That was a very satisfying season finale. In episode 23, "How to Stop an Exploding Man," everything and everyone came together. And yes, the bomb did go off and Hiro got it together and killed (or attempted to kill, it seems) Sylar. After being made to believe it would be Sylar a few times, Peter was the bomb, not Sylar. Peter's dreams and Isaac's visions all came true. Nathan redeemed himself in an awesome way. Niki finally integrated her two selves and her power. The organization's plan completely fell apart, as it should have. Most of the main storylines were laid to rest and a few new threads were created for Volume 2. For now, let's look at last night.
One of things that made me happy last night was the conclusion of the Niki/Jessica storyline. Niki finally accepted that she is as strong as Jessica and was able to access her power. It was awesome to finally see her kick some ass. For once, when she looked into a mirror, she only saw her reflection, no more Jessica. Finally, she was reunited with Micah and D.L.
H.R.G. came to his senses and did not kill Molly as we all thought he would last week. Instead, he, Mohinder and Parkman helped her escape. Not to mention the blatant attempt to set up next season's villain:
Molly (after Parkman asked if she can really find anyone just by thinking about them): "Almost anyone."
Parkman: "Almost?"
Molly: "There's one that I can't."
Parkman: "Who is that? Is it someone bad, like the Boogeyman?"
Molly: "No. He's a lot worse."
Parkman: "Why don't you want to find him?"
Molly: "Because when I think about him, he can see me."
Scary, huh? I feel bad for next season's characters, because if everyone underestimated Sylar, imagine how dumb they'll be around this new villain.
Angela Petrelli offered her indestructible granddaughter Claire "a place to belong and a family." But, in another of the best moments of the finale, former cheerleader Claire coolly whispered "I already have a family" before lunging out of Nathan's office window and faceplanting into the sidewalk stories below. Of course, Claire being Claire, she nonchalantly stood up and strolled away to assist in the final fight.
Meanwhile, Peter had passed out after getting angry over discovering Nathan's betrayal. During his blackout, he somehow was able to view a conversation between the now-dead Mr. Deveaux and his mother. There he found out that she had been on everything all along. For some reason, Deveaux saw him, but no one else could. Thy really didn't explain it much: Peter: "Is this a dream? Am I time-traveling? Or are you doing this?" Deveaux: "It doesn't really matter what it is, now does it?" Well, then, I guess it doesn't matter. The scene did give us these precious insights concerning Peter: "Your heart has the ability to love unconditionally....In the end, all that matters is love." This made sense in the end as you'll find out. So H.R.G. manages to wake up Peter and tells him it's time to face Sylar. In another great moment, we finally discovered H.R.G.'s first name: Noah, another in the line of Heroes' biblical names.
Now came the big showdown between Sylar and all the heroes. I was expecting a whole lot of action and a badass battle between Sylar and Peter. But, that didn't happen. It basically consisted of the following. First Sylar telekinetically choked Peter. Then he telekinetically through H.R.G against a wall. Next, he again telekinetically grabbed a parking meter and was going to hit him. Niki jumped into the battle, seized it, and used it to kick the crap out of Sylar. Then Peter must have gotten Niki's power and used it to give Sylar a couple of well deserved punches before Hiro ran Sylar through with a sword. At this point, Peter has gotten too emotional and started to go nuclear. "Turns out you're the villain, Peter. I'm the hero," Sylar cryptically cooed. Hiro was going to help but Sylar threw him across the entire plaza. And then his body disappeared.
So Peter is ready to blow when Claire arrives. But she can't shoot him! Although Peter was willing to sacrifice himself, his brother flew in to help him out. Literally. He said did love his brother and that "You saved the cheerleader so we could save the world," Nathan told him before sacrificing himself to hoist Peter up, up and away to safely explode somewhere among the stars. All this "All You Need Is Love" talk was the emotional climax of the episode and of the season. Nathan will always be there with his brother at the end. And he was, arriving at the last second to fly nuclear Peter into the atmosphere, sacrificing himself. These two brothers, who love each other so much, realizing that they're going to die together, one of them redeeming himself at the last minute — was a an extremely emotional and character-driven moment. Peter's whole flashback sequence suddenly made sense. In the end, no superpower would help. It was all about love.
People may think that this episode botched its chance to have a really kick-ass battle royale. However, it made sense. Sylar didn't do much because while he has all that power, we had never seen him try to defend himself against a whole gang of Heroes. I thought it made perfect sense that, in his arrogance, he was distracted and overwhelmed by everyone coming at him at once. This gave Hiro the opportunity to stab him.
Once it was all done. Everyone was safe. D.L., Niki, and Micah were together. Molly was safe and NYC didn't blow. H.R.G., or should I say Noah, and Claire were reunited and ready to head back to their family. Not everyone was safe. I would like to say that Parkman is dead because he was hit in the torso with four — four — bullets by Sylar. Did anyone else cheer when Sylar used his powers to shoot them back at him? Speaking of Sylar, it seems he isn't dead, judging by the trail of blood leading from where he fell to the sewer.
What about the Petrellis? Is it possible Peter would have just let Nathan drop him off in the atmosphere? Every time Nathan takes off there is a sonic boom- he might have let go of Peter and flown to a safe distance. You know Peter is still alive because he has Claire's power, granted he probably might end up re-entering somewhere over Canada but there is NO WAY the Petrelli's are done in. Those two boys are pretty much the tie that binds most of these characters together from the outset. They're alive- perhaps a little messed up- but alive.
And, at the end of the episode, we see "End of Volume 1." So Volume 1 has officially ended with a bang in the sky. We immediately see that start of "Volume 2: Generations." It started with an amusing bit where Hiro is transported back to 1671 Kyoto, right in the middle of a samurai battle potentially starring his childhood hero. We also see the omnipresent "Heroes" double-helix-esque symbol on their flags. Cue a solar eclipse, and we close out as we started, with Hiro looking up into the sky.
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