I hate people who nit-pick at a show to death, but this last episode has some real problems with it and I'm going to talk about those over the next few days. The writers, while perhaps having a compelling story overall, are just missing or ignoring crucial details and it's causing for rather frustrating developments.
The most frustrating is the shooting of Nathan. This is not because I want them to keep Nathan on the show. If they feel like killing him off to further the overall story, fine. But absolutely nothing good can come out of Nathan's death because it presents two very big problems for the show.
- If Nathan is indeed dead, than Peter is an idiot. All he has to do is use his blood and viola, Nathan is healed.
- If Peter does save Nathan, now we have a problem with storytelling. I mentioned it in my post about bringing back the dead. Allowing a plot element like this is going to mean that death is meaningless.
Update: One alternative is that the shot to the chest are not fatal, but that would be a problem too. Would the company really send an inept assassin, someone would couldn't place to shots to the chest that would kill somebody? That would be almost as lame as the other two.
17 comments:
My wife and I tossed around the idea that Nathan's gunshot wounds were not fatal, but you're right why would the company send an inept assassin? Perhaps it wasn't the company who had him killed? Maybe Angela was acting on her own?
I agree 100% about bringing back the dead. It's very poor storytelling and I hope they do not continue to do so.
My hunch is that they're going to use Nathan's death as a way to mess with Peter's character. I know we don't agree totally on Peter's character, but he will develop in one way or another as a result of Nathan's death. I can see Parkman and Peter investigating into who the shooter is. I'm just not sure where they are going to take it.
Thanks for the blogs! They give me a necessary break from work!
The only way they can save this is if the company wasn't actually trying to kill Nathan, only give him a warning. A good assassin should be able to put two shots into someone without hitting anything vital. Now I may read too much into it, but it appears the two shots are center mast, right at the heart, so it's doubtful, but who knows. (I'll post the picture)
Thanks for reading and commenting. I'm glad I can give you a break from work.
One thing that should give you a hint that he didn't die though, is that they were very careful in the news broadcast to say, "Nathan Petrelli was shot by an unknown assassin"
Most news reports would have said, "Shot and killed"
I did notice that they didn't say he was shot and killed. When is the show supposed to resume? It must start up again sometime January if the strike ends...
I don't think Nathan's gunshot were fatal. The gunshots were clearly meant to incapacitate not kill him, especially if the directive came from Angela/the company. I think the problem is that most fans can't tell the difference between cliffhanger and real deaths.
I think it would have been a bad idea to kill his character now after the writers spent so much effort bringing him back in S2. Not to mention they'll be wasting the entire half of S1 especially the part where they make Claire his daughter. We haven't got a porper father and daughter interaction between the two.
IMO, the only way this story will make any kind of sense is for Nathan to actually live. See, if the intention of the company is to stop Nathan, Peter, and Matt from revealing the identity of the company/special people (as suggested by the video camera blinking in the safe at Primatech), killing Nathan won't achieve their goal.
If anything killing Nathan will motivate Peter to reveal that he has bucketload of superpower and since he's hard to kill, the company will just be in one big trouble. On top of revenge, there's little they can do to stop Peter from revealing the truth to the public. However, by injuring Nathan but not outright killing him, they have the perfect blackmail for Peter.
Sure Nathan survives but if Peter ever goes out with the secret, another assassin might be sent to finish the job for real. This perfectly achieves what the company want to do: shut Peter's and everyone's mouth for good. Especially Peter, who's the dangerous one here.
That's a pretty good point Alexander. Pissing off Peter is pretty much the last thing that you would want to do, but then again, Ma Petrelli did warn that they "opened Pandora's box". I think she knows the heat is coming, and that it is going to get ugly.
I for one hope Nathan is alive, I just hope that the writers, whichever way they resolve it, do it without resorting to the magical healing properties of Peter and Claire. They have to get away from this plot element. It's just inane.
That is a very good point Alexander. I hope you're right.
Well, in choosing between "reviving everyone who seems to be dead" and "killing off Nathan Petrelli"... for me, the choice is easy.
Nathan is important to the storyline, the character himself has many connections with the other characters and there could be several interesting storylines coming from that.
Also, Adrian Pasdar is wonderful. He has onscreen chemistry with everyone, and has constantly turned his scenes into pure gold. You do not want to lose that.
In addition, Peter without Nathan is NOT the same character as Peter with Nathan. A Nathan-less Peter is duller (proof: s2), and if Nathan was murdered, Peter would turn into a very dark and vengeful character. That would take away what made that character so likeable in S1, with no chance of restoring it.
If they don't want to use the magic blood, don't. Use the "non-fatal gunshot wounds"-way. Or heck, have Peter or Claire donate blood to save Nathans life since they are related and the doctors need to give Nathan blood. And oopsie, that blood just happened to also heal him right away.
Just do NOT kill of one of the parts of the show that is working perfectly.
Nathan + Adam's blood (when he was in the hospital) -- for teh win!
Okay, let me just say that Nathan is def one of my favorite characters and I would hate to see him dead, BUT, I have a major problem with all the theories swirling around. Yes, I heard the telecast say "Nathan Petrelli was shot" and they should have said dead if he was indeed done for, but what makes you think Peter's blood can cure him? Claire and Adam's gifts were to heal. It was their sole ability, whereas, Peter is able to heal BECAUSE of Claire. He doesn't have Claire's blood and was never actually exposed to her or Adam's blood. Adam wouldn't have had to heal Nathan in the first place if Peter could heal others. ::side note:: yes I know the point of that was for Adam to gain Peter's trust. Point still being, his blood is not "special" like Adam's and Claire's. As for keeping Nathan around, I'd love that. I just don't agree with Peter being about to heal Nathan.
I have a question, I didn't see the "Nathan's + Adam's blood" comment. IF that works, then shouldn't Maya, Noah, and Sylar heal on their own from now? They were all injected with Claire's blood, the equivalent of Adam. IF Nathan heals on his own because he was exposed to Adam's blood, then according to that storyline, those other characters should be able to heal on their own from now on too. Wouldn't that be scary if Sylar was able to do that now?
-Also, I'm in no way bashing anyone's theories, I don't want to sound like some argumentative fan lol.
Hey Tiff,
First I disagree with the poster who thinks that an infusion of the blood is anymore than a one time cure. Otherwise, there are going to be a lot of immortals walking around.
I do believe Peter's blood has the ability to heal as well. Peter has thus far shown the ability to perfectly mimic any and all manifestations of anybody's power whether they be physical, mental, biological, etc. I think it would almost me a bigger mistake on the writer's part not to give Peter this ability
I think Nathan is very important in the show and it wont be the same without the Petrelli's brothers together. But the shots were definitely fatal, and Peter is too dumb to use his blood.
FlyingMan!
http://heroesmedia.blogspot.com
I have to disagree with the fact that Peter's blood will automatically be able to heal. I think it will be in the writer's best interests to at least curb Peter's powers just this little bit.
I think the earlier infusion of Adam's blood will make the fatal wounds non-fatal. Not that I think that Nathan will become invincible but more like that the blood has a "time limit" on how long it stays in your system and heals, which is why I think that Nathan won't be dead but critically injured.
I'm really looking forward to the next chapter as I think that all the characters will do something that could constitute them as a "villain". Hiro has already shown his dark side, Peter almost killed Hiro as well, and Ma Petrelli put a hit on her own son.
I hope that the next chapter really starts to give us insights into how the company was started and maybe show us some powers the "old guard" has!
I don't think that Peters blood is capable of healing anyone. Claire and Adam have it imbedded in their DNA, which gives it it's healing properties. It seems like Peters DNA learns to mimic that, but that probably doesn't apply to it's permanent state.
As for Nathan. I can only hope NBC, the casting department, the writers or whoever has jurisdiction over the life and death of their characters don't put Nathan away. Pasdar is a talented and passionate actor, blowing most of the rest of the cast away with his performance. He is personally involved with almost every other Hero and has unlimited potential for plot advancement.
But who knows, it could be about money, or Pasdar moving on to bigger opportunities.
If not. Don't be a douche, NBC. Nathan stays.
two magical words: "Bulletproof vest"
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