Well, I wasn't sure how the season finale could possibly top the episode immediately before it, which contained some of the best psychological horror the series has ever portrayed, and the quick answer is: it didn't.
It's not that this wasn't a dramatic, intense, well-paced episode. It was. But compared to "I Am Sylar", or "Cold Snap" for that matter (the two highlights of volume 4 for me), it just seemed like a bit of a letdown.
I did really enjoy the uncertainty created by the shapeshifting, especially with two characters now being capable of it, and never knowing for certain exactly who was who. I thought that element was used very well.
I think the biggest disappointment was the ending -- I just found the whole Sylar-as-Nathan thing somewhat unconvincing. I could see the political side of it making sense -- the idea that if it was known that a US senator had been murdered by someone with powers, there'd be no stopping the persecution. But Angela Petrelli's reason for going along with it -- sorry, NO. I'm a mother myself, and if my son was murdered, the LAST thing I would ever want was his murderer taking his place because "otherwise he's gone forever". Are you kidding me? He's already gone forever -- how on EARTH is having his killer, even a brainwashed version thereof, replacing him going to make that any better? That just completely rang false to me, and I'm betting whatever writer came up with it was not actually a parent.
Plus there's the inconsistency someone else already noted -- Claire's blood can bring people back from the dead. They even had an empty syringe handy from injecting Sylar with anaesthetic. Why not just give Nathan some of Claire's blood? It seems like they went with the option that seemed more twisted and dramatic at the expense of logic.
However, apart from that, it was a very well-done episode. I didn't mind a few loose ends being left untied -- that's part of what keeps a show going from one season to the next.
Speaking of which, the little taste of volume 5 at the end was interesting, and I was not surprised to see the third triplet make an appearance (no, not "the return of Tracy Strauss" -- did people forget that she and Niki were two of three triplets?). I had been reasonably sure she would ever since Tracy's death -- the only question was whether it would be this season or next. It should be interesting to see -- Tracy and Niki were such different characters, plus with Niki having multiple personalities in the first place, that it's fascinating to see the range of different characters played by the same actress in the same series.
All in all, I thought volume 4 was pretty impressive overall -- definitely much better than 2 or 3, and parts of it rivaled volume 1. I'll be looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.
It's not that this wasn't a dramatic, intense, well-paced episode. It was. But compared to "I Am Sylar", or "Cold Snap" for that matter (the two highlights of volume 4 for me), it just seemed like a bit of a letdown.
I did really enjoy the uncertainty created by the shapeshifting, especially with two characters now being capable of it, and never knowing for certain exactly who was who. I thought that element was used very well.
I think the biggest disappointment was the ending -- I just found the whole Sylar-as-Nathan thing somewhat unconvincing. I could see the political side of it making sense -- the idea that if it was known that a US senator had been murdered by someone with powers, there'd be no stopping the persecution. But Angela Petrelli's reason for going along with it -- sorry, NO. I'm a mother myself, and if my son was murdered, the LAST thing I would ever want was his murderer taking his place because "otherwise he's gone forever". Are you kidding me? He's already gone forever -- how on EARTH is having his killer, even a brainwashed version thereof, replacing him going to make that any better? That just completely rang false to me, and I'm betting whatever writer came up with it was not actually a parent.
Plus there's the inconsistency someone else already noted -- Claire's blood can bring people back from the dead. They even had an empty syringe handy from injecting Sylar with anaesthetic. Why not just give Nathan some of Claire's blood? It seems like they went with the option that seemed more twisted and dramatic at the expense of logic.
However, apart from that, it was a very well-done episode. I didn't mind a few loose ends being left untied -- that's part of what keeps a show going from one season to the next.
Speaking of which, the little taste of volume 5 at the end was interesting, and I was not surprised to see the third triplet make an appearance (no, not "the return of Tracy Strauss" -- did people forget that she and Niki were two of three triplets?). I had been reasonably sure she would ever since Tracy's death -- the only question was whether it would be this season or next. It should be interesting to see -- Tracy and Niki were such different characters, plus with Niki having multiple personalities in the first place, that it's fascinating to see the range of different characters played by the same actress in the same series.
All in all, I thought volume 4 was pretty impressive overall -- definitely much better than 2 or 3, and parts of it rivaled volume 1. I'll be looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.
