Heroes, Volume 4: Fugitives, Review
A Brief Overlook at the Blockbusting Series' Latest Installment
May 27, 2009
After the death of Arthur Petrelli and the destruction of Primatech, Nathan continues his political aspirations of bringing his own superhero kind to the public eye, including that of his own brother Peter and his blood daughter Claire. Pursuing this mission, he finds a new and dangerously uncompromising allay in the form of Emile Danko, a government military agent bent on eradicating superheroes to the point of extinction. Meanwhile, with his plans of becoming a good person far behind him, Sylar embarks on a personal mission to uncover his origins and, as per usual, leave a trail of death, carnage and bootlegged abilities along the way.
With these new stipulations set into place, and with the whole world now seemingly against them, everyone's favourite heroes find themselves fighting a battle fraught with more danger and deception than ever before, and now the only people who can save them are each other.
A New Start for a New Series
This second installment of the third series begins with promise, wiping the slate almost clean of the events of 'Villains.' Now the surviving protagonists of the show have found themselves caught within domestic disarray and tragedy, and the mounting disputes between characters increase the drama nearly absent in previous instalments. Also, with persecution being the main running theme, viewers are treated to an intensity of storyline that seems to successfully up the anti of the shows overall outcome. 'Fugitives' is less about people with powers than it is about human survival, trust, love and devotion.
Of course for Sylar fans, this is the best series yet. His character is more volatile and tormented, his actions more depraved, and his personality more in depth and any other character in the show. As far as good villains are concerned, this is one show that seems to have the right idea.
Problems with the Show
Unfortunately, Heroes is a show that seems often to abandon many of its best ideas, leaving them in the past and encouraging viewers almost to forget about 'this and that' along the way. Although this latest volume is an improvement on the last, there are still many tangents that seem frankly unnecessary compared to what viewers were treated to in Seasons 1 and 2. For the writers, Heroes seems to be an ongoing experiment, and it's difficult to tell if they have found their feet yet. As Peter Petrelli, the shows supposedly main protagonist does virtually nothing until the last episode, and Hiro and Ando become sideline to the main storyline of the series, viewers may sometimes wonder why Heroes doesn't just cover a new set of characters altogether.
Overall, 'Fugitives' is worth a good watch, but still seems like something of a decline from the shows genesis three years ago. The next instalment, titled 'Redemption' and to be aired in autumn this year, has some way to go if it's to gain the same quality and engagement of that groundbreaking first series.
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