Heroes

For months on end, season four of Heroes has caused us nothing but anger and anguish. It's been an abysmal, illogical, slow-developing series of episodes.

But we were finally able to laugh out loud at the conclusion of this week's episode, which revolved around Claire and HRG fighting. Yes, again. If that doesn't get your heart-racing for another season of this show, nothing will!

Before I get to my review, allow me to ask, in all caps no less: WHY WAS THIS VOLUME TITLED "REDEMPTION?!?" WHO WAS REDEEMED? Or, as is most likely the case, did the writers simply forget this was the title as early as the second half hour of the season?

Overall, "Brave New World" was simply weak and uneventful.

As always, it was filled with utterly random actions - hi, Tracy, thanks for stopping by out of nowhere, slithering through mud and disappearing again! - and storylines with no exciting pay-off. But more than anything, it was simply... there.

There was no suspense and no emotional attachment to anything going on. There was nothing especially awful about the hour, but nothing remotely season finale worthy, either.

Seriously, did anyone think HRG was gonna die? Did anyone feel as though the carnival storyline had a worthy conclusion, when Samuel's people simply walked away because a of couple people said so... and then Samuel squared off with Peter for six seconds, a character that was involved in an entirely separate storyline for the duration of the season?

Nothing could compare with the utter nonsense of Hiro, of course. Let's review his arc from season four:

• He came down with a brain tumor as a result of time traveling.
• It was magically cured because he had a dream.
• His true love was sent away by Samuel, ignored for numerous weeks, and then showed up again on the same hospital floor as Hiro, following his nonsensical cure.
• She's now an old woman with a family because Samuel sent her back to the 1940s, so Hiro said goodbye and... that was it.

We know the economy is poor and we don't wish harm on anyone - but every person associated with Hiro's storyline should be fired immediately.

The show created two supposedly pressing issues for the character (a brain tumor and an abducted girlfriend) and solved each by simply, literally making crap up. We'll have his dead mother kiss him in a fantasy! We'll have Charlie appear in the same hospital as an older woman!

It's legitimately incomprehensible that the show's producers have jobs.

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It was brutal for some, and entertaining for others.

But no matter what you thought of the fourth season of Heroes, this much is true: it's over.

As always, we'll recap and review the episode after it airs, hopefully to a great deal of lively debate among fans.

For now, we encourage you to visit our Heroes forum and discuss "Brave New World." Also, sound off below: What did you think of the hour?

After a long - some might refer to it as "utterly torturous" - season, Heroes finally concludes next week.

On the episode "Brave New World," Samuel finally does... something. So NBC claims, at least. It seems just as likely that he'll merely threaten to do something, as has been the case all season long.

We'll believe actual action when we see it, as Claire warns the carnival about their supposedly evil-intentioned leader in the clip below:

As always, we'll recap and review the installment soon after it airs. We can only hope to inspire the same sort of lively debate that this week's rundown created.

Below, check out a clip of another character from the season finale. We think his name is Hiro, but we can't be certain. We haven't seen him in so long...

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As the fourth season of Heroes drags to a painful close - following what one reviewer dubbed "the worst episode of any show I've ever seen" last night - many fans have been wondering:

What the heck is going on in the series writing room?

It truly seems like the show has stopped trying, as characters go weeks without appearing, storylines come to no logical conclusion, and the overall plot moves as a glacial pace.

Fortunately, the TV Fanatic staff actually has some answers. We bugged the conference table in the Heroes' offices and can reveal these exclusive quotes from the show's staff members...

Wait, Mohinder is still alive?!? Okay... let's have him attack Peter and -- what? He's no longer a Fly-like super villain? Hmmm, ok. Then let's have Hiro go back in time, invent a power where he can lock Mohinder into a mental asylum and then break him out of there a few weeks later... only for Mohinder to disappear from the show immediately again.

Huh? Tracy is still alive?!? Can we show her struggling with her ablities and looking for acceptance in life, only to vanish from the entire second half of the season? We can? Phew.

Look, I know Hiro was everyone's favorite character and the vision of him as a full-fledged, ninja-like hero in season one went over well with viewers. But we haven't made him act like a bumbling idiot in like two episodes. I think we should try that again.

Ando and Hiro look as excited to return for the fourth season finale as this viewer is to watch it.

I second that notion, but only if we can give him a brain tumor and milk sympathy out of an ignorant public that might actually believe he'll die. Only, instead of killing him, we'll have him miraculously recover via a random dream sequence we make up the day before that episode airs.

It's genius! Then, we'll have him confront Adam Monroe again and... wait, what? We killed off Adam Monroe?!? And not Sylar, who we kept around not to serve any storyline purpose, but simply because we liked the actor and lacked the guts to make such a bold move?

That's okay.. we can save Sylar. We'll just make him seem really menacing all season long and never actually do anything.

Hmm... that could work. But only if Claire is equally useless. She's spent three years trying to figure out where she belongs in the world and fighting with her father over the same issues. Why not a fourth!

Sold. But only if we can make a desperate plea for ratings by having her kiss a girl.

I think we're all missing the point: Samuel is the main bad guy this season. Should we have him do anything aside from hand out compasses to heroes here and there for the first 15 episodes?

Nah, that's probably enough. But what about his accent? Should it be American or Irish?

Why not both! He can randomly go back and forth! It will create an air of mystery to the character, since we have no clue how to do that through any sort of storytelling.

This all sounds genius. We can add another suspense-filled development by having Angela just randomly dream something. Presto, a suspenseful plot! Kudos to the guy that gave her that power. Who should it involve, though?

I don't know. Some deaf woman that serves no purpose except to be at the center of this nightmare?

Perfect. This is gonna be our best season yet...

That's it, we finally get it Heroes: this entire season has been a joke, right? You've been Punking us all along, no?

There's simply no way Ashton Kutcher doesn't come jumping out from behind our computer screens, not after an episode that accomplished positively nothing, just one week prior to the season four finale.

As a change from our usual critique of what went down on Heroes, here's a look at what did NOT happen on "The Wall."

• We didn't see Tracy, a week after the show randomly included her in a three-second scene.
• We didn't see Hiro, who viewers are supposed to be invested in because someone -  what's her name? It's been so long since they've mentioned her... hmmm... ah, Charlie! - he cares about is in danger.
• We didn't see Emma act as any believable, rational individual. As a person in any way, shape or form. She's nothing but a plot device meant to create tension because - gasp! - Angela saw her in a dream.
• We didn't see Lauren escape. The show was literally too lazy to even bother finishing off that storyline.
• We didn't see Samuel do anything about his plan for world domination because he decided to take an episode-long break in order to prove to Claire that her dad was a bad dude. Why? No one knows.
• Peter and Sylar didn't escape from the latter's mind for 58 minutes, the duration of which they spent yammering back and forth about nothing that played any role in any central plot whatsoever.
• We didn't see any Hero interact with a single human being in present time. Think about that: How can this season have a single ounce of suspense to it when the Heroes deal with no one outside their own universe?!?

Seriously, fans, are we supposed to feel anxious about Samuel's grand plans because he randomly said he was taking the carnival to New York City? Are we supposed to worry about Emma killing thousands of people because Angela saw it in a dream?

Those are the two main storylines heading into next week's finale: developments that weren't built up to in any well-paced manner at all. They were just tossed out there haphazardly. A four-year old could write the Emma storyline:

We'll have someone fantasize that she's a killer and... that's it. No need to explain or show anything beyond that. It's genius!

The most painful aspects of this utterly inane, torturous hour? It was a reminder of how incredible a show Heroes used to be. Remember when such tension was built up toward a Peter/Sylar showdown that you could barely wait for the next Monday night to arrive?

Remember when a flashback to HRG's past was actually enlightening and useful, not just a time-killer that led to the 417th argument between father and daughter?

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We're just one week away from the Heroes season finale.

On tonight's episode, Peter and Sylar tried to escape from the latter's nightmare; while HRG's past was revealed.

As always, we'll recap the installment in detail first thing tomorrow morning. In the meantime, we wanna hear from readers: What did you thiknk of "The Wall?" Did it set up next week's finale well?

Sound off in our forum and in the poll below!

Its ratings are historically low for a network drama, but its small fan base is passionate.

Moreover, DVD sales and international viewership for remains strong.

For these reasons, and because NBC is run by a group of people dumber than the cast of Jersey Shore, there's a chance Heroes will return for a fifth season. But should it?

This website has been intensely critical of the show's slow-moving, illogical plots and lack of character development. Many readers have taken issue with our reviews, though a handful have also started to agree more and more as the weeks (and terrible episodes) go on.

But enough from us. What do you think? Should NBC renew the series for another season?

Note to Adrian Pasdar: we know you're still celebrating your release from Heroes, but that's never an excuse to drive drunk.

The former show star was arrested at approximately 3 a.m. in Los Angeles this morning for "failing to maintain his lane," according to local police. He was recorded driving his Ford F-150 at 94 mph.

Cops pulled the actor over on the 405 freeway and detected the smell of alcohol in his vehicle.

The husband of Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines failed a field sobriety test, refused a breathalyzer, was placed under arrest for suspicion of DUI and taken to a nearby jail. Bail was set for $15,000.

Seriously, Angela Petrelli, you couldn't have envisioned this happening and warned Nathan about it?!?

After reviewing yet another inane Heroes episode this week, I've received a few pats on the back for my honesty and courage - and a few insults hurled at my mother.

People really seem to take this historically-low rated, utterly nonsensical TV show seriously!

Because I feel an insecure need to defend my honor as a critic, and because I wish to give readers a second opinion, I've tracked down the most recent review from Entertainment Weekly, perhaps the most respected publication in the industry.

What did author Darren Franich think of "The Art of Deception?" Read his full take here and check out the excerpts below:

On Lydia's death: She might just be the most ridiculous character in Heroes history. Using her amazing powers of empathy, she spent the first half of this season as the show’s umpteenth variation on premonition dreams and 9th Wonders!: She told Samuel what to do, and he would do it, not because it made dramatic sense but because that was what the tattoos told him he should do.

[Her] lack of emotion made her actions inexplicable and her character arc illegible. She kind of had the hots for amnesiac Sylar, or maybe it was all a ruse. She kind of didn’t trust Samuel, but she never did anything to move against him.

On Peter's storyline: Peter saw Sylar rescuing Emma in his dream. Or anyways, he saw Sylar run into the Hall of Mirrors and say, “I’m Luke Skywalker, I’m here to rescue you.” He went to see his mom, who’s still freakishly obsessed with Nathan even after death. She was agonizing over his headstone, and admiring a portrait of him. Adrian Pasdar grinned at us, as if to say, “Don’t worry, kids, I’m in a better place: Not on Heroes.!”

On the carnival: Am I the only one who thought that the Carnival was supposed to be, like, the main plotline of this season? So little has really happened with the Carnival, and what little has is of no interest to anyone but people who live at the Carnival.

Samuel Sullivan wants to do something more than lurk around corners and hand out compasses to anyone who comes his way. Could this mean… viewers, could this mean that next week, something might actually happen?

On a sidenote: Does anyone have any idea how much time is passing in this season? Some storylines seem to crawl forward about one day at a time, while other stories seem to take week-long leaps. I like the idea that the entire action of this season has taken place over a particularly eventful fortnight. Remember Season One, when we knew exactly how far away we were from the Congressional election?

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This week's episode of Heroes focused on one undeniable fact: Every character is a complete and utter moron.

We'll review "The Art of Deception" by pointing out the reasons why:

Parkman traps Sylar inside his biggest nightmare... and then buries him behind a brick wall IN HIS OWN BASEMENT! Really? This was the best plan Parkman could conceive? You have a little boy and a wife at home and you decide to wall up the world's biggest villain a few feet from where they do laundry. Nice plan, dude.

Peter tries to rescue his nemesis... all because of some hazy dream. Really? You have no hesitation whatsoever about sending Sylar out into the world simply because you had a dream where maybe, possibly, he helped saved lives? There's been no real build-up to this storyline, nothing remotely related to anything else going on. It's simply been Angela randomly telling Peter she had a dream about Emma; Peter taking his mother's ability; and then Peter going on a rogue mission to free Sylar.

This didn't work, of course, due to Parkman's nightmare spell. So now Peter has pulled a Hiro and is stuck inside some strange, alternate universe. Why does this show continue to think it makes for good television to have its characters trapped in other dimensions or timelines?

HRG takes aim at the carnival... for reasons unknown. Yes, Samuel destroyed an entire village last week. But HRG was attempting to take down the carnival long before that, though it's unclear why. As we've asked all season long, what has been Samuel's grand plan? What makes him such an evil force in the world? This question has NEVER been answered! Seriously, think about it:

Why did he recruit Claire? Why did he summon Hiro and trap Charlie? Why has Samuel been featured at all this season? Yes, he's become one angry dude after getting rejected by his long lost love a week ago - but that's a new development, one entirely unrelated to anything he did or said for 15 episodes prior to that.

We'll give the episode one positive critique: at least HRG and Claire have been apprehended by the carnival. At least someone is actually in danger for a change.

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