Heroes: Season 3 Finale Roundup

Spoilerphobes beware! Spoilers ahead. I repeat for you dumb kids, SPOILERS AHEAD.

So last night the 3rd season of NBC's Heroes came to it's end, and I have to say, it was pretty fucking fantastic. Yes, the better part of the this season was weak (we'll blame it on the Villains arc), but when they went in to the Fugitives arc, the show really picked back up. Some could say it has a lot to do with Bryan Fuller returning, but in all honesty Fuller's only had an impact on the last 3 or so episodes. The show has been really good since... say... the plane crash. I think that's when - for me - it really turned back around. The addition of Zeljko Ivanek to the show brought an interesting dynamic. Sylar being the sole villain was really getting told, and Ivanek (an Emmy winner) brings a certain amount of downright creepiness to whatever show he is on, be it Damages, True Blood, Big Love, or Heroes. Yes, he's on 4 different shows.

So let's talk about last night. We saw a momentary recap of how last week's ep ended, before plunging in to the fast-paced Stop Sylar plot. By now, Sylar had incapacitated Nathan Petrelli and Danko, and was headed off to meet with the President. All he wanted to do was shake his hand... and in turn, be able to dopplegang in to him. Angela Petrelli had a dream telling her how to stop Sylar and save Nathan, and so she set the wheels turning. Thanks to a set up from Sylar, Danko was incarcerated and shocked to find his cellmate was the man with the Horn-Rimmed Glasses. Noah informed Danko of what was happening and explained how he went 20 years operating in the morally "gray area" when it pertained to the Specials. Suddenly, mid conversation they freeze, and we see that Hiro and Ando have made their way in to Building 26, and freed all the enslaved Specials. Meanwhile, everytime Hiro freezes his time he starts to bleed out of his nose or ears and gets a bad headache - which Mohinder is quick to diagnose is just Hiro's body reacting against the mutation in his jeans. While Noah watches on from a monitor, he doesn't see Danko sneaking up behind him with a syringe full of elephant tranquilizer, but just as Danko goes in for the kill, Hiro pops up behind him and not only snatches the needle away, but pumps it right in to Danko's jugular. Unfortunately, this time freezing causes Hiro to apparently stroke out, and he drops in to Ando's arms.

Cut back to Peter who has found and rescued Nathan. They're heading in to the hotel to find and defeat Sylar, not knowing that he has Claire captive and is looking to make her his eternal love slave. Just as Peter and Nathan reach the room, Claire explodes through the door. Peter and Nathan rush in, knowing Peter just has to get close enough to touch Sylar and steal his power. The doors slam shut, and (my one gripe) we miss out on what appeared to be a very large electric fight. Claire finally gets back in the room, only to see that Nathan has flewn out the window with Sylar. Claire helps Peter to his feet, and they rush off to catch up with Nathan. Cut to Nathan and Sylar landing in a different hotel room - Sylar uses his telekinesis power and puts Nathan in a chair, and then in a shocking turn of events, Sylar uses the same power to slice Nathan's throat clear open, and we're left watching as Nathan Petrelli dies, bled to death from the wound.

Now here's where things got really interesting. Eventually Angela, Noah, and Matt Parkman arrive at the hotel and find Nathan. Sylar is gone, off to meet the President. In order to do this, Sylar kills and morphs in to the President's head advisor and then climbs in the limo - only SURPRISE - when Sylar shakes the President's hand, nothing happens... and that's because the President is actually Peter, who stole Sylar's morphing power in the earlier fight. Before Sylar can react, Peter thrusts a second syringe full of Elephant Tranq up in to Sylar's jaw, and he drops. Back in the hotel room, Angela has a nervous breakdown at the sight of her dead son, and that's when Noah hatches his plan. Now, I'll admit, I'm a little confused how everything went down at this point. We cut to what appears to be a different room now, and find a passed out Sylar on the couch, Angela, Matt Parkman, and Noah look on. Noah and Angela are pleading with Parkman to fix the situation, and we find out that they want Parkman to wipe Sylar's mind clean, and replace it with all the thoughts and memories of Nathan Petrelli. They know that if Nathan has all of Sylar's powers, he'll be unstoppable, but he'll be a good guy.. he'll be Nathan. So Parkman procedes to clean Sylar out and then convince him that he is in fact Nathan Petrelli, and in one final move, Sylar morphs in to Nathan, who wakes up asking for his mom.

So Sylar is gone, and Nathan is back... sort of. The Heroes then all gather around a huge pyre, ala Luke and Darth Vader, as they burn the body of the guy who morphed in to Sylar.. the one Sylar stole the power from. I'm assuming at this point they did this for Claire and Mohinder's benefit. Maybe Peter too? You never get an explanation as to how Sylar ended up back in the hotel room, and you don't know for sure if Peter knows his brother is dead. Claire is most definitely out of the loop, as is Suresh. Nathan promises to make things right and fix what happened with the President. Noah pledges his allegiance, and together they decide to make a new Company. Then, we cut to the 6 weeks in the future. We're in the apartment of some old Building 26 agent, and his apartment is flooded. As he looks at the water in the floor, it suddenly takes the shape of a naked Ali Larter! It appears the Ice Bitch is back, and now she's mastered the control of water. Needless to say, she kills the agent after telling him he's next on a list. Cut to Nathan in his office reading the paper, the story telling of 6 random drownings in the area. Could this be Tracy? Duh... but Nathan doesn't know that. Angela comes to visit, and notes that Nathan is acting a little strange, and thats when he makes his way across the room to a little clock, which he states is a minute and a half off, and it's been driving him crazy. The End.

So what do you guys think? In some ways, the episode felt more like a series finale with the open but resolved end, but at the same time it left open some questions that will hopefully be revealed in the next part of the sage, Redemption.