(S01E20) This episode is listed as "String Theory" on my PVR and some places online, but on NBC's site and the screen itself it says "Five Years Gone" so that's what I went with.
"What if?" stories are fun. They allow the creators to play around with characters and show them in unexpected new lights. This isn't a purely "what if?" story, however. What happens here determines "our" Hiro's (younger Hiro's) ability to return to the present and change history in the coming episodes -- or fail to.
It's evident that, though Linderman's destruction of New York succeeded, his stated goals for this odd plan failed. Instead of the unified peaceful-world scenario Linderman laid out to entice Nathan to hitch himself to the wagon, this post-blast America is a fascist state, run by a chief executive with strongly-centralized powers enforced by a homeland security department reporting directly to himself. The "specials" go underground to survive, while the President directs his advisor Mohinder to implement a "final solution."
In this episode, I found Mohinder much more compelling as a character than usual. Maybe because, here, he actually knows most of the other characters and knows what is going on. He's better able to interact. Though you have to wonder how Sylar could disguise his twisted personality for up to five years from someone who has certainly learned about Sylar the hard way. Hm. They can always say Sylar picked up a insanity-cloaker or maybe a super-charisma power along the way if that argument ever comes up.
In Isaac's loft, Mohinder thinks he finds a way around the President's genocide plot: get Hiro to go back and fix the past. Easy. Chillingly, Fake-Nathan says "that doesn't work for me." Nathan is really Sylar we soon find out, who has absorbed Candice's shape-shifting. Genocide is what Sylar wants.
But another question is whether Sylar hatched this plan alone or took over what Nathan and Linderman were already planning? Nuking New York may have been only stage one for the billionaire. Stage two could have been to unite the world through xenophobia, fear of the Other, all along, which would make Liderman and Nathan betrayers of their own kind.
In his final confrontation with Sylar, Peter says Sylar will pay for "what he did" to Nathan. "What I did?" sneers Sylar. "When he died he had already turned against his own kind." Meaning, I think, that Nathan had already decided to wipe out, or at least control, anyone with abilities when Sylar killed him. Peter calls Sylar a liar, but that still remains to be seen. I think that back in the present timeline Nathan is still on this fence, though leaning hard toward the direction that puts him in power.
There are similarities to a lot different superhero universes here. Not only The X-Men (in both print and film) and The Watchmen, but also Marvel's own post-9/11 "Civil Wars" storyline, with its Mutant Registration Act, which pits a chunk of Marvel's pantheon against another chunk. None of which bothers me. Comic book sagas borrow from each other all the time. It really comes down to interesting characters and It gets called "borrowing," "stealing," or "homage," depending on how you feel about the results.
Anyway. One of the most fun things for me tonight was seeing many of the characters paired up in new unexpected ways. The Haitian and Matt Parkman as partners. Peter and Niki as a couple. Couple of what though, I don't know exactly. Jessica comes out on stage to ride the pole. But it is really Niki just using the other name for the stage. Jessica died with D.L. and Micah in New York. Which means that one mirror twin can survive without the other one, I guess. This supports the theory that Jessica and Niki both have their own bodies. Either that or will get them real soon, or Niki would have died in New York too?
The post-nuke years have turned Matt Parkman into one cold bastard. One of the most sympathetic of the series regulars, and one always struggling the fit in in the normal timeline, here he has found his confidence but lost much of his humanity. He even breaks a secret alliance with Bennet who had helped rescue Matt's wife and their son, Matthew Jr., who has inherited abilities of his own.
Bennet runs an underground railroad, creating new identities for specials on the run. HRG no longer! Here as he has traded his horn-rims for a softer look sometime after separating from the Company. 
Eric Roberts' character, and all the "golden age" characters: Mama Petrelli, Linderman, Mr. Nakamura were left out of this episode. Possibly Sylar disposed of them all sometime after he met the most-handy Candice; it would have been easy enough for him to do. Or maybe some of these folks are still behind everything, pulling the strings, even in this possible future.
Isaac really did get to be a hero; Mohinder finds his final issue of 9th Wonders. It's the only clue Hiro has to use in the past to change the timeline, after future Hiro's sudden demise. Younger Hiro is stunned by the death of his future self, and it's Ando who snaps him out of it, and gets Hiro to jump back to the present. Ando's more vital than ever now -- thanks to Peter's revelation. Future Hiro was reluctant to reveal Ando's own death in the explosion to him, but Peter's beyond sparing anyone's feelings at that point. Good thing too, because now Ando knows he has an important role to play in Hiro's life.
Throughout the series it's been made clear that Peter is the guy who goes nuclear and destroys New York. Tonight the future world's been led to believe that it was Sylar who exploded -- and that he also died in the explosion. The truth is that it IS going Peter as we always thought and he survived in tonight's timeline (via Claire's ability I presume). But seeing Peter tonight with his teleporting, time-stopping, and various fighting powers ... well the way he keeps picking abilities up makes just about every other hero redundant, which would change the show a lot. It will be tough to keep coming up with stories if 
Peter can just do every damn thing. For that reason, I think it Peter is likely die in the season finale, or will find himself with reduced powers or no powers at all.
On TV Squad's recently implemented 1-7 scale I say seven.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
5-01-2007 @ 9:09AM
Joseph said...
OH... YOUR... GOD! That entire episode was just unbelievable. A perfect 10 on your scale of 7.
They're sort of bonking us in the head with the whole "Peter is NEO from The Matrix" vibe, you know? But it's well deserved. But going as far as the all black clothes and the slick hair? Well, they worked pretty well for Hiro. But seriously, the lobby fight?
But that leads to the problem with Peter... when someone has so many powers, it's really hard to write for them. It's like Superman... sure, he could beat you to death. But he could also fry you with his heat vision or freeze you with his breath. He could clap, and your internal organs would turn to mush. Hell, he could even fly you into space and drop you. You get what I mean? Eventually, the writers start forgetting what powers he actually has that would have made his situation a lot different.
On a side note, they seem to have completely ignored the fact that Peter's got Matt Parkman's telepathic ability, since the first time he used it. I can name two or three times where hearing thoughts, especially from outside the room, would have helped a LOT.
Fire versus Ice? Awesome! But usually ice is associated with the good guy in the fight - because its less destructive... less Hellish. You think they were subtly trying to tell us maybe Sylar was the GOOD guy? Plus, why do they always cheat us out of good Peter vs. Sylar battle scenes?
Also, I think Matt Parkman, having probably read Sylar's mind, knew he was working for him the whole time. Looks like in the future he can use his power selectively, in that its not on all the time. Is that a bad thing or a good thing? I'm torn.
And then there's the whole Hatian thing... its finally unquestioned that he's the one blocking the powers. Did anyone else secretly hope that it was HRG? And yea, I know that wouldn't have made sense after "Company Man." So does that mean Peter is unable to absorb his ability? Maybe if he was unconscious?
And I love "NathanSylar" just breaking cover and flying off into the sky in front of the entire press corps. I guess after he got Claire's power, he no longer had anything to be afraid of. Specifically, Peter. Awesome!
I think the next seasons of this stuff are going to be CRAZY. But, then again, its getting more like X-Men with every episode... not that that's a bad thing. Hell no. It's just not what they were going for. And its hard not to associate an episode like this one specifically with The X-Men. I mean, come on... the "cure"?
Anyone else think its funny how the show tries SO hard not to use the word MUTANT?
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5-01-2007 @ 9:12AM
Sean said...
It was a very cool episode but ultimately pointless because Hiro left the future thinking Sylar was going to destroy New York.
Instead of killing Sylar, why doesn't someone just kill Ted Sprague before Peter gets in contact with him?
The best part of the episode was seeing someone other than Sylar comfortable with his powers.
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5-01-2007 @ 9:15AM
Joseph said...
Has anyone ever considered that Peter's going to survive NOT because of Claire's ability, but because Ted Sprague is obviously immune to his own power?
Sprague isn't harmed by his own body's explosions, and neither would Peter be if he were to be using the power. No Claire required.
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5-01-2007 @ 9:24AM
jdub said...
Great Episode!!! At the moment it's edging "Company Man" for me.
Did anyone else notice who Future Hiro asked Bennent to give him info about: DL, Canice, and Molly Walker. Slyar/President Nathan showd both of DL's and Candice's abilities when he went to confront Peter.
Does this mean Future Hiro didn't know they were killed by Slyar? Or does he need Present/Past Hiro to find them in them when he goes back?
Thoughts?
jdub
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5-01-2007 @ 9:25AM
Christian H. said...
This show sets a whole new level of coolness. I think this episode had more WTF-moments than Lost had in all seasons combined (and I LOVE Lost!). Hands down one of the best hours in television I've seen in a long, long time.
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5-01-2007 @ 9:28AM
doug said...
This was the first episode of Heroes that really disappointed me. I would give every other episode a 7, but this one no more than 5, probably a 4.
1. Why couldn't the future Hiro go back in time and kill Sylar? Why did it have to be his former self? And surely he must have remembered the frustration that his past self had with the inability to control time travel - wouldn't he have wanted to give all of the pointers that he possibly could?
2. If Peter had been in the presence of the Haitian, why has he not absorbed the ability to block powers? Especially in a confrontation with Sylar?
3. I cannot believe that Sylar would not have lusted after Parkman's power. There is no way in the world that he would have let him live this long.
4. I also cannot believe that Sylar would not have wanted Hiro's power himself. Why allow Mohinder (force, more like it) to kill Hiro, leaving the opportunity to absorb his power wasted?
I seriously did not like future Parkman at all. Too many of the characters were so far out of what I think that they would have become given the circumstances - most especially Parkman. I just do not believe that Parkman would have turned out that way.
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5-01-2007 @ 9:36AM
Mel said...
I think the writers caught on to the loophole about why Sylar really needed Claire's powers and now they are using it as a insurance for him when he gets stabbed by Hiro instead of the original plan of him needing it when he blows up New York via Ted's powers.
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5-01-2007 @ 9:44AM
Joseph said...
What doesn't make sense is that Sylar has already been through a lot of things and recovered very quickly... Like getting shot by HRG, falling off of the building with Peter, etc... Most importantly, when he "died" and came back to life at the OWI in Texas.
It seems like he already has some sort of a healing ability... Might not be as good as Claire's, but it needs to be explained later on...
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5-01-2007 @ 9:45AM
Elliott said...
There could easily be a lengthy list of what was done wrong in this episode. There were plenty of out-of-character actions, but it was all too much fun to care.
The only thing that would keep me from giving it a 7 is that in the back of my mind during the entire episode as people died was the fact that none of this matters. What If? episodes are fun, but they don't pack too much emotional weight because we know that it isn't reality.
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5-01-2007 @ 9:47AM
Elliott said...
Joseph,
One possible explanation would be that Sylar used his telekineisis to slow down the bullets. They hit him, but at low force.
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5-01-2007 @ 9:50AM
Big D said...
Screw the 1-7 TVSquad Scale, this episode deserves a 10! Amazing Episode!
My top 10 shows, in NO particular order:
The Shield
Lost
Rescue Me
Heroes
Nip/Tuck
Curb Your Enthusiasm
24
Life On Mars
Entourage
NBC Comedy Block: Earl/Office/Scrubs/30 Rock
When I watch shows like The Shield & Rescue Me I usually say afterwards "that is the best show on TV" each time and I know you should not do / say things in the heat of the moment, but tonights episode of Heroes just put them at #1 with a bullet on my chart. What a FREAKIN' AWESOME episode, that is the best hour of TV I have seen in a long, long time.
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5-01-2007 @ 9:57AM
Tristan said...
You didnt mention the part in which future Skyler got future Claire's power :(
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5-01-2007 @ 10:02AM
Adam said...
Did anyone else catch the HUGE clue that Nathan was Sylar? Right before the big reveal when he's talking Suresh, he says "I fix things." Totally missed it the first time, but man it was right in front of our faces.
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5-01-2007 @ 10:11AM
Kyle Beabo said...
This episode reminded me a lot of the episode of Buffy when Cordelia wished Buffy away.
Anyway it was a really good hour of television, I'm glad that NBC didn't cancel this show and replace it with yet another hour of Deal or No Deal.
http://kylebeabo.blogspot.com/
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5-01-2007 @ 10:10AM
FAP said...
Couple of points
1) Candice doesn't shape change she project illusions. Much cooler than just shape changing because she can mask things other than her form.
2) Syler; Syler and Peter have the same power but they have different mental triggers to express it. Peter remembers the person to trigger the powers and Syler remember the kill. Syler has Claire's power already but is unable to trigger it do to this.
3) Nikki/Jessica; Similar to Syler Nikki has a mental block about using her powers. Apart from her abilities she has serious mental problems and a split personality disorder. Nikki thinks of herself as the gentle passive one and Jessica as the aggressive strong one so will express her abilities more often as part of the Jessica personality though she could as Nikki.
This ep was good but not great. But that's only because the season as a whole has been so strong.
my 2cents
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5-01-2007 @ 10:13AM
doug said...
Ok, I just realized what this episode revealed. By past Hiro traveling forward, he had not completed his task of killing Sylar, so this was showing what would have happened had this not happened. This was why future Hiro could not simply go back; once he went back, he would have changed the past and changed himself as well.
Still, I just did not see Parkman as Himmler, just do not believe that the Haitian is as well, just do not believe that Sylar was prescient enough to keep HRG alive so that he could, five years down the line, finally get Claire's power. Sylar has been all about kill to gain power without a plan, and unless that was a Linderman power that he absorbed, I just do not buy that Sylar suddenly became patient.
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5-01-2007 @ 10:23AM
Gary said...
Freaking amazing! Can't wait to see what actually happens next.
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5-01-2007 @ 10:15AM
Ender said...
Confused: was that not Candice that HRG saw right before Parkman turned on him? I'm sure I'm just misunderstanding things..
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5-01-2007 @ 10:29AM
Philip said...
A correction - DL could not have died in the explosion, as:
a) Hiro mentions him to HRG as one of the people that he brought to be smuggled into the underground railroad; and
b) Sylar must have caught up with him and killed him at a later date, as he had DL's walk-through-walls power.
Also to Confused - that wasn't Candace, it was Hana Gitelman (a.k.a. Wireless), who admittedly, hasn't been featured on the show very much, but is a major player in the online "graphic novels" on the NBC site.
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5-01-2007 @ 10:29AM
Joe p said...
Peter can't absorb the Haitian's powers, because the Haitian's power is to supress other's powers. This would include Peter's ability to absorb the Haitian's poweres.
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