Heroes Season Four Episode Eighteen: The Wall.
Regarding that love/hate relationship: Last week’s “The Art of Deception” might have been a good episode (relative to the standards of “Heroes”), but the tiny little scene between Claire and Gretchen, and the decision that Claire made that episode, both left me so frustrated that it was difficult to appreciate the Sylar/Matt storyline.
There are some characters that the writers seem to understand well enough to write consistently: Peter has always been the selfless hero, embracing his abilities because they helped him save other people. Noah is ruthless, but we know that his ultimate goal is always to protect Claire – not really from physical pain, as she is the invincible girl, but from having to live a life in either complete isolation or the gruesome spotlight of a world he knows isn’t going to accept her.
Other characters are all over the place. Sylar could have been at least three different characters over the past seasons: he isn’t just indecisive about who he wants to be (special, powerful, an unapologetic serial killer, the savour of humankind, not lonely, a real boy) – but essentially always written to fulfil some kind of function within the plot, even if he is not at all suited for it (the premise of this season seems to be: wouldn’t it be ironic if Sylar of all people could prevent the end of the world, and would have to team up with the guy whose family he has destroyed?). Kudos to Zachary Quinto for pulling it off anyways, but character consistency is so important to tv shows, and every week, I cringe at the prospect of seeing another “unexpected, shocking turn”.
Claire is an even more troublesome story. “Pass/Fail” was an episode centred around the (once again, ironic) idea that Sylar, the psychopath who cut open Claire’s brain and wanted to turn her into his bride to share eternity with him, would be the one person to help Claire realize what she truly wants. It’s already highly uncomfortable to see an eighteen year old girl being “taught a lesson” by a male serial killer (especially since it involves the PG-friendly version of rape) – but to see her in the very next episode accidentally bring about the potential catastrophe that the show has been steering towards since the first episode (Claire just can’t make decisions for herself! She needs other people to make them for her, because obviously, she never gets it right!), is even more devastating (especially when you try to like her character and base that on the short moments of awesome whenever she does find a way to use her invincibility in an active way).
In “The Art of Deception”, Claire finds out that her dad intends to destroy the Carnival – and decides that she can’t allow this to happen, even though Lauren (who looks at her guilt-stricken because she’s been helping Noah AND is his new girlfriend) explains to her that Samuel caused an entire town to be destroyed. But, Claire thinks to herself, maybe I can talk some sense into him, after all, he created this beautiful, green paradise in the middle of the desert, so he can’t be all bad, right? It was a bit gratifying to see Gretchen react so violently and angry at her decision to return to the carnival and interfere with Noah’s plan (she suggests that Claire might, just for once, go to class with her) – yet completely out of character for Gretchen, who saw Claire off with a suggestion that she at least fill up the tank when she’s done driving her car. I guess that odd moment of Gretchen actually, for once, being anything but understanding and supportive, has been explained away in this episode, but the fact remains that Claire just never makes a decision and sticks to it (when she repeats her lines from “Pass/Fail” that she needs to talk to Noah alone, although Gretchen would clearly like to join her – upon which Gretchen actually pulls away her hand, which, considering how meaningful that gesture was meant to be in the previous episode, was a little bit like a break-up.
The result of Claire going to the carnival and convincing her dad that just shooting Samuel would solve all problems (wouldn’t that have been an anti-climactic series finale?) is a bloodbath: Samuel ceases the opportunity, sends Eli off the shoot into the crowd, kills Lydia in the process, who has grown suspicious of him and was raising resistance among the carnies, and gets to pass off Noah as the common enemy, against whom his people can stand united, although they were ready to go off and take his power with them before. Claire ensures that Samuel is even more firmly in a position of power than he was before (naturally, that’s a “24”ish turn on “Heroes”: the liberal talking is what gets you in trouble, not the assassinations). And Gretchen was right once again, which is now irrelevant because even though Madeline Zima has done a remarkable job with a character that got so little background, I guess her story is now over – and the only thing remaining is a bitter memory of Noah’s, which Samuel decides to share with Claire: after Thanksgiving, when Claire was off alone at the Carnival, Noah visited Gretchen and threatened to Haitian her if she didn’t help him to convince Claire that a normal life is best for her. It was a heartbreaking last scene, especially because this is probably a more shocking reveal about Noah than the fact that he was married before and lost his wife and unborn child to the attack of a special, which prompted a bloody revenge on anyone special and got him the attention of the Company.
In the conversation with Noah, Gretchen seems to understand Claire better than Noah does, arguing that, if he let her, she might be able to decide what’s right for her (the show, of course, argues differently). She also accepts that a normal life is maybe not what she needs.
In other news, Sylar and Peter got stuck in the attic (It’s PEOPLE!) and spent about 12 years there together, trying to work through their differences (symbolized by the act of “breaking through a wall”). I wonder whether Matt was actually unable to take Sylar’s powers from him or just too blinded by revenge to try properly – but I am still trying to work through the idea that he decided to permanently trap him behind a wall in his basement (for eternity, as he can’t die). In the process, Peter convinces Sylar that he is the only person able to stop Emma from bringing about the apocalypse Angela and he have been dreaming about. Oh, and Peter feels that he can’t forgive Sylar because he would lose Nathan (also, compared to “Dollhouse”, the two of them manage to actually change very little in so many years, and are astonishingly sane for being stuck in an empty New York City for such a long time).
So, in short, the situation for next week’s finale:
Peter and Sylar are trying to stop Emma from destroying the world with a cello, as breaking the cello alone apparently didn’t really change anything (also, Emma is at the Carnival). But Eli was sent out by Samuel to stop them.
Claire and Noah are stuck in a trailer buried under the earth. Oxygen is running out. I am sure that they will talk through all their differences.
Lauren has called Tracy (whose been missing for the better part of this season) for help after getting shot herself.
I have no idea what Hiro and Ando will be doing, but Charlie is still stuck somewhere out there.
Samuel wants to come out of the closet. There will be blood. And change, change is BAD, haven't you learned anything from recent events?
Regarding that love/hate relationship: Last week’s “The Art of Deception” might have been a good episode (relative to the standards of “Heroes”), but the tiny little scene between Claire and Gretchen, and the decision that Claire made that episode, both left me so frustrated that it was difficult to appreciate the Sylar/Matt storyline.
There are some characters that the writers seem to understand well enough to write consistently: Peter has always been the selfless hero, embracing his abilities because they helped him save other people. Noah is ruthless, but we know that his ultimate goal is always to protect Claire – not really from physical pain, as she is the invincible girl, but from having to live a life in either complete isolation or the gruesome spotlight of a world he knows isn’t going to accept her.
Other characters are all over the place. Sylar could have been at least three different characters over the past seasons: he isn’t just indecisive about who he wants to be (special, powerful, an unapologetic serial killer, the savour of humankind, not lonely, a real boy) – but essentially always written to fulfil some kind of function within the plot, even if he is not at all suited for it (the premise of this season seems to be: wouldn’t it be ironic if Sylar of all people could prevent the end of the world, and would have to team up with the guy whose family he has destroyed?). Kudos to Zachary Quinto for pulling it off anyways, but character consistency is so important to tv shows, and every week, I cringe at the prospect of seeing another “unexpected, shocking turn”.
Claire is an even more troublesome story. “Pass/Fail” was an episode centred around the (once again, ironic) idea that Sylar, the psychopath who cut open Claire’s brain and wanted to turn her into his bride to share eternity with him, would be the one person to help Claire realize what she truly wants. It’s already highly uncomfortable to see an eighteen year old girl being “taught a lesson” by a male serial killer (especially since it involves the PG-friendly version of rape) – but to see her in the very next episode accidentally bring about the potential catastrophe that the show has been steering towards since the first episode (Claire just can’t make decisions for herself! She needs other people to make them for her, because obviously, she never gets it right!), is even more devastating (especially when you try to like her character and base that on the short moments of awesome whenever she does find a way to use her invincibility in an active way).
In “The Art of Deception”, Claire finds out that her dad intends to destroy the Carnival – and decides that she can’t allow this to happen, even though Lauren (who looks at her guilt-stricken because she’s been helping Noah AND is his new girlfriend) explains to her that Samuel caused an entire town to be destroyed. But, Claire thinks to herself, maybe I can talk some sense into him, after all, he created this beautiful, green paradise in the middle of the desert, so he can’t be all bad, right? It was a bit gratifying to see Gretchen react so violently and angry at her decision to return to the carnival and interfere with Noah’s plan (she suggests that Claire might, just for once, go to class with her) – yet completely out of character for Gretchen, who saw Claire off with a suggestion that she at least fill up the tank when she’s done driving her car. I guess that odd moment of Gretchen actually, for once, being anything but understanding and supportive, has been explained away in this episode, but the fact remains that Claire just never makes a decision and sticks to it (when she repeats her lines from “Pass/Fail” that she needs to talk to Noah alone, although Gretchen would clearly like to join her – upon which Gretchen actually pulls away her hand, which, considering how meaningful that gesture was meant to be in the previous episode, was a little bit like a break-up.
The result of Claire going to the carnival and convincing her dad that just shooting Samuel would solve all problems (wouldn’t that have been an anti-climactic series finale?) is a bloodbath: Samuel ceases the opportunity, sends Eli off the shoot into the crowd, kills Lydia in the process, who has grown suspicious of him and was raising resistance among the carnies, and gets to pass off Noah as the common enemy, against whom his people can stand united, although they were ready to go off and take his power with them before. Claire ensures that Samuel is even more firmly in a position of power than he was before (naturally, that’s a “24”ish turn on “Heroes”: the liberal talking is what gets you in trouble, not the assassinations). And Gretchen was right once again, which is now irrelevant because even though Madeline Zima has done a remarkable job with a character that got so little background, I guess her story is now over – and the only thing remaining is a bitter memory of Noah’s, which Samuel decides to share with Claire: after Thanksgiving, when Claire was off alone at the Carnival, Noah visited Gretchen and threatened to Haitian her if she didn’t help him to convince Claire that a normal life is best for her. It was a heartbreaking last scene, especially because this is probably a more shocking reveal about Noah than the fact that he was married before and lost his wife and unborn child to the attack of a special, which prompted a bloody revenge on anyone special and got him the attention of the Company.
In the conversation with Noah, Gretchen seems to understand Claire better than Noah does, arguing that, if he let her, she might be able to decide what’s right for her (the show, of course, argues differently). She also accepts that a normal life is maybe not what she needs.
Noah: “Do you not see what’s happening? That she is getting involved in something that she clearly doesn’t understand?”Samuel’s logic that Claire realizing Noah was a bad guy would lead her to him is wrong though, because it does not redeem him, it just makes their relationship more complicated. I am still wondering why Samuel said, episodes ago, that he wasn’t after Claire, because now it seems that his entire plan (it’s “coming out of the closet” – oh, aren’t these writers wacky fun?) is centred around her.
Gretchen: “Maybe she wants to understand it?”
Noah: “This isn’t a game. These Carnival people are killers.”
Gretchen: “You don’t think I know that? She needs to be with people like her, and if they’re not good for her, you have to trust her to know the difference.”
Noah: “You have to stop encouraging her, you need to work with me on this Gretchen.
Gretchen: “I want her to be happy.”
Noah: “She is happy, with you, here in College living a normal life.”
Gretchen: “What if that’s not enough for her?”
Noah: “It has to be.”
In other news, Sylar and Peter got stuck in the attic (It’s PEOPLE!) and spent about 12 years there together, trying to work through their differences (symbolized by the act of “breaking through a wall”). I wonder whether Matt was actually unable to take Sylar’s powers from him or just too blinded by revenge to try properly – but I am still trying to work through the idea that he decided to permanently trap him behind a wall in his basement (for eternity, as he can’t die). In the process, Peter convinces Sylar that he is the only person able to stop Emma from bringing about the apocalypse Angela and he have been dreaming about. Oh, and Peter feels that he can’t forgive Sylar because he would lose Nathan (also, compared to “Dollhouse”, the two of them manage to actually change very little in so many years, and are astonishingly sane for being stuck in an empty New York City for such a long time).
So, in short, the situation for next week’s finale:
Peter and Sylar are trying to stop Emma from destroying the world with a cello, as breaking the cello alone apparently didn’t really change anything (also, Emma is at the Carnival). But Eli was sent out by Samuel to stop them.
Claire and Noah are stuck in a trailer buried under the earth. Oxygen is running out. I am sure that they will talk through all their differences.
Lauren has called Tracy (whose been missing for the better part of this season) for help after getting shot herself.
I have no idea what Hiro and Ando will be doing, but Charlie is still stuck somewhere out there.
Samuel wants to come out of the closet. There will be blood. And change, change is BAD, haven't you learned anything from recent events?
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