Heroes 1:23 How to stop an exploding man

[hazelk]

It may be selenak’s influence at work but having mulled it over I do believe the finale works best if you think about it as the story of Nathan Petrelli. It makes thematic sense too – this whole first volume has been about people discovering and accepting themselves and Nathan was always the most reluctant to do that. With the exception of Ted Sprague he had the most troublesome initial manifestation of his ability and right up until this final episode he still held to the idea of these strange new powers being at best useless at worst lethal, forces of nature to be healed, suppressed, or collectively risen above.

Other heroes in the episode completed their journeys, Hiro defeated Sylar, Nikki found her strength, Molly found her boogie man, Noah Bennet gave up the secret of his first name but it’s in Nathan that you can see the whole process from fear and denial to hope and acceptance unfold. In his first scene Angela tells him Linderman has died but the show still goes on and she does it magnificently, every touch a precision weapon. That they’ve hit target is confirmed when Peter overhears him thinking

There’s nothing we can do, they’re all going to die.

It’s the next scene that’s the pivotal point and the one where

Save the cheerleader, Save the world

finally comes true. Not as future!Hiro thought because Claire didn’t die and didn’t give her ability to Sylar but because she lived and lived to give her absentee biological father an exasperated teenager’s opinion on the evitability of things. She didn’t do it alone, it was a long process that both Hiro and Peter contributed to and through them all the others one way or another even the dead (really loved the dream/flashback whatever it was with Charles Devreaux) but like Nathan himself give her credit for being the last straw.

The actual last straw was a little too much, couldn’t Nathan just have muttered something about Peter needing a haircut? And then there could have been tea. But at least Sylar was done with and Peter was Dawn. I cried a little and then, whoops we’re in feudal Japan! So it was all good.

Comments

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I must admit to a certain bias, of course, but as you say, I think making Nathan's choice so important was thematically justified for the overall season.

Not as future!Hiro thought because Claire didn’t die and didn’t give her ability to Sylar but because she lived and lived to give her absentee biological father an exasperated teenager’s opinion on the evitability of things.

Which I actually like better. Not dying, not becoming Sylar's victim is essentially a passive thing, and doesn't have anything to do with her being Claire. But being the voice of blistering no-nonsense judgement is something Claire can do because she's herself. (I also loved that he looked back to her one more time before stepping towards Peter.)

I linked my Nathan meta and some post-season 1 finale fanfic at londonkds' journal which I saw you commented on, so you probably don't want/need the links here as well.

Re: Peter as Dawn - the sky getting bright during the explosion made me think of The Gift as well. Though it's interesting that the choices to be made are slightly different (with one common element). In The Gift, Buffy at first seems to have only two - either kill her sister and save the world, or save her sister and doom the world. As she often does, she comes up with a third option, substituting herself for Dawn and saving both the world and Dawn. Nathan's choices are either to believe that the future is inevitable and to allow the explosion to happen as scheduled (with additional incentive of promises that this will result in a leader of the country and country united thing, though Hiro also gave him a warning - and it's important here imo that Hiro doesn't know Future!Nathan was Sylar, because obviously had Nathan known he was about to get killed and replaced by a serial killer, any choice would have been selfish), but would make his brother responsible for the death of millions, let Claire shoot Peter, which might or might not stop the explosion (shooting didn't help when Thompson did it with Ted) but definitely will devastate Claire and, since she'd have to aim for his head and was close enough, would kill Peter for good, or volunteer his own life.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

I still have tremendous trouble with the line "You saved the cheerleader so we could save the world." It's given such import when Nathan says it, and as near as I can figure, it doesn't mean anything!

I suppose if you decide, as you indicate, that it's All About Nathan, then Claire's purpose is to motivate him. But given that my big problem with the show is the way it's all about the white guys, this interpretation does not thrill me.

[bradcpu.livejournal.com]

Nathan was the person about whom my opinions shifted the most while watching S1. He had an arc similar to Noah Bennet's, but in a more intimate, drawn-out way. He's not the man you thought he was... but he's also not the man he thought he was.

In the end, I liked Nathan's arc as much as my favorite characters/stories in the show - Matt, Noah, Ando. And I didn't expect that.