Heroes: Season 4 (www.the-usher.com)

Orientation
Claire, back home in California, begins attending college, but is having difficulty adjusting when a mysterious death of a student during the orientation puts her back in the spotlight. In Japan, Hiro and Ando continue their quest to help people with abilities and go so much as to advertise themselves. Meanwhile, Angela fears Nathan/Syler will discover his true identity. Matt tries to settle down back in Los Angeles and raise his son and not worry about unexpected visitors. Elsewhere, Peter is using his ability for good when a mysterious carnival clan, led by Samuel Sullivan, arrives in town that could spell trouble for him and everyone else.

Jump, Push, Fall
Peter returns to his job as a paramedic, saving people with the help of Mohinder's abilities. In Japan, Hiro feels that he is not in control of his power and believes himself to be dying. Meanwhile, Samuel, Lydia and Edgar use their abilities to find other Heroes in their quest to bring more into their fold. Also, Tracy continues to hunt down and kill former Building 26 employees by using her new water-liquidation powers to drown them, and she zeros in on Danko, as well as Noah. Clare deals with her secret being revealed by a student who witnesses her fall from a third-floor window. Also, Sylar's consciousness manifests itself inside Matt's mind.

Ink
Samuel continues searching for the whereabouts of the soul of his brother. He begins to focus on Peter by using his ink-transparency powers to investigate Peter. Meanwhile, Claire deals with her secret being outed when Gretchen pressures her to tell the truth. But Noah, comes for a visit and immediately suspects that Gretchen knows about Clair's power. In Los Angeles, Matt Parkman continues dealing with Sylar's ghost taunting him and it hinders his latest case of trying to nail a suspected drug supplier. Also, a new 'hero' with powers is introduced; a young deaf woman named Emma, a dispatcher who works with Peter at the New York hospital, whom discovers that she can 'see and hear' sound breaks.

Acceptance
As Hiro's life continues to hang in the balance, he distracts himself with saving the lives of others. Meanwhile, Angela tries to help the new "Nathan" remember his past, at the risk of his remembering too much. Elsewhere, Tracy is determined to get her old job back, but soon realizes that she needs to make more of an impact

Hysterical Blindness
Samuel prepares for new additions to his family, while Lydia warns him of the consequences. Claire discovers that her roommate Gretchen may have a hidden agenda. Meanwhile, Peter finds an unexpected way to connect with Emma, who would prefer to stay distant. Elsewhere, a different side of Sylar emerges as he desperately tries to remember the person he used to be.

Tabula Rasa
Under Samuel's guidance, Sylar starts on a path to rediscover his true identity. Hiro helps Emma accept and understand the great possibilities that go along with having an ability. Meanwhile, Peter enlists HRG to help him find a healer who can save Hiro's life.

Once Upon a Time in Texas
When Hiro travels three years into the past, he has a second chance to save Charlie from the hands of Sylar. However, Samuel's presence serves to complicate Hiro's mission even further. Elsewhere, H.R.G.'s past with his Primatech partner is revealed.

Shadowboxing
Claire is determined to get to the bottom of the Sorority Rush attacks on her own, until H.R.G. intervenes only to realize he may be the source of her troubles. Meanwhile, Peter's new ability is a perfect fit for his job and gives him the opportunity to help Emma accept her new life. Elsewhere, Sylar's battle at gaining full control over Matt's body escalates -- with potentially dangerous implications at stake.

Brother�s Keeper
Samuel learns just how powerful he can become and takes dangerous measures to reach his full potential. Meanwhile, as Tracy begins to lose control of her ability, one of her own comes in harms way.

Thanksgiving
H.R.G. hosts a non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner by inviting Claire over at his apartment for dinner. But the dinner becomes more awkward and uncomfortable when Noah invites his former co-worker Lauren, while Noah's ex-wife, Sandra, also shows up with her newest beau, a younger man named Doug Douglas, whom like her also has a small dog fetish. Clair is also conflicted about where she wants to be, in which Noah invites over Gretchen to try to lift up her spirits. Meanwhile, the Petrelli family gets a surprise guest at their table when Sylar shows up having reclaimed Nathan's body and holds both Peter and Angela at his mercy. Elsewhere, Samuel continues to hold Hiro hostage as part of some grand master plan, as Lydia goes to Hiro in search of the truth about Samuel.

The Fifth Stage
H.R.G. is greeted by some unexpected visitors and Samuel's grand plan begins to come to fruition. Meanwhile, Peter struggles to accept the truth and takes extreme measures to get what he wants. Elsewhere, Claire's journey leads her to an unexpected destination.

Upon This Rock
Samuel goes off and tries to bring Emma into the fold by manipulating her about how special her sight-of-sound powers are, while back at the Sullivan Brothers Carnival, Claire becomes more suspicious about Samuel's intentions and deals with not only Samuel's right hand, Replicating Man, Eli, but also the Puppet Master Eric Doyle. A delirium-stricken Hiro returns to Japan and tries to convince Ando in code-talk to help rescue Mohinder from a lunatic asylum in Florida where Hiro forcibly placed him for protection from Samuel.

Let It Bleed
Claire attends Nathan's funeral while Peter struggles with his grief in his own way by wanting to seek revenge. Meanwhile, Noah and Lauren interrogate a captured Edgar for information to where to find Samuel's carnival. Elsewhere, Sylar returns to Samuel's carnival where he and Lydia try to find a way to emotionally get inside the killer's head to make him see what is troubling him.

Close to You
H.R.G. recruits Matt to help him take down Samuel, as they use his long-lost love, Vanessa, to lure him to them, but Samuel has his own plans for Vanessa in the works. Meanwhile, Hiro and Ando go to extreme lengths to save Dr. Suresh. Elsewhere, Peter's introduction of Emma to his mother brings forth visions of a very grim future.

Pass/Fail
Hiro's life hangs in the balance as his brain tumor worsens, prompting him to subconsciously deal with some of his past decisions. Meanwhile, Sylar pays Claire an unexpected visit to get answers as to why he isn't quite himself. Elsewhere, Samuel's plan to impress his long-lost love, Vanessa, takes a terrifying turn.

The Art of Deception
H.R.G. enacts his plan to take down the Carnival with the help of Lauren and Suresh. Sylar visits Matt looking to understand his desire to make a human connection, but Matt has a plan of his own. Meanwhile, Peter warns Emma of Samuel's intentions after his grim vision of the future.

The Wall
Peter is forced to travel into Syler's mind to ask for him to save Emma and the two of them find themselves in a limbo state-like deserted city where they try to find a way out. Meanwhile, Samuel tries to further manipulate Claire by showing the past of Noah's in image flashbacks showing his first wife, and the reasons why he came to work for The Company. Also, a wounded Laurie meets with Emma for medical treatment and to try to get her to listen about Samuel's nefarious plans

Brave New World
As Noah's life hangs in the balance, Samuel prepares to kill thousands and Peter and the others must band together to stop him and save Emma.

Heralded as one of the cult TV shows of the new millennium when it started in 2006, �Heroes� became a phenomena around the world but all journeys come to an end.

Never has the first season of a TV show raised the anticipation of an audience than that of �Heroes�. With the traditional DC and Marvel comic book superheroes taking the cinematic book office by storm and �Smallville� having an established audience, superheroes and superpowers were exactly what the audience wanted. The story of a collection of people with �abilities� finding each other and coming together to save a cheerleader from a super powerful serial killer made the first season of �Heroes� not just a smash in the US but a hit around the world. A second, third and fourth followed but creator Tim Kring and his creative team could never really manage to capture the essence of the first season that drew everyone in.

The second season started the second chapter, entitled �Generations� which dealt with the repercussions of the discovery of people with abilities and the introduction of the �Shanti Virus�. Season three started with �Villains�, the third chapter that sees the introduction of Arthur Petrelli and the push to give ordinary people abilities. The season also say chapter four start �Fugitives�, which saw the fall of The Company and Nathan Petrelli�s quest to bring in everyone with an ability. This concluded with Sylar killing Nathan but Matt Parkman pushing Nathan�s mind into his killer and Sylar been replaced by the heroic senator. Each chapter had taken all of the key characters through their own stories with an overall plot driving the chapter but the problem with �Heroes� is that they could never quite capture that impact of the first season. �Save the Cheerleader, Save the World� became the tagline on millions of t-shirts but the following seasons could not quite follow that.

For the fourth season, Tim Kring and his writing team tried to change the theme and direction of the show again, highlighting those with abilities wanting to have their own place to be themselves. The chapter is called �Redemption� and it sees all of the characters of the show going facing their pasts or the actions they have taken over the course of the series. Peter is struggling with giving up his heroic lifestyle and still wants to contribute to the greater good by working as a paramedic again. As Hiro�s illness gets worse he realises that he has the ability to right some wrongs but these could have terrible consequences. Claire tries to start a normal life at college with her overly protective father Noah looking on. Matt Parkman has to deal with the repercussions of taking on Sylar. Nathan is definitely not feeling himself and Tracy is having trouble with her powers. With each of them having their own demons, the emergence of Samuel Sullivan, played with great vigor by ex-Prison Break actor Robert Knepper, on the scene could be enough to tempt them into his world. He offers something that no one else can, a chance for all of those with abilities to be able to show what they are by coming to live with his �Family� in the carnival. While it looks like a save haven, Samuel is not the man that you might think he is.

With all of the characters on a path of redemption and a new villain taking the place of the ever present Sylar, season four tried to get �Heroes� back on track but unfortunately failed. Even though it can be argued that this is one of the best seasons since the illustrious first, NBC made the decision to cancel at the end of the season. Citing the large cast, the high costs of production and the decreasing viewing figures, Tim Kring, his cast and his creative team had lost their battle to complete the stories of these characters that you had invested four years of your life into, which is a real shame. The introduction of chapter six �Brave New World� would have given the series an end point, a goal to head towards and a swansong for the fans. Even though it is still popular around the world, NBC should have told Kring that he could have a final season to finish, instead the fans will be left wondering what could have been.

The final season of �Heroes� is one that fans of the show will enjoy but lament as it is the last time we will be in the lives of these characters. While never capturing the brilliance of that first season, �Heroes� will be remembered for a long time to come and lets hope that syndication, downloads and DVD/Blu-Ray bring it back so we can see how Heroes should have really ended.

Deconstructing Sylar
Behind the Big Top
Milo speaks
Tim Sale gallery of screen art
Genetics of a scene
Heroes Revolution
�Once upon a time in Texas� Audio commentary with Tim Kring
�Shadowboxing� Audio commentary with Adam Armus, Kay Forster and Greg Grunberg
�The Fifth Stage� Audio Commentary with Tim Kring and Adrian Pasdar
�Brave New World� Audio commentary with Tim Kring and Robert Knepper
Extended scenes
Deleted scenes

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