Heroes Season 2 Finale Review

In a transition from 0 to 120 miles per hour that would have made Steve McQueen dizzy, NBC’s successful supershow, “Heroes” blasted off into the grandiose second season finale without so much as blinking, leaving its audience doing nothing but blinking at their screens trying to determine what just happened; viewers everywhere wondered, “Is that it? Was that the season finale?” Yes. Yes, it was. While fans have no doubt what actually transpired in the way of characters and plots, they were nonetheless bewildered and befuddled, as was I.

The first season literally went out with a bang, and now here’s season two, fallen on its face with a whimper. Somehow, a vial falling through the air so Peter could catch it after the commercial break and nuke it in the palm of his hand was anti-climactic. Somehow, a villain who was barely on the radar managed to be as apathetic to humanity due to immortality as he made the audience to him due to complete insignificance. And for the record, I doubt Sylar would ever bother eating Adam’s brain, because why would one of modern television’s greatest villains waste his time on someone so unworthy and pathetic? Come to think of it, why did the writers waste their time on him?

Oh, that’s right, because NBC wanted a quick fix for a problem the studios couldn’t settle with the writers and forced 22 episodes worth of unfolding story, cooked until well done, into 12 episodes of condensed fraying threads, served medium rare. But wait a minute! “Heroes” woke up on the wrong side of the bed this season; this is something most fans and critics alike can agree on, but it never got the chance to turn our frowns upside down. It’s easy to see how the series would just have been getting good at the halfway point and then slowly won viewers back with the better developments to come.

Of course, if they didn’t radically alter the storyline they already had planned, and merely compressed it, then perhaps another 10 episodes couldn’t have saved the season. But they could have at least gotten us off the Scrambler ride of a rush that made a large amount of fans feel like they were at a bad amusement park. At the very least, Ali Larter’s multiple personality mother may finally be gone (though I liked her last season, I tired of her quickly in this one), Dania Rodriguez’s walking death of a character (and a plotline) is gone, and Milo Ventimiglia’s comics superpower chameleon may be back to his senses.

None of this is important, however, because next season, many fans, such as myself will be pretending that, for the most part, season two never happened, and that hopefully, “Heroes” isn’t going the way of ABC’s “Lost” where it can never be saved the way “Lost” can never be found. Here’s the good news though. One, and only one, good thing came out of the finale (besides an end to this sophomoric effort and attempt at Forrest Gump-ing a way through the fallout from a strike), and that is Sylar. TV’s best bad boy has his powers back. And I trust that my favorite superhero television villain (because let’s face it, “Smallville” has let their once exceptional and unparalleled Lex Luthor fall flat on his face this season) will be back with a vengeance and make all right with the “Heroes” world. It’s almost like a promise to the viewers that the show will be great once again. Sylar is salvation. If for no other reason, because no pretender to his throne that we don’t know from Adam could be.

You’re on notice “Heroes”! Step it up or just plain step down, because fans aren’t going to be able to stand this kind of nonsense a second time around. If only NBC had heeded the obvious warning: save the writers, save the show.