Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE)

[Jaron]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

Is the point of this to carry on with the Sylar character but get around the fact that the actor has better things to do?

I'm sure we'll see both actors on the show at some point in the next season. I bet we'll get at least one conversation between "Nathan" and "Sylar" in the same way Sylar was talking to his mom.

 

[JoeZhang]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

Is the point of this to carry on with the Sylar character but get around the fact that the actor has better things to do?

I'm sure we'll see both actors on the show at some point in the next season. I bet we'll get at least one conversation between "Nathan" and "Sylar" in the same way Sylar was talking to his mom.

I would think with a rising profile, you might get what amounts to a series of cameos?

 

[Jaron]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

Yeah, that's true. We probably won't see much of Quinto at all.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

Is the point of this to carry on with the Sylar character but get around the fact that the actor has better things to do?

It's possible, but I think at some point, Quinto will be back as Quinto. It wouldn't make sense otherwise, since his importance is rising. Plus, he makes a cool villain (as Quinto, not as another actor).

 

[Checkmate]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

I don't know. I really don't see him as being a popular Spock. He lacks the deep, intellectual voice Nimoy had. He has the look, sure, but not the voice.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

I don't think we can get our hopes up too much about the new movie. I think it'll be good, but it won't make Quinto an instant celebrity.

 

[Daneel]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

I guess we'll have to wait and see how Quinto does as Spock, although the initial reviews seem to suggest that he does a fine job with it. That's not to say it'll make him an "instant celebrity" but at any rate, if Star Trek is as big a success as it's looking to be, I'm sure the producers of Heroes would be keen to keep Quinto around, even if only for a few episodes. I'd be very surprised if we didn't see Quinto as Sylar in a couple of episodes next season at least.

Oh, and can I just say I love how divisive this episode has been? Some people love it, some people hate it -- there's really no consensus. But I'm liking the fact that it's gotten people worked up, whether in excitement or agitation... I don't think the Heroes threads have been this lively in a while.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

That's the best thing about the episode - it has guts. It reminds me of Farscape, another show with vivid, compelling characters and highly variable writing.

There are two major complaints I've had (other than dumb characters and plot illogic), which is that there's no coherent overall story and the writers are scared to really shake things up and make irreversible changes to the fundamentals of the story and characters. They just stick their toes in the water and pull back.

Now they've jumped in with both feet. I want them to stick to this philosophy and eschew all silly cheats like Claire's magic blood, time travel or visions as plot crutches, and the like. We should feel like anything can happen and anyone can die. They need to risk offending and alienating viewers. The ratings have been dying because of lack of guts - people are bored - so if you're going to lose viewers anyway, do it because you take risks not because you're the video equivalent of sominex.

And they need to get to work on that coherent overall story, too.

 

[Daneel]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

Now they've jumped in with both feet. I want them to stick to this philosophy and eschew all silly cheats like Claire's magic blood, time travel or visions as plot crutches, and the like. We should feel like anything can happen and anyone can die. They need to risk offending and alienating viewers. The ratings have been dying because of lack of guts - people are bored - so if you're going to lose viewers anyway, do it because you take risks not because you're the video equivalent of sominex.

Very much agreed. I certainly don't mind them getting rid of cheats like Claire's blood, time travel, etc. In fact, I welcome it... but I do think they should respect the viewers' intelligence enough to come up with a decent explanation as to why these solutions are no longer usable (I mentioned a few possibilities upthread).

And as for the risk of offending and alienating viewers, I concur with that as well -- it was the same problem that Voyager and Enterprise suffered from -- there was hardly ever any change, it just felt like the same old scenario/dynamics over and over again. They never risked shaking things up, and it really hurt those shows. I'm hoping Heroes can pull itself out of that trap, and this episode suggests they are moving in such a direction.

And they need to get to work on that coherent overall story, too.

Definitely.

 

[Hermiod]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

Now they've jumped in with both feet. I want them to stick to this philosophy and eschew all silly cheats like Claire's magic blood, time travel or visions as plot crutches, and the like. We should feel like anything can happen and anyone can die. They need to risk offending and alienating viewers. The ratings have been dying because of lack of guts - people are bored - so if you're going to lose viewers anyway, do it because you take risks not because you're the video equivalent of sominex.

Just to point out, this whole episode was based on a vision. Angela's still around.

 

[Aragorn]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

Now they've jumped in with both feet. I want them to stick to this philosophy and eschew all silly cheats like Claire's magic blood, time travel or visions as plot crutches, and the like.

Just wait until next season when Matt paints the future WITH Clarie's blood.

 

[D Man]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

Now they've jumped in with both feet. I want them to stick to this philosophy and eschew all silly cheats like Claire's magic blood, time travel or visions as plot crutches, and the like.

Just wait until next season when Matt paints the future WITH Clarie's blood.

Speaking of which, they never got around to explaining the ridiculous idea of Matt painting the future with the help of the mysterious African guy in his head. I guess if that's another thing Fuller decided to jettison, then whatever...but it will remain yet another dropped premise that was stupid when introduced, and even stupider when not explained. Good ol' Heroes.

 

[startrekwatcher]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

That's the best thing about the episode - it has guts.

What guts? Killing off Nathan, who was a plot device in season three and non-existent in season two, then finding a way to essentially keep him around and the actor because they were afraid to get rid of Pasdar and Nathan totally. Which in and of itself isn't anything new for this show since it killed off Ali Larter's Niki and brought her back as Tracy.

You have far more faith in the writers than I do at this stage. I suspect the show will be more of the same as we've gotten recently. They didn't let Peter blow up NY, they didn't let Sylar become President, they didn't get rid of Nathan totally. They are afraid of cleaning house with characters like Suresh, Matt, Hiro, Ando, Claire. This was far from a watershed event episode that the series really needed. It was decent. It was diverting. It was entertaining but it didn't make the characters any more interesting, it didn't put them in any particularly interesting situations where you are desperate to see what happens next and most everything is back to where it was. The Company is back in business. Noah's working for it. Angela's in charge. The government stopped its hunting of them. The President is still the President and not Sylar. Hiro who was warned if he used his power again it would be fatal--did and there was no death and no brain damage.

Just given the show's track record I don't expect much in the way of any lasting fundamental change. Kring will still be the showrunner and Fuller will do what he can as far as input comprarable to Michael Piller did with VOY in the later years. They'll drag the show out until next year and when the rating won't improve they'll end it.

 

[Mr Light]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

I just remembered something, they have "killed" Nathan at the end of every season! First he died in the nuclear explosion up in the air... then he got shot dead by Future-Peter... now he got his throat slit and died but that's okay because there's a copy in Sylar's head... yeesh.

 

[melancholymecha]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

I think they should just run with it next season... have Angela find someone who can reanimate dead bodies revive the Nathan body(we never saw what they did with it) & have him realize he's just a zombie & at the end he sacrifices himself saving someone again. In season 5 they can bring a Nathan back from the past to the future & do it all over again. He'll be the show's Kenny.

my problem with watching tv shows, is that I usually watch them to follow a character Ive become hooked on. So once the character is gone, I lose interest. I know its a terrible way to watch televison, but its just the way I do it.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

my problem with watching tv shows, is that I usually watch them to follow a character Ive become hooked on. So once the character is gone, I lose interest. I know its a terrible way to watch televison, but its just the way I do it.

A lot of people watch shows that way. However, it's a sign of bad writing on the part of the staff if a viewer only invests in one character. That's why everyone freaked out over Trip on ENT when they killed him off so idiotically. A lot of people (me included) were invested in his character more than the others since the writing hadn't been balanced and complex enough for all the characters.

I still say they should have offed Clare. That would have taken major guts, but fawning fanboys needed their perky little booby fix. I don't trust these writers for a minute to create a coherent overall story.

 

[melancholymecha]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

I have that problem with movies too. See my new avatar? I thought Batman Begins was good but I wouldnt watch it again or buy the dvd. But I loved Dark Knight b/c I looooved Harvey Dent & I plan to buy the dvd eventually(Im holding out for a better special edition than the current crappy one) but I might crack & just buy the bare bones edition soon.

I love Underworld & Underworld Evolution for the Micheal & Kraven characters, but havent bothered with the 3rd Underworld movie b/c neither of them are in it...so yeah.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

I've gotta get you hooked on my show, melancholymecha. You'd never want for favorite characters, bromance, or character development again.

 

[DarthPipes]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

I would have offed Mohinder. Claire is actually more useless but Mohinder has been screaming for someone to kill him for a long time.

The more I think about it, the more of a mess I think the finale was. Someone on TWOP mentioned how they were so sick of Angela and Noah making such selfish, stupid decisions. I can't argue with this. Noah can't stop lying and although we can sympathize with Angela, someone should have pointed out that Sylar is not Nathan.

I'd feel sorry for Claire about HRG's lying if I actually gave a damn about Claire. Now we can anticipate more Claire/HRG conflict when she eventually learns the truth.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: Heroes 3x25 "An Invisible Thread" Discuss and Grade (SEASON FINALE

I just remembered something, they have "killed" Nathan at the end of every season! First he died in the nuclear explosion up in the air... then he got shot dead by Future-Peter... now he got his throat slit and died but that's okay because there's a copy in Sylar's head... yeesh.

They killed him more interestingly this time.

Yknow what they need to do, stuff like this: when Claire and Peter realize how Noah and Angela have betrayed them by not telling them the truth about Nathan, they need to cut them off forever, with no hope of reconciliation. Okay maybe Peter will cave in - Angela gave birth to him after all, and he's a pathetic wuss - but Claire's break with Noah needs to be utterly permanent.

Which raises the question, what purpose then does Noah serve? Maybe none. Maybe he needs to die after that, fan favorite or no. The writers need to keep having the guts to make permanent changes that can never be taken back. We loved the Petrelli brothers' relationship but it's gone now - irretrievably broken. The same needs to happen with the Claire Bear thing. A story only moves forward by making it impossible to move back. Anything is better than a show that chases its tail out of gutlessness, which has been Heroes' fundamental flaw since the end of S1.

I would have offed Mohinder. Claire is actually more useless but Mohinder has been screaming for someone to kill him for a long time.

Killing characters because they're lame is itself lame. The gutsy thing is to kill the BEST ones!

The more I think about it, the more of a mess I think the finale was. Someone on TWOP mentioned how they were so sick of Angela and Noah making such selfish, stupid decisions.

Characters can be unpalatable without being bad characters. Do you expect every character to be a paragon of goodness? That sounds like a formula for utter boredom to me.

although we can sympathize with Angela, someone should have pointed out that Sylar is not Nathan.

Oh good LORD, don't you think she knows that?!? The logical reality of Sylar being not Nathan has nothing to do with it. This is being driven by Angela's overwhelming emotional need to have Nathan back because she is a moral coward who cannot accept the pain that reality has inflicted upon her. She is a classic tragic character, and there is nothing wrong with a character like that - they have provided grand drama for thousands of years, since the days of the frakking ancient Greeks.