Heroes S1.20: Five Years Gone
The future is a grey harsh-grained place, very Wishverse complete with they all kill one another ending. I was spoiled for Nathan being Sylar but assumed he would be from the beginning so was thrown for a loop by the reveal that Candace was alive for at least the beginning of President Petrelli's term. Although when did the switch occur? It must have been after they began to round up ‘terrorists’ because future!Hiro mentioned Candace, DL and Molly as people he brought to Bennet for hiding. But then there was that long scene between the President and Mohinder at the beginning of which ‘Nathan’ knew about a conversation they’d had before deciding what to do about the special people. Which Sylar could have eavesdropped on with the super hearing he acquired from Dale.
So Nathan did give the initial order. Which is wonderful continuity because Nathan-as-Nathan did say if he were president he would lock them all up on an island and Nathan-as-Nathan does think his own power is useless and other people's scary. In which light Sylar's impersonation of the president was like his painting, a sinister caricature yet still recognisable. Equally creepily some of the Sylarisms (I know how things work) were things Nathan might say but mean less literally. The touching for emphasis with Mohinder was very Nathan/Peter like and I wonder what happened to Angela, was she another Sylar victim or did she die in the blast?
Everyone seemed to have lost someone in the explosion or its aftermath. Hiro lost Ando, Nathan, Peter (for all intents and purposes). Nikki lost son, husband, Jessica, baby and bathwater both. She took the Claude route pulling Peter along with her. Peter saw what his brother did with power and lost that aspect to his idealism, weirdly discovering Natahn was dead brought him back to life in some sense. Bennet kept Claire or someone who used to be Claire once, darkhaired and distant daughter. Matt kept his family on similar terms following orders in a suit like the one he wore for Linderman.
Linderman said loss would be healing, would bring the world together whole but the episode refutes that. They’re together sure, hardened, pared-down versions of themselves rattling around like marbles in a cage, not a society just a collection. The only one who seems unchanged is Sylar. Mohinder was right the cockroach will inherit the earth. I liked it a lot when future!Hiro admitted to Ando that “It was more fun with you.”