"Heroes" Volume 4 - "Fugitives"

Another Heroes volume, another three months of twists, turns, and alleyways of what we call the morally grey. So far Nathan Petrelli, with the help of the American government, is rounding up heroes with plans to imprison them in a facility, and placing the heroes on the run.

The last few episodes bring up the big question on whether “the greater good” is worth everything. Within the last few weeks, we’ve seen Nathan’s plan to contain those with abilities bring the destruction of lives and the imprisonment of innocents — including his own brother, Peter. He truly believes in what he’s doing but his actions are — at best — questionable. What’s worse, he’s enlisted the help of “the Hunter” a former military man who is like a wild dog on a leash just waiting for the chain to break. Despite Nathan’s call for no bloodshed the Hunter obviously lusts after it. That alone makes him beyond dangerous. Nathan, for all is political power, will not be to control this man for long.

To protect his daughter Claire, Noah Bennet — aka Horned Rimmed Glasses (HRG) — agrees to help Nathan after the Company is destroyed. This is no surprise there. Since the beginning of the show, we’ve questioned about how far he’s willing to go to protect his daughter. He’s kidnapped, murdered and tortured people for her, and yet we accept it because of the bond between father and daughter. We will definitely see how far he is willing to go to “prove his loyalty” to Nathan and the Hunter, and I think sometime this season he’ll have to make the ultimate sacrifice for her: this life.

Scared, vengeful and determined to fight back, Mohinder, Peter and Matt kidnap HRG to figure out what’s going on. Matt, torn up by the kidnapping of his girlfriend Daphne last week, is more determined than any of them to “do whatever it takes” to find out what’s going on. Using his mind-reading powers, he interrogates Noah in a way that’s almost torture — threatening to mess up the man’s brain if he has to. His actions lead him and Peter to be caught and Mohinder to be captured.

Each of these characters made choices because of a number of different reasons: for the greater good, for truth, for protection. They are willing to forgo what we might call “human mortality” — good/evil and right/wrong — to get what they want. Is it worth it? On the one hand, things get done, outcomes are made. On the other, people get hurt. Badly. These heroes see themselves in a time of war. In times of war, hard decisions are made. I’m almost positive that soon they will have to make even harder decisions before too long.