NBC Photo: Trae PattonThe season three finale of Heroes hits NBC tonight and, in grand tradition, the last episode of the season features a colossal battle between good and evil. (Well, team Petrelli-Bennet is only mostly good, but they're certainly good enough in Heroes terms.)
We've got the goods from Tim Kring, Bryan Fuller and Greg Grunberg on what evil Sylar does (trying to hook up with Claire is high on the list), whether or not Danko dies and what we can expect from season four...
As we dished last week, tonight's episode is all about Sylar (Zachary Quinto) versus Nathan (Adrian Pasdar). As Tim Kring tells us, "You will see a face-off. You can feel the two lines converging toward each other. There's still Building 26 and Danko to deal with, and those bad guys to put down, and then the whole stopping of Sylar's nefarious plan. All of our characters are involved. The season finale is the best episode we've done in a really, really long time." Or, as Greg Grunberg puts it, "The finale ends on a major cliff-hanger, but more important, it sets up season four to be so exciting. I think people are going to be like, 'What the f--k?!' That's what their reaction is going to be."
So, exactly what goes down in that WTF finale? Says Kring, "It becomes clear that Sylar's plan is to shake hands with the president of the United States, and then become the president of the United States, and using Nathan Petrelli's likeness is the way he's going to do that. The story structure is very much like trying to get to the president to try to kill him, except for that it's not about killing him, it's about shaking hands with him. It's a cool way to do that same danger."
We can promise, by the way, that this story has major consequences for both Sylar and Nathan. Worlds will collide.
What else goes down? Sylar gets all inappropriate with Nathan's bio-daughter. Kring tells us, "Sylar and Claire have a scene together in the season finale where he makes known his theory about why they are destined to be together, and you see again a strange twisted chemistry the two characters have with each other. It's one of those great creepy fun scenes to watch. They're so good together."
And what about the future?
Well, it sounds like Danko lives to fight another day. Says Kring, "The idea is to keep [Danko] out there in the world and available to come back." But he won't be next season's big bad. Heroes exec producer Bryan Fuller tells us, "For me, Danko was what you see is what you get, and we're going to be much more complicated and mysterious with our villain in season four. "
Got any theories on who or what might be next year's baddie? Post in the comments!
Get full episodes of Heroes at Fancast.
—Additional reporting by Natalie Abrams