‘Heroes’ finale not nearly as explosive as expected

I’ve been prepping myself all week to temper my expectations for the season finale of Heroes.  Seriously, the freshman series has been building for an explosive finale all season long.  How was it every going to live up to hype?  Well, I’m glad I did.  While I think that the season ender was a solid episode, it in no way blew me away.  There were no surprise revelations like the Numbers finale.  It wasn’t even as powerful of an episode as Supernatural’s cliffhanger.

The one surprise that caught me off guard was Angela Petrelli’s (Cristina Rose) commitment to Linderman’s (Malcolm McDowell) plan.  She had no trouble continuing with it after Linderman died (by the way, news of his demise traveled fast).  In her conversation with Claire (Hayden Panettiere) in a previous episode, Angela said she regretted her involvement with the justice-league group she was in with Linderman.  Add that to the fact that the Haitian (who was mysteriously absent from the last couple episodes) secretly worked for her and I kept expecting Angela to double cross Linderman.  But she didn’t.  In fact, I think she might be worse than Linderman.

Moreover, who knew Mama Petrelli was so ruthless that she could actually chose one son over the other?  That scene on the Deveaux Building with her talking to Charles Deveaux (Richard Roundtree) was very insightful.  Knowing how cold and calculating Angela is makes you wonder what really happened to Nathan and Peter’s dad.  I wouldn’t put it past her to have offed him because he wouldn’t go along with the destroy New York plan.

Speaking of the Deveaux Building, it was the scene of yet another pivot plot revelation.  Seems that happens a lot there.  I wonder if it was the headquarters for the now defunct justice league group.  It’s obvious that Charles knew Angela and Linderman.  I’m guessing he was part of their group.  Why didn’t Linderman heal him?  What was Charles’ power?  Does it have something to do with his ability to talk to Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) in Peter’s dream?  If so, does that mean Charles might still be alive?  I can’t remember what he “died” from. 

At first I thought Peter had time traveled, but Bennett (Jack Coleman) couldn’t have shaken him awake if he wasn’t there.  I hope we finally get to know more about Charles’ background in Season 2.  He obviously wasn’t in favor of decimating New York.  And if he had a power, I wonder if his daughter did to?  I don’t think it was coincidence that we saw her in this dream/flashback too.

It was nice to see that Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) found his inner good guy and saved the day.  I guess he came through, but just not in the way his mother expected.  However, I didn’t see the need for Nathan to sacrifice himself.  When Ted (Matthew John Armstrong) went supernova, Claire knocked him out to stop him.  Why couldn’t she do that with Peter?  Why couldn’t Peter fly away on his own, especially if he was the chosen one to save the day?

I think the showdown with Peter and Sylar (Zachary Quinto) and Hiro (Masi Oka) was anticlimatic.  But it did leave me with several questions.  Peter should survive the explosion, so where is he?  Sylar obviously isn’t dead, yet.  Where will he turn up next?  Shouldn’t Molly (Adair Tishler) be able to sense that he’s still alive?  Why did Hiro time travel so far back?  I thought he had a handle on his ability to time travel.  Will Matt (Greg Grunberg) and D.L. (Leonard Roberts) survive?

I was very disappointed that Hiro didn’t allow Ando (James Kyson Lee) to come.  I think his bravery earned him a seat at the table.  Also why didn’t Kaito (George Takei) want to come help Hiro eliminate Sylar?  He obviously has parted ways with Linderman.  Why didn’t he take a more active role?  I think there’s definitely more to that story.

Is Bennett really going to take Claire and just head home?  By the way, I love that they finally revealed his first name even if it was a little contrived.  Seems he’d have more of a calling to do more, especially with a name like Noah.  I’d think he’d be on a mission now to stop the company.  He can’t be naive enough to believe that now that Linderman is dead that the company will disband.  Someone, my guess is Angela, will take his place.

Maybe Linderman wasn’t the real leader of the company after all.  Maybe it was the one that Molly says is worse than Sylar, the one that can see her when she thinks about him.  It’ll be interesting to see how they introduce the next big evil foreshadowed in this episode and to find out whether he’s been involved all along.

The peek into Volume II was a nice touch.  I’m still not sure how Hiro traveled so far back in time.  I guess we will be learning more about Hiro and Kaito’s heritage next season when Heroes returns in the fall.  Heroes will share its Monday timeslot with its spin-off Heroes:  Origins. 

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ season finale not all happy endings

I’ve finally gotten a chance to watch the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy – Supernatural trumps Grey’s Anatomy in my book.  And to be honest I was a little sad.

Although Grey’s Anatomy season finale does a nice job of wrapping the various storyline from this season, not all the endings were happy.  I’ll admit to being an optimist that likes happily ever afters, even if they are predictable.  However, I do also appreciate a good story twist despite a sad ending.  Nevertheless, Grey seemed to leave his characters with a large number of disappointments this season.

I was most upset by the wedding scenario.  A eyebrow-less Cristina (Sandra Oh) is finally ready to walk down the aisle having overcome her fears, sacrificing her idea of a perfect wedding (something no bride should have to do) and, against her instincts, compromising her individualism to be with the man she loves, but Burke (Isaiah Washington) walks out on her.  He tells her that he loves her so much that he must set her free.  What a bunch of bull!  If he loved her so much, maybe he would have done a little compromising of his own or a little more accepting of who she was.  But he didn’t just leave her at the altar, he packed his bags and left her.  I’m not sure if this is good news for Cristina, but Burke will be back next season.

Then there is poor Bailey (Chandra Wilson).  Not only does she lose Chief Resident to Callie (Sara Ramirez), but she’s left wondering if she’s failed her interns when George (T.R. Knight) fails his exam.  I think Chief (James Pickens Jr.) didn’t give her the promotion because he doesn’t want her to sacrifice her family for her career, but couldn’t he have talked to her about it before posting the results?

Speaking of George, I kind of think he got what he deserved.  Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) used to be the character I loathed because of all her whining.  But George is closing in on her fast.  Failed exams are the least of his worries when Callie announces that she wants to have a baby and Izzie (Katherine Heigl) confesses that she’s in love with him.  Yet George has still not chosen between the two.  He says he has, but he hasn’t.

I used to like George.  Then he met Callie and she adored him, she saw him like no one else did.  But he treated her badly and then freaked when she wanted to move the relationship forward.  Still she was there for him when his dad dies. Then he marries her and cheats on her within a month.  I hope that they wrap up this triangle soon.  Callie deserves better. 

The Meredith-Derek relationship continues to be on the rocks.  In fact, Meredith is so wrapped up in her issues (all self-inflicted) that she was a lousy maid of honor.  Derek (Patrick Dempsey), on the other hand, seemed to take his duties as best man seriously.  I was very glad to see the sexy chick (Chyler Leigh) from the bar will be back next season to complicate their relationship.  The fact that she’s Meredith’s step-sister and an intern at Seattle Grace should be interesting.  I’m personally ready for these Derek and Meredith to move on.

On the other hand, the Chief seems to have gotten a second chance with his wife.  It was unfortunate that it took a miscarriage to bring them back together.

I’m still waiting to see Alex (Justin Chambers) and Addison (Kate Walsh) get together.  I know it’s a vain hope.  But it was cute when he sat down next to her in the church and told her it was because she was the prettiest woman there.  I, however, am not buying the he’s in love with his patient.  They’ve done that storyline last year.  I can understand Ava (Elizabeth Reaser) falling in love with Alex, but not vice versa.  I liked Alex’s work with Ava because he showed his softer side, but it’s stretching it to have him fall in love with her.  I’m glad he didn’t catch her before she left.

And speaking of Addison, her meeting with the Chief regarding the new chief of surgery position left no doubt that she’ll be heading to Private Practice next season.  By the way, I love the way that the announcement of the new chief of surgery was interwoven with the rest of the show through meetings between the contenders and the Chief.  But I love that Chief might stay chief even better.

Overall not a bad episode despite some disappointments for the characters.  Next season should be good if they can wrap up some of these lingering (and annoying) storylines.  ABC has renewed Grey’s Anatomy for a fourth season and it will return in the fall in the same Thursday night slot.

(Photos courtesy of ABC)