Heroes - Awfully strange yet strangely familiar.

Heroes Season Four Episode Twelve: The Fifth Stage. 


The fall finale of "Heroes" focused on two storylines: Claire's path, and Nathan's decision to let go. I am curious how the season will manage to bring together Sylar and Samuel, as these two stories have only been connected vaguely - but at least the issues the episode dealt with were the same for both characters. This was all about decisions, good and bad ones, and being willing to let go.

Noah / Lauren

Let's start with the small story that was connected to Claire's: I mentioned in my discussion of "Thanksgiving" how much I enjoy the character of Lauren (Elisabeth Rohm) and what she brings out in Noah. Noah spent entire seasons of this series living a lie, having to keep up a facade for the people he loved. Lauren is someone he can be honest with: she knows about his past, she knows what he has done, and in addition to that, she is gorgeously uncomplicated.

Noah: "It's been along time since I dated. I kind of skipped over the sexual revolution."

Lauren: "Who said anything about sex?"

One theme Noah's story this episode shared with Claire's was the idea of a date gone horribly wrong. Noah and Lauren's story starts out as a date, as she comes to pick him up for the theater - but then he realizes that Claire has taken the compass and we all know Noah's priorities. Lauren understands that, and immediately helps him out - and they make for a great team. Then, one of Samuel's men (and his is literally that: Eli can replicate himself) comes to pick up Noah's files from Primatech, and Lauren goes all Nikita with Noah, but the guy leaves without leaving any permanent damage (he's better at this than Samuel's previous right hand man Edgar, who is now on the run).

Claire / Gretchen / Samuel

Oh Claire. I don't even know where to start with that one. The decision to take her very vulnerable and only friend Gretchen on a road trip to a potentially lethal place was already kind of shady, and it seems like Claire realizes that (standing in front of the Carnival after a 21 hour car trip - but better late than never, right?). She almost decides to turn back, but Gretchen once again resorts to her pushiness and tells her that she needs to do this, and that she will back her up no matter what (her "you'll protect me, won't you" is cute, but Claire's power isn't exactly cut out for protecting other people). Gretchen, of course, has no way of knowing how evil Samuel is, and I doubt that Claire shared that particular piece of information she received from Noah with her, as she doesn't really seem to grasp it herself.

Claire: "You don't have to do this. And now that I think about it, neither do I."

Gretchen: "Claire, wait. I'm here because of you, to support you no matter what. You have to do this."

Claire: "Do I?"

Gretchen: "WE've been on the road for a day. But you've been on this road your whole life, and it 's lead you here. So you have to eat least check it out."

Samuel: "Claire! So glad you could make it."

Samuel has a way of popping up at just the right moment, and he always comes prepared perfectly. As ominous as he might be, he certainly has a very good idea of what makes Claire tick. It's interesting to watch the two girls walk around in the Carnival - while Gretchen gets more and more suspicous at what she sees, Claire starts to really take to it. Luring Claire in is Samuel's masterpiece, and everything she sees on her trip through the Carnival (with Popcorn!) is meant to fit her desires perfectly. Lydia (who has shared her knowledge of Jacob's death with Samuel, but also knows that she is vulnerable because of her daughter) shows her that she wants to be the "invincible girl" - not hide behind normalcy, but actually use her powers. Samuel appeals to Claire's sense of fairness and helping the weak (remember back in season two when she stood up to the Queen Bee of her new school for the sake of a stranger?) - when one of people at the Carnival lets a bully lose at a game and give a giant pink pony to a little cute girl, and when Samuel, upon being confronted for the fraud, turns the other cheek instead of hitting back. While once again Claire's decision making process remains as inexplicable as the inside of René's head, the scenes are persecuted perfectly. The longer Claire and Gretchen stay at the Carnival, the more their perception of what is going on diverges, the greater the physical distance between the two gets. Claire sees someone using their power to help a little girl, Gretchen sees someone ripping off a customer at a game. Claire marvels at how open everyone lives, Gretchen sees that they use their powers for selfish reasons. Finally, someone from Claire's past pops up (the Puppetmaster - who, as she explains to Gretchen, has tried to make her biological mother shoot herself but she got over it? WTF?) and assures her that this is a good place. Gretchen seems to notice that everything that is happening around her is a great play to draw in Claire, but when she asks Samuel what his endgame here is ("it's not fair of you to toy with her emotions like that. She's vulnerable, you know?" - interesting that she chose that word to describe the indestructable girl), he gives exactly the right answer: It's all about love, and there's plenty of that going around at the Carnival, right? (he leaves out the part about revenge though).

Claire was always more willing to take advice from complete strangers than people she knows, and the final ritual that binds her to Samuel is when she gets to use her own powers for good: She stands up to the bully customer, to protect Samuel, and on the way back to the car, while Gretchen gives a little speech about how they are now going to return to University while already knowing that it's over, that Samuel succeeded, she decides to stay for a little while. This is the frustrating thing about Claire: She sometimes has great moments, when she is tough and makes the right decision, but then she loses it completely, forgets all the advice people who have proven to be reliable have given her. It's not as much out of character for her to join the Carnival as it is for Tracy, but this doesn't fit in very well with the Claire we've seen over the past episodes, who was suspicious and, more importantly, sad about having lost a friend. And now she sends Gretchen away, vaguely promising that "they'll see each other on Monday"? As Gretchen drives away, we see the real Samuel, the one that was revealed to in the last episode: the customer didn't get away, and Samuel did not turn the other cheek, but had him killed.

Gretchen: "You need to see for yourself? I get it. I saw your face, Claire. The way you looked at them. Like you belonged. Like you knew them. God, I never had this feeling anywhere in my whole life. I'm happy for you."

We find out that Samuel isn't after Claire. So this complicated scheme is all about taking revenge on Noah, as he promised Becky?

Peter / Nathan / Sylar

At the end of "Thanksgiving", after Sylar opened her head, Angela came to the conclusion that she has lost her son (and tells Peter to go straight to the fifth stage of grief, acceptance). Peter isn't there yet, but he didn't have a couple of months to get used to the idea. Peter is more resourceful when it comes to making plans, and he takes the Haitian's powers for a final confrontation with Sylar: which works, and he goes to work on the now no longer invincible enemy with a stapler gun (also, he can feel pain now) - but when he gets his brother back, the man he sees in front of him is broken, desperately fighting against the monster inside of him, coming to terms with the fact that he can't win this game. The final scene is heartbreaking because Peter so desperately doesn't want to let go, and after weeks of helping strangers, he is now unable to help the only real family he has left. Nathan turns back into Sylar as he falls down the building. We realize that this is the end for the older Petrelli brother, and so does Peter. It's a heartbreaking moment - but revenge is a great motivator.