Heroes: Ending Volume Two

Published: December 4, 2007 at 08:10 PM GMT
Last Updated: December 4, 2007 at 08:10 PM GMT

By Lisa LaValle

NBC called it a finale, but I prefer to think of it as just the last chapter of Episode Two, or the final episode of 2007 (what can I say, I’m optimistic). However you spin it, last night’s episode of Heroes was pretty crazy. Someone died (but then came back to life), someone else died (and I hope he comes back to life), someone is almost probably dead in a fire, someone ran off with a vaccine, someone potentially saved 93 percent of the human race, and someone’s buried alive. Oh, and someone’s conspiring with someone and I’m totally mad because I thought she was actually a good guy!

Phew. Let me fill in some of those blanks.

Someone #1 is Maya. She tries to get on Mohinder’s good side by cooking him breakfast, but Mo is not about to break bread with Sylar. Sylar has the virus and wants the vaccine, and Maya helps by showing she needs the virus if Mohinder wants Molly’s tears to stay clear.

Off to Isaac Mendez’s studio! I must have missed something (or just forgot) because I was surprised to see that this was where Mohinder’s lab was… and under Company surveillance, of course.

Elle gets benched by Bob, gets the truth from Mr. Bennet about the testing her father allowed on her when she was little, and then sets out to win back his affections. Seeing Sylar in Mohinder’s lab, she goes off to save the day. She arrives just in time–Sylar has just shot Maya (yay! No more weird tear-sucking face!), but Mohinder injected her with Claire’s blood (boo) and she’s healing.

Elle zaps Sylar before he can really kill anybody, but he makes off with the antidote. Kristen Bell perfectly delivers the lines, “Sylar’s gone. My dad’s gonna kill me!” just as though she took the car without asking and totally hit a tree! When Mohinder reminds her that she just saved their lives, she peps up again, with a “Really? Cool.” She sure knows how to play messed up daddy’s girl to a T.

Through the magic of exposition, we learn that Parkman found Victoria Pratt’s dead body with Adam Monroe’s signature picture, along with Peter and Adam’s fingerprints all over the scene. Though this was a little too blatantly explanatory, I’m glad we didn’t have to actually see Parkman go up there; it would have been boring and it’s much more fun to see him fly with Nathan. I love it when those two pair up. After getting some information from Angela (Adam is bad news; the virus is in Odessa; if Peter acts up, you’re allowed to kill him), Nathan and Parkman join the others at Primatech.

But first, Peter vs. Hiro. Though it wasn’t a fight to the death (and we wouldn’t have wanted that anyway), I did like the clever use of each hero’s powers in this scene. Peter used a little electricity, a little telekinesis, and Hiro knew just when to pop out of frame. It just floors me when our heroes show they have mastered their powers. Even though they were against each other, I was so proud of them.

Peter eventually knocks Hiro out, and he and Adam go on a pretty awesome rampage down the halls of Primatech on their way to the virus vault. Peter calls Adam out on killing Hiro’s father. Adam claims he did it because Kaito was keeping the virus–if he had it, why didn’t he destroy it?

Hmm, not so sure I believe that one, Mr. I Wanted to Wipe Out the Human Race in 1977.

Peter uses his nosebleed power to open the safe, and Hiro arrives, with Parkman and Nathan soon to follow (how great was it to hear Hiro exclaim, “Flying man!” again?!). Parkman and Peter have a think-off about who’s on the right side. Eventually, Hiro teleports Adam out of the vault, and Peter is able to stop the virus test tube from shattering on the ground. On Nathan and Parkman’s advice, he quietly nukes in between his hands, and saves the human race. Not bad work.

So now what? Time for a press conference! Publicity stunts must run in the family, because Nathan has the same idea as Claire–let’s take our abilities public to expose the Company. Mr. Bennet surprises Claire but makes her promise to keep her powers under wraps, as he’s turned himself over to the Company in exchange for his family’s safety. Nathan, on the other hand, is ready for some brain washing. He has Parkman prepare the press for his message.

The last five minutes (of the year? Of the season? EVER? Please, producers, just give the writers the money they deserve):

Niki and Micah had been on a mission to save Monica, who was about to get burned alive, all for trying to get some comic books back. Man, these thugs are serious. Niki runs into the burning building to save her…but doesn’t make it out.

To Ando’s surprise, Hiro shows up at work. Adam is in a place “where he can never hurt anyone again”–buried alive, in the same cemetery as Hiro’s parents. Nice one, Hiro. Why bother killing someone with the ability to live forever? It’s much better to torture him for eternity.

Nathan and Peter really missed each other (aww) and Nathan begins his speech. He lost his way, he’s seen the world through newly humbled eyes, there are ordinary people who are capable of extraordinary things, he’s not afraid anymore. He has the ability to…get shot in the chest twice! Nathan goes down and Peter can’t do anything but hold him and look helpless as we watch the shape of his unknown assassin leave the room.

Angela Petrelli, just when I thought you were on our side, you go and turn the tables once more. She has a mysterious phone conversation as she watches her oldest son get shot on live television: “I know, it was unavoidable…You do know that you’ve now opened Pandora’s box.” Yet again, the lines of good and evil are blurred.

Finally, we get a sneak peek of Volume Three: Villains. Sylar is sitting on the sidewalk, shooting up with Claire’s blood. He focuses, reaches out, and moves an empty can of spinach (of all things) with his mind. He oh-so-creepily declares, “I’m back.”

My immediate thought is: Will Peter remember that Claire and Adam have the same power, and seek her out to help bring Nathan back to life? I really truly do not want Nathan to be dead; he’s been redeemed from his sketchy activity last season and he ties so many of the heroes together.

Also, did Micah really just lose both of his parents within a month of each other? That’s no good. Who was Angela on the phone with? Bob? Who shot Nathan?

My first thought was Sylar, because he did have a gun with him when he ran out of Isaac’s studio, but if we’re to believe Volume Three begins at the same moment Volume Two ended, he looked too weak to have walked with such confidence out of the press room. The shot of the assassin was reminiscent of early season one Sylar, with the dark clothes and baseball cap (I think I saw a baseball cap; correct me if I’m wrong). Either way, I simply don’t want Nathan to be dead, and I won’t believe it unless I see a funeral.

Overall, in spite of a slow and rocky start, I think this volume certainly brought up some serious stuff to chew on, namely the notion that heroes aren’t either all bad or all good. Even superheroes don’t know who to trust all the time, and it’s a constant struggle for them. From the looks of things, we’re going to venture over to the evil side for the next volume. After meeting Sylar, I’m curious to see who else is waiting in the wings.

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