#412: 'The Fifth Stage'
Wr: Tim Kring
Dr: Kevin Dowling
Synopsis: Noah gets some unexpected visitors, while Claire arrives at the carnival as Samuel's plans progress. Elsewhere, Peter confronts Sylar and discovers that extreme measures are necessary to stop him.
Review: Tim Kring eases us into the winter hiatus with a contemplative episode that ponders doing things rather than actually doing them; which, to be frank, is not necessarily a bad thing. There's much to be said for some of the chin-stroking that goes on here, particularly as it provides us with the opportunity to say a decent goodbye to poor Nathan Petrelli, a character who has been thoroughly bastardised over the course of the show's four seasons, flipping allegiances faster than, well, a very fast thing and constantly becoming mired in a shedload of underwhelming narrative developments. When Sylar murdered the poor bastard at the end of season three, while the end result was more than welcome (even if they took it all back seconds later), its suddenness rankled somewhat. We'd spent a good three years with the guy, growing fond of his admittedly rather screwed up relationship with his brother and even coming to love his apparent inability to reconcile his possession of extraordinary abilities with his inherent lust for power and recognition. Put simply, we cared about him and to see him done away in a such an off-hand manner was a little disconcerting.
Now, however, we've had the chance to watch his culmination in slow motion. It's been on the cards since the first episode of the volume, and with 'The Fifth Stage' we've reached the logical end of a very winding road. Peter gets the chance to say the things that we need him to say, and the pair acknowledge their love for one another, which, for all its cheesiness, is actually rather moving. Ventimiglia thankfully keeps his emotions in check, delivering a relatively composed performance, and Pasdar does an admirable job of conveying Nathan's weariness, his resignation to his fate. It makes for a very compelling sequence, one of the best the show's offered in a long time, so it's a bit of a shame that it's marred somewhat by the horrible slow motion shot of Nathan falling from the top of the Deveaux building. Without the effects budget that they've had in previous years, this fails spectacularly, on so many levels, and really should have been left to the imagination. Oh sure, they wanted to get across the fact that Sylar is still alive, and it was a neat idea (just not execution), but surely this could have been achieved another way? It just looks tacky and really detracts from the emotional impact of the moment.
Elsewhere, Kring delves into the inner workings of the Carnival, which certainly is good to see. The physical space has become a character of its own over the course of the season, and the insights we get into the day to day routine of the face that the 'specials' put on for the general public are intriguing. Claire's journey is actually rather interesting, breathing new life into her character and opening up a number of possibilities for the future. Perhaps we'll finally be rid of the girl who 'just wants so desperately to be normal'?! Naturally, Robert Knepper makes all of this ten times more engaging by his mere presence (despite his shockingly bad attempt at an Irish accent), and there are some fascinating suggestions regarding the future of his 'enterprise'. It's somewhat unnerving, but also fascinating, to see the character revert to the innocent, almost subservient and apparently wise, persona that he'd adopted in the earlier hours of the season, especially after a few episodes in which his darker side is suggested so prominently. And how about the 'multiplier', eh? Granted, this has its ropey production moments - usually when there's several of the guy on screen - but the concept is strong enough to avoid any major problems. The only other storyline on offer is Bennet's continual dalliance with Lauren which isn't particularly exciting in itself, but at least it's tied up with the arc plot and is kept in its appropriate place as the C-storyline.
As is the norm for Heroes these days, 'The Fifth Stage' isn't anything exceptional but it does maintain the satisfactory marriage of character development and arc plot progression that we've been treated to in weeks past, and offers a number of well written, memorable scenes that will have a considerable impact on hours to come. Going into the Christmas break, Kring has proved that there's still life in the old dog yet... but exactly how much remains to be seen. 8.2
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