The Wall (418)

[GateWorld]

HEROES SEASON FOUR THE WALL EPISODE NUMBER - 418 Trapped in a vacant city inside Sylar's mind, Peter and Sylar must work together to escape. Meanwhile, one of Samuel's people uses his ability to reveal Noah's secret past to Claire. Lauren faces Samuel directly. VISIT THE EPISODE GUIDE >

[AVFan]

This episode was boring mostly. The Peter/Sylar part was somewhat interesting, but once again the Claire/HRG storyline bores to death. I like that Sylar probably becomes a hero in the next episode and saves the world, but in all likelyhood, this is going to be the Heroes series finale next week. And I don't see it having a good enough magnitude in order to be a good one.

And where the heck do Hiro/Ando/Suresh/Tracy fit into this? Next week's episode is either going to really wow us, or be really, REALLY bad. I don't see it being good though, tbh.

[the fifth man]

Overall, I thought this was a pretty good episode. Not as much action as I would have liked, especially considering next week is the season finale (I hope not series finale). But still, I did enjoy it.

[Alan Wake]

If this ends up being the series finale, I don't mind it ending with Sylar being the hero.

I wish we could get another season so we could continue seeing him as the hero though.

[boyd22]

I actually enjoyed this episode. I thought the Peter/Sylar interaction was great. I'm glad there finally doing something different with Sylar. The whole walking around killing because i can crap got real old. Let's hope they dont go and undo this change.

[Heaven]

really liked Peter/Sylar, too bad they made it too short

[Replicator Todd]

The Peter/Sylar stuff was great! I loved seeing more of Noah's past, too bad we didn't get to see Claude again. (the invisible guy from Season 1, I thought we were going to see him!) Can't wait for next week! Please let there be a Season 5!

[drake122]

Good episode, almost made me feel like I'm watching S1 again... almost.

[TBA]

The Peter/Sylar stuff was great! I loved seeing more of Noah's past, too bad we didn't get to see Claude again. (the invisible guy from Season 1, I thought we were going to see him!)

What are you talking about? Claude did have a cameo... You just couldn't see him.

Decent episode. Not bad, not great. I quite liked the Peter/Sylar stuff though, but I was worried Peter would just forget about Nathan and instantly befriend Sylar. Turns out they eventually did, it only took him about 9 years

[entil2001]

Perhaps because of the scheduling, which has involved fewer and shorter breaks, this season has seemed to be cut down to the bone. In reality, it is only a few episodes short of the average network television season. It occurs to me that the slower pace has also made it feel like the season is shorter, because in an overall sense, less ground has been covered.

The pace has been a mixed blessing. In many cases, it actually allowed for character exploration, which is one of those things that always fell short in earlier seasons. Some characters motivations have been a lot more defined as a result. On the other hand, many of the characters have already long since worn out their welcome, and what begins as deliberation can devolve into stagnation.

As the penultimate chapter for this season (and quite possibly, the series), this felt a bit like writers’ room navel-gazing. For all the build-up in the previous episode, this seemed to take what could have been five minutes of a typical hour and stretched it to the breaking point. That it largely focused on everything that has been wrong with this season is both appropriate and unfortunate.

I’ll start with the Sylar/Peter plot thread. It appears I was wrong about the body swap that was suggested at the end of the previous episode. Instead, the writers went for the notion that time seems to pass much more quickly in Sylar’s dream-world, thus forcing the two enemies to spend years in isolation. The notion being thus: if Peter can eventually come to terms with Sylar’s professed restored humanity, then Sylar can be redeemed.

In essence, it’s a cheat. It’s a way to skip over the actual hard part of redeeming a character. And maybe we shouldn’t be surprised by that choice; the writers already played at having Sylar abandon his evil ways, and then completely undermined it in the third season. Even taking into account in internal influence of Nathan and Matt on Sylar’s psychological state, Sylar’s tortured character journey makes any attempt at redemption hard to swallow.

At this point, however, it’s still possible for the writers to do this right. They could have Sylar make the effort to do the right thing, realize that his impulses are still overwhelming his desire to change, and sacrifice himself to take down Samuel. It wouldn’t be redemption by any means, but it would give the character a chance to go out on a high note.

Though, to the eternal damnation of the writers, it would also mean that the oft-promised throwdown between Peter and Sylar would be negated by, literally, years of talking it out. And since the writers have done everything to avoid that scenario since the first season finale, the downfall of “Heroes” still traces right back to that decision to soften the ending, let Sylar live, and abandon the original intention of replacing the cast every season to keep the series fresh.

That might have long since eliminated the frustrations with Noah and Claire. Claire’s character arc has been more tolerable this season, if only because it was connected to Samuel’s plot arc, which has been the season’s saving grace. Noah, on the other hand, has been all over the map. Did we really need to tack on more information about how he came to work with the Company? Noah has already lost his edge in several ways, and these flashbacks only serve to further water him down. Instead of a character that embraced a world that is morally gray, Noah is now someone who was led astray by his grief and anger.

Even Samuel’s arc is pointing towards disappointment. I understand the argument that Samuel’s “earthquake” ability, taken to the extremes allowed by focusing the energy of his “family”, would probably be uncomfortable for many viewers in the wake of the tragedy in Haiti. And if the episodes were coming later in the spring, having been written after Haiti’s decimation, I would agree that the changes would be understandable and perhaps even justified.

But that’s not the case. These episodes were already in the can before the Haiti disaster, so it accurately reflects what the writers thought was a good resolution to the plot. They honestly felt that it would be a better payoff to replace a threat to destroy a major city by shaking it to the ground (the logical progression of Samuel’s escalating instability) with the Classical Music Concert of Doom. Apparently Samuel thinks that nothing will strike fear into the hearts of New Yorkers than thousands of people dying because of out-of-tune music. (There’s a joke about American Idol auditions or country/western singers in there somewhere.)

The fact that Emma was introduced very early suggests that the writers had something like this in mind from the start. So as the writers build Samuel up to be more and more powerful, and outright foreshadow that he could destroy cities in the Coyote Sands video and through his destruction of a small town, they know that they will never deliver! It’s the same formula that has plagued “Heroes” in each and every volume: build up the story towards a climax, and then undercut it as severely as possible…and then complain that the criticism from genre fans is unfair.

[wise one]

Not bad episode, peter/sylar story is good, claire i find boring, noah seems the only dangerous person in heroes.

i laughed at the end when that guy who could multiply thought he could kill peter and sylar even finding them was abit strange.

[Inquisitor]

i laughed at the end when that guy who could multiply thought he could kill peter and sylar even finding them was abit strange.

Yeah, I mean, how would Lauren know about them? Peter nor Sylar were in contact with Noah and Noah couldn't have known about the dream.
Unless they have a very accurate fortune teller

I'm thinking Peter will take Eli's (the multiplier) power.

[Aerilon]

A good, solid episode I thought, getting us all nice and ready for the season final (hopefully, that wont be the show final). A few pointers though..

Firstly, Samuel (in his wisdom) has sent 'The Duplication Guy' to deal with both Peter and Sylar; I see a few problems here. Firstly, he has sent him to do battle with someone who has mind control ability, and if that isn't enough, he's sent him to fight two empaths.

Sylar and Peter both get his power, and thats the end of him. I don't truly think the writers / Samuel thought that through all too well. It is also interesting to wonder how exactly, Samuel knew that Peter and Sylar were at Matt's old apartment?

Secondly, Noah and Claire; jumping into this, there are a number of ways they're going to be saved (unless they end up dead). To be saved, Hiro can jump in with his teleportation, then jump out; but he would first need to know their location. Short of jumping through time, I don't think he's going to be able to do that all too well..

The other option(s) are Peter / Syler. If the Duplication bloke makes the mistake of telling Peter about Claire, Peter and Sylar would / could rescue them. This may also then open up a window for Noah and Sylar having a strange trust between them.

Thirdly, a solution to Peter's power. I see a number of options. #1 - Sylar has the ability to 'fix' things, thus he could (essentially) fix Peter's power, giving him his original? #2 - If Peter meets Ando, Ando could (essentially) supercharge him, thus giving Peter the ability to acquire more powers? #3 - Peter could take Sylar's true Empath power, and use it as he pleases; it should be noted that Sylar's empath power is the same as Peter's original one.

If this ends up being the series finale, I don't mind it ending with Sylar being the hero.

I wish we could get another season so we could continue seeing him as the hero though.

I actually enjoyed this episode. I thought the Peter/Sylar interaction was great. I'm glad there finally doing something different with Sylar. The whole walking around killing because i can crap got real old. Let's hope they dont go and undo this change.

I'm with you on this. The last half of this season, they've been building Sylar up as a good guy, and then we've got him spending 'three years' alone with Peter, that experiance alone would be such a waste if they just turn Sylar bad again in a few episodes to come.

Peter has (in a way) forgiven Sylar for the death of Nathan, I wouldn't say he's forgotten, but maybe forgiven. Sylar has it in him now to be a good person, and they (the writers) should use that, if they don't, they've wasted a great oppertunity.

What are you talking about? Claude did have a cameo... You just couldn't see him.

Haha, quoted for truth. He was sat on the left of Noah all along.

Decent episode. Not bad, not great. I quite liked the Peter/Sylar stuff though, but I was worried Peter would just forget about Nathan and instantly befriend Sylar. Turns out they eventually did, it only took him about 9 years

Thought it was 3 years in the end?

That might have long since eliminated the frustrations with Noah and Claire. Claire’s character arc has been more tolerable this season, if only because it was connected to Samuel’s plot arc, which has been the season’s saving grace. Noah, on the other hand, has been all over the map. Did we really need to tack on more information about how he came to work with the Company? Noah has already lost his edge in several ways, and these flashbacks only serve to further water him down. Instead of a character that embraced a world that is morally gray, Noah is now someone who was led astray by his grief and anger.

Whilst it was never needed, I actually enjoyed this part of the episode. Watching how everything (from Noah's life) came together.

The fact that Emma was introduced very early suggests that the writers had something like this in mind from the start. So as the writers build Samuel up to be more and more powerful, and outright foreshadow that he could destroy cities in the Coyote Sands video and through his destruction of a small town, they know that they will never deliver! It’s the same formula that has plagued “Heroes” in each and every volume: build up the story towards a climax, and then undercut it as severely as possible…and then complain that the criticism from genre fans is unfair.

To be honest, as much as they may cutback on the catastrophic ending, if Samuel's plan actually worked, what would be the story for the Heroes? Let New York get ruined, and then kill Samuel? Seems kind of pointless.

I'm thinking Peter will take Eli's (the multiplier) power.

Peter and Sylar maybe? One thing's for sure, in the dreams, we only ever saw Sylar. Makes you wonder if he goes to the carnival with Peter, or goes alone. If alone, it would stand to reason that Peter is back at Parkman's fighting Eli.

I'm also hoping the Edgar gets involved in the final episode, and helps our Heroes fight Samuel. It would be a waste not to use his character, even if he is (unfortunatley) killed off.

In addition, I don't know if that has occured to anyone; but does Hiro still have his ability? He had a tumor removed (a tumor, which grew because of his power use if I'm not mistaken). I figure the two are linked, and it would provide quite a spin if Hiro didn't have his power anymore.

I'm interested in Tracy too. One minute she was sat in a Cafe talking to Samuel, then she was phoned by Lauren for 'help'. Either Noah has put too much trust in Tracy, or Noah has Tracy working undercover. Speaking of Lauren too, how does she escape someone who has the ability to multiply himself? Seriously? haha

[beafly]

Did anyone else just laugh at the doppelganger guy at the end confronting Syler and Peter? What a joke.

[boyd22]

Did anyone else just laugh at the doppelganger guy at the end confronting Syler and Peter? What a joke.

I did. I thought it was pretty foolish on Samuel's part to send someone like Eli after someone who can't die and someone who's been very hard to kill..