The last couple episodes of NBC's Heroes have really been a let-down, with hastily written scripts, ridiculous plot holes and a nagging suspicion that the writers don't really know what they're doing - they're just rushing to the finish line. Hey, I hope I'm proved wrong, but here are some of the many things that don't make sense to me in the last two episodes. Warning! Major geek ramblings and spoilers ahead!
Plot Inconsistencies
How did Sylar become "unfrozen" after Hiro froze time? Seems like this was just used for dramatic effect so people could "jump" as Sylar's eyes darted to see Hiro in time. The only sensible explanation is that Hiro accidentally let all time unfreeze, but why?
Sylar Power Mysteries. How did Sylar disappear before Audrey turned around after arranging the FBI bust of Ted? As far as I know, he doesn't have any power that would let him do this.
Hiro's sword training with his father, Mr. Sulu. This appears to have been done only for dramatic effect to reveal the "coolness" of Hiro's father and to get some sword swinging action in. There are so many things wrong here: Was Hiro supposed to pick up some worthwhile, life-saving skills after swinging practice swords around for an hour? Why is sword-fighting a prerequisite to killing Sylar when you have the ability to stop time? Why not stop time and slip him some poison? Why not stop time and shoot him? Why not teleport him to the moon and leave him there to suffocate? ...
Ando runs off to kill Sylar by himself. This was done only to heighten the dramatic urgency for Hiro to save his friend, but it made no logical sense for Ando to do this. Armed with only a sword and a comic book predicting the future (where he dies), why would Ando just take off after an hour (or whatever) of waiting for Hiro and his Dad to stop whacking practice swords?
Linderman tries to pay Jessica to kill D.L. Why wouldn't Linderman just let D.L. and Jessica/Nikki go get their son instead of trying to pit the two against each other? All they wanted was their son, and Linderman had clearly used Micah for the task he had to do. He could easily steal Micah any time he wants if he ever needed his talents again. Looks like this scene was there to show that Nikki finally regained control and for possibly an exit scene for D.L.
Hiro's future paradox. When Hiro and Ando went into the future, the future was a bleak one where Peter was apparently the bomb, New York had been leveled, Ando killed, future Hiro was a bad-ass fugitive and Sylar (disguised as Nathan) was in the White House. How did that future happen in that way if Hiro and Ando had disappeared from 2007 and arrived in 2012? Was the universe somehow "anticipating" that they'd return to 2007 to try and stop the bomb and fail? If so, how will it be possible for them to stop the bomb this time? I was assuming that Hiro and Ando learn something that helps them stop the explosion by traveling into the future and getting Isaac's comic book. If the universe was "anticipating" their arrival in 2012 and their subsequent departure for 2007, surely it must have anticipated getting ahold of the comic book too?
Further Questions
While not being inconsistencies, plot developments have stirred additional questions:
Who are the good guys? Clearly Linderman is on the side of the crazies, what with trying to blow up New York and all. Sylar looks to be an evil pawn for the crazies. Mama Petrelli seems to be siding with Linderman, yet the Haitian answers to her and appears to be one of the "good guys". Papa Nakamura has also been seen in flashbacks ("Company Man") as working with the company. However, he also appears to be helping Hiro learn how to use a sword to kill Sylar. Has he switched sides?
How is Linderman engineering the explosion? So far, all Linderman has done is arrange for Nathan Petrelli to be elected to Congress. At one time, his company, Primatech, had captured Sylar, but he ended up escaping. Since then, I've not seen one piece of evidence suggesting that Linderman has done anything to manipulate either Sylar or Peter (the only two who can blow up the city) on to a course of action that would lead up to an explosion. Hm, I guess maybe Linderman ordered Thompson to convince Suresh to join Primatech. This was done so that Suresh would cure Molly so they could use Molly's power to locate Sylar/Peter.
Oddly, it was just two weeks ago that I was considering Heroes my favourite new serial drama, having bested Lost. But now, given the last two episodes of both of those shows, I'd say the tables have turned. I'm more looking forward to the season finale of Lost than Heroes.
The writers of Heroes do have a tendency to play fast an loose with continuity when it serves the purposes of the current story. In some ways, I can appreciate that, but they should realize that a show pitched at geeks is a show that needs to get all the details right. Geeks are sticklers for that sort of thing. Personally, I’m still trying to figure out how the characters keep popping around from Texas to Las Vegas to New York almost instantaneously.
Other inconsistencies:
Why doesn’t Peter just stop time in the future and kill sylar instead of battling with the nuke powers????
Why didnt peter just fly on his own without needing nathans help???
Why didnt Noah explain to bergman why he couldnt kill sylar???