I must admit to a certain bias, of course, but as you say, I think making Nathan's choice so important was thematically justified for the overall season.
Not as future!Hiro thought because Claire didn’t die and didn’t give her ability to Sylar but because she lived and lived to give her absentee biological father an exasperated teenager’s opinion on the evitability of things.
Which I actually like better. Not dying, not becoming Sylar's victim is essentially a passive thing, and doesn't have anything to do with her being Claire. But being the voice of blistering no-nonsense judgement is something Claire can do because she's herself. (I also loved that he looked back to her one more time before stepping towards Peter.)
I linked my Nathan meta and some post-season 1 finale fanfic at londonkds' journal which I saw you commented on, so you probably don't want/need the links here as well.
Re: Peter as Dawn - the sky getting bright during the explosion made me think of The Gift as well. Though it's interesting that the choices to be made are
( ... )
Peter as Dawn I hadn't thought of the option of letting Claire shoot Peter once Nathan arrived and was very torn about his intervention in that moment when he arrived (although less so afterwards) because Claire having to shoot had felt like an ending (the Becoming ending) and I wanted it but didn't because, as you say, of what it would do to Claire. BtVS had an easier job with endings I guess because it was always clear who the big story was about whereas Heroes is much more of an ensemble show
( ... )
which is partly what I meant by calling Peter Dawn, in the end he was the damsel rather than the hero
Oh, he's the damsel through most of season 1. The one episode where Peter does the traditionally heroic thing of facing his death to save the girl is Homecoming and there, too, he does so not by striking a blow, but by dragging Sylar down a roof, i.e. sacrificing his own life (as he doesn't know about regeneration). Otherwise, you have him getting rescued, fainting, being in a coma, and getting rescued again all over the place, all traditionally "feminine" storytelling motifs, which is a subversion I haven't seen often remarked upon. He's even Sleeping Beauty not just once but twice (in "Godsend", when Nathan kisses him, and in ".07%", when Claire removes the proverbial splinter to awake him). This, btw, fits with Peter's definition as an empath - it's the emotional connections he forms that make a difference
( ... )
I still have tremendous trouble with the line "You saved the cheerleader so we could save the world." It's given such import when Nathan says it, and as near as I can figure, it doesn't mean anything!
I suppose if you decide, as you indicate, that it's All About Nathan, then Claire's purpose is to motivate him. But given that my big problem with the show is the way it's all about the white guys, this interpretation does not thrill me.
You saved the cheerleader so we could save the world. Is that one of the things Nathan said to Peter before they flew off? I blocked a lot of that out and yes put that way it's all about making Peter feel good and while brotherly not strictly true.
I'm happier with the idea of Claire being needed for her brains than her ability but even the original "save the cheerleader" line while catchy is kinda problematic, this was the best I could do with it. There's a lot of playing devil's advocate here, the ending, while it could have been worse didn't feel nearly as good as what preceded it. But I still *like* the show for trying.Nathan being the ultimate hero, I didn't express very well but it's more because he's the last to get a clue not because he's the only one to succeed in doing so. Also and in the same vein it's about him because he's the old guy not because he's the white guy. Which still begs the question of why make the old person white and male. I think the show has succeeded in creating vibrant and believable female and of
( ... )
Nathan was the person about whom my opinions shifted the most while watching S1. He had an arc similar to Noah Bennet's, but in a more intimate, drawn-out way. He's not the man you thought he was... but he's also not the man he thought he was.
In the end, I liked Nathan's arc as much as my favorite characters/stories in the show - Matt, Noah, Ando. And I didn't expect that.
My Hereos dvds just arrived! Uh sorry, random squee.
And I didn't expect that. I didn't much care for Nathan one way or another at first, he started to get interesting in that scene with Nikki talking about flying, then odd momments like the first meeting with Hiro, in 5 years gone (even though it wasn't him). Adrian Pasdar plays him really well, really subtly and its not an easy part to pin down.
but he's also not the man he thought he was. Yes, that exactly.
Comments 7
Not as future!Hiro thought because Claire didn’t die and didn’t give her ability to Sylar but because she lived and lived to give her absentee biological father an exasperated teenager’s opinion on the evitability of things.
Which I actually like better. Not dying, not becoming Sylar's victim is essentially a passive thing, and doesn't have anything to do with her being Claire. But being the voice of blistering no-nonsense judgement is something Claire can do because she's herself. (I also loved that he looked back to her one more time before stepping towards Peter.)
I linked my Nathan meta and some post-season 1 finale fanfic at londonkds' journal which I saw you commented on, so you probably don't want/need the links here as well.
Re: Peter as Dawn - the sky getting bright during the explosion made me think of The Gift as well. Though it's interesting that the choices to be made are ( ... )
Reply
I hadn't thought of the option of letting Claire shoot Peter once Nathan arrived and was very torn about his intervention in that moment when he arrived (although less so afterwards) because Claire having to shoot had felt like an ending (the Becoming ending) and I wanted it but didn't because, as you say, of what it would do to Claire. BtVS had an easier job with endings I guess because it was always clear who the big story was about whereas Heroes is much more of an ensemble show ( ... )
Reply
Oh, he's the damsel through most of season 1. The one episode where Peter does the traditionally heroic thing of facing his death to save the girl is Homecoming and there, too, he does so not by striking a blow, but by dragging Sylar down a roof, i.e. sacrificing his own life (as he doesn't know about regeneration). Otherwise, you have him getting rescued, fainting, being in a coma, and getting rescued again all over the place, all traditionally "feminine" storytelling motifs, which is a subversion I haven't seen often remarked upon. He's even Sleeping Beauty not just once but twice (in "Godsend", when Nathan kisses him, and in ".07%", when Claire removes the proverbial splinter to awake him). This, btw, fits with Peter's definition as an empath - it's the emotional connections he forms that make a difference ( ... )
Reply
I suppose if you decide, as you indicate, that it's All About Nathan, then Claire's purpose is to motivate him. But given that my big problem with the show is the way it's all about the white guys, this interpretation does not thrill me.
Reply
Is that one of the things Nathan said to Peter before they flew off? I blocked a lot of that out and yes put that way it's all about making Peter feel good and while brotherly not strictly true.
I'm happier with the idea of Claire being needed for her brains than her ability but even the original "save the cheerleader" line while catchy is kinda problematic, this was the best I could do with it. There's a lot of playing devil's advocate here, the ending, while it could have been worse didn't feel nearly as good as what preceded it. But I still *like* the show for trying.Nathan being the ultimate hero, I didn't express very well but it's more because he's the last to get a clue not because he's the only one to succeed in doing so. Also and in the same vein it's about him because he's the old guy not because he's the white guy. Which still begs the question of why make the old person white and male. I think the show has succeeded in creating vibrant and believable female and of ( ... )
Reply
In the end, I liked Nathan's arc as much as my favorite characters/stories in the show - Matt, Noah, Ando. And I didn't expect that.
Reply
And I didn't expect that.
I didn't much care for Nathan one way or another at first, he started to get interesting in that scene with Nikki talking about flying, then odd momments like the first meeting with Hiro, in 5 years gone (even though it wasn't him). Adrian Pasdar plays him really well, really subtly and its not an easy part to pin down.
but he's also not the man he thought he was.
Yes, that exactly.
Reply
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