DonnaK:  Warnings as per usual….

SPOILERS!!!! SPOILER ALERT!!!! SPOILERS LURK BELOW THIS LINE!!!!!

Okay… I gotta just come out and say it… that was one HELL of a season finale! Heroes… I am sorry I doubted you. That episode was just beautiful, well-planned, gorgeously shot and consistent from beginning to end. The acting was superb, the writing truly inventive. I honestly don’t have a critical problem with anything in the episode - that’s how well-thought out it was. All week the cast and crew of Heroes have been tweeting that this was the best finale they’ve ever had. Well, they were certainly right. I’m not going to rehash the whole plot, but I’m definitely going to go through some thing and talk about the really great stuff and the intriguing questions that are now left for next season. So… the list!

—I have to start this out with a truly sad note. Greg Beeman, the director of last night’s finale and long time producer/director of the show, is leaving Heroes. You can read more about it here at his blog. This is a truly devasting blow for Heroes as Beeman always managed to get the best out of the episodes he shot. He gets performances out of actors you didn’t know they had in them. He always got how the show needed to feel and look. This is a big loss and I know I’m going to miss his hand guiding the Heroes ship along. :(

—First huge round of applause goes to Tim Kring… betcha never thought you’d hear me say that, eh? Well, he did it - he managed to tie up every conceivable loose end, answer as many questions as he could and provide explanations for things we thought could be inconsistencies. I was at first taken aback by what I thought was a re-write when HRG let Claire and Angela out of the car before the road block stop. We even stopped the episode right there to quickly review the scene from last week on Hulu and Kring got it dead-on right. We never did see Claire and Angela in the car… we just assumed they were there. Kring covered that base nicely. And the question about Sylar not dying when the “sweet spot” on his head was punctured was answered just how I thought it might be - Sylar’s shape-shifting abilities allowed him to “move” it. It’s absolutely something Sylar would have thought of and would be able to do. Nicely done and way to keep up some consistency.

—Second huge round of applause is for the actors this week. Every single performer on the show gave this episode their all. I was truly astounded by just how well some of the players were. Hayden Panettierre was superb in the moment when she had to become Sylar-playing-Claire. Masi Oka gave a heartfelt performance as Hiro felt the negative toll using his powers had on him. Greg Grunberg was amazing as Parkman had to decide whether or nor he would agree to wipe Sylar’s mind and make him believe he was truly Nathan. Jack Coleman and Zeljko Ivanek were on fire together for this entire episode, and Quinto was his usual magnetic, magnificent self. But the top acting honors have to go to Christine Rose and Adrian Pasdar. Rose was breathtaking when Nathan died. I could nearly feel her pain right through my screen. But even better than that for me was the final scene with Sylar/Nathan and the palpable fear she had when Sylar/Nathan turned to fix the clock. Rose really lit Heroes on fire this entire season and I’m glad she’s been given such a chance to shine as of late. But… I have to say it… Pasdar stole the show. I really didn’t think Pasdar had this kind of ability in him, I truly didn’t. His transformations between Nathan to Sylar and back again were just note-perfect. His ability to be not-quite-Nathan in the last scene was nothing short of divine. I was honestly dumbstuck by how deftly Pasdar handled the difficulty of his job and I’m just dying to know if he can keep up that level of intense performance next year. Well done EVERYONE!

—Another thing that was sweet for me were Hiro and Ando’s actions when they found the “storage room” where all the people with abilities were being stored. I’ve said this in every past episode where a hero comes across this room… why wouldn’t you free as many people as you could? I never could understand it, and finally this week someone did just what I’d been hoping for. Hiro, ever the true hero - and a smart cookie to boot - freed everyone in the room and sedated all the guards. BRILLIANT. It covered two bases at once - freeing the trapped people (who are now free to help or cause mayhem next season) and getting rid of all the guards once Hiro unfroze time. Loved this so very much.

—I think the thing that upset people the most about the finale for the first season/Volume was that the final boss-fight with Sylar was so anti-climatic and, in the end, didn’t need all the heroes to work together. Well.. we certainly didn’t have that problem this year, now did we? It took an army of heroes, all fighting on different fronts, to take down the big bad guy… which is just the way it should be. I simply loved how they shot the first battle between Peter, Nathan and Sylar through the eyes of Claire who was trapped outside the room. It was shot in true comic-book frames and let you imagine what had happened rather then spend a zillion dollars on effects to show you something that probably could never live up to the mayhem you could imagine yourself. Great idea that was perfectly executed. And I never EVER guessed that Peter had taken Sylar’s shape-shifting ability and was pretending to be the President. I had just assumed that if Peter touched Sylar he would absorb Sylar natural power, not have his pick of all the different powers Sylar had. That was a great move which led to an amazing final showdown in the limo. Finally we got to see that it takes the cooperation of many to achieve the big goals and I loved it.

—We can also now put to rest the question of how strong Parkman truly is. If Parkman has the telepathic juice to completely erase all traces of Sylar from Sylar and make him believe down to his very core that he is Nathan than he’s potentially the strongest hero (outside of Sylar) that exists. That was Professor Xavier (of the X-Men) type of juice Parkman had there. It takes a massive amount of power to wipe someone mind like that, especially one as strong as Sylar’s, and yet he did it without any real difficulty at all. I have already started my prayers to all the gods I can think of that the writers remember this and NEVER EVER MESS WITH MATT’S POWERS AGAIN. We now have a serious benchmark of how strong he really is - let’s keep it that way, okay? Pretty pretty please?

—Gotta talk about Nathan. Holy shit on a shingle… they fucking killed off Nathan Petrelli. What a ballsy move that was! Possibly the best part about that scene was the grin Sylar had on his face as he watched Nathan bleed out - he looked like a kid at Christmas. The death of Nathan brings up several interesting points. First and foremost, how long will this brainwashing hold? Will Nathan need to go back to Parkman for “treatments”, Dollhouse-style? And how will Pasdar be able to handle the ever-shifting ground of being not-quite-Nathan? It’s a demanding acting job and I hope Pasdar will be up to the task. Secondly, having Sylar become Nathan mean we won’t get to see Quinto light up Heroes on a regular basis. Theoretically, we’ll only get to see Quinto in flashbacks or memory hipcups or when Sylar finally realized he’s Sylar and not Nathan. I realize this move was probably done in order to free Quinto up for new acting opportunities, but it doesn’t mean I won’t miss him on the show ever week. Thirdly, I don’t see how this secret can be kept from Peter for too long, as all Peter will have to do is touch Nathan with the intent of absorbing his power and realizing that this cannot be his brother. What will this new betrayal by Angela do to Peter and Angela’s relationship? How much more can Peter really take? And, of course, what hell will Sylar wreak once he finally breaks free? All sorts of interesting things can come of this development, and I can’t wait to see where the writers take things next season.

—One thing I have to be a bit of a grouch about… we never did get a full explanation as to the full identity of Rebel. Yes, it was revealed that Micah was Rebel, but for reasons I’ve gone over again and again here, we know he needs Molly to locate the heroes and a psychic or empath to help guide his actions. We didn’t get any of these answers, but I’m just hoping that they’re saving all of this for next season. If these questions and problem are never addressed you’ll hear me roar to the heavens, but I’m giving everyone the benefit of the doubt and will reserve judgment for next season.

—TRACY’S BACK!!! Not only is she back, she badder than ever. The writers really pulled a Bobby (Iceman from the X-Men) move with her, as Tracy has now realized that her powers aren’t limited to turning what she touches into ice. She can now control all forms of water and even become water itself. This is a play straight out of the old-school X-Men play book, and as a HUGE X-Men fan I heartily approve. Bobby turned out to become one of the strongest superheroes out there, and Tracy has this ability now as well. She could easily become the mega-super bad guy for next season. This was a great move by the Heroes team and a pleasantly unexpected one.

Okay, I think you all get the point. I really, REALLY loved this episode. Jim and I both have said that “An Invisible Thread”, “Cold Snap” and “Shades of Gray” are the new benchmarks for Heroes. The key for the long term success of this show is to keep up the level of quality and consistency of content that exists in those episodes. If the Heroes team can pull together and make every episode as good as those three the show wouldn’t be as good as it was in the first season - it would be better by a long shot. The key is keeping the consistency of both content and quality high. I just hope everyone can pull together and make it happen, and after the glory of last night’s finale I’m really hoping it can happen.

Okay… floor’s open! I want to hear your thoughts on the finale! Comment, criticisms, things I left out… I want them all. Let’s start talking!