Comments on: 4.19 “Brave New World” (Gallery & Discussion)

By: LisaM

LisaM — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:20:00 +0000

It was rushed and the budget couldn’t meet the demand for a more climactic confrontation. The writers did not give the fans what we wanted and speculated on for months. The comic at nbc.com showed the city being devestated by Samuel, where they couldn’t do that in the episode (not even using stock footage?) What was this push the dirt thing between Samuel and Peter? And why wasn’t Sylar more involved? At least we saw that, even in his redemption, some of that Sylar wit is still there.

Might have benefited from a two hour slot and more SFX.

By: Otto

Otto — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:22:08 +0000

^ ^ That was my assumption too, although I’d be curious to know if there was ever an alternative plan for the Troah vis-a-vis the Lauroah.

By: Derek

Derek — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 03:53:28 +0000

Yeah, the only romances with good chemistry this show has ever given us: Noah/Sandra (now parted,) Niki/Nathan (Niki was trying to set up Nathan for black mail,) and Sylar/Elle (Sylar killed her.) Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, eh?

By: Ian

Ian — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:46:29 +0000

I can see the S1 finale being a letdown (of sorts) after ‘Company Man’ and ‘FYG’, but that surely was the strength of S1. That it could have those huge episodes, and yet still have something to build to. No subsequent season has had two episodes as big as 117 and 120 near the finale. There was an epic feel to S1 that meant, even if the finale didn’t work for people, they still got a dramatic build-up.

S4 harks back to that with these last eps being a giant finale… but I felt S1 did that better. 121 with Sylar was the set-up, 122 was the climax, 123 was the resolution. Perfect structure… up until the ‘Sylar fight.’ I can see why people wouldn’t care so much for that.

It’s a shame, then, that the budget was cut for S4. Maybe they could’ve had a sweeping battle if the ratings hadn’t fallen so badly.

By: Ian

Ian — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:43:08 +0000

Except Otto, it’s not an arc for Eli. He starts evil, then confesses. It’s clearly a whammy of some sort. If we got him being normal, then evil, then confessing it’s an arc. What we got was a good actor playing a supporting role effectively, but not being asked to carry a specific storyline of his own.

I do agree with regards to Matt, mind. But it’s an hour long episode. Restricts what they can do given he wasn’t hugely involved in The Carnival story to begin with.

By: KellyH

KellyH — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:36:45 +0000

But in support of your point, Otto, that’s why I thought a major weakness of the episode was that we didn’t see Matt again after he did whatever it was he did to Eli. I think that Matt needed to be revisited at least one more time, even if it was for just a few seconds.

By: KellyH

KellyH — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:35:04 +0000

On the other hand, Otto, despite the ambiguity of motivation, Eli’s confession DID pack a dramatic wallop, and I thought the ambiguity only slightly diminished it. I’m inclined to ascribe at least part of it to repentance since he seemed terribly remorseful when he did it.

I was wondering more about how Sylar managed to isolate and disable the “original” Eli. That wasn’t quite clear.

By: KellyH

KellyH — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:28:47 +0000

I don’t know, Ian. I still think that the S1 finale was a bit of a letdown from the previous episodes, and in retrospect, left several loose ends that were never resolved, such as the first of Matt’s now two miraculous recoveries from multiple gunshot wounds. I wonder why he never brought THAT up during his time with Sylar?! I’d actually give this episode the palm over the S1 finale because it had a visceral and exciting buildup all the way through and all the resolutions were quite satisfying (except for Tracy just sitting there as a puddle). Samuel’s comeuppance was more emotionally convincing than ANY of the four comeuppances Sylar had at the end of the four previous volumes (this ending can’t be considered a comeuppance).

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with the Sylar resolution here. I would have NEVER thought it possible after the moment he sliced up Elle’s head, but I’ll be damned if they didn’t pull it off. I guess I have to give up ultimatums and threats.

Otto hints at some major faults in the episode, but I really don’t see anything that glaring just yet. Waiting on pins and needles for the review.

By: Otto

Otto — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:34:16 +0000

“They don’t always patronize us. We’re left with A and C, and slot B in ourselves.”

I agree, but when it comes to core elements of the volume, I don’t think we should be put in a position where we’re uncertain about what’s driving the characters. Eli might not have been one of the mains, but he was a key member of the carnival, and the predominant focus of the volume was redemption. At the end of this episode, we have no idea whether Eli’s ~*redemption*~ was driven by (1) a desire to repent or (2) a Parkman Whammy. That’s an important part of his character arc, minor as the character might be. To my mind it’s not clear which of those we’re supposed to infer, and it’s an important enough distinction that I don’t think we should have been asked to “slot” it in.

By: Ian

Ian — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:11:20 +0000

It was ambiguous?

I think we were meant to think he’d be sent after Sylar. But Matthew read his mind, saw what’d been done… and then manipulated him into confessing his sins. The entire nature of his story was misdirection. Seems odd that people didn’t see that, or that they were angry it wasn’t made more obvious… not filling everything in is one of the few things that makes this show good.

They don’t always patronize us. We’re left with A and C, and slot B in ourselves.