(If you’re watching Heroes, this post will make more sense. If you’re caught up to this week’s episode, read on. If not, you might wish to take anti-spoilery precautions, though I’ve not revealed too much. Most of this is speculation.)
The trouble with time travel is causality. Causality has little mercy, so the life you leave behind in the present will undoubtably be affected by your actions in the past. By the same token, anything glimpsed during a leap to the future is put in jeopardy the instant you return to now. Of course, one could certainly take up the opinion that fate and destiny will overcome all interferences. Even if you were able to step back to Dealey Plaza in November 1963, tackling Lee Harvey Oswald before his pulls the trigger, some other bullet from some other gun would put an end to President Kennedy’s life before the day was out. Grassy knolls excepted, of course.
In NBC’s Heroes, we have a hero who has seen the future.
Hiro Nakamura, a young salaryman with his head in the stars, discovers through a series of small victories that he can not only stop time, but he can teleport from place to place. Overwhelmed by the drudgery of another day at work, Hiro flexes his time-space muscles during his morning train commute. When he opens his eyes, he is no longer on the train, but rather in the center of Times Square. To make an amazing feat all the more spectacular, particularly to a geeky fanboy, Hiro picks up an issue of his favorite American comic book at a newstand and finds himself on the cover! All of this excitement and discovery is brought to a disturbing end when Hiro realizes that not only did he move through space, but forward through time. Hiro manages a last minute escape back to Japan, but not before seeing enough of the future to know that something must be done to prevent it.
This brings us around to causality and the traps of cause and effect that Heroes has laid out for itself. Because of what Hiro knows (and what we, the audience know) about the future, several events have to happen.
Isaac has to return to New York. For two reasons, Isaac Mendez has to get back to New York City from Odessa, Texas. The first reason is loose and open to alteration. The second is more a matter of place and opportunity. During Hiro’s initial arrival in New York City’s future, we learned that Isaac is the artist (and presumed writer) behind the 9th Wonder comic book. Conveniently, Isaac’s back page biography lists his home address. As the issue documents Hiro’s own story, it is only natural that our favorite Japanese time-bender would make his way to Isaac’s apartment. Unfortunately, Hiro discovers Isaac in a state that won’t provide any answers.
Accepting the fact that Heroes is allowing a healthy amount of temporal leeway, the future that Hiro visited remains mostly intact. Regardless of his fate, Isaac has to return to New York, ostensibly to live where the comic book claims (though he could write it elsewhere just as easily), but moreso to be geographically available as a potential victim.
Hiro’s issue of 9th Wonder has to be drawn by Isaac. Last week’s episode established that Hiro’s comic book shouldn’t exist yet. Little Micah, son of Niki/ikiN and D.L., is a fan and has never read this issue, but he has been seen in other episodes reading previous issues. While it is possible that 9th Wonder has been a regular artist’s gig for Isaac, I have my doubts. The show has established that Simone sells his studio work and he converts that cash into more painting supplies. Nothing has been mentioned about any other job opportunity, so his involvement with 9th Wonder is yet to occur, but it must. And when he does draw the issue, will he do it as a result of his prescient gift? Or will he write it in collaboration with a future Hiro, thus guaranteeing the accurate portrayal of Hiro’s and Ando’s journey? The first option is obviously the better of the two, as the second suffers strongly from how much Hiro has turned to the issue for guidance of where to go and what to do.
Though Hiro still has his issue of 9th Wonder, he and Ando have not referred to it lately. My guess is that the issue’s story ends somewhere in Las Vegas.
Nathan Petrelli has to win. Hiro saw the headline in the future. In the present, he shares this information with Nathan. Of all the must-happens, however, this one is perhaps the least necessary. Unless some greater motive is revealed, the political success or failure of Nathan Petrelli doesn’t seem to have much sway as to the fate of Manhattan.
Ted Sprague has to get to New York. While Syler is the obvious Big Bad for the first main arc of the series, we’ve yet to see him do anything nearly as massive and (quite frankly) atomic as the foreseen destruction of Manhattan. The man who could is Ted Sprague, arrested this week by psycho-sensitive Matt Parkman and his FBI cohort, then misplaced by a government transfer detail that assumed a station wagon was secure enough for a walking firebomb. The series could always pull a switcheroo (and I think I know how, so keep reading) that would make Sprague a decoy for the lurking Syler, but I’m hoping not.
Alternately, Ted Sprague’s brain has to get to New York. Okay, stick with me here, because this will get a little wierd. The persistent detail of every murder in Syler’s to-do list is the sad fate of each victim’s brain. Whether he impales them or freezes them or whatever, Syler has a penchant for opening skulls and removing the contents. As of yet, the reason why hasn’t been uncovered. This is massive conjecture, but I think I’ve got an answer.
What can Syler do? We’ve seen that he can move objects telekinetically, freeze humans, control minds, practically disappear, fly apparently and (worst of all) recover quickly from a barrage of bullets. We already know that Mohinder’s father, Dr. Suresh, studied Syler in New York City, almost to the point that Syler saw the two of them as collaborators. At some point Suresh attempted to sever their ties, a decision that resulted in his murder as Syler’s hand. What if their relationship soured over Syler’s learning that Dr Suresh’s deepest research pointed to the brain as a source for all of these meta-human abilities? Syler, longing for more power than nature provided, uses Suresh’s tracking data to hunt other meta-humans. Why? To take their powers unto himself. How? Comparisons to Hannibal aside, one could assume that he uses the most direct route possible: he eats them. After doing so, their powers are his. With that in mind, so to speak, Ted Sprague wouldn’t need to bodily visit NYC at all. :shudder:
There are others, particularly since this list doesn’t even take into account Peter’s conversation with another Hiro from even further forward in time. The events that go into that Hiro’s very existence are still weeks, months or even years away. But they do tell us that the immediate concerns of our heroes are just the beginning, that even if they can “save the cheerleader,” there is still much more to be done to secure the world.
Bonus Geekery: A familiar face to sci-fi fanboys and fangirls will be joining the Heroes cast in January. Interestingly, his most recent role is incredibly appropriate to today’s topic. Before you click on over to the news, care to guess who?
