.
If the finale pisses me off to no end I will let the writers on Twitter know how I feel. I suggest you do the same. (@OliverGrigsby likes to talk about their work in the writer’s room without revealing anything. He is happy they are more cohesive for S4. Apparently their were problems.)
Looking forward to next episode.
My issue with Sylar is simply that his ‘redemption’ arc should’ve spanned the whole of S3. He made NO attempts to redeem himself to Mohinder or Maya - both of who, really, he should have tried to. Then his villainy near the end would make sense, when he realised he couldn’t…
Oh, whatever. He’s played out.
Hi, Excellent review Otto.
I Loved this one, i love Sylar, he´s awesome, that can´t be denied by anyone, but you and everyone else is right, his character arc has run its course, i agree that all what happens to him, eventually ends in the same place, it will become boring.
I guess that through this volum, just like Hiro has been the comic relief of the show, Sylar has been the Action Relief of the Show, while pretty much everyone else is feeling conflicted and angry at one another, Sylar has always been the one who uses his powers a lot, kick the soldiers asses, makes people flying with TK, making him a total circular character.
anyway, great review.
What are the Season’s Dumb As totals?
Coming next week!
three things.
first, when sylar was talking about micah’s ability being overkill, I thought that he was just making an excuse to Željko, but was actually being nice to micah and not ripping his head open on purpose - because he’s a nice kid
two, I thought that sylar was just bluffing when he was talking about reading nathan’s history in his coat - could you explain that?
l
ast, my two theories for why sylar didn’t die (they’re flimsy, but it’s all I got)
1) the knife didn’t go in far enough, because when the fake sylar was dead, it was a loooooong spike
2) how syalar was talking about him not coming back together the right way? maybe his shut-down spot has moved
like I said, they’re not plausible, but they’re possible
Hey, Otto! Been reading your reviews for a while, and almost never debate your ratings, but I’d give this episode a 4 out of 5.
Probably helps to say I’m a huge Sylar fan, but I agree that next volume he should either Turn Good or Have Less Presence. This episode reminded me of what you said in your review of “The Hard Part”; that Sylar killing his mom and that whole thingy should have been dealt with at a Company Man level. Well, I am of the opinion that “I Am Sylar” was Sylar’s “Company Man” thing. True, some of the episode was a bit disappointing (Like the clear defiance of the KNIFE IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD! WTH??? They’d better freaking explain that!) but I was totally gripped through all the Sylar scenes.
Okay, so that’s what I have to say. Can’t wait for the finale!!! It should be great.
For the Sylar’s “rebirth/knife did not kill him”…My theory is that being a shapeshifter now, he simply moved the weak spot out of the way. It’s similar to an issue of “Mystique” a few years back, where she moved her organs around to keep from getting killed. This can also be similar to the X-men/X-Factor villain Random, whose body instantly shapeshifts around whatever attacks him.
As for Sylar overstaying his welcome…being an anime nut, i’m guess I’m used to villains being around for long periods of time, overstaying their welcomes. I always saw him as more of a villain… the opposite of Peter Petralli…he’s the rival character, similar to Sasuke/Naruto from Naruto, or Amuro Ray/Char the Red Comet, from Mobile Suit Gundam. I see his destiny/character focus will always be to clash with Peter Petralli on the opposite side of the spectrum. I’m thinking this is the main reason he hasn’t been killed off.
Speaking of killed off…I hope Danko is kept around for a while longer, and let’s get a peek into his backstory!
I am SO tired of this show being panned. I loved this episode. I felt it was back on the A-Game. I really wish I could find a single person who likes a show for what it is and doesn’t feel the need to nitpick. I have no one to talk to about my shows because no one can be satisfied.
Don’t worry, you are not alone!
Sylar does not need to be killed off…………..weakened YES. What needs to happen is the other characters need stop acting like sissified tweety birds. Claire needs to stop feeling sorry for her self and learn how to truly fight back. With Noah being her trained assassin father I would have figured that when the sh*t it the fan and Claire knew where he/the company stood, that he would have put in her in training. As we all know that didn’t happen, so she is still the helpless little girl that tries to be tough and thinks that a sharp eye is enough of a damaging weapon to whom ever she is disappointed with. The other factor that I am SOOOO tired of is that no one is smart enough to realize that Claire’s ability to heal can be the very thing that gives Peter and Hiro there power back and at full strength, that in connection to Ando’s super charge power, there should be no reason that these people are walking around feeling sorry for themselves., with half or no power. With our Heroes at full power then Sylar is no longer the big Chief, and then we can start having some real battle scenes. Like what we saw, when we first saw into the future.
We the people who are watching this are way to smart, for bubble gum stories
I agree, Sylar should be weakened. He’s smart enough to fend for himself without like 26 powers. Peter and Hiro, on the other hand, probably need like 26 powers. Or their old ones! That’s an idea! Though they have become more intelligent as they become less powerful.
I dont get the Sylar hate… or maybe I do, as all the fangirls adore him and the fanboys.. don’t. First off, I just watched all 3 seasons for the first time so I’m new. I don’t know that makes my opinion better or worse but here goes.
Season 1, Zac Quinto took what could have been a cardboard villain and turned him into one of the best TV baddies I’ve seen in quite a while. While the writing was a bit weak in spots Quinto did what he could and made it a winner.
Season 2 was a mess. Yep. No argument here. But that had NOTHING to do with Sylar. He was only in about 4 eps the whole season and I found the eps that he was in to be interesting in that it showed that even without his powers Sylar is a manipulative, vicious, killer. Don’t believe me? Watch closely when he kills Alijandro (sp). He CARVES him then smiles. Well played.
Season 3 sort of made up for the lack of Sylar in Season 2. He was in all but three eps. Was it too much? Well, I like the character so I didn’t have a problem with him being in those eps. Did I like all the writing? No. But that wasnt just in regards to Sylar’s character but to all the characters. The writing team needs to tighten it up and watch the continuity.
I get the feeling sometimes that they don’t quite know how to deal with a nearly ominpotent villain. I think they’re right to give him different facets. I appreciate he’s not one dimensional. But you’re walking a fine line. I think they should take a look at Buffy and what they did with Spike and also at Q from Star Trek. They both had interesting ways of dealing with villains that they wanted to keep around.
In closing I guess what I want to state is this. To blame the Sylar character for the show’s woes is ridiculous. He’s a great character who like the rest of the characters could use some good writing to back him up. BUT frankly, all in all I think Heroes is a pleasant diversion and even with all its flaws is better than half the other BS that is on TV. Zac Quinto does a wonderful job and I hope he’s around for season 4.