Heroes
Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4
Heroes Season 4- 
Overview
First HalfEpisode 1: Orientation |
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Second HalfEpisode 11: Thanksgiving |
Brief Review
Heroes Season 4 brings the series back to basics with a much improved plot and pacing of episodes revolving around a circus of heroes. Some of the episodes are still bogged down with unnecessary material, but overall Season 4 is a breath of fresh air but after two disastrous seasons, it looks to be the end for Heroes after this tribute Season.
Full Review
After the disappointing second and third Season, trying to please the ever-impatient fans was always going to be tricky for the series. Fortunately, Season 4 is a fitting end to the series with a well-rounded plot, decent pacing and good acting from the majority of the cast.
The story of Season 4 is arguably what Season 2 should have been. A circus of superheroes is beginning to recruit new members via the mysterious and unpredictable Samuel. His ability to shape the earth, which is eventually revealed to be magnified by the amount of superheroes in his proximity, is a dangerous tool which is excellently revealed and staged.
After Season 3 destroyed half of the characters' abilities and story paths (hence ruining the likability somewhat) Season 4 does a very good job of trying to stitch together the pieces of each of the characters. Luckily, Mohinder Suresh is nowhere to be seen for the majority of this Season which is good as his character has run the course of time and should have been killed off at the end of the last season.
Peter Petrelli should have remained the main protagonist throughout the series as his curious and enthusiastic attitude to his strange powers gave him an aura of likeability that people could relate to. However, after getting his powers taken away in Season 3 and then feebly given a Rogue-rip-off vial full of "superpower", Peter's character has been relegated to the back seat. However, in this season he does play a prominent role for half the season which is good but his new "powers" do limit him from the badass he was in Seasons 2 and half of 3.
The circus characters are by far the most interesting out of the bunch and Samuel's internal struggle is interesting to watch and plays out well on-screen. To be honest though, none of the actors really stand out and the main acting overall is just good rather than amazing.
One of the more interesting episodes, 'Once Upon A Time To Texas', is an interesting spin on the consequences of time travel and sees the return of some familiar characters and some new plot developments. The episode is one of the standouts in the season in my opinion and is the smartest time travel episode since the early ones in the first Series.
The special effects are, as usual, top notch here and the range of abilities on show from the circus are by far the best of the bunch with super speed, ice and water, visual synaesthesia and more all boasting some gorgeous CGI effects.
The main downer with this season isn't the abrupt ending or the unnecessary filler episodes or even the pointless Claire-lesbian stuff, it's that this Season finally gets things back on track. It's a real shame as the series had so much potential and possible storylines but due to the disastrous previous two seasons, the show is effectively dead. The Season plays well as a tribute and is well worth a watch due to its excellent salute to the fans that have stuck with it through the years.