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Heroes 1.20 - "Five Years Gone"

Heroes 1.20 - "Five Years Gone"
Original Airdate: May 7th, 2007

I went into this episode with feelings that were decidedly mixed. Yes, yes, I know -- don’t judge stuff before you’ve actually watched it, lest you come off as one of those supremely irritating fankids who will tell you why the Transformers movie is bound to suck based purely on the latest batch of unexciting production stills.

But I was just not into the whole idea of Heroes doing a "possible future," alternate reality-ish episode in its very first season. Something about that prospect struck me as just a wee bit wanky and fanfic-esque and "look what we can doooooooo!" But, well, I was wrong, because this episode actually gives us said possible future for a very clear, important reason and throws in a few twists along the way. In other words, it’s not just an excuse to show Claire in a mousy wig and Bennet with some new, non-horn-rimmed glasses (though both of those things do happen, I guess to show us that this possible future is especially bad).

We pick up about where we left off, with Present Hiro and Ando meeting Future Hiro. In short order, we learn the following things: Nathan is now president, and kind of jerky; Mo and Matt are both working for him, and Mo suddenly wears rather fetching glasses; Niki-Jessica is a stripper living in Vegas and dating scar-faced Peter; Claire is a waitress with a fianc�; Micah and Ando are both dead; and Bennet has a secret program that helps on-the-run Heroes hide their powers. Why are these Heroes on the run? Because of the aforementioned jerky President Petrelli. And all of this happens because Hiro didn’t kill Sylar in the past!

Sylar is thought to be the cause of the massive, New York-set explosion we keep hearing so much about, but we later learn that it was actually Peter. And then we learn that actually, actually, President Petrelli is Sylar (he absorbed Candice’s master-of-disguise party trick after killing her). It’s pretty awesome and crazy and I did not suspect this twist at all, though I really should have, considering just how toolish Nathan acts throughout the entire hour.

Everything ends in an exceptionally cool blaze of glory, with Sylar and Peter facing off, just like we keep wanting them to, and Future Hiro dying and Present Hiro realizing that he really does have to kill Sylar. I love the clarity of this, of Present Hiro realizing his ultimate fate, his part in the growing mythology of this universe. And I’m surprised at just how much the possible fates of these various characters resonated, and how these fates are neatly communicated in quick, effective little bits: Matt looking at the drawing from his son, Bennet’s strained interaction with Claire, Niki’s world-weary bitterness as she converses with Peter.

In fact, this is probably the first episode I can think of that uses almost all of Heroes’ talented ensemble effectively, that winds them together into something that actually looks like�well, an ensemble, rather than a series of tenuously connected pieces. Bravo, keep it coming, and please know that I’ll try not to pre-judge any more eppys before I actually see them (and I think the Transformers movie looks kind of sweet).

iTunes Links:

Heroes - Series
Heroes - Season 1
This episode - "Five Years Gone"


Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He’s been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.

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