“The Fifth Step” marks the breaking point for the fourth season. Often times, and especially with this show, we get chunks of the show presented while the writers gauge the reaction and try and work on the show in a new format, more to go with what the fans want. Of course, Heroes fans are some of the worst fans in the world in that half of them love it and half of them hate it. There really is no easy balance to hit. I am stuck perpetually in the middle, although right now it looks like I’m leaning more towards hate it to be honest. But enough with my meandering. Thoughts on the episode after the cut!
Oh, Heroes. How the mighty have fallen. I’ve heard rumors that NBC is thinking of pulling the plug on this show, and after this “break finale,” one can easily see why. Let’s look back on what we’ve had in the past, shall we? The first ever break of Heroes featured the capturing of Sylar, something we’d all wanted to see for the entirety of the show, as well as a new phrase: “Are you on the list?” What list was that, we wondered. The next break came after we met Linderman, and all the pieces were set for the finale. After that, we had Hiro sent back in time and meeting Takezo Kensei. Sweet. Season 2 aired in full before finishing with Sylar getting his powers and Nathan getting shot. Season 3 part 1 ended with a list of powers being given to the president, and part 2 ended with a mysterious murderer (though we all knew who did it). What did we get at the end of this episode? Nothing. And that’s not an understatement.
As I mentioned, a lot of things were building up to this episode. We all knew there’d be a break, so we assumed there’d be some kind of confrontation that made this episode worth while to watch. I unfortunately have to report that there was nothing of the sort and, to be honest, I’m not sure if I’ll watch beyond this point. If I do, I certainly don’t think I can write about it. The season had a great start, and since that start we’ve had one episode worth really writing about. Everything after that merely just “happened.” I’m almost embarrassed to call myself a Heroes fan at this point because there’s nothing really to be a fan of.
That’s extremely unfortunate though. There is a lot of potential in the show. As I’ve said time and time again, Samuel makes for a great character. He’s charismatic and oddly dark, and now that we flat out know for a fact that he a true blue villain, there’s a reason to follow his exploits. But what else do you have besides him? Sylar is still alive, unfortunately, most of the heroes are just sort of missing (where is Hiro exactly?), people are just appearing at random places (oh, hey Ando, nice of you to join us five seconds prior to the fade out, when did you leave Japan?), and all of it is entirely nonsensical. In fact, the episode has no real conflict. It mostly centers around two things – Claire deciding to join the carnival, and Peter not being able to let go of Nathan (no pun intended by the end of the episode, of course). Well, great. We are left with ultimately no insight into the greater mystery, and now we have to wait several months before anything is maybe resolved? You’re not LOST, Heroes. It’s not easy to buy this BS from you.
Of course, I should point out that the episode did have one redeeming factor. Out of the blue, Sylar attacks Peter in a secluded area, but all of a sudden he can’t do anything to him. Why? Because at some point (we don’t know when, of course), Peter decided he was going to take the Haitian’s powers. We thought he had Nathan’s, but nope! He got himself a deus ex machina! So what does he do? He beats the tar out of Sylar and nails him to a freaking board. It was brutal for Peter, but it was awesome. See? This is what Heroes needs to do! Break the mold, guys! This is the one moment of the episode where I REALLY paid attention. In fact, for a minute there, I thought Pete would drive a nail through his skull, effectively killing Sylar for the time being. It ended poorly, of course, with Nathan being brought out, “dying,” and then Sylar winking and walking away.
Continued belowAnd that brings me to my last point about the show – Nathan’s death. This is the fourth time he has died. He has “died” at the end of EVERY SEASON. No joke. So as he falls to his death in slow motion with sad music being played, did I care? Not one bit. Do I suspect anyone did? No. This was ultimately the most drawn out and most boring death of all time in the history of the show. It was just pointless. In fact, if I were a betting man, I’d bet that we somehow see Nathan to some extent when the show comes back. I don’t want to see him back, but will he appear as Peter’s spiritual guide? Maybe. How about extended flashbacks? Sure, why not. Nathan literally means nothing to anyone anymore. He’s a boring character who made bad decisions, became unlikable, and has died too often.
This leads me to my close – Heroes started out several years ago with amazing promise. It managed to pull in comic fans and non-comic fans alike in what is essentially just a story out of a comic book. While it isn’t an adaptation of any one thing in particular, it still kind of is. You had comic writers working on the show, you had characters mimicking comic characters (this episode featured Multiple Man!), and all in all you had a show worth watching. What exists today? No thanks. I will be hard pressed to tune in when the show comes back. There is just nothing to care about anymore. The show keeps trying to move forward, but there’s nothing there. It’s just a shell of it’s former self, and after this review, I can’t recommend you tune in when it comes back.
You can quote me on this: it will quite literally take a full blown miracle, an act of God, to make this show fully watchable again.
Sorry, Heroes season 1-era.
