As unbelievable as some may feel about this episode, I could see it, but only with some filler. In real life, who could forgive the killer of a loved one?

No mention of Knepper’s exquisite moment when he sees Claire crying after seeing the truth about her father. As she tells him she now knows Noah is a bad guy, that he, Samuel, was right, Knepper smiles and we see a man who believes he has convinced this girl to turn against her own dad. Until she says “you’re my hero” in such a way that denotes sarcasm. Kudos to both Knepper and Hayden.

Wether we get another season or not, I hope they’re not gonna end the season by a “no one saw THAT coming”/shock just for the hell of it. I’ve always thought that a show that neaded to kill a character (or anything else shocking, it’s just an example) just for the shock value were in bad shape, and as much as it’s bashed, I don’t think Heroes is - quality wise - bad, at all. I hope the finale will be a continuation (and a term) of the season. That way, at least we will be able to say that - aside some things that happened during S3 (rolleyes) - the show stayed true to itself over the years.
And unless something cataclismic happens, I’m pretty sure I’ll be hopeing for more tuesday :).

“I’m just saying that hopes for a 5th season are going to be very slim if they don’t do something to make those disenfranchised tv critics take notice.”

See, I know exactly what you mean when you say this because a finale, when it’s done right, can serve as a creative springboard for the following season and leave us clamoring for the next episode. I personally felt that 3.13 was the best example of this: it hinted at what was coming and gave us a tantalizing idea of where the story was going, but at the same time it was shocking enough that it left us wondering what we’d just seen.

But when it comes to making critics take notice, I worry that it’s exactly this knee-jerk response that hurt the show in the past. I mean, killing Nathan in 3.25 was probably the result of someone in the writers’ room saying, “Eh, no one will see it coming — it’ll make people sit up and TAKE NOTICE!” That kind of stunt can backfire, and in that instance it did, which sucks because in the end the Sylathan storyline turned out better than anyone expected.

I think having a shocking development just for the sake of being shocking can lead to the kind of reaction that 3.25 suffered from: a situation where, even after we’d gotten past the outrage, the general “WTF?!” was hanging in the air all summer, and it was a negative “WTF?!” when it should have been a whoa-can’t-wait-to-see-where-THAT-goes! “WTF?!”

Here’s hoping TPTBs strike that balance with this finale. The way it’s been played up as a “simple but momentous” game-changer, I think there’s reason to be upbeat.

Myrystyr, GREAT point about the 3.13 voice-over. It wouldn’t have occurred to me if you hadn’t brought it up, but I agree that it’s very relevant to the storyline now.

Here’s a part of the voice-over that seems to tie into the current story: V.O.-Sylar says, “In each of us is the capacity to decide what drives our actions.” If the aim really is to depict Sylar as repentant, I’ll be curious to see if the show explores what his motivation is; whether it’s really just a case of Sylar wanting to look like a hero and to assuage his guilt, or whether it’s a case of him believing that the people who need him are worth saving and that there are principles worth fighting for. In other words, I wonder whether Sylar’s motives will be portrayed as selfish or altruistic. I’m thinking that at this point they’re very much selfish: “I’ve changed,” “I’ve repented,” “I’m a hero,” etc. But perhaps the plan for Volume Six is to explore how that changes.

“In her initial appearance at the Carnival, when she was taking care of Samuel’s shoulder, she seemed to be seeing him differently…”

OK, valid point. I wonder if that earns the editor a Dumb As Award before Emma, though. Samuel says to Claire, “Maybe [HRG] didn’t pull the trigger last night…” — meaning, presumably, that it’s still the same day as the one when Emma joined the carnival. I’m still inclined to defend Emma for wanting to believe that she’s found a place where she can make use of her medical expertise and feel like she’s part of a community, but if it is less than a day since she was disturbed by Samuel’s raving, I agree that giving him the benefit of the doubt is jarring.

With Emma’s decision to join the carnival, I’m thinking it’s two things: firstly the rejection letter from the medical school, because Emma probably started to wonder if she’d be working in the filing room for the rest of her life; secondly Peter, because although she probably felt she had to kick him out of her apartment, it must have been upsetting for her. Based on the first scene we saw her in 4.03 — the organized apartment, the cat, the regimented routine — I think the implication is that Emma led a very solitary life. And based on that, having to tell her one friend to get out of her apartment and saying “goodbye” to him the way she did, it must have made her want to get as far away from her life as she could.

Compare/contrast Sylar’s voice-over to episode 3.13 with this episode’s redemption. As I recall, ZQ was directed to deliver the lines as if from a distance, having gained perspective…

Charlie can be rescued by Ando super-charging Edgar (again, see 3.13), bringing her to Hiro’s bedside.

If we don’t get a new season but Heroes does continue in some other format, such as a comic book, I won’t be following it. Why? Because I want to watch a television series about “ordinary people who discover they have extraordinary abilities” - when it first screens, and then again in a video marathon when my father comes round for dinner.

Also, if we do get a fifth season, I am considering not following the online graphic novels anymore. Why? Again, because I want to watch a television series - and don’t get to see additional content, like webisodes, unless/until they are on the DVDs. So I hope all the story that we need to follow the story actually gets put in the televised episodes.

Thanks again for your reviews, and may we see many more of them!

It would be nice to find out more about that, but I doubt they will have a chance to follow up on it. Another thing would be Samuel seeing about Nathan’s death. Will he use that with Peter somehow?

I get what you’re saying, Otto, but seeing as there is an actor on the show with direct ties to Haiti, it would have been nice to see something about it.

How about Peter warning her that Samuel’s not a good guy? Shouldn’t that factor into what Emma knows too? Of course, I haven’t been completely sold on the fact that it was Peter smashing the cello that drove Emma to the Carnival. There must have been a missing/cut scene.